What should be common sense is now being officially prescribed by the American Academy of Pediatrics: Limit screen time to two hours a day, and keep cell phones and Internet connections out of bedrooms.
Assessment | News
Varsity Tutors Debuts Free Test Question Site
By Dian Schaffhauser
11/07/13
Varsity Tutors, a providor of private tutoring to students online, has launched a new, free service with the intention of becoming the "Khan Academy" of practice tests. The company has introduced a Web-based assessment system intended to replace other forms of educational content such as SAT or ACT preparation books or online subscriptions to assessment materials.
Varsity Learning Tools, as it's called, makes hundreds of free practice tests available in 95 subjects. Currently in open beta testing, the site lists assessment tests by subject and allows the user to choose to answer a single test, flashcards, or a question of the day.
Each question can be shared through social network services. When the student answers it, a second page displays with an assessment and explanation and data on how much time was spent on the question, and how many others answered it correctly."
(Read more at http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/11/07/varsity-tutors-launches-free-test-question-site.aspx?=THEEL#8hQzr0oig6X2IZmS.99)
75 percent of young Americans, between the ages of 17 to 24, are unable to enlist in the military today because they have failed to graduate from high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit.
Tony Wagner, the Harvard-based education expert and author of “The Global Achievement Gap,” explains it this way. There are three basic skills that students need if they want to thrive in a knowledge economy: the ability to do critical thinking and problem-solving; the ability to communicate effectively; and the ability to collaborate.
Wagner thinks we should create a West Point for teachers: “We need a new National Education Academy, modeled after our military academies, to raise the status of the profession and to support the R.& D. that is essential for reinventing teaching, learning and assessment in the 21st century.”
All good ideas, but if we want better teachers we also need better parents — parents who turn off the TV and video games, make sure homework is completed, encourage reading and elevate learning as the most important life skill.
In what could be a result of widespread teacher layoffs, some virtual schools and online learning providers are reporting huge increases in teaching applications for the coming school year.
"We have seen at least a 50-percent increase in the number of applications we've received versus this time last year," said Annie Middlestadt, senior director of human resources for Connections Academy, an operator of virtual K-12 public charter schools.
Siemens STEM Academy--lots of teacher resources, webinars, professional development resources, etc. Teachers can also upload and share resources. STEM (science, engineering, technology, math)
KATE, the Kentucky Academy of Technology Education, collects the most innovative and successful technology practices in K-12 education and makes them available to the teachers and students of Kentucky -- the United States -- and the world.
Focusing on high-need schools and districts with an emphasis on urban areas and the TX-Mex border; public and private organizations - new models inc Early college high schools, T-STEM academies
Great Clasroom Wiki- "The students in Mrs. Dearolph's reading class at Woodward Academy have been reading the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. They have shared all that they have learned about surviving in the wilderness."