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Cyber Charter Schools designed to Undermine Teacher Unions

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:06:10 +0000

Cyber Charter Schools have been expanding in numbers in the United States since 2003. Over 190 schools are now labeled as Cyber Charter Schools. These schools are being called “21st century learning” which advocates for a more technology based and student-centered curriculum.

Cyber Charter Schools are being used as a way to undermine teachers and in particular teacher unions due to the fact that students are earning full credits for attending these schools without unionized teachers These students are being put through schooling via the internet where teachers work with children through instant messaging and video chatting. This new computer based way of learning requires about half as many teachers as would any other school.

According to Moe and Chubb’s Liberating Learning, technology is destined to save America from its poor scores on the Program for International Student Assessment administered by the global business think-tank, the OECD. Moe, a researcher at the Hoover Institute, and Chubb, an executive with the for-profit Edison Learning charter school chain, believe that online education is that answer because it will make it possible for all students to learn anywhere and any time and because it will be the tool that allows education to finally get rid of “political blocking” caused by unions in defense of high wages.

Technology and Teachers: The Fun They Had Author of Article: Adam

Armstrong and blogger George

Publication Source: Daily Censored

Date: March 12, 2010

URL:

http://dailycensored.com/2010/03/12/technology-and-teachers-the-fun-they-had/

Student Reaearcher; : Danielle Caruso

Faculty evaluator: Cindy Stearns

Sonoma State University

Professor: Peter PhillipsSimilar Posts:

Rising Waters Threaten Nile Delta

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:30:52 +0000

The rising levels of the Nile Delta are beginning to endanger many of the crops and food supply in Egypt. Most of Egypt’s 80 million people are crammed into the fertile landscape, where the Nile ends its epic journey half the length of Africa, and fans out into a series of tributaries and lakes, before flowing into the Mediterranean. Egypt’s coastline has risen 20 cm in the last century and as it continues to rise, salt-water infiltrates the delta’s soil from below and is destroying the farming land. Currently, about fifteen percent of Delta land is under threat from these rising sea levels and the seepage of salt water into ground water. Experts believe that by the end of this century, it would not be unreasonable for the rise in sea level to be somewhere around 100 centimeters. If this is accurate, this could threaten the city of Alexandria where millions of people currently live.

Title: Rising Waters Threaten Nile Delta

Author: Barnaby Philllips

Student Researcher: Jason Nelson

Source: Aljazeera English; URL: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/03/2010320173938700403.html

Date: March 21, 2010

Student Researcher: Jason Nelson

Faculty Evaluator: Noel Byrne Ph.D.

Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

Tiny Troubles: Nanoparticles are Changing Everything From our Sunscreen to our Supplements

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:01:15 +0000

Over 600 products now on the market contain nanoparticles so small that they may have dangerous biological impacts yet to be determined. Nanaparticles could be the asbestos of this century.

Nanotechnology is a quickly growing global industry which is, for the most part unregulated. The worry lies in the fact that when these materials are reduced down to the miniscule nano scale, they take on an entirely different and uncommon set of properties. For example, they could become electrically conductive, or able to penetrate cell walls. More specifically, studies conducted on the negativities of nanotechnology are diminutive compared to those conducted on the positive effects produced. Of $1.5 billion in federal nano spending each year, only between 1% and 2.5% goes towards studying environmental, health and safety risks.

On the other hand, these particles “are used to build innovative materials currently used in hundreds of products worldwide, from socks to sunscreens and even food supplements,” according to Louise Gray, Environmental Correspondent. Along with this, medical researchers are investigating ways to use nanomaterials to target tumors. This would allow doctors to deliver medication directly to cancer cells within the body, and leave the healthy cells absolutely unharmed. Also, possible green tech applications would make for cheaper, more efficient solar panels and water filtration systems, energy-saving batteries and lighter vehicles that ultimately use less fuel.

However, nanoparticles are being compared to asbestos. A substance once seen as a miracle fire-proofing agent, is now associated with lawsuits, illness, and death. Much of the damage caused by asbestos could have been avoided if the government had taken note of the very present danger signs

Title: Tiny Troubles: Nanoparticles are Changing Everything From our Sunscreen to our Supplements

Source: E Magazine July/August 2009

Author: Carole bass

Student Researcher: Lauren Faulkner

Faculty Evaluator: Jon Fukuto

Sonoma State University: Sociology of Media, Fall 2009

Instructor: Peter Phillips, #03Similar Posts: