CO2 Emissions by Country!!

I found this website with some interesting facts and statistics. I hope the information they provide here is true and if so, it is interesting to see that Maldives is ranked 169th of 195 countries(as of 2003 data).

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/mv-maldives/env-environment

Just interesting facts but from what I can see most of out dated information and I assume things have changed considerably over the last two years or so!!

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_co2_emi-environment-co2-emissions

 

Best Websites for Teaching and Learning: Media Sharing

Masher
Are you a little hesitant to create videos? Masher makes it’s easy. You can “mix, mash, and share” video clips, audio files, and photos into polished movies. Students own content as well as media from the BBC Motion Gallery and Rip Curl free for the mashing, and can then be shared on social media sites or via email.

Inquiry based computer science teaching

I came across an interesting article on teaching computer science through inquiry just like any other science subject.

by Computing Education Blog

The second page of the National Science Education Standards highlights the importance of inquiry:

Inquiry is central to science learning. When engaging in inquiry, students describe objects and events, ask questions, construct explanations, test those explanations against current scientific knowledge, and communicate their ideas to others. They identify their assumptions, use critical and logical thinking, and consider alternative explanations. In this way, students actively develop their understanding of science by combining scientific knowledge with reasoning and thinking skills.

 

http://computinged.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/teaching-computer-science-through-inquiry/

Web Design: What Color to use in my site?

If you are new to design, it can be a tough decision to select colors for your web site. Here are some sites that can help you with the process:

• Color Scheme Designer not only provides color options but shows example pages with the color scheme you have chosen.
• ColorJack offers color schemes, a color sphere generator, and a wealth of other resources including articles, software, a blog, etc.
• The Color Wizard offers a variety of ways to choose and compare a variety of color schemes related to a chosen starting color.
• Eric Meyer’s Color Blender is very useful when you want to create site with a monochromatic color scheme.
• Sometimes designers choose colors based on a photograph. Visit colr.org to select a image from the Web and choose colors from from the image for use in your site.
• WellStyled.com offers a handy color scheme generator that will create a variety of color schemes including monochromatic, contrasting, triad, tetrad, and analogic.
• Hypergurl.com offers a color scheme generator that shows a quick preview of text and background colors.
• The color selector at Colors4WebMasters offers point and click color choosing options, immediately shows you the results, and generates CSS to configure the colors.
• Use the RGB sliders to choose a color and Lee Street Management’s QuickColor Flash animation will display a selection of coordinating colors.
• Color Wheel Pro – a program that allows you to see color theory in action: you can create harmonious color schemes and preview them on real-world examples.
• Adobe’s Kuler offers an easy way to browse color schemes or search for a color scheme based on a keyword or theme, such as desert.
• Bruce Clay offers an overview of using color in web design focusing on the the hidden meanings of color, branding, and the power of color.
• Colorcombos.com offers a collection of color combinations for your choice and even provides a method to quickly grab the color palette of a web site.
• COLOURlovers is a self-proclaimed “resource that monitors and influences color trends” — it’s a good place to visit to generate ideas.

Policy: Student Misuse of Electronic Communication Devices in Schools.

A new study from the University of San Diego’s Center for Education Policy and Law crafts two model student discipline policies—a short and a long version—to guard against student misuse of student-owned and district-owned mobile devices.

The report also includes a recommended district policy to aid educators in discipline enforcement, free speech and privacy concerns pertaining to student misuse of their own devices, and resources to help educators learn about student device use.

The short version (2 pages) lists, in order, what qualifies as a mobile device (or, to use the study’s term, electronic communication device), when school rules governing device use apply, what kinds of behaviors are defined as misuse, when misuse on a student’s own personal time still falls within a school’s jurisdiction, and what consequences schools may enforce.

Teaching with technology is a wicked problem