The state of Florida is now at the highest level of government discussing health insurance as being a condition for being a Florida college student. Apparently, some states already require their students to maintain health insurance at their expense as a condition for being a student. From what I heard, I am caused to think that it will soon be a Florida student requirement. How to administer it is now their focus of attention.
I would not have a college education if I had to pay the current cost of a college education. I am from a working class family that did not value education beyond high school. Having it proved to be a social negative.
So, now they are going to make it even more difficult for the working class to be educated. If doing everything that the college teachers required wasn't already enough.
What is the pay-off for the working class student that does everything requires by the University. In my case, it was rejection.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
New Brain Cells
Fresh neurons arise in the adult brain every day. New research suggest that the cells ultimately help with learning complex tasks and the more they are challenged, the more they flourish. Reported in Scientific American.
Source Tracy J. Shors, professor in the department of psychology and the Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers.
Source Tracy J. Shors, professor in the department of psychology and the Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers.
What will become of homo sapiens?
Contrary to popular belief, humans continue to evolve. Our bodies and brains are not the same as our ancestors' were - or as our decendants'will be. source: Beter Ward of Scientific American
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Legal limit as to how far school can go.
The 3rd. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a finding that Justin Layshock's First Amendment rights were violated, "It would be an unseemly and dangerous preedent to allow the state in the guise of school authorities to reach into a child's home and control his/her actions" to the extent it can exert control in school.
"It makes pedagogic sense for the First Amendment to allow school officials some say over the tenor of speech in school. But by unleashing that power to anywhere a student is, school authorities would essentially get to control the speech of the general population under 18. That is too much discretion for schools and not enough freedom for young people." Source: Robyn Blumner rblummer@sptimes.com
"It makes pedagogic sense for the First Amendment to allow school officials some say over the tenor of speech in school. But by unleashing that power to anywhere a student is, school authorities would essentially get to control the speech of the general population under 18. That is too much discretion for schools and not enough freedom for young people." Source: Robyn Blumner rblummer@sptimes.com
Friday, February 19, 2010
School spied on students via laptops ....
This happened in Philadelphia and was reported by the Associated Press on February 19, 2010.
Lower Merion School District officials actived the student's webcam when the school laptops were in the privacy of the student's home and used them to recorded private moments. This is a scenario from George Orwell's 1984. Orwell wrote 1984 to warn us about the possibility of this happening.
If you are a teacher or administrator. Do not do this. If you are a parent. Do not allow a school computer into your home that has a webcam. If you think the laptop is being used to monitor your home: get a lawyer.
You can get the details with a Google search.
Lower Merion School District officials actived the student's webcam when the school laptops were in the privacy of the student's home and used them to recorded private moments. This is a scenario from George Orwell's 1984. Orwell wrote 1984 to warn us about the possibility of this happening.
If you are a teacher or administrator. Do not do this. If you are a parent. Do not allow a school computer into your home that has a webcam. If you think the laptop is being used to monitor your home: get a lawyer.
You can get the details with a Google search.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Afraid of a new idea?
There's so much power in a new idea taking shape and changing the way people live and act. Often the rest of us are in awe or we are even afraid of a new idea and sometimes our fears spur us to learn more about it.
Souce: John Houtz, Scientific American Mind
Souce: John Houtz, Scientific American Mind
Friday, February 12, 2010
What should I conclude if ....
What should I conclude, if after 6 months elapes; I discover that only a small percentage of teachers participate in a form or blog and even fewer have their own blog or forum? It is going to indicate something and I cannot imagine that it will be positive.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Welcome to The Educator's Forum.
Today I patched most of the broken links and added a link to my Twitter. It is now ready for you.
Forums and blogs are what you make of them. If you ignore them or worse condemn them with your words, then you will not benefit nor will others. If you read and publish, we will all benefit providing what you publish is not malicious.
Forums and blogs are what you make of them. If you ignore them or worse condemn them with your words, then you will not benefit nor will others. If you read and publish, we will all benefit providing what you publish is not malicious.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
The Educator's Forum
This morning I upload the first version of the Educator's Forum. The path that lead to this began in December after I upgraded to a new computer system, bought Expression Web 3 and learned how to use it. You likely were told some time in the past about prerequisite knowledge. I cannot over stress the importance of that. It became obvious to me that I could not have learned Expression Web without first knowing HTML.