Learning Aloud

I saw a cartoon posted at my workout club yesterday in which a customer announced to the attendant – I am here for my annual workout. Workout clubs are used to the phenomena – the new year brings people with good intentions who soon remember why they did not already work out. It ends up taking time and to be a lot of work.

I was reminded of this when encountering an article about the Blogger Backlash. The year 2004 was the year of the blog (according to some) and the columnist writing this article says that the year 2005 will be the year of the blogger backlash. He argues that some new opportunities – audio and video blogs – will add to the backlash. Activities that sound like great ideas still end up to require work, commitment, and sometimes a little skill. I wonder what the average number of posts per blog per year is. I wonder what the average number of podcasts will be per year.

Why is it that when the Department of Ed makes the evening news, the news tends to be bad. CNN (and most media outlets) today report that a news service has fired conservative commentator Armstrong Williams for accepting 1/4 million to promote No Child Left Behind. Williams claims the money was for advertisements. The National Association of Black Journalists supported the firing. Public relations contractor – this is how the Department of Ed described Williams.

I understand that I would be naive to assume that the Department of Ed was anything but a political body acting to promote the policies of the party and president in power. However, I could respect a campaign promoted by this tax supported office if it could at least use a recognized educator willing to offer arguments based on sound data and logic.

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige will unveil a national vision outlining how effective use of technology can improve student achievement on Friday, Jan. 7 at 3 p.m. in Washington, D.C. The event will be webcast live at www.KidzOnline.org/edtech.

Technology Plan web site.

The combination of the Microsoft Windows operating system and Internet Explorer is notorious for security issues. Now, it appears Microsoft is attempting to respond. The company is beginning to produce its own software to deal with security issues. If you use the Windows operating system, take a look at the Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta

The following message appears on the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse web site.

The staff of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC) regrets to inform you that the U.S. Department of Education will not continue funding for a national mathematics and science education clearinghouse beyond ENC???s current contract year ending September 30, 2005. We believe that ENC has provided a valuable service to the nation???s K-12 mathematics and science teachers over the past 13 years, and we look forward to continuing that work. We are currently developing plans to deliver ENC???s products and services through subscriptions to schools, organizations, and individuals beginning in October 2005.

I think ENC is a quality site, but I wonder how many schools will be interested in subscription access. If there are enough schools interested in subscription access, I wonder which schools will be interested. Will it be the schools most in need of support? This may be the wave of the future. Many of the organizations making resources available to educators and schools without commercial bias were likely receiving support from somewhere. Will the Dept. of Education invest in providing such resources and which organizations will be given this opportunity?

An eSchool News article summarizes educators concerns that students lack critical approach to online information. Tend to take first source they encounter and do not cross reference.

Happy New Year from Grand Forks, ND, USA.

It is snowing here and I made my way through the drifts to reset the log on my server for the new year. Edutech originates in the Psychology Building on the University of North Dakota campus.