Carlos Mendoza III's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T02:36:35ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendozahttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1950467131?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2iuwhoxj1ekka&xn_auth=noEducator Musing: Commercial Markets Determining The Future Of Schoolingtag:www.classroom20.com,2011-07-20:649749:BlogPost:6829872011-07-20T14:51:43.000ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendoza
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">“Capitalism is the worst economic system in the world – except for everything else we’ve tried.”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Pat Dorsey – MorningStar.com</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://www.AmbientInsight.com/Default.aspx">Ambient Insight</a>, founded in 2004, is an international market research firm that uses predictive analytics to identify revenue opportunities for global eLearning and Mobile…</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">“Capitalism is the worst economic system in the world – except for everything else we’ve tried.”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> Pat Dorsey – MorningStar.com</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://www.AmbientInsight.com/Default.aspx">Ambient Insight</a>, founded in 2004, is an international market research firm that uses predictive analytics to identify revenue opportunities for global eLearning and Mobile Learning suppliers. They released a new report predicting that the worldwide market for Self-paced eLearning products and services will grow from $32 billion to $49.9 billion by 2015.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The <a href="http://www.AmbientInsight.com/News/Ambient-Insight-2010-2015-Worldwide-eLearning-Market.aspx">Worldwide Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2010-2015 Forecast and Analysis</a> report identifies a consistently growing pattern of demand for Self-paced eLearning in government agencies. Countries with centralized educational systems, such as, China, are outspending corporate buyers for these products and services. Even so, according to Chief Research Officer, Sam S. Adkins, North America is predicted to be the top buying region throughout the forecast period.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The global market is changing. Corporations are no longer the top buyers of Self-paced eLearning products. The demand is stronger now for academic products for government agencies.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">According to Tyson Greer, CEO and Chief Content Officer (CCO) for Ambient Insight, “The global market is transitioning from a corporate story to an academic narrative.”</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The growths of markets represent demands for products and services. Here is another trend to consider that may explain the change in the global market for eLearning products. For each new generation, more Americans are using the Internet. This is backed up with a <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-for-Teens/Whos-Online.aspx">2009 survey</a> conducted by the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/">PEW Internet and American Life Project</a> stating that 95% of all teenagers ages 14 – 17 use the Internet. According to a <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/Whos-Online.aspx">2010 survey</a> conducted by the same group, 90% of all young adults ages 18 - 29 use the Internet. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">In a news release by a private provider of technology products and services, <a href="http://newsroom.cdw.com/features/feature-06-27-11.html">CDW</a>, the second annual 21st Century Classroom Report states that only 39% percent of students say their high schools are meeting their technology expectations. Perhaps now is the time to consider that the Digital Divide now is more about meeting the expectation of today’s students than it is about making technology available.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The current formal school system is no longer working to the best benefit of our students and society. This is being manifested in changing global markets and student perceptions of school. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">A congressional Act can abolish the U.S. Department of Education. Then they can establish and fund a private not-for-profit corporation to facilitate the development of public education. This would be similar to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. Such a move can place in motion the means to shape the growing market for eLearning to serve our students. The current attempt to centralize public education through No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race To The Top (RTTT) is not working. The unintended consequence of direct federal government involvement in education is causing a collapse of the system.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">A radical change in education from direct government control to government funded not-for-profit corporations is an idea worth pursuing. Finding the right mixture of instruction, management, and structure for sustainable funding and accreditation will be a challenge, but our kids are worth it.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Please join me in my reflections on 21st century learning. I want to read your comments and opinions. I will do my best to answer questions. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">I would like to add you to my circle of friends on Google+. Please email me at carlosmendoza3@educatormusing.com if you are interested in receiving a Google+ invitation. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">I would also like to include you in my growing circulation of <a href="http://paper.li/EducatorMusing/1310912004">Educator Musing Daily</a> <a href="http://paper.li/EducatorMusing/1310912004">Posts</a>. If you are interested in subscribing to the free daily updates and news, please visit the publication and click on Subscribe.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">My blog is <a href="http://educatormusing.blogspot.com/">Educator Musing</a>.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Thanks!</span></p>
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<p> </p>Educator Musing: Failing To Make The NCLB Cuttag:www.classroom20.com,2011-07-13:649749:BlogPost:6772922011-07-13T06:11:41.000ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendoza
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">"The law has created dozens of ways for schools to fail and very few ways to help them succeed. We should get out of the business of labeling schools as failures and create a new law that is fair and flexible and focused on the schools and students most at risk."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">U.S. Department of Education Secretary – Arne Duncan</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">It’s all about the test scores. …</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">"The law has created dozens of ways for schools to fail and very few ways to help them succeed. We should get out of the business of labeling schools as failures and create a new law that is fair and flexible and focused on the schools and students most at risk."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">U.S. Department of Education Secretary – Arne Duncan</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">It’s all about the test scores. Administrators, pressured to reach or maintain test scores to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) adequate yearly progress benchmarks, insists that teachers strictly adhere to the “essential standards” that will be tested on the standardized state test. Only the courageous teacher will deviate to include the visual and performing arts, social studies, and other subjects with nonessential standards.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">NCLB is federal legislation signed into law with bipartisan support in 2002 meant to improve public schools. The original intent was to provide billions of dollars and other support to close the achievement gap between different groups of students. Standards-based education was to be developed by the states to clearly define what a child should know and be able to do by the end of a school year. And for the first time, visual and performing arts was listed as a core academic subject. Standardized annual state tests were also to be implemented to measure adequate yearly progress in closing the achievement gaps.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The funds to aid the states never fully materialized. And punitive damages to states, districts, and schools tied to the standardized state tests changed the dynamics of the law’s original intent.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Schools will do whatever it takes to avoid the punitive damage that NCLB will visit upon then if the do not reach the test benchmarks. Cheating, unfortunately, has become a problem. In the wake of the city wide cheating scandal in Atlanta, U.S. Department of Education, Arne Duncan, has expressed his concern about cheating – again.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Unfortunately, there are other ways of beating the test-based accountability system besides cheating. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Did you ever see the 1990 movie, Pump Up The Volume, starring a young Christian Slater? It was about a shy teenager with a pirate radio station connecting with other teens as he found his voice to speak his mind. The story in the background was about a principal finding unjustified reasons for expelling poor performing students that will lower the school’s test scores.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Closer to real life is the closing and reopening of schools with a new name. Changing the student testing population of a school. Lowering the standard for what is defined as proficient on test scores. Or, if it is a charter or magnet school, dropping low performing students back to their regular neighborhood public school. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Such seems to be the case of Katherine Sprowal’s son, Matthew. Ms. Sprowal was initially please that Matthew won the lottery to attend a New York City charter school. It soon became clear that the school that will not let him fail was recommending that he would be better suited elsewhere to be successful. Matthew was diagnosed with having an attention disorder. Years later, Ms. Sprowal became convinced that her son was done an injustice. Fortunately, he thrived at Public School 75.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">In 2010, Harold Maready, superintendent of McKeel Schools in Florida, defended the charter school’s dismissal rate. Charter schools must accept all students. It is only when a charter school is filled to capacity that a lottery system is used to select students. Once enrolled, however, a signed contract with a very defined policy on reasons for dismissal, including behavior, attendance, and academic performance may drop a student later. Typically these students return to the neighborhood public school.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Soon it will not matter. The system is falling apart. The NCLB test benchmarks are raised in intervals over the years to measure yearly adequate progress toward the goal of 100 percent of all students proficient or better in math and English language arts by the year 2014. U.S. Department of Education, Arne Duncan has estimated that 82 percent of schools may be labeled as failed schools in the next test cycle because the benchmark has become so high.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Arne Duncan has called upon Congress to change the law. It was suppose to be revised in 2008 to avoid the pending catastrophic test scores, but it never happened. In the meanwhile he is offering a waiver from the test results to desperate states if they will agree to restrictive stipulations that will give the federal government more control over public education. He did the same with billions of Race To The Top Grant dollars.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">States are now abandoning NCLB and daring Congress to do something about it. Congress will eventually do something, but they are so far down the wrong pass that it will not be the right thing. Ultimately the federal government needs to get out of the school improvement business. They are not very good at it. We need to privatize public education out of direct government control without imposing tuition on parents and still meet the public good. Finding the right combination of instruction, management, and structure for sustainable funding and accreditation will be a challenge, but our kids are worth it.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Please friend me on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Mendoza/100001181600277">Facebook</a> and follow me on <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#!/EducatorMusing">Twitter</a>.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">My blog is – <a target="_blank" href="http://educatormusing.blogspot.com/">Educator Musing</a></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Thanks!</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The Commercial Appeal – <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jul/05/schools-eye-no-child-left-behind/">Tennessee Eyes Waiver For No Child Left Behind</a></b></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">FOX News – <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/10/education-department-concerned-about-wave-cheating-probes-allegations/">Education Department ‘Concerned’ About Wave Cheating Probes Allegations</a></b></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">The Ledger – <b> </b><strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.theledger.com/article/20101001/NEWS/10015007/1410?Title=Maready-Defends-McKeel-s-Policies">Maready Defends McKeel’s Policies</a> </strong></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">NPR - <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18432881">'No Child' Law Picked Apart as Renewal Fight Looms</a></b></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">NPR – <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.npr.org/2011/06/29/137476810/states-threaten-to-defy-no-child-left-behind?ft=1&f=1003">States Threaten To Defy No Child Left Behind</a></b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 19px;">NPR – <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4629062">Utah Is First State To Abandon No Child Left Behind podcast</a></b></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">NY Times – <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/nyregion/charter-school-sends-message-thrive-or-transfer.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp"><strong>Message From a Charter School: Thrive or Transfe</strong>r</a><b> </b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 19px;">Washington Post - <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030905748.html">Most schools could face 'failing' label under No Child Left Behind, Duncan says</a></b></span></p>
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<p> </p>Educator Musing: We Can Have Teachers Without Borders Part 3tag:www.classroom20.com,2011-07-08:649749:BlogPost:6734982011-07-08T22:53:17.000ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendoza
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">Location! Location! Location!</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">What Does Location, Location, Location Mean?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">It means identical homes can increase or decrease in value due to location. It's repeated three times for emphasis, and so you will remember the phrase. It's the number one rule in real estate, and it's often the most overlooked rule. The best locations are those in…</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">Location! Location! Location!</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">What Does Location, Location, Location Mean?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">It means identical homes can increase or decrease in value due to location. It's repeated three times for emphasis, and so you will remember the phrase. It's the number one rule in real estate, and it's often the most overlooked rule. The best locations are those in prime spots such as:</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· Within Top-Rated School Districts</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· Close to Outdoor Recreation and Nature </span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· Homes with a View </span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· Near Entertainment and Shopping </span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· In Conforming Areas </span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· In Economically Stable Neighborhoods </span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· Near Public Transportation, Health Care and Jobs </span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">· In the Center of the Block</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="font-size-4">Elizabeth Weintraub – about.com</span></blockquote>
<div><span class="font-size-4">This is the last in a three part series.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Real estate agents know more about public education than politicians. Elizabeth Weintraub in an <a href="http://homebuying.about.com/od/marketfactstrends/qt/013008_location.htm">article</a> for about .com states, “Home buyers with children are concerned about their children's education and often will pay more for a home that is located in a highly desirable school district.”</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to buy a home in neighborhoods with top-rated schools. Tanya McDowell, not the best poster parent for school reform, was recently arrested again, but now for drug charges. She first received media coverage when she was arrested for stealing a $15,000 kindergarten education by using a fraudulent address to enroll her son in a school in a more affluent neighborhood.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Kelly Williams-Bolar spent nine days in jail for fraudulently using her father’s address to enroll two of her children in a school in a more affluent neighborhood.</span></div>
<div><span class="font-size-4">What is it about schools in more affluent neighborhoods that seem to make them better than other schools? That is besides having parents with more education. And besides being in a more economically stable neighborhood. They are better funded.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">In California, schools are funded from three sources: state, federal, and local. On average for the past ten years school districts receive 79% of their funding from the state, 13% from the federal government, and 8% locally. The percentages change according to neighborhoods. For example, a school district in an affluent neighborhood, such as, Beverly Hills Unified may receive 70% of their funding from the state, 4% from the federal government, and 26% locally. A school district in a much less affluent area, such as, Adelanto Elementary School District, may receive 86% of their funding from the state, 10% from the federal government, and only 4% locally.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Now consider this, approximately 30% of California’s budget is for K-12 education. There is a $9.4 billion dollar deficit that has been deferred for a later date. However, when the state eventually deals with its huge budget deficit with cuts to services – the schools more dependent on state funding will get hurt the most. The districts that can raise more money locally can better maintain services and keep enrichment classes in the curriculum.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">The U.S. Department of Education’s <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html">Office of Civil Rights</a> gathered <a href="http://ocrdata.ed.gov/">information</a> from 72,000 schools across the nation to gain insight on how equitable or inequitable schools are within districts and across states. Not all of the information has been released yet. But the new federal data shared last week showed that not all schools and districts offer an equivalent high quality rigorous education. </span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stated, “These data show that far too many students are still not getting access to the kinds of classes, resources and opportunities they need to be successful.”</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Nirvi Shah, in an <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/07/01/36data.h30.html">article</a> for Education Week, broke down the data. </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: 19px;">3, 000 schools serving 500,000 high school students did not offer Algebra II classes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 19px;">7,300 schools serving 2 million high school students did not offer calculus.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 19px;">At schools where the majority of students were African-American, teachers were twice as likely to have only one or two years of experience compared with schools within the same district that had a majority-white student body.</span></li>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Is it little wonder that parents are willing to pay more for a house in a top-rated school district? Is it any wonder that parents unable to buy homes within a top-rated school district are willing to lie to enroll their children there anyway?</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">A 21<sup>st</sup> century education, if not tied to a location, doesn’t have that problem. New and creative ways to provide an education online are being developed all the time.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://Sophia.org/">Sophia.org</a>, for example, is a free social learning community focused on education. Founded by CEO Don Smithmier, Sophia is built on the belief that it can be the place where you teach what you know and learn what you don’t know. </span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">The ambition is clear when the search bar on Sophia asks, what do you want to learn? The categories offered include applied sciences, English/literature, humanities, mathematics, and more. The categories are then broken down to more specific subjects.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Registering on Sophia is like joining any other online social network. One creates an account and customizes their profile by uploading a picture and sharing a short bio. You then have access to create learning packets, create groups, provide ratings and reviews, and follow others.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Learning packets are multimedia created tutorials with a learning objective using tools such as text, images, video, audio, and slideshows. They can be shared privately with a group or made public. Sophia provides a dual rating and review system for users to evaluate the packets for quality control.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Groups are invitation only. They can be used to coordinate a study group, organize a class, or evolve around an interest. A “bookshelf” of learning packets can be created or adopted by the group. </span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Sophia recently acquired <a href="http://www.guaranteach.com/">Guaranteach</a>, a web-based service that provides customized short-form mathematics video tutorials along with assessment tools. Guarantech has nearly 23,000 videos from counting to calculus developed by 200 teachers and experts in mathematics. They also provide quizzes and other assessment tools to match tutorials to learning styles and provide student progress reports. Prior to the acquisition, this service was provided solely on a pay per use basis to schools. The videos will be available for free on Sophia.org.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Sophia.org plan to expand the Guarantech model to include a full range of English and science tutorials. And create a new platform that may be licensed by colleges and schools.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Don Smithmier states that the acquisition will provide students and instructors a free resource of math tutorials ranging from basic math to college algebra. For colleges and schools the combination of Guaranteach’s adaptive learning model and Sophia’s social learning capabilities will provide a powerful platform for differentiated instruction and blended learning.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Sophia.org is not an accredited school. It is, however, an example of how learning can be re-imagined online away from the brick and mortar of traditional schooling.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Online, teachers can teach without physical borders and boundaries.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: 19px;">Please friend me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Mendoza/100001181600277">Facebook</a> and follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/EducatorMusing">Twitter</a>.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Please follow my bog - <a href="http://educatormusing.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Educator Musing</a>.</span></div>
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<div><span class="font-size-4">Thanks!</span></div>Educator Musing: McGraw-Hill and 360Ed Partnered To Create A Sparktag:www.classroom20.com,2011-07-01:649749:BlogPost:6661812011-07-01T05:30:00.000ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendoza
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">“Today’s world is very different from the world baby boomers like me grew up in. Is it a wonder, then, that by high school, very often both good students and bad ones, rich ones and poor ones, don’t much like school?”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> James Paul Gee – Author of What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"> “Research and experience have already shown that…</span></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">“Today’s world is very different from the world baby boomers like me grew up in. Is it a wonder, then, that by high school, very often both good students and bad ones, rich ones and poor ones, don’t much like school?”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> James Paul Gee – Author of What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"> “Research and experience have already shown that games can be applied very effectively in many learning contexts, and that games can engage learners in ways other tools and approaches cannot.”</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> <a target="_blank" href="http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2011/sections/game-based-learning/">2011 Horizon Report</a></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.mheducation.com/aboutus/index.shtml">McGraw-Hill Education</a> announced that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.360ed.com/Products/McGraw-Hill-Spark">Spark</a> would launch in August for high school biology and Algebra I, with more math and science courses to follow. This was their most exciting announcement during <a target="_blank" href="http://www.iste.org/conference.aspx">ISTE Conference 2011</a>. Spark is a cross-platform compatibility software that uses the power of social networking, educational games, and mobility to engage students in learning content and developing critical thinking skills. Spark is a suite of online courses that provides access to McGraw-Hill content in a compelling and connected framework. It may be the best example of what online 21<sup>st</sup> century education is supposed to be about.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">McGraw-Hill Education is a leading provider of educational materials. They provide print and online solutions for schools - think standardized tests, textbooks, and online assessments.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">McGraw-Hill Education chose to make the announcement in Philadelphia at the I<a target="_blank" href="http://www.iste.org/welcome.aspx">nternational Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)</a> Conference 2011. ISTE’s annual conference and exposition is thee source of excitement for education technology professionals each year. The exposition consists of 500 global educational technology companies and organizations demonstrating their products and services to improve learning and teaching. Think of it as the Comic Con or E3 Expo of educational techies. I wish that I were there.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">McGraw-Hill Education partnered with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.360ed.com/">360Ed</a> to create Spark. 360Ed is famous for partnering with Florida Virtual School to create the first online video game (Conspiracy Code) that students may play to honestly and officially receive high school American History credits. The sequel, Conspiracy Code: Mindbender is a full high school course for intensive reading.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">In both Conspiracy Code and Conspiracy Code: Mindbender, students play the role of teenage secret agents Eddie Flash and Libby Whitetree on a mission to save the world from Conspiracy Inc., a powerful secret organization. Students use avatars to follow clues and complete missions. The SiTi learning management platform keep track of their progress and provide a host of social networking communication tools for teacher and students to communicate. It’s reported to be fun with learning all the way.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">360ED updated their next-generation learning management platform, SiTi, to better facilitate collaborative online education. SiTi provides the framework for any online course and is capable of delivering media-rich content with social networking and other interactive features. Students collaborate using chat, wall posts, messages, and announcements in a safe secure learning social network. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Spark, much like Conspiracy Code, has advanced achievement and avatar customization systems that allow students to personalize their online experience and reward their achievements – like a video game.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.indiana.edu/~telecom/people/faculty/sheldon.shtml">Lee Sheldon</a>, University of Indiana at Bloomington assistant professor, set the blogosphere on fire March of 2010 by replacing the use of grades with experience points for his Telecommunication Department game design courses. He also repurposed assignments as quests, exams as fighting monsters, and writing papers as crafting. </span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Online Game-based education is changing the face of education.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">Please friend me on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Mendoza/100001181600277">Facebook</a> and follow me on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/#!/EducatorMusing">Twitter</a>.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">Please follow my blog - <a target="_blank" href="http://educatormusing.blogspot.com/">Educator Musing</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Thanks!</span></p>
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<p> </p>Educator Musing: Students Have A Right To Mock Teachers On Facebook?tag:www.classroom20.com,2011-06-26:649749:BlogPost:6624022011-06-26T03:53:28.000ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendoza
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">"Isn't the principal a dummy!" said a boy to a girl.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"Say, do you know who I am?" asked the girl.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"No."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"I'm the principal's daughter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"And do you know who I am?" asked the boy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"No," she replied.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"Thank…</span></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote><p><span class="font-size-4">"Isn't the principal a dummy!" said a boy to a girl.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"Say, do you know who I am?" asked the girl.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"No."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"I'm the principal's daughter."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"And do you know who I am?" asked the boy.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"No," she replied.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">"Thank goodness!"</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="font-size-4">There is a hot debate raging on Twitter and Facebook. Do students have the right to mock their teachers online? Education Week is holding a forum discussion on this question. I encourage everyone to participate.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">The responses to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.edweek.org/forums/education-forums_current-events_mocking-teachers-online-students-right">Education Week’s forum discussion</a> have been passionate, thoughtful, and quite revealing. They have revealed a lot about how our nation views educators. They have revealed a lot about the role of educators and their relationship with students. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Adam Cohen, in a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2078636,00.html">Time.com article</a>, did a thorough job in defining the issue and explaining the cases ruled on in federal courts. He is a former member of the New York Times editorial board. And he is currently a lawyer that teaches at Yale Law School.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Adam Cohen agrees with the rulings. Essentially the rulings say that free speech allows students to be rude and mocking as long as they are neither threatening nor disruptive to educational activities. Nonthreatening online mocking that is off campus and not during school hours is allowed. The caveat, of course, is that the cases were about official school disciplinary action and not individual legal action for slander and defamation of character.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Cohen suggests that we accept these ruling as the price to be paid for living in a free country.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">I’m going to handle it professionally - the comedic profession. Below are some of my favorite jokes.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4">…</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">A child comes home from his first day at school. His Mother asks, "Well, what did you learn today?" The kid replies, "Not enough. They want me to come back tomorrow."</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Teachers deserve a lot of credit. Of course, if we paid them more, they wouldn’t need it.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Teacher: Why does history keep repeating itself?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: Because we weren't listening the first time!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Teacher: Does anyone know which month has 28 days?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: All of them!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Teacher: Didn’t I tell you to stand at the end of the line?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: I tried, but there was someone already there!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: Should a person be punished for something they didn’t do?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Teacher: No.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: Good, because I didn’t do my homework.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">An elementary school teacher sends this note to all parents on the first day of school. "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens at school, I will promise not to believe everything your child says happens at home.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil (on phone): My son has a bad cold and won't be able to come to school today.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">School Secretary: Who is this?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: This is my father speaking!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Teacher: You copied from Fred's exam paper didn't you?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Pupil: How did you know?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Teacher: Fred's paper says "I don't know" and you have put "Me, neither"!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Father: Why did you get such a low score in that test?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Son: Absence</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Father: You were absent on the day of the test?</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Son: No but the boy who sits next to me was!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">A schoolteacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all. On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with deskwork. When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">He had no trouble with discipline that term.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-5">Please visit me at Facebook – <a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Mendoza/100001181600277">Carlos Mendoza</a></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">and my blog - <a target="_blank" href="http://educatormusing.blogspot.com/">Educator Musing</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Education Week Forum: <b><a target="_blank" href="http://www.edweek.org/forums/education-forums_current-events_mocking-teachers-online-students-right">Mocking Teachers Online – A Student’s Right?</a></b></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Edweek.org - <b><a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2011/06/cases_upholding_students_right_to_mock_teachers_on_facebook.html">Cases Uphold Students' Right to Mock Teachers on Facebook</a></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">By Anthony Rebora on June 20, 2011</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Time.com <b>- <a target="_blank" href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2078636,00.html">Why Students Have a Right to Mock Teachers Online</a></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">By Adam Cohen on Monday, June 20, 2011</span></p>
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<p> </p>Educator Musingtag:www.classroom20.com,2011-06-16:649749:BlogPost:6546842011-06-16T13:54:45.000ZCarlos Mendoza IIIhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/CarlosMendoza
<p><span class="font-size-4">Hi!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<br></br>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Welcome. My name is Carlos Mendoza. This blog is my reflections on 21<sup>st</sup> century learning. The goal is to promote/provoke discussions on education.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Education needs to be different from its current form to meet the needs of 21<sup>st</sup> century society. I am concerned that the reforms and legislations of the last twenty years have not been effective in…</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Hi!</span></p>
<p> </p>
<br/>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Welcome. My name is Carlos Mendoza. This blog is my reflections on 21<sup>st</sup> century learning. The goal is to promote/provoke discussions on education.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Education needs to be different from its current form to meet the needs of 21<sup>st</sup> century society. I am concerned that the reforms and legislations of the last twenty years have not been effective in improving public education. I am hopeful that the use of innovative technology and new 21<sup>st</sup> century pedagogy will create the learning systems needed for a new effective means of educating our students.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">I am leaning toward promoting a radical change in education. Different from public charter schools, we need to privatize public education without the use of public funds and without charging tuition. We now have the technology to create hybrid online schools with learning centers that can better meet the needs of students. I would like to explore that idea. Finding the right mix of instruction, management, and structure for sustainable funding and accreditation will be a challenge. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Please join me in my personal reflections on 21<sup>st</sup> century learning. I want to read your comments and opinions. I will do my best to answer questions.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">Please visit me at Facebook - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Carlos-Mendoza/100001181600277" target="_blank">Carlos Mendoza</a> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5">And read my Blog -<a target="_blank" href="http://educatormusing.blogspot.com/">Educator Musing</a></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Thanks.</span></p>