The Scout Report
August 14, 2015 -- Volume 21, Number 31
A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research and Education
Social Media for Teachers: Guides, Resources, and IdeasIndians of the Midwest: The Newberry Library
Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Teach
CS For All: Introduction to Computer Science and Python Programming
Neuroanthropology
CERN Education
Civics Renewal Network: A Republic, If We Can Teach It
General Interest
Canadian Academy of Health Sciences: ReportsWork in Progress
Robben Island Museum
POSTmatter
Tech Insider
ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism
The Center for Science and Democracy
Wisconsin Women Making History
Network Tools
Until AMR: The R Project for Statistical Computing
In the News
As College Costs Rise, Some Students Turn to Crowdfunding to Finance their Academic DreamsCopyright and subscription information appear at the end of the Scout Report. For more information on all services of Internet Scout, please visit our Website: https://scout.wisc.edu
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Research and Education
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-media-resources-educators-matt-davis
For
educators
who
are
searching
for
ways
to
harness
the
power
of
social
media
in
their
classrooms,
this
Edutopia
article
by
writer
Matt
Davis
will
pay
dividends.
Davis
begins
by
making
a
case
for
social
media
use,
then
launches
into
a
resource-packed
review
of
33
Internet
articles
that
offer
tips
on
integrating
Twitter,
Facebook,
Instagram,
and
Pinterest
into
a
variety
of
curricula.
Highlights
include
articles,
such
as
Education
Week?s
"New
How-To
Guide
for
Using
Facebook
in
the
Classroom"
and
David
Truss'
?One-Stop-All-You-Need-to-Know-Guide
to
Twitter."
With
only
one
in
five
teachers
regularly
using
social
media
with
their
students,
this
site
could
boost
confidence
and
help
utilize
these
powerful
tools.
[CNH]
http://publications.newberry.org/indiansofthemidwest/
As
the
second-largest
independent
research
library
in
the
United
States,
the
Newberry
Library
in
Chicago
is
known
as
one
of
America's
great
repositories
of
knowledge.
This
site
invites
readers
to
explore
the
Indians
of
the
Midwest,
both
past
and
present.
Readers
may
scout
the
site's
eight
informative
sections:
People,
Places,
&
Time;
the
Homeland
&
Its
Use;
The
Marketplace;
Treaties;
Identities;
Property;
Indian
Imagery;
and
Are
Midwest
Indians
Typical?
Within
each
section
readers
may
further
delve
into
the
history,
politics,
and
other
issues
related
to
the
Midwest's
Native
peoples
through
drawings,
video
interviews,
and
quotes
from
newspaper
articles,
treaties,
supreme
court
rulings,
and
other
documents.
[CNH]
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology has launched a fully revamped website with larger visuals and mobile-friendly designs. Educators will find the new Teach section especially helpful. Here STEM teachers will find dozens of Activities for a range of subjects, grades, and topics, such as Astronomy, Energy, Measurement. In addition, the Resources tab offers a variety of JPL-related resources, such as posters, printouts, downloads, and classroom materials. For STEM teachers looking to bring space-related lesson plans to life, the JPL site has much to offer. [CNH]
https://www.edx.org/course/cs-all-introduction-computer-science-harveymuddx-cs005x
What
if
you
could
take
a
completely
free,
fast-paced
introduction
to
computer
science
and
Python
programming
from
the
comfort
of
your
own
laptop?
And
what
if
the
course
was
offered
by
one
of
America's
great
tech
colleges?
That's
exactly
what
this
14-week
MOOC
(Massive
Open
Online
Course)
provides.
Interested
readers
may
enroll
at
any
time.
The
course,
taught
by
computer
science
professor
Zachary
Dodds,
begins
as
self-paced
and
then
falls
into
a
rhythm
that
demands
about
five
to
seven
hours
of
work
per
week.
Along
the
way
readers
will
learn
basic
Python
programming,
strategies
for
solving
computational
problems,
applications
of
computer
science,
and
various
design,
implementation,
documentation,
and
testing
skills.
Students
may
pay
$50
to
add
a
Verified
Certificate
of
completion.
[CNH]
http://blogs.plos.org/neuroanthropology/
As this site from anthropologists Daniel Lende and Greg Downey explains, "Neuroanthropology places the brain and nervous system at the center of discussions about human nature, recognizing that much of what makes us distinctive inheres in the size, specialization, and dynamic openness of the human nervous system." Recent posts on this informative blog have included musings on youth and violent extremism, an exegesis of cultural relativism, and an overview of common brain mechanisms in mental illness. Downey and Lende are often funny, always intelligent, and profoundly well-informed. For anyone interested in the intersection between culture and the brain, this site is a must read. [CNH]
http://education.web.cern.ch/education/Chapter2/Intro.html
The
European
Organization
for
Nuclear
Research
(CERN,
from
the
French),
which
employees
over
two
thousand
staff
members
and
has
hosted
more
than
ten
thousand
fellows,
associates,
and
apprentices,
is
one
of
the
greatest
international
science
projects
in
history.
Educators
will
find
a
wide
array
of
helpful
resources
on
CERN's
Teaching
Resources
site,
including
"presentations,
recorded
lectures,
teaching
materials,
movies,
animations,
games,
posters,
photos,
games
and
ideas
for
practical
activities
in
the
classroom."
For
instance,
the
56-page,
downloadable
PDF
of
Jacques
Deferne
and
Alain
Gassener?s
lesson,
"The
Amazing
World
of
Atoms,?
takes
middle
school
and
high
school
students
through
a
colorful
tour
of
the
basics
of
atomic
physics
and
chemistry.
Other
topics
include
antimatter,
the
Big
Bang,
and
particle
physics,
as
well
as
an
introduction
to
accelerators.
[CNH]
http://www.civicsrenewalnetwork.org/
This site from the Civics Renewal Network, which was created by 26 nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations in 2013, provides a panoply of free online classroom resources for civics teachers and students. Readers may want to begin with the Featured Content tab, which highlights a few dozen favorites resources from the site, including a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and instructional video for how to use the Civics Renewal Network Website. The meat of the site, however, can be found in the Resources section. Here readers will find over 1,000 resources that can be searched by Subjects, Grades, Issues, Teaching Strategies, Resource Types, and Standards, among others. [CNH]
General Interest
http://www.cahs-acss.ca/reports/
The
Canadian
Academy
of
Health
Sciences
(CAHS)
has
been
publishing
Reports
on
the
science
of
health-related
issues
since
its
inception
in
2004.
On
this
section
of
the
CAHS
site,
readers
will
find
expert
research
on
a
variety
of
topics,
from
oral
health
to
early
childhood
development.
Selecting
the
Continue
Reading
button
for
any
of
the
topics
will
navigate
readers
to
a
brief
summary
of
the
report,
including
Context,
Questions,
Findings,
Vision,
and
Recommendations.
From
there,
readers
may
peruse
either
the
Executive
Summary,
which
provides
greater
detail,
or
download
the
report
in
full
in
either
English
or
French.
One
particular
item
of
interest,
"The
Health
Effects
of
Conducted
Energy
Weapons,?
examines
the
impacts
of
the
use
of
Tasers
and
other
Conducted
Energy
Weapons
(CEWs)
on
physiology
and
health.
[CNH]
http://www.fsgworkinprogress.com/
Founded
in
1946,
Farrar,
Straus,
and
Giroux
is
often
considered
one
of
the
world's
great
literary
publishers,
with
a
backlist
that
includes
such
luminaries
as
T.S.
Eliot
and
Pablo
Neruda.
Work
in
Progress,
a
site
from
the
esteemed
publishers,
claims
to
offer
"The
Latest
from
the
Front
Lines
of
Literature."
At
the
least,
the
site
grants
a
peek
into
some
wonderful
new
writing,
as
well
as
interviews
with
some
living
literary
greats.
Readers
may
like
to
begin
with
the
Excerpts
section,
which,
at
the
time
of
this
writing,
boasts
short
bursts
of
prose
from
Mia
Couto?s
Man
Booker
Prize
shortlisted
novel,
Confession
of
the
Lioness,
among
others.
In
addition,
the
On
Writing
section
features
snippets
from
writers
about
their
work,
including
a
recent
interview
with
Jonathan
Franzen
on
his
much-anticipated
novel,
Purity.[CNH]
http://www.robben-island.org.za/
Made
famous
as
the
place
where
the
South
African
government
held
Nelson
Mandela
for
18
years,
Robben
Island
was
first
used
by
the
Dutch
to
jail
political
prisoners
as
early
as
the
mid-17th
century.
This
site
from
the
Robben
Island
Museum
offers
an
engaging
virtual
tour
of
the
island.
Readers
may
like
to
begin
by
selecting
Explore
the
Island
or
Virtual
Tour,
located
under
the
Discover
tab.
This
pulls
up
a
map
that
highlights
points
of
interest,
including
ship
wrecks,
landmarks,
and
other
historical
milestones.
Each
of
the
landmarks
is
accompanied
by
a
brief
exposition.
For
instance,
readers
can
peruse
the
history
of
the
Blue
Stone
Quarry,
which
was
started
in
the
1600s,
or
the
200-ton
Taiwanese
tuna
fishing
vessel
that
ran
aground
on
the
south
side
of
the
island
in
1975.
The
Interactive
Timeline
is
another
great
feature
of
this
site,
which
begins
over
one
million
years
ago,
ends
in
the
present
day,
and
covers
such
topics
as
Army,
Cemeteries,
Banishment,
Prison
Life,
and
others.
[CNH]
http://postmatter.com/
POSTmatter is a beautiful website dedicated to the convergence of the digital and physical world. After perusing the latest updates from the landing page, readers may like to delve into the Project tab, which features items such as the Diesel store design of Andreas Nicolas Fischer, and offers images, an interview, and video to bring this "abstract digital organism" to life. In addition, readers may enjoy watching a handful of Interviews that chronicle the work and lives of artists in their own words. Of particular interest is an interview with Carla Gannis in which she addresses topics, such as Why Make Digital Art, Working Across Media, and Gender in Your Work. [CNH]
http://www.techinsider.io/
Tech
Insider
is
an
unabashedly
tech-friendly
online
magazine
with
scores
of
articles
about
the
latest,
the
new,
and
the
innovative.
It
celebrates
an
"exciting
new
era,"
in
which
technology
is
"rewriting
rules
for
how
to
live
and
work."
Launched
on
July
27th,
2015,
the
magazine
is
divided
into
six
sections:
Trending,
Tech,
Science,
Innovation,
Culture,
and
Video.
Recent
articles
have
explored
the
reasons
Spotify
is
better
than
Apple
Music,
a
discourse
on
productivity
tips,
a
report
on
a
looming
global
food
crisis,
and
a
review
of
eight
moments
that
made
Jon
Stewart
great,
complete
with
video
clips.
Since
articles
are
published
multiple
times
a
day,
there
is
always
something
fresh
on
this
site
for
readers
who
are
looking
for
the
latest
in
the
science
and
culture
of
tech.
[CNH]
http://global100.adl.org/
Founded
in
1913,
the
Anti-Defamation
League
(ADL)
has
worked
for
over
a
century
to
expand
its
original
mission
?to
stop
the
defamation
of
the
Jewish
people
and
to
secure
justice
and
fair
treatment
to
all.?
Between
July
2013
and
February
2014,
the
ADL
conducted
the
ADL
Global
100,
a
survey
questionnaire
of
which
the
results
are
fully
available
and
searchable
on
the
site.
To
view
the
results,
readers
may
like
to
start
with
the
interactive
Map,
where
they
may
select
a
region
of
the
globe
before
drilling
down
to
country
level
for
more
specific
information
on
anti-semitism.
In
addition,
the
Did
You
Know
tab
offers
valuable
information
about
global
anti-semitism,
while
the
Compare
tab
allows
readers
to
analyze
similarities
and
differences
between
different
regions
around
the
world.
The
graphics
on
this
interactive
website
make
it
a
first
class
viewing
and
knowledge
experience.
[CNH]
http://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/center-science-and-democracy
The
Union
of
Concerned
Scientists
was
founded
by
MIT
scientists
and
students
in
1969
in
an
attempt
to
pressure
the
United
States
government
to
divert
funding
away
from
military
technologies
and
into
environmental
and
social
problems.
Since
then,
the
organization
has
participated
in
dozens
of
campaigns
to
raise
public
awareness
and
move
science
policy
in
a
more
humane
direction.
The
Center
for
Science
and
Democracy
(CSD)
is
just
one
more
step
in
that
direction.
Readers
may
want
to
begin
with
the
What's
At
Stake
tab,
which
explains
the
CSD's
mission
to
bring
hard
research
to
bear
on
public
policy.
The
blog
features
almost-daily
articles
on
the
intersection
of
public
policy
and
science
findings,
while
readers
will
find
a
number
of
in-depth
reports
under
Publications.
Over
the
years
reports
have
covered
topics
ranging
from
the
effects
of
special
interests
on
public
policy
to
the
impact
of
tracking
on
communities.
[CNH]
http://womeninwisconsin.org/
Wisconsin
Women
Making
History
was
launched
in
early
2015
by
a
powerhouse
partnership
of
Wisconsin
organizations,
including
the
Wisconsin
Historical
Society,
Wisconsin
Public
Television,
and
the
University
of
Wisconsin
Women?s
Studies
Consortium.
Designed
for
students
and
educators
throughout
the
state
and
beyond,
this
growing
resource
offers
biographical
information
on
women
who
have
broken
ground
and
made
a
difference
to
state
history.
Recent
additions
include
Vel
Phillips,
the
first
woman
and
African
American
to
be
elected
Wisconsin
Secretary
of
State;
Gerda
Lerner,
considered
by
many
the
founder
of
women?s
history
as
a
field
of
academic
study;
and
Ada
Deer,
the
first
woman
to
lead
the
U.S.
Bureau
of
Indian
Affairs.
Users
can
explore
the
collection
through
an
Alphabetical
list,
Location
by
county,
a
Timeline
encompassing
pre-1860
to
the
present,
and
by
Category
(including
areas
like
Activism
&
Social
Change,
Business,
Government
&
Politics,
Journalism,
Sports,
and
many
more).
The
For
Educators
section
offers
links
to
additional
resources
on
women
in
history
and
society
from
a
variety
of
sources.
Educators,
parents,
and
lovers
of
the
Badger
state
will
find
plenty
to
interest
and
enthrall
in
this
new
collection.
[EB]
Network Tools
http://until.am
Created by two Finnish designers, Until AM is a web-based DJing app that draws from the music in your hard drive (e.g. iTunes) and music from SoundCloud (an enormous social sound platform, where anyone can post their music for free). To get started, drag and drop songs onto the left and right "turn tables." From there, use the volume fader, pitch fader, cross fader, and play/pause buttons to bring the two songs together. To "scratch," click and drag on the vinyl. When it comes to a free, web-based DJ app, Until AM is hard to beat. [CNH]
https://www.r-project.org/
While R might not look like much at first glance, data analysts all over the world use the free, open-source data analysis software to run statistics on everything from psychology research to the stock market. Created in 1996 by two statistics professors in New Zealand, the programming language is comparatively user-friendly especially when paired with R Studio (https://www.rstudio.com/), a free downloadable template. Admittedly, learning the language takes work. However, there are a number of sites around the web with tutorials and tips, as well as easily locatable R help books, online support groups, and videos on YouTube and Vimeo. For data analysts who are tired of the limitations and costs of SPSS and other corporate programs, R is an extremely powerful and fluid alternative. [CNH]
In the News
Kickstarting college: Students use crowdfunding to help pay for school
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2015/0810/Kickstarting-college-Students-use-crowdfunding-to-help-pay-for-school
How to crowdfund your college tuition or student debt
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/05/21/how-to-crowdfund-your-college-tuition-or-student-debt/
A brief history of crowdfunding
http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/a-brief-history-of-crowdfunding
The History of Crowdfunding
https://www.crowdfunder.com/blog/wp-content/uploaded-files/History-of-Equity-Crowdfunding.pdf
How The Cost Of College Went From Affordable To Sky-High
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/18/290868013/how-the-cost-of-college-went-from-affordable-to-sky-high
Paying for College
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college
The
cost
of
college
has
been
much
in
the
news
over
the
past
several
years,
as
parents,
students,
and
politicians
struggle
to
cope
with
rising
tuition
in
four
year
institutions
around
the
country.
While
the
mounting
price
tag
has
a
number
of
causes,
including
cuts
to
state
funding
during
the
recent
recession
and
the
predatory
marketing
practices
of
some
for-profit
institutions,
a
few
students
have
begun
to
take
matters
into
their
own
hands
with
the
help
of
an
unprecedented
tool:
crowdfunding.
Using
sites
like
Indiegogo
Life,
GoFundMe,
and
Dreamfund,
some
millennials
have
had
great
success
raising
money
for
college.
In
fact,
a
young
man
in
New
York
recently
raised
over
$8,000
to
attend
another
year
at
his
private
liberal
arts
college,
while
a
Minnesota
native
managed
to
solicit
some
$60,000
to
pay
off
the
debt
she
accrued
during
her
undergraduate
years.
While
such
stories
may
not
assuage
the
one
billion
dollar
student
loan
crisis,
they
are
testimony
to
the
old
adage
that
necessity
is,
indeed,
the
mother
of
invention.
[CNH]
The first two links, from the Christian Science Monitor and USA Today, offer coverage of the recent phenomena of crowdfunding university expenses. In the third and fourth links, readers will find both an article and an infographic that map out the terrain of crowdfunding's brief, eventful history. Next, the fifth link navigates to NPR's explanation of how the student debt crisis came to be, including an overview of the GI Bill, which made college affordable for more Americans then ever before, as well as the the economic downturn of 2008, which spurred states to cut funding to their public universities. The last link, from the U.S. News & World Report, navigates to a number of articles centered on the theme of paying for college.
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The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published every Friday of the year except the last Friday of December by Internet Scout, located in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Computer Sciences. Funding sources have included the National Science Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Libraries.
| Internet Scout Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Craig Hase | [CNH] | Editor |
| Catherine Dixon | [CBD] | Managing Editor |
| Debra Shapiro | [DS] | Contributing Editor |
| Edward Almasy | [EA] | Director |
| Rachael Bower | [REB] | Director |
| Kendra Bouda | [KAB] | Metadata and Information Specialist |
| Elzbieta Beck | [EB] | Internet Cataloger |
| Samantha Abrams | [SA] | Internet Cataloger |
| Corey Halpin | [CRH] | Software Engineer |
| Yizhe (Charles) Hu | [YH] | Web Developer |
| Cea Stapleton | [CS] | Web Developer |
| Zev Weiss | [ZW] | Technical Specialist |
| Adam Schwartz | [AS] | Administrative Assistant |
| Mitchell Mckay | [MM] | Administrative Assistant |
For information on additional contributors, see the Internet Scout staff page.