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Great post by Ben Grey on his participation in Constructing Modern knowledge - he hits several things including the fact that many at the conference said that computer programming should be mandatory for all students and a presenter who said that the problem with today is that too many people have a voice. My comments from Ben's blog are below. Great conversations happening here! Programming - OK, on the programming thing, here are my thoughts. In our curriculum our objective is not as much a specific LANGUAGE. One year I may use HTML with Javascript, this past year I used LSL - what I want kids to know that when they encounter programming and coding that there are certain conventions. Some are case sensitive, some are not. How do you find out how to add to what you know about programming? Do you know where to go to find prewritten code? Can you hack it to make it work to do what you want it to do? We spend about a week - two weeks but I require they know how to handcode hyperlinks and images - they are just too important. But to take 12 weeks or 6 weeks to learn a whole language - yes maybe some value - but to me the value is HOW is the language constructed or built. What are the conventions and how do I educate myself if I am interested in pursuing. What comes out of this time is kids who say either "I never want to do that" or "this is really cool, I love coding." They are doing very simplistic work (although the LSL object languages were pretty advanced) but since we don't have a full course nor time in our curriculum, I do see this as an essential part of what I teach. I'm not teaching it for the language sake but for the sake of understanding the whole body of how languages work - we talk about the different languages and what they are used for as part of Intro to Computer science and have an immersive experience. To me, this is somewhat a comprimise between leaving it out entirely or forcing everyone to take 12 weeks of it. I

and the useful tags are: administrator all_teachers bestpractices edublogger grants curriculum history literature math science technology language edu_news edu_trends edu_newapp digitalcitizenship techintegrator professionaldevelopment edublog

This website is a conglomeration of scientists who are blogging and writing.l They respond to research journals and bring forth "hot topics." In science. Time magazine has written an article about this site and how they are changing the face of science. Blogs are becoming integrated into all aspects of the world and knowing the method of writing effectively there is important.

Blogs are becoming part of society. In this case, scientists model how our "young scientists" should be approproaching science as well.

Looking at the fourth "R". Computational thinking, a way of looking at problem solving in all areas of life, not just computer science.

We believe that a child who graduates from high school without an understanding of culture, the arts, history, literature, civics, and language has in fact been left behind. So to improve education in America, we're promoting programs, policies, and initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels that provide students with challenging, rigorous instruction in the full range of liberal arts and sciences.

Very heartening to see a growing movement advocating a knowledge-rich, intellectually rigorous curriculum for schools. They've got the funds to hire good photographers and models with nice skin, too.

Governor Schwarzenegger, Superintendent O'Connell, and the State Board of Education have announced the Free Digital Textbook Initiative, a project to provide a list of standards aligned free digital textbooks for high schools that cover the course content in mathematics and science subject areas.

Gateway to eGyanKosh - a national digital repository of online resources of the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India.

With a simple log-in, you can gain access to thousands of on-line resources, most in English.

Univ of Pennsylvania Prof. Mark Yim talks to Ignite Philly 2 about instructional methods used Mechanical Engineering's GRASP Lab.

Most of the articles seem to be available for free as pdfs.

Dear Educators, With this webcasting tool, you can connect live face to face with anyone, anywhere, anytime.....family, friends, students, teachers, colleagues, administrative groups, principals meetings, etc. without having to travel. You can even promote world peace by connecting with teachers and students in their classrooms worldwide and learning more about each other's country and culture The tools for your use include the ability to have live video chat, make PowerPoint presentations, stream video, share your desktop, record and share your presentation, and much more. Guests do not have to download any software. They simply click on the link to your conference that you send them, no cost, no travel and better yet, no wasted time. This tool is affordable and easily fits into a classroom, school or administartive office budget. As a former superintendent in the education system with more than 50 schools spread out 400 miles along a major highway, the ability to communicate with everyone in an efficient, effective and economical manner was essential. Hope you find this helpful. Best wishes, Barry

The Extraordinary and the ordinary- the projected trajectories of current computer technologies and their application for sustained mind controlling outcomes. It's already here- we will be interacting with computers with our minds. Incredible applications for learning.

Innovation is learning and the skills listed at end of article

Games lab focussed on socially responsible game design for social change.