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Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).  And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

And as someone who is easily distracted and LOVES my subject matter, it’s hard not to just go “oh, this is fascinating!” and be off and running into a whole other sidetrack.

The one primary shortcoming of Voki that occurs to me is the 1 minute limit to what can be recorded for a given avatar. Multiple avatars can be created, but I saw no obvious way to simply copy an avatar so you could then record more speech to create a new “scene” for it. Additionally, there did not seem to be any apparent help utility (beyond an FAQ section). If I just missed this, and someone knows how to find help or request help in Voki, kindly comment and point it out.

Great teachers work on building a sense of community in their classrooms all year long

They understand that helping students build relationships with each other is a key to creating an optimal learning environment.

You can support children's relationships in many ways. Let students share about their hobbies, interests, and passions at Morning Meeting or in connection with academic topics or assignments

It starts with the simplest possible tools…pen and paper.

The idea is simple… Buy a sturdy college-ruled notebook dedicated to the relevant class. (I use the 100 page, 1 subject, college-ruled Stasher by Roaring Spring, but many people also swear by the Black n’ Red.) Buy a good pen. (Nothing beats a black uniball micro 0.5mm.) Take your notebook and pen and go to the most relaxing, meditative, non-distracting place possible. The deep stacks of the library is okay. Hiking 30 minutes into the woods or onto the dunes overlooking a windswept springtime beach is even better. Spend 1 – 3 hours working out your thinking on the task at hand in the notebook. Spend the last 20 minutes carefully summarizing your results on a clean page that you mark with the date and a title.

Writing down your thoughts forces you to clarify what you’re thinking and confront ambiguities or inconsistencies

In rural America, only 60 percent of households use broadband Internet service, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Commerce. That is 10 percent less than urban households. Over all, 28 percent of Americans do not use the Internet at all.

It took her three days to try to arrange a meeting with the governor 150 miles away in Montgomery because such inquiries cannot be made over the phone and she had to drive 45 minutes to her daughter’s house to use e-mail.

3. What is the time requirement for physical education per calendar week? 120 minutes per calendar week exclusive of any time that may be required for dressing and showering.

The course allows students to meet requirements by exercising how they want, when they want. They are required to work out hard for 30 minutes four times a week and report to their teachers by e-mail. Parents must certify that the students did the workouts.

Still, some committed online educators remain unconvinced. Tim Snyder, the executive director of Colorado Online Learning, which offers more than 50 online courses to Colorado schools, included physical education with studio art, marching band and the laboratory sciences as subjects best left to brick-and-mortar schools. "These are still better experienced in a hands-on setting," Dr. Snyder said. But online gym has prospered. That has been possible in part because physical education itself has evolved. Once a highly regimented class centered on team sports and competition, physical education now emphasizes healthy living and personal fitness, topics some see as eminently suited for independent Internet study.

Even the course's author, Brenda Corbin, who writes curriculums for the Minneapolis district, was dismissive at first. "I refused to be a part of it," Ms. Corbin said of her initial reaction a year ago, when Ms. Braaten and district administrators approached her about writing the physical education course. "How do you know they're really working out?" Ms. Corbin said she asked. But she later changed her mind. "I was uninformed about what you can do over the computer," she said.

Now, recognizing that what these instructors need is markedly different training from their counterparts in high schools and at four-year universities, some graduate programs are offering credentials specifically for those students who plan to or already teach at community colleges as a supplement to their subject matter graduate training.

Those seeking the certificate do not have to be enrolled in a Temple graduate program, and there is a specific track for current community college instructors who, though they are already experts in their discipline, want a professional development opportunity to learn new teaching techniques.

The certificate for current community college instructors consists of a three-credit seminar on “teaching in higher education” — with broad-based lessons on various teaching philosophies and course designs — and three one-credit modules on specific topics. Current topics are “assessment,” “diversity and inclusive teaching” and “teaching with technology.

Learning Activities - 13 minutes

Modern ArtSpring 2006 Steven Zucker Fashion Institute of Technology