Research and Education
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/dynamic/publications/elibrary_pdf_737.pdf
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has been working on a number of reports on how to strengthen pre-collegiate education in community colleges, and this compelling work represents part of their most recent findings on the subject. Authored by Andrea Conklin Bueschel, this 24-page report draws on interviews with students, community college leaders, teachers, and others to look into what is most effective in terms of working with these students to achieve their educational goals. The report draws on research performed at a variety of community colleges in California, and anyone with an interest in the continued success of students in these institutions will find this report very helpful. The report is rounded out by a detailed bibliography. [KMG]
http://www.learningscience.org/index.htm
Using the National Science Education Standards as their benchmark, the Learning Science organization has developed this site to bring hundreds of science-based learning tools to the general public. The LearningScience organization is a collaborative project created by individuals at the College of Education at Temple University, George Mehler, and teachers at the Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania. Visitors to the site will notice that the materials are divided into seven primary sections, including "Physical Science", "Life Science", and "Science & Society". Within each section, visitors can browse through the teaching resources, which include interactive web-based lessons, pedagogical tools, and links to external resources created by organizations such as PBS and Rice University. One section is worth singling out for special attention: "Tools to Do Science". Here visitors will find printable rulers, a printable protractor, a stop watch, and printable graph paper. Finally, visitors can search the entire site via a convenient search engine and also send along their own comments. [KMG]
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp
The Newseum, housed in Washington D.C., has an online feature that involves the voluntary participation of hundreds of newspapers around the globe. Each morning, newspapers with the requisite technology, send the front page of their newspaper to the Newseum and get posted online. Many of these front pages are also displayed in the physical museum. Near the top of the "Today's Front Pages" link of the website the visitor can choose to view the front pages as a "gallery", "list", or "map". The gallery view is the default view. Viewing them as a list shows the papers alphabetically by state, and the list continues alphabetically by country. When the visitor rolls over the name of a paper, a small image of the front page appears on the right side of the screen. Clicking on the name of the paper brings the front page into a larger view. Clicking on "Readable PDF" at the top of the page, makes it readable, and "Print Page" allows you to print the front page out. Also at the top of the page is a "Web Site" link to the newspaper's website. Clicking on map view allows the visitor to see maps of nine regions of the world, which have orange dots on them indicating a paper is available. Rolling over the dot will show the front page for that city. Visitors should not miss checking out the "View Archived Pages" link near the top of the page, to see the front pages of events of historical significance. Some of the front pages offered here include those that deal with the presidential election of 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies recent World Series victory, and the 2008 Summer Olympics. [KMG]
http://frontiers.loc.gov:8081/intldl/mtfhtml/mfdigcol/uafmp.html
The Library of Congress has a section on its website called the University of Alaska Fairbanks: Maps, which happens to be a digitized collection of maps of Alaska and the polar regions from the Rare Map Collection at the Rasmuson Library. The website is in both Russian and English. The maps range in age from 16th century speculative map making to the era of the gold rush, and provide a good look at what mapmakers' and explorers' (mis)perceptions were about the region. In the middle of the page is the link, "Browse Collections" which goes to the list of the maps in the digital collection. Although some of the map titles are in French, especially in the first part of the list, once the visitor clicks on the title and is taken to the details about the map and the actual map itself, the translated title is given. Additionally, the author/geographer of the map is indicated under the title, and if this name is highlighted and underlined, it can be clicked on to see all the other maps in the digitized collection by that same author/geographer. Clicking on the image of the map will allow the visitor to choose the size of the map they want to see. The images are high-quality, and can be navigated in more detail as well. [KMG]
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IEAE), an organization related to the U.N., has the admirable goal of promoting the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technology. The IEAE website has an abundance of nuclear-related resources, news and scientific information. To become familiar with the history of nuclear energy, there is a timeline that can be accessed by clicking on "The IAEA in Time: Decisive Years" or "Interactive Timeline", both located in the top third of the homepage. Many of the items on the timeline link to a further explanation of an event, and some have accompanying images that can be expanded. Clicking on the "News Centre" tab at the top of the page will take the visitor to a menu on the left hand side of the page that includes "Feature Stories", "Transcripts", "Media Advisories", and "Multimedia". Visitors shouldn't miss clicking on the Multimedia link to choose from several links, including "Imagebank", "Photo Essays", "Podcasts", as well as IAEA Films and Video Clips that date back to 1928. The Photo Essays offer slideshows on such topics as how nuclear applications are used in art preservation and restoration; how sterilizing Medflies with x-rays in the Middle East reduces their population and thus allows farmers to use fewer pesticides on their crops; and how the IAEA is helping developing countries, like Nicaragua, set up cancer treatment centers. Under the "Publications" tab at the top of the homepage, visitors can find a multitude of publications, some for the layperson, and some for scientists, policymakers, and educators. Some of the publication categories include "Scientific and Technical Publications", "International Standards, Guides and Codes", "IAEA Documents and Conventions", and "Booklets and Topical Articles". [KMG]
http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/scholder/introduction.html
The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian has a beautiful online exhibit, Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian which is meant to accompany the in situ exhibition in Washington D.C. and New York. Scholder's work is the subject of much debate in the world of Native Art, as his work has no obvious Native American imagery in it and he oftentimes denied he was Native American. By clicking on "Biography" near the top of the page, a list of links, "The Early Years", "The IAIA Years", and "The 70s and After" will appear. Below these links a clickable timeline also appears which advances when rolled over with the mouse. Another way to get an introduction to Scholder's life and the exhibit is to click on the "Podcasts" link near the top of the page. The first podcast listed is "Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian". Visitors should also not miss looking at his bold and sometimes disturbing paintings and sculptures, under the "Works" tab near the top of the page. They can be viewed by either D.C. or New York displays, as well as by "Curator's Choice", which is the default view. Each piece of work is also accompanied by commentary offered by the curators. Just click on the artwork, and under the bottom right hand corner of the image is a speaker to click on, complete with the name of the curator doing the commentary. [KMG]
The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) was created in 1988 with the goal of facilitating discussion of important arctic research initiatives, and also producing science reports with research community recommendations for arctic science priorities. Visitors to the site can learn more about their work by clicking on the "About ARCUS" section. After that, visitors should look through some of their research publications, such as the Sea Ice Outlook Summary Report or their very fine Internet Media Archive area. Here they will find photos, graphics, videos, and presentations generated by ARCUS in the course of their work in and around the Arctic. Specialists and scientists in the field will definitely want to sign up for "ArcticInfo", which is their moderated mailing list which contains job announcements, information about newly released reports, and funding opportunities. [KMG]
Under the banner of "Challenging Misconceptions, Illuminating Diversity", the University of Wisconsin-Madison's National Resource Centers and Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders have created this very thoughtful and probing website. The site contains links to the various broadcasts of Inside Islam from Wisconsin Public Radio, a weblog, a set of helpful external links, and a link that allows visitors to sign up for their RSS feed. Visitors can view previous weblogs by category, or they just scroll down the site at their leisure. The radio program is also quite good, and visitors would do well to start by listening to "Young Muslims and New Media" or "Women and Sharia". Finally, there's also a place for visitors to offer their own feedback on their weblog posts and the radio program. [KMG]
