Nasa Historical Photograph

I have lately been  trying to write shorter blogs on a more frequent basis.  Thanks for the positive comments and emails. Your thoughts and ideas are really an inspiration. I am practicing my tweeting skills by tweeting my blog titles  and links under mjgormans. Go ahead and follow if you wish. It has already given me some great ideas for an up coming tweet blog (Do they go together?). I may have a title! This posting is a follow up of a blog I posted at the start of the 2009 school year. I have recently found some extra information on the posting “Welcome To The Future“.  Please take some time, I know if you spend a few moments with the material it will provide you with a message to share with educators and also students. As always, please visit me at the 21centuryedtech Wiki!  for even more information - Mike

I hope I was able to get you wondering about the connection between all the players in the title and 21st Century Learning.  I believe as you read you will see the connection and understand its importance. This posting has been several months in the making and contains some outstanding material for professional development. Please take a moment to  explore and reflect.

 About  three months ago I posted a country music video by singer song writer Brad Paisley. This song and video reminded me that our dreams as educators must be to protect and nuture the dreams of our students.  If you never read the posting or viewed the video I am speaking of, please take a moment from your internet browsing and enjoy. As you view the video Welcome To The Future  keep in mind the important and neccessary mission of 21st century skills and education. I have had the pleasure of sharing this with teachers and students and have always seen people walk away with excitement and  enthusiasm.

Now, the reason for my follow up. I knew the video was powerful but have since found out it made a bigger impact then what I knew at the time of my original posting. I had often wondered what singer songwriter Brad Paisely had thought as he wrote the song. He answered some of my questions in an interview held at the White House. I have included both the blog  posting and video of this White House interview and performance. It was moving to see see the performance in the formal setting  of the White House as President Obama listened, and the camera panned famous pictures such as George Washington and lyrics resonated famous people including Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.  This amazing performance was part of the White House Performance Series ,a program developed to promote arts education. As part of this initative, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been in dialogue with Support Music, an organization dedicated to the promotion of music and fine arts in the nation’s schools. Take a moment to read a recent letter, listen to a conference call (mp3), or read the transcript of Secretary Duncan’s support for the Fine Arts.

This leads me to Daniel Pink , author of A Whole New Mind : Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future. At a recent keynote, Pink eluded to the idea that STEM education must include the fine arts. Take a look at this amazing video as students use visual Thinking Strategies. These students are part of the program,  Visual Thinking Strategies, a non-profit organization that “uses art to foster kids’ capacities to observe, think, listen and communicate.”  With this in mind, listen to the  TASA 2009 Podcast that includes Pink’s thoughts on teaching to the Right Brain in education. While speaking of adding Arts to STEM, why not call it STEAM ,as proposed by the Ohio Alliance For Arts Education . Enjoy this article  filled with great reflections and resources.

I conclude this posting with one last reflection of another past post. The post referred to another musician, Tom Chapin, with a message that cannot be ignored. Chapin is also a proponent of fine arts education and promotes its neccessary place in today’s schools in order to promote 21 st century learning. I know you will want to share his music video Not on the Test with other educators.

I hope you can see that there really is a connection between the White House, STEM, Secretary Duncan, country music, fine arts, Brad Paisley, Daniel Pink, and steam. It really is a convergent of the right and left brain. It is a partnership that will develop creativity, ingenuity, problem solving, and a new way to look at the world. These are 21st century skills, the very skills our students will need to seek their dreams and continue our dreams. It truely is an amazing “Welcome To The Future”!

I invite you to email, comment, and as always visit the 21centuryedtech Wiki. I also invite you to download  my Welcome_to_the_Future  Document. I put together for teachers who may wish to have their students study the video Welcome To The Future. It contains standards that cover writing, film making, and social studies. I look forward to hearing from you . As always thank you joining me as I reflect  upon and dream about a 21st century educational sysytem that will make a difference for the future of our students!

- Mike (mgorman@sacs.k12.in.us)

Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Funding Type: Discretionary, Cooperative Agreement
Total Available: $16 Million
Award Ceiling: $1.5 Million
Deadline: 01.14.10
Eligibility: Unrestricted

Description:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to conduct research about the Arctic. Arctic research includes field and modeling studies and data analysis in and about the arctic region. The goal of the NSF Division of Arctic Sciences is to gain a better understanding of the Arctic’s physical, biological, geological, chemical, social and cultural processes, and the interactions of ocean, land, atmosphere, biological, and human systems in the Arctic. The Division of Arctic Sciences and other NSF programs support projects that contribute to the development of the next generation of researchers and scientific literacy for all ages through education, outreach, and broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Program representatives from OPP and other non-OPP NSF programs that support arctic research coordinate across NSF, including joint review and funding of arctic proposals and mutual support of special projects with high logistical costs.

Don’t know what the name of this plant is but it looked interesting!

....

by Jill Leigh Bullock

Managing Publisher, Leigh Publishing, a private-label publisher and publicist offering traditional and emerging media products and services.

KELLY CURRIN MORRIS REMAINS DISCOVERED:

TAR RIVER FOX PEN

Kelly Currin Morris

Monday.

November 16.

2009.

439 long, grueling, relentless days after the night of September 3, 2008.

A missing mother of two children, sister to a brother, daughter, and loving friend, Kelly Currin Morris, was found ravaged in Tar River Fox Pen, a 900-acre private fox hunting preserve owned by James Ray of Creedmoor.

Although Ray is not a person of interest in the ongoing investigation, his fox pen, the largest in North Carolina, is the center of much controversy by local and state animal activists.

Monday, November 16, 2009, authorities received a tip leading to the search for Kelly’s skeletal remains in the Tar River Fox Pen, located near Sam Moss Hayes Road in Creedmoor.

Local residents allege that wild game are frequently thrown into the pen and can be devoured within 15 to 20 minutes.

Kelly Currin Morris

Tuesday, November 16, dental records  positively identified Kelly’s body.  Only a skull and few other bones remained.

Kelly Currin Morris was last seen on September 3, 2008, around 9 pm, when her stepmother, Juanita Currin hugged her goodbye.

Kelly’s spouse, William ‘Scott’ Morris, of 113 W. Church Street, Creedmoor, had long been a “person-of-interest” in the ongoing 14 month investigation of Kelly’s disappearance and arson of the couple’s home the following morning.

Hours after the home was engulfed in flames, Kelly’s car was found locked about one mile from the couple’s home at 3220 Tump Wilkins Road in Stem, with her keys, purse, and mobile phone inside.

On October 27, 2008 at 6:45 pm, the following anonymous comment was posted to The Criminal Daily Report, article The Ongoing Search for Missing NC Mother, Kelly Currin Morris, “Has anyone considered the Tar River Fox Pen? Many people have keys to this facility as well as one that gets left under the rock by the main gate! 900 acres, and several hundred coyotes. This needs to be a place of interest.”

Author of The Criminal Daily Report, David Lohr, states that he, “has been writing about crime and criminals for over 15 years. Readers and critics alike regard him as one of the most prominent crime writers of the 21st century.”  Lohr indicates that the tip was passed to local Granville County authorities and Texas Equusearch, the search team hired by the Currin Family.

Approximately 20-30 official hunts have occurred at the Tar River Fox Pen since the initial disappearance of Kelly Currin Morris as indicated by the 2009 Tar River Fox Pen Hunt schedule posted by Internet hunting site Speeddogs.net.  It is commonplace for hundreds of hunters to participate in any given single hunt or weekend hunt event at the Tar River Fox Pen.

Immediately following identification of Kelly’s remains found in the Tar River Fox Pen, 386 days after the initial tip, Scott Morris was charged on Tuesday evening, November 17, 2009, with first degree murder and fraudulently burning a dwelling.  He is being detained without bond in the Granville County Detention Center.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2. Download official charges.

The couple reportedly had marital problems and had discussed divorce.  In the months leading up to Kelly’s disappearance, her father, Pat, reported that Kelly had moved back into his home and was considering divorce.

Kelly & Scott Morris

Friends reported to the Granville County Sheriff’s department that Scott Morris allegedly had a bad temper, and that, in the past, had punched holes in walls and thrown a computer through a window in the Morris’s home.

Wanda Hollis, Kelly’s mother, had reported ongoing trouble in the couple’s marriage for the past year.

A Kelly Currin Morris MySpace website, in which Wanda, speaks of Kelly, alleges that after Kelly’s disappearance, Scott is dating and has a girlfriend; although, it should be noted the moderator of the MySpace page is unknown.

My Space Page

SOURCE:  www.myspace.com/kellycurrinmorris

After learning of Kelly’s whereabouts in the Tar River Fox Pen, Kelly’s close friend, Lisa Thompson stated, “He [Scott] has no heart. He should not have anything to do with society or anybody else”.

Animal Cruelty Linked to Domestic Violence

Media attention surrounding Kelly Currin Morris’s disappearance 14 months ago and the whereabouts of her remains, resurfaces the controversial issue of Fox Penning in North Carolina.

According to North Carolina Animal Resource & Education Services (NCARES), “Animal abuse is not just the result of a minor personality flaw in the abuser but rather a symptom of a deep mental disturbance which stems from a lack of compassion or empathy for the victim.

This mentality, in which the victim is seen as an object with no feeling or value, has been termed “objectification”, and is usually learned during childhood by repeatedly observing violence toward the helpless. The FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appear in its computer records of serial rapists and murderers.”

“Murderers … very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids,” according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

A study conducted by Northeastern University and the Massachusetts SPCA found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans.

Pet-Abuse.com reports 1,201 animal abuse cases where a person of interest had a history of interpersonal violence or the abuse occurred within the context of a domestic dispute or argument.

What is the Tar River Fox Pen?  What is Penning?

SOURCE:  www.hsus.org      Fox Penning

Penning is a highly controversial hunting event involving trapping wild game, such as foxes or coyotes. The game are subsequently, released into an encaged area, such as the 900-acre Tar River Fox Pen in Creedmoor, where hunt dogs are trained to track and kill trapped prey.

Learn about  daily operations of fox penning from Mamie Henderson’s hands-on experience.

The Internet petition, Shut Down Cruel Fox Pen Hunts, lobbies that “in the wild, dogs seldom catch a fox because the fox knows where the escape cover is. He’ll be underground before the dogs get close. It’s not quite that way in these [penned] hunts. A fresh fox or coyote put into a pen doesn’t know where the escape cover is. The usual result is that the animal gets caught and killed. That is the reason for the constant need for fresh animals.”

Fox Penning Video produced by EndtheHunt.org

Source:  wildlifepenning.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGWb8VD0B64

The North Carolina state director of The Humane Society United States, Amanda Arrington, says “This [fox penning] is basically staged animal combat.  The competition is, of itself, to judge these dogs, complete with trophies, prizes and how well the (dogs) can corner these animals and, often times, tear them apart. We want to stop the abuse. Fox and coyote are being trapped, often injured when they’re trapped, taken to these enclosures where they’re unfamiliar and then packs of dogs are released on them and they rip them apart and kill them.”

Is Fox Penning Legal?

SOURCE:  www.wral.com         Tar River Fox Pen

In North Carolina, preserves like the Tar River Fox Pen are legal and are regulated by the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

NC statute, S.L. 1963, c.670, pertaining Granville County, North Carolina, states that, “foxes may be taken by use of dogs year-round, day or night, and by “any manner” during the open season.

‘Any manner’ should be interpreted to mean during authorized hunting hours by any lawful hunting method in addition to dogs: rifle, shotgun, and bow and arrow. ‘Open season’ should be interpreted to mean when the season is open for any game animal or game bird in the county. Sale of foxes taken under this local act is not permitted.”

Furthermore, statue, S.L. 1993, c.208, states that, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, there is an open season for taking foxes with weapons and by trapping from October 1 through January 31 each year. The Wildlife Resources Commission shall provide for the sale of lawfully taken foxes.”

Download the North Carolina Wildlife Commission Fox Hunting Guidelines. Wildlife Penning Attack

Wildlife Penning Attack

In North Carolina alone, there are approximately 150 wildlife pens. The Tar River Fox Pen is the largest in acreage and held 20 scheduled hunts during the 2009 fox hunting season.

In 2009, NC Senator, Neal Hunt, proposed Senate Bill 515 purposed to prohibit the penning of wildlife in North Carolina. Download Bill 515.

SOURCE:  EndtheHunt.org

Joe McClees, a lobbyist for the NC Sporting Dog Association, stated “This [fox pen hunting] is a redneck social event. This is a cultural thing that is Southern that is in more states than just the South, The purpose of these things are to train dogs and… to create a sport within a confined area where the dogs won’t be on other people’s land.”

Prohibit Wildlife Penning.  What can you do?

“There is a demonstrated link between violence and cruelty to animals and violence towards humans. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies, when discussing serious violence to humans, often note that a history of violence to animals is a characteristic in the perpetrator. It is difficult to conceive of such unmitigated and unjustified cruelty as that exhibited in fox pen hunting.”  – excerpt from petition Shut Down Cruel Fox Pen Hunts

Support NC Senate Bill 515 by saying ‘No’ to wildlife penning. Contact your NC state legislature members in support of this initiative, specifically stating your support of NC Senate Bill 515, purposed to stop wildlife penning.

• Email your NC Senate Members ncsenatemembers@ncleg.net
• Email your NC House Members nchousemembers@ncleg.net
• Volunteer your efforts and funding to Senator Ken Hunt in his initiative of Senate Bill 515. Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net
• Voice your concerns to the NC Wildlife Commission. wrccomments@ncwildlife.org or call 919-707-0030
• Share this article on Twitter.  Retweet this article.
• Share this article on Facebook. http://bit.ly/Stop-Wildlife-Penning
• Sign the Care2 Petition: Stop Wildlife Penning. Support NC Senate Bill 515
• Download the Support NC Bill 515. Say NO to Wildlife Penning yard sign. (Road sign is press ready.  Take to your local sign shop for reproduction)

Click to Download Press Ready 18″x24″ Sign

Tar River Fox Pen owner, James Ray, has declined to talk publicly about the Kelly Currin Morris case, but has offered that Scott Morris is not a Tar River Fox Pen preserve member.

The opinions provided herein are those of my own free will and may or may not be supported by sources cited. Please share your thoughts and comments in the area provided at the bottom of the page.

About the Publisher

Jill Leigh Bullock is the Managing Publisher of Leigh Publishing, a private-label publisher and publicist offering traditional and emerging media products and services.

Domestic violence is a silent killer and often starts in the home with children, as it did in mine, with my father.  Frequently those who have been abused never speak up out of fear, shame, sense of worthlessness, or like my situation, concern for public disbelief.

Domestic violence eats at your very core and it can lead to a continuous cycle of abusive relationships and circumstances throughout your life.  I encourage each and every person who finds themselves in an abusive situation, to get out, reach out, speak out, and get counseling as it is the only way to begin the healing process.

There are many great support groups available that offer assistance to abuse victims.   Local churches, a trusted friend, or the US Department of Justice’s Office for the Victims of Crimes.  As with any act of violence, following a victimization, contact law enforcement immediately.

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Research Contributions, Credits & Special Mentions

May God bless the family and friends of Kelly Currin Morris.  Rest in Peace.

1. ABC Local Go.com. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7124790
2. Crime Search Online. http://crimesearchersonline.com/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=3&sobi2Id=1089&Itemid=1
3. Kelly Currin Morris My Space Page. www.myspace.com/kellycurrinmorris
   
4. McClatchy.  Newsrunner.com. www.newsrunner.com/display-article/?eUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcclatchydc.com%2Fhomepage%2Fstory%2F79121.html&eSrc=McClatchy&eTitle=Husband+charged+with+murder+of+woman+who+vanished
5. North Carolina Animal Resource & Education Services.www.ncaresonline.org/abuseviolencelink.html
6. North Carolina General Assembly. www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2009/Bills/Senate/PDF/S515v1.pdf
7. North Carolina Senate Bill 515. www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2009&BillID=s515
8. North Carolina Wildlife Resources. https://www.ncwildlife.org/Apps/NonGamePermits/Lookups/HuntingPreserve.aspx?ptype=fox&countyListing=GRANVILLE
9. North Carolina Wildlife.org. https://www.ncwildlife.org/Regs/documents/fox_seasons_dates.pdf
10. Pet Abuse.com www.pet-abuse.com/pages/cruelty_database/statistics.php
11. End the Hung.org. www.endthehunt.org
12. Tar River Fox Pen. www.speeddogs.net/Tarriver.htm
13. The Criminal Report Daily. http://blogs.discovery.com/criminal_report/
14. The Humane Society of the United States. www.hsus.org/wildlife_abuse/news/insider_ugliness_wildlife_penning.html
15. The Petition Site. www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-fox-pen-hunting
16. WRAL. www.wral.com/news/local/story/6445876/
17. WRAL:  William Scott Currin Arrest Warrant. www.wral.com/asset/news/local/2009/11/18/6448840/20091118151918089.pdf
18. Wildlifepenning. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGWb8VD0B64

The National Science Center selects the award-winning RCampus platform for their unique educational effort to bring the science of rainforests to 6th – 8th grade teachers.

Irvine, CA, Nov. 24, 2009: Reazon Systems, Inc., a leading provider of web-based educational technologies, has been selected by the National Science Center (NSC) to make the Discovery Academy Rainforest Project available to teachers and students across the nation.

Through this effort, the Discovery Academy Rainforest Project will be housed at a specially enhanced RCampus environment, allowing NSC to facilitate the management and promotion of its course modules more effectively. Teachers who participate in this project will gain access to standards-based course materials designed by NSC at http://NSC.RCampus.com. RCampus will also facilitate the unique assessment needs of NSC for evaluating the effectiveness of its modules as well as tracking students’ performance.

“It has been a privilege to be selected by the National Science Center for advancing its Rainforest Project to a number of classrooms around the U.S.,” said Ramesh Sabetiashraf, the creator of RCampus. “NSC recognized the extent of RCampus capabilities and identified it as the best vehicle for achieving its mission to bring STEM education to classrooms. We look forward to a continuing alliance and growing relationship with NSC as it extends its digital campus through RCampus.”

“Our efforts to bring our course materials to a broad national audience with various demographics has been a substantial undertaking,” said Cheryl Wynn, Program Manager of the Discovery Academy Rainforest Project at The National Science Center. “It has also come with its unique technology needs and challenges. After testing RCampus for a few months, we found it to be the ideal environment with the necessary tools to meet our needs. The RCampus team has been very responsive in helping us create an online presence for our Rainforest Project and making our program easily accessible to our participants. Our goal is to be the leading K-12 courseware provider in various science, technology, engineering and math subjects as we utilize more features of the RCampus environment. Discovery Academy: R.A.I.N. targets 6 – 8th grade middle schoolers, in particular.”

About Reazon Systems, Inc.
Reazon Systems, Inc., the maker of RCampus, is a software technology company specializing in the transformation of complex and time-consuming instructional, assessment and content management processes into robust and user-friendly experiences. Its flagship product is RCampus Education Management System which includes Learning and ePortfolio Management System, Website-builder and Portals System and the iRubric Assessment and Standards System. RCampus is a recipient of the 2009 TechAmerica High-Tech Innovation Awards for its innovation in software technologies. To learn more about Reazon and the RCampus product-line, visit www.reazon.com and www.RCampus.com.

About the National Science Center
The National Science Center (NSC) is a unique partnership between National Science Center, Inc., a non-profit organization, and the United States Army. Its mission is to be a catalyst that excites America’s youth about math, science, engineering and technology. The NSC’s headquarters, Fort Discovery, is located on the scenic Riverwalk in downtown Augusta, GA. The 128,000 square-foot family-oriented math and science center fires the imaginations of children and adults with 250 hands-on exhibits, custom digital theater programs, portable planetarium, educational workshops and demonstrations as well as being the home-base for an array of national educational outreach programs. To learn more about NSC, visit www.NationalScienceCenter.org.

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http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=108454

On Monday, President Obama announced the establishment of National Lab Day, a new science education initiative aimed at improving labs and inquiry-based science experiences for students in grades 6–12.

Designed to increase community-based collaborations between scientists, engineers, teachers and students, National Lab Day emerged from collaboration earlier this year among NSTA, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Jack D. Hidary Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.

National Lab Day will bring together stakeholders in communities of support where science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professionals and teachers can work together to assess current labs, update or refurbish lab equipment, conduct equipment and materials inventory, clean and repair equipment, and provide technology support. Projects can also center on computer or outdoor labs—anywhere where hands-on lessons in the STEM subjects can come alive.

The first National Lab Day is tentatively scheduled for early May 2010. For more information about National Lab Day, visit the official website at www.nationallabday.org.

• New York Times article on National Lab Day
• About National Lab Day (PDF)
• NSTA’s official statement regarding the President’s announcement

Para melhorar o desempenho dos alunos norte-americanos e estimular o progresso das áreas de Ciências, Tecnologia, Engenharia e Matemática (STEM), Barack Obama convocou grandes editoras de games e instituições ligadas à indústria do entretenimento para integrar o programa “Educar para Inovar”. Obama divulgou, nesta segunda-feira, que o investimento será de US$ 4,35 bilhões. Mas segundo a revista Wired,  a parceria com empresas privadas pode adicionar ao fundo cerca de US$ 260 milhões.

Reconhecendo o poder pedagógico dos jogos eletrônicos para crianças e adolescentes, empresas como a Sony, Entertainment Software Association (ESA) e Fundação MacArthur se uniram ao governo para lançar uma série de ações competitivas na área de design para games.

Dois concursos nacionais serão implementados em 2010:

• O Game Changers compõe a próxima edição do Digital Media and Learning Competition, da Fundação MacArthur, que já vem aplicando ações inovadoras no processo de aprendizado, ao utilizar jogos eletrônicos, redes sociais e celulares. A Sony e a Fundação MacArthur, em parceria com a ESA e ITI, apoiam a competição que consiste na criação de um novo jogo, baseado nos princípios do STEM, que utilizará as ferramentas colaborativas do game LittleBigPlanet. Além disso, a Sony doará mil PlayStations 3 e cópias do seu título, para  bibliotecas e organizações comunitárias de locais com baixa renda.

“Na educação de hoje, as crianças desenvolvem talentos ao  jogar videogame. Resolução de problemas, pensamento estratégico e  flexibilidade são os tipos de habilidades que  os adultos vão precisar para ter sucesso no século XXI”, comenta Dean Garfield, presidente e CEO do Conselho de Tecnologia da Informação (ITI).

• Novamente juntas, a ITI e ESA lançam o STEM National Videogame Competition, em parceria com Joan Ganz Cooney Center de Sesame Workshop, Games for Change e E-Line Ventures. O objetivo é desafiar crianças e adolescentes no desenvolvimento de ideias para jogos baseados em navegação de sites e com abordagem nas áreas de Ciência, Tecnologia, Engenharia e Matemática. Os vencedores recebem US$ 300 mil e seus jogos serão utilizados nas salas de aula.  O anúncio sobre a competição acontecerá no início de 2010, com a apresentação das regras e procedimentos de inscrição. Os vencedores serão anunciados na exposição E3 2010, em junho. Outras quatro parcerias foram anunciadas, entre elas, com a Warner, Discovery e Vila Sésamo.

Fonte: prnewswire.com, gamasutra.com e wired.com
Imagem: whitehouse.gov e playstation.com

Some of you might like it and some might not. Its funky. Kashimax aero Tiger stripes.

Also NITTO Rivendell lugged stem

OK, maybe that’s not the best slogan for a new STEM initiative marketing campaign. I’ll leave that up to the experts. But a marketing campaign is exactly what the Obama Administration is talking about with its new Educate to Innovate campaign. And it’s exactly what the Prosperity Partnership has been talking about as well:

3. Develop and implement a marketing pilot project to inform students, parents, and educators of opportunities in high demand fields and the relevance of math and science to these fields and motivate students to take these classes…

When we successfully advocated for an increase in funding for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math degrees at our state’s higher education institutions, we knew that part of the effort had to be building a pipeline of students who wanted to fill those slots.  Otherwise, you have what we’re getting now, which is a lot of foreign-born students coming to the U.S., getting STEM degrees, taking them back to their respective countries and then beating us in technology and innovation.

Of course, what it’s really about is inspiration.  I happen to be too young to actually know, but according to my elders, the space race and the moon landing captured the imaginations of thousands of aspiring engineers.  And there’s actually lots of cool stuff now.  The internet and video games are super fun, but they require high tech knowledge to work on.  And clean technology appeals to the younger generation’s environmentally friendly ethics.

What’s hard is that you need to be proficient in math by a very young age to even have a shot at successfully pursuing these fields, and it’s hard to get a fourth grader to be thinking in a focused way about their college major and their professional career;  I was pretty convinced that I was going to be a baseball player or a spy in fourth grade.  So it really does take this kind of comprehensive, fully integrated marketing push to change attitudes and make the connection.  It’s a huge lift, no doubt…being smart is not that cool when you’re young.  But if it’s about making robots and video games and car fuel out of algae, maybe it can be.

 i had to help my mom this morning preparing food for my brother’s family birthday party. This tomato made me really happy….maybe I was just tired…

On back-to-back days I mined quotes by Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg)
and Aristotle. Dogg’s quote was about math and Aristotle’s quote was about teaching. The combination of math and teaching caused me to recall a quote by Donald Knuth about the importance of computing.

If you stop at general math, you’re only going to make general math money. — Snoop Dogg

I’m curious as to how Dogg defines “general math money.” Minimum wage? Less than six-figure salaries? Less than $1 million per year? I suspect Dogg makes abstract algebra money.

Teaching is the highest form of understanding. — Aristotle

The quotes by Dogg and Aristotle reminded me of the following quote by Donald Knuth.

It has often been said that a person does not really understand something until he teaches it to someone else. Actually a person does not really understand something until he can teach it to a computer, i. e., express it as an algorithm. The attempt to formalize things as algorithms leads to a much deeper understanding than if we simply try to comprehend things in the traditional way. — Donald Knuth [1]

Programming is how a person “teaches” a computer, yet students don’t have to learn about programming in K-12. And, many (majority of?) students get college degrees without ever learning a programming language. We are living in the CSTEM era and 21st century STEM depends on Computing, yet our educational systems seem to ignore this reality.

Aristotle might have been a dude in his day, but he didn’t have supercomputers at his finger tips. Knuth is a grossly unknown modern day polymath who would be quickly whatevered by most young people. But what about Snoop?

Snoop Dogg tells his fans to learn beyond general math. Kudos to Dogg. It would be nice if Mr. Dogg would rap about the importance of learning about the base-2 number system (i.e. the code).

[1] Donald Knuth is a “computer scientist and Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming at Stanford University.” [Wikipedia]

we sit in this small cafe in a central bookshop, holding a book and a blackberry, unseen borders between us and I wonder about our differences. 2 completely different types of fruits . like bananas and oranges.well  maybe more like grapes and oranges to be accurate and. you’ll be the grapes , thats a compliment and Ill be the orange as you are un able to compliment me, unless I demand.

why can’t I wonder about our mutual characters? we obviously share some. I have to focus on drawing those from learning our fruits type closer.  I google for our types. the latin determinations are important in your case , just to clarify our family names. fruits do share a few things in common even if looking completely different. flavours that tickles ones tongue when fresh, the fears of over ripping under the sun, the fragility clinging from high trees, the acidity when not happy with the weather around. the ship that brought them from a warm place ti an island that urge their presence. the need to retain as much knowledge within their shells. you withing your thin layer of grape skin , myself in my slightly thicker aromatic cover. your skin transparent and your knowledge is reflected through its variations to the world to pick and taste. mine is hidden under slightly bitter white layer, yet tempting the ones wishing to peel its covers to be sprayed withh my energetic wit. I need you to peel me once in a while from my over-cautious covers. I need to learn words  to spice my zesty drops of citrus flash with other flavours around me. I also need to take a stroll through your berries and blow them around, get them away from their communal stem as if they may explode if not released to small molecules .

your over loaded grapes conscience clustered in layers is opposite to my selfish citrus simple stand. proudly growing from its orange flower , spreading a scent that overwhelms those who stand close to listen to its bloody drops . your turbulent curvy growth covers for the absence of a glorious scent. youre the crimson kind. velvety attracting its fans to listen to its deep tunes. I am unable to escape my origins . I come in shades of orange , but I supply a shallow encounter with taste and so should be only consumed in small portions . your shiny and smooth, gliding around when spread on a plate.  Im shiny and dimple.

I try to hold your hand in that bookshop , surrounded by other fruits and vegetables of the human kind . not completely in ease with the decoration around us , Id rather take you to sit on one of the shelfs on the floor above us. discuss our differences in the poetry section where honest wordswill get me closer to your pallet.

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The Fairport Central School District in upstate New York has approved an aggressive approach to counteract the gender gap in technology education, according to Ernst Lamothe, Jr in the Democrat Chronicle.

The district is set to begin a two-year pilot program starting next fall, to create four all-girl technology courses (two in ninth grade and two in middle school).  Enrollment will be voluntary, in compliance with Title IX.

Dave Allyn, a special assignment administrator for the district says, “Girls sometimes won’t take technology classes because they don’t want to be the only girl in a class or in a technology club.  Job growth is happening again in engineering and some of the sciences where old stereotypes persist about those male-dominated fields, and we need to make our young women aware that there is an opportunity for them.” 

Although women make up more than half of the work force, they hold only 28 percent of technology positions (US Bureau of labor Statistics).  The number of young women studying computer science has fallen by more than 40 percent in the past two decades.

With computer support specialist, systems administrator and engineering positions expected to grow significantly by 2016, educators and employers worry that young women are failing to gain the necessary skills for those jobs.

Both the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology have less than 30 percent female enrollment in their undergraduate engineering programs.

More than 450 public schools nationwide offer single-sex academic classes, says the US Department of Education.  Research finds that female students learn differently, including preferring collaborative learning and quieter environments.

They are more concerned with complete understanding, doing quality work and helping others.  Male students tend to want to complete tasks as quickly as possible and move on.

Instead of trying to make girls fit into the existing system, school districts nationwide are changing to become more inviting for girls.  The solutions include instituting after-school technology clubs targeting young women as well as offering single-gender technology classes.

Universities also continue to push hard to attract more female engineers, since women make up less than 18 percent of six engineering fields, including single-digit percentages in civil and mechanical engineering.

Colleges and universities have started national programs such as “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” which is part of February’s Engineering Week.  The push continues in March, during Women’s History Month, when elementary and secondary schools can participate in live Web chats and teleconferences that encourage girls to consider engineering as a major.

The Rochester Institue of Technology began several initiatives six years ago.  They offer a middle school girls’ robotics program every winter, as well as an elementary design program camp.

At the Fairport schools, boys made up 90.3 percent of the enrollment in technology classes last year; this year, the proportion rose to 91.7 percent.   When the high school added a computer game design course to teach students programming skills, only three of the 115 enrollees were girls.

These single-gender classes will have the same curriculum and exams as their mixed-gender counterparts.  There will be two eighth-grade Technology for Girls classes that will last one quarter at two of the schools and a semester- or year-long course at the other two.

Fairport Middle School teachers purchased computer programming, designed by a Carnegie Mellon University professor, intended to appeal to girls.

According to Allyn, “Usually computer games are all about car crashes, armies, gunfights and sports, which boys tend to like, but not always young girls.” 

But this new system encourages people to write stories and put them into animation, which taps into the creativity and technology aspects for the female students.

The district has also added hand-drafting units for graphic arts and two environmental-related units, because women make up almost 50 percent of people in the field of environmental engineering.

Elizabeth Brown, a technology teacher at one of the schools, says schools need to follow that up by offering young girls more classes focused on green and alternative energy issues.  She has her class building solar-powered cars this year.

“If we are serious about this issue,” says Brown, “you have to make inroads with our young women now, and it must start as early as middle school.”

The school district also started a new middle school club called Cyberettes, connecting them with female computer students enrolled at RIT.  They work together on projects such as Web design, encryption, programming and video editing, giving young girls an introduction to technology careers and advice from women talking about their experience in a male-dominated culture.

Margaret Bailey, mechanical engineer professor at RIT and executive director of its Women in Engineering program, says

There are some girls who are going to do well regardless of putting them in single-gender class or not.  But for those who might not, what Fairport is doing makes sense, expecially at a young age, when you see girls losing interest in math and sciences because they are not getting much encouragement about pursuing careers in those areas.

Additional Facts:

According to the US Census Bureau, women make up a small proportion of professionals in key technology fields:

• Physics: 21 percent
• Computer science: 18.6 percent
• Aerospace engineering: 11.5 percent
• Civil Engineering: 9.5 percent
• Mechanical engineering: 7.1 percent

sole source: article by Ernst Lamothe Jr at www.democratandchronicle.com on 11/16/09.

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