Recently found … 04/29/2011

  • See art differently. See art happen. Lux Art Institute is redefining the museum experience to make art more accessible and personally meaningful. At Lux, you don’t just see finished works of art; you see the artistic process firsthand, engaging with internationally recognized artists in a working studio environment.

    tags: museum learning art travel

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Recently found … 04/27/2011

  • Listen to one or two short (10-12 seconds) ads. This is how we pay for your free calls. Dial any telephone number (landline)
    in these destinations (use US standard dialing sequence)

    United States
    Argentina
    Australia
    Austria
    Belgium
    Brazil
    Canada
    Chile
    China
    Colombia
    Croatia
    Cyprus
    Czech Republic
    Denmark
    Estonia
    France
    Germany
    Greece
    Guadeloupe
    Guam
    Hong Kong
    Hungary
    Iceland
    India
    Ireland
    Israel
    Italy
    Latvia
    Luxembourg
    Malaysia
    Martinique
    Mexico
    Monaco
    Netherlands
    Norway
    Peru
    Poland
    Portugal
    Puerto Rico
    Romania
    Russia
    (Moscow / St. Petersburg only)
    Singapore
    Slovakia
    Slovenia
    South Korea
    Spain
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Taiwan
    Thailand
    Turkey
    United Kingdom
    US Virgin Is.
    Vatican City
    Venezuela

    Dial any cellular phone number in these countries:
    United States
    Canada
    China
    Hong Kong
    India
    Singapore
    Thailand
    The call recipient receives a normal call from you (no ad on their side).

    Make 10-minute calls to any phone number anytime.
    Listen for short beeps 30 seconds before your call is disconnected.
    To discourage abuse, if you make a call lasting between 5 and 10 minutes during a day, every subsequent call to that particular number on that day is limited to 5 minutes each.

    tags: international phone telephone calling travel freephone2phone

  • The Online Font Converter is a 100% free service.
    The Online Font Converter converts fonts to/from:
    .dfont .eot .otf .pfb .tfm .pfm .suit .svg .ttf .pfa .bin .pt3 .ps
    .t42 .cff .afm .ttc .woff & .pdf

    tags: font fonts tools typography design

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Recently found … 04/26/2011

  • Use MyEdu to plan class schedules, take the best professors, raise GPA, maximize credits & get serious about a degree.

    tags: tools online college resources

  • tags: teachers unions educational reform politics

    • It’s hard to think of another field in which experience is considered a liability and those who know the least about the nuts and bolts of an enterprise are embraced as experts.
    • A disturbing bipartisan consensus is emerging that favors a market model for public schools that would abandon America’s historic commitment to providing education to all children as a civil right. This model would make opportunities available largely to those motivated and able to leave local schools; treat parents as consumers and children as disposable commodities that can be judged by their test scores; and unravel collective bargaining agreements so that experienced teachers can be replaced with fungible itinerant workers who have little training, less experience and no long-term commitment to the profession.
    • None of the reforms on the table address the inequality and opportunity gaps that plague our schools. Raging debates over LIFO, seniority, teacher evaluation and test-based school closings do little to improve schools and much to distract from the real challenges. Moreover, because current reforms have been designed to promote school choice and weaken the unions, they have been exacerbating the challenges rather than fixing them.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Recently found … 04/19/2011

  • tags: educational reform

    • Today, the consensus is that there is little difference between President Obama and former President George W. Bush when it comes to education policy. Nor is it easy to distinguish differences between the secretary of education under Mr. Bush, Margaret Spellings, and the current secretary, Arne Duncan.

      Those who call themselves reformers are a diverse group, men and women of every political stripe and of every race and ethnicity.

      But there is one thing that characterizes a surprisingly large number of the people who are transforming public schools: they attended private schools.

      Which raises the question: Does a private school background give them a much-needed distance and fresh perspective to better critique and remake traditional public schools? Does it make them distrust public schools — or even worse — poison their perception of them? Or does it make any difference?

    • Today, the consensus is that there is little difference between President Obama and former President George W. Bush when it comes to education policy. Nor is it easy to distinguish differences between the secretary of education under Mr. Bush, Margaret Spellings, and the current secretary, Arne Duncan.

      Those who call themselves reformers are a diverse group, men and women of every political stripe and of every race and ethnicity.

      But there is one thing that characterizes a surprisingly large number of the people who are transforming public schools: they attended private schools.

      Which raises the question: Does a private school background give them a much-needed distance and fresh perspective to better critique and remake traditional public schools? Does it make them distrust public schools — or even worse — poison their perception of them? Or does it make any difference?

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

What is the Great American Teach-In?

A day to remind ourselves and our students that citizenship means asking questions, finding answers and standing up for what you believe in… and that education must mean that too.

Every classroom, every student, every school… draft a declaration of educational rights.

When it comes to education, what are the truths you hold self evident? Let’s make time to talk about these ideas within our learning communities.

Then, let’s document these truths, and continue the hard work of making a high quality public education accessible to all who want it.

More information here.

Recently found … 04/16/2011

  • Whether you are a student, astronomy fan or an accidental browser, you are most welcome to play with our user-friendly application. It’s full of space-art graphics, has easy-to-use interface with various settings and offers interesting information. SSS will illustrate you real-time celestial positions with planets and constellations moving over the night sky. You can actively change parameters for a better understanding of happenings in our Solar System and the Universe.

    tags: astronomy science

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Recently found … 04/05/2011

  • tags: work habits.of.mind work habits distraction

    • for most people will power is a limited resource: if we spend lots of energy controlling our impulses in one area, it becomes harder to control our impulses in others. Or, as the psychologist Roy Baumeister puts it, will power is like a muscle: overuse temporarily exhausts it. The implication is that asking people to regulate their behavior without interruption (by, say, never going online at work) may very well make them less focussed and less effective.
    • The basic insight—that giving people some respite from difficult tasks, along with the chance to let their minds wander, will make them more productive—remains true. Sometimes, it turns out, you have to take your eye off the ball in order to hit it. 

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Two things I learned in Utah

Just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Waterford Early Learning Institute in Salt Lake City. I’m usually pretty cautious about recommending educational programs or software, but I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with Waterford. It provides a solid foundation for literacy, numeracy and science concepts for preschoolers up through Kindergarten and first grade. Based on decades of best practices for teaching young children, there is some high quality research that indicate incredible gains for children using the program as part of a balanced literacy and mathematics curriculum.

I know it’s a time of budget cuts, educational woes and misery, debate over who is to blame (teachers and unions being the most popular scapegoats at the moment, followed by poverty) … so when will we get a dose of common sense in the discussion? If we invest wisely (and we’re not talking millions here, for heaven’s sake) in our youngest learners to insure they are on a path to solid literacy and numeracy understandings by they time they are 7 years old … just think what we would end up saving – money and time that we would certainly have to spend on special education, legal fees, intervention programs, school reform headaches, incarceration, rehabilitation – you name it. A lack of prudent investment in young children will result in wildly increasing (and most likely ineffective) spending on those kids as they get older, struggle, and do not become happy and productive members of society. I’m not saying Waterford is the answer (and I don’t receive a penny if someone buys the program), but it sure is a tried and true option. The folks at Waterford are a dedicated bunch, and all their energy is focused on creating a personalized and effective experience to support young children as they develop into happy and successful learners.

So that was the first thing I learned … well, I guess I didn’t learn it – it’s a bit of a no-brainer. But the visit to Waterford really brought it home. The solutions are out there.

And the second thing … Utah is one beautiful place! Salt Lake City, ringed by snow-capped mountains, is a comfortable city, both modern and old-timey all at once. The folks are reserved, but warm. And the famed Park City resort – although I felt a bit like I was in a Disney-ized realization of an old mining town – couldn’t be beat for its beauty. Old miner’s homes at the bottom of the hill, million dollar resort homes heading up to the ski slopes – and all around, the snow capped mountains in the crisp, sharp sunlight. Worth a visit.