[Whiteboard-subscribers] Whiteboard Report #120, September 19, 2007
Brad Edmondson
brade at lightlink.com
Wed Sep 19 10:05:15 EDT 2007
NSDL WHITEBOARD REPORT #120
Whiteboard Report news is on the Web at http://NSDL.org and
http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/whiteboardtalkback. Back issues are
available at
http://content.nsdl.org/wbr/Issue--Archive.php.
September 19, 2007
NEWS
Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/highlights
NSDL’s Middle School Portal has been awarded a grant from the
National Science Foundation International Polar Year (IPY) Program.
It will collaborate with the Byrd Polar Research Institute, the
Center for Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio, NSDL Core
Integration, and other organizations to develop an online magazine
called “Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears: Integrating Literacy and IPY
into K-5 Classrooms.” Kim Lightle, PI of the Middle School Portal,
got the idea for the project when she observed that people of all
ages are stumped by this riddle: Why don't polar bears eat penguins?
The answer is that these species live at opposite ends of the earth,
and the confusion reflects a shallow understanding of polar
environments. The goal of the project is to improve the quality of
science teaching in K-5 classrooms. Each issue of the online magazine
will be organized around a concept, such as Ice, Conservation,
Biomes, or Populations. The project will also take advantage of new
NSDL "web 2.0" resources such as Expert Voices blogs and a wiki now
in development. For more information, contact Kimberly Lightle at
lightle.16 at osu.edu. For more information on International Polar Year,
go to http://www.ipy.org.
NSTA/NSDL Seminar #2: Everything Igneous
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NSDL2/
webseminar.aspx
The second season of free web seminars offered by the National
Science Teachers Association and NSDL begins tomorrow (September 20)
at 6:30 pm Eastern time with an introduction to The FunWorks, a
digital resource library designed by middle school students that
encourages young people to explore math and science careers. If you
can’t make it on such short notice, please consider participating in
the second seminar at the same time on Tuesday, October 2. Dr.
Anthony Koppers, Associate Professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics
at Oregon State University, will join Dr. Chris Massell Symons of the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography to dive into the depths of
volcanoes. “Everything’s Coming Up Igneous” is for anyone who wants
to learn about or teach the formation of hotspots, mantle plumes, and
LIPs (Large Igneous Provinces). Free pre-registration is required:
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/SeminarRegistration.aspx.
Open Access to Scientific Papers
http://www.prismcoalition.org
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/issue-brief-aap-pr-prism.pdf
Librarians are responding to a public relations campaign funded by
the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The Partnership for
Research Integrity in Science & Medicine (PRISM) was launched earlier
this year with support from the AAP’s Professional and Scholarly
Publishing Division to “ensure the quality, integrity, and economic
viability of peer-reviewed journals.” Two weeks ago, an issue brief
from the Association of Research Librarians said that PRISM's real
purpose is to oppose initiatives that ease public access to federally
funded research, and to oppose “open access generally.” Open Access
advocates point to the case of Peter Murray Rust, a chemist at
Cambridge University, who found Oxford University Press's website
demanding $48 from him to access his own scientific paper, in which
he holds copyright and which he released under a Creative Commons
license: see http://wwmm.ch.cam.ac.uk/blogs/murrayrust/?p=529.
Virginia Requires Internet Safety Instruction
http://www.oag.state.va.us
Virginia has become the first state to require schools to teach
children how to avoid online pedophiles and scammers. Because the bad
guys are known to lurk on social networking sites like MySpace,
Facebook, and Xanga, staffers from the Virginia Attorney General’s
office are visiting classrooms to tell children to follow the same
rules online as they would in any public place: don’t talk to
strangers, don’t share personal information, and don’t agree to meet
anyone who approaches you. Government officials in Connecticut,
North Carolina, and other states have called for stronger government
regulation of social networking sites, according to a September 17
report on National Public Radio’s "Morning Edition:" see http://
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14427020.
NDSL Response Describes Growing Community
http://nsdl.org/resources_for/library_builders/documents.php
In early August of this year, the National Science Board of the
National Science Foundation released the draft version of a new
report: "A National Action Plan for Addressing the Critical Needs of
the U.S. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education
System". NSDL was mentioned twice, as both a repository for STEM
materials and as a means of dissemination. NSDL performs both those
functions now, not only for NSF, but for a large range of other
organizations and individuals. Those basic functions are important,
but in order to illustrate the full extent of NSDL activities and
capacities in support of STEM education, NSDL submitted a formal
response to the NSB's call for public comments. NSDL's comments
provide a good summary of the project's history, current status, and
prospects. "NSF has built a powerful and effective cognitive tool in
NSDL, but what may be most effective is the growing NSDL network,"
the comments conclude. The final version of the NSB report is
scheduled for release in the fall and approval next spring. NSDL's
comments are labeled "NSDL Response to NSB Plan Aug07" at the link
above. To see the draft of the National Science Board report, go to
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/edu_com/report.jsp
BOOKMARKS
Online Climate Course Offers $500
http://www.informalearthscience.org
The Paleontological Research Institution, in conjunction with the
Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) is offering an
innovative course in ESS education professional development “Global
Climate Change and Informal Earth System Science” is a for-credit, 9
week online course in designing inquiry-based, Earth system science
informal education. Upon successful completion of the course, the
staff member's employing venue will receive a mini-grant for $500 for
each participant, to be used toward implementation of his/her final
project. Employing institutions will then be invited to offer the
ESSEA K-12 teacher PD courses to local teachers.
Six Forces Affecting Education
http://kwfdn.org/map/map.aspx
The KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Institute for the Future have
released a map that forecasts six plausible trends and cultural
shifts that are likely to affect education over the next 10 years.
They are: Grassroots Economics; Smart Networking; Strong Opinions,
Strongly Held; The Sick Herd; The Urban Wilderness; and The End of
Cyberspace. The trends are presented as rows in a matrix, and they
are paired with horizontal columns labeled Family & Community;
Markets; Institutions; Educators & Learning; and Tools & Practices.
Send Brochures to NSDL By Sept. 30
rpayo at nsdl.ucar.edu
September 30 is the deadline for sending NSDL your project brochures
and flyers for distribution at meetings and conferences. Send them
to NSDL/UCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80301 Attn: Robert
Payo.
Answer Whiteboard’s Questions, Win $100
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Nt2VKD3joB0nS3xXGQivbg_3d_3d
Whiteboard Report is planning a makeover and we seek your candid
advice. Click on the link to answer a few questions and we will be
ever so grateful. We will collect responses through the end of
September. One randomly selected visitor will receive a $100 gift
certificate to Amazon.com.
INSPIRATION
Hispanic Science
http://www.engineeringpathway.com/ep/hEd/search/search_link.jhtml?
keyword=hispanic
Seven Latin American countries mark their anniversary of independence
in September and October. The Engineering Pathway is celebrating
Hispanic Heritage Month, beginning September 15, with a collection of
resources about and for Hispanic engineers and scientists. Resources
include “The 10 Best Engineering Schools for Hispanics” and profiles
of Hispanic women who are leaders in information technology.
NSDL Whiteboard Report describes research, news, and notes from the
National Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Education Digital
Library (http://NSDL.org), which is funded by the National Science
Foundation. Whiteboard is published bi-weekly and includes
information from NSDL projects and programs nationwide. Please
redistribute. To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit http://nsdl.org/
publications/?pager=signup.
Whiteboard Report is edited by Brad Edmondson (gbe2 at cornell.edu).
Project leaders and participants from the NSDL community are
encouraged to send the editor research news and notes of interest.
Please limit these items to 100 words or less and provide web links
to additional information.
The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is the nation's online
library of resources for science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics education and research.
NSDL would like to thank the National Science Foundation for its
generous support and advocacy of NSDL as the NSF digital library of
science education. This material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grants No. 0227648, 0424671, and
0227888. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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