Some OpenEducation Resources on the Web

Open Education Resources, K-12

• CK-12: flexbooks, FlexMath, and more (see story about El Paso partnership)
• Curriki: big community around big library
• Gooru: search engine for education
• OpenEd Institute: biggest Core-aligned catalog
• Khan Academy: 6000 videos on math & more
• OER Commons: dedicated to innovation in open education content & practices
• PowerMyLearning: grade level collections
• NROC: high school science & math
• iCivics: open resources for learning civics
• Literacy Design Collaborative: tools & prompts for writing across the curriculum #
• Edmodo: free learning platform with tons of open content
• Learning.com: Curriculum Foundry helps organize OER #

Postsecondary OER

• Academic Earth: free online courses from the world’s top universities
• iTunes U: view a course, make a course
• Saylor: 250 college courses across 13 subject areas
• Writing Commons: Freshman English from USF
• Connexions: open library from Rice
• MIT OpenCourseWare
• Wikipedia & WikiEducator
• PhET Interactive Simulations
• Washington State’s Open Course Library Project: resources for 42 courses

Anytime Learning

• Coursera: the world’s best courses for free *

• General Assembly: learn from experts on business, tech & design *
• Udemy: online courses from expert teachers *
• LearnZillion: great instructional resources for teachers *
• edX: non-profit created by Harvard and MIT
• Udacity: IT and coding nanodegrees
• Canvas: open online courses #
• MentorMob: education search engine
• TED-Ed: create customized lessons around TED videos

Some High Caliber resources

• National Science Digital Library
• The Learning Regestry
• Lumen Learning
• OERCommons OERCommons - where My lesson are

The Education Wars The Achievements of James Milgram

100%/x%=800/26 (100/x)*x=(800/26)*x       100=30.769230769231 * x   (30.769230769231) to get x 100/30.769230769231=x  3.25=x  x=3.25 26 is 3.25% of 800

Just trying to get into the Spirit of things. And actually, that's the most math I've done for a whole year. I might have counted a couple of times how many slices of pizza were left, and made an estimation of probability on the chances of me finishing the slice I already had, before my son snaked the last one -- but that is really all I use math for estimations and probability.

I do love data though. I consume a great deal of data.

Milgram -- Inciter of the Math Wars

Do you recall the Math Wars?

I think anyone who was a researcher or near the academic world at least heard about them. Prof James Milgram is probably one of the last soldiers standing -- which seems appropriate since from many accounts, he started them. They began, in true form, the declaration being called, in 1994, though there are some references to 1987, which I'm not sure count -- signs of where things were leading? ... Definitely.

Education, public education, especially in the areas of Math and ELS are terrible. I believe... I haven't checked this though I'll probably confirm some time soon ... that they are worse than they were in the 50s.

It is a Trait, Not A Skill

I admit with open arms that I might not get everything right. That's why I have all of these notes, and make links to everything and make sure I have citations. And-- if it a complicated issue with mashing journal papers... I write and wait a day. There's hardly ever anything "Breaking" in the blog world. A day between often shows things in a different light. Put it this way-- I've never thought it was a waste to wait.

But I don't lie and I pray I don't hold on to false beliefs.

Deceit is a trait, not a skill. People put it down as a skill, or an event, or a necessity of a moment, but it isn't. It is a trait. If you do it, and do it often, you have ... done it before and often as well.

Freedom of the Press - Freedom without Protection

"A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens." - Nelson Mandela

I realized as I read this quote from Nelson Mandela, that we do not have a "A critical, independent and investigative press" any longer.  The cynical will tell me we never did, but that's not true. We did have a strong News system during in years past. Now, however, nearly every news source available to us is fully corrupted by outside interest and inside bias.

Every reporter will naturally have some bias.  This is the first thing taught to serious history students. No matter how hard you try, some bias will exist in your findings, because of the experiences and knowledge obtained by our individual backgrounds. We see more clearly those things which we have previously agreed are important before. We hear more clearly those words we have  previously heard and understood before -- but this is not the level of bias I am pointing out. I'm speaking of the level of bias that creates a News system whose reports are over 40% wrong, lies, or deceptions. I'm talking about a bias which will ignore important events because they are inconvenient for their constituents. I am talking about a bias of willful and orchestrated ignorance.

CrowdGov Re-Boots the System

Crowd Government Re-Boots the System

MyVote.uk has been crowd-sourcing votes in the UK with Parliment for some time. They announced back in Sept that they were going to be even more directly involved with the voting process. This is the only way for the future. We have millions with smartphones and wifi. We can access the issues from anywhere at any time. We can give our representatives our vote directly. CrowdGov is not only possible, it is here and it is working. MyVote.uk has shown us the way.

There is no website yet called CrowdGov.com. Someone owns it, but they aren't doing anything with it yet. But this is the path to the future, and away from Presidents who torture, and Congress who does nothing except spend $660 million on things we don't want. This is the way to be rid of people like the Koch brothers, and other super-rich who lobby and pressure and buy their way into pushing this country where we don't want it to go. This is the way to get rid of useless, unwanted bills taking time from the floor, and oversight committees around subjects we could care less about.

It can happen. Look at El Paso Tx Schools! Texas!! If that can happen, this can happen.

What's the trouble with the GOP?

The Reason I don't trust this man, is that nothing is ever on him.

The trouble with the GOP is just like the man says, "Here's the attitude. Ohhhh. Don't make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too hard," Boehner whined before a luncheon crowd at Brown's Run County Club in Madison Township.

"We get elected to make choices. We get elected to solve problems and it's remarkable to me how many of my colleagues just don't want to ... They'll take the path of least resistance."

Boehner said he's been working for 16 or 17 months trying to push Congress to deal with immigration reform.

Their one and only agenda for the last six years is to create a culture of obstruction. If it moves, they try to stop it. If it looks like it is going to work, they do everything in their power to shut it down. Never mind that most people want their Healthcare, and that the GOP has no idea what to replace Obamacare with, 33 times is still not enough challenges to rape the taxpayers with. There must be more.

80% of US Citizens Have No Confidence in GOP

I love how the Republicans are so clueless that they believe a weaker Obama means that they are growing in strength. The two do not equate Congress. Poll after Poll has shown this to you. The two effects don't even cross paths in the same realm of reality. Congress GOP is weak because -- you are weak. You don't act. You don't work. You do even less than the 112 did. And the polls show this to you day after day. Even other Republicans are giving you a vote of no confidence.

"The House has continued to listen to the American people and to focus on their concerns," Boehner told reporters. "Whether it's the economy, whether it's jobs, whether it's protecting the American people from Obamacare -- we've done our work."

You do realize that we all have the Internet now, right? That we can all look back with a few keystrokes and bring up everything you have done and said with absolute clarity and zero propaganda tampering. Like this for instance Boehner. We do not see your ads. We do not see your TV Interviews. We see your track-record of lies, propaganda and disloyalty to the people of the United States. We have FACTS now, not FOX

112th Congress Republicans proposed: 44 bills on abortion
99 bills on religion
36 bills on marriage

113th Congress Republicans added 69 bills on abortion
42 bills  on marriage
75 bills on religion

Praises for Court Justice Scalia when he declared his Religious agenda proposed for use at on the bench -- Really? You believe that backing someone's insane ideas to discredit the Constitution makes anyone in the middle class comfortable?. Even republican voters are saying "what?"

Several bills brought up under the abortion heading suggest that the mother's life is forfeit. Actions and voting against education, The Constant attacks on Common Core, Welfare, healthcare give the impression that once the baby is born, the Republican Congress could care less if it starves to death, or dies from lack of medical attention -- that is just part of the will of God, right?

THESE ARE CITIZENS you silly people!

Maybe Obama is aloof, maybe he does have a distance about it -- but the actions of this Republican Congress are inhuman, uncaring, inept, disloyal, and they [GOP members] praise all of these things with each other. Actions which are treason have been accepted. A congressman calls the President of the United States a "tar baby" -- publicly! And he is still given a warm hand shake.

It is obvious that you stand for nothing except the failure of the Presidency -- Everyone sees this. It is plain in everything you do -- and all the things you do not do with your culture of obstruction.

No. The weaker Obama is at this point, the weaker you become as well Congress. Continuing to attack him in office  - only demonstrates how you do not back anyone else in this country.  Do you really think that we want to put a Republican in the White House, or in Congress, and risk losing our health care? Losing our kids education? Losing the jobs that have been building? That we would trust you with out future?

You have it all so twisted up and backwards you can't even see that the rope you are holding is hanging you.