Facebook Reveals Online Education in Rwanda

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/24/business/facebook-pitches-online-education-rwanda/

So Facebook announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that it was going to launch an online education initiative to give education to those without access. They are calling it SocialEDU. Students will gain access to universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Berkeley.  Nokia is jumping in on this and giving free data for a year those who are participating as well as a free smart phone. They seek to create an educational experience that is "affordable and social"(Chapple, 2014).

Okay, I don't know how I feel about this. I think this move to make education affordable is great. But I think it is a very big leap to impose American Higher Educational standards on Rwandans. And all of these big money corporations leaping on to this idea also makes me feel uneasy. What is their pay off? Also why aren't they launching this project in the US?

How to talk to kids

     So for Nicole's C&I class we listened to a This American Life episode on how to talk to kids and how not to talk to kids. It brings to mind how I was spoken to.  There is one part of the TAL, that is an essay a mother wrote about talking to her high school daughter about sex. The daughter approaches her mom about getting the pill and informs her she will be having sex with her boyfriend.
     This story sounds really uncomfortable to me. My mom and I never had that kind of conversation in high school, maybe because I didn't have a boyfriend till I was 20. My mom, I think trusted me but very much never spoke to me like I was her "friend". There are things they do not want to know. My parents definitely were my parents, they never spoke to me like I was a buddy. But they did treat me like a peer when we were discussing current events, academic topics, and ethical issues. My father and my mother have always spoken to me as if I was just as smart as they were. I remember when I was in 1st grade I was telling my dad the story of creation I had learned in Hebrew School. His response was,"Really Mollie? You believe that?" That comment let me know I didn't have to believe what adults told me.  He let me have doubt about what adults tell me.
   My parents also let us be a kids. They didn't intend to shelter us completely but they kept a lot of outside influences at bay. This allowed my sister and I to really be our age and not to worry about boys, clothes, and what the other girls were doing. I think they spoke respectfully to me and my sister as intellectual equals to them, but they also spoke to us as we were their children.
  They were also fallible, when one of them spoke to us in an inappropriate manner, they allowed my sister and I to call them out.  I remember once my Dad just went off on my moody crazy adolescent sister (she is far more normal now). She deserved a good talking to but not in that manner. I then went up to my dad and told him he was being and asshole and he needed to apologize to her. He responded, "You're right, I will."
    I appreciate the way my parents spoke to us. They never talked to us as if we were dumb but they also sought our advice and valued what we had to say, but they were most definitely our parents.

This is really cool and helpful

Some cool ideas for digital interactives in a museum setting. Not sure how some elements work for an art museum...

Gov. Cuomo Announces State Funding for College Education in Prison

New York state will fund college for prisoners.  The funds were taken away by Gov Pataki in 1995.  I think this is quite a turn to how we view the rights of prisoners as well as the nature of prisons. Prisons rather than being seen as pure punishment are being viewed more like rehabilitation. It also makes higher education seem not a privilege for the few but rather a right. Personally I think a lot has to be thought out about the prison-industrial complex and how we view higher education as well. But I think Gov. Cuomo is taking some good steps forward in acknowledging human rights.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/gov-cuomo-announces-fundi_b_4799784.html

Forest Kindergarten

So I was reading an article about outdoors education and it mentioned Cedarsong Nature School in Washington State. They have the first Forest Kindergarten in the United States.  Students are outside every single day, rain or shine. They say that it allows for students to have a deep learning experience because there are plenty of opportunities for their engagement. It is an alternative (a very different alternative) from the classic classroom.

After reviewing the Cedarsong Nature School website, http://cedarsongnatureschool.org/, it reminds me that education can be a very exciting and engaging experience for children.  It reminds me of something that Michel Foucault said in an interview "Certainly, learning can be made an erotic, highly pleasurable activity. Now, that a teacher should be incapable of revealing this, that his job, should virtually consist of showing how unpleasant~ sad, dull and unerotic learning is-to me, this is an incredible achievement." (Foucault, 136)

This all brings to mind, how can we make education engaging, exciting, and meaningful?

Foucault, Michel (1996).  Foucault Live (Interviews, 1961-1984). New York: Semiotext(e). 

Daily Physical Education

So CPS will have daily Physical Education and comply with state laws that mandate daily PE. That is pretty awesome.  But they still do not have really any details on how it will be carried out. Since CPS is pretty financially strapped at the time they will slowly implement the plan over 3 years.

I believe in using the whole being in education, including the physical body and exercising gross motor skills not just fine motor skills. When I was teaching Kindergarten in AZ, I took advantage of any time that my students had to run around and to play. I saw that when they had this time to exert themselves it optimized my actual instructional time. They were more focused and we could get things done quicker, so I think this time for students to exercise will be beneficial for academics as well as for behavior.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-cps-physical-education-met-20140117,0,5775349.story

Found object pictures

So I was taking a break from doing some school work, and I stumbled upon this on pinterest:

http://www.boredpanda.com/pixel-art-from-found-objects-famous-paintings-plastic-classics-jane-perkins/ 

He recreates famous photos and paintings from found objects. It would be a really cool way to introduce outsider art with academic art.

Just thought it was cool and wanted to share.

Bill Nye vs Ken Ham

At the Creationist Museum in Northern Kentucky, close by to my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, there was a debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, a debate between Evolution and Creation.  The specific topic they were debating was if, "Is creation a viable model of origins in the today's modern scientific era?"

During the introductions I was surprised to hear that the creationist Ken Ham was actually trained in Biology and Education.  Also during Ham's intro  he claims that scientists can also be creationists, he claims that the term "science" has been hijacked by evolutionists/secularists.  He addresses ideas of "historical science" and "observational science".  He sees them as two separate entities.

When Nye begins his introduction, he begins with an anecdote about bow ties. He is incredibly charming, and personally pulls on my heart strings as I was a HUGE fan of his TV show when I was a kid. He talks about two opposing stories, Creation and Evolution, and comparing them, and then having the audience make their own call.  He addresses the debate topic as, "Is the creation model viable? Does it hold up?" Nye addresses Ham's distinction between historical science and observational science, that there can be no distinction.


In the second part of the debate, Ham claims that, "Creation is the only viable model of historical science in today's modern scientific era." He then presents interviews some creationists scientists, scientists who also also believe in creation. This is a weak claim to try to prove that creation is a viable option. He then speaks about how Christian scientists are persecuted.  This may all be true. I have no idea. But as someone who is not involved in science he is doing nothing to prove his point.

I had to stop watching after 30 minutes I was getting kind of annoyed. Ham's playing with the meaning of words was ridiculous and he seemed to talk around the actual topic.

I am not saying creationism is false and evolution is true. Personally I believe in evolution. I also am agnostic on days and an atheist on others, so I may be biased. But this whole discussion makes me think of a conversation we had in Karyn's thesis class and thinking about knowledge. Ham completely believes what he is saying, this is his set of beliefs that make up his knowledge. While Nye has his own set of beliefs that he believes is true, and this is his own knowledge. This makes me think that knowledge is intrinsically subjective.

http://gawker.com/the-highlights-from-bill-nyes-debate-with-creationist-1516466064

7 more Charters

I just read an article, all be it a bit outdated one from the end of January, about 7 more charter schools opening in Chicago. Chicago closed many low performing schools, and are then opening more charters to take their place. David Vitale says it is a "complex situation".  Personally, I do not hate charter schools. Some charters out perform traditional public schools. Some charters perform the same or under perform public schools.  I have many friends who work in charter schools, as this is what TFA alums are supposed to do after they finish the corps.

I hear the horror stories as well as the success stories.

What really bothers me is that it feels like the Board seems to not want to deal with the problem that Chicago Public Schools pose. Is it really appropriate to pass it off to private company have them run it for 5 years, then change the school again with another charter, or to permanently close it?
Schools are places where communities converge, is it really appropriate to have outsiders come in a restructure the whole operation?

http://www.suntimes.com/news/25100782-418/board-of-ed-approves-7-new-chicago-charter-schools.html

Off the Rez

I am watching a documentary about a high school basketball player, Shoni Schimmel. Shoni is a member of the Umatilla Tribe outside of Portland, Oregon. It documents her attempt to gain a basketball scholarship. She is rated 8th in the country after her Junior year. 

But Her family deals with financial hardships to keep Shoni and their family in Portland in order for her to go to a specific high school, which will allow her to be viewed by college scouts. Shoni finds it difficult to pick a college, as it will mean she will eventually have to leave her family. At the playoffs, Native Americans from allover the Northwest come and watch. They all want to see her succeed. They eventually are out after the first round of the quarterfinals. 

Shoni does ends up deciding on the University of Louisville. 

 

Within my own experience on the Navajo Nation, basketball is seen as an opportunity to get off the rez and to experience upward mobility.  But it is rare that they actually get the coveted scholarships.  

This film makes me think about opportunity and access. It brings up the same questions of opportunity that I had when I was working on the rez.