How Christian Were the Founders?
By RUSSELL SHORTO
Conservative activists on the Texas Board of Education say that the authors of the Constitution intended the United States to be a Christian nation. And they want America’s history textbooks to say so.
Even if you live in another state, your textbooks will be affected by decisions made in Texas. The following paragraph makes the point on why Texas has this influence...it is always about the money. (Editors Note)
"Public education has always been a battleground between cultural forces; one reason that Texas’ school-board members find themselves at the very center of the battlefield is, not surprisingly, money. The state’s $22 billion education fund is among the largest educational endowments in the country. Texas uses some of that money to buy or distribute a staggering 48 million textbooks annually — which rather strongly inclines educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State. California is the largest textbook market, but besides being bankrupt, it tends to be so specific about what kinds of information its students should learn that few other states follow its lead. Texas, on the other hand, was one of the first states to adopt statewide curriculum guidelines, back in 1998, and the guidelines it came up with (which are referred to as TEKS — pronounced ”teaks“ — for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) were clear, broad and inclusive enough that many other states used them as a model in devising their own. And while technology is changing things, textbooks — printed or online —are still the backbone of education."
Read the entire article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14texbooks-t.html?th&emc=th
What Do Students Know?
February 12th, 2010
This chart plots the mean score of students (blue dots) and their teachers (black triangles) to sets of questions in the science categories labeled, and grouped by Grade. 1.00 means all correct answers, and 0.00 means all wrong answers. Red circles are the teachers estimate of how their students would do - they are uniformly too optimistic. A score of .8 was defined as signaling "proficiency" - no student groups were found to be proficient in any subject; in a few cases even teachers were not proficient. Credit: P. Sadler, et al, 2010
Black holes, frozen worlds, the "big bang," supernovae -- when it comes to telling strange and compelling stories, astronomy and space science educators can draw upon these and other denizens of a celestial zoo more outlandish than the animals in any earthly zoo. There is more to astronomy, however, than incredible objects and extreme theories. The underlying concepts on which astronomy is based are the traditional elements of physics, chemistry, and earth science. Interest in astronomy can thus provide the motivation for learning these fundamentals.
The National Research Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have for years been working to determine what students know about science and how they learn it, and to find better ways to teach them. States have adopted their guidelines and standards to establish their own science education goals. Astronomy education is an important part of the overall picture.
Students have many disturbing misconceptions about the universe, and a team of researchers at SAO have been studying what they are and quantifying their effects. Phil Sadler, Harold Coyle, Jaime Miller, Nancy Cook-Smith, Mary Dussault, and Roy Gould have just published their findings and recommendations in the Astronomical Education Review. They analyzed hundreds of different K-12 tests, multiple choice and otherwise, that were administered to both students and their teachers.
The SAO group has long been expert in the study of popular misconceptions that are hard to shake, and that color a person's basic understanding of the underlying science; thinking that the earth experiences summer when it is closer to the sun is one example.
Here are some other common and disturbing misconceptions reported by the team: for high school students, that telescopes are put into space to get closer to astronomical objects, that the universe is getting hotter, and that astronauts have traveled beyond the moon; for grades 5-8, that there is no gravity in space, that the sun is not a star, and that other stars are closer to us than is Pluto.
There are lots of other examples; occasionally some teachers share the misconceptions. The SAO group has over the years authored textbooks and other tools that are particularly attentive to explaining and preventing science misconceptions.
The SAO researchers studied how these apparently seductive misconceptions could distract students away from choosing the correct answer in multiple-choice tests. They argue that such "distractors" should be included in evaluation tests but note that most often are not, and therefore that results from tests designed to measure student understanding are misleading, and that evaluation of the pedagogy is therefore inadequate. The team also found that teachers across the board overestimate their students' understanding of basic ideas, in part because of emphasizing detailed memorization over basic conceptual understanding as probed by misconceptions.
One result of their work, besides a new appreciation of the importance of identifying and addressing misconceptions, is a set of new assessment tools for K-12 astronomy and space science that can be used to determine the strengths and weaknesses of students, and help schools plan for teachers' professional development.
Provided by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
NanoProfessorTM Nanoscience Education Program
Underway at Dakota County Technical College
Community College Students Begin Hands-On Learning With
State-of-the-Art Nanotechnology Equipment and Curriculum
SKOKIE, Ill. – Marketwire – February 9, 2010 – NanoProfessor, a division of NanoInk, Inc.® focused on nanotechnology education, is pleased to announce that its NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program iscurrently underway at Dakota County Technical College (DCTC), in Rosemount, Minn. Once completed, students enrolled in the DCTC program, will possess the knowledge and hands-on experience needed to pursue a career in the high-tech world of nanotechnology. DCTC offers a 2-year AAS Degree in Nanoscience and was the first 2-year technical college to offer a multi-disciplinary nanoscience AAS degree. The NanoProfessor program will provide in-depth experimental opportunities for students in the first semester of the program. Comparable hands-on nanotechnology education programs have traditionally only been available at large, prestigious 4-year universities with graduate programs.
“Nanotechnology is a growing aspect of virtually every industry in Minnesota, the U.S. and the world, and it will require a workforce that has a fundamental knowledge of nanotechnology and the hands-on skills to complete the nanotech-oriented jobs of today and the future. Exclusivity to an education in nanotechnology is not the answer,“ said Deb Newberry, director of the Nanoscience Technology Program at DCTC. “Together with NanoProfessor, Dakota County Technical College is helping meet this demand by creating opportunities for our students that previously they could only dream about.“
The NanoProfessor program is divided into units alternating between classroom lectures and hands-on lab work.Topics covered include Nanotechnology Basics, NanoPhysics, NanoChemistry, NanoBiology, EHS issues, and the evolution of nanotechnology. During the hands-on lab-work, DCTC students are learning the fundamentals for making custom-engineered, nanoscale structures that are used for applications in the areas of consumer packaging, forensics, medicine and biotechnology. Students are using nanotechnology fabrication techniques such as Dip Pen Nanolithography®(DPN®) and working with state-of-the-art equipment including NanoInk’s NLP2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System, an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), an advanced Light Emitting Diode(LED) Fluorescence Microscope, and various nanoscale materials used today by nanotechnology experts.
”I am excited to be part of the NanoProfessor Program at Dakota County Technical College, because the curriculum and lab-work are providing me with a great foundation to pursue a career in nanotechnology,“ said Kelley McDonald, a student enrolled in DCTC’s AAS Degree program and participating in the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Pilot Program. ”I’m also gaining valuable hands-on experience using the same equipment that many professionals are currently using, which will help make me more attractive to prospective employers.“
”In order for the United States to remain competitive in the global economy, we need to focus on innovations such as nanotechnology that will help create jobs,“ said Dean Hart, executive vice president of NanoInk®. ”Justas importantly, we need a workforce that will be able to fill these nanotech-focused jobs. Deb Newberry and DCTC are true pioneers in educating and preparing the masses to help secure our Nation’s leadership and competitiveness in the promising field of nanotechnology and NanoProfessor is honored to be a part of their exciting program.
“By 2015, the National Science Foundation has projected that the world will require a skilled workforce of more than two million nanotechnologists. The field of nanotechnology is already pioneering breakthroughs and innovations in the areas of energy, medicine and electronics, which will have a profound impact on lives in the 21st century.
For more information on how the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program can be implemented at your community college, technical school, high school or university, please call (847) 679-NANO (6266) or visit www.NanoProfessor.net
White House Pushes Science and Math Education
By KENNETH CHANG
November 23, 2009-To improve science and mathematics education for American children, the White House is recruiting Elmo and Big Bird, video game programmers and thousands of scientists.
President Obama will announce a campaign Monday to enlist companies and nonprofit groups to spend money, time and volunteer effort to encourage students, especially in middle and high school, to pursue science, technology, engineering and math, officials say.
The campaign, called Educate to Innovate, will focus mainly on activities outside the classroom. For example, Discovery Communications has promised to use two hours of the afternoon schedule on its Science Channel cable network for commercial-free programming geared toward middle school students.
Science and engineering societies are promising to provide volunteers to work with students in the classroom, culminating in a National Lab Day in May.
The MacArthur Foundation and technology industry organizations are giving out prizes in a contest to develop video games that teach science and math.
”The different sectors are responding to the president’s call for all hands on deck,“ John P. Holdren, the White House science adviser, said in an interview.
The other parts of the campaign include a two-year focus on science on ”Sesame Street,“ the venerable public television children’s show, and a Web site, connectamillionminds.com, set up by Time Warner Cable, that provides a searchable directory of local science activities. The cable system will contribute television time and advertising to promote the site.
The White House has also recruited Sally K. Ride, the first American woman in space, and corporate executives like Craig R. Barrett, a former chairman of Intel, and Ursula M. Burns, chief executive of Xerox, to champion the cause of science and math education to corporations and philanthropists.
Dr. Ride said their role would be identifying successful programs and then connecting financing sources to spread the successes nationally. ”The need is funding,“ she said. ”There is a lot of corporate interest and foundation interest in this issue.“
Administration officials say that the breadth of participation in Educate to Innovate is wider than in previous efforts, which have failed to produce a perceptible rise in test scores or in most students’ perceptions of math and science. In international comparison exams, American students have long lagged behind those in much of Asia and Europe.
But some education experts said the initiatives did little to address some core issues: improving the quality of teachers and the curriculum.
”I think a lot of this is good, but it is missing more than half of what needs to be done,“ said Mark S. Schneider, a vice president at the American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit research organization in Washington. ”It has nothing to do with the day-to-day teaching,“ said Dr. Schneider, who was the commissioner of education statistics at the Department of Education from 2005 to 2008.
Dr. Holdren said the initiatives, which are financed almost entirely by the participating companies and foundations and not the government, complement the Race to the Top program of the Department of Education, which will dispense $4.35 billion in stimulus financing to states for innovative education programs. The Race to the Top rules give extra points to applications that emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the so-called STEM subjects.
”The president has made it very clear it is a big priority,“ Dr. Holdren said.
In April, Mr. Obama, speaking at the National Academy of Sciences, promised a ”renewed commitment“ that would move the United States ”from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math over the next decade.“
To achieve this goal, Mr. Obama talked of ”forging partnerships.“ Monday’s announcement contains the first wave of such partnerships, officials said.
David M. Zaslav, the president and chief executive of Discovery, said Mr. Obama’s words about science education inspired Discovery to come up with the idea of two hours of programming, a mix of old and new content, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays on the Science Channel. The idea is that students coming home from school will have a ready means to learn more science.
”We took that to the administration,“ Mr. Zaslav said. ”They loved it.“
The lack of commercials is ”a big statement by us that it’s not about the money,“ he said. ”It’s about reinforcing the importance of science to kids and inspiring them.“
The programming is to begin next year; the date has not been set yet.
The foundation of Jack D. Hidary, an entrepreneur who earned his fortune in finance and technology, worked with the National Science Teachers Association, the MacArthur Foundation and the American Chemical Society to create a Web site, nationallabday.org, that matches scientists willing to volunteer their time and teachers describing what projects they hope to incorporate into their classes.
For example, Mr. Hidary said, a project could involve students’ recording of birdsongs and comparing them with others from elsewhere. ”That’s actually scientifically useful,“ he said. ”Kids can actually perform useful science.“
The projects are to culminate in National Lab Day, which schools will hold the first week of May, but the projects will typically spread over several months. Mr. Hidary said students learn better with hands-on inquiries.
”We are not about one-offs,“ he said. ”We’re not looking for bringing in a scientist for a day.“
After the chemical society joined the effort, other scientific organizations also signed on, Mr. Hidary said, adding, ”Each one is coming, upping the ante.“
For the video game challenge, the idea is to piggyback on the interest children already have in playing the games. ”That’s where they are,“ said Michael D. Gallagher, chief executive of the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group and one of the sponsors. ”This initiative is a recognition of that.“
Sony is expected to donate 1,000 PlayStation 3 game consoles and copies of the game LittleBigPlanet to libraries and community organizations in low-income areas. Part of the competition will consist of children creating new levels in LittleBigPlanet that incorporate science and math. The other part will offer a total of $300,000 in prize money to game designers for science and math games that will be distributed free.
”We’re finding extraordinary engagement with games,“ said Connie Yowell, director of education for MacArthur. If the engagement is combined with a science curriculum, she said, ”then I think we have a very powerful approach.“
Some of the initiatives were already in the works and would have been rolled out regardless of the administration’s campaign. ”Sesame Street“ already planned to incorporate nature into this year’s season, but has now decided to add discussions of the scientific method in next year’s episodes.
”We’ve really never kind of approached it that way before,“ said Gary E. Knell, president and chief executive of the Sesame Workshop.
Time Warner Cable had already decided to devote 80 percent of its philanthropy efforts to science and math education before Mr. Obama’s speech in April. But the company adjusted its project to fit in with the others.
”Being part of a bigger effort,“ said Glenn A. Britt, the chief executive, ”increases the chances that the effort will be successful.“
Clicks vs. Bricks - NECC 2009
Experts debate the relevancy of brick-and-mortar schools in an internet-connected world at the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference in Washington, D.C. Watch the video:
High school teacher's algebra book aces California test
Book from Rice University's Connexions used in historic K-12 initiative
COSTA MESA, Calif. -- (Aug. 11, 2009) -- As California prepares to become the first state in the nation to offer free, open-source digital textbooks for high school students this fall, state officials today gave an A-plus to a North Carolina high school teacher's algebra II textbook, one of the first open-source texts submitted for the program.
Advanced Algebra II <http://cnx.org/content/m19435/latest/> by Raleigh, N.C., math teacher Kenny Felder was submitted to California officials by Connexions, an open-education initiative at Rice University in Houston that publishes the open-copyright book.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiative, together with President Obama’s proposal to invest $500 million in open-education over the next decade, are two of the most significant steps forward in open-education to date," said Joel Thierstein, Connexions executive director. "Open education is the biggest advance in education since Horace Mann’s push for mandatory free public education in the U.S."
California Secretary of Education Glen Thomas today unveiled his department's review of the first 16 digital texts submitted by publishers in response to Schwarzenegger's May 6 call for free open-source digital textbooks for high school students. Textbook choices are made at the local level in California, and Thomas' reviews are designed to help local officials choose digital books that best meet their needs. The reviews assessed how well each book complied with California's state textbook standards, and Connexions' algebra text scored a 96, meeting 26 of the 27 standards tested.
Felder, who teaches algebra and calculus at Raleigh Charter High School, said he was delighted to learn that his book scored so well on California's test. He said the book was created from the lessons he created and refined during 10 years of algebra II classes.
"My book presents math as an exploration of ideas -- not a collection of facts and techniques," Felder said. "Students often tell me they are realizing, for the first time, that math makes sense. And that's what I hope they remember from my class; there are reasons for everything in math, and you should ask 'Why?' and keep asking, particularly if someone says, 'That's just the way it is.'"
Thierstein said Felder's story isn't unlike those of many authors who've submitted materials to Connexions.
"One of the beauties of open-education in general, and Connexions in particular, is that anyone who wants to take the time to create content can do it, and anyone who wants to update content and keep it current or improve it can do that too," Thierstein said. "A book is never static in Connexions because everything is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Only copyright license. Any teacher can modify the book to make it culturally relevant for their students."
The reviews of Felder's book and the other submissions for California's K-12 open-source textbook initiative were presented at a symposium in Orange County this morning that was organized by the California Educational Technology Professionals Association. The event attracted hundreds of officials who are tasked with choosing curriculum in a year with extremely tight budgets. Thierstein, an invited panelist, answered questions and explained how open-source texts like Felder's book could both improve classroom instruction and save money.
"Everyone is looking to cut costs over the next couple of years, but the real beauty of open-educational resources like Kenny Felder's book is that they provide the foundation for a step-change in the quality of education in the United States," Thierstein said.
With more than a million visitors a month and one of the world's largest repositories of open-education resources, Connexions is a leading global provider of open-copyright licensed, free educational materials. Connexions is available free for anyone to contribute to or learn from at <http://cnx.org>.
Joint effort by governors and state chiefs groups seeks to define reading and math standards for 44 participating states
By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor, eSchool News
As the idea of common educational standards gains traction across the United States, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) has released the first draft of its proposed national reading and math standards.
The initiative, created by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), aims to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college and the 21st century workforce by creating a common core of standards for all states.
It's been a long-held tradition in American public education that decisions about standards and curriculum are best left to state and local school systems, and that belief has derailed past efforts to push for a national set of standards. But NGA and CCSSO say this effort is different, because it's driven by collective state action and because states will voluntarily adopt the standards based on their own timelines and context.
Every state except Alaska, South Carolina, Missouri, and Texas has signed on to the effort so far. But getting the states to adopt whatever emerges will be politically difficult.
Read full article at:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=59934
Scitable by Nature education- A Collaborative Learning Space.
What Is Scitable?
A free science library and personal learning tool brought to you by Nature Publishing Group, the world's leading publisher of science.
Scitable currently concentrates on genetics, the study of evolution, variation, and the rich complexity of living organisms. As you cultivate your understanding of modern genetics on Scitable, you will explore not only what we know about genetics and the ways it impacts our society, but also the data and evidence that supports our knowledge.
http://www.nature.com/scitable
Global - Netherlands
The Harvest of Science Education
30 juni 2009 - If a government is really prepared to invest in science, the social and economic pay-off will be tremendous, history shows. But without a knowledge boost, talks about a knowledge economy are like promoting an oil economy without oil, it is argued by Jos Engelen, who lately became president of the Dutch Science Council NWO. He points at the impact of the work of Gerard ‘t Hooft, who started as a student in Utrecht.
The title that was given to me for this lecture reads, in Dutch: de moderne bèta-faculteit. I will make my life easy by translating that as: the modern science faculty, assuming that is an accurate translation.
‘Door meten tot weten’. Another text in Dutch that I find hard to translate. It is a now classical statement by Kamerlingh Onnes, prominent Dutch physicist and Nobel Prize winner, who, early in the last century was the first to liquefy helium and to discover superconductivity. ‘Through measurement to knowledge’ is the translation I will use, although I feel it is not quite adequate. It is probably as difficult to capture the subtleties of this Dutch text in English as it is to capture those of ‘to be or not to be’ in Dutch.
‘Through measurement to knowledge’: the statement compactly summarizes the methodological essence of the natural sciences. The teaching of science is the task of the universities. This task can only flourish in an environment where the adage ‘through measurement to knowledge’ can be turned into practice.
Not too Brutal
But before the future scientist can push back the frontiers of what we know and of what we can, she first has to live through a phase of ‘through studying to knowledge’. It is known at every faculty that during this phase the student has to be treated with care. In particular because of the decreasing interest of young people to enroll in the natural sciences this cautiousness has strongly grown during the last ten, fifteen years. The curriculum has to fit in with the knowledge the future student has acquired at high school and the curriculum also has to be attractive. A young student who feels attracted by the romance of quarks and black holes should not be immediately deterred by a too brutal introduction of differential equations, of matrices, unitary or not, or by ramshackle laboratory classes. The modern science faculty has invested in an innovative curriculum and in an attractive and well equipped environment for training.
I cannot claim any particular expertise in this area so I will not dwell on it, but looking at some recently or soon to be opened science faculty buildings I observe that these latter aspects, an attractive well equipped environment have received due attention.
But above all a modern science faculty sees to it that the distance between scientific instruction and scientific research is as small as possible. It does this in two ways: by involving active researches in the training as much as possible and by introducing students to ongoing research as soon as possible.
Big Science
‘Through measurement to knowledge’. Kamerlingh Onnes had decided to liquefy helium and to measure the temperature at which the condensation took place. He had decided to do this experiment, not because it was easy, but because it was hard and because no one had achieved this before. To create new knowledge he had to push back boundaries. He had to build a large experimental set up and he needed the help of skilled technicians (‘instrumentmakers’). He needed ‘materials’, not in the last place costly helium. He needed considerable funds. ‘Big science’ avant la lettre. He succeeded in organizing and financing the project – without the guarantee of success, let alone the prospect of what nowadays we call ‘valorisation’. We now know that he was successful: in 1908 he observed for the first time liquid helium and in 1911 he made an unequalled, breathtaking discovery: that of superconductivity. When superconducting a metal or a metal alloy completely loses its electrical resistance and can carry enormous current densities. Incidentally, it took half a century until superconductivity was understood – the phenomenon was way ahead of its time! Superconductivity is now routinely applied in superconducting magnets. These superconducting magnets, in turn, find applications again in basic research (for example high energy physics), but also in medical diagnostics (MRI). Also in ITER, the fusion test experiment in Cadarache, with Dutch participation.
Kamerlingh Onnes’s research took place in a university laboratory. Such laboratories should remain the cradle of new discoveries and should remain the place where talented students are trained and won for research. But this is easier said than done. Good researchers need good infrastructure and advanced equipment which in turn attract good researchers.
In the Netherlands we have about ten (research) universities in the area of the natural sciences. Is that a large enough number for a country of 40.000 km2 and 16 million inhabitants? It corresponds to one university per 4.000 km2.
That surface corresponds to a square with sides of length 63 km. That is truly not a large distance to travel. The actual distribution of universities of course deviates from this simplified picture, but I still think it would be hard to argue, on general grounds, in favor of creating a new ‘green fields’ university in the Netherlands, but if specific arguments for a specific region can be made, I would not oppose them.
Black Holes and Real Passion
In fact ten universities are too many to allow all of them to have available the most advanced research infrastructure for each relevant area. Should the universities then trade these ‘relevant areas’ among each other including the corresponding research infrastructure? That is not an attractive solution. The attractiveness of a university is especially large because of the presence of many fields of expertise and students should be able to determine their choices and follow their preferences at ‘their’ university. As I heard a well-known biologist now politician put it: even if they are attracted by black holes, a number of them will discover that organic chemistry is their real passion. An attractive science faculty has (almost) everything to offer, but not every faculty can maintain the most modern research infrastructure in every possible area – that is why that faculty encourages its researchers to participate in national and international collaborations that do have access to this infrastructure and equipment.
In the Netherlands, we have research institutes with a national function. Institutes often funded largely through ‘the second flow of funding’ (in Dutch: ‘de tweede geldstroom’), so not directly by a university. These institutes often accommodate a costly infrastructural provision of (inter)national interest and/or constitute a centre of expertise of (inter)national interest. They also offer, without exception, opportunities for multilateral collaborations with the Dutch universities. Conversely such collaborations are of vital importance for the institutes, not in the last place because of the contact with students. Moreover, a smart human resources policy offers opportunities for both the institutes and the universities.
It is easy to point out a number of examples, although the cooperation between universities and, let me call them the indirectly funded institutes (‘tweede-geldstroominstituten’) could be intensified in a number of cases. In fact this is a problem of governance: university boards prefer to emphasize the excellence of their university rather than the excellence of their collaborations and joint ventures. Anyway, let us look at a number of examples of frontier research accessible to our universities, among others through national institutes.
In May the Herschel telescope was launched with a very advanced instrument on board – HIFI – for observing the birth of stars and planets, built by space research centre SRON. Soon the radio telescope LOFAR will become operational, built by astronomy institute ASTRON – LOFAR is an instrument unique in the world. Dutch researchers are at the forefront of the quest for the Higgs particle, a quest that will soon gain enormous momentum at CERN in Geneva: thanks to the NIKHEF institute every Dutch undergraduate or graduate student who wishes so has direct access to this adventure. The new and fascinating properties of nano-crystals (‘quantum dots’) can be explored by our researchers at Delft and at other places thanks to the investments in the required infrastructure. Research of seas and oceans in all its aspects is possible thanks to NIOZ, operating, amongst others, the research vessel Pelagia. The NIOO, the Dutch institute for ecology does research to find out how living creatures interact with each other and with their environment. Nature is studied in all its facets: from the DNA of bacteria to the biodiversity of ecosystems. Research at the frontier of development biology and stem cell research is performed at the Hubrecht institute. The High Field Magnet Lab offers possibilities for studying materials in extremely high magnetic fields: research that is possible at very few places in the world only.
These were some examples of national institutes/infrastructures performing or allowing frontier scientific research. The list is certainly not complete, but the message is clear: the ambitious Dutch science faculty has access to these institutes: for its researchers and for its students.
Let me work out one example in somewhat more detail. Not because this is necessarily the most important example, but it is the one I am most familiar with. It also allows me to make a small excursion into science and although it is a small deviation from the main thrust of this lecture you will hopefully find it interesting enough to forgive me.
In 1971, Gerard ‘t Hooft, Ph.D. student in Utrecht, published an article that made him world-famous in one blow. The title of the article was: ‘Renormalizable Lagrangians for Massive Gauge Fields’. Veltman and he received the Nobel Prize for it in 1999. A rather esoteric subject, you will say. Yet it has everything to do with something very practical: the World Wide Web that was introduced by Tim Berners Lee about twenty years ago. Let me explain.
The article by ‘t Hooft laid the basis for a quantitative theory of elementary particles and fields and their interactions. The keyword here is quantitative: using the theory it was possible to explain measurements and make predictions. The old theory, for example, to explain a well known phenomenon like radioactivity turned, from a theory that was very shaky, into a theory that was exactly right.
In the years that followed many new discoveries were made: the W boson, the Z boson, the Tau lepton, the Charm quark and much, much more: everything fitted seamlessly in the Standard Model based on ‘t Hooft’s and Veltman’s insights. That is to say, one small detail still needed to be settled. One ingredient, absolutely essential for the theory still needed to (and in fact still needs to!) be found experimentally. Let us give it a name, for ease of conversation: the Higgs boson. In 1989 the then largest particle accelerator in the world was put into operation at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN in Geneva. The Netherlands is one of the founders of this European Intergovernmental Research Organization. This wonderful device and the corresponding experimental set ups have yielded a fantastic treasure of results. Thanks to NIKHEF, a national institute in which also several universities participate, many Dutch Ph.D. students have had the opportunity to write a thesis about the results of their research, obtained with the help of this accelerator, known under the name LEP.
Vague but exciting
The scientific harvest of this project is impressive: thanks to ‘t Hooft’s and Veltman’s work a very large body of new and unique experimental results appeared to fit perfectly in this wonderful Standard Model. The experiments required a large scale effort. They required technological innovations, the design of the complex and large experimental setups required the collaboration of many engineers and physicists, the creation of the software required new approaches to software engineering and above all: all this required good documentation and good communication between hundreds of people. And because he felt this need and had the right vision Tim Berners Lee created ‘hypertext mark up language’ and ‘hypertext transfer protocol’. That he and Robert Cailleau understood from the beginning that this was something ‘big’ is illustrated by the fact that they coined the name ‘worldwide web’. Mike Sendall, at that time Berners Lee’s boss, once showed me the Memorandum, written by Berners Lee and submitted to Sendall for approval, requesting 100,000 Swiss Francs or so to be able to try out his ideas. Mike showed me his handwritten comment on the Memorandum: ‘vague but exciting’. That meant: OK, go ahead, spend the money. It was the go ahead for an innovation that had profound consequences for scientific, economic and cultural life. Consequences, by the way, that we have not even begun to understand yet: largely very positive, but, like many discoveries and innovations this one also has its dark sides.
Before getting carried away and sidetracked too much let me remind you of the line of argument: a brilliant student found the right environment at a Dutch university for developing his talents; the fantastic ‘big science’ that developed ‘inter alia’ led to the World Wide Web; the Dutch participation in this ‘big science’ led to first class scientific results – this participation by scientists, students, engineers was possible because of strong and healthy science faculties collaborating through a national institute.
Let us, at this point have a look at the European perspective. In order to make Europe more than the sum of its parts, an absolute necessity for remaining competitive on a global scale, the European Commission attempts to stimulate effective collaboration between the member states. Although these attempts, at least their results are worryingly ineffective, at least some of them do have a beneficial effect. One is the Bologna Declaration, leading, at least in principle, to a Europe-wide, harmonized bachelor-master system and allowing students to move more easily across Europe. The modern Dutch science university should be attractive for foreign students and have an active policy for recruiting them. The conditions for being attractive for these students are not very different from those to be attractive for Dutch students: attractive and stimulating environment, natural contact with top research and top researchers. And this requires access to and involvement in the creation of European research infrastructures. In this area a good coordination at the national level, here in the Netherlands, is absolutely necessary. And practically absent... I personally see an important role here for NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, not to dominate but to organize and steer the discussion. Where individual universities have to worry about their own plans and problems first, NWO can, by construction, operate from the perspective of our national interest.
Roadmap
A roadmap for European research infrastructures has been proposed by ESFRI: the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures. Although I personally have some difficulty with the lack of transparency of the ESFRI process, at least as far as the Dutch input is concerned, the roadmap has turned out to be an authoritative document. And, to immediately off-set my criticism, also I think it is a valuable document. Let us have a look at the projects appearing on the roadmap which are potentially relevant for our science universities. I only mention a few here, just to illustrate my point: we will need to make decisions on adequate investments soon – otherwise the Netherlands will be left behind, it will be impossible to catch up and our knowledge based economy will never develop. So, to give you a flavor, here are a few future research infrastructures: Advanced Computing in Europe; Square Kilometer Array for radio-astronomy (global); Pan-European Infrastructure for Nano-structures; European Extremely Large Telescope for optical astronomy; Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser in Hamburg; European Spallation Source for neutron spectroscopy; European Magnetic Field Laboratory; Integrated carbon observation system; Infrastructure for research on the protection, management and sustainable use of biodiversity – and there is more, much more including projects underway like ITER (fusion) and LHC (particle physics).
The Netherlands will have to plan its share of the many billions that need to be invested. More importantly it needs to allow the Dutch scientists at universities and institutes to conduct their scientific research in the context of Europeanization and globalization of collaborations and infrastructures. Conversely our scientists should be brought in a position to actively influence European investments in research. It is clear that in my proposed stratification: universities, national institutes it should be easy to connect to the European and global level quite naturally.
Heading for Mediocrity?
The investments in research and development in the Netherlands are insufficient. The support for the universities is less than generous, to say the least. The analyses are known, I will not repeat them here. What I find very worrying is that we do not manage to convey the urgency of the situation to our authorities and in particular to our politicians. If we wait until it is obvious that the Netherlands has lost its competitive position it is too late to catch up. Mediocrity will be the standard – perhaps a more comfortable environment for some of our politicians, but not for most of us.
I am, however, not pessimistic. The dynamism of science is so strong that we will be able to turn the tide. The discoveries in physics, chemistry and also and in particular in the life sciences are and will be so spectacular that the scientists will simply not accept to be excluded. KNAW, NWO, VSNU and other organizations as well as individual scientists: together we will find the way to convince our government to realize what it means to be a knowledge based economy. This for me is one of the greatest puzzles of all: how can we express the vision that our future is a knowledge based economy, where we neglect knowledge. It is as if we planned for an oil based economy, forgetting one detail: that we have no oil!
Furthermore, although it is obvious, let us continue to argue that science is the basis for addressing the problems we face: climate change, the need for new energy resources, avoiding pandemics, achieving a sustainable society. If we manage to create the right environment, one that stimulates and is attractive for young people, the universities in the Netherlands, including the science faculties, have a great future! NWO is ready to make leading contributions to create this environment.
Jos Engelen read this speech as the Gemma Frisius Lecture for the Fryske Akademy on June, 30, 2009.
http://www.scienceguide.nl/article.asp?articleid=107527
Online tutorials help elementary school teachers make sense of science
June 18th, 2009
Interactive Web-based science tutorials can be effective tools for helping elementary school teachers construct powerful explanatory models of difficult scientific concepts, and research shows the interactive tutorials are just as effective online as they are in face-to-face settings, says a University of Illinois expert in science education.
David Brown, a professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education, said that elementary school teachers need high-quality, research-based resources to help them build a meaningful scientific knowledge base.
"Refining one's scientific knowledge base through online interactive resources can help teachers develop a deeper conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena, making them better prepared to engage students in science-based activities," Brown said.
In any curriculum, there is teacher background literature or other forms of digested information that teachers can study to refresh their memories or get the broad stroke outlines of what they're going to teach.
The trouble with those teaching aids, according to Brown, is that the information they contain is "usually fairly terse" and isn't interactive or research-based.
If teachers lack confidence in their scientific knowledge base, they're probably going to avoid situations where they might be caught flat-footed by a student's question, because they don't want to be asked a question they don't know how to answer, Brown said.
So they'll fall back on more traditional lesson plans that emphasize the rote memorization of scientific terms over inquiry-based forms of learning, such as hands-on activities and discussions of those activities.
But an emphasis on routinized learning doesn't help students grasp the foundational science behind what they're learning, Brown said.
"If online tutorials focus on explaining the underlying scientific concepts behind the phenomena rather than on the rote memorization of facts, that can help teachers form a more meaningful conceptual understanding of what they're going to teach," he said. "A teacher who has a firm scientific knowledge base can then help students understand the fundamental scientific ideas and concepts behind what they're learning better."
To test his hypothesis, Brown developed "Making Sense of Science," an online multimedia tutorial that tested subjects' pre- and post-test knowledge of the scientific concept of buoyancy.
In the first 10 interviews, the average post-test score increased by 16 percent; in the second group of 10, by 28 percent; and for a group of 68 online users, by 33 percent. Similarly, Brown discovered that the average post-test confidence scores nearly doubled after the respondents interacted with the tutorials, and the written explanations of their ideas went from "somewhat incoherent" to "coherent explanations that made use of relevant ideas," he said.
"We found that our resources were effective, and they were as effective online as they were face-to-face," Brown said.
The tutorials were also crafted to address the perceived deficiencies that Brown thought other teacher background information and online resources suffered from.
"The resources are designed to help teachers develop their ideas," Brown said. "They're not designed for teachers to use directly with the students, but rather as background information for the teachers to develop their ideas so they'll be in a better position to engage students in activities."
Those positive results make Brown guardedly optimistic that online resources for teachers can be developed that will be helpful in advancing reform in elementary science education.
"The focus in both national and state standards is involving students in inquiry-oriented activities," he said. "This is just trying to provide a resource for teachers for what they're already being asked to do at the national and state levels."
Brown believes having better prepared elementary school science teachers will ultimately lead to more students interested in science.
"There's a world of difference between a drill-and-kill lesson versus an inquiry-oriented one in terms of student engagement and retention," he said. "There's a wealth of potential there that we're not tapping into."
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (news : web)
eSchool News Online Education Resource Center:
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Online learning is no longer regarded with the skepticism it was a decade ago—and now thousands of K-12 schools nationwide are turning to online-learning providers for help with credit recovery, enrichment opportunities for gifted students, and even for providing core curriculum classes in areas where there isn't enough demand to justify keeping a teacher on staff.
Many people think of online learning and they quickly disregard it since their children won't have interaction with their peers. However, they're mistaken. Students interact with teachers and their peers on a daily basis. They participate in group work and collaboration. Advocates of online education say that the biggest benefit is that it prepares students for a world where life is not structured in class periods and adults increasingly communicate electronically, work remotely, and meet virtually.
Browse our K-12 Nano Science Education Outreach Online Resources at:
http://www.tntg.org/documents/46.html
Texas School Standards: Age of the Universe Erased
Texas school standards next attack: Removing references to the age of the universe.
(PhysOrg.com) -- The fight over the new education and curriculum standards for the public schools in Texas has been long and publicized. Most of the publicity, though, focuses on the school board's focus on "intelligent design" as it relates to the biological question of evolution. Because evolution has long been contested in public schools, it is no real surprise that this has gotten the most play from the media. But one thing that hasn't been mentioned as much is the fact that the Texas school standards also remove mention of the age of the universe. Long-standing ideas of cosmology are being challenged as well.
Originally in the Texas school standards was this phrase: "concept of an expanding universe that originated about 14 billion years ago." However, board member Barbara Cargill thought this wasn't good enough. It was too definite. The standards now read, "current theories of the evolution of the universe including estimates for the age of the universe." You can bet that the age of the earth is not listed in the Texas curriculum as about 4.5 billion years old -- in spite of the fact that most of the people my age and older have known (or rather, estimated) this for years.
There certainly are many different theories about the formation of the universe. Whether it was a big bang or a big bounce are two of them. Cosmologists and astronomers wonder about the rate of expansion in the early universe, and they debate the effects of gravity (not to mention its nature) as well as consider questions about the composition of the universe and the kinds of particles that exist. However, despite the questions that do exist about the origination of the universe, there is very little debate about its age.
Right now, the latest estimate is that the universe is 13.73 billion years old, plus or minus 120 million years. This information is the latest from results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe (WMAP). While the age of the universe is likely to be fine tuned in coming years, it is extremely likely that it will remain in the neighborhood of 14 billion years. And few scientists see the age of the earth being cast in doubt as well. But it appears that cosmology could now be thrown into the fray of science v. religion.
Until now, matters of space have been very little addressed in terms of religion. After all, couldn't God have created the universe well before putting humans on Earth? But it appears that by working from Earth outward, some are becoming concerned. If God created humans on Earth just a few millennia ago, then Earth can't be 4.5 billion years old. And if Earth isn't as old as all that, surely the universe isn't, either. It's an interesting train of logic. And one that could result in all we know about space science being brought under attack.
© 2009 PhysOrg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news158320278.html
A Stimulus for a New Era of Innovation and Improvement in Education
A Knowledge Alliance Statement by Jim Kohlmoos, President of Knowledge Alliance and Doris Redfield, CEO of Edvantia and Board, Chair of Knowledge Alliance
With the passage and signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, we have reached a pivotal moment in the global economic crisis—one filled with urgent monumental challenges as well as history-making opportunities.
For education, in particular, the President and Congress have injected desperately needed funds for our nation's schools as well as stimulated a new era of innovation in American education. Through the act, states and localities will have new resources to turn the page on past efforts and implement a series of incentive-driven reforms and improvements.
We are especially optimistic that the added federal investments in innovation, data systems, technology, and school improvement programs can make a major and immediate difference in improving our school systems. In accelerating the pace of reform through these programs it will be particularly important to effectively use research-based knowledge and do what works.
Indeed now is the time to unleash America's ingenuity to solve our most pressing education problems, deliver break-the-mold, research-based solutions to our schools, and guide a new knowledge and innovation revolution in teaching and learning.
With great enthusiasm Knowledge Alliance looks forward to helping the Administration and Congress move this stimulus agenda forward in highly efficient and effective ways.
Knowledge Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan strategic coalition addressing the need to apply rigorous research to challenges facing our nation's schools. Its members are leading education organizations conducting high-quality education research, development, dissemination, technical assistance, and evaluation at all levels—federal through local. The Alliance works with the White House, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, and other agencies to advocate knowledge-based policy for innovation and improvement in education.
Edvantia is a nonprofit corporation, founded in 1966, that partners with education agencies, foundations, publishers, and service providers to transform education through research and development. With offices in Charleston, West Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee, Edvantia provides clients with a range of services, including research, evaluation, professional development, and technical assistance. Learn more at www.edvantia.org.
Global
India to Follow $2,000 Car With $20 Laptop
JAMES LAMONT - Financial Times (U.K.)
NEW DELHI -- India is planning to produce a laptop computer for the knockdown price of about $20, having come up with the Tata Nano, the world'™s cheapest car at about $2,000.
The project, backed by New Delhi, would considerably undercut the so-called '$100 laptop," otherwise known as the Children'™s Machine or XO, that was designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of the US.
The Children’s Machine, which received a cool reception in India, is the centrepiece of the One Laptop Per Child charity initiative launched by Nicholas Negroponte, the computer scientist and former director of MIT'™s Media Lab. Intel launched a similar product, called Classmate, in response.
India's $20 laptop would also undercut the EeePC, made by Taiwan'™s Asustek. The EeePC was the first ultra-cheap, scaled-down laptop (a new category known as a netbook) launched worldwide through commercial channels. It does not have a hard drive and sells for $200-$400.
India's 'Sakshat' laptop is intended to boost distance learning to help India fulfill its overwhelming educational needs. It forms part of a broader plan to improve e-learning at more than 18,000 colleges and 400 universities. However, some analysts are sceptical that a $20 laptop would be commercially sustainable and the project has yet to attract a commercial partner.
A prototype will go on show at a National Mission on Education launch in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, tomorrow. Pioneered in India by scientists at the Vellore Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras and at the state-controlled Semiconductor Complex, the laptop has 2Gb Ram capacity and wireless connectivity.
R.P. Agrawal, secretary of secondary and higher education, said last week that the cost of the laptop was about $20 a unit, but he expected that to fall. He also said he expected the units to be commercially available in six months.
India faces the huge challenge of finding ways to equip its large population, more than 550m of whom are under the age of 25, with contemporary skills. It needs to sustain high economic growth and spread development across the country.
During the next six years, by some estimates, India will need to create another 1,500 universities. Educational institutions in the UK and US are lining up to become partners to help with this huge projected tertiary-level expansion.
Pressure is building on the government to permit foreign investment into the sector and use public-private partnerships to meet some of the demand. Leading universities across the world, such as Kellogg School of Management in the US and Imperial College in the UK, are exploring different models, including faculty partnerships, distance learning and setting up campuses.
But the government appears to favour turning to technology ahead of international partnerships to bring people into higher education.
Source: Financial Times-UK
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ecf1eae2-f092-11dd-972c-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
Texas board moves closer to new science standards
January 24th, 2009 in General Science / Other
(AP) -- The State Board of Education moved a step closer to dropping a 20-year-old science curriculum requirement that critics say is used to undermine the theory of evolution.
After two days of heated debate, the board made a key vote Friday in favor of dropping a mandate that teachers address both "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theory.
A panel of science teachers had recommended that the language be dropped, suggesting instead that students be required to analyze and evaluate scientific explanations.
The new standards the board ultimately approves - a final vote on the curriculum proposal is not expected until March - will be in place for the next decade. They also will dictate how publishers handle the topic of evolution in textbooks.
Critics of the "weaknesses" language argue that watering down the teaching standards of origin of man is an attempt to promote creationism in public schools.
Federal courts have ruled against forcing the teaching of creationism and intelligent design.
Critics of the proposal to drop the mandate blame "left-wing ideology" for trying to stifle free speech.
A narrower requirement, adopted in an unexpected amendment Thursday, would require high school biology students to address the "sufficiency or insufficiency" of common ancestry to explain certain aspects of evolutionary theory.
©2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.physorg.com/print152013345.html
Australia
New Nano Teaching Resource from Australia
AccessNano was a natural progression from the award-winning Australian nanotechnology teaching resource SHINE, which was created by science teachers at St Helena Secondary College in Melbourne, Australia.
AccessNano (www.accessnano.org) was launched in November 2008 - please do have a read of our website, and explore the teaching modules, with accompanying user guides, experiments, activities and animations.
Tech giants vow to change global assessments
Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco say global, 21st-century assessments
are key to student success and economic prosperity
By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor, eschool news
Companies say they hope these assessments will spur systemic changes
Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco--three technology giants that last year vowed to increase their efforts aimed at global education reform--have banded together to develop the next generation of assessments: tests that measure 21st-century skills and provide a global framework for excellence.
At the Learning and Technology Forum in London earlier this month, the three companies unveiled plans to underwrite a multi-sector research project to develop new approaches, methods, and technologies for measuring the success of 21st-century teaching and learning efforts in classrooms around the world.
Read full story at: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=56819
NEXX Systems and SEMATECH to Collaborate on 3D Interconnect Research at UAlbany NanoCollege
ALBANY, N.Y. & BILLERICA, Mass. - SEMATECH, a global consortium of chip-makers, and NEXX Systems, Inc., a leading provider of process equipment for advanced wafer-level packaging applications, today announced that NEXX Systems has become a member of SEMATECH’s 3D Interconnect Program located at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany.
As a member of SEMATECH’s 3D program, NEXX will collaborate with SEMATECH in leading-edge research on innovative electrodeposition technology and the development of high yield, low cost copper electroplating solutions that will enable high density 3D through-silicon-vias (TSVs).
Dr. Tom Walsh, NEXX Systems, President and CEO, "We are excited to be part of the SEMATECH 3D Interconnect program, working with the most advanced 300 mm equipment and technologists in developing this leading-edge technology. Our Stratus electrodeposition platform is uniquely suited to achieve significant improvements in both the reliability and cost-effectiveness of 3D devices, aiding their rapid adoption into mainstream electronics.“
”We all recognize that collaboration among various disciplines across the industry will be required to realize the full potential of 3D. Launched two years ago, the 3D program has been actively engaging with leading edge equipment and materials suppliers and leveraging their expertise to deliver manufacturable process solutions,“ said John Warlaumont, SEMATECH vice president of advanced technology. ”NEXX’s membership is the latest example of this new collaborative model that encourages participation with SEMATECH members in focused, cooperative R&D.“
Richard Brilla, vice president for strategy, alliances and consortia at CNSE, said, ”We are delighted to welcome NEXX Systems to the UAlbany NanoCollege, where it joins a host of the world’s leading high-tech companies engaged in next-generation nanoelectronics research and development. This new partnership is further evidence that SEMATECH’s expansion at CNSE is paying significant dividends, not only in world-class education and cutting-edge research, but also in economic outreach and growth.“
”NEXX is well known for its innovation and expertise in the area of advanced wafer-level packaging items, and their participation in SEMATECH’s 3D program will be very valuable,“ said Sitaram Arkalgud, SEMATECH’s 3D program director. ”Our mission is to make 3D-TSV both manufacturable and cost effective, and we look forward to working with NEXX to deliver processes that will accelerate progress toward industry-wide implementation.“
The goal of SEMATECH’s 3D IC program at the UAlbany NanoCollege is to ready TSV technology by addressing the infrastructure and development challenges in 3D-TSV, including materials characterization, unit processes and integration, equipment hardening, reliability, cost and benefit to device and circuit performance. Eventually, 3D interconnects will provide cost-effective ways to integrate diverse CMOS technologies and chips with emerging technologies such as micro- and nano- electromechanical systems (MEMS, NEMS) and bio-chips.
About NEXX Systems:
NEXX Systems brings exceptional technical expertise to advanced packaging and 3D integration. Our product lines provide the most efficient, yet affordable, systems of their kind: Apollo and Nimbus for multi-layer sputter deposition of metals, and Stratus for high throughput electro-deposition of metals. Additional information can be found at: www.nexxsystems.com.
About CNSE:
The UAlbany CNSE is the first college in the world dedicated to research, development, education, and deployment in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics. In May 2007, it was ranked as the world’s number one college for nanotechnology and microtechnology in the Annual College Ranking by Small Times magazine. CNSE’s Albany NanoTech complex is the most advanced research enterprise of its kind at any university in the world: a $4.5 billion, 450,000-square-foot complex that attracts corporate partners from around the world and offers students a one-of-a-kind academic experience. The UAlbany NanoCollege houses the only fully-integrated, 300mm wafer, computer chip pilot prototyping and demonstration line within 65,000 square feet of Class 1 capable cleanrooms. More than 2,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty work on site at CNSE’s Albany NanoTech complex, from companies including IBM, AMD, SEMATECH, Toshiba, ASML, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, Vistec Lithography and Freescale. An expansion currently underway will increase the size of CNSE’s Albany NanoTech complex to over 800,000 square feet, including over 80,000 square feet of Class 1 capable cleanroom space, to house over 2,500 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty by mid-2009. For more information, visit http://www.cnse.albany.edu/.
About SEMATECH:
For 20 years, SEMATECH® (www.sematech.org) has set global direction, enabled flexible collaboration, and bridged strategic R&D to manufacturing. Today, we continue accelerating the next technology revolution with our nanoelectronics and emerging technology partners.
Source:SEMATECH
SEMATECH
Erica McGill, 518-956-7446
erica.mcgill@sematech.org
Global
Georgia Tech in R&D partner deal with Irish institute
21.01.2009
Venerable US research body Georgia Tech has signed an agreement to explore collaborative research and educational opportunities with an Irish institute of technology, based in the Midlands.
Georgia Tech has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) and Georgia Tech Ireland (GTI), looking at joint research programmes, dual undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and the creation of a Midlands Gateway Research and Innovation Centre.
Over the course of the past year, AIT and GTI, which is located in Athlone, have collaborated on various initiatives in nanomedicine, biomedicine/biosciences and food- processing technologies. The MoU looks to the continuation of this development.
”This strategic partnership between Athlone and Atlanta will involve the sharing of expertise and resources that will be to the betterment of all parties,“ the president of AIT, Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, said.
”An already strong relationship exists between our respective institutions, and this agreement provides the necessary framework to progress in new and bold directions.
”In particular, our common interest in wireless systems and nanomedicine sets the platform from which we will further develop this trans-Atlantic partnership. In an era where collaboration is increasingly the norm, this agreement is marked by an uncommon distinctiveness and vision.
”We look forward to working with Georgia Tech in delivering ground-breaking research and providing innovative academic programmes. At a time when hope is needed more than ever before, here is the germ of that promise,“ Professor Ó Catháin said.
”GTI’s parent, Georgia Institute of Technology, has ranked in the top 10 among public universities in the US for 10 consecutive years, and its applied research arm, Georgia Tech Research Institute, performs more than US$100m worth of applied research annually,“ Dr Krishan Ahuja, director of GTI and a Regents professor at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, explained.
”These resources, along with GTI’s outstanding facilities and personnel in Athlone, will support the collaboration with AIT and provide countless benefits for the entire region.“
The agreement envisages a joint research programme in wireless systems, which will build upon GTI’s existing radio frequency identification (RFID) and internet protocol television (IPTV) research programmes, and will use existing GTI and AIT facilities.
Both parties will endeavour to jointly secure necessary funding to support sustainment of related test beds, infrastructure and research faculty to engage in translational research.
For prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students, the possible implementation of joint/dual programmes in bioscience, nanomedicine, systems engineering and entrepreneurship is a very exciting development. The agreement envisages student and faculty exchanges between the US and Ireland.
The possibility of collaborating on continuing education/distance-learning programmes is also outlined. According to the parties, AIT and GTI will explore approaches to leverage Georgia Tech facilities such as the Global Learning Center (GLC) and Collaborative Visualization facility (CoVE) in Athlone.
AIT will also explore establishing a visiting fellowship for a senior Georgia Tech representative, who will be actively involved in developing joint research-project initiatives.
Research institutes on the Atlanta and Athlone campuses may also benefit from shared research leader expertise on their advisory boards. GTI will explore offering a suitable faculty title to leaders of key research institutes at AIT that have collaborative programmes with GTI.
AIT has established partnerships and agreements with over 220 universities and third-level institutions around the globe. The institute is a participant on the International Centre for Graduate Education in Micro- and Nano-Engineering (ICGEE), together with 13 other partners from Europe, America and Asia.
Georgia Tech Ireland was officially opened in 2006 at the IDA Business and Technology Park, Athlone. Established by Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the applied research and real-world problem-solving arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology, it was GTRI’s first applied- research facility outside of the US. GTI partners and collaborates with Irish corporations, higher education institutions and research centres, the Georgia Tech research community and US companies.
Georgia Institute of Technology is one of America’s top research universities, distinguished by its commitment to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology.
Georgia Tech’s campus occupies 400 acres in the heart of the city of Atlanta, where more than 19,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students receive a focused, technologically based education.
By John Kennedy
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/12136/randd/georgia-tech-in-randd-partner-deal-with-irish-it
All Scout Nano Day
IIN Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
February 28, 2009
The much anticipated annual All Scout Nano Day will be held February 28, 2009 for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturers. The event will include presentations and demonstrations by graduate students and faculty on nanotechnology, hands-on inquiry-based team activities, and the popular microscopes and lasers tour (including demonstrations of the near-field scanning optical microscope, atomic force microscope, and scanning tunneling electron microscope). For more information please contact Denise Dooley at (847) 467-4862 or d-dooley@northwestern.edu.
Nano Boot Camp for Clinicians
NU-Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence
Hughes Auditorium
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL
March 5, 2009
The Nano Boot Camp will provide a tutorial-based introduction to nanotechnology, and overview of the latest research, and prospects for translating these advances into the clinic. The Center is partnering with the Center for Biotechnology Management at the NU Kellogg School of Management on this endeavor, which will target the clinical community. For more information please contact Kathleen Cook (847) 467-5335 or k-cook@northwestern.edu.
Future of school textbooks written in cyberspace
January 14th, 2009
Northwest Missouri State University students started spring semester classes Monday, but many aren't lugging thick textbooks around campus.
Instead, most students are carrying a lightweight electronic device that can fit in a coat pocket and hold the textbook material for all their classes. Some students will download their text information onto their laptops.
At Northwest, textbooks - at least the bound kind - are fast becoming a thing of the past.
Besides taking a load off students' backs, going textbook-free can save them a lot of money.
The pilot electronic textbook program began in the fall with four classes and about 200 students. This spring, roughly 4,000 of the school's 6,500 students will use electronic textbooks.
"I think that it's the way the world is going," said Dean L. Hubbard, Northwest's president, who is retiring in July after 25 years at the Maryville, Mo., university.
Textbook publishers say many colleges are moving toward using some electronic textbooks, but Northwest's plan to eventually eliminate all bound textbooks makes it a leader in the movement.
"Right now, digital products account for a small percent of our higher education business, but it is growing at a rate that is breathtaking," said Jeffrey Ho, a product manager for McGraw-Hill Education.
But Northwest can only move toward a bookless campus as fast as the availability of e-books allows, Hubbard said.
"Publishers don't have all textbooks online yet," he said. "But I would think as a realistic measure we could be totally out of the printed textbook business in three years."
That idea pleases sophomore Mike Jenkins.
"I think the whole concept is pretty cool," said Jenkins, 19, of Lee's Summit, Mo. Jenkins used e-books in his history class during the fall semester.
"I would like it if we didn't have textbooks at all anymore," he said. "You wouldn't have the hassle of messing with books. The e-book is so convenient, and you don't have to carry all those books around."
Plus, unlike printed textbooks, e-books have pop-up interactive quizzes and the ability to search the full text within seconds for key words. New electronic reader technology also will allow students to take notes in on-screen posted notes.
Jenkins found a few "minor" problems with the e-reader gadget that he and his classmates used.
"You can't look at a whole page on one screen, and it doesn't have a backlight to light up the screen, so you have to be somewhere that is well lit," he said.
Not all students were as comfortable with the electronic textbooks.
"I always worried that something would happen, like it would crash on the night I had to study for a test," said Jennifer Martin, a 22-year-old Northwest senior from Liberty, Mo.
"It's a good concept, but I didn't like it that much. I would rather flip pages back and forth in the textbook when I'm studying. Maybe it would be better to start this with freshmen who haven't yet gotten used to studying using a regular textbook."
Students who want a traditional textbook could still get one.
But the cost savings are hard to ignore, even at Northwest, a school that already is unique because of its textbook rental system and its history of giving every student a laptop.
A textbook-free campus would save the university about $400,000 a year. Currently the university spends about $800,000 a year to keep an inventory of about 50,000 to 80,000 textbooks that are rented out to students. Northwest students pay about $80 to $90 a semester on books, a fraction of what students at other schools pay.
Northwest will continue to charge students just a rental fee. But once the e-book program goes campuswide, Hubbard said, Northwest students' book fee will be cut in half.
E-books are less expensive than bound books, which are updated every few years and then have to be repurchased by the school. E-books can be updated at no cost.
Even at schools without a rental system, students would pay far less for texts on e-books than they would for bound books.
Nationally, the cost of textbooks has soared in the last decade. The average college student spends nearly $1,000 a year on textbooks, according to the National Association of College Stores.
Northwest will purchase the electronic readers and then load them with the e-books each student needs. The student would pick up their loaded e-reader at the university bookstore or have their electronic textbooks loaded on their laptop.
The e-book plan is being phased in, with more faculty members signing up each year to teach classes using electronic textbooks.
"We think that students who are coming to Northwest today are more comfortable with learning from electronic text because they are used to reading from a computer screen," said Paul Klute, assistant to the president at Northwest.
"It's nothing for a student to read for two or three hours on a computer screen."
University faculty members are getting used to the idea of Northwest doing away with bound textbooks, but they hope students can choose to read the e-books on laptops, e-readers or iPods.
"We are going to have to have multiple modes of delivery," said Rod Barr, an agriculture instructor who used the e-reader gadget in one of his fall classes. "Not all students are the same and not all classes use textbooks in the same way."
Barr said the e-reader used by his students had limited use for class discussions requiring students to jump around from chapter to chapter.
"It's a good device for straight front-to-back novel reading, though," he said.
He said the more technologically savvy students in his class used the device the most, "but they also had the greatest expectations."
___
© 2009, The Kansas City Star.
Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kansascity.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
http://www.physorg.com/print151174757.html
'UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE' WEBSITE CLARIFIES WHAT SCIENCE IS, IS NOT, January 09
(PhysOrg.com) -- If you think you know what science is and how science works, think again. A new University of California, Berkeley, Web site called "Understanding Science" paints an entirely new picture of what science is and how science is done, showing it to be a dynamic and creative process rather than the linear - and frequently boring - process depicted in most textbooks.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news150730593.html
SSoS Spotlight: Substantial School Improvement in Virginia
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
2:00 — 3:00 p.m. Eastern
How can state departments of education provide meaningful, effective support to school districts that have schools in danger of, or already in, restructuring? How might state departments of education work more efficiently and effectively to help their school districts avoid becoming overwhelmed by increasing numbers of schools in need of improvement? The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) answered this difficult question with an ongoing series of targeted trainings for local education agencies on research-based indicators of substantial school improvement.
Tune in to "Substantial School Improvement," one in a series of webinars sponsored by the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) and the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center (MACC) that explores how states are leveraging their statewide systems of support to encourage district and school improvement.
Guests:
Dr. Kathleen Smith, Director of the Office of School Improvement, VDOE
Dr. Keith Smith, Virginia Liaison, ARCC
This event is facilitated by:
Dr. John Ross, Director of Technology, ARCC
Visit http://www.arcc.edvantia.org to register.
800.624.9120 | www.arcc.edvantia.org | info@arcc.edvantia.org
Post Office Box 1348, Charleston, West Virginia 25325-1348
Governor's Budget Continues Washington's Efforts in STEM Education
Many of Washington's programs aimed at enhancing the skills of educators in science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) fields will continue to receive state support in the coming biennium under Gov. Christine Gregoire's budget proposal - while other TBED initiatives did not fare as well.
The governor's fiscal year 2009-11 budget recommends a total of $17.5 million from the general fund and the Education Legacy Trust Fund to support the state's "foundational math and science effort," which includes school district math and science coaches, math and science standards and curriculum development, after-school math assistance and support for the LASER science program. Specific recommendations include:
$7.5 million to provide grants for instructional coaches in math and science for middle and high schools;
$3.1 million each fiscal year for the LASER program, a statewide program designed to implement an inquiry-based K-8 science education program;
$1.85 million for specialized professional development for one math teacher and one science teacher in each middle and high school;
$1.4 million for three additional professional development days for middle and high school math and science teachers;
$244,000 each fiscal year for conditional stipends for certified teachers to receive training in mathematics or science fields; and
$139,000 each fiscal year for the office of the superintendent of public instruction to coordinate and promote efforts to develop integrated STEM programs across the state.
To help address a projected $5.7 billion shortfall, the governor recommends cutting 13 percent across-the-board for the state's research and regional institutions and 6 percent for community and technical colleges. Budget documents note that the lower rate of reduction to community and technical colleges is in recognition of their mission in job training and skills essential to the development of the state's economic recovery.
Gov. Gregoire's budget requests $2 million each fiscal year for the Washington Technology Center, down from $2.8 million each fiscal year approved last biennium by lawmakers, and $246,000 for the Manufacturing Innovation and Modernization Account to help small- and mid-size manufacturers access innovation and modernization technical assistance. Legislators approved $306,000 in FY09 for the initiative.
The FY09-11 budget includes another installment of $63.3 million transferred to the Life Sciences Discovery Fund from the Tobacco Settlement Account. The $350 million fund was created by the legislature in 2005 to invest in life science companies using tobacco settlement funds and is expected to reach $1 billion over ten years (see the May 16, 2005 issue of the Digest). In December, the fourth round of awards distributed more than $18 million.
The governor's budget for Natural Resources includes $24.8 million across general funds, other funds, transportation funds and the capital budget to support a variety of climate change initiatives. This includes creating green-collar jobs and investments in renewable energy.
Gov. Christine Gregoire's FY 2009-11 budget proposal is available at: http://www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/default.asp.
'Exploring Nano-Biotechnology' Ready for Release in Early 2009
Nanotechnology has undoubtedly become more and more popular among researchers from all fields of science. Special attention is given to implications of nanotechnology in various sub-domains of life sciences such as medicine, biology and fluidics.
"Exploring Nanobiotechnology", the 4th volume of the Nanopolis multimedia encyclopedic series, sheds light onto the nano facets of life and illustrates some of the applications of nanotechnology in the fields of clinical diagnosis and medicine. A first edition of the project is in final development phase and will be released in early 2009. Currently the product is available for pre-release purchase at the Nanopolis order page.
Consisting of 300 multimedia animations, "Exploring Nano-Biotechnology" will be distributed as an offline multimedia resource on CD-ROM support as well as an online multimedia resource through the Nanopolis Online Multimedia Library.
Winter Discounts Now Available
In the period December 15, 2008 to January 20, 2009, a 50% winter discount is offered for all orders placed.
Also get TNTG 10% discount by ordering at this link:
http://www.nanopolis.net/order/order_form.php?code=S-UKE101LSTNTG
Virginia Names Physics "Flexbook" Core Team Members
Team members to develop content for VA open-source physics "flexbook"
RICHMOND – Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra and Secretary of Education Tom Morris today announced the selection of thirteen individuals to form a core team to pilot the development and release of an open-source physics "flexbook" for Virginia. This electronic material will focus on high school physics and contain contemporary and emerging 21st century physics and modern laboratory experiments.
The Virginia Physics "Flexbook" project is a collaborative effort of the Secretaries of Education and Technology and the Department of Education that seeks to elevate the quality of physics instruction across the Commonwealth by allowing educators to create and compile supplemental materials relating to 21st century physics in an open-source format that can be used to strengthen physics content. The Commonwealth is partnering with the Palo Alto, California-based non-profit, CK-12 on this initiative as they will provide the free, open-source technology platform to facilitate the publication of the newly developed content as a "flexbook" – defined simply as an adaptive, web-based set of instructional materials.
"We need transformational ideas to ensure all Virginians are educated to compete in an increasingly competitive global economy," said Secretary Chopra. "This pilot initiative is a step in the right direction to introduce our students to contemporary physics topics and lab materials at no additional cost to the taxpayers or students," added Secretary Morris.
The need for this type of material was made clear in recommendations from a panel of practicing physicists that met in the summer of 2007 under the auspices of Virginia's Secretary of Education to review the current Virginia physics content standards of learning (SOL). The panel found that while well-written and clear, the current physics SOL fall short of what our children will need to participate in the 21st century global economy. In particular, the panel recommended that dated material be supplemented by contemporary physics of the most recent 50 years and provide laboratories that engage students with industry state-of-the-practice equipment. Furthermore, the panel recommended that teachers have access to an open-source software capability in order to develop curriculum content in a more timely fashion.
This pilot is also aimed at evaluating the potential cost savings associated with moving to the use of more electronic texts as well as to analyze the value add for teachers when offered the capability to customize a text to their needs for any given year or for any set of students through simple editing.
The core team was selected based on the evaluation of responses to a request for collaboration released on September 9, 2008. The team plans to complete and release the initial content by February 2009. The members of the core team and their affiliations are:
Mike Fetsko, Henrico County Public Schools
David Slykhuis, James Madison University
Mark Mattson, James Madison University
Tom O'Neil, Shenandoah Valley Governor's School
Bruce Davidson, Newport News Public Schools (retired)
Angela Cutshaw, Newport News Public Schools
Mark Clemente, VA Beach Public Schools/National Institute of Aerospace
Andy Jackson, Harrisonburg Public Schools
David Stern, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center (retired)
John Ochab, J. Sargent Reynolds Community College
Tapas Kar, Utah State University
Tony Wayne, Albemarle County Public Schools
Pranav Gokhale, Montgomery County, MD Schools (student)
Jim Batterson will lead this effort for the Commonwealth and Professor David Armstrong of the College of William and Mary physics department will serve as technical advisor.
This announcement also seeks additional affiliate members from throughout the Commonwealth to follow the development of v 1.0 to be released on February 27, 2009 and to participate in subsequent releases.
Office of the Governor Timothy M. Kaine
© Commonwealth of Virginia 2009
Wii bit of fun at Rice University has serious intent
Why are some people fast learners? Can we teach everybody to be like them? Yes, Wii can. A Rice University research project recently funded by the National Science Foundation is making use of Nintendo's popular video game technology to codify learning systems in ways that can be used in a range of human endeavors, from sports to surgery.
Two Rice professors, Marcia O'Malley and Michael Byrne, are following up on O'Malley's pioneering work using robots to treat stroke victims with a study to map out how people learn physical tasks, with the ultimate goal of programming robots to teach in new ways.
With the new NSF grant, O'Malley and Byrne will spend the next three years measuring the motions involved in tasks as mundane as playing paddleball and as complex as flying a fighter jet.
To do that, having a motion-capture device at hand will be invaluable, said O'Malley. The device is called an accelerometer, but video game fans know it as a Wiimote, the handheld wand that serves as a wireless interface between player and screen.
Video clip is available online at: http://www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/multimedia/Wii.avi
"It's the only part of the system we really need," said O'Malley, director of Rice's Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Laboratory. Byrne said they'll compare data from the Wiimote to that from a more expensive Vicon motion capture system to "see how good the Wii really is."
"We're already grabbing motion data from the Wiimote," said O'Malley, "so soon we'll be able to measure a range of motion and then turn it into a mathematical model."
For the researchers, here's where the games really begin. Their ultimate plan is to bring together robotics and virtual reality in a way that lets people absorb information through repetition of the motor pathways.
Think of hitting a tennis ball. Learning by trial-and-error is fine, but it would be much easier if a robotic sleeve could tell you exactly where that hitch in your swing is and gently prod you to hit the ball correctly.
"Using the Wii will be a great way to recruit subjects," said O'Malley. "We can say, 'Hey, kids, come play some games!'"
Their research into what they term the "cognitive modeling of human motor skill acquisition" will focus on three types of learners. "There are experts who learn at a slow, steady pace, but they get there," she said. "There are novices, who learn at a slow, steady pace, but sometimes they never get there. And then there are those who start off awful, but somewhere in the middle of training they suddenly 'get it.'
"What will be interesting is, can we get this last group to 'get it' and become people who learn very quickly by honing in on the right cues? And can we get these people who learn very quickly to improve even faster? We're interested in how these groups of performers differentiate, and if there are inherent characteristics of movement and control policies that lead to expertise. To find out, we need data," O'Malley said.
Here's where Byrne's expertise comes in. An associate professor of psychology who specializes in computer-human interaction, he'll analyze feedback on the range of motion used in performing a task and figure out precisely where the most efficient learning happens.
"I work with the sort of mathematical computational theory of human performance that's never been extended to the kind of dense motor activity we want to study," said Byrne. "There's just not a lot of good data out there."
O'Malley and Byrne have been brainstorming about the kind of data they want to collect. "We're starting with a bunch of Wii games," said Byrne. "We find that some games have really good learning properties we can measure, and there are also some that people don't seem to get a lot better at.
"I can tell you I'm about as bad at Wii golf now as I was when I started playing it."
Source: Rice University
E-learning can have positive effect on classroom learning, scholar says
Traditional classroom teaching in higher education could learn a thing or two from online teaching, otherwise known as e-learning, according to a University of Illinois professor who studies computer-mediated communication, information exchange and the Internet.
Caroline Haythornthwaite, a professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, says that the value of e-learning has been underrated at the college level, and that some of its methods and techniques can augment traditional classroom learning.
"Compared to the more traditional educational paradigm – the broadcast model, where knowledge is delivered from professor to student from on-high – e-learning turns teaching and learning into a shared endeavor," she said.
E-learning is defined as technology-based learning. Lectures, homework, quizzes and exams are delivered almost entirely or completely online. In some instances, no in-person interaction takes place over the length of the course.
A global economy hungry for customized, portable and on-demand educational platforms coupled with the Internet's rise to dominance as the ubiquitous medium of information delivery means that e-learning is increasingly gaining respect as an innovative and viable pedagogical tool, especially for subjects that require multimedia, collaboration tools (wikis, blogs and course-management systems, for example), and other bandwidth-hungry applications prevalent today.
At Illinois, Haythornthwaite teaches in classrooms real and virtual in the college's 13-year-old LEEP program, a distance-education program that enables graduate students to complete a master of science in library and information science, a certificate of advanced study or a K-12 library and information science certificate online.
For the current crop of more than 700 students seeking a master's degree through GSLIS at Illinois, a little more than half are online students.
Haythornthwaite said she enjoys the robust interaction with her online students.
"With the online classes," she said, "I interact with my students more frequently, dropping into asynchronous discussion daily for a half-hour or an hour. With my traditional classes, I might see them once a week for three hours. If there's a news article I want my online students to read, I can post it and discussion can begin right away. With my classroom students, if I e-mail them an article on Tuesday and we meet for class on Friday, that's one of many things we might discuss. The impact isn't quite as immediate."
Compared with the traditional, face-to-face classroom learning that centers on instructors dictating content and pedagogy, e-learning is a more learner-friendly alternative, also allowing the role of a teacher to be quite different in an e-learning environment, Haythornthwaite said.
"Since there's an emphasis on more learner-centric activities than traditional lecture-based classroom learning, the teacher is more of a facilitator in an online classroom," she said. "Not only does that enhance the collaborative nature of online learning, it also motivates students to be much more engaged and to take more responsibility for what they're learning."
However much e-learning may reshape education, Haythornthwaite noted that it's not necessarily meant to supplant classroom learning, but is more of a supplement to it. She cited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's example of putting all of its classroom materials online for non-commercial use in 2001 as an example of how "blended learning" can be created from a mixture of e-learning and classroom interaction.
"No one stopped going to class when all that material was posted," she said. "It simply changed the delivery method and broadened the scope of knowledge available."
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Should textbooks or technology be Texas' spending priority?
Some legislators say more education money should go toward digital media.
By Kate Alexander
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
A 19th-century concept of learning is holding back Texas from bringing school technology into the present, some legislators say.
Back in 1854, legislators guaranteed Texas schoolchildren access to free textbooks by establishing an educational endowment known as the Permanent School Fund .
And though textbooks are now in many situations giving way to digital media in the classroom, state spending on school technology, such as computers and Internet connectivity, has been dwarfed by the resources put toward textbooks.
State Rep. Dan Branch , R-Dallas, said he is concerned that the state is wasting its resources on "old vehicles" because some people believe a textbook is necessary for conveying knowledge to students.
"A textbook is a vehicle for content," Branch said. "That vehicle is quickly becoming a horse and buggy."
Since 1992, the state has allocated each year $30 per student for technology, which totals about $134 million in the current budget.
The bill for textbooks in the 2008-2009 budget was $496 million and will reach $913 million in the upcoming budget. Almost all of the $1.15 billion from the Permanent School Fund in the 2010-11 budget will be needed to pay for textbooks.
Branch, a member of the House Public Education Committee , would like to use some money from the textbook fund to pay for technology hardware so that more students can access lessons electronically.
But the Texas attorney general said in a 2006 opinion that textbook funds must be used for "conveying information" and cannot be used for purchasing hardware.
Branch argues that computer hardware is no different than the paper, cardboard and glue that make up a textbook, for which the school fund has always paid.
And the technology will improve the delivery of those lessons because students will see it as more relevant and dynamic, Branch said.
Although online curriculum is commonplace, access to needed technology hardware has been a limiting factor for schools to use that resource, said Anita Givens , acting associate commissioner for standards and programs at the Texas Education Agency.
Fewer than 7 percent of school campuses statewide have reached the target of providing a computer for every student and having all classrooms fully equipped and wired for the Internet, according to a state survey published this fall. On about 57 percent of the campuses, there are four students per computer, and three-quarters of the classrooms and library have Internet connectivity.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, offered a recommendation at a recent hearing that money be moved from textbooks to technology in order to speed access to online learning.
The State Board of Education, which has authority over the Permanent School Fund, has long objected to such a move, though the final decision belongs to the Legislature.
Chairman Don McLeroy said the board does not want to see the school fund money wasted on technology that could quickly become obsolete.
But McLeroy is warming to the idea as technology prices come down and more research shows of the value of technology in learning, he said.
kalexander@statesman.com; 445-3618
Find this article at:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/29/1129textbook.html
Why some students prefer virtual schooling
At a NACOL symposium, virtual-school students discuss why they left their regular schools in favor of online instruction
By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor
eSchoolNews Friday, December 5, 2008
Virutal-school students say they enjoy the flexibility online classes provide.What motivates a growing number of virtual-school students to forgo the traditional school structure and take their classes entirely online?
At the Virtual School Symposium hosted in mid-October in Phoenix by the North American Council for Online Learning, virtual-school students explained they like being able to progress at their own pace--and some said they appreciate being able to take classes not offered by their traditional, bricks-and-mortar school.
Roger Sanchez said he left his conventional California school because he wanted to study at his own pace while holding a job outside of school and focusing his attention on out-of-school topics that related to his college interests.
"I was looking for something different to fit my schedule, and the traditional system wasn't making the cut," said Sanchez, who is taking multiple Advanced Placement courses and plans to study computer science or graphic design in college.
"You can create your own schedule. ... It's not the same routine I'd have in the traditional system, and I can get more of what I want to do done," he said.
Sanchez said an online school also lets him choose courses that a traditional school might not offer, such as courses that focus more on computer science and graphics.
"I'm really drawn by technology--that's one of the main reasons I joined the school," he said. "In the traditional system, [the] main problem is that classes [move] only as fast as the slowest student ... so it doesn't adapt to your own learning style and learning environment. It really slows you down if you want to get ahead."
Sanchez is a senior at Insight School of California-Los Angeles, one of a national network of full-time, diploma-granting, public online high schools. The network is run by Insight Schools Inc., a subsidiary of Apollo Group Inc., which also operates the all-online University of Phoenix.
Insight Schools is part of a rapidly expanding market for online education that also includes companies such as Connections Academy, K12 Inc., EdisonLearning (formerly Edison Schools Inc.), and others. A study released during the Virtual School Symposium confirms that the total number of full-time virtual-school students in the United States is on the rise, "along with a continued increase in the number of new full-time programs." (See "Report assesses K-12 online learning.")
Education leaders would be wise to listen to what students such as Sanchez had to say, and consider ways they can build opportunities for self-paced learning and more freedom of choice into their own school offerings--or else risk losing a growing number of students to online schools that operate outside their domain.
Enrolling in a virtual school not only frees up time for students to pursue other interests, it also teaches them valuable time-management skills, said Geoffrey Wall, a Tempe, Ariz., senior who has been enrolled in Arizona Connections Academy for five years.
Five years ago, Wall was a competitive figure skater who found himself waking up at 4 a.m. each day to train for his sport and make it to school on time.
"It was becoming something of a problem," he said. Wall's mother looked into home-schooling her son but found few resources to help her. The family's local school district offered no help or advice, either, he said, and finally Wall's mother stumbled across a local newspaper article about Connections Academy.
Wall is no longer involved in competitive figure skating, but he found he enjoyed his classes with Connections Academy and reasoned that switching not only schools, but also learning styles, in the middle of his high school experience would not have been beneficial.
Now, Wall begins his mornings by logging onto Connections Academy and choosing a handful of lessons to complete.
"Depending on the day, I might have more or I might have less, and once I finish them, I'm free to do whatever I want," he said. "If I have to take a day off, I might get on and do an extra day of work or fit in an extra lesson."
Working so independently encourages the same type of time-management skills that college students need to be successful, he said. Managing classes, assignments, and social activities can be daunting, but Wall has a firm grasp on his routine.
"With a normal high school, everything is always scheduled for you," he said. "With [online learning], you have to keep on top of things."
Some people might wonder if Wall feels deprived of the typical social aspects of a bricks-and-mortar high school, but he says he does not.
"I've got friends from when I was attending traditional school, and friends through karate and [who] I meet from other activities, like camps," he said.
Wall has even met his virtual classmates through organized field trips. He is able to collaborate with his classmates virtually through his computer, as well as chat with both teachers and peers on a regular basis.
Connections Academy students have access to guidance counselors to help them navigate the college application process. Adding a high school component to the company's virtual offerings made it necessary to provide a robust guidance-counselor support staff, a company representative said.
Even virtual-school teachers at the symposium said they liked many of the freedoms that come with teaching in an online environment.
Not just students, but teachers, too, can become frustrated in a traditional school setting, because much of their time is devoted to tasks such as asking students for late passes or collecting various assignments, said Mishele Newkirk-Smith, a former classroom teacher in Washington state who is now a science teacher with Insight School of Washington.
"I'm not a disciplinarian now; I'm an educator," she said, adding: "Online, there is more one-on-one education."
"I have always looked for ... alternative ways for students to learn. All students do not learn the same way--they are totally different," said Deloris Brown, a former school principal who is currently principal of Insight School of South Carolina.
In a traditional classroom, educators can "try to think outside of the box, but you're still faced with the one-size-fits-all model," she said. "If we know that all students are different, then we have to do something different. This is going to be one of the major reform efforts that education will see."
Links:
Virtual School Symposium http://www.virtualschoolssymposium.org
Insight Schools http://www.insightschools.net
Connections Academy http://www.connectionsacademy.com
The Institute of Education Sciences has released the Director's Biennial Report, "Rigor and Relevance Redux."
This congressionally mandated report includes a description of the activities of IES and its four National Education Centers, as well as a summary of all IES grants and contracts during the biennium in excess of $100,000. In addition, the report includes the Director's recommendations for the continued progress and effectiveness of IES.
Access the full report at:
http://ies.ed.gov/director/
Global
Rice-African partnership is open-education blockbuster
SUMMARY:
Houston-based Rice University and Cape Town, South Africa-based Shuttleworth Foundation today announced plans to jointly develop one of the world's largest, most comprehensive sets of free online teaching materials for primary and secondary school children. Using their open-education projects -- Rice's Connexions and the Shuttleworth's Siyavula -- the organizations will work to transform South African primary and secondary education with a bold initiative based on open-access educational content, open-source software, and online educator communities.
Connexions, Shuttleworth Foundation to offer hundreds of free K12 lessons
HOUSTON -- (Nov. 10, 2008) -- Houston-based Rice University and Cape Town, South Africa-based Shuttleworth Foundation today announced plans to jointly develop one of the world's largest, most comprehensive sets of free online teaching materials for primary and secondary school children. Using their open-education projects -- Rice's Connexions and the Shuttleworth's Siyavula -- the organizations will work to transform South African primary and secondary education with a bold initiative based on open-source software, online educator communities and open copyright licenses.
Ultimately, the group hopes to offer a complete suite of the highest caliber K12 materials online for free. This comprehensive repository of educational resources includes everything from online textbooks to classroom activities, experiments and training materials. Connexions and Siyavula will work together to create the repository, and Siyavula will create an online community of educators in South Africa that will expand, update and use the lessons. The newly created content will reside in the Connexions repository, one of the largest open-education resources (OER) repositories.
An OER pioneer, Connexions is both a platform and repository that lets people create, share, modify and review open educational materials. All Connexions modules are freely accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Because it is licensed under the Creative Commons attribution license, all material in Connexions is available to the world to use and reuse for free. The Connexions platform will be used to distribute the project’s content.
"The Siyavula/Connexions project is one of the most powerful open-education partnerships in history," said Connexions Executive Director Joel Thierstein. "We are humbled by the resources the Shuttleworth Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation and the Maxfield Foundation have brought to bear on the issues of global education. The realization of an enlightened, educated world is an amazing thing to be a part of.
"The Connexions platform allows materials to be translated and remixed to make them culturally relevant and thus usable throughout the world," Thierstein added. "Connexions allows instructors to rearrange lessons, reorder chapters and add their own materials, in effect giving each teacher the ability to create his or her own customized textbook. Finally, the Connexions platform makes it easy to print materials, as well."
Siyavula Project Manager Mark Horner said the Rice-Shuttleworth team will create the software that South African educators need to develop and maintain a comprehensive set of educational resources that cover the entire South African school curriculum.
"Siyavula decided not to build its own platform as an excellent solution already existed in the form of Connexions," Horner said. "It is important to collaborate with existing initiatives and not reinvent the wheel. This approach allows the pool of open educational resources to grow at an accelerated rate. Building on a solid, existing foundation is more cost-effective and adds to any initiative's possibility of sustainability."
The number of people using Connexions has grown by 40 percent over the past year, and with peak traffic of more than 1 million visits per month, Connexions is one of the world's most popular OER sites.
"Connexions represents openness in every way," Horner said. "The content housed on Connexions is openly licensed using Creative Commons licenses, the software is open source, and the team is open to collaboration and partnerships with like-minded initiatives. These match the values of the Shuttleworth Foundation in its open-source approach to social development."
Siyavula means "we are opening" in the Nguni family of languages. The Siyavula project is sponsored by the Shuttleworth Foundation, a South African organization that invests in social, technical and policy innovation in the fields of education and technology. The foundation works through active partnerships with local and international organizations.
Connexions was founded in 1999 as one of the first online open-educational resources (OER) and has long pioneered digital education. Connexions is a platform and repository for OER that lets people create, share, modify and vet open educational materials that are accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime for free via the Web. Connexions' modular interactive information is in use by universities, community colleges, primary and secondary schools and lifelong learners worldwide. http://cnx.org/. Connexions: Create Globally, Educate Locally
The Shuttleworth Foundation is founded in an open philosophy that includes the promotion of open source, open standards and open information access with the belief that sharing stimulates change and broadens horizons. It is the further belief of the Shuttleworth Foundation that in an African context this open philosophy is key to progress and an enabler for education. http://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/.
Contacts:
Joel Thierstein
Rice University
713-348-3637
joel.thierstein@rice.edu
Karien Bezuidenhout
Shuttleworth Foundation
+27-21-970-1200
karien@shuttleworthfoundation.org
Renee Conradie
Emerging Media Comm.
+27-11-792-4706
renee@emergingmedia.co.za
Reports
Education
Report assesses K-12 online learning
While online learning is growing rapidly, its continued growth will require specific policy and funding changes that focus on increasing educational choices and opportunities while ensuring high quality and improved student achievement, according to a new report.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=55790
Editorial- New York Times
Numbers Game
Americans should be deeply alarmed by new data showing that the country is continuing to lose ground educationally to its competitors abroad.
The United States once had the world’s top high-school graduation rate. It has now fallen to 13th place behind countries like South Korea, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Worse still, a new study from the Education Trust, a nonpartisan foundation, finds that this is the only country in the industrial world where young people are less likely than their parents to graduate high school.
Most American parents never see these damning international comparisons, which are based on census figures and labor force statistics. Instead, parents who want to know how their schools are doing in terms of vital statistics like graduation rates must rely on phony calculations cooked up by state governments that are determined to hide the truth for as long as possible.
With these problems clearly in mind, Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, has issued new regulations for how school graduation rates are calculated and reported to the public under the No Child Left Behind Act. States will now be required to keep track of students from when they enter high school until they receive regular diplomas, counting as non-graduates any students who choose to leave school before that time.
Until now, the states have been able to calculate graduation rates any way they chose. For many states, that meant writing off students who leave school early and reporting a clearly bogus graduation rate based only on the number of students who began the senior year. Other states have tried to dress up abysmal rates by counting as graduates dropouts who later received G.E.D.’s.
Under the new counting rules, the states will be required to set clear goals for improving graduation rates and to demonstrate ”continuous and substantial improvement“ toward those goals.
For the first time, the states will also be required to report graduation rates by race to ensure that black and Latino students, who have significantly higher dropout rates than whites, get the special attention they clearly need. And instead of concealing graduation statistics — as many states have done up to now — state governments will be required to report them both to the federal government and the general public.
For too long the states have been allowed to talk a good game while piling up phony statistics and doing little to improve their schools. Our children and the country are paying the price.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/opinion/30thu2.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print
Global
Personalised learning puts students in a class of their own
A new learning platform is giving the traditional classroom a radical makeover. Using innovative ICT technology, iClass is putting pupils at the centre of the learning experience and providing them with more control over what they learn.
Every parent believes their child is unique. And they are right. Every pupil has their own individual strengths and weaknesses, and their own particular way of learning. However, putting this commonsense observation into practice is no mean feat, and our schools have generally not been very successful at personalising the learning experience.
In fact, the image of classrooms as ‘knowledge factories’ has not changed much since the Industrial Revolution, despite the major advances in teaching methods that have occurred. This model holds that teachers input information, pupils process it, and out comes the learning in neat little packages.
”A school is not a factory,“ bemoaned British novelist JL Carr in his acclaimed novel, The Harpole Report, which tells the story of a primary school headmaster. ”Its raison d’être is to provide opportunity for experience.“
In recent decades, learning theories have shifted to a ‘student-centered’ focus, and moved attention away from the teacher, as the imparter of all knowledge and wisdom, towards the pupil or student, while the educator’s role has become more that of a mentor and facilitator. However, the standardisation of demanding school curricula and the often-large sizes of classrooms make the transition to this more personalised form of learning difficult.
ICTs present an opportunity to place the learner at the centre of the learning experience. Traditionally, computers and other information technologies have been treated as subjects in curricula, as word processors or, with the advent of the internet, as powerful research tools for assignments. But ICTs are gradually evolving to become an integral component of the learning experience in general.
Learning gets personal
The EU-funded iClass project has been working to develop an innovative learning platform based on the concept of self-regulated personalised learning (SRPL) which is designed to empower pupils aged 14 to 18 to take more control of the learning process. Led by Siemens IT Solutions and Services, the project brings together 17 partners from the EU, Turkey and Israel to develop an intelligent cognitive-based open learning system and environment.
”We aim to make education more effective, worthwhile and, above all, enjoyable,“ explains Eric Meyvis, the project’s coordinator. ”Pupils are becoming increasingly unmotivated. We are using ICTs, the internet and an attractive interface to make learning more fun.“
SRPL boosts a pupil’s motivation to learn by personalising the learning process, placing an emphasis on self-direction and self-reliance, and trusting the learner to make mindful and meaningful choices. The model follows three distinct stages: planning, learning and reflecting.
In practice, this means that a teacher creates a learning plan based on a goal to be achieved, suggesting some sub-goals and activities, while some activities can be left ‘open’ for the student to shape. Students then click on the ‘Learn’ button to start the assignment. During this process, a system called ‘tips and alerts’ provides the pupil with some optional guidance. A personal journal encourages the learner to reflect on their choices and what they have learnt.
The path to lifelong learning
Teenagers spend 15% of their time in a school setting, while adults spend a meagre 3% in formal education. The upshot of this is the increasing recognition of informal, as well as lifelong, learning as an important aspect of education. The web-based iClass platform is well placed to link seamlessly the formal and informal learning environment.
It has been designed to provide pupils with ubiquitous access to encourage them to exploit formal and informal learning environments to the maximum.
In addition, by promoting greater self-reliance and a passion for inquiry among pupils, iClass helps equip them with crucial attitudes for the emerging knowledge-based economy, which requires people to update and upgrade their skills and knowledge constantly throughout their lives.
Nothing like a real teacher
At first, the iClass project set itself the ambitious and unrealistic aim of creating an electronic substitute for the teacher.
”We were convinced that the platform could replace teachers, but we soon discovered that this was too technology oriented. We refocused the project to strike more of a balance between technology and pedagogy,“ recalls Meyvis.
Instead, the platform has evolved to aid the teacher in empowering his or her charges. It also promotes a more open approach to education. However, this departure places new demands on teachers.
”It is a big challenge for schools to switch from traditional learning to iClass methodology, and that is why we have developed a teacher training package. We piloted the training material and teachers were generally enthusiastic about it and the platform,“ notes Meyvis.
The platform also recognises that the school curriculum in different countries places different demands on teachers, and so has built-in flexibility to allow the system to be customised.
”We have created a versatile infrastructure and it will be up to developers to take the next step and customise the platform for individual countries,“ says Meyvis.
A leading German publisher is already developing content for the German market and opportunities abound for developers in other countries to tailor the system to other national markets.
iClass was funded by the ICT strand of the Union’s Sixth Framework Programme for research.
Provided by ICT Results
Digital Disconnect' divides kids, educators
Most principals think their schools prepare students for 21st-century careers -- but students disagree
By Maya T. Prabhu, Assistant Editor , eschool news
Students say limited use of technology in school leaves them less prepared for 21st century jobs
Students and educators disagree on whether their schools are preparing graduates adequately for the jobs of the 21st century, a speaker at an Oct. 15 webcast said.
Two-thirds of principals in a recent survey said they believe their school is preparing students to be competitive in the global workforce. But most tech-savvy students didn't share that view, said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow (formerly known as NetDay).
Read article at:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=55665
Education Reports
The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance has released two What Works Clearinghouse reports. The first, "Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom", is a practice guide offering five concrete recommendations for helping elementary school general education teachers reduce the frequency of the most common types of behavior problems encountered among students. The second, "Dropout Prevention Topic Report", summarizes the Clearinghouse's dropout prevention intervention reports prepared through September 2008.
Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/index.asp#be_pg
Dropout Prevention Topic Report:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/
Visit the What Works Clearinghouse:
The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance within the Institute of Education Sciences has released a What Works Clearinghouse intervention report on middle school math. The report examines "Accelerated Math", a software tool used to customize assignments and monitor progress in math for students in grades 1-12. The report reviewed 38 studies investigating the effects of "Accelerated Math" on the performance of middle school students. To view the report, go to:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/accel_math/
Context and Challenge for Twenty-First Century Engineering Education
By Vest, Charles M
The engineering workforce of tomorrow, and indeed that of today, will face profound new challenges. Every day the men and women of this workforce will face the stress of competing in the fast-paced world of change we call the knowledge-based global economy of the twenty-first century. They will also face even larger challenges because the nation and world will need to call on them to seize opportunities and solve global problems of unprecedented scope and scale. The United States has long been King of the Hill in engineering education, especially at the graduate level, and certainly in the quality and accomplishment of our research universities overall. We have been the most technologically innovative nation on the planet. But things are changing rapidly in the twenty-first century.
The last half of the twentieth century was dominated by physics, electronics, high-speed communications, and high-speed long- distance transportation. It was an age of speed and power. The twenty-first century appears to be quite different, dominated by biology and information, but also by macro-scale issues like energy, water, and sustainability. These are things that should be strengths of U.S. engineers, but the context is rapidly evolving.
We once dominated all other countries in terms of expenditures on R&D, but today North America, Europe, and Asia each account for about a third of the world's R&D expenditures. Whereas, the U.S. is still on top, we are losing "market share" in every category used to evaluate R&D. From 1986 to 2003 the U.S. share of R&D spending dropped nine percent. The U.S. dropped eight percent in share of scientific publications, dropped 10 percent in share of new of science and engineering bachelors degrees, dropped two percent in share of U.S. patents, and dropped 30 percent in share of new science and engineering Ph.Ds. Now this is not all bad, because it largely reflects growth in other parts of the world, and we should celebrate the advances of other countries. Nonetheless, because we must depend on out-thinking and out-innovating others, these trends must be watched carefully.
The rise of production of engineers in China is unprecedented. China now educates about 250,000 bachelor-level engineers per year while the U.S. graduates about 60,000. Yes, there are still large quality differences, and numbers are not everything, but Floyd Kvamme, a highly experienced high-tech venture capitalist with Kleiner-Perkins, says that "Venture capital is the search for smart engineers." So we do have to worry about numbers, and we must note with deep consternation that fewer than 15 percent of U.S. high school graduates have sufficient math and science backgrounds to even have the option of entering engineering school.
Our engineers must work and innovate at ever accelerating rates. When the automobile was introduced into the market, it took 55 years, essentially a lifetime, until a fourth of U.S. households owned one. It took about 22 years until 25 percent of U.S. households owned a radio. The World Wide Web achieved this penetration in about eight years. Such acceleration drives an inexhaustible thirst for innovation and produces competitive pressures. The spread of education and technology around the world magnifies these competitive pressures many fold.
Globalization is changing the way in which engineering work is organized and in which companies acquire innovation. Today the service sector employs more than 70 percent of the U.S. workforce. The development and execution of IT-based service projects is usually accomplished by dividing the functions into a dozen or so components, each of which is carried out by a different group of engineers and managers. These groups are likely to be in several different locations around the world. In the manufacturing sector, this new distribution of work is even more dramatic. For example, the new Boeing 787 reportedly has 132,500 engineered parts that are produced in 545 global locations. Indeed, IBM CEO Sam Palmasano says that we have now moved beyond multinational corporations to globally integrated enterprises. An emerging element of this evolving engineering context is "open innovation." Companies no longer look just within themselves for innovation, nor do they just purchase it by acquiring small companies. Today they obtain innovation wherever it is found-in other companies, in other countries, or even through arrangements with competitors. Working in this evolving context requires a nimble new kind of engineer and engineering organization.
Perhaps even more dramatic than the changes brought about by globalization and competition in the Knowledge Age are the new engineering frontiers and grand challenges. I think of two frontiers of engineering, Tiny Systems and Macro Systems. Tiny Systems are those developed in the "Bio/Nano/Info" world where things get increasingly smaller, faster, and more complex. Here there is little distinction between engineering and natural science. Research and product development are done by teams of men and women from various scientific and engineering disciplines that rapidly move from reductionist science to synthesis and system building.
Macro Systems are of ever increasing size and complexity. Work at this frontier may be associated with systems of great societal importance: energy, water, environment, health care, manufacturing, communications, logistics, etc. Research, development, and the design and deployment of projects frequently require teams of engineers and people with backgrounds in social science, management, and communications.
Much of what will be exciting and valuable in the twenty-first century will be the work of engineers who will move tiny systems technology into macro systems applications. Here I have in mind the application of bio-based materials design and production, biomimetics, personalized predictive medicine, biofuels, nanotechnology-based energy production and storage devices, etc.
We also must think about what projects should engage the best of engineering talent and knowledge in the years ahead. The National Academy of Engineering formed a committee of 17 amazingly creative and accomplished engineers and related scientists and medical experts and asked them to define several Engineering Grand Challenges for the decades ahead. These challenges were to be such that accomplishing them would advance the human condition, and that the committee believed could actually be accomplished in the next few decades. The committee proposed 14 unranked Engineering Grand Challenges:1
* Make Solar Energy Economical
* Provide Energy from Fusion
* Develop Carbon Sequestration Methods
* Manage the Nitrogen Cycle
* Provide Access to Clean Water
* Engineer Better Medicines
* Advance Health Informatics
* Secure Cyberspace
* Prevent Nuclear Terror
* Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure
* Reverse Engineer the Brain
* Enhance Virtual Reality
* Advance Personalized Learning
* Engineer the Tools of Scientific Discovery
These challenges involve energy and sustainability, medicine and healthcare, reducing our vulnerability to natural and human threats, and advancing our human capabilities and understanding of our world and ourselves. Meeting some of these challenges is imperative for human survival, meeting some will make us more secure, and all will improve quality of life.
My message here is that the twenty-first century will be very different from the twentieth. Engineering will be enormously exciting, and increasingly rich and complex in its context and importance. As we think about the challenges ahead, it is important to remember that students are driven by passion, curiosity, engagement, and dreams. Although we cannot know exactly what they should be taught, we can focus on the environment in which they learn and the forces, ideas, inspirations, and empowering situations to which they are exposed. Despite our best efforts to plan their education, however, to a large extent we simply wind them up, step back, and watch the amazing things they do.
In the long run, making universities and engineering schools exciting, creative, adventurous, rigorous, demanding, and empowering milieus is more important than specifying curricular details. Nonetheless, I hope that those who design curricula, pedagogy, and student experiences will profitably contemplate the new context, competition, content, and challenges of engineering.
1 See http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/for further details.
CHARLES M. VEST
President
National Academy of Engineering
Copyright AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION Jul 2008
(c) 2008 Journal of Engineering Education. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Story from REDORBIT NEWS:
© RedOrbit 2005
Trying to satisfy too many agendas slows school reform
Despite investments, community goodwill and some good ideas, a vexing question remains in the age of school reform: Why has so much hope and effort led to disappointment?
Beginning in the late 1980s, the Chicago Public Schools, like many urban schools systems, launched a series of initiatives to reorganize schools, improve teaching and encourage parental participation. The changes in Chicago not always have met the expectations of proponents, wrote Charles Payne in his new book, "So Much Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools".
The results of national school reform efforts also have led to some disappointment. A lack of trust among teachers and principals and parents frequently creates dysfunction in schools, noted Payne. The organizational infrastructure frequently frustrates well-intended reforms, and support for high-quality instruction and teacher-student relationships is often absent. Tension among members of the business community, who promote sound management and accountability, and progressive educators, who favor a student-centered agenda, also has left the promise of reform unfulfilled.
Payne, the Frank P. Hixon Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and a leading scholar of school reform, noted that other cities have gone through similar bouts of reform, but few had Chicago's advantages. Other cities lack the scrutiny that has come from the Consortium on Chicago School Research and the valuable news coverage of education by the local media, he said."
The Consortium on Chicago School Research (at the University of Chicago) is the closest thing we have to a Manhattan Project on urban schools, and from its inception, it has maintained a commitment to combining quantitative and qualitative work, affording its work a complexity that cannot be achieved when the two are separated," Payne said.
CPS administrators take the recommendations of the Consortium seriously. It led to a relationship between the schools and research community rarely seen among the nation's largest school systems. Those recommendations have led to positive changes, including an emphasis on reducing dropouts and increasing college-going rates.
Payne, who is a member of the University's Committee on Education, uses findings from the consortium, his research and reporting by the city's media to explore the problems that plague this school system and others.
"Chicago enjoys an unprecedented quality of educational journalism," he said. Catalyst: Voices of Chicago School Reform has put a spotlight on the schools, as have the Chicago Tribune and other local media outlets. In his visits to schools, Payne learned that social relationships were key to student success. "Students wanted to perform well because of their teachers," he said.
Likewise, he observed that the Consortium found trust among teachers was an important factor in improving schools. In schools where trust among adults improved over time, student achievement also improved. Implementing new curriculums often is seen as a way to boost achievement, but that implementation often is poorly supported.
Among Payne's recommendations is one that educators are discussing nationally—establishing standards for implementation that recognize the time and money needed to initiate meaningful reforms and a way to gather data that helps educators learn from the implementation. Implementing a new mathematics curriculum, for instance, which moves from memorization to an inquiry-based approach, could require five days of pre-implementation professional development, continued professional development and active involvement from the principal. Without that level of commitment, reforms are likely to be ineffective, he said.
The increased visibility from the research community and media has been part of a citywide interest in education that includes business leaders. Ensuing political tensions have led to misunderstandings that have slowed the pathway of reform. Payne suggests that both sides begin to listen to each other.
Advocates of the liberal perspective can learn from those who talk about sound management practices in schools, while advocates of a conservative perspective also could learn from the other side, said Payne.
Source: University of Chicago
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Latest News from the Nanotechnology Masters Recognition Scheme:
The Institute of Nanotechnology, in collaboration with a consortium of course providers and industrial representatives, is now working towards benchmarking the quality of nanotechnology education and training at the Masters level through a peer-reviewed accreditation process. More information will be available later in the year.
About the Nanotechnology Masters Course Directory:
Many universities are recognising that a new approach to education and training is needed to meet the needs of the burgeoning nanoscience and nanotechnology research and development communities.
This has resulted in an expansion in the number of new Nano Masters degree courses. These courses differ widely in emphasis and content; for example some may be slanted towards nanomaterials, others to the life sciences.
To this end, an easily accessible website has been created, where students and employers alike can search for the Nano Masters courses that best suit their competences and skills needs.
The nanomasters website also:
enables students to compare different courses and their content online
provides easy access to education and training options from anywhere across the globe
allows industry to assess post-graduate competences, simplifying the recuitment process
Universities participating in the scheme
include:
Belgium: KU Leuven, University of Antwerp
France: Université Joseph Fourier – Grenoble, Université de technologie de Troyes
Germany: Technische Universitat Dresden, University of Kaiserslautern
Italy: University of Padova, University Ca Foscari of Venezia, University of Verona
Netherlands: University of Twente, TU Delft, University of Leiden
Spain: University of Barcelona, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Universitat Politénica de Catalunya, Universitat de Girona
Sweden: Chalmers University of Technology
UK: Surrey University, Lancaster University, University of Sheffield, Leeds University, Cranfield University, University of Liverpool, University of Wales Swansea, Heriot-Watt University
We are pleased to announce that the following universities have recently joined the Nanotechnology Masters Course Directory:
Bangor University
University of Cambridge
University College, Dublin
University of Nottingham
For further information, visit:
http://www.nano.org.uk/nanomasters
Contact: Kshitij Aditeya Singh
Email: kshitij.singh@nano.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 141 303 8444
Danville grant aimed at helping teachers learn more on nanotechnology
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- Unrestricted (August 12, 2008)
Aug. 12--A grant from federal government will help area teachers learn more about nanotechnology.
The Institute for Advanced Learning & Research received a $191,593 grant from the U.S. Department of Education for professional development opportunities, according to a news release.
The grant provides money for the Institute to coordinate nanotechnology-themed programs so that students from kindergarten through 12th grade are exposed to the emerging science of nanotechnology.
"It is critical that our students have early and consistent exposure to emerging science and technology fields if they are to be competitive in the 21st century knowledge-based economy," Julie Brown, the Institute's director of academic and outreach programs, said in the release.
U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode helped with landing the grant for the Institute.
"I am glad that I was able to help secure this grant for the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research so that teachers in the Danville area can become 'best practice' experts in the field of nanotechnology and prepare their students for the possibility of pursuing careers in this area of the 21st century economy," Goode said in a prepared statement.
The Institute will work with Northwestern University's Materials World Modules program, the University of Virginia, Penn State University and Virginia Tech, along with other nanoscience experts, to develop a teacher-training program.
To see more of the Danville Register & Bee or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.registerbee.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Danville Register & Bee, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2008 Danville Register & Bee, Va.
GUEST OPINION: Improving schools: Just Do It!
By Anthony Berkley
The Herald News
Posted Aug 08, 2008 @ 02:30 PM
Look at an iPod or the award-winning new running shoe, the Free. Simple, cool, and there’s a lot of science and engineering here.
Innovative corporations like Nike and Apple know how to reach their school-age customers with products and services that expand minds and build bodies. They have a deep understanding of the needs and interests of young people — and a keen eye for design.
The business magazines are figuring out the lesson: Good innovation and design balances scientific analysis with artistic creativity. It’s this combination that leads to success in the global market.Can you imagine a lengthy public shouting match over the next nano or swoosh color? Probably not, because they … Just Do It.
How do these lessons translate into schools and the debates about how to improve education in the United States?
With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, education leaders in Ohio, New Mexico, Florida and elsewhere are discovering new solutions to perennial school challenges by using a method called ”human-centered design.“
Human-centered design starts from the premise that those closest to the problem — parents, teachers and students — may have good ideas for solving it. And since they’ll have to implement any solution, it’s best to involve them early in the process.This is revolutionary for the education field as outside experts rule the day in typical school reform efforts. Parents, teachers and students are rarely even consulted.
Our work took a different approach.
From parents, we learned that schools are intimidating and hard to communicate with. Teachers feel overwhelmed and don’t always reach out like they want to. Students want to be engaged in ways that involve creative right brain activities as much as analytic left brain ones.
The first sets of designs have been published as ”Tangible Steps Toward Tomorrow“ and are freely available at www.wkkf.org. One surprise is how much these potential designs focus on connecting — connecting parents more meaningfully with teachers; students with one another; and classrooms to community resources.
Consider Massachusetts 2020, a Boston-area nonprofit that works with public schools to add an extra few hours to the school day. This simple, concrete innovation — a longer school day — opens up a wealth of new opportunities to connect and enrich. It gives teachers the time they need to really teach core subjects well and explore student interests as well as their own passions. Modern dance, poetry, neighborhood history and other creative subjects round out the school’s curriculum. The result: Students do better on tests and everyone feels more satisfied and engaged.
We know the United States spends more on education than any other country. We also know that our students lag well behind many industrialized countries in terms of academic achievement. Yet, when we discuss education, the focus narrows to the traditional issues: teacher qualifications, state standards and achievement gaps.
It is not hard to imagine how forward-thinking companies like Nike or Apple would react to this situation. Such corporations are well-known for staying on the cutting edge through their commitment to design. Famously, their products balance research and engineering with great look and feel. And from Helsinki to Singapore consumers know what these brands stand for and are willing to pay a premium.
In an increasingly global economy, we need a new vision for public education in America. Our young people may be carrying iPods and walking on Nikes, but what they really need is a well-designed education featuring the most competitive skills — and the coolest brand.
Anthony Berkley is the deputy director of Education and Learning at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x2087535752/GUEST-OPINION-Improving-schools-Just-Do-It-08-09-08
Governors Challenge Youth to Solve Real-world Industry Problem
Armed with professional advice from mentors in scientific fields and free access to sophisticated design and engineering software, teachers and students from Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia will participate in a national competition to solve a real-world engineering challenge defined by the aviation industry.
The idea behind the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Real World Design Challenge is to create a pipeline of highly qualified workers by preparing high school students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields based on issues facing high-tech and defense industries.
Ralph Coppola, director of Worldwide Education for Parametric Technology Corporation, said many aerospace and defense companies that work as contractors to national security agencies are concerned the U.S. is not producing enough qualified workers who must be able to work on both the defense and commercial side. A survey conducted with these companies in the Northeast found 54 percent of the workforce is 45 years or older and one-third are eligible for retirement today. At the same time, engineering degrees make up only 5 percent of the total baccalaureate population in the U.S., Coppola said.
U.S. Continues to Trail Behind in STEM Graduates
A coalition of 16 leading business organizations echoed this concern with the release of a report last month assessing three years’ progress in working toward a goal of doubling the number of students earning bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields by 2015. The report by Tapping America’s Potential indicates growing support for the group’s agenda to advance U.S. competitiveness in STEM, but shows little progress toward the goal. In fact, the number of degrees in STEM fields awarded to undergraduate students has only grown by 24,000 since 2005 – a small increase that is not on track to reach the goal of 400,000 over the next seven years, the report finds.
The Real World Design Challenge hopes to reverse this trend by providing high school students with the background and framework for competing more effectively in the global economy. In designing the program, aerospace and defense companies voiced a need for employees having seven to 10 years of experience and the necessary education and skills. Recognizing that this requirement would add another decade to the pipeline, program administrators suggested integrating the real-world experience at the K-12 and undergraduate level.
Engaging Youth in Real-world Situations
Ten states with significant aerospace industry presence were invited to participate in the challenge during the pilot year. So far, six states have confirmed their participation, beginning with an announcement last month from Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas. Next year, the challenge will be open to all U.S. states and territories. Once a school has signed on, the teachers are trained to use software and other tools to apply in teaching design and global engineering. Teachers will then lead teams of 3-7 students who will work on the same design challenge defined by Cessna engineers – an issue currently being addressed in the aviation industry.
Each participating teacher will receive nearly $1 million in engineering software to be used in the challenge. Teachers and students are given access to DOE energy laboratories and may consult with industry experts from the Federal Aviation Administration. Teams will submit their solutions to a review board consisting of experts in government, K-12 education, higher education and industry. The governors of each participating state will announce a winning team within their state in early spring who will then go on to compete in a national challenge in Washington, D.C., which consists of a written submission and oral presentation on a newly defined challenge.
A major goal of the challenge is to teach students to become better innovators, Coppola said. The student teams are built around real industry roles, including a project manager, scientist, engineer, and community relations and marketing specialist. The national presentation will be much like submitting and defending a proposal for a contract or a thesis in which students are challenged and must defend their position, Coppola said.
More information on the Real World Design Challenge, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, Parametric Technology Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Corporation and Flometrics Inc., is available at: http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/RWDC/index.html
The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance's What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), has released three new quick reviews.
These reviews are designed to provide an objective assessment of the quality of research evidence from a research paper, article, or report whose public release is reported in a major national news source. Visit http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/ for more information.
See WWC reviews on the following studies:
* Promoting Broad and Stable Improvements in Low-Income Children's Numerical Knowledge Through Playing Number Board Games
This study looked at whether playing number board games improved numeric skills of low-income preschoolers.
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/boardgames/
* The Effect of Performance-Pay in Little Rock, Arkansas on Student Achievement
This study examined whether the Achievement Challenge Pilot Project, a performance-pay program for teachers, improved the academic achievement of elementary school students.
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/littlerock/
* Paying for A's: An Early Exploration of Student Reward and Incentive Programs in Charter Schools
This study investigated whether offering student reward and incentive programs in charter schools affects academic achievement.
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/payforas/
As the WWC continues its work to connect educators with the tools needed to make informed decisions, visit the website often at http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/ and check your inbox for updates and new releases throughout the year.
Now, $10 laptop for students
29 Jul, 2008, 2028 hrs IST, IANS
NEW DELHI: After displaying its prowess in developing the world's cheapest car, India is on track to rolling out the world's cheapest laptop computer that could cost as low as $10, a top official said here on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purandeswari said research was being conducted to develop the laptop, especially for use by students, which will cost all of $10.
"Research in this direction is being already carried out at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras," she told the e-India annual summit on information and communication technologies.
The laptop, when produced, will prove to be a breakthrough device that could solve the problems of low computer literacy and e-learning not only in India, but also the world over, she added.
Earlier this year, India's Tata Group had unveiled the "Nano" that was touted as the world's cheapest car costing all of $2,500 and the announcement had grabbed global headlines.
The cheapest laptop available today is at least 10 times costlier. The "Xo" sold by the Massachusetts-based non-government organization 'One Laptop Per Child Foundation' sells for $188.
The foundation, started by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumnus Nicholas Negroponte, aims to supply the low cost machines to the governments of developing countries for them to source it to school children.
But the Indian government rejected the offer in 2006, calling it an experimental model.
"India must not allow itself to be used for experimentation with children in this area," the human resource ministry had stated then.
However the project was taken up by the Reliance Anil Dhirubahi Group to be implemented as a pilot in Maharashtra's Khairat village.
Under this initiative, Reliance Communications will provide net connectivity, backbone, logistics, and support to the OLPC initiative. "The initiative aims at covering over 25,000 towns, and 6,00,000 villages in the country by 2008."
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Now_10_laptop_for_students/articleshow/3303030.cms
Editors note: This new project will help us tremendously in getting laptops to children in Africa and around the world. We will be saving all donations sent in for Project Africa until this laptop is in production.
Giving learning a personal touch
A learning system that adapts to the abilities and needs of students opens the way to a more personalised approach in delivering education electronically.
The use of the web as a teaching medium has not had the success that many had hoped it would. Universities around the world have placed much of their teaching online, accessible from their websites. Many open and distance learning institutions are relying heavily on the web as a means of distributing teaching material to students working at home.
Yet somehow reading a computer screen and interacting with software is not the same as studying in a classroom or a laboratory and e-learning has had a mixed reception.
”The problem is that such an approach is technology driven,“ says Pierluigi Ritrovato of the Research Centre in Pure and Applied Mathematics (CRMPA) near Salerno, Italy. ”The web is a wonderful tool for delivering content so people imagine that this technology is suitable for e-learning. So all the efforts have been going into producing some content and then finding technological solutions for delivering it.“
A second, subtler problem is that the teaching content itself contains assumptions about the kind of person the student is and what kind of teaching approach is appropriate. The student or distance teacher is not able to adapt easily the contents to the needs of the student.
What e-learning software has overlooked until now is that no two students are the same. They have different backgrounds, different learning styles and different approaches to learning. A technological medium that ‘delivers’ the same material in the same way to every student is bound to fail.
Models of learning
European researchers in the EU-funded project ELeGI (European Learning Grid Infrastructure) decided to take a new approach to e-learning. They designed key network software designed around models of how people learn.
Ritrovato, who is one of the project’s scientific coordinators, cites the example of people who want to learn a programming language.
”I might like to work with experiments while others are more interested in reading and understanding, or doing exercises or perhaps by a ‘learning by doing’ approach,“ he says. ”The learning model is general enough to take all these aspects into account in a comprehensive way.“
The consortium of universities and research centres involved in the project pursued two research lines. On one hand, researchers focused on formal learning such as in educational institutions. On the other, they researched methods of informal learning through collaboration and conversational approaches.
The learning platform developed by the ELeGI team can automatically be tailored to the different needs of students, and can also adapt rapidly in the way it can access teaching resources through a ‘grid’ of networked computers.
If a teacher decides that the students would benefit by collaborative working, the ELeGI platform can find suitable software, perhaps a wiki, locate a machine to run it on, set it up for the group of students and set them to work in an automatic and transparent way.
The ELeGI software can group students who share similar learning styles. It can also recognise when a student is having difficulty and can offer a ‘mini-course’ of remedial work, generated according to the student’s profile and preferences.
Intelligent web teacher
A number of pilot studies and demonstrators have shown how the ELeGI platform could work in practice. The studies include a series of ‘virtual scientific experiments’, mainly in physics. In the studies, students learn from a simulated experiment.
The researchers also designed several demonstrations related to collaborative working and designed a system to automate assessments of students’ work. As part of the programme, the researchers also launched EnCOrE, a net-based encylopaedia of organic chemistry.
”In terms of outcome we have the model for creating adaptive and personalised learning experience, the ELeGI software infrastructure, that is based on grid technology,“ says Ritrovato. ”It can be considered the first example of a service-oriented infrastructure for learning.“
Insights gained through ELeGI, particularly in formal learning, have been incorporated into Intelligent Web Teacher (IWT), a software platform for distance learning that has been developed over many years with support from several other EU-funded projects.
IWT is marketed by MoMA, a spin-off from the Pole of Excellence in Learning and Knowledge, a virtual research organisation based at Salerno University and which includes several ELeGI partners.
The project demonstrated that it is possible to create a highly personalised learning experience in a dynamic way taking into account the user’s reaction, preferences and the pedagogical aspects,“ Ritrovato says
”It is now clear in the community that the existing learning management systems are out of date,“ he adds. ”They have to change their approach to learning and to be much more user-driven instead of content-driven. This is one of the key features that IWT and ELeGI have been developing. The teacher should be a guide, a support for the student in their learning process.“
The project, which lasted for 41 months and received funding from the EU's Sixth Framework Programme for research, came to an end in June 2007.
Provided by ICT Results
Source:
http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/id/89876
IES Research Funding Opportunities Webinars
The Institute of Education Sciences will host a series of webinars related to research funding opportunities at the National Center for Special Education Research and the National Center for Education Research.
For more information regarding webinar topics, dates, and registration process, please browse here. http://ies.ed.gov/funding/
To view slides from previous webinar sessions discussing research funding opportunities at the National Center for Special Education Research and the National Center for Education Research, browse here.
Please register for the IES Newsflash http://ies.ed.gov/newsflash/ for information about future webinars and upcoming funding opportunities.
Submitting Grant Applications to IES via Grants.gov
Beginning in 2007, grant applications to Institute of Education Sciences (IES) competitions must be submitted via the Grants.gov government-wide portal that allows potential applicants to find grant opportunities and apply for grants. Individuals planning to submit an application on behalf of their organization must ensure that (1) their institution/organization is registered with Grants.gov, and (2) they register themselves as Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs) well before the competition deadline. The Grants.gov registration process can take several weeks. Grants.gov registration information can be found at: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp. Please direct your questions about submitting applications through Grants.gov to the Grants.gov Help Desk at 800-518-4726 or by email to support@grants.gov.
Letters of Intent
The receipt deadline for Letters of Intent for the October 2, 2008 application deadline dates has been extended from July 10, 2008 to August 4, 2008. This is applicable to the National Center for Education Research's Research, Training, Research and Development Center, and Evaluation of State and Local Education Programs and Policies competitions (CFDA Numbers 84.305A, 84.305B, 84.305C, 84.305E), and the National Center for Special Education Research's Research and Training competitions (CFDA Numbers 84.324A, 84.324B).
Nano Education Courses:
California Institute of Nanotechnology will be offering Certified Professional Development Training in Nanotechnology and Clean Tech.
The programs offered are:
· Certified Nanotech & Clean Tech Professional: This intensive program is designed to train participants for careers in the high growth industries of nanotechnology and clean technology. The program includes a lab component to train participants to become proficient with a Scanning Electron Microscope and lecture style classes led by a instructors from NASA, Environmental Protection Agency, IG Partners and many more. In addition to the curriculum, weekly industry seminars are held to expose students to current technology, business contacts and networking opportunities. Students will be expected to demonstrate their acquired knowledge through problem solving, group discussions, and project development. There are two tracks offered for the CNCP Training: 6 Weeks and 13 Weeks Decelerated. The 6 Week classes will be held on Monday through Thursday from 1:30 PM-5:30 PM. The 13 Week classes will be held on Saturdays from 9 AM to 6 PM.
Upcoming Dates:
6 Week – July 28 – September 4, 2008
13 Week – August 2 – October 30, 2008
Location: San Jose, CA
Registration Fee: $3995
· Micro-Nano-Fabrication for Photovoltaic Workshop:
The Micro-NanoFabrication for Photovoltaics Workshop is an intensive program geared towards introducing technical and business managers to the applications of nanotechnology for photovoltaics. The program includes a hands-on lab component covering the basic principles and practice of micro-nano fabrication techniques applied to electronic devices. This program spans 6 sessions – 3 lectures and 3 lab practicals.
Upcoming Dates: July 19 - August 2, 2008
Location: San Jose, CA
Registration Fee: $1995
· Business Re-Engineering: provides insight on the state of nanotechnology from an industry perspective and highlights fundamental applications, environmental issues, and how to finance and run a successful nanotech venture. This program is geared towards professionals, entrepreneurs, program managers, and consultants who wish to learn about business opportunities in the emerging field of nanotechnology. This intensive 3-day program consists of classroom style lectures, group discussions and requires completion of a mini-business proposal.
Upcoming Dates: July 22 – 24, August 25 – 27, September 29 – October 1, November 17 – 19
Location: San Bernardino, CA
Registration fee: $395
· Train the Trainer: features a series of technical workshops on state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing techniques, including nanocharacterization, nano-fabrication, and the commercial applications for nanobiotechnology, thin films and carbon nanotubes. Train the Trainer is designed to equip lay audiences with practical knowledge for today’s high tech industries. This 4-day intensive program consists of classroom style lectures, group discussions, a tour of a nanomanufacturing site, and requires completion of a mini-proposal.
Upcoming Dates: July 22 – 25, August 25 – 28, September 29 – October 2, November 17 – 20
Location: San Bernardino, CA
Registration Fee: $495
For more info: http://www.cinano.com/Training.html
TO REGISTER:
Register on-lineat:http://www.cinano.com/registration.htm
Nano Education Courses:
FAES (Foundation for the Advanced Education in the Sciences, Inc.) at the National Institutes of Health
The FAES Bio-Trac program will be conducting a hands-on ”TRAC 32: Nanotechnology in Medicine“ workshop at the NIH campus on Monday, July 28 – Wednesday, July 30, 2008.
This workshop, which is team taught by active researchers, will include lecture and hands-on laboratory exercises. Each participant will receive a comprehensive binder containing all material presented in the workshop along with laboratory protocols and reference material. There is a class limit of 24 participants with registration being on a first come first serve basis. The registration fee for this program is $750.00
Registration information can be obtained from Bea Sonnenberg at FAES (301-496-2316). Course schedule and content information can be obtained from Mark Nardone at 301-496-8290, nardonem@mail.nih.gov or from the Bio-Trac website at www.biotrac.com. If you desire further information on up coming Bio-Trac workshops, please request by email at nardonem@mail.nih.gov.
Japanese students schooled with Nintendo
By Dan SloanFri Jun 27, 10:47 AM ET
Nintendo is banned everywhere but the classroom at Tokyo Joshi Gakuen school in Japan as the ubiquitous DS consoles become the latest tool in English instruction.
Junior high school teacher Motoko Okubo has used the handheld DS and textbook software since May in weekly sessions focusing on vocabulary, penmanship and audio comprehension.
With years of games such as Super Mario on the prohibited list, she says students weren't expecting the Nintendo welcome.
"They've been using it at home playing games, so at first they were surprised they can use it at school," Okubo said.
Still early in a one-year free trial period, vice principal Junko Tatsumi says results so far have been encouraging in Japan's long struggle with English language education.
"The students are really concentrating and have fun in gaining skills such as spelling," she said.
"Our school policy is English education should be fun."
Japan has around 15,000 middle and high schools and in 2000 launched reforms to create a more "relaxed" environment aimed at fostering creativity and reducing rote learning.
Nintendo was not envisioned as part of that plan and remains a rare find at most Japanese schools, while an OECD educational survey of 57 nations last December showed Japanese 15-year-olds falling in rankings for science, mathematics and reading.
"NO BRAINER"
Japan's education ministry leaves decisions on teaching tools to schools, but if up to first-year student Kanako Takahashi, the DS would be a no-brainer.
"It's fun and helps me remember English," says the 13-year old.
"There's also math software that would be great to try."
So far, it's only English at the all-girls junior high, but at selected schools from Tokyo to Nintendo's home of Kyoto, the DS console and stylus are employed in math and Japanese classes.
Nintendo says the number of schools with consoles is still small, but the DS's touch screen and mix of advanced and easy-to-learn games, including 200 licensed education titles, has been a cash cow as more women and older consumers try it.
Global DS sales since launching in 2004 exceed 70 million units, but even with ubiquity, faculty acceptance of Nintendo use at the over 100-year-old Tokyo Joshi is not universal.
"I had been using it myself, so I wasn't uncomfortable, but other teachers who had never used the DS were a little bit worried because it's a game," said Okubo.
But the school's vice principal says stylus lines are clear.
"No unessential item is allowed at school," said Tatsumi, adding playing cards and mobile phones to those off-limits.
"When English class ends, students cannot play DS games outside and all consoles and software are collected."
(Editing by David Fox)
Engaging teachers means engaged students
To encourage and help teachers become more involved and enthusiastic about "inclusive teaching", the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) recently funded an action research based project. Action research can be explained as making changes and studying the impact of those changes in order to bring about an environment where students feel included in their learning process.
According to the project's Co-director Dr Susan Davies, of Trinity College, Carmarthen, "Action research is an opportunity for teachers to look at their practice, reflect on it, and improve on it."
Dr Davies explained "Good action research can enable teachers to see their pupils differently and be a step towards creating a richer pupil–teacher relationship, which challenges the limitations of current teaching methods. For this to happen, there needs to be a model of action research which involves teachers developing shared ownership of an issue, taking action and paying attention to the consequences for pupils' engagement."
As part of the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP), the project sought to explore how this approach could be used to assist teachers to put into practice the principle of 'inclusion' i.e. to increase the participation and achievement of pupils who may be marginalised as a result of circumstances such as disability, ethnicity, gender and social disadvantage.
The starting point for the TLRP project is that many secondary school teachers are unfamiliar with action research, and may be reluctant to become involved because it can be perceived as unfamiliar and too difficult. The researchers found that, unless teachers were given a real sense of ownership, action research became just another imposition on their time and energy. However, if that ownership was successfully developed, then teachers' energy and creativity was released.
Working with seven schools in Wales and England, the outcomes revealed that:
-- collaborative action research can help engage all their pupils in learning,
-- action research, as an aid to inclusion, can be stimulated by giving teachers a strong sense of ownership of the research and its outcomes, and
-- the role of school leaders and educational psychologists as the research facilitators is crucial to the success of using action research to stimulate inclusive teaching.
-- asking questions about how a school adapts to and works with the diversity of its student population,
-- finding out about, and working with, what pupils bring with them to school rather than viewing differences in terms of deficits, and
-- taking account of the understandings that young people have of school and education, rather than seeking only to engage more young people in existing school practice.
Dr Davies continued: "Conceived in this way, inclusion is not a quick fix that can be bolted on, but requires ongoing dialogue between teachers and learners. It requires teachers' active engagement, because inclusion and exclusion are processes that happen minute by minute and lesson by lesson. Also, crucially, senior management needs to appreciate this is a practice that needs to be given space to happen."
Source: Economic & Social Research Council
Switzerland
Innovation Society introduces teachers’ training course ”TEACH-NANO“
As nanotechnology is coming into our daily lives it will also conquer schools in the near future. Nanotechnology will be an important part of curricula of science classes in secondary schools, and already today teachers are approached by their students who want to know more about this new technology and its amazing applications. The increased media coverage of nanotechnology and the presence of nanoproducts in stores will add to this trend. For the creation of an interesting instruction syllabus that is oriented on the practical use of nanotechnology, teachers until now have only had limited resources at their disposal. Until now there are no nanospecific schoolbooks available. Due to the rapid development of the field many teachers have not come into contact with nanotechnologies during their initial training and therefore have a growing knowledge deficit in this area.
With the new professional training course for teachers ”TEACH NANO“ the Innovation Society gives interested teachers the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of nanotechnologies and provides practical input and theoretical background together with the most suitable teaching concepts. The course is tailored to the needs of the participants and comprises 2-3 blocks that will be taught during 1 or 1.5 days. Participants gain insights into technical, scientific and economic aspects, nano experiments for teachers and students and the current discussion about opportunities and risks of nanotechnologies. They also receive an comprehensive documentation package for personal update and the practical use in their own classes.
The course will be given to groups of around 20 participants and has been evaluated by secondary school teachers in May 2008.
Information: http://www.innovationsgesellschaft.ch/index.php?page=147
Summit: Save STEM or watch America fail
Two years after a report called "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" warned that the United States is falling behind in math and science education, endangering America's competitiveness in the global economy, education leaders, lawmakers, and cabinet members met for a national summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss what progress--if any--has been made in closing the gap. Their verdict: The U.S. needs to make a greater investment in critical math, science, and research programs for these efforts to succeed. | Read More at:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=53697;_hbguid=8063c0d6-2405-465f-8e47-53f07b253979
Roberta goes to Europe
Girls enjoy working with robots: they especially like to carry out tasks that are related to nature. Credit: © Fraunhofer IAIS
The idea that girls are not interested in science and technology is a popular misconception. For the past five years, school girls have been working with robots in "Roberta courses". And now Roberta is ready to take Europe. At this year's Hannover Messe, Roberta organizers will provide an overview of the new Roberta centers that are operating in six different countries.
The tension mounts: Will the demonstration work? Will the robot ant mark the path to food, and will it be able to send other robot ants information on how to find it? In the end, everything works out well, and the robots purposefully head towards their food source. Five years ago, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems in Sankt Augustin initiated the ”Roberta® – Girls Discover Robots“ project, which has been extremely successful.
Girls have shown a great deal of enthusiasm for the project. ”Our experience with children in robot courses has shown that girls are not interested in programming armored vehicles, combat or football robots,“ says project manager Gabriele Thiedig. Instead, Roberta course participants program their robots to dance or to organize a rescue operation.
The Roberta development team has also produced a series of teaching and learning materials. Without much effort, teachers can use these materials to conduct robot courses in a way that is interesting to girls. A cooperation agreement between Fraunhofer IAIS and the non-profit Competence Center for Technology-Diversity-Equal Opportunity has created a Germany-wide Roberta network served by qualified multipliers. There are currently 22 regional Roberta centers in Germany, where interested school groups and their teachers can get information about courses from experienced instructors. One such course is the ”Smart Girls“ initiative. By allowing girls to gain experience with robotics, the initiative aims to spark high school girls’ interest in technical trades and university programs.
From 21 to 25 April, the TectoYou youth initiative will be at the Hannover Messe to give young people aged 12 to 16 the opportunity to check out what Roberta has to offer. ”On Girl’s Day, however, courses will be offered to girls only,“ says project manager Theidig. TectoYou’s female Roberta instructors will also be on hand to talk about their experiences, along with teams participating in the RoboCupJunior competition.
Roberta is already well-known across Germany, and further regional centers are to be set up, while a European dimension begins to take shape. In fact, 12 regional centers have already opened in England, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, and organizers hope that more will be added soon.
Source: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
I'm listening -- conversations with computers
A computer system that can carry on a discussion with a human being by reacting to signals such as tone of voice and facial expression, is being developed by an international team including Queen’s University Belfast.
Known as SEMAINE, the project will build a Sensitive Artificial Listener (SAL) system, which will perceive a human user’s facial expression, gaze, and voice and then engage with the user. When engaging with a human, the SAL will be able to adapt its own performance and pursue different actions, depending on the non-verbal behaviour of the user.
SEMAINE is led by DFKI, the German centre for research on Artificial Intelligence: the other partners are Imperial College, London, the University of Paris 8, the University of Twente in Holland, and the Technical University of Munich. The European Commission awarded it a grant of €2.75 million after it was ranked first out of 143 bids for medium-sized projects in the area of cognitive systems and robotics.
Professor Roddy Cowie, from the School of Psychology, leads the team at Queen’s. He said: ”A basic feature of human communication is that it is coloured by emotion. When we talk to another person, the words are carried on an undercurrent of signs that show them what attracts us, what bores us and so on. The fact that computers do not currently do this is one of the main reasons why communicating with them is so unlike interacting with a human. It is also one of the reasons we can find them so frustrating,“ said Professor Cowie.
”SEMAINE and projects like it will change the way people interact with technology. They mean that you will be talking to your computer in 20 years time. When you do, pause for a minute, and remember that the human sciences at Queen’s helped to lay the groundwork.
”These new developments depend on connecting technology to the relevant understanding of people, and it is recognised worldwide that we have a distinctive strength in bringing psychology, linguistics and ethics to bear on the process of developing the new systems.“
SEMAINE follows on from another project, entitled HUMAINE, which was led by Professor Cowie. The HUMAINE Project (Human-Machine Interaction Network on Emotion) received €4.95 million to develop interfaces that let humans use computers in a more natural way. In 2006 it won the ”Grand Prize“ for the best Information Society Technology Project website. HUMAINE continues in the form of a world-wide organisation for emotion-oriented computing, the HUMAINE Association (http://emotion-research.net/ ), of which Professor Cowie is president.
Professor Cowie added: ”Today when we use technology we adopt a style of communication that suits the machine. Through projects like HUMAINE, SEMAINE, and others linked to them, we will develop technology that will eventually communicate in ways that suit human beings.“
Source: Queen's University Belfast
Students want more use of gaming technology
Tue, Apr 08, 2008
Results from Project Tomorrow's annual Speak Up survey reveal a disconnect between students', adults' views on technology in schools
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
More than half of students in grades three and up would like to see more use of gaming technology in their schools, according to a new survey.
Educators are largely missing out on what could be a huge opportunity to capitalize on their students’ appetite for electronic games and simulations to teach them about core curriculum topics, results from a new national survey suggest.
Project Tomorrow’s fifth annual Speak Up Survey, the largest annual survey addressing the attitudes and opinions of K-12 students, teachers, parents, and school administrators toward the use of technology in education, reveals that online or electronic gaming is one of the technologies that students use most frequently—and that educational gaming is one of the emerging technologies that students would most like to see implemented in their schools. Yet, only one in 10 teachers has adopted gaming as an instructional tool.
Project Tomorrow, a national nonprofit organization committed to supporting and promoting the effective use of science, math, and technology resources in K-12 education, collected the data through online surveys conducted last fall and verified the results through a series of focus groups and interviews with representative groups of students, educators, and parents.
During the past four years of the survey, the technology that students most wanted to see implemented in their classrooms was a personal laptop for each student. For the first time this year, laptops for students also topped the list of teachers’ and school leaders’ most desired technologies.
However, this year’s survey also reports that gaming is now listed by students as a classroom must-have.
In fact, 64 percent of students in grades K-12 say they play online or electronic-based games regularly. On average across all grade levels, students are playing electronic games about 8 to 10 hours a week. More than 50 percent of students in grades 3-12 would like to see more educational gaming in their schools—yet only 19 percent of parents and 15 percent of administrators favor that idea.
”What was really interesting to see in this year’s survey is how the pervasiveness of gaming has really taken a stronghold,“ said Julie Evans, Project Tomorrow’s chief executive. ”Students are really articulating their interest in gaming, as well as the many benefits educational gaming can provide, such as helping them to learn difficult math concepts. Even the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recognizes the huge potential for gaming technologies [in education].“
New York-based Tabula Digita makes a series of immersive educational video games, called DimensionM, designed to help students master key algebraic concepts. Three Florida counties—Orange, Seminole, and Volusia—have adopted this software in their middle school classrooms.
DimensionM embeds pre-algebra lessons within a three-dimensional virtual setting, so students can learn mathematical concepts by completing missions, or lessons, in a game-based environment.
Students can play in a single-player format or a tournament-style format with students in their class, district, or around the world. The software also correlates with both NCTM and state standards.
”When I first saw the DimensionM product, I thought the graphics were incredible and the idea of making math practice a part of a video-game format was brilliant,“ said Melissa Young, district mathematics specialist for Orange County Public Schools. ”As I’ve been working with the math teachers and students in recent weeks, I’ve realized why it works—because it gives kids a reason to want to learn math.“
She continued, ”We are witnessing a metamorphosis of sorts. Within the first few weeks, we saw students seeking assistance from their teachers before the scheduled time for math, so they could beat their friends. … It’s driving up math scores. When our students are experiencing success on the game, it transfers to success in the classroom.“
The Speak Up survey results support Young’s impressions by revealing that the No. 1 reason K-12 students like to play electronic games is the competition with other kids. For students in middle and high school, finding ways to be successful at the game and the high level of activity also are strong motivators.
Just over half of the students surveyed (51 percent) said they’re interested in educational gaming because games make it easier to understand difficult concepts. Fifty percent said gaming would make them more engaged in the subject, 46 percent said they would learn more about the subject, and 44 percent said it would be more interesting to practice problems.
Yet, while more than 50 percent of teachers said they would be interested in learning more about integrating gaming technologies into their teaching and 46 percent would be interested in professional development on this topic, only 11 percent said they are currently incorporating some gaming into their instruction.
What’s more, there seems to be a disconnect between what students want from their own education and what the adults in charge think is best.
This disconnect extends beyond the topic of gaming and applies to many other educational technologies, too.
According to the survey, students’ frustration with school filters and firewalls has grown since 2003, with 45 percent of middle and high school students now saying that these tools designed to protect them inhibit their learning. And 40 percent of students in grades 6-12 cite their teacher as an obstacle to their use of technology in school.
Nearly two-thirds of middle and high school students said ”let me use my own laptop, cell phone, or other mobile device at school.“ Fifty percent would like to be able to access their school work and related software applications and projects from any computer on the school’s network and have unlimited internet access while on campus. Students also would like tools to help them communicate with their classmates (45 percent), their teachers (34 percent), and to organize their schoolwork (42 percent).
While 53 percent of middle and high school students are excited about using mobile devices to help them learn, only 15 percent of school leaders support this idea. Also, fewer than half as many parents as students see a place for online learning in the 21st century school. And even fewer teachers, parents, and school leaders want students to have access to eMail and instant-messaging accounts from school.
”The disconnect between what students want and what they’re actually receiving is significant,“ said Evans. ”Of course, there have been huge investments in technology, educators are receiving more training, and more policies are being implemented—but still, this student frustration is rising.“
She added: ”What’s strange is that, across the board with all technology, the educators and administrators who implement more technology for student use are also placing more limitations on student use.“
Keeping school leaders well informed is the first step toward helping to bridge this disconnect, Project Tomorrow believes—which is why, for the first time, the organization provided online surveys for school leaders (who were defined as principals, technology coordinators, district administrators, and school board members).
”Hopefully, the results of this survey will reach them. If school leaders become more familiar with student views, we’ll see practices and policies start to change in students’ favor,“ explained Evans.
As one high school student in a recent focus group told Project Tomorrow, his vision for the ultimate school is one where the teachers and the principal actively seek and regularly include the ideas of students in discussions and planning for all aspects of education—not just technology.
”This is our future, after all,“ said the student. ”Our ideas should count, too.“
Source: Eschool news
Links:
Project Tomorrow
Tabula Digita
Orange County Public Schools
Advocacy group demands textbook revision
A U.S. advocacy group said it's upset over statements downplaying global warming that are included in a high school textbook.
The Friends of the Earth is asking the publisher, the Houghton Mifflin Co., to correct statements about global warming in its "American Government" textbook used in high schools nationwide.
The group claims a chapter in book concerning environmental policy is so biased and misleading "it would humble a tobacco industry PR man."
Two of the textbook's statements Friends of the Earth finds objectionable are, "Science doesn't know how bad the greenhouse effect is," and "On the one hand, a warmer globe will cause sea levels to rise, threatening coastal communities; on the other hand, greater warmth will make it easier and cheaper to grow crops and avoid high heating bills."
The group said one of the world's most respected climate scientists, James Hansen, director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has also demanded revisions.
Hansen said, "Failure to correct the book's errors will leave students gravely misinformed about the facts and science of global warming -- one of the most serious problems that we as a society and a species face."
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
This news is brought to you by PhysOrg.com
http://www.physorg.com/news127054324.html
Get a video recap of all the month’s top education news with eschool news”TechWatch“.
Virtual schools are in the spotlight in Wisconsin and Oregon—plus, using Second Life to teach a second language. Former astronaut Sally Ride on solving the science crisis, and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue on the social implications of new technologies. Plus, a look at ed-tech news from around the nation.
Go to http://www.eschoolnews.com/video-center/
America's Promise Alliance Video at:
http://www.americaspromise.org/APA.htm?aspxerrorpath=/AmericasPromise.aspx
Download the Report
A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation
Visit the website for more information
http://www.americaspromise.org/APA.aspx
State STEM Education Rankings
This week's issue of Southern Compass, the electronic newsletter published by the Southern Growth Policies Board, suggested its readers check out the March 27, 2008, edition of Education Week, which is dedicated to examining what states are doing to improve science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM). STEM education is considered one of the highest priorities by many groups for the U.S. to maintain its global leadership in innovation and competitiveness.
The online Education Week is dedicated to the Technology Counts report, which looks at the states' STEM progress in the three areas of student access to technology, use of technology in student education, and institutional and teacher capacity to use technology. A joint project of Education Week and the Editorial Projects of the Educational Research Center, Technology Counts 2008 is the 11th annual assessment conducted to benchmark states against each other and the national average on 14 indicators, such as test scores, standards and policy inputs toward improving STEM education.
While Technology Counts 2008 marks significant progress in several areas nationally - such as the number of states requiring at least three years of math or science before awarding a high school diploma (which has grown to 38 and 35 states, respectively) - the individual grades states received reflect the challenges still ahead. Only the District of Columbia, Iowa and Mississippi have not prepared technology standards either as stand-alone documents or as integrated elements of the English, math, science or history curricula.
The report's grading of states may remind Digest readers of some of their tougher high school teachers: Only three states - West Virginia, Georgia and South Dakota received an overall grade of A or A- (90 points or higher on a 100 point scale). On the other hand, while none of the states were found failing, seven received overall marks of D+, D or D-: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia. Because of changes to the measures, comparison to the grades of previous years is discouraged, Education Week advises.
Grading is based on both quantitative and qualitative measures. The four Access indicators included: percent of students with access to computers in fourth grade, percent with access in eighth grade, number of students per instructional computer and number of students per high speed Internet-connected computer. Use and capacity measures were based on the presence of policies and standards the Education Research Center deemed important for improving STEM education, such as whether or not a state had a virtual school, if it offered computer-based assessments, or whether or not a state required teachers to pass technology requirements at hiring and recertification points.
In addition to the detailed state reports, interactive maps and tables charting scores and trends, Technology Counts includes articles profiling examples of successful STEM initiatives and some of the challenges measuring the impact of federal initiatives to improve STEM. Technology Counts 2008 is available at: http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2008/03/27/index.html
NASA to stage student science competition
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is giving U.S. students the chance to see what it's like to be a NASA scientist.
The space agency said students in the 5th to 12th grades can enter a competition in which they must conduct research on Saturn and then write an essay suggesting what targets would be the most valuable to the Cassini spacecraft, which will take images of three designated Saturn targets June 10.
Students must write a 500-word essay on why the images they choose would be the most scientifically rich. Essays will be judged by a panel of Cassini scientists, mission planners and by the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory education and outreach team. Winners will be invited to discuss their essays with JPL Cassini scientists via a teleconference.
Entries are divided into three groups: grades five through six, seven through eight and high school. One winner will be chosen from each group. The deadline for entries is noon PDT May 8. All participants with valid entries will receive a certificate of participation.
More information about the competition is available at
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/scientist/
HEC launches research, education connection with National Science Foundation
ISLAMABAD, Apr 9 (APP): The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) of United States of America (USA) are jointly funding a high performance research and education network connection to support Pak-US Science and Technology collaborations.
This dedicated network will link scientists, research facilities, supercomputers and databases in Pakistan and the US. This project will connect the existing PERN and the developing PERN2 network to the global research and education network infrastructure. This connection will be implemented by a joint purchase of capacity on an undersea cable system connecting PERN/PERN2 in Karachi to an international network connection point in Singapore.
”The launching of new connection is part of HEC’s strategy to leap frog forward. We have similar parallel networks connections to connect Pakistan to research networks in Europe, Canada and Korea. The HEC has come of age and it has been successful in creating the infrastructure for best quality research through harnessing technology,“ said Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, Chairman HEC, while speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of seminar on ‘Dedicated Research and Education Connection between Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN) and Internet2 of the USA’.
”The faculty members and researchers must utilize the opportunities being provided by Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the field of education and research,“ added Chairman HEC.
Dr. Atta asserted that only effective use of these new tools would make the difference in our education landscape and it is basically the faculty, which has to play a key role in this regard.
”All these steps including high-speed research networks, video conferencing, digital library etc are aimed at providing faculty members and researchers state-of-the-art facilities so that they can compete at international level“, he said.
He informed the gathering that 60 percent of HEC funds have been allocated for human resource development.
”Over 2,000 Pakistani scholars have been sent to world’s leading universities for MS and PhD studies and once these scholars come back they will find an entirely changed educational environment“.
Dr. James Williams, Director, International Networking and Operational Assurance and Principal Investigator for Indiana University said that we are here to celebrate an investment in knowledge on part of the US National Science Foundation and the Pakistan Higher Education Commission.
”For me and for many people here, this workshop represents a major milestone in the course of our project to enhance science and technology collaborations between the US and Pakistan. This project had its origins in the US-Pakistan Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology between Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman and Dr. Arden Bement of the NSF“.
”An important objective of this project was introduction of high-speed connectivity between the two countries and today we are announcing a very significant step toward meeting that objective. This network connection is an important mechanism for enhancing collaborations. But, it is only a mechanism. It is now our responsibility to use this mechanism as a tool to enhance Pakistan-US science and technology activity“, he said.
”As we will see later in this Workshop, the areas of scientific collaboration between the US and Pakistan are many and varied. They range from studying the impact of climate change on glaciers to cooperation in nanotechnology to trauma and injury research to research in construction products and cement. All of these areas will benefit from this new network connection“, he added.
Dr. Williams said this connection would enable high-speed transfer of medical images between countries. It will facilitate sharing of medical and research databases and publications. It will allow research groups separated by half a world to communicate easily via video-conferencing and to use the newest of collaborative tools. It will facilitate sharing of the best of US science and medical research with the best of Pakistani science and medical research, he added.
He concluded his remarks by quoting Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as saying, ”With faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve“.
In his welcome speech, Dr. Sohail Naqvi, Executive Director, HEC, termed the new project a dedicated digital motorway between Pakistan and USA.
”Today we are launching a high-speed connection with Internet2 of USA with a complete focus on research. This will not be used for commercial purpose“, he said.
He said this high-speed connection will provide an excellent quality of service. ”Its applications are endless and it will provide wonderful opportunities to our researchers in carrying out their studies in a variety of fields such as biotechnology, telemedicine, nanoscience, astronomy, molecular biology, computational science etc.“, he added.
The community of research is global and transcends all barriers and the latest venture will link Pakistan to international level research, he added.
He said that since its establishment, the HEC has been working to develop digital networks within universities and, through PERN, among different universities and higher education institutions. ”We are in the process of developing PERN2 that will provide gigabit connectivity“, he concluded.
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34975&Itemid=2
Nanomedicine thematic group started on the Nanopaprika network
Nanopaprika.eu, the Independent Nanoscience Network, started life in November 2007 and, today, counts more than 459 members.
Discussions, forums, chat, videos and photos are open to all members. Nanopaprika.eu, a virtual meeting point for researchers, industrial partners and students from more than 50 countries, covers some 20 thematic groups, including a nanomedicine group, nanoeducation group and a nanotoxicity group.
HP unveils small laptop for schoolkids
By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer
AP Photo
One more of the world's biggest technology companies is clamoring to enter the growing market for pint-sized computers targeted mainly for pint-sized customers. Hewlett-Packard Co., the No. 1 seller of personal computers worldwide, said Tuesday it's throwing its weight behind a new class of miniaturized laptops, a fledgling market already populated with products from Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor company, and Asustek Computers Inc., the world's largest maker of computer motherboards.
The machines are so new the industry hasn't settled on a name for low-cost and scaled-down laptops used primarily for surfing the Internet and performing other basic functions like word processing.
Intel has labeled them "netbooks," and it expects more than 50 million netbooks to be in circulation by 2011.
HP executives say their new machines, which go on sale later this month, are an important piece of the Palo Alto-based company's effort to build market share in schools, where machines had to be smaller and cheaper without losing too many functions.
The companies also expect adults to cotton to the idea of buying two laptops — a lightweight one just for Web browsing on the go and the full-power machine for the home or office. But industry executives acknowledge that the market is untested and that no one knows what demand will be once the machines are deployed widely.
HP's foray comes in the form of a new computer called a "Mini-Note" that weighs less than 3 pounds with a screen that measures 8.9 inches diagonally. The machines start at under $500 for a Linux-based model. Prices go up for Windows Vista models with faster processors.
The processors HP is using are made by Via Technologies Inc., the distant third-ranked player in the microprocessor space, and come in clock speeds up to 1.6 gigahertz. The inclusion is a big win for Via, which trails Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. by a wide margin in the microprocessor market.
HP executives say the only major feature its Mini-Note lacks is an optical drive for ingesting DVDs and CD-ROMs, which can be bought separately. But they say many schools requested the drives be left out to prevent students from playing unauthorized games.
The Mini-Note will compete primarily with Intel's Classmate PCs — which are designed by Intel and feature Intel chips but are built and branded by other companies — and Asustek's Eee PC.
To a lesser extent, they also will go up against the XO laptop from the Cambridge, Mass., nonprofit One Laptop per Child, which is intended primarily for schoolchildren in developing countries.
Intel says it has sold "tens of thousands" of Classmate PCs since they went on sale last year. And OLPC says it has sold hundreds of thousands of the XO. Figures were not immediately available for sales of the Eee.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_hi_te/hewlett_packard_small_laptops
Low-cost handheld targets elementary students
Chicago nonprofit calls its $50 'teachermate' an affordable way to give every kid a computer
From eSchool News staff reports
The teachermate features a 2.5-inch screen, 512 MB of memory, and costs only $50.
Elementary schools in at least seven cities are piloting an innovative handheld computer that costs only $50 and can be used to help teach reading and math. The nonprofit organization that developed the device, Chicago-based Innovations for Learning, bills it as ”the world’s most affordable solution“ for giving a computer to every student.
The ”teachermate“ handheld computer, as the device is called, features a 2.5-inch color screen, 512 megabytes of internal memory, an SD slot for expandability, a built-in microphone and speaker, and a battery life of four hours. An innovative case that holds 30 of the devices can charge them all at the same time using one AC outlet and synch all of the student performance data to a teacher’s personal computer using a single USB cable.
The teachermate includes reading and math software programs also developed by Innovations for Learning, which says it created the software first but was looking for an affordable, scalable way to deliver the software to every student.
”Our organization has been stymied over the years by the same roadblock faced by all educational software makers—the inadequacy of personal computers in K-2 classrooms,“ said Seth Weinberger, executive director of the nonprofit. ”There are too few computers in the classroom, too many of them are broken, and too many of them are hand-me-downs. Public schools do not have the funds to provide sufficient computer resources to the young students who need them most.“
The problem inspired the group to develop an inexpensive solution that would be intuitive for young students to use.
The teachermate is lightweight and portable, yet the images on its screen are highly visible. All you have to do is switch on the power button and it’s ready to go. A row of three colored buttons on the top, a circle of arrows to the right, and a big blue ”enter“ button on the left make up all the controls. The software’s learning games are simple and have fun noises and actions for kids to look at. There’s also a dog character named Max who dances and plays instruments for students when they complete a game successfully. The device comes with lightweight earphones and has places for a USB cable and an AC cord.
Innovations for Learning is rolling out its ”teachermate“ handheld computers to all 500 Chicago elementary schools over a two-year period. With the help of funding from JP Morgan Chase, the nonprofit will provide teachermates for every student within one classroom in each of the city’s elementary schools; schools will be able to purchase handhelds for additional classrooms at cost. Software for the handhelds includes a complete K-2 reading and math program that aligns with the Chicago Public Schools’ reading and math initiatives.
”The teachermate handheld computer is one of the most promising new educational tools I have seen. Not only is the cost of each unit low enough to be affordable for every student in a classroom, but the device is easy to use, easy to train, and easy to maintain. This is a big step forward in providing a high-quality education to an increasingly technological generation,“ said Sharnell Jackson, chief eLearning officer for the Chicago Public Schools.
In addition to the rollout in Chicago, schools in New York City, Detroit, New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix, and the Denver area are piloting the device.
Innovations for Learning’s software has been proven effective by independent research funded by the Spencer Foundation. The Spencer Foundation is currently funding research by the University of Illinois at Chicago on the effectiveness of the teachermate handheld computers.
All of the programs are in Spanish as well as English, and teachers can select how much Spanish support to provide for each student.
”The teachermate system definitely enhances students’ reading skills,“ said Martha Arriaga, a first grade teacher at Jungman Elementary School in Chicago. ”If the students could use these devices all day long, they would. It gets them focused on what they should be learning, but they think they are just playing games.“
”The teachermate is really a bridge from the digital world to a first grader,“ Weinberger concluded. ”Teachers see the kids laugh, learn, and do their own voice recordings when using the reading software. It really gets them going—it energizes them in their teaching.“
Links:
Innovations for Learning www.innovationsforlearning.org
Chicago Public Schools www.cps.k12.il.us
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/related-top-news/?i=53093
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Computer Games Can Make Kids More Social, Not Less
Contrary to common education wisdom, computer games and other technologies can foster community-building, a strong sense of identity and higher-level planning even in very young students, UC Davis researchers report.
"There is a lot of hemming and hawing among educators about the introduction of technology in the early grades," said Cynthia Carter Ching, associate professor of education at the University of California, Davis. "But the worst-case scenarios just don't pan out. Technology can facilitate creativity and social awareness, even when we don't design the use of it to do so. And when we do design technology activities with these things in mind, the possibilities are endless."
According to Ching, early childhood educators often argue that technology can squelch young children's creativity and social interaction in the classroom.
But in two recent studies of kindergarten and first-grade students, Ching has observed that children find ways to transform their experiences with technology into fun, highly organized group activities. She also found that technology-based activities can be explicitly designed to foster social reflection and advanced planning among young children.
Ching and her collaborator, X. Christine Wang from the University at Buffalo, SUNY, will presented the research today at the annual meeting of the American Association of Educational Research in New York City.
In their first study, Ching and Wang observed children who chose to play a computer game during their free time. Though only one child could play at a time, the children negotiated turns and gave each other advice about how to play the game.
"Though this is hardly the ideal setting for social interaction and higher-level thinking, the children exhibited a great deal of executive planning skills and complex social negotiations without any guidance or interference from adults," Ching said.
In the second study, children were given digital cameras and told to create digital photo journals. The students displayed creativity and engaged in complex planning at every stage of the assignment, from how they framed their shots to how they chose to organize them to tell a story, Ching found.
"This study shows that rather than technology being something that children merely use, it can be a creative tool for increased reflection on social networks, friendships, relationships with teachers and a sense of self within the world of school," Ching said.
Ching and Wang received the Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies at last year's AERA meeting.
Source: UC Davis
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Are students well prepared for future challenges? Can they analyse, reason and communicate effectively? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life? The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) answers these questions and more, through its surveys of 15-year-olds in the principal industrialised countries. Every three years, it assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society.
One of the pitfalls of U.S K-12 education is mandatory national testing without a mandatory national comprehensive curriculum. Decisions on what and how to teach are still made at the individual school district level and sometimes by teachers in the classroom. In the Bay Area Study provided below, science was barely taught 20 minutes a week and sometimes not at all. You will notice in the following videos that all of the countries that are currently leading in the PISA education testing have adopted a new paradigm of comprehensive national curriculum with 6 or more hours a week devoted to science and experiments. These countries understand that educating their students for a global society cannot be left to chance, therefore adapting to change by introducing the concepts of nature very early in the students learning matrix. Shifting to this paradigm stimulates young students curiousity to learn the natural sciences to understand 'how their world works' without the complaint about long hours and extra school days on the calendar. As you watch the videos from the leading countries in education the differences will become clear. New innovative solutions need to be discussed on a national scale for our students to be able to live and work in a global community.
PISA 2006 – Science Learning: Canada
http://www.viewontv.com/oecd/031207_pisa2006/index.php?lang=ca
After much debate about Comprehensive education in Finland the country decided to switch to this method in 1970 and is now the leading country for science education on the PISA assessments
PISA 2006 – Science Learning: Finland
http://www.viewontv.com/oecd/031207_pisa2006/index.php?lang=fi
PISA 2006 – Science Learning: Germany
http://www.viewontv.com/oecd/031207_pisa2006/index.php?lang=ge
PISA 2006 – Science Learning: Japan
http://www.viewontv.com/oecd/031207_pisa2006/index.php?lang=ja
PISA 2006 – Science Learning: Mexico
http://www.viewontv.com/oecd/031207_pisa2006/index.php?lang=me
These clips are taken from a full-length documentary, PISA 2006: Science for tomorrow – Impressions from successful schools around the world. For information on how to obtain this film, please click here.
Read the following article from eschool News to understand the complexity of our current educational crisis.
In the UNITED STATES:
Science education in the spotlight
As schools prepare for the debut this fall of science testing under No Child Left Behind, educators and science advocates are calling for renewed awareness of what many say is a national crisis in science education.
Recent Reports
Choice, Changes and Challenges in the NCLB Era
NEF Offers One Million Scholarships to Fight Recession
Job seekers, Employees Earning up to $60,000, Students, Teachers Eligible
ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Appu Kuttan, Chairman of the National Education Foundation (NEF) CyberLearning, the global nonprofit leader in digital education, and winner of the Global Digital Literacy Champion Award given to the person making the most contributions globally to bridging the digital divide, announced today a nationwide initiative to provide scholarships to a million low and middle income individuals affected by the oncoming recession.
According to Dr. Kuttan, "Fear of recession is forcing people, especially low and middle income individuals, small businesses and others, to cut back on training, which is normally expensive. At the same time, the U.S. Labor Department is predicting a shortage of two million IT workers by 2010. An obvious solution is to make job skills training affordable to our low and middle income individuals. That is the rationale for this important initiative."
Former President Bill Clinton commends CyberLearning, "You are helping to empower tomorrow's leaders. I salute you for your ongoing commitment for creating a better and stronger America." Congressional Republican leader Tom Davis states, "Congratulations on a wonderful program."
The One Million Scholarships Program offers free high quality Web-based IT (includes 30 certifications), Business, Testprep, K-12 Math, Science and Technology education courses to students and teachers as well as unemployed and underemployed individuals. The course packages, each containing 100-400 courses and each worth $400-$800, are offered free, and the user pays a nominal registration fee of $30 for any course package. One could take these courses to learn new skills or improve the learned skills or prepare for certifications in Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe, CompTia, Oracle, Office Applications, Networking, Programming, Web Design, Project Management etc. See the course catalog containing 2,500 courses grouped into 30+ course packages at www.cyberlearning.org/coursecatalog.
To apply for the scholarship, just visit www.cyberlearning.org/scholarships. You can be taking the courses you need within two minutes! It is as easy as ABC!
About NEF CyberLearning
CyberLearning, a project of the non-profit National Education Foundation, is the world’s leading non-profit organization bridging the digital and academic divides through digital education. CyberLearning provides IT, digital literacy, math and science education to millions in many countries including the U.S., India, Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritius.
Contacts
Ms. Claudia Kay
Communications VP, CyberLearning
Tel: 703-823-9999
Email: ckay@cyberlearning.org
Website: www.cyberlearning.org
The Elementary Science Coalition Calls for an Education Revolution
Broad-based advocacy organization launches efforts on behalf
of elementary science in the U.S.
March 4, 2008 – The Elementary Science Coalition (ESC) this week called for a complete overhaul of the nation’s elementary science education system, saying a revolution is needed to ensure our children receive a quality science education.
”The Elementary Science Coalition will be on the front lines of that revolution,“ said ESC Executive Director Rita Ferrandino. ”Through lobbying efforts, public awareness campaigns, support for professional development best practices, ESC will be leading the charge, changing the way that elementary science is valued in this country.“
At an ESC event held this week, some of the nation’s leading educators gathered to join their voices to the ESC’s rallying cry, including U.S. Representatives Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and Rush Holt (D-NJ).
”America’s position as the world’s leader in innovation and ingenuity did not happen by accident, and it’s not a birthright. Our economic future depends upon the investments we make in tomorrow’s workforce,“ Holt said, calling upon science advocates to work to mobilize public awareness and interest in the world-changing possibilities inherent in science and technology. The Congressmen, both congressional leaders in education, called upon the American people to become science education advocates on behalf of the nation’s children and challenge legislators to focus resources and funding toward elementary science education.
Statistics for current elementary science education are grim, including:
• Science instruction has decreased by half since 2000 in many elementary schools.
• 42% of elementary school teachers feel unprepared to teach science.
• Elementary school teachers receive little to no professional development in science
education.
• Most current elementary science lessons are of low quality.
• In a recent survey, almost half the school districts reported no capacity to support science
education in house.
Guest speakers at the event, including Dr. Jeanne Century, Director of Science Education, The Center for Elementary Math and Science Education, University of Chicago; Marsha Winegarner, State Coordinator for the National Science Teachers Association’s Building a Presence Program in Florida; and Joan Abdallah, Program Director of K-12 Programs, American Association for the Advancement of Science; all agreed that elementary science education is currently in crisis.
The Coalition is still accepting members, and welcomes queries from organizations and corporations in the education, science, and technology industries. Please contact Executive Director Rita Ferrandino at rita@arccd.com or (941) 921-1663 to join the science revolution.
About The Elementary Science Coalition
The Elementary Science Coalition is a not-for-profit group of educators, educational publishing companies, and corporations with a vested interest in a strong scientific workforce, working together to bring national focus to elementary science education, with support from Carmen Group, Inc. a leading federal lobbying and government relations firm. The Coalition lobbies at the federal level and engages in public outreach to teachers, administrators, parents, and concerned citizens. For the earliest information about the Elementary Science Coalition, please
visit http://arccd.com/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=30182
MIT Professor teaches physics his way.
Watch video at: http://thoughtware.tv/videos/show/1618
More video lectures at:
More: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics-IFall1999/VideoLectures/index
MIT professor and Web star Walter Lewin swings from pendulums and faces down wrecking balls to show students the zany beauty of science. Great for science teachers in high-school who would like to encourage the beauty of learning science.
Future Tech
Nokia Morph Concept Video
Morph is a concept demonstrating some of the possibilities nanotechnologies might enable in future communication devices. Morph can sense its environment, is energy harvesting, and self cleaning. Morph is a flexible two-piece device that can adapt its shape to different use modes. Nanotechnology enables us to have adaptive materials yet rigid forms on demand.
It is also featured in the MoMA online exhibition "Design and the Elastic Mind". It has been a collaboration project of the Nokia Research Center and Cambridge Nanoscience Center.
New Education Videos
Two Million Minutes Trailer: A Global Examination
Order your DVD at http://www.2mminutes.com
Ed in '08: The State of America's Schools
Watch the videos at
http://youtube.com/user/EDin08
ED in ’08 Partners with Documentary Filmmakers to Sound the Alarm about the Education Crisis in America
New documentary titled ”Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination“ released
Washington, D.C. – On the eve of the release of the results from a major international assessment that compares students in 57 countries, Strong American Schools’ ED in ’08 national, nonpartisan campaign announced today it will partner with Broken Pencil Productions to highlight the film Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination. The documentary tracks students from India, China and the United States as they are completing their high school degrees and competing for entrance into competitive universities.
”This film is a wake up call for America,“ said Executive Director of ED in ’08 Marc Lampkin. ”It exposes an educational system entrenched in mediocrity and causing us to lose the educational arms race. It is a crisis that must be addressed by leadership at all levels, and the presidential candidates must show the courage to rise above special interests and ideological obstacles to provide American students with the education they deserve.“
“The simple fact is, global education standards have passed America by,“ stated Robert A. Compton, Executive Producer of the film. ”When it was Finland who was winning, it wasn’t such a concern. But now that our K-12 students are being outperformed academically by China and India – the two highest populated countries in the world with the fastest growing economies and with cultures that embrace intellectual challenge – it is cause for serious concern.“
”Most worrisome,“ Compton added, ”is that few Americans are even aware that India and China, with a combined 2.3 billion people, have over 400 million students in K-12 education compared to our 53 million. Our knowledge of these two cultures is seriously out of date and that has to change…fast. Our economic future depends on it.“
The Strong American Schools’ ED in ’08 campaign is a nonpartisan movement supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and calls on all presidential candidates to improve America’s public schools.
To join the ED in '08 campaign, or for more information, visit www.EDin08.com. To view a trailer of the film Two Million Minutes or to purchase a copy of the film on DVD, go to: www.2Mminutes.com. Broken Pencil Productions (BPP) is a film production company that is focused on developing and producing documentaries that are primarily educational in nature. Screenings of the film sponsored by ED in 08 will be held throughout the country in 2008.
Strong American Schools, a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, is a nonpartisan campaign supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promoting sound education policies for all Americans. SAS does not support or oppose any candidate for public office and does not take positions on legislation.
Contact: Holly Zardus (202) 552 - 4565
Holly.Zardus@StrongAmericanSchools.org
U.S. educators seek lessons from Scandinavia
High-scoring nations on an international exam say success stems from autonomy, project-based learning
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
A recent U.S. delegation toured Scandinavian countries for advice.
A delegation led by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) recently toured Scandinavia in search of answers for how students in that region of the world were able to score so high on a recent international test of math and science skills. They found that educators in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark all cited autonomy, project-based learning, and nationwide broadband internet access as keys to their success.
What the CoSN delegation didn’t find in those nations were competitive grading, standardized testing, and top-down accountability—all staples of the American education system.
As CoSN officials explained during a webcast held Feb. 27, the delegation traveled to Helsinki, Stockholm, and Copenhagen to talk with the ministries of education in each country and exchange ideas with local business and school leaders.
The group’s goal was to learn how these countries are approaching education, reaching students, involving teachers, and implementing policy. Specifically, CoSN wanted to see how strategic investment in information and communications technology (ICT) was affecting education in the region.
As in the United States, most Scandinavian classrooms are connected to the internet, students and teachers have access to computers, and there is an ample supply of online learning resources and virtual-schooling programs. However, according to Keith Krueger, CoSN’s chief executive, ICT in that area of the world ”is supportive of programs, rather than a driving force, and is viewed as important primarily to ensure students’ success in their future careers.“
Kati Tuurala, Microsoft’s education manager in Finland—whose students scored the highest in both math and science on the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)—said there is a ”huge change in the knowledge economy because of the global market. In order to ensure future success, we need to know how to go from good to great.“
She credits Finland’s success to its major reforms of the 1970s, which included an emphasis on primary education for everyone in the country. ”That’s the reason for our present-day success,“ Tuurala said.
In all three countries, students start formal schooling at age seven after participating in extensive early-childhood and preschool programs focused on self-reflection and social behavior, rather than academic content. By focusing on self-reflection, students learn to become responsible for their own education, delegates said.
Barbara Stein, manager of external partnerships and advocacy for the National Education Association, said Scandinavian countries ”encourage philosophical thought at a very young age. … Grading doesn’t happen until the high-school level, because they believe grading takes the fun out of learning. They want to inspire continuous learning.“
In fact, educators and policy makers in all three countries view accountability and assessment far differently than in the United States, delegates said. In contrast to the focus on quantitative measures and standardized testing found in No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Scandinavian officials rely on a system that produces highly competent teachers who use their professional expertise to work with each student and develop individualized learning plans.
”My teacher“ and ”the teacher“ are terms of respect, not only when used by the students, but also by the school leader or headmaster. The teacher is most often viewed as a mentor, someone who has both knowledge and wisdom to impart and plays a key role in preparing students for adulthood.
In Finland, for instance, teaching is one of the most highly venerated professions in the country—and only one in eight applicants to teacher-education programs are accepted. All teachers there have a master’s degree.
Unlike in the United States, which has taken the opposite approach, Scandinavian countries have established national curriculum standards but have set fairly broad mandates, letting authority trickle down as close to the classroom as possible. Local school officials have the flexibility to provide education services according to their students’ unique needs and interests, as long as the basic policy framework is followed.
Therefore, teachers are extremely autonomous in their work. So are students. For example, internet-content filtering in the three countries is based largely on a philosophy of student responsibility. Internet filters rarely exist on school computers, other than for protection from viruses or spam. As a school librarian in Copenhagen said, ”The students understand that the computers are here for learning.“
Julie Walker, executive director of the American Association of School Librarians, said these countries see students as having ”the filter in their heads.“
Walker also noted that while ”the U.S. holds teachers accountable for teaching, here they hold the students accountable for learning.“
One school that delegates visited in Copenhagen, Katrinedalsskolen, has students become independent learners working across curricular areas. Students stay with one teacher or mentor from grades one through nine, moving freely about the building—which is centered around the school library, or ”pedagogical center.“
Assessment
In the Danish system, the notion of grading is a foreign concept, with competitive grading postponed until high school. Students are judged in relation to their own growth, rather than that of others, and they are continuously evaluated. Teachers also write individual learning plans for each student after these evaluations.
Project-based learning begins in the first grade, and teachers work with students to structure their learning through a process described by one educator as ”dialogue and trust.“ Assessment is achieved primarily through a dialogue with each student, as is communication with parents about their child’s progress.
Exams tend to be limited as exit criteria to grade nine, along with a project-based assignment that requires students to plan, research, present, and create around a broad theme.
Finland, which does not use standardized exams, reformed its educational system in the 1990s to remove the European school inspectorate system of accountability. According to Walker, ”Students use progressive inquiry and are educated through questions and problem solving.“
The change occurred because teachers felt the system stifled them and hindered creativity in the classroom.
One school in Helsinki, Aurinkolahti School, believes that learning should let children ”have fun and know the joy of life.“ Educational technology is used to create a community of learners who build knowledge together.
ICT abroad
It’s important to note that in all three countries, neither abject poverty nor ostentatious wealth are manifest, webcast participants heard. This is owing to strong traditions of social programs that provide young people and their families with a robust support system. ”Therefore,“ explained Krueger, ”there is no great digital divide like in the U.S.“
About 98 percent of homes in all three countries have computers and broadband internet connections. The communities in all three countries also frequently have media centers where students and teachers can receive help from qualified professionals.
Because of this high degree of home connectivity, Sweden has decided that the government is not in charge of implementing technology in its schools.
So, home connectivity does not necessarily translate into widespread, sophisticated use of ICT in schools. Said Krueger, ”We did not hear expressions about the need to make a deep-level change in the nature and structure of schooling in the three countries … nor did we get the sense that ICT was provoking efforts to reconstruct the nature and role of school in an extensively wired society.“
However, connectivity for all schools is still a goal in Denmark, and its widespread implementation is encouraged through district competitions for winning technology prizes. Denmark also has a national social-networking portal and is a leader in terms of Web 2.0 applications.
Yet, none of the three countries has implemented classroom technology to the scale of the United States. Said Ann Flynn, director of educational technology for the National School Boards Association, ”Technology is less visible in all classrooms—technology such as whiteboards, student response systems, students laptops—they’re just more focused on personal productivity.“
Technology tools, such as computers, have been given primarily to teachers as a way of supporting their instruction—but there are few student-focused ICT initiatives, such as one-to-one computing programs.
Nobody’s perfect
Tuurala said that Finland, though ranked highest on the PISA exam, still ”doesn’t have a clear vision as a nation as to what constitutes our national education policy. We need to ask ourselves, ‘What do we need in order to succeed in this global employability market?’“
A reoccurring theme in all countries was the need for policy makers and education administrators to have a clear vision of how technology can improve teaching and learning.
”We heard this in nearly every meeting, whether it was being identified as the reason for a success strategy, or its absence highlighted as a core reason for lack of progress,“ said Krueger.
He continued: ”There appears to be less focus on the use of ICT for innovation. Clearly, it takes strong and visionary leadership to promote new uses of technology or other strategies, when you have succeeded with traditional high-stakes measures.“
The webcast concluded by emphasizing that even though these three countries are succeeding in student achievement, they also grapple with some of the same questions encountered in the U.S.—how to ensure high-quality learning, how to use technology more effectively, how to gain digital maturity, and how to reenergize the use of technology in schools on a continual basis.
Link:
Consortium for School Networking
Low-cost laptop projects offer new tools
Intel, OLPC provide access to ePals' online collaborative applications
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports
New applications will help keep online environments safe and productive for users of XO and Classmate machines.
The beneficiaries of a movement to equip students in developing countries with low-cost laptops now have a new resource to help them put the technology to sound educational use both in the U.S. and around the world, thanks to deals struck among ePals Inc., distributors of the low-cost laptops, and the National Geographic Society.
The agreements mean ePals' suite of safe, kid-friendly electronic communication tools--including the company's SchoolMail, SchoolBlog, and Global Learning Community applications--will be available to students using Intel's Classmate PC and the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation's $188 XO laptop.
ePals, which started as a web-based electronic penpal service in 1996, now offers classroom eMail, blogs, online literacy tools, and web-based collaborative projects on subjects such as global climate change and habitats--all free of charge.
With 125,000 classrooms and approximately 13 million students around the world using its free applications for communicating and collaborating online, the company says, ePals is now poised to expand its reach into classrooms even further.
Students and teachers worldwide who use Intel's Classmate PC or OLPC's XO computer will be able to join ePals' Global Learning Community--reportedly the largest network of interconnected classrooms in the world--by selecting the ePals icon on their machine's desktop. By doing so, they will enter a safe online environment for building and exchanging knowledge, ePals says.
"We are working together to foster students' 21st-century skills by using the internet in a safe and protected context to develop global awareness, master critical thinking, and experience project-based collaboration," said Ed Fish, president and CEO of ePals.
Lila Ibrahim, general manager of Intel's Emerging Markets Platform Group, echoes Fish's enthusiasm for the partnership, saying ePals' applications "complement the collaboration features on the Intel-powered Classmate PC--enabling students and teachers to collaborate and learn together in a secure environment to develop skills for the global economy."
According to the New York Times, ePals already has seen its applications improve education in developing countries, such as at a school in Kragujevac, Serbia.
One teacher there, Mirjana Milovic, says ePals has helped the 120 students in her school with their English-language skills. Their correspondents in Alabama and Kansas have "also learned that jeans and Nike shoes are popular in Kragujevac, but that the McDonald's in town closed for lack of business," Milovic says.
Students in San Diego, meanwhile, use ePals' applications to conduct "virtual field trips" and have online exchanges with their peers in Italy, China, and the Czech Republic. Students have learned about the family life and political systems in these countries, while at the same time improving their writing skills.
The announcement that Intel and OLPC have partnered with ePals coincides with an agreement between ePals and the New Partnership for Africa's Development Council to give African students and educators the opportunity to connect with classrooms worldwide through ePals' Global Learning Community. In addition, National Geographic has decided to partner with ePals to provide digital learning content.
Initially, National Geographic content will be included within ePals' Global Learning Community on topics such as maps and geography, habitats, global warming, natural disasters, people and culture, great leaders, water, and weather.
"ePals is leading the digital transformation of the education landscape into a more dynamic, cross-cultural, and collaborative experience," said Edward Prince, chief operating officer for National Geographic Ventures, which creates and distributes digital content for the National Geographic Society.
He added that ePals offers "a rich learning experience for users, while also offering a powerful platform for content providers to deliver their resources in a meaningful way."
Links:
Global - India
Rs 85 crore to attract students to science studies
New Delhi (PTI): Concerned over children not opting for careers in science, the government has sanctioned Rs 85 crore for scholarships for school students in related subjects as it hiked the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Science and Technology by 18 per cent to Rs 1780 crore.
Another Rs 85 crore has been earmarked for scholarships for science in higher education, commencing at the pre-university stage to tap and retain bright students.
The National Mission on Nano Science and Nano Technology received Rs 145 crore allocation in the Union Budget that was presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Parliament.
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research saw a nearly 10 per cent increase in the budgetary allocation at Rs 2078 crore of which Rs 2028 crore was for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The Department of Biotechnology was earmarked Rs 919 crore as against Rs 703 crore the previous fiscal, a hike of over 30 per cent.
The scheme INSPIRE (Innovation for Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) is expected to attract talents at an early age and prod them to pursue science as a career.
Under the scheme, government plans to give seeding funds for 40 lakh children in the age group of 10-17 years of age.
A summer camp of 50,000 children will also be organised for three weeks for the top one per cent of Class X leavers with global icons.
Best 500 students will be given support for 15 years from the age of 17 to 32 years of age.
Link to Full text of Finance Ministers Speech and Budget
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200802292176.htm
Jump into the screen with 360-degree immersive video
Immersive Media´s Dodeca 2360 camera.
As you watch a video, have you ever wondered what's happening beyond the camera frame? If you could jump inside the video and look around, you would have a 360-degree view of the world in your TV screen or computer monitor.
A company based in Calgary, Alberta, called Immersive Media Corp. is trying to achieve exactly this type of immersive experience with a new camera and software technology. When watching a video filmed with the Immersive Viewer (IMViewer) system, users can control the scene, seamlessly moving the perspective up, down, sideways, or even behind the original frame.
The technology is based on a Dodeca 2360 camera, which can record eleven image streams that are arranged in a geodesic geometry. The camera captures images at a resolution of more than 100 million pixels per second - significantly more than HDTV. The 20-pound camera also has four built-in microphones for simultaneous omni-directional audio recording. When recording, camera operators can check each individual lens to see what´s being recorded at every angle.
Immersive Media's software then turns the video files into "telemersion" files. A processor compresses, records, and synchronizes up to 12 channels at once.
Then, the videos can be viewed on computer monitors, video screens, head-mounted displays, or projected onto a dome screen. When watching video on a computer monitor, viewers use the mouse to turn the viewing in any 360-degree direction (demos available at Immersive Media's Web site). The viewing engine essentially blends camera image streams together in real time to make a movable window. With a head-mounted display, a viewer can see different angles simply by turning their head.
To enhance the immersion experience, viewers can also "direct" the video by rewinding, pausing, speeding up, slowing down, or zooming in on certain areas. The technology is also compatible with GPS or other metadata, enabling viewers to determine the location they´e viewing.
The software can also blend the entire 360-degree scene onto a single 2D screen, called a "sphere movie." These sphere movies show the whole environment in motion at once, without having to direct the field of view. Sphere movies can be watched on standard software such as Quicktime or Windows Media Player, or recorded on DVDs. They're also compatible with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and can be broadcast using HDTV-resolution channels.
With another feature, viewers can watch three frames on a single screen: the controllable video, the full sphere movie (with crosshairs that correspond to where you are looking in the controllable frame), and a GPS frame telling you your location as you move.
While Immersive's camera technology was developed three years ago, it was originally used by the FBI to study street routes of visiting dignitaries for security purposes. More recently, Google Earth has used the technology to create its StreetView videos. Immersive also hopes to use the technology for applications such as urban planning, oil and gas resource management, emergency response and first responder operations, and commercial media.
One notable company taking advantage of the technology is Adidas, which has featured videos incorporating the immersion capability on its Web site. Viewers can zoom in on their favorite basketball players and replay scenes to see reaction shots - in short, experiencing the event with a personal perspective.
More information: Immersive Media Demos
http://demos.immersivemedia.com
Team-based e-learning turns a new page
How do students, who may be located across the globe, collaborate together on team-based project work? European researchers have developed the first online platform that integrates elements of e-learning, social networking and project management to help virtual teams get the most from their practical experience. How do you like to learn? Do you listen to a lecture and take notes, or would you prefer visual diagrams, pictures and handouts?
Whatever your favoured learning style, the listening and watching eventually comes to an end and it is time to ”do“. Project work is one of the best ways to help people put theory into practice, to reinforce and apply new concepts or skills. People also benefit from working in a team, discovering the dynamics of collaboration and teamwork.
”Increasingly, project-centred teaching approaches are being adopted by institutions and enterprises“, says Xuan Zhou, a researcher at the Germany L3S Research Centre. ”Teams, rather than individual students, will work on a given project and where support from teachers will often be substituted by interaction among team members (students). These team members may come from different institutions to provide different competencies and approaches.“
Numerous web-based packages are available that allow people to collaborate on and manage projects among remote teams. But these tend to be geared towards commercial project management and are not focused on project work as a learning process, per se.
The COOPER project has built a platform that meets the growing need for project-based e-learning. The platform combines functionality from project management, social networking methods and traditional e-learning systems. It provides a virtual environment in which geographically dispersed teams can talk together, contact tutors, set up project workflows and submit documents. It is especially for the university sector and companies with an international workforce or that have to train foreign customers.
”Most e-learning systems are based on modules, students work through a curriculum,“ explains Zhou, a member of the COOPER consortium. ”Usually a student has something to learn, and the tutor sets questions or an assignment to test what they have learned. Collaborative learning through teamwork projects need an entire project management system, but with e-learning functionality built in.“
Flexible workflows
The COOPER project realised that its project management tools had to be extremely flexible. ”If team members were sitting together round a table they would have to agree on how to work best together,“ says Zhou. ”Would an individual take overall charge? Who would sign off on which documents, call meetings, or set deadlines? COOPER lets project teams set all these parameters and workflows. The participants’ roles and needs during the project’s life can vary; teams must manage change without requiring the intervention of administrators. The technology lets them easily make these changes.
This flexibility is possible because the COOPER platform uses a technique called Dynamic Process. By integrating Dynamic Process and WebML, a modelling language for web application, it allows the project team to effectively build its own, customised project management system and workflows.
Another important innovation is the integration of several communications systems, including voice over IP (VoIP) and video conferencing. Team members can speak with one another, hold virtual meetings, or leave messages for other team members or tutors.
One of the problems with project-based learning is that its impact is hard to assess. Another arm of the COOPER project has looked at various assessment strategies. The research partners realised that standard question/answer assessments were less suitable. Instead, they are developing tools that follow a system from the Open University of the Netherlands and the Central Institute for Test Development (CITO), which includes long-term assessment schemes.
What's the point?
Sometimes students find teamwork projects vacuous, especially when they know that the final output is deemed less important than the production process. But COOPER gives added value to project results. All the output from projects is analysed and archived to build up a ”project memory bank“. This ”collective memory“ can be used to enhance study programmes and for institutions to provide public information about their curricula and innovative projects.
Three end-user partners are currently testing the COOPER platform. The ALaRI master programme, part of the University of Lugano, and the Alta Scuola Politecnica in Milan are both using COOPER to organise teams of remote students working on real-life problems set by sponsors and external organisations. CoWare, an embedded chip manufacturer, has offices around the globe, and is using the COOPER platform to improve its technical training programmes. Teams of company employees, vendors and engineers in customer companies work through case studies and real-life problems to find solutions and build prototype products.
The project is due to end in March 2008 and the majority of the COOPER platform will be freely downloadable over the web, except some commercial components, such as the visual design tool WebRatio and VoIP, which can be requested under academic license agreement. Project partners will provide consultative services.
Source: ICT Results
National Academy of Engineering Launches EngineerYourLife.org
WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today the launch of "Engineer Your Life," a new Web site to encourage academically prepared girls to enroll in undergraduate engineering programs. "This Web site is part of a national effort to inform high school girls, and those who counsel them, about engineering through personal and informative sketches about women's experiences as engineers," said NAE President Charles M. Vest
At <www.engineeryourlife.org>, high school girls can "virtually" meet young women engineers and learn about their careers. Twelve women tell their inspiring stories on the Web site -- about working with their communities, solving real problems, and how they came to choose engineering as a profession. Eleven engineering fields are described at the site, with information on possible engineering projects, starting salaries, resources, and additional young engineers talking about their careers in their own words. A third section explains how to prepare for college engineering programs, with information on what high school classes to take, the experience of being an engineering student, and choosing an engineering program.
Parents, counselors, teachers, and other educators will also find useful information about engineering at the Web site, as well as resources and training for advising high school students about engineering careers.
The themes of Engineer Your Life -- creativity has its rewards, explore the possibilities, and make a world of difference -- were developed through extensive research on ways to appeal to girls who are qualified to enter undergraduate engineering programs but who may not have considered engineering as a career. These themes will be used in a national campaign to encourage high school girls, assist counselors and teachers, and mobilize engineers into outreach efforts.
Engineer Your Life, launched in conjunction with National Engineers Week, is part of NAE's ongoing commitment to increase the diversity of the engineering work force. The new site complements the material found on other NAE Web sites including "EngineerGirl!" at <www.engineergirl.org>, which was developed for middle school girls.
Engineer Your Life™ is a production of WGBH Educational Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering, in partnership with a coalition of over 50 engineering and educational organizations including American Association of Engineering Societies, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, DuPont, IBM, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, National Association for College Admission Counseling, National Society of Professional Engineers, Junior Engineering Technical Society, Northrop Grumman Corp., Society of Women Engineers, and Women in Engineering ProActive Network.
Major funding for Engineer Your Life is provided by the National Science Foundation and the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. and the United Engineering Foundation.
http://www.engineeryourlife.org
http://www.engineeringgirl.org
As graduation rates go down, school ratings go up
A new study by researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin finds that Texas' public school accountability system, the model for the national No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), directly contributes to lower graduation rates. Each year Texas public high schools lose at least 135,000 youth prior to graduation -- a disproportionate number of whom are African-American, Latino and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students.
By analyzing data from more than 271,000 students, the study found that 60 percent of African-American students, 75 percent of Latino students and 80 percent of ESL students did not graduate within five years. The researchers found an overall graduation rate of only 33 percent.
"High-stakes, test-based accountability doesn't lead to school improvement or equitable educational possibilities," said Linda McSpadden McNeil, director of the Center for Education at Rice University. "It leads to avoidable losses of students. Inherently the system creates a dilemma for principals: comply or educate. Unfortunately we found that compliance means losing students."
The study shows as schools came under the accountability system, which uses student test scores to rate schools and reward or discipline principals, massive numbers of students left the school system. The exit of low-achieving students created the appearance of rising test scores and of a narrowing of the achievement gap between white and minority students, thus increasing the schools' ratings.
This study has serious implications for the nation's schools under the NCLB law. It finds that the higher the stakes and the longer such an accountability system governs schools, the more school personnel view students not as children to educate but as potential liabilities or assets for their school's performance indicators, their own careers or their school's funding.
The study shows a strong relationship between the increasing number of dropouts and school's rising accountability ratings, finding that:
-- Losses of low-achieving students help raise school ratings under the accountability system.
-- The accountability system allows principals to hold back students who are deemed at risk of reducing the school's scores; many students retained this way end up dropping out.
-- The test scores grouped by race single out the low-achieving students in these subgroups as potential liabilities to the school ratings, increasing incentives for school administrators to allow those students to quietly exit the system.
-- The accountability system's zero tolerance rules for attendance and behavior, which put youth into the court system for minor offenses and absences, alienate students and increase the likelihood they will drop out.
The discrepancy between the official dropout rates, in the 2 to 3 percent range, and the actual rates can be attributed to the state's method of counting, which does not include students who drop out of school for reasons such as pregnancy or incarceration or declare intent to take the GED sometime in the future.
The study analyzes student-level data of 271,000 students in one of Texas' large urban districts over a seven-year period. It also includes analysis of the policy and its implementation, extensive observations in high schools in that district and interviews with students, teachers, administrators and students who left school without graduating.
Source: Rice University
Budget plan gives ed tech the boot
The federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, which helps put technology into the hands of students in classrooms across the country, is slated for zero funding for the fifth straight year under President Bush's 2009 budget proposal.
Virtual Reality Resources for Biology
'V-frog' virtual-reality frog dissection software offers first true physical simulation
V-Frog, the world’s first virtual-reality-based frog dissection software designed for biology education -- allowing not mere observation, but physically simulated dissection -- has been developed and is being marketed by Tactus Technologies.
A provider of virtual reality, visualization and simulation products and services, Tactus Technologies is a spin-off of the University at Buffalo Virtual Reality Laboratory.
”Other products out there are multi-media, not true virtual reality,“ explains Kevin P. Chugh, Ph.D. ’01, president and chief scientist at Tactus Technologies, based in Getzville, a northern suburb of Buffalo.
V-Frog, which operates on a personal computer using a standard mouse, actually simulates nearly unlimited manipulation of specimen tissue. As a result, every dissection is different, reflecting each student’s individual work. The software is designed for grades 7 through 12, plus advanced placement biology students.
Using a simple mouse and PC, students can ”pick up“ a scalpel, cut open V-Frog’s skin, and explore the internal organs -- with true real-time interaction and 3-D navigation that actually accommodates discovery and procedures not possible with a physical frog specimen.
”You can go through the entire alimentary canal, using the endoscopic function -- something you could never do with a real frog,“ says Chugh. ”Likewise, with our V-Frog, you can explore nerves and blood vessels, and look closely at how the brain is wired. Students would never get the opportunity to see and work with these things this way with a real frog.“
Life-like V-Frog, which was in development for three years, uniquely allows for comparative anatomy, letting students make parallels and contrasts between the amphibian’s physiology and that of a human being, crab and other organisms. In addition, V-Frog allows students to watch a beating heart, observe digestion, dissect, probe and perform endoscopic procedures.
”With other products, it’s just a video -- static and two-dimensional,“ Chugh explains. ”This is a simulation product, not simply a static Web site. It’s actually superior to physical specimens and multi-media representations. The technology allows for virtual surgery. Our tissue simulation lets students see the correlation between form and function, and can be manipulated however the student wishes. It’s truly a physically simulated dissection.“
The Humane Society of the United States, as well as educators, legislators, students and others, support the realization that the use of virtual-reality frog dissection means no exposure to chemicals and potentially dangerous instruments, no specimen or ecosystem harm and no specimen disintegration.
”This is very much a sign of the times,“ declares Chugh, noting that at least 25 states have laws or ordinances mandating that, if dissection is part of a school’s curriculum, students must have an alternative to dissection. ”It’s a mainstream reality.“
Additionally, the use of V-Frog means students are not constrained to a lab environment. The state-of-the-art product complies with both inquiry and life science standards. Instructors can also model a dissection, observable by the entire class, using a projector. This teaching and learning experience can be conveniently repeated as often as desired.
V-Frog passed an important milestone when California approved V-Frog for legal and social compliance as per their State board of Education guidelines. It is also in the final stages of a similar review in New York State. According to Chugh, V-Frog’s simulated dissection is more economical than real dissection due to its one-time license cost versus annual replacement of real frogs, dissection supplies and chemicals.
Source: University at Buffalo
Global Classrooms
Universities Rush to Set Up Outposts Abroad
By TAMAR LEWIN
When John Sexton, the president of New York University, first met Omar Saif Ghobash, an investor trying to entice him to open a branch campus in the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Sexton was not sure what to make of the proposal — so he asked for a $50 million gift.
”It’s like earnest money: if you’re a $50 million donor, I’ll take you seriously,“ Mr. Sexton said. ”It’s a way to test their bona fides.“ In the end, the money materialized from the government of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates.
Mr. Sexton has long been committed to building N.Y.U.’s international presence, increasing study-abroad sites, opening programs in Singapore, and exploring new partnerships in France. But the plans for a comprehensive liberal-arts branch campus in the Persian Gulf, set to open in 2010, are in a class by themselves, and Mr. Sexton is already talking about the flow of professors and students he envisions between New York and Abu Dhabi.
The American system of higher education, long the envy of the world, is becoming an important export as more universities take their programs overseas.
In a kind of educational gold rush, American universities are competing to set up outposts in countries with limited higher education opportunities. American universities — not to mention Australian and British ones, which also offer instruction in English, the lingua franca of academia — are starting, or expanding, hundreds of programs and partnerships in booming markets like China, India and Singapore.
And many are now considering full-fledged foreign branch campuses, particularly in the oil-rich Middle East. Already, students in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar can attend an American university without the expense, culture shock or post-9/11 visa problems of traveling to America.
At Education City in Doha, Qatar’s capital, they can study medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, international affairs at Georgetown, computer science and business at Carnegie Mellon, fine arts at Virginia Commonwealth, engineering at Texas A&M, and soon, journalism at Northwestern.
In Dubai, another emirate, Michigan State University and Rochester Institute of Technology will offer classes this fall.
”Where universities are heading now is toward becoming global universities,“ said Howard Rollins, the former director of international programs at Georgia Tech, which has degree programs in France, Singapore, Italy, South Africa and China, and plans for India. ”We’ll have more and more universities competing internationally for resources, faculty and the best students.“
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, internationalization has moved high on the agenda at most universities, to prepare students for a globalized world, and to help faculty members stay up-to-date in their disciplines.
Overseas programs can help American universities raise their profile, build international relationships, attract top research talent who, in turn, may attract grants and produce patents, and gain access to a new pool of tuition-paying students, just as the number of college-age Americans is about to decline.
Even public universities, whose primary mission is to educate in-state students, are trying to establish a global brand in an era of limited state financing.
Partly, it is about prestige. American universities have long worried about their ratings in U.S. News and World Report. These days, they are also mindful of the international rankings published in Britain, by the Times Higher Education Supplement, and in China, by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The demand from overseas is huge. At the University of Washington, the administrator in charge of overseas programs said she received about a proposal a week. ”It’s almost like spam,“ said the official, Susan Jeffords, whose position as vice provost for global affairs was created just two years ago.
Traditionally, top universities built their international presence through study-abroad sites, research partnerships, faculty exchanges and joint degree programs offered with foreign universities. Yale has dozens of research collaborations with Chinese universities. Overseas branches, with the same requirements and degrees as the home campuses, are a newer — and riskier — phenomenon.
”I still think the downside is lower than the upside is high,“ said Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania. ”The risk is that we couldn’t deliver the same quality education that we do here, and that it would mean diluting our faculty strength at home.“
While universities with overseas branches insist that the education equals what is offered in the United States, much of the faculty is hired locally, on a short-term basis. And certainly overseas branches raise fundamental questions:
Will the programs reflect American values and culture, or the host country’s? Will American taxpayers end up footing part of the bill for overseas students? What happens if relations between the United States and the host country deteriorate? And will foreign branches that spread American know-how hurt American competitiveness?
”A lot of these educators are trying to present themselves as benevolent and altruistic, when in reality, their programs are aimed at making money,“ said Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who has criticized the rush overseas.
David J. Skorton, the president of Cornell, on the other hand, said the global drive benefited the United States. ”Higher education is the most important diplomatic asset we have,“ he said. ”I believe these programs can actually reduce friction between countries and cultures.“
Read the full story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/education/10global.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th
Global Classrooms
Destination: Qatar
This is the second in a series of articles examining the globalization of higher education.
Tamara Abdul Hadi for The New York Times
A student in traditional dress in the mirrored hallway of Carnegie Mellon’s campus. Classes at Education City are coeducational.
In Oil-Rich Mideast, Shades of the Ivy League
By TAMAR LEWIN
DOHA, Qatar — On a hot October evening, hundreds of families flocked to the sumptuous Ritz Carlton here in this Persian Gulf capital for an unusual college fair, the Education City roadshow.
Qataris, Bangladeshis, Syrians, Indians, Egyptians — in saris, in suits, in dishdashis, in jeans — came to hear what it takes to win admission to one of the five American universities that offer degrees at Education City, a 2,500-acre campus on the outskirts of Doha where oil and gas money pays for everything from adventurous architecture to professors’ salaries.
Education City, the largest enclave of American universities overseas, has fast become the elite of Qatari education, a sort of local Ivy League. But the five American schools have started small, with only about 300 slots among them for next year’s entering classes. So there is a slight buzz of anxiety at the fair, which starts with a nonalcoholic cocktail hour, with fruit juices passed on silver trays as families circulate among the booths.
”I just came to get my mind together,“ said Rowea al-Shrem, a junior in a head-to-toe black abaya who came to the fair on her own. ”I wanted to know what to expect, so I don’t go crazy next year.“
At a time when almost every major American university is concerned with expanding its global reach, Education City provides a glimpse of the range of American expertise in demand overseas. Five universities have brought programs here, and more are on their way.
Cornell’s medical school, which combines pre-med training and professional training over six years, will graduate the first Qatar-trained physicians this spring. Virginia Commonwealth University brought its art and design program to Qatari women 10 years ago and began admitting men this year. Carnegie Mellon offers computer and business programs.
Texas A&M, the largest of the Education City schools, teaches engineering, with petroleum engineering its largest program. Georgetown’s foreign service school is the latest arrival. Soon, Northwestern University’s journalism program will come, too.
Read the full story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/education/11global.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th
OPTICAL TOOLS
3D breakthrough with updatable holographic displays
Top row: Erasing of the hologram; Mid and bottom rows: 3D images shown from different angles, demonstrating horizontal parallax. Credit: UA
University of Arizona optical scientists have broken a technological barrier by making three-dimensional holographic displays that can be erased and rewritten in a matter of minutes.
The holographic displays – which are viewed without special eyewear – are the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory ever to be developed, making them ideal tools for medical, industrial and military applications that require "situational awareness."
"This is a new type of device, nothing like the tiny hologram of a dove on your credit card," UA optical sciences professor Nasser Peyghambarian said. "The hologram on your credit card is printed permanently. You cannot erase the image and replace it with an entirely new three-dimensional picture."
Watch Holographic Display Video: Mp4 (9Mb) http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/files/Hologramsmall.mp4
"Holography has been around for decades, but holographic displays are really one of the first practical applications of the technique," UA optical scientist Savas Tay said.
Dynamic hologram displays could be made into devices that help surgeons track progress during lengthy and complex brain surgeries, show airline or fighter pilots any hazards within their entire surrounding airspace, or give emergency response teams nearly real-time views of fast-changing flood situations or traffic problems, for example.
And no one yet knows where the advertising and entertainment industries will go with possible applications, Peyghambarian said. "Imagine that when you walk into the supermarket or department store, you could see a large, dynamic, three-dimensional product display," he said.
Tay, Peyghambarian, their colleagues from the UA College of Optical Sciences and collaborators from Nitto Denko Technical Corp., of Oceanside, Calif., report on the research in the Feb. 7 issue of the journal Nature.
Their device basically consists of a special plastic film sandwiched between two pieces of glass, each coated with a transparent electrode. The images are "written" into the light-sensitive plastic, called a photorefractive polymer, using laser beams and an externally applied electric field. The scientists take pictures of an object or scene from many two-dimensional perspectives as they scan their object, and the holographic display assembles the two-dimensional perspectives into a three-dimensional picture.
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which has funded Peyghambarian's team to develop updatable holographic displays, has used holographic displays in the past. But those displays have been static. They did not allow erasing and updating of the images. The new holographic display can show a new image every few minutes.
The 4-inch-by-4-inch prototype display that Peyghambarian, Tay and their colleagues created now comes only in red, but the researchers believe much larger displays in full color could be developed. They next will make 1-foot-by-1-foot displays, then 3-foot-by-3-foot displays.
"We use highly efficient, low-cost recording materials capable of very large sizes, which is very important for life-size, realistic 3-D displays," Peyghambarian said. "We can record complete scenes or objects within three minutes and can store them for three hours."
The researchers also are working to write images even faster using pulsed lasers.
"If you can write faster with a pulsed laser, then you can write larger holograms in the same amount of time it now takes to write smaller ones," Tay said. "We envision this to be a life-size hologram. We could, for example, display an image of a whole human that would be the same size as the actual person."
Tay emphasized how important updatable holographic displays could be for medicine.
"Three-dimensional imaging techniques are already commonly used in medicine, for example, in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or CT scan (computerized tomography) techniques," Tay said. "However, the huge amount of data that is created in three dimensions is still being displayed on two-dimensional devices, either on a computer screen or on a piece of paper. A great amount of data is lost by displaying it this way. So I think when we develop larger, full-color 3-D holograms, every hospital in the world will want one."
Citation: Nature, 2008. DOI: 10.1038/nature06596 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature06596)
Source: University of Arizona, By Lori Stiles
INDIA
‘Growth of biotechnology sector is largely dependent on the availability of trained resources'
Dr Seyed E Hasnain, Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, Chairman, Biotech Advisory Council of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and Chairman of the Organising Committee of BioAsia, gives an insight the role of universities in boosting the growth of biotechnology sector, in conversation with Arshiya Khan
http://www.expresspharmaonline.com/20080215/bioasia2008special03.shtml
GLOBAL RESOURCE
RESEARCHER LEADS INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO CREATE 'PROTEINPEDIA', February 07
A researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine has led the effort to compile to date the largest free resource of experimental information about human proteins. Reporting in the February issue of Nature Biotechnology, the research team describes how all researchers around the world can access this data and speed their own research.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news121614770.html
Global Education
Nanotechnology Masters Courses Directory and Recognition Scheme
A new approach to skills development and training is needed for the multidisciplinary field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and many universities are now offering masters courses in nanotechnology, each with a different emphasis. The Institute of Nanotechnology, in collaboration with a consortium of course-providing academics and industry representatives, is engaged in enhancing, supporting and benchmarking the quality of education at the masters' level in nanotechnology. The process is being driven by the education sub-group of the Institute of Nanotechnology. The education sub-group is chaired by Dr. David Carey from Surrey University and deputy chair is Dr. Steve Dunn from Cranfield University.
The interface of the scheme is manifested as a web searchable directory of nanotechnology courses.
The website:
allows an online comparison of course content
enables students to chose programs based on their knowledge and aspirations
enables partial assessment of post-graduate competencies for recruitment in industry
provides international outreach to education and training in this field
Universities participating in the scheme include –
Belgium: KU Leuven, University of Antwerp
France: Université Joseph Fourier , Grenoble, Université de technologie de Troyes
Germany: Technische Universitat Dresden, University of Kaiserslautern
Italy: University of Padova, University Ca Foscari of Venezia, University of Verona
Netherlands: University of Twente, TU Delft, University of Leiden
Spain: University of Barcelona, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Universitat Politénica de Catalunya, Universitat de Girona
Sweden: Chalmers University of Technology
UK: Surrey University, Lancaster University, University of Sheffield, Leeds University, Cranfield University, University of Liverpool, University of Wales Swansea, Heriot-Watt University
For further information, visit:
http://www.nano.org.uk/nanomasters
Contact: Kshitij Aditeya Singh
Email: kshitij.singh@nano.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 141 330 8777
Education Videos
Charles Ostman
Hear broadcast discussions and videos on the emergent "History of our Future", as catalyzed by applied nanotechnology, in fields of endeavor ranging from energy, to medicine, artifical life, synthetic sentience, and the evolution of symbiotically enhanced consciousness.
Nanotechnology is already here. The biotech industry provides much of the self assembling, self organizing biomolecular materials which enables the first ”layer“ of nanotech applications, among which is the next generation of nanocomputing platforms. This next generation of computing capacity will directly fold back into the biotech industry, an IT centric industry heavily dependant on supercomputing capacity pushed to its ultimate limits.
http://www.historianofthefuture.com/
LOW-INCOME US CHILDREN LESS LIKELY TO HAVE ACCESS TO QUALIFIED TEACHERS, January 23
Children from low-income families in the United States do not have the same access to qualified teachers as do wealthier students, according to a University of Missouri study. Compared to 46 countries, the United States had the fourth largest opportunity gap, the difference between students of high and low socioeconomic status in their access to qualified teachers.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news120314664.html
WHAT'S FEAR GOT TO DO WITH IT?, January 23
The education world is under more scrutiny than ever before. Reports, political platforms, test result comparisons, and various articles in newspapers and magazines all criticize a field that just a generation or so ago was considered an unabashed American success. Educators, students and parents each experience significant fear as it relates to the education system, fearing such things as job loss, testing, bullying, or poor educational quality.
Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news120320666.html
State offers free online high school courses
Beginning this month, high school students in Connecticut can enroll in free online courses through a pilot program called the Connecticut Virtual Learning Center. The courses are aimed at students at risk of falling behind as well as those who are interested in electives not offered at their own schools. It will be up to each high school whether to give students credit for taking the courses.... | Full Story
Intel Schools of Distinction
More than $100K for schools that excel in math and science
Every year, Intel honors U.S.schools that have demonstrated excellence in math and science education asIntel Schools of Distinction. One elementary, one middle, and one highschool in each of two categories -- math and science -- receive $10,000 cashgrants and more than $100,000 in products and services from sponsors. One of the six winning schools is chosen as the StarInnovator, and receives an additional $15,000 grant from the Intel Foundation as well as additional products and services. In order to be considered as an Intel Schoolof Distinction, schools must develop an environment and curricula that meet or exceed benchmarks, including national mathematics and science content standards. Winning programs serve as models for schools across the country. By replicating proven programs such as these, schools everywhere can reinvigorate their own science and mathematics programs,inspiring generations of future scientists and mathematicians.
Contact Information
Contact Website:
http://www.intel.com/education
MIT adapts free online courses for high schools
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has created a new web site with free online resources that aim to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instruction at the high school level. "Highlights for High School," which builds on MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative, is designed to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists and to serve as a valuable tool for high school teachers. OCW publishes educational materials under an open license that encourages their reuse, redistribution, and modification for noncommercial purposes... | Full Story
Visit the new site:
Highlights for High School organizes thousands of MIT introductory course materials into a format that is more accessible for high school students and teachers. The site also features more than 2,600 video and audio clips, animations, lecture notes and assignments from actual MIT courses and aligns them to the Advanced Placement topics in Biology, Calculus and Physics.
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/hs/home/home/index.htm
Watch the video:
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/hs/ocw_highlights_intro.wmv
Nanotechnology Workforce Education
TEXAS NWDI Initative
The goal of the Texas Nanotechnology Workforce Development Initiative (NWDI) is to serve as a model for community colleges, universities, and nanotechnology companies to develop partnerships to produce the nanotechnicians, to supply the nanotechnology workforce necessary and to create and deploy the new class of services and products being created by the nanotechnology industry.
Visit their website for more information.
http://nanotechworkforce.com/about/home.htm
View the curriculum at:
http://www.waco.tstc.edu/let/nano/curriculum.php
Education NEWS
Now that nano science outreach programs are providing new courses for K-12 teachers, the next step to consider is how do we get the free curriculum into the schools. eSchool News videos will allow school districts to investigate new options for improving the technology in the classrooms and adopting this powerful content.
Each month e-school news covers the field of education to keep you up-to-date on important topics for the future. Follow the link provided for the most current videos to stay abreast of innovative platforms and improvements in our public schools.
eSN TechWatch: Posts new videos each month. Visit the video library often.
Windows Media Quicktime MP4
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/
Video Highlights of 2007
Get the big picture on video in education
Visions of Innovation, May 2007
with eSN-TV’s Gregg W. Downey
Learn how a new video era is about to transform the central office, the campus, classrooms, and lecture halls.
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 32 Minutes 8 Seconds
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/index.cfm?c=13
For more information on Safari Montage:
Classrooms of the Future
With its Classrooms of the Future program, an ambitious, $200 million effort to reform the state's high schools through technology, Pennsylvania is moving to the forefront of educational technology in the United States which will help our students expand their math and science knowledge base in a world of global collaboration. .
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 6 Minutes 43 Seconds
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/index.cfm?v=188&c=7&f=264&cb=1175285556921
'Know your audience'
British filmmaker and education official Lord David Puttnam discusses how schools must change to meet the needs of today's generation of students.
The importance of using games in education and training teachers in technology for the classrooms in preparation for a global workplace.
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 5 Minutes 14 Seconds
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/index.cfm?v=184&c=7&f=251&cb=1175605255186
Personalized Learning, Part One
The Consortium for School Networking's 21th annual conference kicked off March 28 in San Francisco with a look at two very different models for using technology to individualize instruction.
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 7 Minutes 26 Seconds
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/index.cfm?v=203&c=7&f=297&cb=1178626553484
Jim Klein: Who’s afraid of open tech?
Jim Klein, director of information services and technology for the Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita, Calif., provides an update on CoSN's K-12 Open Technologies Initiative.
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 8 Minutes 59 Seconds
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/index.cfm?v=201&c=7&f=293&cb=1178626553500
Mexico has adopted Smart Boards for all their schools. This technology has proven the ability for raising the outcomes in difficult learning environments.
Jennings School District in Missouri doesn't believe in an achievement gap. It doesn't have to. A plan that includes staff development, inquiry-based learning and technology products, such as SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards, helps Jennings’ at-risk students make the grade. The result? Improved attendance and better test scores.
Watch the video
http://smarttech.com/ads/jenningsESN/index.asp
eSN.TV Resource Center - Get the big picture on the progress of education for the future.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/video/index.cfm?v=188&c=7&f=264&cb=1175285556921
Visit the daily updated Educator Resource Center where you'll find specific resource centers on Building Digital Communications Skills, Differentiated Learning, Suspension Alternatives That Work, Creative Video Solutions, Tech Tutoring, 21st Century Learning, Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF), eRate Resources, Web Sites That Work, Controlling User-Generated Security Threats, Whole-Class Learning, and more. Go to http://www.eschoolnews.com/erc/Challenges/
PBS Launches Web Site for Teachers
K-12 teachers will find free lesson plans, classroom activities, curriculum resources, videos, professional development opportunities, and more on a new Web site launched by PBS. Among the site's features is a blog, called "Media Infusion," that will showcase ideas for using media and technology in the classroom.
Links relating to video
Ed study of software effectiveness (PDF)
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20074005.pdf
"Major study questions value of school software"
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7011
"Ed-tech research under fire"
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6964
"Report: Ed tech has proven effective"
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstory.cfm?ArticleID=6671
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© 2008 by The Nano Technology Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
The NanoTechnology Group Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization incorporated in Texas with an international group of partners and welcomes collaboration in the United States and all countries. Supporting education projects that lead to better informed public awareness and formal and informal education in all schools. NanoNEWS.TV is a TNTG Inc. Division for Nano Science and Education NEWS under The NanoTechnology Group Inc.