Amazing interview with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on Bullseye with Jesse Thorn. As well as framing NASA as the muse for our dreams and ambitions, Tyson talks about being in school and having teachers steer him away from physics toward athletics. I’m glad he persisted with physics despite his social network’s “implicit resistance” to his interests […]
Faith and Freedom
“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Nelson Mandela Earlier this month I was looking for updates on Baptist-affiliated Shorter University, which lost 43% of its faculty last year after requiring staff to sign so-called “faith” pledges. […]
Education Round-Up: K-12
I’ve shared several news links about K-12 education in the last couple of weeks. Here are the top 5: Graduation Rates: High School Graduation Rate Set to Reach 90% by 2020 (Powell Report) District Financing: School Finance Ruling Portends Epic Education Battle (Austin New Statesman | See also Texas Judge Rules Against State’s School Finance System (Reuters) College Readiness: A […]
Seth Godin: Noticing and Creating
On Being hosts internet entrepreneur Seth Godin: On the Art of Noticing and Then Creating Choose between Krista Tippett’s edited and unedited audio conversation with Seth about the responsibilities of creation—”being artists rather than cogs”; the risks inherent to contemporary change; and how conventional education doesn’t yet prepare students for the creative and less bounded […]
Science Education on the Web
What are your favorite science and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) blogs or video channels for K-12 and/or adults? I’m compiling a list of the top 20 instructional, experimental, and exploratory informal educators on the internet. Recommendations? Please link me in the comments.
Technology, Authority, & Teaching
From the cobwebbed archives of the web: Battle Beyond the Millenium: the Internet Versus the Teacher Culture: Are You Ready to Rumble? Texas Tech’s Fred Kemp explains why teachers need to lean into technology to support student-centered learning, not pull back fearing a loss of teacher authority. Kemp offered this talk to the Computers and […]