The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action is holding a one-day fundraiser. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift today, as part of their day-long May 7th “Money Cascade” to support the March. They’ve set an initial goal of $2500.
I just made a quick $10 donation – will you match me?
Click here to go to their donation page via Paypal
“The march is being held in response to recent destructive ‘reform’ efforts which have undermined our public educational system, demoralized teachers, and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation. Something must be done – and it must be done now!
Please join people from all across America as they gather to participate in the Save Our Schools March on Saturday, July 30 in Washington, D.C.
The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action is calling on Americans everywhere to demand:
Equitable funding for all public school communities.
An end to high stakes testing for student, teacher, and school evaluation.
Curriculum developed for and by local school communities.
Teacher and community leadership in forming public education policies.”
I’m attending the April 30 TEDxPortland. I’ll be curating the best of social media feed without the RTs, hype and chatter. I’m following the hashtag #XRD on Twitter, FaceBook, and Flickr. So don’t forget to tag! Newest tweets will be at the top of the page – older below. Check back for updates. Go to AM Edition
I’m attending the April 30 TEDxPortland. I’ll be curating the best of social media feed without the RTs, hype and chatter. I’m following the hashtag #XRD on Twitter, FaceBook, and Flickr. So don’t forget to tag! Newest tweets will be at the top of the page – older below. Check back for updates. To see posts from the PM edition click here.
I just went to the iTunes App Store, and in one impulsive click, downloaded Al Gore’s companion app to his book “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.”
It’s an immersive learning environment that begs the question – $4.99 iPad app or $49 textbook?
Watch this promo video and you decide if the eBook has made the traditional textbook a relic. If you need some more numbers to help you make the decision -a quick search on textbook costs turned up this data from a 2005 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. “The average estimated cost of books and supplies for a first-time, full-time student at a four-year public institution was $898, or 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees. At community colleges, the estimated cost of books and supplies was a whopping 72 percent of the cost of tuition and fees.”
EBook or textbook – still trying to decide? Don’t forget that future updates of the app could add more content or features – how about social networking?
Update: A hat tip to my friend Martin Edic at 24PageBooks who pointed out that Push Top Press (the folks who did the Gore’s book) plan to release a publishing platform for authors, publishers and artists to turn their books into interactive iPad or iPhone apps — no programming skills required. Imagine when students can make their own!
Back in the 1970’s I taught a high school social studies course called “War and Peace Studies.”
A recent email exchange reminded me of a simplified version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma that I created for use in the classroom.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a fundamental exercise in game theory and serves as a great catalyst for discussions about decision making, communications, ethics and responsibility.
First, the classic example of the Prisoner’s Dilemma from Wikipedia:
Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated the prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies for the prosecution against the other (defects) and the other remains silent (cooperates), the defector goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should the prisoners act?
How I adapted for classroom use
Students were divided into two separate locations. (Group A and Group B). Once divided, I managed the game – shuttling between the two rooms. Both groups were given the same goal – “To accumulate as many points as possible without helping or hindering the other group.” In practice, I found that the point incentive generally faded away as groups just focused on their perception of “winning.”
I ran a series of 10 decision rounds. During each 5 minute round both groups were told make a group decision about the choice one of two colors – red or blue. See results chart below. I did not specify how they were to arrive at the decision within their groups. When each group has completed their decision, I shared results back to each group. As the decision rounds accumulated, players faced the results of cooperation and betrayal.
To add another dimension to the dilemma, periodically (after decision rounds 3 and 6) I invited each group to send a negotiator to a neutral location (usually just the hallway). This was the only communication allowed between the groups. Generally each group was divided over both the instruction to give their negotiator (“bluff ’em” vs “make a deal”) and how to interpret the negotiator’s “report.” Sometimes groups even became mistrustful of their own negotiator.
It usually took about 45-50 minutes to set the game up and go through a series of 7-10 rounds with some negotiation breaks. The homework assignment was to write a reflection “What did I learn about myself during the game?” Loads of great discussion the next day with many great applications to history, current events, group process and ethics.
The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action is holding a one-day fundraiser. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift today, as part of their day-long May 7th “Money Cascade” to support the March. They’ve set an initial goal of $2500. 
