Educational CyberPlayGround

NetHappenings Newsletter

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NHN: 5/24/05 NETHAPPENINGS NEWSLETTER #27

NHN ARCHIVE
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NHnewsletter.html>
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Dear Readers,

Net Happenings Newsletter, launched by the Educational CyberPlayGround, features both news and resources.
Karen Ellis* Founder of the Educational CyberPlayGround invites others to help sponsor NHN sent to members of the NetHappenings Mailing List.

NETHAPPENINGS NEWSLETTER
Written by Classroom Teacher Alan Haskvitz
1997 National Teacher's Hall of Fame
All USA Today First Team Teacher
Reader's Digest Hero in Education
Cherry International Award for Outstanding Teachers
1994 National Middle Level Teacher of the Year (NCSS)
[e]
[w] http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html

Edited by Karen Ellis Founder of ECP
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/AboutUs/


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IN THIS ISSUE
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IN THE NEWS

- School vouchers out in South Carolina....too much money.

- Seven myths of gifted education

- Committee of teachers and national testing experts recommended lowering the passing score in math.

- Students could earn high school diplomas without taking a single math or science class after their sophomore year.

- Republicans only on Texas finance committee

- Drexel University Boasts Countrys Youngest Ph.D. Candidate

- Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant

ECP INTERESTING UPDATES

- Texas law about to change so they don't have to buy textbooks. The Advantages of using DIGITAL Online Curriculum instead of books.

- How to Keep Your Child Safe on the internet, latest problem & latest solution.

- Buying Music Online for about $.12 a song. Labels, dot com's, and countries don't control the borders.

- For the first time hear the quintessential cowboy song,"Whoopie Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Dogies" and Paddy Works On The Railway" (ca. 1835) work song re-translated back into their linguistic roots in the Irish language.

- U.S. and Foreign Universities Use Internet2s Advanced Network and Real Time Video-Conferencing to Form an Online, Global Classroom

SITES YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW EXISTED

- Unusual wines

- Location of webcams around the world, and some in it.

- National Weather Service, Space Enviornment Center

- Citizen ICAM allows the public to query the Chicago Police Department's database of reported crime.

- Cycles: African Life Through Art

- Melton Arts: Learning About Judaism Through the Arts

FACTOIDS

- What percent of Americans think public school teachers should be licensed in the subject areas in which they teach?

- What percent feel teachers deserve increased salaries?


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IN THE NEWS
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School vouchers out in South Carolina....too much money.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/11562771.htm

Seven myths of gifted education
http://www.educationnews.org/an-interview-with-frances-r-spielhagen.htm

Committee of teachers and national testing experts has recommended lowering the passing score in math from 71 percent to 60 percent and lowering the passing score in reading from 72 percent to 59 percent. If the State Board of Education accepts the committee's recommendations, up to 70 percent of the class of 2006 would pass AIMS.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0512education12.html

Houston ISD students could earn high school diplomas without taking a single math or science class after their sophomore year under a proposal that is drawing criticism from some national education experts
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3178343

Texas Republicans refused to appoint any minorities or Democratic officials to the State committee looking into school finances and the budget. Oil company spokesman said taxes hurt their change to make a profit.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3181672

Drexel University Boasts Countrys Youngest Ph.D. Candidate
http://tinyurl.com/d7ue8
Alia Sabur, the countrys youngest Ph.D. candidate, may not be your typical 16 year old, but in many ways shes just the girl next door. Shes got interests and hobbies that would keep any teenager busyroller blading, origami, martial arts, running, and rock climbing. But when you talk to Alia, you discover her passion for two special pursuitsplaying the clarinet and studying nanotechnology. Excelling in one of these areas would be a lofty goal. Alia is going after both with equal gusto.

Creationism: God's gift to the ignorant
The distinguished Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin is widely quoted as saying that organisms appear to have been carefully and artfully designed. Again, this was a rhetorical preliminary to explaining how the powerful illusion of design actually comes about by natural selection. The isolated quotation strips out the implied emphasis on appear to, leaving exactly what a simple-mindedly pious audience in Kansas, for instance wants to hear. The deceitful misquoting of scientists to suit an anti-scientific agenda ranks among the many unchristian habits of fundamentalist authors.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,592-1619264,00.html


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ECP - INTERESTING UPDATES
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Texas law about to change so they don't have to buy textbooks. The Advantages of using DIGITAL Online Curriculum instead of books.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Culdesac/hypertxt.html
Twelve of the most popular science textbooks used at middle schools nationwide are riddled with errors, a new study has found. Read about the horror of science book errors.

How to Keep Your Child Safe on the internet
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/morestuff4.html
Admins, Parents & Teachers Learn THE Trouble Areas for Kids - Find out what your kids have put up online, their names, address, pictures, what they think. This needs to be supervised and you won't be able to keep up with what is going on here. Chat Rooms, Blogs, Instant Messaging, IRC, Newsgroups - they don't understand that they they have gone public and have lost their privacy.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/morestuff4.html

Buying Music Online - Labels, dot com's, and countries don't control the borders.
A concise explanation from Martin Tobias former Loudeye CEO explains the technophoic Music Labels (industry) refusal to get with digital music licensing and find out how you can buy tracks by the megabyte for about $.12 per song.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/musiclawdeals.html

For the first time Hear "Whoopie Ti Yi Yo, Git Along Little Doggies" and Paddy Works On The Railway" (ca. 1835) work song re-translated back into its linguistic root in the Irish language.
At the hour of rising I return to work upon the railway...
Sla/n agus beannacht,
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Linguistics/irish.html

U.S. and Foreign Universities Use Internet2s Advanced Network and Real Time Video-Conferencing to Form an Online, Global Classroom
Using Internet2s advanced high-performance network and Apple technology with Access Grid video software, a team of Drexel University students is sharing virtual classroom space with student teams at eight universities in four countries and five states. The teams are working together to create media files for Descent to the Underworld, a new Game-Film project created and produced by Druid Media. The bleeding-edge project models the next generation of collaboration, not only for education, but also for the corporate sector.
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Internet/INTERNETII/NEWS_ARTICLE_ON_INTERNET_1.html

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SITES YOU PROBABLY NEVER KNEW EXISTED
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Unusual wines
http://www.winelabels.org/wines.htm

Earth cams everywhere
A truly vast array of cameras some of which can be used in classes.
http://www.earthcam.com/

National Weather Service, Space Enviornment Center
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/

Citizen ICAM allows the public to query the Chicago Police Department's database of reported crime.
http://12.17.79.6/ and then see Chicago Crime http://www.chicagocrime.org/

Cycles: African Life Through Art
http://www.ima-art.org/cycles/

Melton Arts: Learning About Judaism Through the Arts:
http://www.MeltonArts.org


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FACTOIDS
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6% of Americans believe it is important that public school teachers be licensed in the subject areas in which they teach.

73% of the public finds "getting good teachers" a serious problem facing American public schools.
The public overwhelmingly supports increasing taxpayer funds to raise teacher salaries (80%), to provide more computers, newer books and other materials (73%), and to build new schools and repair old ones (71%).
82% of the public opposes lowering state requirements for teacher training to bring more people into the profession. And 67% of the public opposes permitting people with bachelor's degrees to become teachers without completing teacher education courses.

Thanks for reading,

Al
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Ringleaders/al.html


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