instaGrok | A new way to learn.

instaGrok | A new way to learn.:

instaGrok

• finds age-appropriate educational content on any topic presented with interactive multimedia interfaces
• generates quiz questions based on student's research activity and skill level
• supports creation of research journals and concept maps for learning assessment

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We believe that learning should be fun! So we are dedicated to building innovative technology to enable engaging, safe and personalized learning.

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NJ Spotlight | NJ's First Virtual Charter School a Screen Test for Online Learning

NJ Spotlight | NJ's First Virtual Charter School a Screen Test for Online Learning:

NJ's First Virtual Charter School a Screen Test for Online Learning

Despite questions over funding, enrollments pour in for K-10 virtual classrooms

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By John Mooney, April 9, 2012 in Education |Post a Comment

New Jersey’s first comprehensive charter school to hold all of its classes online is beginning to enroll students from across the state for next fall, even as questions persist to how exactly the new breed of schools will operate and be funded.

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New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School

The New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School (NJVACS), operating under contract with the for-profit online education company, K12 Inc., has begun advertising its New Jersey program through traditional press releases, email blasts and informational events.

After just a week of accepting names, it had enrolled more than 300 students, said school officials, who did not rule out that demand could outnumber seats and a lottery may be needed. The school seeks to enroll 850 for its first year, kindergarten through 10th grade.

Based out of Newark and led by a board with close ties to one of that city’s best known charter schools, NJVACS will provide instruction almost entirely online, with students working with teachers who are potentially hundreds of miles away.

Students will be from throughout the state, with a half-dozen “learning centers” yet to be located as hubs for extra services such as counseling.

Along with a second virtual charter set to open in the fall, it will mark New Jersey’s first big step into full-time online schooling, part of a wave that has become more commonplace in other states.

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All Education Matters: Student Loan Debt Crisis: How much student loan debt do you have?

All Education Matters: Student Loan Debt Crisis: How much student loan debt do you have?:

Student Loan Debt Crisis: How much student loan debt do you have?

by Cryn Johannsen

How much do you owe in student loans?

Plus, here are a few more questions, that I hope you'll answer:

1) how many degrees you do you have?

2) what school(s) did you attend (non-profit, for-profit, both)?

3) what did you study?

4)  are you in default?

5) if you're in a relationship, is

The Real Reason for the Arts « Cooperative Catalyst

The Real Reason for the Arts « Cooperative Catalyst:

The Real Reason for the Arts

from Cooperative Catalyst » 5 questions about everything by John T. Spencer

I watched a mediocre, meandering speech by Kurt Vonnegut. The video quality was lousy enough for him to look like he was an intellectual ninja, his mouth struggling to catch up with his voice.  And then, he said what I’ve been feeling about education.
“The computer said ‘I’m going to do all the becoming from now on.’ You become by practicing an art now matter how well or badly. And it’s not a way to make a living. And of course the art courses are being cut out of public schools because it’s not a trade. Well, it isn’t a trade. It’s a way to make your soul grow.”
I’m tired of trying to defend the arts and humanities with words like New Economy and Creative Class and innovation. I have never sketched a picture of crafted a 

When Keeping It Real Goes Awry | The Jose Vilson

When Keeping It Real Goes Awry | The Jose Vilson:

When Keeping It Real Goes Awry

from The Jose Vilson by Jose

Mitch Mitchell recently asked me on my 900th post:

Just asking, but what’s stopped you from publishing posts you said you’ve written and held back on? How many posts would you be up to if you hadn’t done that?

I honestly don’t know. I tend to have three general guidelines that keep me in my lane: don’t venture too much into love, don’t discuss my principal or any administrators within my school except to set up a story that has nothing to do with them, and don’t talk about sex except if it’s a general lesson where I don’t have to go into my own sexual relations. I would love to tell you why. Actually, that’s what I’m going to do.
I don’t talk about any of those three on this forum because people read this blog. At first, I thought I would just plow on without a second thought about people’s feelings, but after a while, I got pissed off that I couldn’t just be honest about these topics without getting into a face-to-face discussion about any of these three. The problem 

School Tech Connect: Again With the Constitution

School Tech Connect: Again With the Constitution:

Again With the Constitution

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

While it is absurd for anyone to think that Article XIII, Section 5 contains an invisible contains an invisible phrase at the end, visible in red only to very serious people,

it is even more absurd and cynical to think that this same invisible phrase does not appear in Article IX, Section 3.

I've read the entire Constitution, and nowhere is there a statement about one section being less important and 

Project 10,000 « Cooperative Catalyst

Project 10,000 « Cooperative Catalyst:

Project 10,000

by alanthefriesen

Last night I read the incredible manifesto “Stop Stealing Dreams: What Is School For?” by Seth Godin. Pat Farenga discussed (http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/why-homeschooling-should-be-part-of-rethinking-education) the article from a homeschooling perspective back in March, but I’ve been thinking all day about how we could put into practice the ideas that Godin discusses in the manifesto.
Over the last year I’ve been exploring ideas of student choice in my own English classroom. Students are able to pick what they want to study (from a list of about 40 topics), and then choose how they respond to each unit. They can independently read each module, or they can work in partners, or in small groups. If they want, they could work with me shoulder-to-shoulder for the entire unit.
Classes look very different from the rest of the school: I rarely stand up at the front of the class and lecture, and it’s rare that two people are working on the same thing. Back in November I  wrote another post here on the 

Constructive Generational Conflict Between Boomers & Millennials | Lefty Parent

Constructive Generational Conflict Between Boomers & Millennials | Lefty Parent:

Constructive Generational Conflict Between Boomers & Millennials

by Cooper Zale

Following up on my last piece, “Shot Across my Boomer Bow”, and the provocative Esquire article “The War Against Youth” that inspired it, I am still (as a member of the Baby Boom generation myself) wrestling with what is the best path forward for us regarding these important generational issues. With any conflict that needs to be resolved and involves strong feelings and difficult issues, I believe we do best by focusing on “I” statements when we speak, but also try to listen to those statements from others thoughtfully, beyond ego, and try not to let our buttons get pushed (and at least acknowledge when they have been pushed).
Is there even a legitimate conflict that needs to be resolved? I think so, though a conflict short of Baby Boomers “eating their young” as the inflammatory rhetoric in the Esquire article stated. There are issues on the table in Congress about whether or not to have a two-tier solution for Social Security and Medicare that would leave benefits for existing beneficiaries (and possibly some or all Boomers) pretty much as is, while providing a less