October 2010
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Khan Instant! →
Exactly what it sounds like. It’s like Google Instant for the Khan Academy.
Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000 →
(Credit: AirPhotosLive.Com)
An estimated 215,000 people attended a rally organized by Comedy Central talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News.
The company AirPhotosLive.com based the attendance at the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” on aerial pictures it took over the rally, which took...
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“Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents from public universities who use eMail...”
– Higher ed still prefers Gmail over competitors | eCampus News
NPR: White House Takes a Stand Against Bullying →
positivelypersistantteach:
But starting here in the U.S., the series of suicides by students who killed themselves after being harassed around issues of sexual orientation. Recently the Office of Civil Rights at the Education Department issued a dear colleague letter reminding educators that federal law generally protects students from that kind of harassment. And that harassment could...
Minimalist Profile? Facebook Knows About You, Too →
infoneer-pulse:
You think you’re so clever. You think you’re gaming the system. You hardly put any information on Facebook anyway—you just use it to lurk and occasionally “poke” people—so how can Facebook be mining data, targeting ads, or making money off you at all?
Think again.
» via Fast Company
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Students lonely, frustrated after a day unplugged →
Bare. Fidgety. Lonely. Plagued by the deafening silence. The clock ticking ever so slowly. Singing songs in the shower to give the impression of listening to music.
These are just some of the observations made over the past week by first-year students participating in the global media experiment “Unplugged” at Bournemouth University in the U.K. No, they were not held in...
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Internet promoting connections, not loneliness,... →
It’s a common belief — and not just in science fiction novels — that technology is to blame for many of society’s ills. Web surfing makes us more sedentary, cell phones promote rudeness in public, and in general, technology is isolating us even if we have 500 Facebook friends.
“It’s (technology) torn us apart,” says 30-year-old Joseph Seibel of...
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“Technology does not seem to be the cause of isolation and loneliness. The people...”
– Lee Rainie, director of Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
Internet promoting connections, not loneliness, say experts - San Jose Mercury News
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Twiducate - Social Networking for Schools →
Twiducate is a free platform for creating your own micro social network in a Twitter-like format. Twiducate allows you to create a private network for posting assignments and messages to your students or other people you invite into your network. As the creator of your network you create and administer the accounts of the students in your network. Students in your network can reply to your...
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"FarmVille" Interruption Cited in Baby's Murder →
A 22-year-old mother from Jacksonville, Florida, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking her 3-month-old son to death after his crying interrupted her FarmVille game.
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When Are Facebook Users Most Active? [STUDY] →
For the study, Vitrue analyzed Facebook post data from August 10, 2007 to October 10, 2010 from more than 1,500 brand streams — more than 1.64 million posts and 7.56 million comments in all. Shares and “likes” were not included in the study.
Here are some of the big takeaways:
The three biggest usage spikes tend to occur on weekdays at 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET.
The biggest spike...
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Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs →
Revision is a critical piece of the writing process—and of your classroom curriculum. Now, Google Docs has partnered with Weekly Reader’s Writing for Teens magazine to help you teach it in a meaningful and practical way. The sharing features of Google Docs enable you and your students to decide exactly who can access and edit documents. You’ll find that Google Docs helps promote group work...
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100 Incredibly Useful YouTube Channels for... →
There is some really cool stuff on here, broken down by category.
There goes my weekend.
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What Facebook Tells Researchers About Friendship... →
College freshmen are more likely to make friends with peers they share a dorm room or major with than they are to befriend those from similar racial backgrounds, a study on the Facebook profiles of first-year students found.
A paper on the study, which will be published next week in the American Journal of Sociology, was conducted by researchers at Harvard University and the University of...
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Grieving in the Facebook Age →
An incredibly interesting article over at The Good Men Project. Not a huge article, but requires some time.
Chances are you’ve thought about what happens to you after you die, but have you ever wondered what happens to your social media?
Facebook used to delete the accounts of the deceased. After 2007’s Virginia Tech shootings, the site changed its policy in response to the deluge of...
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Welcome new followers!
I just wanted to say a special hello to all of the folks who have started following World-Shaker over the past few weeks. Thank you for following!
Here are three things I’d like to share with everyone:
1) For those of you who are new to this feed, you can quickly (and visually) browse the archive here: http://world-shaker.tumblr.com/archive
2) Please don’t hesitate to ask any...
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Colleges Face Legal Limits in Policing Online... →
Do colleges and schools have any authority when students misuse electronic devices both on and off school property? If there are cases of cyberbullying involving computers, cellphones, and social-network sites like Facebook and Twitter, does an institution have a legal basis to step in? Or is it stepping on free speech?
The University of San Diego’s Center for Education Policy and Law...
Autumn Foliage Color Palettes by COLOURlovers →
This is a little off-topic, but if any of you love color, please check out COLOURlovers. They have thousands of great color palettes, with accompanying color codes. Here’s an article on some fall colors (my favorite!).
A selection of fall color photos recently added to flickr.
Lacey Bediz
FREE Webinar: Who Are Today’s Students? A Closer... →
I’m typically not one to push webinars, but this one’s from EDUCAUSE and looks to be pretty interesting. Please note that while the webinar is free, you’ll need an EDUCAUSE membership. Check with your department or elearning office.
Malcolm Brown, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative director, and Veronica Diaz, ELI associate director, will moderate this webinar on the ECAR Study of...
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How not to use Facebook, if you're a school... →
The title of this should really be: If you’re a douchebag, maybe it’s best to keep your bigoted opinions to yourself.
A northern Arkansas school board member, commenting on a campaign to get people to wear purple to show support for bullied gay and lesbian youth, purportedly posted a Facebook message saying the only way he would wear purple is “if they all commit suicide.”
The...
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“Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves? The...”
– Clint McCance, a member of the Midland School Board in northern Arkansas. On Facebook.
How not to use Facebook, if you’re a school official | Featured on eSchool News | eSchoolNews.com
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“I remained at home for the rest of the evening, where I swapped surfing the Web...”
– Joseph Kent, a U.K. multimedia journalism student on his experience of going one day (8 hours of which he was asleep) without technology.
Students lonely, frustrated after a day unplugged | Health Tech - CNET News
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“Bare. Fidgety. Lonely. Plagued by the deafening silence. The clock ticking ever...”
– Students lonely, frustrated after a day unplugged | Health Tech - CNET News
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This Product Shouldn't Exist →
Can you really not go that long without checking your email?
Bonus points: Check out the Customer Images if you click through.
NOTE: This is a straight-up Amazon link, not an Amazon Affiliate link. I do not profit from directing you to Amazon.
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5 Things Netflix Streaming Can Teach Higher Ed →
1. Replace Yourself: Offering unlimited streaming for $8.99 a month (1 physical DVD out at a time) may seem like the best way to cannibalize a core business of charging people $16.99 a month for 3 DVDs. But Netflix knew that if it did not take this step then someone else would. Much better to grow the customer base by offering a superior product at a good price than to try to hold on to a...
My Blood, My Sweat, and My Test Scores →
thingsforteachers:
An inspiring blog post by a NYC teacher in response to NYC’s publishing of student test scores. He discusses what his test scores do not tell you about his students.
Something I hate to hear! →
thingsforteachers:
As I am quickly learning, attitude is everything.
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For your consideration:
Using technology effectively is now a mindset, not a skillset.
What do you think?
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5 Reasons Schools Should Switch To Online Tests →
An interesting argument, to be sure. The better question may be: Is there a better way to demonstrate comprehension and application?
Make no mistake – there’s an evolution happening in education right now. Schools are increasingly embracing technology to enhance learning in their classrooms. Still though, a few processes, like examinations, for example, are done in the traditional way. It’s time...
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Learning in 3D →
A great story about how technology is facilitating learning in South Africa.
South African school teachers and their learners can now take virtual field trips to areas of historical and geographical importance, following the launch of the local Google Street View Teachers’ Guide. All that is needed is an internet connection and this concept entails using the Google Map’s Street...
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A Culture of Sharing: Plagiarism and College... →
Here’s a fascinating write-up on Susan Blum’s My Word! Plagiarism and College Culture*. I think I’m going to bite and order it.
Blum also describes an intellectual disconnect that modern students face when confronted with issues of intellectual property. Though “digital native” is a vexed term (and not one that Blum uses), Blum argues that modern students have grown up in a...
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Why Tests and Quizzes Are Good For You →
A study out of Kent State University, published in this week’s issue of the journal Science, finds that practice tests and pop quizzes are very helpful to the process of learning. The reason, according to the researchers: People devise clues and devices to help themselves retain and remember information. Quizzes allow them to see which of their tricks works and which don’t,...
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University dean accidentally hits the 'reply all'... →
Higher-education faculty and administrators got another lesson in the pitfalls of electronic communication and viral email messages last week when a University of Missouri dean mistakenly sent a message that referred to a student as suffering from “mental distress” to the campus’s 6,000 graduate students.
Graduate School Dean George Justice responded to an email message Oct. 13 about a Missouri...
Educatorbits: Lightbulb moments →
educatorbits:
Lightbulb moments remind me why I decided to be a teacher. They are exciting and give me that little boost that lets me know that I am doing something right, especially with my reluctant readers.
One such reader, KG, has insisted that she can’t remember anything that she reads and that she will…
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“I’m convinced that a lot (certainly not all) of the plagiarism committed by...”
– via The Chronicle of Higher Education
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Twitter Captures Students Thoughts and Ideas →
Ideas for using Twitter with students.
1) At Marta Valle High School they held an innovation fair celebrating the successes of the innovative work teachers are doing with their students. Some students were selected as fair reporters. These students interviewed attendees with the question, “Please tell me in 140 characters or less what has impressed you most about what you’ve seen at...
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Amazing Slide Deck From Gates →
I don’t know that I’d say “amazing” given the gross neglect of any formal (or even informal) design, but the ideas are interesting (especially starting around Slide 21 or so).
Next Generation Learning and the Innovation Imperative
View more presentations from PostsecondaryImprovement.
Happy Tuesday!
Good morning fine people! Would you consider recommending World-Shaker to the Educational Directory?
If you think I’m not as cool this week, or lame, or smell of rotten elderberries, here are some other cool people who would love your recommendation. Just remember that you only get one recommendation a week, so don’t spend it all in one place. Or do spend it all in one place since you...
