Posts from — December 2007

Fab@Home: Make your own 3D printer:
Fab@Home: Make your own 3D printer
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Fab! is where i see the future of technology.

The Cape Town Open Education Declaration:
Cape Town Open Education Declaration:
Unlocking the promise of open educational resources
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I think most people should support open education, if not in this form, then in some reasonable form that admits that knowledge cannot be owned, though it is frequently proprietized into a commodity, that commodity-form, i argue, is not knowledge anymore, it is an object, whereas knowledge only exists inside subjects, which is something objects tend not to do.

Wiki becomes textbook in Boston College classroom:
Wiki becomes textbook in Boston College classroom
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This is a great idea, I know that when i’ve had my students contribute to wikipedia they’ve learned a fair amount about wikipedia, usually after their additions were deleted, or changed.

2007 – number 10 – Education for All, halfway there | The UNESCO Courier | ISSN 1993-8616UNESCO.ORG:
Education for All, halfway there
Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?

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I’m a bit cynical. I hope we do make it but… it seems unlikely.

Digital Opportunity Index (DOI):
Digital Opportunity Index (DOI)

Policy Research Tool:
UNESCO is launching a new tool to support policy-making based on research results from international social and human sciences.

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this is a cool tool. this post is also post 5900 according to the numbering system….

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization | UNESCO.ORG:
This conference brought together decision-makers, academics, members of government, and leaders from various facets of civil society to discuss ways in which to better, and more directly, harness scientific and technological progress for the promotion of peace and sustainable development.
Download publication – PDF

Math Trek: Good Stories, Good Math, Science News Online, Nov. 10, 2007:
Good Stories, Good Math

Preschoolers who can tell good stories develop good mathematical skills by the first grade
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so to teach the next generation of mathematicians and scientists… the best thing we can do is tell them inspiring stories and fantasies.

:
A new cosmopolitanism is in the air
Globalisation is anonymous control

A new perspective for a different approach to action

Only capital is permitted to break the rules

We, the consumers, constitute the counter-power

Sacrifice autonomy, gain sovereignty

A state towards which the nation is indifferent

Convert walls into bridges!

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This is indicative of the move toward a cosmopolitan political economy.

Too many students attend college:
Too many students attend college
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I actually agree to some extent with this idea, but not the evidence presented here. I think people need time to explore and find something they are passionate about before they engage in college. Too many students enter college, I think, with an unpurposefulness, which while fine in a general sense, is not conducive to learning. This combined with the problem of credentialism that students are taught by their high school and parents (cause i don’t teach that), causes dynamics in the classroom where students want you to tell them ‘what will be on the test?’ amongst other things. In other words, they don’t seem to want to learn as much as they want to pass the test. Those are not the same thing.