Re-Post: Cash-strapped teacher sells ads on tests

I really hope I don't start seeing this in the university setting. Is it clever? Oh, yes. I can only think about the metacognitive effects something like this could have. I wonder if online tests have been doing this already?

Full article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/03/teacher.ads.on.tests/index.html
By Jason Hanna

(CNN) -- In tests for teacher Tom Farber's high school class, students can demonstrate their mastery of calculus and find out where to get braces or even a haircut.

Calculus teacher Tom Farber is selling ad space on tests to defray printing costs.

Squeezed by classroom budget cuts, the Rancho Bernardo High School teacher is selling ads on his exams to cover the costs of printing them.

"It raises money for the teachers and it's amusing for the kids, so it seems like a win-win," said Luke Shaw, 18, a student at the suburban San Diego, California, school.

Parents and administrators also praise Farber, 47, for his creative classroom funding, but he doesn't want it to become the norm.

"My intention is, [selling ads] is a stopgap measure," said Farber. "I don't want to be doing this year after year."

RePost: Straight Talk About Grad School

Ah, it's like a 12-step program that I'm all too familiar with: http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/?p=83398154

Timothy Burke on Beyond the Five Paragraph Essay

Burke wrote a great essay, Should I go to Grad School? In a word, no. He writes:

Graduate school is not about learning. If you learn things, it’s only because you’ve already internalized the habit of learning, only because you make the effort on your own and in concert with fellow graduate students. You learn because that’s what you do now, that’s your life. Don’t go into it expecting to extend the kinds of heathily collaborative relationships you’ve had to date with your teachers and don’t go into it expecting to extend the kinds of educational nurturing you’ve had to date. Graduate school is not education. It is socialization. It is about learning to behave, about mastering a rhetorical and discursive etiquette as mind-blowingly arcane as table manners at a state dinner in 19th Century Western Europe. Graduate school is cotillion for eggheads. For all these reasons, graduate school is not something you want to experiment with. Think heroin–this is your brain, this is your brain on graduate school. Think Al Pacino in “Godfather 3″–just when you think you are out, you will l be sucked back in again. Academia, especially in the humanities and the social sciences, is a total culture. It colonizes most aspects of your life. You are never not an academic–the little mental tape recorder is on all the time, or it had better be if you want to be good at this life. Anything is grist for my mill as a teacher and a scholar, and that is as it should be. Graduate school is, if anything, even more totalizing than this. It gets into your pores.

Op-Ed Columnist - The Alpha Geeks - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - The Alpha Geeks - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
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The future historians of the nerd ascendancy will likely note that the great empowerment phase began in the 1980s with the rise of Microsoft and the digital economy.

Bonkian youTubian Researchian Update

Curt J. Bonk is a Professor of the Indiana University System in Bloomington, IN 47401

For those of you who might be interested, he has some (very) preliminary research going on with the use of how and why YouTube is used as it is. The following is his latest update sent to me via the Facebook group: Bonkian YouTubiam Researchian:

Curt Bonk sent a message to the members of Bonkian YouTubian Researchian.

Subject: Some tentative YouTube Survey results and need just a few more respondents to get to our goal

Hello members of this YouTubian research group. Thanks for helping with the big survey! We are at 861 respondents now and hoping to get to 1,000. 139 more to go. We have given away three 80 gig video iPods on January 1st. We will give away another iPod and an iPhone on February 28th or when we get to 1,000 respondents; whichever come sooner. If you have yet to complete the YouTube research survey, please do. And feel free to share with others through email or posts in your Facebook account or to your Facebook friends. Here is the link: http://www.surveyshare.com/video/

Some quick overview results from a reivew of a few of the surveys (these are highly incomplete--more comprehensive results to come in a month or so. The statements below are based on a quick scan of 5-6 of the surveys of the 60 different YouTube videos we are evaluating. Caution on debating, generalizing, or sharing. Wait for that.):
1. So far...Most people prefer short 1-4 minute YouTube videos. Some though like them to be under 1 minute and still others 4-7 minutes long.
2. It seems that most watch YouTube videos for comedy (i.e., fun) or information. Humor is highly important.
3. Motivation to watch YouTube videos comes from capitvating or engaging content, informational and educational content, and interesting topics.
4. Most think that YouTube videos are somewhat important in education and training today but will be highly important in a few years.
5. Most had not posted a comment after viewing a YouTube video.
6. About 1 in 5 (of a small sample) had created a YouTube video.
7. Why would someone create a YouTube video? Some of the top answers have included to experiment with technology, participating in the education of the people of this planet, interested in the potentiial of online video, contributing to the global world, personal or professional research, and sharing knowledge and ideas.
8. It appears that most people do NOT subscribe to YouTube channels.
9. Most people watch YouTube videos between 6 and 12 pm at night.
10. Based on this quick scan of a few results, it seems that most people watch fewer than 1 YouTube video per week.
11. Most had shared a YouTube video link with others.
12. Based on this quick scan, it seems it is rare for someone to flag a YouTube video as inappropriate.

I will stop there but I wanted to share so as to give you feedback for taking the survey. Again thanks for that. This is highly tenative. Remember to send people to this link to participate: http://www.surveyshare.com/video/

Once again, thanks so much! I hope to have a more complete picture of the results soon. The above numbers are just based on a review of a few of the survey results (remember that there are 60 different YouTube videos we are sending people to and and associated surveys...so these points are just general statements from reviewing just a couple of them. Please do not quote or use or share too widely. Caution on use! Wait for an update. Thanks so much.)

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, talks about our new wave of overprotected kids -- and spells out 5 (and really, he's got 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do. Allowing kids the freedom to explore, he says, will make them stronger and smarter and actually safer.

This talk comes from TED University 2007, a pre-conference program where TEDsters share ideas.

Obamas MySpace Conundrum - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

Obamas MySpace Conundrum - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

Here's a perfect example of old meets new in the world of politics and Web 2.0. Can Obama's Campaign just take over a volunteer supporter's MySpace page?

When and how is it right to do so? Indeed, there's still a lot of water to be navigated in this sea.

Sony Buys Into Virtual Movie Theaters; Invests in Gaia

Sony Buys Into Virtual Movie Theaters; Invests in Gaia

Interesting, but not too surprising to hear about this. Gaia is a bit like Second Life, but for those who are more into the anime genre. In any case, the idea of virtual world movie theatres is a different and more social approach to the solidatary iPod world we live in today. I'm curious to see how it comes along.

Are You a Righty- or a Lefty-Brain Thinker?

I don't know if this is true or not, but it's a fun little thing to try out. Here is a little test to see if you are a right-brain or left-brain thinker. Here is what you do.

1. What is your immediate reaction to whether the person is moving counter-clockwise or clockwise in the picture?








2. If your first reaction was counter-clockwise, you are a left-brain thinker. If your first reaction was clockwise, you are a right-brain thinker.

FYI: I’m a right-brain thinker, apparently. That actually surprised me, but then I thought about how I approach a lot of problems and it suddenly seemed very plausible.

I went ahead and stared at it for another 30 seconds--BINGO!--I got it moving in the other direction. It really reminded me of those autostereograms that were so popular back in the 90's; you really have to relax your mind and visual to allow for that switch to take place.

Many thanks to Ryan Bretag for the link to this little mind bender.

R U a Right Clicka' or an iBook Flippa'?

This has to be one of the best (music) videos I've seen in a long time that does a great job of highlighting and poking fun of both sides.

PC and Mac fans, R U a Right Clicka' or an iBook Flippa'?



Enjoy!

Thank you Ernst von Glaserfeld

I rather enjoy this quote from Ernst von Glaserfeld's (1984), An Introduction to Radical Constructivism, "In nature, a lack of fitness is invariably fatal; philosophers, however, rarely die of their inadequate ideas" (p. 22).

Hmmmm ... that may be somewhat of a shame, but I thought it was worth a chuckle!

SweetOnGeeks.com - "A Dating Site Where Gray Matters"

My friend, Jennalicious, tweeted this my way. SweetOnGeeks.com is yet another social networking site that helps those niche markets (or people) have a happy, fulfilling existence. I love it (mainly because I love geeks). So, geeks rejoice in finding love online!

The Blogger's Cafe in SL

Ryan's blog post titled, "Is it Time to Add SL to Your Personal Learning Landscape?" brought many key issues about technology & education to light. We still have some of the most engaging conversations and discussions in face-to-face situation having to do with the interactions of learning that occur within the attributes of technology in use. As Ryan points out, it was in face-to-face life that the "spark" happened, but why couldn't it happen again elsewhere? For example, in Second Life, perhaps?

And why not? If the space in SL is set up to be conducive and open to the ongoing discussion of these topics by an equally enthused group, it should work the same in-world as it would in real space. Especially now with voice-chat/talk enabled, it would be like sitting in a cafe in-between sessions of an NECC conference or any other engaging event.

If you are interested, I invite you to The Bloggers’ Café. I like it there. The conversations aren't all about SL. In fact, SL or SLeducation is not even uttered on occasion. How's that when SL dominates all things in-world? Ryan described why and how the cafe came to be this way:

Second Life had become a place focused solely on itself and missing the power that it holds to connect educators from around the world as a means to engage in the type of dialogue that was occurring at NECC but in a 24/7, 365 days a year virtual environment. It is because of this, and the like minded thinking of Jen Wagner, that I committed my land to The Bloggers’ Café to help others utilize a virtual environment to “continue the conversation” about education and educational technology. While there will inevitably be discussions about SL as it is a part of education and educational technology, the focus of The Bloggers Café in SL is to discuss everything and anything that those gathering wish to discuss.

I have to admit that I really like what they've done to the place. I really like what the purpose of the place is. It is for anyone interested in education, teaching, and learning--plain and simple.

Plus, I stopped by the bar, took in some of the blog posts, and ordered myself a drink. I have to say, the Gin & Tonic looks mighty fine in my hand while I'm there.

"Emotion Recognition Software Knows You Want Ice Cream"

Oh, WOW:
"Emotion Recognition Software Knows You Want Ice Cream"
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/16/emotion-recognition-software-knows-you-want-ice-cream/

"Dutch researchers Theo Gevers and Nicu Sebe, known mostly for their work deciphering the Mona Lisa's smile, have created a face recognition system which can gauge a person's level of happiness ..."

Get a First Life! (It goes nicely with your Second one.)

This isn't anything new, nonetheless it's still amusing. I most certainly am not a Second Life hater; this summer I've been introducing the use of Second Life to faculty and staff at Virginia Tech. I cannot deny the fact that those of us involved in such worlds and educational opportunities need to exercise a certain amount of criticism and skepticism throughout our foray into this world.

Therefore, Darren Barefoot's one-page parody of Second Life's immense media popularity is worth noting and for enjoying a good chuckle.

WIRED.com: "Meet the IPhoney: How to Roll Your Own IPhone"

Wired.com: http://www.wired.com/software/coolapps/news/2007/07/iphoney

Wired.com has a good article highlighting the fact that iPhone offers nothing NEW to the world of Mobile Digital Assistants (MDAs). I will say this: iPhone offers the convenience of all these apps already installed and ready to go with it's purchase, so I think of it as you're paying for the convenience ... and the fact that it's Apple.

Technology Mascots Mean Something?

I often peruse Wired.com when I'm not sifting through Slashdot's goods. Today, I stumbled across the incredibly entertaining article "Gallery: Lamest Technology Mascots Ever".

Of course, Clippy (the paperclip) from Microsoft was in there. So was Tux (the Linux penguin).

My personal favorite mascot-gone-bad?

Glenda of Plan 9 from Bell Labs.