Species Explorer

Species Explorer is an interesting web site that allows you to collaborate with others interested in nature.  You’ll need to register for the site.  There is a mobile component to this, which allows users to enter information on the go.  The mission here is not to describe exotic species; but to allow people to explore their local areas to find the rich diversity around them.   [URLs:  http://www.speciesexplorer.org/main.html]

History Stuff – Sort of

The New York Times has created a web site, A History of Political Conventions.  There is an excellent timeline beginning in 1832 which covers the eventual nominees of each party.  Starting in 1896, links are included to New York Times articles about the nominating conventions.  For some years, there’s also a slide show of pictures from the conventions.  But keep in mind that some of these are copyrighted and cannot be used without the proper permission.

Bloomsbury, the British publisher, has posted On This Day in Literary History.  You can check in each day to see what’s happened in the past or select a specific date of interest.  There’s also a daily email alert available.

[URLs:  http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/whouse/convention-ra.html, http://www.bloomsbury.com/WritersArea/LiteraryHistory.asp?&BLI=]

Citing the Web

How to cite electronic sources is a useful cite from the Library of Congress.  It provides guidance on citing web sites, illustrations, films, maps, documents and more found on the Internet.  The styles provided include the MLA and the Chicago Manual of Style.  Examples are provided and a list of links to other citation guidelines is included.  [URLs:  http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/start/cite/index.html]

This Week’s Reports

Consumer Reports has issued Like Taking Candy from a Baby: How Young Children Interact with Online Environments.  Some of their conclusions include: “the games we observed vary widely in quality, in educational value, and in their developmental match with children’s abilities; logos and brand names are ubiquitous; most of the sites we observed promote the idea of consumerism.”

eSchool News has come out with a special report on Software Virtualization, the use of centralized management of computers so that educators and students can access software from any computer from a centrally located server.

A new report from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes looks at whether or not rewards programs improve student achievement.  Paying for A’s: An Early Exploration of Student Reward and Incentive Programs in Charter Schools concludes that incentive systems seem to help students perform better.  You can also read the Education Week article, Reading scores get ‘bump’ from student incentives, study finds. 

[URLs:  http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/pdfs/kidsonline.pdf, http://www.eschoolnews.com/media/files/May08SprRpt.pdf, http://credo.stanford.edu/downloads/Incentives_Paper.pdf, http://tinyurl.com/5ahze4]

Newsworthy

The Federation of American Scientists has created a free online educational game called Immune Attack, according to eSchool News Online (Scientists release educational computer game).  “Some educators might think gaming is more entertainment than a learning tool, but that doesn't have to be the case,” according to Henry Kelly of the Federation.  

The BBC reports on research done on virtual worlds, Web worlds ‘useful’ for children.  One of the researchers described children’s use of online worlds as very useful rehearsal spaces where children could try all kinds of things largely free of the consequences that would follow if they tried them in the real world.”

School Library Journal reports that NYC Dept. of Ed embraces graphic novels.   Librarians are being trained in collection development strategies and lesson plan development to make graphic novels a useful tool in encouraging kids to read.

The results of a study out of the Boston University school of medicine are reviewed in Benefits of bedtime reading, an article in the British paper, the Guardian.   The study reviewed previous work and found that “sharing a bedtime story with a child promotes their motor skills, through learning to turn the pages, and their memory. It also improves their emotional and social development.”   

Another study, out of the University of Illinois, concluded that “students in public schools have math scores that are just as good if not better than those of students in private schools,” according to Study: Public schools just as good as private schools, posted on Yahoo! News by LiveScience.com.    

[URLs:  http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=53879;_hbguid=4609205f-a221-4478-8d09-80bcfe89aecc, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7415442.stm, http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6563091.html?nid=2413&rid=676172260, http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2279574,00.html, http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/studypublicschoolsjustasgoodasprivateschools;_ylt=Ao1HSsyNF_rHo0eKcJZFHhM0Bk4B]

Campaign Spending Maps

Campaign Finance Maps are available from the Federal Election Commission.  There’s a separate map for the presidential election and one for the House and Senate contests.  You can drill down to county-level data for each presidential candidate and see who actually donated money and how much.  You can also search by a donor’s name and other criteria.  Similar data is available for the Congressional races.  [URLs:  http://www.fec.gov/]

The Great Balloon Race

We’ve done airplanes and helicopters.  Now we offer the Great Balloon Race.  From PBS, this game offers 3 levels of difficulty.  Good luck and enjoy!   [URLs:  http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/games/game_balloon.html]