I think webcams are cool – an interesting way to allow access to remote sights. Here is a recent project (South Middle School in Grand Forks) employing a webcam to chronicle the process of chicks hatching. Not a remote or dangergous process in this case, but an opportunity not every teacher (e.g., biology) is willing to provide.
From the size of the chicks, I am guessing the site will be available for only a few more days. Look for the link under “What’s new at GFPS“.
Andy Carvin has generated another post on one of his favorite topics – DOPA (now Protecting Children in the 21st Century). Andy does a great job of explaining what is happening with this legislation. The topic concerns the responsibility of school and libraries to prevent minors from accessing content/experiences that put them at risk and an important area of controversy involves access to commercial social networking sites.
What I would like to see in this debate is a discussion of the costs and benefits. What is known about the actual exposure to risk within schools and elsewhere? How much would total risk be reduced if the exposure within schools were eliminated (along with any related opportunities)? Will educators spend an equal amount of time addressing risks if such risks could not possibly be encountered within a school setting?
There are many examples of this kind of decision making involved in education. Students play football despite a certain level of injury. Students use power equipment in shop despite a certain level of injury. School buses do not require seat belts despite a certain level of injury. Students walk to and from schools despite a > 0 risk. etc.
The NYTimes reports that Bill Gates and Eli Brand (prodigious contributors to educational causes) are going to invest heavily to make certain educational issues receive considerable attention in the 2008 political races. According to the article, the philanthropists feel giving money directly to schools cannot achieve their goals unless educational change become public and political priories.
The article indicates three issues will dominate:
Look for the phrases “Ed in ’08” or “Strong American Schools” (I could locate only one blog as of this date).
Today was Earth Day 2007. Current concerns regarding global warming should prompt a great deal of attention to this event and the issues it is intended to highlight. Visit the web site.
One resource we found to be useful was a pdf that provided some concrete suggestions for what each individual can do to help. For example, by replacing three light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs you can reduce your carbon footprint by 450 pounds per year.
I am feeling much lighter already.
This week is the 10th anniversary of the Red River Flood of 1997. This post is for those who were there with us and for those who helped.
We left Grand Forks to stay with relatives in Hinckley, Minnesota until the waters retreated. There are many stories associated with the experience. Some of these stories we tell in the first chapter of the book we wrote about the Internet and education. The connection may not be obvious. The type of web applications we take for granted now were very new 10 years ago, but the opportunities to tell the stories of the flood and to communicate with colleagues and family we may have been forced to abandon in the middle of the night may have been the first time the Internet’s power became concrete for us (try this link – I wrote this content and took these pictures ten years ago).
I do have a little unfinished business. Our “relatives” have given us trouble for years about the way we describe our adventures following the flood in our book. It is true – we did not bother to reveal their names. So – Scott and Denise Ellingson – thanks for being the relatives in Hinckley.
Here is an interesting site (with tutorials) provided by the Berkeley School of Journalism. The site identifies stages in the creation of a story (selection, storyboard, field work, editing, assembly) and then links tutorials and resources to each stage.
Widgets offer a convenient way to add functions to web sites (and blogs). WidgetBox is a site providing access to a variety of widgets. If you want to add unique features to your blog, you might want to give widgets a try. The widget I have added offers the opportunity to search within my blog (I know you can already do that, but I needed something I could test). I also know that a search widget serves little use within a blog entry, but as they say on television – “This is only a test.”
I found a second example. I wrote about my fascination with the social music service Last.FM in a previous post. The following widget shows the music I have listened to recently as stored by this service.