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This unit on "MySpace in Democracy: inquiry on how social networks and media technologies promote and disrupt democratic practices" is intended to integrate with the School Districts Philadelphia's middle grades' Social Studies core curriculum. Through my proposed unit, students will conduct inquiry on how the proliferation of social networking sites, search engines, and electronic media shapes democratic practices. Inquiry and critical thinking will be core skills students will master. To lead students to master research skills this unit will use media literacy and free speech topics to provide students with seed ideas for their own inquiry. As Leonisa Ardizzone posits, students need to find themselves at the center rather than the margins of learning for critical pedagogy to take place. 1 My students consequently need opportunities to create their own media where their voices can be heard and honored. The hope is that my students' voices will placed at the center of topics related to digital literacy and democratic practices.

"Leadership 360 will examine issues affecting today's educational leaders. We will invite different lenses, always remembering that our democracy depends on the success of public education. It is foundational to the fabric of our society and the values that reveal who we are in the world. "

Check out this blog for topics related to leadership in our schools.

Meet the extraordinary and very well-known publisher, philanthropist and human rights activist who founded Human Rights Watch, an organization that focuses on promoting human rights throughout the world, and the more recent Advancing Human Rights, Robert Bernstein. A dedicated and passionate leader of human rights, Robert has spent his entire life promoting human rights both in closed and open societies. "Dictatorships must be brought up to the level of democracies." To read more about Robert Bernstein visit www.thextraordinary.org

The European projectFACE IT! offers training opportunities and materials for the provision of Family Learning programs aiming to promote and develop Active Citizenship and Participatory Democracy.

"The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a six-episode series directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan. Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales - from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska - The National Parks: America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background - rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy."

This series is scheduled to be run again during January 2010. Check your local PBS stations.

"news and reference site on the protests and activities in the Middle East" (Steve Hargadon, personal correspondence, Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 01:33(

"The open-source world has learned to deal with a flood of new, oftentimes divergent, ideas using hosting services like GitHub -- so why can't governments? In this rousing talk Clay Shirky shows how democracies can take a lesson from the Internet, to be not just transparent but also to draw on the knowledge of all their citizens. Clay Shirky argues that the history of the modern world could be rendered as the history of ways of arguing, where changes in media change what sort of arguments are possible -- with deep social and political implications."

"And during the campaign, Park apologized for human rights abuses committed by her father."

"Social media won't get less attractive the longer they exist. But we will learn how to use them more wisely. Right now, we're smitten and look away from problems; we behave like young lovers who are afraid that too much talking will spoil the romance. As we grow into a more mature relationship, we'll find time to talk."

I emailed the senator regarding net neutrality and he responded back with this lengthy email. Charles E. Schumer is a US Senator representing New York State and is fighting to help maintain net freedoms and for affordable access for families to the internet.

"Testing had become not just a way to measure student learning, but an end in itself. "

New View -- Expert changes her mind

"new documentary directed by Matt Damon which is airing on The History Channel. Find out more about some of those voices below, and delve further into American history through the JOURNAL's coverage of American history on-air and online." go Howard Zinn

This is an excellent resource for teaching about the need for PARTICIPATION in a participatory government.

The online role-playing games on iCivics are free, teacher-friendly, and effective