Steven Waldman and the Working Group on Information Needs of Communities recently wrote this excellent report on THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF COMMUNITIES - The changing media landscape in a broadband age.
Please CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT.
December 16, 2011
December 11, 2011
The Adult Who Took the Test
Recently, fellow blogger Joshua sent me the following article from The Washington Post.
When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids
A longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do. He took versions of his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading tests for 10th graders, and said he’d make his scores public.
By any reasonable measure, my friend is a success. His now-grown kids are well-educated. He has a big house in a good part of town. Paid-for condo in the Caribbean. Influential friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. Enough time of his own to give serious attention to his school board responsibilities. The margins of his electoral wins and his good relationships with administrators and teachers testify to his openness to dialogue and willingness to listen.
He called me the morning he took the test to say he was sure he hadn’t done well, but had to wait for the results. A couple of days ago, realizing that local school board members don’t seem to be playing much of a role in the current “reform” brouhaha, I asked him what he now thought about the tests he’d taken.
CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ENTRY.
*Thanks to Joshua who sent me the link.
When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids
A longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do. He took versions of his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading tests for 10th graders, and said he’d make his scores public.
By any reasonable measure, my friend is a success. His now-grown kids are well-educated. He has a big house in a good part of town. Paid-for condo in the Caribbean. Influential friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. Enough time of his own to give serious attention to his school board responsibilities. The margins of his electoral wins and his good relationships with administrators and teachers testify to his openness to dialogue and willingness to listen.
He called me the morning he took the test to say he was sure he hadn’t done well, but had to wait for the results. A couple of days ago, realizing that local school board members don’t seem to be playing much of a role in the current “reform” brouhaha, I asked him what he now thought about the tests he’d taken.
CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ENTRY.
*Thanks to Joshua who sent me the link.
December 05, 2011
Smartphone addicts starting to feel pain
Users of smartphones and tablet computers are starting to get high-tech blues, as increasing numbers of the tech savvy are coming down with ailments from “text neck” to “text thumb injury”.
Health experts in Britain have warned that the strain injuries stemming from long periods spent staring at small screens and tapping at tiny keys can be debilitating. And the injuries are becoming more common as high-tech gadgets grow ever more popular.
More and more Britons use their smartphones — in effect tiny PCs that fit in a jacket pocket — for accessing the Internet rather than making phone calls.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article.
Health experts in Britain have warned that the strain injuries stemming from long periods spent staring at small screens and tapping at tiny keys can be debilitating. And the injuries are becoming more common as high-tech gadgets grow ever more popular.
More and more Britons use their smartphones — in effect tiny PCs that fit in a jacket pocket — for accessing the Internet rather than making phone calls.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article.
