EDUCATION FOR EVERY ONE

Online Degree Course

Friday, 26 September 2014 | 0 comments

Online Degree Course
An online degree is a tutorial degree (usually a university degree, however typically the term includes highschool diplomas associate degrees non-degree certificate programs) which will be attained primarily or entirely through the utilization of an Internet-connected pc, instead of attending school in a very ancient field setting. enhancements in technology, the increasing use of the web worldwide, and also the would like for individuals to possess versatile college schedules whereas they're operating have diode to a proliferation of on-line faculties that award associate, bachelor's, master's, and scholarly person degrees.

Accreditation:.
The goal of academic certification, consistent with the us Department of Education, is to make sure that programs provided by establishments of upper education meet acceptable levels of quality. ENQA, the ecu Association for Quality Assurance in teaching, describes the role of external quality assurance in education jointly that "combines each responsibility for the support of the general public associate degreed an objective and organic process role for enhancing quality in institutions". within the space of on-line education, it's necessary to avoid unauthorized certification mills that supply pretend degrees, as these ar sadly common. Students seeking valid on-line degrees ought to acquire proof of certification from associate degree applicable national or regional accrediting body. In the us, on-line schools that ar totally authorised have earned a widely known kind of university certification from one among six regional certification boards.[3] every of six geographic regions of the us has one among these boards, a non-governmental agency that oversees and accredits degree-granting establishments headquartered in their areas. The U.S. Department of Education and therefore the Council for teaching certification (CHEA) acknowledge the space Education and coaching Council (DETC) because the accrediting organization for distance learning establishments and teaching programs that supply on-line degrees. However, DETC certification is often (though not universally) viewed as inferior to regional certification, and regionally authorised colleges could refuse to simply accept transfer credit from DETC-accredited colleges a lot of usually than they might refuse credit from alternative regionally-accredited colleges. Outside of the us, alternative national and regional standards of certification hold, and will be extremely substantiative of, distance education. as an example, the Universitat Oberta DE Catalunya, or university of dominion, has been authorised by AQU, the Agency for Quality Assurance within the Catalan University System (a full member of ENQA), since its origination in 1995, and has been known as a "significant success story" as "the world's initial continuous, and property, virtual university".[5]Similarly, in Ireland, the upper Education and coaching Awards Council (HETAC) has authorised variety of on-line schools and degrees, e.g. Setanta faculty.

Background and context

The political push to build participation among the then-dependable provinces started with the Albany Congress in 1754 and Benjamin Franklin's proposed intercolonial joint effort to help tackle common nearby issues themselves; the Articles of Confederation would look to some extent like it. Through the following two decades, a percentage of the fundamental ideas it tended to would fortify and others would debilitate, especially the level of merited unwaveringness to the crown. With common insubordination bringing about coercive and unfortunate acts, and outfitted clash bringing about dissenters being broadcasted revolutionaries and outside the Ruler's assurance, any dedication staying moved to freedom and how to accomplish it. In 1775, with occasions outpacing interchanges, the Second Mainland Congress started going about as the temporary government to run the American Progressive War and addition the provinces their aggregate autonomy.

It was a time of constitution composing most states were occupied at the undertaking and pioneers felt the new country must have a composed constitution, despite the fact that different countries did not. Amid the war, Congress practiced a phenomenal level of political, strategic, military and monetary power. It received exchange confinements, created and kept up an armed force, issued fiat cash, made a military code and arranged with remote governments.[4]

To change themselves from criminals into a genuine country, the pioneers required global distinguishment for their reason and remote associates to help it. In ahead of schedule 1776, Thomas Paine contended in the end pages of the first release of The ability to think that the "custom of countries" requested a formal revelation of American autonomy if any European force were to intervene a peace between the Americans and Extraordinary Britain. The governments of France and Spain specifically couldn't be required to support those they considered dissidents against an alternate honest to goodness ruler. Outside courts required to have American grievances laid before them powerfully in a "proclamation" which could additionally promise them that the Americans would be dependable exchanging accomplices. Without such an affirmation, Paine closed, "[t]he custom of all courts is against us, and will be in this way, until, by a freedom, we bring rank with other nations."[5]

Past enhancing their current affiliation, the records of the Second Mainland Congress demonstrate that the requirement for a presentation of autonomy was personally interfaced with the requests of worldwide relations. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee presented a determination before the Mainland Congress proclaiming the states autonomous; in the meantime he likewise urged Congress to resolution "to take the most effective measures for shaping outside Cooperations" and to set up an arrangement of confederation for the recently free states. Congress then made three covering councils to draft the Statement, a Model Settlement, and the Articles of Confederation. The Affirmation declared the states' section into the universal framework; the model bargain was intended to create harmony and trade with different states; and the Articles of Confederation, which made "a firm association" among the thirteen free and autonomous states, constituted a worldwide consent to set up focal organizations for the behavior of key local and remote affairs.[6]

Drafting[edit]

Articles of Confederation 200th Commemoration dedicatory stamp

Initially issued in York, Penn., 1977

On June 12, 1776, a day in the wake of selecting a board to set up a draft of the Presentation of Autonomy, the Second Mainland Congress determined to name an advisory group of 13 to set up a draft of a constitution for an union of the states. The board met more than once, and administrator John Dickinson exhibited their results to the Congress on July 12, 1776. There were long civil arguments on such issues as power, the accurate forces to be given the confederate government, whether to have a legal, and voting procedures.[7] The last draft of the Articles was arranged in the late spring of 1777 and the Second Mainland Congress affirmed them for endorsement by the individual states on November 15, 1777, after a year of debate.[8] In practice, the Articles were being used starting in 1777; the last draft of the Articles served as the accepted arrangement of government utilized by the Congress ("the United States in Congress gathered") until it got to be by law by last approval on Walk 1, 1781; at which point Congress turned into the Congress of the Confederation. Under the Articles, the states held sway over all administrative capacities not particularly surrendered to the national government. The individual articles set the standards for present and future operations of the United States government. It was made fit for making war and peace, arranging political and business concurrences with remote nations, and choosing question between the states, including their extra and challenged western regions. Article XIII stipulated that "their procurements should be sacredly seen by every state" and "the Union might be unending".

John Dickinson's and Benjamin Franklin's transcribed drafts of the Articles of Confederation are housed at the National Files in Washington, DC.

Operation[edit]

The Articles were made by representatives from the states in the Second Mainland Congress out of a need to have "an arrangement of alliance for securing the opportunity, sway, and freedom of the United States." After the war, patriots, particularly the individuals who had been dynamic in the Mainland Armed force, whined that the Articles were excessively powerless for a powerful government. There was no president, no official organizations, no legal and no assessment base. The unlucky deficiency of a duty base implied that there was no real way to pay off state and national obligations from the war years with the exception of by asking for cash from the states, which rarely arrived.

In 1788, with the support of Congress, the Articles w

ECONOMIC INFO

NOW I is the time to retool the 4 P's of advertising throughout today's B2b reality. As a skeleton for tweaking the promoting blend, the P's—item, place, cost, and advancement have served purchaser advertisers well for a century. However in the B2b world, they yield thin, item centered methodologies that are progressively conflicting with the basic to convey results.

In a five-year study including more than 500 chiefs and clients in numerous nations and over an extensive variety of B2b commercial ventures, we found that the 4 P's model undercuts B2b advertisers in three paramount ways: It heads their promoting and deals groups to stretch item engineering and quality despite the fact that these are no more differentiators yet are just the expense of section. It underemphasizes the need to manufacture a hearty case for the prevalent estimation of their answers. Furthermore it diverts them from leveraging their playing point as a trusted wellspring of diagnostics, counsel, and critical thinking.

It's not that the 4 P's are immaterial, simply that they have to be reinterpreted to serve B2b advertisers. As the sidebar beneath demonstrates, our model movements the attention from items to results, spot to get to, cost to esteem, and advancement to instruction SAVE, for short.

SAVE

Motorola Solutions, a pioneer of the new skeleton, utilized SAVE to guide the rebuilding of its advertising association and its go-to-market methods in the legislature and endeavor areas. Along the way the firm distinguished three necessities for effectively making the movement from 4 P's reasoning to SAVE.

To start with, administration must empower a results brain set all through the association. Numerous B2b organizations, especially those with a designing or an innovation center, think that it hard to move past deduction regarding "innovatively prevalent" items and administrations and take a client driven point of view.

Second, administration needs to guarantee that the outline of the showcasing association reflects and fortifies the client driven centering. At Motorola Solutions, this prompted the emotional redesign of the promoting capacity into correlative strengths, permitting concentrate on every component of the SAVE skeleton and arrangement with the client's buy venture.

Furthermore third, administration must make coordinated effort between the promoting and deals associations and with the improvement and conveyance groups. Motorola Solutions obliged that authority groups focus on results and direction their methodologies to particular client needs. This guaranteed that useful limits did not focus the company's answers.

B2b advertisers who keep on embraing the 4 P's model and psyche set danger getting bolted into a monotonous and progressively ineffective mechanical weapons contest. The SAVE structure is the centerpiece of another result offering system and B2b firms overlook it at their risk.

1

Richard Ettenson is a teacher at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Eduardo Conrado is a senior VP and the boss promoting officer at Motorola Solutions. Jonathan Knowles is the CEO of Type 2 Consultin

NOTES EDUC

Thursday, 25 September 2014 | 0 comments

NOTES EDUC

The consolidated financial results for the quarter/year ended 31st March, 2014 have been
arrived at on the basis of the same accounting policies as those followed in the preceding
financial year ended on 31st March, 2013 except in respect of:
a. provision for Non-Performing Advances(N Pas) classified as Sub-standard (Secured) as
given in note 4 below; and
b. provision for net depreciation in investments portfolio of the Bank as per Note 11 below.
2. The above consolidated financial results have been reviewed by the Audit Committee of
Board at their meeting held on 14th May 2014 and approved by the Board of Directors at
their meeting held on 15th May,2014.The same have been subjected to Audit by the Statutory
Central Auditors of the Bank, in line with the guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India
and as per the requirement of listing agreement with stock exchanges.
3. The financial results for the period ended 31st March, 2014 have been arrived at after
considering extant guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Prudential norms for
Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning and providing for other usual
and necessary provisions including employees benefits.
4. During the quarter, the parent Bank has changed its accounting policy of provisioning in
respect of NP As classified as Sub-Standard (Secured) from 20%(accelerated provision) to
15%(minimum provision) which has resulted into write back of provision for N Pas of
`248.71 Crores provided till 31st March 2013 and write back of provision of `56.06 Crores
provided during the 9 months’ period ended 31st December, 2013. Had the earlier
accounting policy been followed, the provision for NP As for the quarter/year would have
been higher by `325.38 Crores with consequential decrease in Net profit for the year/quarter
(net of tax) by ` 214.78 Crores.
5. Pursuant to Reserve Bank of India circular No. BOD No. BP.95/21.04.048/2013-14 dated
7th February 2014, the parent Bank has mutilated ` 179.49 Crores of floating provision, being
33% of floating provision of ` 543.94 Crores held on 31st March 2013 towards specific
provisions for NP As.
6. The Provision Coverage Ratio of the parent Bank as at 31st March, 2014 is 58.68%. (60.92% as
at 31st March 2013)
7. During the year, the parent Bank has written back Provision for taxation pertaining to

AP Biology

AP Biology

Develop a conceptual framework of Biology ac science....
concepts and discoveries rather than simply memorizing terms and technical details and routinely repeating information on exams. Students should be able to appreciate science as a coherent body of information and seek to apply it both inside and outside of the classroom.
Gain an appreciation of the scientific process, its history, and its present day applications. Students should also be able to understand the importance of the scientific process while experimenting and be able to explain how they’ve used the scientific process in their own experiments both in writing and through the written word.
Develop a deeper understanding of different biological process, particularly as they apply to living beings and life cycles.
Use study notes and other study techniques in conjunction with various AP Biology textbooks.
The College Board also recently released a requirement for the AP Biology exam, underlining what portion of the test should be dedicated to what field of study. Accordingly, the following goals for the test were released:

25% of the test should be dedicated to Molecules and Cells.
25% of the test should be dedicated to Heredity and Evolution.
50% of the test should be dedicated to Organisms and Populations.
Students studying for both the AP Biology exam as well as the SAT should keep these parameters in mind. These basic goals may determine how much time is spent covering these different areas of study over the course of the school year as well as how much time is allotted to complete each section of the AP Biology test.

Students interested in taking AP Biology or any other Advanced Placement course should keep in mind that taking college level courses in high school requires a commitment of time and energy. Students that commit themselves to their classes and treat them as college level courses will see a definite pay off in their grades as well as their confidence.

Students wishing to get into prestigious, well-respected colleges or universities should definitely consider taking Advanced Placement courses. These courses look excellent on high school transcripts and can give students an invaluable look at college courses before they even enroll in them. Students also have the opportunity to earn college credit before graduating, which can save valuable time and money once college begins. The more students work to prepare themselves for the high-pressure college atmosphere before beginning their college education, the more enjoyable and successful their college career will be in the end. So, for student wishing to get a jump start on their college education and their careers after college, the AP course program is the perfect choice!

Here you will find AP Biology outlines and slides. We are working to add more AP Biology resources such as vocabulary terms, unit notes, topic notes, study questions, practice quizzes and glossary terms.

Biology

you can help prepare students who wish to continue their scientific education after high school, as well as students who wish to prepare for the SAT exam. The level of aptitude in this subject will assist students wishing to excel on the SAT and in college courses.
According to the College Board’s website, AP Biology courses are designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory course, usually taken during a biology major’s first year of college. Students who choose to take AP Biology may be allowed to skip over introductory biology courses and enroll in courses in which biology is a prerequisite. Because universities grant college credit for this course, they require that the textbooks, labs, and coursework used by AP courses be equivalent to those used in actual college courses.

Petrosino’s Former Doctoral Students Win Top Education Fellowship

wo of science education specialist Anthony Petrosino’s recent doctoral students – Vanessa Svihla and Candace Walkington – have been awarded National Academy of Education Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowships. The NAEd Spencer Fellowship is one of the highest honors given to graduates who recently obtained a Ph.D. in education, and it’s designed to promote scholarship that improves the field of education.

Walkington is an assistant professor of math education in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on how abstract math concepts can best be understood when they’re grounded in students’ interests, experiences, and everyday reasoning practices. At SMU she teaches preservice and inservice STEM courses and is chair of the math, science and technology programs.

Svihla is an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico and director of the Interaction and Disciplinary Design in Educational Activity Lab. Her area of study is how learning occurs in authentic, real-world conditions. This includes a two-strand research program that includes: 1) authentic assessment, aided by interactive technology, and 2) design learning, in which she studies engineers designing devices, scientists designing investigations, teachers designing learning experiences and students designing to learn.

Both Fellows are continuing to pursue research that was launched under Petrosino’s mentorship in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

Board of Regents Honors College of Education Faculty for Teaching Excellence

College of Education professors Kevin Cokley and Jo Worthy were among 27 UT Austin faculty to receive the 2014 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, The University of Texas System’s highest teaching honor.

The Regents’ recognition program is one of the nation’s largest monetary awards for teaching in higher education, honoring the highest quality instruction and spotlighting innovation in undergraduate instruction.

A total of $2.4 million will be awarded to educators from the UT System’s 15 academic and health institutions during a ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom in the Texas Union at UT Austin.

“Our excellence in teaching faculty is a critical part of the System’s vision of an institution of the first class,” said UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D. “These awards are a reflection of the Regents placing the highest priority on undergraduate, graduate and professional teaching excellence System-wide.”

Faculty members undergo a series of rigorous evaluations by students, peer faculty members, and external reviewers. The review panels consider a range of activities and criteria in their evaluations including outstanding teaching, mentoring, personal commitment to students and motivating students in the classroom.

“UT Austin places a very high value on classroom teaching,” said UT Austin President Bill Powers. “I am pleased that the UT System is recognizing these 27 individual faculty members for their performance as teachers and their commitment to their students.”

Dr. Jo Worthy

JO WORTHY

Worthy is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction’s language and literacy and a department graduate adviser. She teaches classes in literacy development and pedagogy and conducts research on children’s reading interests and preferences, alternatives to grouping students according to ability, and bilingual education. In 2006, Worthy won the Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award for Excellence in Teacher Education

Dr. Kevin Cokley

KEVIN COKLEY

Cokley is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology as well as director of UT Austin’s Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis. He researches African American psychology, with a focus on racial and ethnic identity development and how factors such as academic self-concept contribute to academic achievement. Cokley is a Fellow and Chair in UT Austin’s African and African American Diaspora Studies program. He’s also been honored with the Louise Spence Griffeth Fellowship for Excellence, Elizabeth Glenadine Gibb Teaching Fellowship in Education, and Charles and Shirley Thomas Award for mentoring, education, and training of ethnic minority students.

Boosting Emotional Intelligence With a Mobile Application

College of Education faculty Ricardo Ainslie and Chris Brownson have received a Longhorn Innovation Fund for Technology (LIFT) award to develop a mobile application that will boost students' emotional intelligence.

Ainslie is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Brownson is a clinical associate professor in educational psychology as well as director of UT Austin’s Counseling and Mental Health Center. The two will be working on the project, which is called Thrive@UT, with a team that includes Counseling and Mental Health Center staff Elana Bizer and Katy Redd.

"Emotional intelligence refers to how accurately someone reads their own emotions and the emotions of others, then uses that information to guide what they do and how they think and feel," said Ainslie. "With students, higher emotional intelligence usually means more success in school. If our mobile app can help students better handle the transition from a structured high school setting and the familiarity of living at home to the challenges of college life, they’ll be more likely to stay in college and graduate in around four years."

According to Ainslie, the mobile application will offer interactive exercises, videos, and assignments that promote emotional growth and prompt students to practice beneficial behaviors. The application will also send users alerts, reminding them of key learning points and encouraging them to apply the concepts in their daily activities.

Based on feedback from a preliminary student focus group, the team is going to start by targeting self-awareness and resilience, two factors of emotional intelligence that have the greatest impact on student academic success and that are well-suited to being taught on a mobile application.

“This application is unique because students won’t just be tuning in and using it one or two brief times,” said Ainslie. “The application will continue to engage them throughout the day, every day. This tool is also different in that most existing interventions address a specific mental health issue like depression, anxiety, or insomnia, for example – ours will target broad factors that underlie emotional wellness and life success in general and that are relevant to all students.”

Once the application has been completed and launched, it will be maintained and updated by the Counseling and Mental Health Center.

“This project puts UT Austin on the leading edge when it comes to combining technology and mental health interventions,” said Ainslie. “Our students will have tools that aren’t, to our knowledge, available at any other college or university.”

Two Faculty Honored With College’s Top Teaching Award

The highest teaching honor bestowed by UT Austin’s College of Education has been awarded to Jo Worthy, a professor of language and literacy, and Tasha Beretvas, associate dean for research and graduate studies.
The Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award is given annually, and winners are selected based on feedback from College of Education students and faculty.
Worthy, who has been with the college since 1994, studies children and youth’s reading interests and preferences, alternatives to ability grouping in classrooms, and bilingual education. In addition to her research and teaching responsibilities, Worthy also has been a cohort coordinator for the undergraduate teacher education program and currently is a graduate advisor for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her past honors for teaching excellence include a Texas Excellence Teaching Award, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award for Excellence in Teacher Education, and a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.
Beretvas is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology as well as associate dean, and she has been chair of the department’s Quantitative Methods Program for the past five years. Beretvas also is a faculty associate with UT Austin’s Population Research Center and the Division of Statistics and Scientific Computation, and is on the board for the college’s Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk.
As a methodologist, her main areas of interest in research and teaching are evaluation and innovative application of statistical models. Nationally and at the university level, Beretvas has participated in programs, such as the AERA’s Faculty Institute for the Teaching of Statistics, that give her an opportunity to teach fellow scholars about statistics. In her role as associate dean, she has initiated several projects that support faculty research as well as graduate student research and experiences.
Beretvas was among the first group of UT System faculty to be honored with a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.
"You can't overestimate the benefit to our college of having Dr. Beretvas and Dr. Worthy here, serving as mentors and examples of excellence in teaching, research, and leadership,” said Manuel J. Justiz, dean of the College of Education. “They are the teachers that we all aspire to be."

Two Faculty Honored With College’s Top Teaching Award

The highest teaching honor bestowed by UT Austin’s College of Education has been awarded to Jo Worthy, a professor of language and literacy, and Tasha Beretvas, associate dean for research and graduate studies.

The Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award is given annually, and winners are selected based on feedback from College of Education students and faculty.

Worthy, who has been with the college since 1994, studies children and youth’s reading interests and preferences, alternatives to ability grouping in classrooms, and bilingual education. In addition to her research and teaching responsibilities, Worthy also has been a cohort coordinator for the undergraduate teacher education program and currently is a graduate advisor for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her past honors for teaching excellence include a Texas Excellence Teaching Award, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award for Excellence in Teacher Education, and a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.

Beretvas is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology as well as associate dean, and she has been chair of the department’s Quantitative Methods Program for the past five years. Beretvas also is a faculty associate with UT Austin’s Population Research Center and the Division of Statistics and Scientific Computation, and is on the board for the college’s Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk.

As a methodologist, her main areas of interest in research and teaching are evaluation and innovative application of statistical models. Nationally and at the university level, Beretvas has participated in programs, such as the AERA’s Faculty Institute for the Teaching of Statistics, that give her an opportunity to teach fellow scholars about statistics. In her role as associate dean, she has initiated several projects that support faculty research as well as graduate student research and experiences.

Beretvas was among the first group of UT System faculty to be honored with a Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.

"You can't overestimate the benefit to our college of having Dr. Beretvas and Dr. Worthy here, serving as mentors and examples of excellence in teaching, research, and leadership,” said Manuel J. Justiz, dean of the College of Education. “They are the teachers that we all aspire to be."

EL Study Guide

EDUCATION

Ask your students how they typically study for tests. How closely do their habits follow the pattern Willingham describes on p. 12 of his article (under the subheading "What Students Typically Do")? What suggestions might you make for improvement of their study habits?
Willingham says that most of his students tell him they were not taught study skills in school. Do you teach study skills in your classes? If so, what skills do you teach? If not, how might you incorporate study skills in your instruction?
Make a list of the study habits that Willingham and Roediger endorse in their articles. How might you support your students in using these strategies? For example, consider having students create flash cards for self-quizzing.
Reading Instruction That Doesn't Stick
In "Reading Moves: What Not To Do," Richard L. Allington discusses the problems with two common practices in elementary reading classrooms: having students read aloud and asking students low-level questions about their reading.
How often do you use these or similar practices in the classroom? Based on Allington's suggestions, how might you improve your use of these practices?
Questions about reading are common in all kinds of classrooms, not just reading classrooms. What kinds of questions do you ask students about their reading? Select an upcoming reading assignment and generate a list of questions you might ask students about it. Which questions lead to the kind of literate conversations Allington says are typical among adults? How might you improve your questions to promote such conversations?
Even though research has shown that oral reading and low-level questioning are not effective, these practices continue to be common. Why do you think teachers stick with practices that don't work? What other common instructional moves don't stand up to research?
Hitting the Learning Target
In "Learning Targets on Parade," Susan M. Brookhart and Connie M. Moss explain how learning targets for daily lessons build on one another, making the learning more likely to stick. This is especially true when students know what the targets are each day.
Why is it important for students to understand what they're supposed to be learning? How do you make sure students know what their target is?
It's common practice for teachers to write daily objectives or targets on the board. How can teachers make this practice meaningful instead of a mere act of compliance? (See also the section onObjective-Driven Lessons in "The Quest for Mastery" by Joseph F. Johnson Jr., Cynthia L. Uline, and Lynne G. Perez.)
For teachers: Look at an upcoming instructional unit and make a list of daily learning targets for each lesson. Note the five characteristics that Brookhart and Moss describe in their articles. Do the targets show a progression of learning from day-to-day? Do they describe learning, and not just activities? How does the creation of learning targets make you think differently about your instruction?
For administrators: As you visit classrooms in your school, take note of the objectives or targets teachers have listed on their boards. How closely to they seem to relate to the learning you're seeing in the classroom? How well do they match up with Brookhart and Moss's guidelines? How might you support your teachers in making them more useful?
They've Got to Move It, Move It!
Two articles in this issue address the value of movement for promoting learning. Wendy L. Ostroff looks at the science that connects physical activity and attentiveness in "Don't Just Sit There … Pay Attention!". And in "Move it or Lose It!," Linnea Lyding, Debby Zambo, and Cory Cooper Hansen suggest ways teachers can incorporate movement into vocabulary instruction.
How much movement happens in your classroom or school each day? How can you sneak in a little more movement for your students?
Select a few vocabulary words your students need to know and try creating a movement to help them remember some of those words. If it's feasible, get your students involved in creating some of these movements.

Canadian program aims to get more girls coding

In the Smithson household, every day is Girls Learning Code day.

Take Abi Smithson, for example. At 11-years-old, the Toronto pre-teen already has a solid grasp of basic coding. While other girls her age are surfing the net, Abi can build her own website.

“It’s fun,” she told Yahoo Canada Finance.

Officially, those eager to participate in National Girls Learning Code Day will have to wait until Nov. 8. That’s when girls, ages eight to 13, are invited to take part in a free, six-hour introductory coding class being held simultaneously in 15 cities across Canada. More than 700 girls are expected to enroll in the program, which was launched by MasterCard Canada.

It will be taught by Ladies Learning Code, a non-profit organization that aims to demystify computer programming, and increase women’s involvement and engagement in the tech sector.

The University of Waterloo, another partner, will also participate by hosting a Python-language coding workshop aimed at students who are in disciplines outside of the science, technology, engineering and math, in an effort to introduce a variety of students to coding in a supportive environment.

Education.com Launches First-of-Its-Kind Online Learning Program For Kids

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --Education.com, the nation's leading destination for parents and teachers seeking supplemental learning materials, today announced the launch of Brainzy, a new kind of online learning program designed to build reading and math skills in children ages 3–7. Developed using rich data gathered from the 20 million worksheets downloaded each year at Education.com, Brainzyfeatures hundreds of interactive games and activities that captivate young minds and delight parents weary of filling screen time with so-called education apps. Brainzy's comprehensive program follows a methodical, building-block path created to spark curiosity, giggles, and grins while building more than 30 critical reading and math skills.

“The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context.” — Adam Steiner

“The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context.” — Adam Steiner

Diane Ravitch, Howard Gardner, Sir Ken Robinson, Pak Tee Ng, Pasi Sahlberg, Tony Wagner, Yong Zhao, Krista Kiuru, Peter Vesterbacka, Randi Weingarten, Jonathan Jansen, Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves, among others, have been chosen for our first Global Search for Education Top 10 List.

We asked Adam Steiner, a technology integration specialist for the Holliston Public Schools in Holliston, Massachusetts and a doctoral researcher at Boston College, to make an assessment of the over 250 interviews we’ve published and give us his view of our top ten articles.

Adam is the co-author with Elizabeth Stringer Keefe of a forthcoming book on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and technology (scheduled release date of March 2015 from Rowman & Littlefield). He joins me to discuss the Top 10 in today’s edition of The Global Search for Education.

Adam, I like your first selection – my 2012 interview with Diane Ravitch. How have The Global Search for Education articles helped you as an educator?

The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context. Given the various threads of my personal and professional life, the interviews have helped to put it all in a broader context and give it a larger meaning.

As a teacher, your 2012 interview with Diane Ravitch, in particular, represents the need for teaching to remain a respected profession. I know that my first few years of teaching were such a challenge and would have been impossible if I felt the community did not respect my work. Diane Ravitch rightly argues that a well-respected teaching profession requires higher expectations for teachers and stricter requirements for entry into the profession.

THE GLOBAL SEARCH FOR EDUCATION

“No matter the platform, people will always need to know how to understand, analyze and reflect upon larger contexts and systems. That pro-active creation and larger understanding are the ways to reach the end goals of digital and web literacy.” – Leah Gilliam

The goal is to create meaningful and relevant learning experiences outside of the classroom where youth can learn by action. Mozilla Hive NYC Learning Network was launched in 2007 and has since spread globally to reach millions of learners around the world. Hives are comprised of organizations such as libraries, museums, after school programs, code clubs and non-profit start-ups. Together, they engage and enable young people to explore their passions, and to develop and diversify their key 21st century skills.

In a technology driven world, what should the goals be when you set out to teach for the new media? What are the challenges and what are some of the strategies that have proved successful? I invited Leah Gilliam, the Director of Mozilla’s Hive NYC Learning Network, to share her perspectives.

“Our work is driven by the research and design principles of connected learning and a specific desire to make how and what people learn relevant.” – Leah Gilliam

Leah, what do you believe is the biggest impact that technology has had on education in the last decade?

The advent of mobile and social networks has had a groundbreaking impact on how we teach, interact and learn with technology. I love that people are carrying powerful computers in their pockets and are able to explore, share and connect–on their own time at their own pace. My real concern is that mobile technology should also be a tool for people to create and construct meaningful content as well–that’s a harder proposition but one we’re working on with Mozilla’s Webmaker platform and tools like AppMaker, a free way to build personal mobile apps.

What are your goals when you set out to teach for the new media?

My goal is always to have people think critically and respond creatively to the world and the conditions around them. No matter the platform, people will always need to know how to understand, analyze and reflect upon larger contexts and systems. That pro-active creation and larger understanding are the ways to reach the end goals of digital and web literacy. Empowering others to create and control their digital lives through and with a technology’s building blocks is of utmost importance. It’s also crucial in our work with youth and educators to empower others to share what they know and teach it to others.

“One of the big challenges we face is helping people build their ideas and learn new things in a networked way.” – Leah Gilliam

What do you believe are the important building blocks for teaching youth how to use media in both a creative and a meaningful way?

Every user should know how to read and write with the technology around them. Not just how to use it or play it but also how to change it and make it work on a user’s own terms. At Mozilla and through Hive Learning Networks, we believe strongly that making can fuel learning. Our goal is to seed the conditions that foster the transformative moments of awareness that breed those larger “hacker” and web literacies. Our work is driven by the research and design principles of connected learning and a specific desire to make how and what people learn relevant. To that end, we design and support social, participatory and interest-driven opportunities that really stick with learners.

Mozilla’s Maker Party initiative is a great example. It is a global effort (happening right now) that brings people together to make, learn and explore in a social atmosphere. It has a specific focus on using digital media and the web as platforms for creativity. This summer alone, we’ve seen more than 455 people step up to help Mozilla teach the web by throwing more than 1220 events in over 260 cities around the world from July to September.

What are the challenges you face in training today’s educators? Are these challenges different from preparing today’s youth? Can you share one or two of the best strategies you have used to overcome the key issues?

Hive creates opportunities that enable learning through hands-on making and exploration with peers and mentors. One of the big challenges we face is helping people build their ideas and learn new things in a networked way. Computer and neural networks are often streamlined and highly efficient. In contrast, learning networks are made up of people sharing information and knowledge and then building upon what they’ve exchanged–they work very differently. Another challenge in this work is creating the opportunities for busy people to develop the ties and broker the relationships that support the exploration, problem identification and discovery that fuel invention. It takes time, space and reflection to engage in the cross-organizational and interdisciplinary partnerships that Hive Learning Networks foster. Although our work with youth takes different forms, the core principles and practices are the same: we strive for interactions that are creative, collaborative, participatory, relevant and openly networked.

We describe Hive NYC as a learning laboratory because of the work we do to create a space for people to explore, create and share together in new ways. One successful strategy we use in this laboratory approach is planning and play-testing new tools and practices that help community members sharpen their ability to identify problems and challenges.

How we work and learn as a team is inspired by open-source technology. It’s predicated on the idea that creating solutions that are interoperable and accessible to others makes them stronger and more robust. Across Mozilla/Hive, we use open collaborative documents and try to formulate questions and prompts that get people working and thinking together in a deeper way.

INFO FOR EDUCATION

INFO FOR EDUCATION

What should the role of federal government be in K- 12 education? How much more funding should be given to education reform and in what major areas should it be spent?

The federal government has certain roles that have been consistent since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965:

First, to equalize spending for the neediest districts, especially those that enroll children who are poor.

Second, to protect the civil rights of children.

Third, to provide accurate and timely information about the condition and progress of education, including support for the no-stakes National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Fourth, to fund the education of children with disabilities.

Fifth, to aid low-income students who enroll in college.

The basic mission of the U.S. Department of Education is to support equality of educational opportunity.

It is not the role of the Department of Education to foist its own unproven preferences — like evaluating teachers by student test scores or charter schools or merit pay — on states and districts.

“I would like to see higher standards for entry into schools of education. I would wish that every teacher has a four-year degree in a content area, and a fifth year of study of education.” — Diane Ravitch

What would be your position on improving the teaching profession, including recruitment, teacher training, compensation, and assignment to low-income schools?

I would like to see higher standards for entry into schools of education. I would wish that every teacher has a four-year degree in a content area, so they are knowledgeable in the subjects they will teach, and a fifth year of study of education, including cognitive science, adolescent psychology, assessment, cultural diversity, the sociology of the family and the community, and the history, politics, and economics of education. No one should be allowed to teach who does not have a year of study that includes practice teaching and research. I would also disallow education degrees earned online. Teachers should be paid more for taking on additional responsibilities; they should not have their pay or evaluation tied to test scores of students.

Teaching should be a prestigious career. Those who enter teaching should be well-prepared and expect to make a career in education.

“The US lags far behind the rest of the world in establishing high-quality early childhood education.” – Diane Ravitch

What would be your position on school choice, including charter schools and their expansion, private schools, vouchers, and investment in inadequately staffed and facilitated low-income schools?

I oppose school choice outside the public school system. I oppose private management of public schools. I oppose for-profit schools. I fear that in time we will see the re-emergence of a dual system of schools in our cities, with charters for the able and public schools serving the rejects from charter schools. I see district after district where charters drain funding and top students away from the public schools. It makes no sense. I oppose vouchers. I believe that it is a public duty to provide a good public school with adequate resources and a rich curriculum in every neighborhood. Every school should have the staff and resources it needs to provide a full curriculum, after-school activities and appropriate services for students.

What would be your strategy to address the domestic and international achievement gaps, including your position on early childhood education, standardized testing, on-line modular education, and teacher/principal accountability?

I think we should stress early childhood education. The US lags far behind the rest of the world in establishing high-quality early childhood education. I think we should minimize the use of standardized testing, use it only for diagnostic purposes, not for accountability, not for rewards or punishments or school closings. Standardized tests reflect gaps, they don’t close them. The online schools have very poor results and do nothing to improve achievement. The best way to improve achievement is to improve the standard of living of our poorest children while improving the curriculum at all schools and the professional supports for teachers. One important reform would be to make sure that every child has a regular medical check-up, that every school has access to a health clinic and/or a school nurse. In the schools that serve the neediest children, class sizes should be reduced to no more than 20.

“Every school should have a full and balanced curriculum, with a rich arts program, history, civics, geography, mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and literature.” — Diane Ravitch

What would be your position on curriculum reform, including the role of the arts, the treatment of ethics, and the adoption of blended online learning?

I believe that every school should have a full and balanced curriculum, with a rich arts program, history, civics, geography, mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and literature. Every school should have a library with a full range of resources, including computers and the Internet.

I would ban for-profit schooling.

What would be your position on how to make college affordable for more qualified low income students?

The federal government should increase subsidies for college for low-income and middle-income students. Education is a basic human right and it should not be denied because of inability to pay. Young people should not be buried in debt when they finish college. We can’t expect to increase college enrollment rates if young people cannot afford to go. I also think the government should be extremely vigilant in policing for-profit colleges, where the attrition rates are extremely high and young people drop out with heavy debt and no education.