Back to School

The kids are barely out for the summer.  But the Census Bureau has already issued its Back to School issue.   It’s a useful compendium of basic demographics including: enrollment, number of schools, number of teachers, apple production (yes, apple production), retail sales for back to school items, and more.   [URLs:  http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb08ff-12.pdf]

LiveStrong

Lance Armstrong’s story is pretty well known.  His foundation, LiveStrong, is a wonderful support group for cancer survivors.  He’s now introduced LiveStrong.com a site designed to help everyone get into shape.  The site provides advice on living healthy, exercising and eating right.  You can join discussion groups for a variety of health issues.  [URLs:  http://www.livestrong.com/]

This Week’s Reports

The NCES has just released Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2005-2006.  The report includes “the numbers of students and teachers, number of high school completers and the averaged freshman graduation rate, and revenues and expenditures.”  

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released The Internet and the 2008 Election.   It concluded that more and more people are getting their political news from the Internet.  More people are engaging in political discussion online and making online donations.  One of the most interesting findings was that although most people going online for political information like doing it, they continue to be skeptical about it.  A large number “feel that the internet magnifies the most extreme viewpoints and is a source of misinformation for many voters.”

The Center for Evaluation and Education Policy has issued an Education Policy Brief, Promises and Pitfalls of Virtual Education in the United States and Indiana.   There is some discussion of virtual education in Indiana.  But much of the data looks at the U.S., what states offer virtual classes, what kind of teacher training states require for online teaching, differences in program quality and financial considerations.

Trends among High School Seniors: 1972-2004 is a report from the NCES that looks at the senior class of 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2004.  Seniors appear to be taking more math and science classes and are more focused on going to a 4-year college, according to the survey data.

[URLs:  http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008339.pdf, http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_2008_election.pdf, http://www.ceep.indiana.edu/projects/PDF/PB_V6N6_Spring_2008_EPB.pdf, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008320.pdf]

Newsworthy

A local NBC station in Florida reported Band writes song to inspire classmates to read.  The band is from the Coral Glen Middle School in Coral Springs.  The song is called “Read a Book.”  And the students at the school say the song has really motivated them.  Hey, anything that works sounds good to us.

Reading to little ones is a story from the Tuscaloosa News about the Reach Out and Read Program, supported by Scholastic.  It’s a nice story of community outreach and exciting young children about reading.

On the darker side is this story from the Washington Post, The Fate of the sentence: is the writing on the wall?  “’We are moving toward the language used by computer programmers and air traffic controllers,’ he [James Billington, Librarian of Congress] says. ‘Language as a method of instruction, not a portal into critical thinking.’”  Some are concerned by a lack of ability to construct a meaningful sentence in young people who are used to abbreviations and short cuts.  

[URLs:  http://www.nbc6.net/news/16644356/detail.html, http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080619/NEWS/900586102/-1/entertainment4, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061202258.html]

Tech Stuff

We’ve mentioned Jakob Nielsen’s blog AlertBox in the past.  He recently posted on Writing Style for Print vs. Web.   It’s an interesting look at how readers of print and online material differ in what they respond to and why.

George Lucas calls for ‘Third Internet’ is a recent story in PC Magazine.  Lucas is proposing that a third internet be created just for schools and libraries that is totally free be created rather than the cumbersome universal service fees system currently in use.

The Longview (Texas) News-Journal described a new program at a local school, Model classroom to offer educators technology lesson.   “The classroom will be a model for teachers and administrators nationwide on how to integrate technology into lessons.”  The design came from research out of Stanford University and was put together by Apple.

Cable in the Classroom created eLections an online multimedia game in 2004.  And it’s back for the 2008 elections with some improvements.  Content comes from CNN Student News, C-Span and History.

[URLs:  http://www.useit.com/alertbox/, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/print-vs-online-content.html, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2321610,00.asp, http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/06/24/06242008_model_classroom.html, http://www.ciconline.org/elections]

Lost Titles, Forgotten Rhymes

The Library of Congress has created a site called Lost Titles, Forgotten Rhymes.  The site’s subtitle provides the real details, “How to find a novel, short story, or poem without knowing its title or author.”  Someone at the LOC has combed the web for sites that can assist you in tracking down that elusive title.  There are also recommendations for using message boards and listservs, as well as using the old reliable, print.  BookSleuth and FictionFinder are just two of the recommended sites.   [URLs:  http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/lost/]

First African-Americans

InfoPlease is an excellent online resource for all kinds of information.  Their Famous Firsts by African-Americans includes information on the first African-American elected to political office (local, state, national), first authors, scientists, athletes, etc.  It includes 500 biographies of famous and not so well known African Americans.  Check it out.  [URLs:  http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html]

The Spiral

The spiral is visible everywhere in nature.  Even DNA is in the shape of a spiral.  This Spiral Gallery includes some incredible pictures of spirals, both real and contrived.  Just click on each of the images you want to see.  Remember to check the credit on each of the images before using them.  Enjoy.    [URLs:  http://spiral.gallery.sytes.org/]