Ed Links

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Totally Cool if Irrelevant: Digging Up an Ant City

Beauty in the banal

[Walter] Benjamin read the modern era from its refuse: cityscapes, word puzzles, quotations from forgotten books, Russian toys, shopping arcades. He believed, writes Leslie, “that contemporary literacy has less to do with the ability to read words and more to do with reading images”.

THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE...IS ART?

[Neils] Bohr's discerning conviction was that the invisible world of the electron was essentially a cubist world. By 1923, de Broglie had already determined that electrons could exist as either particles or waves. What Bohr maintained was that the form they took depended on how you looked at them. Their very nature was a consequence of our observation. This meant that electrons weren't like little planets at all. Instead, they were like one of Picasso's deconstructed guitars, a blur of brushstrokes that only made sense once you stared at it. The art that looked so strange was actually telling the truth.

He's Not as Smart as He Thinks

A British researcher reports that the male ego is often larger than his actual IQ. But you might be surprised by what women think of men's intellect.

Mapping the Most Complex Structure in the Universe: Your Brain

"The 'wiring diagram' of the brain could help us understand how the brain computes, how it wires itself up during development and rewires itself in adulthood," said Sebastian Seung, a computational-neuroscience professor at MIT. . . . A full set of images of the human brain at synapse-level resolution would contain hundreds of petabytes of information, or about the total amount of storage in Google's data centers, Lichtman estimates.

Teen Drivers Would Benefit From Greater Restrictions

Most states have graduated licensing for teen drivers but such programs should be even more restrictive, according to a new study. Teens are at excess risk, they say, for all crash types, which include a combination of various elements: characteristics of the teen driver, time of day, day of week, driver behavior and the context within the vehicle.

Your shopping buddy turns to you and asks, "Which one of these would you get?" Or, you're talking with your spouse about which candidate you'd like to vote for before switching on the nightly news. Turns out simply being asked to make a choice -- especially if you're in a hurry or have something on your mind -- will make you like the next thing you see more.

About nine percent of teenagers may have metabolic syndrome, a clustering of risk factors that put them on the path toward heart disease and diabetes in adulthood. This shocking statistic represents some of the first concentrated efforts to define and measure metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents -- a necessary starting point for combating the problem, but one that has proven even trickier in youth than it has been in adults.

Babies conceived during a period of famine are at risk of developing addictions later in life, according to new research. Researchers studied men and women born in Rotterdam during the Dutch "hunger winter." Those whose mothers had suffered severe food shortages and starvation during their early pregnancy were significantly more likely to be receiving treatment for addictive disorders.

A new study shows that only about half of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, exhibit the cognitive defects commonly associated with the condition and further, found that in populations where medication is rarely prescribed to treat ADHD, the prevalence and symptoms of the disorder are roughly equivalent to populations in which medication is widely used.

'Truthiness,' according to television satirist Stephen Colbert, represents the human preference to follow our intuition despite the presence of facts or evidence. For example, the more ambiguous an answer to a question, the more likely an individual will believe it is truthful. At least that is what psychologists Rick Dale of the University of Memphis, Michael Spivey of Cornell University and the late Chris McKinstry found when they asked college students questions that ranged in levels of vagueness and tracked their corresponding arm movements to clicking 'yes' or 'no' on a computer screen.

Kids may roll their eyes when their mother asks them about their school day, but answering her may actually help them learn. New research reveals that children learn the solution to a problem best when they explain it to their mom.

Children from low-income families in the United States do not have the same access to qualified teachers as do wealthier students, according to a new study. Compared to 46 countries, the United States had the fourth largest opportunity gap, the difference between students of high and low socioeconomic status in their access to qualified teachers.

Gender disordered children as young as ten are being denied desperately needed hormonal drugs leading to bullying, violence and even suicide according to new research. Dr Simona Giordano from The University of Manchester says British doctors are depriving children relief from "extreme suffering" caused by their condition - forcing their families into seeking help outside the UK. Homophobic bullying in schools is experienced by 89.2% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths in the UK.

Children undergoing PAS are manipulated by their custodial parent, who tries to turn them against their father/mother, arousing in them feelings of hatred and contempt for the other parent. Children usually not only reject the noncustodial parent, but also his or her family and close friends.

The term 'posttraumatic embitterment disorder' (PTED) was recently introduced to describe a subtype of adjustment disorders, characterized by prolonged embitterment, severe additional psychopathological symptoms and great impairment in most areas of life in reaction to a severe negative but not life threatening life event. The aim of this study is an empirical description and validation of the clinical concept of PTED, by comparing clinically defined PTED patients with patients suffering from other mental disorders on measures of posttraumatic stress and psychopathological distress.

New research supports the idea that sleep plays a critical role in the brain's ability to change in response to its environment. This ability, called plasticity, is at the heart of learning. This research clarifies this phenomenon, supporting the idea that sleep plays a critical role in the brain's ability to change in response to its environment. This ability, called plasticity, is at the heart of learning.
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Ed Links

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From Bookforum.com: The wheel of consciousness

The first chapter from Physicalism, or Something Near Enough by Jaegwon Kim. A review of Artificial Consciousness. Is it possible to be too aware of our own consciousness? A review of Describing Inner Experience? Proponent Meets Skeptic. A review of The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness by Jeff Warren. A review of The Self?, ed. Galen Strawson. Don't just stand there, think: Research suggests that we think not just with our brains, but with our bodies. A review of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge. A review of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink. An article on John Searle on the human mind and the nature of intelligence.

Is Homosexuality an Evolutionary Step Towards the Superorganism?

Only by conceiving of evolution as acting upon entire populations rather than individual organisms can we understand eusociality -- the mysterious, seemingly "altruistic" behaviors exhibited by insects who forego reproduction in order to care for a colony's young.

New research suggests that we think not just with our brains, but with our bodies

The brain is often envisioned as something like a computer, and the body as its all-purpose tool. But a growing body of new research suggests that something more collaborative is going on - that we think not just with our brains, but with our bodies.

Cos and Effect

Bill Cosby may be right about African-Americans spending a lot on expensive sneakers—but he's wrong about why.



Just Fascinating from Bookforum: A cradle of Western civilization

From Archeology, an article on the top 10 discoveries of 2007; and this old thing? Copper Age fashion comes to life. Where it all started: A review of Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind by Colin Renfrew. From Discover, did a tsunami wipe out a cradle of Western civilization? Like the Indian Ocean disaster, this wave was a mass killer.

Introducing PATHWAYS Magazine
A magazine on poverty, inequality, and social policy

Trends in poverty and inequality: Periodic reports on key poverty and inequality indicators. Cutting-edge research: Concise summaries of research that is changing how we understand the sources and consequences of poverty and inequality. Bold new visions: Must-read discussions of how labor market, poverty, and inequality policy might be rethought and changed. Debates: Leading scholars and policymakers weigh in on the crucial poverty and inequality questions of our time

Third Of Stunting, Quarter Of Deaths Among Toddlers In Poor Countries Could Be Prevented

If existing maternal and child nutrition interventions were implemented in poor countries, cases of stunting among children under three years of age could be reduced by a third, and deaths by up to a quarter, according to new research.

American teens are confident they can invent solutions to some of the world's pressing challenges, such as protecting and restoring the natural environment, but more than half feel unprepared for careers in technology and engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index has found this year. The Index, which gauges Americans' attitudes toward invention and innovation, also found there is an important need for more project-based learning in high schools.

Every year, 759,000 children with asthma may be at risk of a major asthma attack while they have no health insurance. About 30 percent of those families earn more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, putting them above the threshold for the state children's health insurance program in most states. Chronic asthma requires ongoing treatment to avoid hospitalizations.

Children living in households with food insecurity, are more likely to be at developmental risk during their first three years of life, compared to similar households that are not food insecure.

New research shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward -- much like sex, food and drugs -- offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.

Children whose mothers are chronically stressed during their early years have a higher asthma rate than their peers, regardless of their income, gender or other known asthma risk factors.

Scientists have found that the part of the brain that deals with sound, the auditory cortex, is adapted in each individual and tuned to the world around us. We learn throughout our lives how to localize and identify different sounds. It means that if you could hear the world through someone else's ears it would sound very different to what you are used to.
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OLPC staff ignoring local context

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As a followup to my earlier post on OLPC, see Alexandre Enkerli's response and then the following Q&A taken from a discussion forum on an OLPC fan website. Someone was preparing for an interview with OLPC Chief Connectivity Officer Michail Bletsas, and I suggested a few questions. But if the report of Bletsas's answers is correct, his lack of responsiveness to important issues is disappointing.
  • Q. Africa has by far the lowest internet diffusion, for a variety of reasons, and the WHO has created a CD-ROM distribution network and the hard-copy Blue Trunk Library program in part to compensate. Is OLPC partnering with WHO or other NGOs for creative ways to get around the access issues in areas without any internet access and where the community cost of satellite access to the internet is prohibitive?
  • A. OLPC is doing everything they can to make sure that wherever there are XO's internet access will be nearby. Remember that thru the mesh network if one person has wireless the entire building or village will be able to access it. Each XO acts as a repeater for the wireless signal.
The mesh network idea works if there is some access point, but it's irrelevant if a community cannot afford the access. There are ways to work around this, such as distributing flash cards or USB drives with content, but that requires some planning and collaboration.
  • Q. In the Thai pilot community (Ban Samkha), adults clearly wanted one of the preinstalled activities to be a basic spreadsheet. Is there any in development?
  • A. OpenOffice should work on the XO but the intentions were for children to use it. They really do not need it immediately but have the capabilities to get it at a future time.
Let me get this straight: a project invests resources in a pilot, and the pilot community explains what should change, and then the project ignores the feedback??
  • Q. In the doctoral seminar I taught this semester, a few anthropology graduate students expressed concern that the OLPC's focus on child-child networking was structured in a way that put child-adult/community relationships in the background. Do you have any cultural anthropologists to keep you guys honest on relationships with communities?
  • A. OLPC does not have the resources to have any cultural anthropologists. It is up to the individual countries and communities to deal with this area for now.
In other words, We don't care about local context.
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Failure to Add (Anything to the Debate) or Has Jay Greene Jumped the Shark?

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Another swipe at education schools. Jay Greene and Catherine Shock tell us that ed schools supposedly teach twice as many diversity courses than math courses. Can one say bad research? Can one say it’s been done? Has Jay Greene jumped the shark?

Simply put, the research is shoddy. As Sherman Dorn has noted, it is more akin to the ACTA’s screed on Ward Churchill rather than proper syllabi analysis (such as Rick Hess’s on educational leadership analysis). (Eduwonkette takes a swipe at the research as well.)

I’ll focus only on the multiculturalism side, as that is the research I know.

The problem is that Greene and Shock fixate on what is listed in the catalog rather than on what is actually taught. In my own research I found that multiculturalism courses were required in just one of five education programs. The requirement of multicultural education courses, moreover, had no correlation to whether a program was NCATE accredited (which is a whole other research question). And I found that “inclusion,” which they subsume under the multiculturalism label, references special education courses, not “social justice.” Greene and Shock thus inflate their numbers, inaccurately swipe at NCATE, and undermine their own argument when they suggest that education schools are nothing but hotbeds of political correctness. They’re the ones doing the right-wing political correctness thing by jumping (too late and too weakly) on the bandwagon.

Now don’t get me wrong. Ed schools have lots of problems. But David Labaree has written about the current iteration of such problems for over a decade. Greene’s work offers us nothing new. It is sad that a scholar like Greene offers nothing more than a poor repetition of David Steiner’s attack dog work from three years ago, which itself was deeply flawed ($).

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Educating Citizens About Organizing: Beyond "Just Doing It" (Community Organizing and Urban Education)

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[See the whole series here]

On October 6, 2007, the “Beyond Social Service” conference brought an extremely diverse group of approximately seventy Milwaukee residents together to learn about social action. The conference aimed to spread information about organizing more broadly in a city where ignorance about social action is a growing crisis.

Some organizers seem to believe that we don’t need educational separate from our ongoing campaigns for change. All we need, it has been implied, is more and better organizing. The problem is that funding for organizing is extremely limited, as is the visibility of organizing. In my experience organizing, by itself, isn’t necessarily educating that many people who aren’t already participating in it as key leaders. Those who “see” organizing happening, or its results, don’t necessarily really understand what’s happening to make it work. While we can “do” organizing better to overcome this a little, I don’t see the “just more of what we are already doing” response as adequate.

The “Beyond Social Service” effort represented the first time in many years that so many community organizing groups came together to address an educational challenge not directly connected to a specific campaign. For many reasons—limited resources primary among them—unless they are collaborating on a shared action campaign organizing groups in Milwaukee tend to stay in their own “corners.” The groups’ willingness to add this effort to their already crowded calendars indicates the importance they placed in the overall aims of the project

The conference was an initial experiment, embedded within broader concerns about how to help more people understand the potential of organizing for social change. From the beginning, conference organizers discussed the need for other approaches.

The key lesson we learned was that there is a deep hunger for information about how to organize for collective power in Milwaukee. This report seeks to answer questions about how we might adequately serve this hunger.

Summary of Lessons Learned

Organizer Burn-Out
Organizers are already overwhelmed with their duties in their individual organization. It is likely too much to expect them to add yet another “job” on top of the one they already have to support an effort not directly linked to their group’s goals. These challenges limited outreach and participation for the conference. To respond, broader educational efforts like the conference need:
  1. To draw in people outside the already overworked organizer community.
  2. To provide more dedicated funding for those putting in the work making sure this educational work is carried through, in whatever form.
  3. To link educational efforts more closely to the self-interests of existing organizing groups
Other Possibilities for “Rebuilding the Tradition of Organizing” in Milwaukee
The experience of putting on the “Beyond Social Service” conference also pointed towards other ideas for rectifying the ignorance about community organizing that pervades our community.
  1. If They Won’t Come to You, Go to Them
  2. Create an Incubator for New Organizing Groups
  3. Create a Federation of Organizing Groups in a Shared Building to Pool Resources
  4. Develop Coherent Pathways for Leader and Organizer Education
  5. Hold an Organizing Retreat in Milwaukee about “Rebuilding the Tradition”

To read the rest of this report, go here. This report is an abridged version of the one sent to funders and organizers.
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