Posts tagged education
Kickstarter - Lauren Ipsum: Computer Science for Kids
I just backed this project and thought I’d share it with you.
Why Arabic is Terrific
Maciej Cegłowski just finished studying Arabic at the Monterey Institute for International Studies. His recount is both informative and entertaining. Here’s an excerpt from the Phonetics section:
Several enjoyable consonants wait to greet the foreign learner. Most of these are emphatic consonants, which are just like the familiar consonants /k/, /t/, /th/, /s/ and /d/ except that as you pronounce them you must simultaneously try to swallow your tongue.
And then there is this beast: ع a consonant pronounced so far back in the throat that you must wait two hours after eating to safely attempt it. Naturally it’s one of the most common sounds in the language.
TEDTalks now on Hulu!
TEDTalks have been available on the web, iPhone, and iPad for a while. Now, you can also watch them on your TV with Hulu Plus* and a compatible device, like Roku.
Here are some of my favorite TEDTalks:
Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing
Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from
David Blaine: How I held my breath for 17 min
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!
Jason Fried: Why work doesn’t happen at work
Eric Giler demos wireless electricity
Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight
John Underkoffler points to the future of UI
Charles Limb: Your brain on improv
David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization
*If you don’t already have Hulu Plus, please use that link to sign up so we can both get 2 weeks free.
The Republicans have been on a roll this month. After trying to sentence to death pregnant women and abortion providers, they professed their love for science by declaring that “global warming is beneficial” and proposing to strip the EPA of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas pollution. Not to mention what’s going on in Wisconsin.
Now they’re taking their affinity for the arts to a new height: they want to eliminate federal funding for NPR and PBS. The infographic above from 170millionamericans.org will help you understand why this is a big deal. Please take action to save public broadcasting. All you have to do is fill out your personal info and click “Send Message”.
This is a great clip from The Joy of Stats, a documentary by Hans Rosling that aired on BBC Four earlier this month. You can also play with the data in an interactive Flash site on Gapminder.
20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web is a great interactive book published by the Google Chrome Team. It was built in HTML5 by Fantasy Interactive, with illustrations by Christoph Niemann.
What The Fuck Has Obama Done So Far?
Given the state the country is in, it’s easy to focus on the negatives, but are you aware of the positive changes made over the past 2 years? This site will fill you in.
When I showed this to my girlfriend, she asked “why didn’t the White House think of this?” Seriously. Obama needs to step up his game when it comes to informing us citizens about his accomplishments. Also, why did the creators of the site wait until November 2 to spread the word??
(via Metafilter)
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity (2006)
This is one of the best TED talks I’ve seen so far and a must-see! While discussing a serious subject, Sir Ken Robinson also gives your abs a workout with his humor. No wonder it’s one of the most popular talks on TED.com. Equally entertaining and thought-provoking is his follow-up talk from earlier this year: Bring on the learning revolution!
Sir Ken Robinson is the author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Paperback and Kindle) and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (Paperback and iBook).
“No More Sounds of Music?” asks GOOD in this appropriately-designed Infographic, produced in collaboration with Design Language.
As schools face budget woes, it’s sad that music education is the first to suffer. According to some studies, high school students who receive musical training fare better on their SATs than their tone-deaf counterparts.
“ Musical training, whatever the age, should be universally encouraged, since it can play a key role in education, clinical therapies, and even in protective measures for keeping the brain sharp as people age.”
Nina Kraus, a professor of neurobiology and physiology at Northwestern University. She, along with other scientists, have found that learning music enhances your language-processing skills. Therefore, schools should not be eliminating music from their curriculum.
(quote from this National Geographic article, via GOOD)
