Blurts

It would be irresponsible for me not to bring attention to this CDC information. CDC recommendations for K12 institutions.

The American Psychological Association (APA) have outlined 20 core principles they argue should be addressed throughout teacher preparation programs. Here are the principles for “thinking and learning” with related tips for teachers. I offer this link because this was my professional organization. I see this list as useful to a new prof trying to put together an ed psych course. I believe the other resources available from the APA are more helpful for teachers.

I encountered this post on the Daily Koz and it got me thinking. After the last few days and this weekend, the post suggests that teachers should think about how teachers should address the Coronavirus on Monday. Kids of most ages watch the news and certainly listen to their parents and they will have concerns. What should teachers have to say. The article offers some suggestions and the article is worth the attention of all teachers.

I would go further than this. I think the U.S, faces some unique challenges as a function of our health care system. No matter how you stand on universal health care, we face a problem because many would try to “tough out” what they normally would assume was the flu or a cold. This behavior would be catastrophic under the present circumstances. This typical reaction is magnified by the reluctance of those without health care to avoid the cost of a visit to the doc. We have a great health care system and great public health care experts. All of this offset by failure to address the issue of preventative care. A pandemic is about a terrible problem for a system that is not focused on preventative care for all.

I have no solutions and I would argue there are not solutions unless the present system is changed on at least a temporary basis. If this situation progresses in any way, I would like to see the Feds offer free office visits to all. Even if you look at this from a financial perspective (which those focused on a preventative system do), this would have to be a more effective approach than trying to deal with the damage caused by a pandemic after the fact.

I haven’t mentioned layering services in quite a while. Layering is the term I have been using to describe online services that allow teachers and students to add their own comments, highlights, questions, links, and other components that can encourage effective thinking on top of and within existing web pages and online videos. I focus on those services that do this in a way that is respectful of copyright and allows the original author to benefit from intended downloads from his/her designated server. This is important if we want to maintain any compensation mechanisms (ads and page views) that the original author intended.

Timely is a tool that allows layering to be applied to existing online videos (e.g., YouTube content). Timely is similar to other online video annotation services I have identified and explained in my focus on layering. Additions are linked to designation points in the timeline of the video(see screen capture). To say this service is similar is not intended as a slight and there may be small differences in the features provided. Timely is easy enough to use and offers educators a way to supplement video comment with additions making information more useful as an instructional resource.

If you ever played Myst or used Hypercard, you will enjoy this ArsTechnica video interview of Myst creator Rand Miller.

Miller makes a statement in the interview I completely agree with. He claims that if hypercard was still available today he would still be creating things using it. I am guessing most of us who spent hundreds of hours creating with this product still agree. Nothing like at now. The perfect low floor/high ceiling product.

I thought this news article from a Louisville outlet offered some interesting data on the emerging teacher shortage. The piece includes many links to national data sources and some comments on what teacher preparations local to the area are doing to address the trend.

Among other statistical indicators, I found the data on the changes in just the last five years to be discouraging. The discussion of reported causes did not reveal much I found new. I accept the impact of those factors listed, but the list includes the same factors that have been evident for some time and nothing included would seem to explain the recent changes.