Video: International Learning

Japanese kids learn English, math and science at breakneck speed, using lessons from India. CNN's Kyung Lah reports

View Here

As the World Learns: Education as a Vital Global Marketplace Represents the Future

Explore the many ways students are taught around the world.

by Owen Edwards

Much is made of the idea of the global marketplace, and few of us are unaffected by it. But the expansion of trade between the world's nations, for all its far-reaching effects, is a phenomenon involving commodities, products, and money. In other words, stuff, and the prices paid for it.

Another vitally important global marketplace exists, however, in which ideas rather than things are what count: the great international bazaar of education, a flourishing and bustling agora occupied by thousands of notions, traditions, theories, and practices devoted to the universal need to teach successive generations of the human race. Education is not oil, or electricity, or soy beans, or gold, but it represents something more important than any of those: the future.

Read Here

Racine Sophomores Discover Asteroid

RACINE, Wis. -- Three Racine sophomore students were notified on Monday that a celestial body they discovered during a science project had been verified as an asteroid.

The students at Racine's Prairie School will be able to name the asteroid, temporarily identified as "2008 AZ28," in about four years, according to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., the international authority on known objects in the solar system.

Read Here

From MySpace to My Job: Online Interaction Prepares Students for Employment

By Chris O’Neal

Last year, I blogged a bit about social networking. I want to revisit the issue, since I continue to receive emails with questions about where to find safe alternatives to the mainstream sites, or teacher-oriented social networks, as well as invitations to come discuss the issue with school boards, and so on. I'll respond to some of that below.

Read Here

Google for Educators: The Best Features for Busy Teachers

These user-friendly tools will keep you and your class inspired, inventive, and organized.

by Sara Ring

Among all the links and downloads out there, it can be hard for teachers to know which ones work best. Google has made it easier by creating Google for Educators, which compiles some of the search engine's most useful features in one place. Whether you're teaching Spanish or social studies, mathematics or music, there's a free Google feature that will make your lessons more dynamic and your projects more organized. The lively, informative Web site offers step-by-step visual tours and even videos to help you get set up. Below are some of the most useful features the site has to offer:

Read Here

Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool

An interesting article from the T.H.E. Journal by Ruth Reynard, Ph.D. (Director of Faculty for Career Education, Corp.)

Topics:

• Academic Exchange
• Instructional Use of Chat: Preparation and Orientation
• Learning Outcomes
• Tips for Facilitating a Chat Discussion

Many classroom instructors and online instructors use chat software to provide virtual office hours and for easy question and answer sessions. More, however, can be achieved in the instructional process using the tool to create real-time collaboration and discussion that leads to in-depth academic processing of course material....

Read full article here

Organizing Your Email: Use Filters to Increase Your Productivity Online

Learn how to use tools that automate and expedite the process of sorting your email.

By Chris O’Neal

As we continue our quest to make this a more digitally organized school year, let’s not forget to organize our email.

Read Here

Testing with Tech: The Role of Technology in Supporting and Enhancing Assessment

Barbara Means | Grant Wiggins | Bruce Alberts

• Barbara Means -Vice President, Policy Division, SRI International

• Grant Wiggins -President, Grant Wiggins & Associates

• Bruce Alberts -President, National Academy of Sciences

Read Interviews here

(Video) Assessment Overview: Beyond Standardized Testing

Performance assessments offer a richer, more holistic approach to evaluating what students know and can do.

See it here

Pick and Click: Interactive Assessment Goes to School

Classroom response systems provide instant feedback.

by Jeff Miller

Read here

Simulation Nation: The Promise of Virtual Learning Activities

Inventive computer sims can turn dull lessons into hyperreal experiences -- if we can get educators to use them.

by Marc Prensky

Read here