Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Afterthoughts

Hi to all:

First, let me say that I thought tonight's class was great! To think that there were no prior reports given or papers submitted, our 10 presenters did a fantastic job. Plus we learned new things, like how to use Google's free presentation software. As much as I hate to cut conversations short, I did so with a smile knowing how deeply you were getting involved with the topics. Some of the "perks" of teaching postgraduate level students are that you are very smart and you deeply care about your future positions.

Cutting conversations short brings me to the main point for this conversation: I forgot to tell you about the "comments" option. When you read one of your classmates' blog entries, you can add a comment. Unlike in class, there are no time limits out in cyberspace, so comment all you want!

Here are a few comments of my own, for starters.

No Child Left Behind: This law was up for reauthorization in 2007. It was pushed back until 2008, and many thought it wouldn't be reauthorized so close to an election that would bring in a new president with ideas of his/her own. They were right. However, reauthorization is not a priority that President Obama will address until at least 2010.

Translation: do not expect any significant changes to the law for the rest of this school year, the next school year, and possibly the one after that.

Technology and Curriculum: Podcasts, wikis, blogs, online courses, mp3 players, cell phones with 16GB of memory. Is the "factory model" school finally gone?

Ruby Payne's "A Framework For Understanding Poverty:" Note that not everyone is a Ruby Payne fan. Some find her research inaccurate, even offensive. In either case, you might want to read this fascinating book when the course is over and you have more time for pleasure reading.


Global Competition: Here's a question that has nagged me for some time. As the world flattens and our students learn to globalize, will we see an end to patriotism? While that would be unthinkable for our generation(s) we may well be asking, as Lee put it tonight, for co-operation, not competition. Will "God and country" become God and world?

Gifted and Talented Education: If the thrust ever returns for stronger Gifted and Talented education, can we please define what this term means? I always thought talented meant something other than academically brilliant. For example, did Bill Gates invent Windows because he was academically brilliant, or because he had the creative talent to see computer utilization differently than everybody else? Or was it due to both traits?

Dr. Dugan

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