The Official Donut of the New England Patriots

Courtesy of Dunkin Donuts - Manchester, NH

Another Moralistic Hypocrite Faces Charges

"I think it's ridiculous that you can't watch a movie without seeing sex, nudity or extreme violence. I don't understand why they're trying to keep that in there."

Those were the words of Daniel Thompson, founder of Clean Flicks, the Utah company that sanitized Hollywood movies for people who want all of their thinking done for them. Major directors, such as Steve Spielberg, sued Clean Flicks for rampant copyright violation (you can't paint underpants on Michelangelo's David for example).

Well, it now seems that Puritanical entrepreneur Daniel Thompson is in BIG TROUBLE - lots more trouble than when he was convicted for selling unregistered securities a few years back. Authorities believe that Clean Flicks was a front for a pornography studio and that Daniels had solicited sex from 14 year-old girls (after all, they're not old enough to watch "Saving Private Ryan"). The girls were also asked to appear in one of his movies. Authorities say that Daniels paid two 14 year-old girls $20 for oral sex for himself and a friend. A 16 year-old girl helped Daniels recruit underage "talent." There is reason to believe that he tried to get girls intoxicated as well.

A former employer who fired Danies from managing a clothing store said, "He was always talking about fighting Hollywood for the good of the children." Touching stuff!

The Daily Herald newspaper also reports the following:

Thompson also was founder and former member of Truth in Politics, a group started in 2006 purportedly to expose the people behind anonymous political attacks. The idea for the group was conceived at Thompson's former CleanFlicks dealership in Orem.

Daniels is the latest moralistic scold to be exposed as a jerk. He joins Hypocrite Hall of Fame members Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Bob Livingston, Henry Hyde, Newt Gingrich, Rudolph Giuliani and Rush Limbaugh. Unlike the others, Daniels faces serious jail time.

Teach your kids to run away from men who lecture your family on how to behave.

Arrogant Pundits Shill for Obama

In tonight's non-binding Florida Democratic Party, one million VOTERS may have cast their ballot for Senator Clinton.

Keith Olbmermann, Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough on MSNBC made all sorts of juvenile snarky remarks about what they view as Clinton's phyrric victory. They talked over her speech and cut away in the middle of it so they could tell the country that a million votes and substantial victory over Senator Obama do not matter.

CNN didn't broadcast Clinton's speech at all. This is inexcusable!

It's not as if the windbags on the cable news networks have lots of Britney Spears stories to discuss. They each dedicate hour upon hour to Florida Primary coverage.

In case you are wondering how one million votes cannot matter. Here is a synopsis...

Last spring, the Florida Republican Governor and Legislature decided to violate party rules and move the state presidential party from March until January in order to have a greater impact on the process. Both parties threatened to decertify the primaries, but only the Democrats decided to play by their established rules. Therefore, Florida delegates are not supposed to be seated at the Democratic convention, thereby making the primary a straw poll rather than delegate-awarding primary.

All of the Democratic candidates promised not to campaign in Florida, yet Barack Obama broke that pledge and ran frequent commercials across the state (more here & here). I personally saw them last week while working in Florida.

Sure, I wish that Senator Clinton was not asking for the Florida delegates to count now that she won. The voters of Florida should sue to reclaim their franchise. However, since her opponent is getting so much favorable press and so clearly broke the party rules regarding campaigning in Florida, Clinton had very little choice, but to give voice to the wishes of the electorate who chose her by a huge margin.

One would think that an activist with a commitment to civil rights, like Senator Obama would 1) play by electoral rules and not run expensive commercials across Florida and 2) fight to make sure that the votes of Floridians count.

By the way, not one pundit pointed out that Senator Clinton's Florida thank you speech was made without the need for the TelePrompTer relied upon by Senator Obama.

*****
Read more about the Florida Primary mischief at www.makeitcountflorida.com

PS: Rudolph "9/11" Giuliani (who came in 3rd in his must-win primary) just said that he ran a "positive uplifting campaign." Those TV commercials featuring the attack on the World Trade Center didn't seem uplifting to me. MSNBC is running Rudolph Giuliani's entire speech. I guess losers deserve more respect.

Tough guy Rudy just got choked up when he said, "Reagan." The biggest loser just came out for school choice (including home schooling and parochial schools too). Great stuff!

This just in! MSNBC cut away from Guiliani (we'll have to wait for whether he stays in or quits like he did when Hillary Clinton won her Senate seat). They cut away for the Great Rudy for 2nd place Romney's speech. That must really sting.

Romney just said that America is competing against "countries like Asia and India." Perhaps Obama can lend Mitt his TelePrompTer?

Democratic Cheese

This may be better than the Internet!

A mobile US Post Office parked in front of Zabar's in Manhattan.

Each day it parks in a different location.

Who knows? Perhaps in the future, services will come to you :-)

Not sure if I'll actually do this

Beyond Surreal

Stephen Colbert, Ambassador Andrew Young, Malcolm Gladwell and a gospel choir sing a rousing spiritual on behalf of striking WGA writers in celebratin of Dr. King's birthday.

Fact, fiction, history, comedy, civil rights, satire and social justice all come together in one bizarre, yet entertaining package.

Watch clips here...

Stop the VoiceThread! Please!

Wes Fryer spends a great deal of time and effort on his blog and in workshops touting VoiceThread as an important new educational tool. VoiceThread (and similar products) may in fact represent interesting technical achievements, but a heathy dose of candor and critical reflection is needed.

I know that if I dare criticize Wes' examples I run the risk of being called a big meanie and told that the examples presented are just quick vignettes not intended to be exemplars. However, lots of educators are being led to believe that such web-based software tools represent sophisticated practice and new learning opportunities. Such a conclusion would be wrong.

The VoiceThread examples I have seen are little more than digital book reports with images not owned or created by the student (author) and with narrations suffering from too little planning and editing. The audience for such "productions" eludes me.

Some of these slapped together multimedia collages are about as entertaining as a slideshow of someone else's vacation photos.

In case you think I'm wrong, too harsh or making a rash judgement, please watch and listen to the VoiceThread video here.

This matters to me! I have been disappointed by how hard it is to engage the educational blogosphere in issues of social justice and civil rights as demonstrated in the following recent blogs:

Twittering While America Burns
The State of Race Relations
I'm Worried About America
Oh! The Humanity!
What's the Difference Between School and Prison?
Observations from the NSBA Conference...

In this blog, Wes Fryer shares a VoiceThread project he created about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "Dream" speech.

It is unclear as to whether the voices you hear are a mixture of students and teachers or just teachers alone. (there are no credits) The "educational objective" of the activity seem to have to do with evaluating audio quality more than understanding Dr. King. However, the enormity of Dr. King's contributions and sacrifice deserve far more than a soundcheck.

The following are some questions and observations that arise from the King VoiceThread video published by Wes Fryer:

Did the students (or their teachers) listen to the entire March on Washington speech? (few classrooms ever do) Did they discuss the purpose of the 1963 speech or read the speeches of others present that day?

Did they consider (re: READ) other work by King or his contemporaries?

Do the students (or their teachers) think that the nation healed immediately after that speech?

Do the students (or their teachers) know that the Supreme Court just made voluntary school desegregation illegal?

One speaker says something like, "one speech by one man with one dream change everyone's life even if you don't think about it?" This is the filibuster of an unprepared student and then you used your platform to share such nonsense with the world.

Why should we be impressed by a web-based slideshow of what kids or teachers) think/feel/believe based on exposure to a few sentences uttered by a prolific political leader? This dangerously equates the teacher who rambles on about how American life is consumed by the "almighty dollar" with the Nobel Laureate. This is a display of egocentrism, narcissism and ignorance.

If the VoiceThread I watched and listened to is just an early draft, then why publish it? Respect your audience by keeping drafts private. Can someone please point me to the good VoiceThreads?



I wrote about the miseducative way in which Dr. King is taught in "If You Really Want to Honor Dr. King..." I hope some of you will read this article and "The Truth Shall Set You Free!"

EduCon 2.0 Preconference Homework

In preparation for Educon 2.0, please use this tool to create a graphical metaphor for teaching and learning.

Don't be a digital tuber!

MacWorld and the Death of the American Work Ethic

First of all, there seems to be some confusion regarding the governance of the MacWorld Expo. Apple Computer does NOT run the conference. They are a paying vendor, just like all others. Therefore, if your badge was not ready or you waited 3 hours to get into Steve Jobs' keynote without the line moving an inch, it is NOT Apple's fault. Blame IDG, the company that produces MacWorld.

A wise person once said, "No matter what it says on your business card, you're in sales."

If this is the case, then my two days at MacWorld Expo generate reason for concern about the future of our economy.

Sure there were plenty of iPod doo-dads, screen protectors and USB drives shaped like Yul Brenner, but it was remarkably difficult, at times impossible, to actually make a purchase. Worse yet, receiving an intelligible response to a question asked of a vendor was excruciating and frustrating.

I am not talking about the companies who hire attractive women to dispense booth-side beer. I don't expect them to provide technical support.

I do expect companies to employ folks for booth demos with communication skills, properly installed software and some knowledge of how the product works.

When I take out my credit card to purchase an item being sold to me I expect:
1) They have stock of the actual product they are selling me
2) They can work a credit card machine
3) They can make change when I agree to take a less desirable color and not use a credit card
4) I am not asked to come back in a little while, if the corporate representative cannot define "while"
5) They don't wait on 174 other people before completing my transaction

On several occasions I wished to purchase an exciting new product and the booth representative told me to go to a vendor selling that item on the show floor. Upon reaching that reseller, I was informed that the product isn't even shipping yet.

One representative of LaCie told me that I could buy one of their drives immediately while the colleague next to them told me that the product was not shipping yet. Can you folks please have a meeting before the show?

One of my favorite companies, Griffin Technology, sent me on a similar wild goose chase in which I failed to surrender moolah. Incidentally, Griffin's new Evolve Wireless Sound System for iPod, was one of the most impressive products I saw at MacWorld.

I attempted to purchase two sets of RAM and two internal hard drives from OtherWorld Computing. This required an elaborate process involving:

1) Go to one counter, complete order form and receive claim check from one employee
2) Wait on line at cash register
3) An employee gathers and bags your order
4) You pay for the order

After navigating this consumer obstacle course, I realized that they did not charge me for the two drives. I then had to wait several minutes for two people in line ahead of me telling their life stories to another employee before I was granted the privilege of surrendering another $300. That earns me good karma, correct?

Well, not so fast. Upon returning home, I realized that they only sold me one order of RAM in two packages. Therefore, I now have to call the company back and do even more business with them.

I suppose that one of the first tenets of sales technique is "Don't make the customer feel stupid." Well HP, you failed. I have been severely inconvenienced by my HP scanner inoperability since Mac OS Leopard came out in October. I check the HP web site every week or so looking for the necessary driver updates. I check other web sites as well for news of drivers.

When I went by the HP booth, I first had to find someone who "worked scanners." I asked, "When will there be Leopard drivers for the J5780?" and was told first that they don't produce such a model and then taken to two different computers to look for the drivers he was confident I just hadn't found.

The HP driver page for my scanner indicated that a software update did exist, but my suspicion was aroused by the fact that it was dated October 2007. I know that there have not been drivers available for that long. Eventually I stumbled upon an HP engineer who said that the drivers had just recently been made available. I'm not a crazy liar after all. Thanks HP!

Since I praised Apple earlier, I will now share an annual pet peeve. Apple's paranoia regarding secrecy means that their employees frequently know less about the new Apple products than the customers who attended Steve Jobs' keynote. This is a great disservice to customers and journalists, like myself who are on deadline and have questions that go beyond the name of the new product.

Hey Apple, how about having a meeting on the show floor with your employees before the hall doors open? This way you can answer our questions in an intelligent fashion.

The following questions put to Apple representatives were met with bewilderment, "I don't know," "talk to that person over there," and half-hearted attempts to make up something.

• Does the USB port on the back of Time Capsule allow for external drives to be connected and accessed?

• Is there any way to connect Apple TV to a composite (regular) TV so it may be used in hundreds of thousands of classrooms without them purchasing HD televisions?

• Does the $1,000 solid state drive upgrade for the MacBook Air increase the performance speed of the laptop?

The last question was answered with responses like, "I imagine that it should."

I spoke to a person who was introduced as an iPhone expert and asked, "When can we expect copy/paste and searchable contacts?" The answer I received was, "We receive a lot of suggestions from customers." Being able to copy and paste is hardly a cure for cancer. If they can make GPS work on the iPhone, surely making apps behave as they have for 20 years should not be too difficult.

It would also be great if you could design the booth in such a way that customers can actually see the products. It would also be helpful if you had help desks where a few representatives could answer sophisticated questions, rather than making me play 20 questions with dozens of Apple reps. By the 2nd day of MacWorld, Apple personnel had a look of defeat in their eyes and they were of even less assistance than when the show began on day one. Perhaps they're being overworked, uninformed or under-motivated.

The best customer service I received at MacWorld came from the following companies.

Xtrememac where a mechanical engineer not only did an enthusiastic and expert job of demonstrating new products, he seemed generally interested in our thoughts. They need to hear from educators who need the superb MicroMemo recording peripheral to continue being produced. Incidentally, their new Luna X2 iPod clock radio is a brilliant piece of engineering and design.



VMWare, maker of Fusion - software that allows you to run Windows and other operating systems on your Mac with full drag-and-drop functionality.


Prosoft Engineering whose data protection and recovery products save my life with all-too-frequent regularity.


Solio - makers of solar-powered recharging devices. I bought one!


Boombags - the one piece of hardware I could not live without. I have used their luggage with integrated speakers, mixer, amplifier and subwoofer for three years all over the world. They keep making the product better too!

Blogging from MacWorld - Steve Jobs Keynote

Notes from the press room - 4th row!

Time capsule - wireless router and server with hard drive for Time Machine
Airport express - 500 GB/$1000GB drive in Feb ($299/$399)
iPhone SDK in late Feb. for developers
iPhone sold 4 million units - 20% share in 1 qtr.
New iPhone apps - maps with location
Web clips let you pan and zoom a web page and make a button on iPhone menu page. Up to 9 menu pages fully configurable

iTunes
iTunes sold 4 billion songs, 20 million on Xmas day alone
Chapters, subtitles and languages in video + lyrics for music
125 million TV shows sold

New movie rentals
All major studios, 1,000 titles by Feb. Begin playing in less than 30 sec
Start watching within 30 days and then for 24 hours on any of your devices
Watch on computer, put on iPod and hit the airport
$2.99 for old movies, $3.99 for new releases 30 days after DVD release

Apple TV Take Two
Watch any iTunes content on TV without a computer, including podcasts, Flickr and .mac photos
One button rental from Apple TV Take 2
Lots of podcasts in HD
Go to your own or other people's .mac photo albums with soundtrack or use as screensaver
Movies from .mac galleries may also be accessed from .mac
Recipient of this content doesn't need a computer
Look at Flickr photos - even those of their contacts/friends
Free software upgrade in 2 weeks for existing Apple TV owners
Price drops from $299 to $229 in 2 weeks
20th Century Fox is putting a digital copy of their movies in their DVD packages.


MacBook Air
Fits in a manilla envelope - world's thinnest notebook
13.3 inch backlit instant-on display with full size backlit keyboard and multi-touch gestures
Pinch, zoom, change images with the trackpad like the iPhone
Motherboard is smaller than a pencil
80GB 1.8" HD standard. 60GB solid state HD as option
1.6 GHz Intel core duo standard - 1.8 option
$99 USB2 bus-powered optical drive
Install software wirelessly from another computer via remote desktop
iSight camera built-in, 2 GB RAM, plus MagSafe connector
Recyclable, toxin free aluminum
$1,799 - pre order today, available in 2 weeks

Apple reduces need for hard media with today's Apple TV, iTunes and MacBook Air

Special musical guest - Randy Newman

Apple iTunes Video Rentals

Eradicating Meaningless Euphemisms by Bombarding them with New Ones

David Warlick's most recent blog and the congratulatory support of his readers confuses me.

Let me begin by sharing a portion of his article with which I agree:

Our efforts should not be to integrate technology into the classroom, but to define and facilitate a new platform on which the classroom operates. When the platform is confined by classroom walls, and learning experiences spring from static textbooks and labored-over white boards, and the learning is highly prescribed, then pedagogy is required.

However, I am left to ask, "What do learners DO in the world of pretty diagrams, false dichotomies and networked learning platforms promised in Warlick's blog?"

However, if the platform is a node on the global network; with text, audio, and video links to other uncountable nodes on the network; and the connections are real time and clickable, and tools are available to work and employ the content that flows through those connections; then the learning happens because learners have experienced personal connections — and they want to maintain those connections by feeding back their own value. (Warlick 1/13/08)

I don't teach from textbooks or white boards and never did. My teaching has been far from prescriptive, whether face-to-face or online. This was all possible without the technology platform Warlick fashions for educators of the future. Understanding how meaningful, personal, non-coercive, creative, constructive, collaborative learning environments have been created, and in some cases sustained, around the world should be a pre-requisite for anyone professing a desire to reinvent education.

I love talking, chatting, Skyping, Twittering, blogging, Mogging (yup, it exists) and writing as much as the next guy, but a very small percentage of knowledge is constructed by talking. Much is not. I remain unconvinced that the most vocal proponents of Web 2.0 offer a vision of technology use outside of the language arts or perhaps social studies curriculum. With all due respect, talking about math or science is not the same as being a scientist or mathematician. Papert originally offered a vision of how computers make that possibility a reality.

Learning is an active process with the learner at its center. It is not dependent on instruction, online or face-to-face. I got excited about computing thirty years ago because it allowed me to make things that did not exist before or were beyond my reach. It amplified my creative abilities. Playing jazz and computer programming afforded me a community of practice of like-minded people, of various levels of expertise and shared objectives.

I have since come to understand how knowledge is the result of active purposeful construction and that computers often unprecedented opportunities to explore new domains and engage in a much wider range of projects than have ever been possible before. As Papert says, "If you can make things with computers, then you can make a lot more interesting things." The process of computer programming was as creatively rewarding and intellectually satisfying as composing music or engaging in a well-reasoned argument. What are examples of the "artifacts of learning" that Mr. Warlick "breeds?"

I fear with all my being that the remarkable potential of computing and the promise for innovation and school reform it once embraced will be lost if all we focus on is the "well-reasoned debate" at best, and looking stuff up, PowerPoint or web quests at worst.

I do not mean to diminish for an instant the power of the Internet. I have personally been online since 1983 and teaching online for more than a dozen years. I used an acoustic coupler to connect from my bedroom to a mainframe in the late 1970s and remember when my Australian host invited her neighbors over to watch me check my email in 1990. I led collaborative online education projects in the late 1980s. As I write this paragraph, even I ask myself, "SO WHAT?"

The network begins at home. Isn't there MUCH more we can do to make the existing learning environments more social, collaborative and meaningful whether electricity is involved or not? Why do we constantly jump from melodramatic tales of school to some utopian world of online alchemy?

It may be ill-advised to project onto children or the educational system an adult's excitement about how social networks have reduced their sense of isolation, answered a tech-support question or even helped shape their personal identity.

I sense that we have gone beyond the tipping point of what Seymour Papert calls "verbal inflation." We are terribly excited about so very little.

David's triad of "electronic portfolios," "course management systems" and "social networking" offers not a single clue for a teacher yearning to make school a more hospitable place for learning nor provides a child one ounce of leverage against the system many of you proclaim a desire to reform. In fact, electronic portfolios and course management systems are clear tools of the existing system.

I do happen to agree with David Warlick's concern about the cacophony of meaningless euphemisms being bandied about, but cannot help but notice the number of additional ones introduced in the comments to his blog.

What the Hell is Veronica Mars?

Last night, around 4 AM, I was awake in a Canadian hotel room and watched my first episode of some show called, Veronica Mars. Canadian TV kept running interstitials announcing that really naughty stuff could appear at any moment. That was the only reason I endured the entire episode. Alas, it was a lie.

I consider myself somewhat literate and perceptive, but after investing an hour in the program I have no idea what it was about or who the characters were supposed to be. Are they cops? Baby-sitters? Spies? Midgets? (I know that's politically incorrect)

Perhaps one of my colleagues in the blogosphere is down with Veronica Mars (and all things youth culture) and can explain it to me.

EdTech Bigwig in Big Trouble

I learned about this controversy from Susan Ohanian's web site, quoting the Washington Post.

Superintendent Porter is of course innocent until proven guilty and fighting the allegations against him.

Here is John Q. Porter endorsing COSN. Porter is also on the Board of Directors of COSN

Mr. Porter is also an advisor to ISTE and The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. He was a recent speaker at a conference sponsored by SIIA.

Here is a link to the profile of John Q. Porter that was published in District Administration in 2006.

Here is Mr. Porter's January 7th public response to the allegations against him.

Troubled by the Similarities Between GW Bush and Obama

I am a lifelong Democrat and will support the eventual nominee. I like Obama a lot. I just think that Americans should know what he believes and what he would do if elected. I have long worked for minority candidates and underdogs. I was 1 percent of Jesse Jackson's vote in 1984 in my hometown and supported Geraldine Ferraro and Jane Harmon. It would be fantastic for an African American to be President of the United States.

However, the similarities between George W. Bush and Obama scare me.

Both had Ivy League educations, put on fake southern accents, go with their "gut" feelings over facts, dismiss experience and have never done anything before.

Both President Bush and Senator Obama have campaigned as "Uniters." Haven't we learned that lesson?

I'm not looking forward to 4-8 years of amateurs and staff running the country.

This all plays into the Andrew Keen stuff about the cult of the amateur and extends the growing anti-intellectualism in our culture.

The system is indeed broken when one junior high school popularity contest causes people with a lifetime of expertise to drop out before a vote is cast. Biden, Richardson, Dodd, Clinton and even Kucinich have a record of accomplishments that Obama does not share.

If Obama Wins, Thank Howard Dean!

If Barack Obama happens to win the his party's nomination and takes the White House it is the result of Howard Dean's leadership as party chair and first candidate to to use the social aspects of the Web successfully for organizational purposes and to excite young voters.

In 2004, Howard Dean tapped into the anger over the war in Iraq and contempt of the Constitution displayed by the Bush Administration. He said that NCLB was a disaster. He was right on many of these issues and more. He revolutionized online fundraising and introduced the political world to blogs and Meetup.com.

After being destroyed by an open mic and a giddy mainstream media, Governor Dean became Chair of the Democratic National Committee. This represented the first time that the party leaned left and moved away from the Democratic Leadership wing of the party led so successfully by the Clintons.

When Dean became party chair, he promised to have the Democratic party compete in all 50 states for the first time in generations. I seem to remember that the old guard of the party thought that was a terrible idea. The party has gone on to build an effective grass-roots machine all across America.

Obama is now taking advantage of Howard Dean's vision, contempt for the Clintons and brilliant organizational talents. I just wish Obama had Dean's courage and willingness to address policy with specificity.

Why Do Independents Get to Vote in Party Primaries?

If you are not a member of a political party, because you are too lazy or cowardly to commit, at least for one election, stay home.

I switched parties for one election, in order to participate in a primary. It took a few minutes in both directions. I made the effort and played by the rules.

Primaries are not run by America, they are run by the political parties for their members. I'm sick of "independents" creating mischief in the election when they didn't make the effort to join a party.

Independents should stay home and watch Matlock reruns until next November!

PC Magazine Whitewashes the Future

In commemoration of its 25th Anniversary, PC Magazine has published an article, "The Next 25 Years in Tech."

They asked

14 industry leaders and PC Mag staffers [what they] see in store for the next 25 [years].

Given the leaders selected, one might conclude that in the future there will only be white males.

The Republican Lie on Healthcare

I just watched the Republican Presidential candidates yuck it up about the healthcare disaster in this country. There was no discussion of the marketing costs or bureaucratic excess or greed causing 47 million men, women and children from being uninsured or underinsured. Mitt Romney thinks Americans lack health insurance because of personal irresponsibility and greed.

Moderator, Charlie Gibson, asked, "Why we are the only industrialized country that does not insure all of its citizens?" The G.O.P. candidates all blurted out in unison,

"How come everybody from around the world comes here when they need medical care?"

That canard is a big stinkin' shameless LIE. I've never seen any data suggesting that foreigners are beating down the doors of our hospitals, but even if they are, it is only rich people who can afford to travel to America for medical care. (Given our increasingly inhospitable immigration policies, I doubt many sick people, even rich ones, are coming to the USA for treatment).

We need a system that protects the health of all Americans, not just wealthy ones.

Shame on National Geographic

Wesley Fryer shared information about a new contest for teachers and kids sponsored by The National Geographic on his blog, Encourage Hands-on Science Inquiry! Winners get a trip to Australia, my second home.

Cool, right?

Not so fast!

I read Wes' post and then the National Geographic site. I have no idea what sort of "experiment" or "exploration" a kid might do to win this contest. I know of few teachers who can do justice to the spirit of the subject matter.

Perhaps the contest is really just a sweepstakes or a lottery.

The first rule of project-based or problem-based learning is that the learner must have a reasonable chance of getting their head around solving the problem, or taking a reasonable swipe at solving the problem. We frequently fail by asking students to solve problems too adult, abstract or large for them to tackle. The other common mistake is posing a problem that is overly vague. The National Geographic contest offers no clues for what a kid might do. This invariably advantages kids whose parents or teachers direct the activity.

How many teachers know what hands-on geography is? How many kids can figure this out alone? What has National Geographic done to help?

Is hands-on science/geography merely collecting stuff? Is it experimental? How does collecting American flora or fauna connect to "understanding" Australia?

If one of my graduate students authored this challenge, they would be at serious risk of failure.

Oh yeah, be sure to wash your hands with hand sanitizer. (That's one of the few details offered by The National Geographic)

Charlie Rose Lobotomized by "education" Guest

Last evening, January 2nd, my favorite journalist/talk show host once again demonstrated how his IQ can drop in half when the subject being discussed is education. Rich guy, and probably well-meaning, philanthropist Geoffrey Canada saluted the Bloomberg/Klein cabal, touted merit pay, bashed teacher unions, demanded a longer school day, pretended that the multi-billion dollar disaster of American standardized tests compared our kids to foreign students, supported KIPP Academy and even went so far as to cite the Houston public schools under Rod Paige's leadership despite the documented evidence that the "Houston Miracle" that spawned NCLB was a complete fraud for which only the whistleblower was punished. Mr. Canada also took umbrage with the phony baloney issue of "social promotion" and wishes NCLB were fully-funded.

Canada kept repeating that the reason poor kids are in failing schools is because of politics, Yet, all of his political theories are faith-based free-market schemes with no record of success anywhere and not a single example of actual classroom practice - in other words HIS pitch is 100% political.

I LOVE Charlie Rose. I rarely miss a program. I used to watch his 2-6 AM show, CBS Nightwatch, in the 1980s. There is no better interviewer on science, the arts, culture or politics than Mr. Rose. However, on the rare occasion he covers education, his guests are always conservative drill and kill proponents. The conservatives want vouchers, more testing and longer school days. The liberals want merit pay, more testing and longer school days.

The only guests I've seen on Charlie Rose in recent years have been Chancellor Klein the founder of Teach-for-America and Geoffrey Canada. For some reason the ordinarily remarkable journalist, Rose, completely suspends his disbelief and allows his platform to be used to promote dopey educational theories that are ruining the lives of children.

Perhaps Mr. Rose does not know that other voices exist in public education or that there are successful urban schools where the students are treated as his Upper East Side friends expect their children to be educated.

I offer a partial list of guests who can share their expertise and present a different vision of education for future television programs:

Dennis Littky & Elliot Washor
Jonathan Kozol
Deborah Meier
Herbert Kohl
Theodore Sizer
Alfie Kohn
Susan Ohanian
Etta Kralovek
Roger Schank
Ron Canuel
Stephen Krashen
Constance Kamii
Gerald Coles
Gerald Bracey
Ken Goodman
John Taylor Gatto
Robert Coles
Diane Ravitch
Ted Hamory & Stephanie Lee
George Wood
Lella Gandini
Pedro Noguera
Chris Lehman
me


Related article - Bill Gates and Eli Broad Go Gangsta

My New Article About Technology Policy is Online

My new article suggesting a novel New Year's resolution guaranteed to resolve 99.7% of all school conflicts, Beyoncé Feels Your Pain, is available here.

Herb Kohl - Landscape of a Lifetime

The publication of his outstanding new book, Painting Chinese: A Lifelong Teacher Gains the Wisdom of Youth, provided me with a rare opportunity to spend time with legendary educator and author Herb Kohl. Kohl has published more than 40 books about education since the 1960s and has made enormous contributions to progressive education and social justice.

My interview with Kohl is finally in-print in a District Administration Magazine cover story, Landscape of a Lifetime: Herb Kohl Reflects on Education Today. While the hard copy looks gorgeous, you can also read the article online here.

I am most grateful to Herb Kohl for decades worth of inspiration and for the generosity and patience he contributed to this editorial project.