How often have you seen a Bright Girl suddenly lose confidence when faced with a difficult task? How many girls and women, while seemingly smart and good students, claim they "aren't good" with technology and computers?
Heidi Grant writes in the Huffington Post about the gender differences between boys and girls when it comes to facing difficult tasks. Drawing on the research of Carol Dweck, who was her graduate school advisor and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006), Grant explains that praise can be bad for girls, particularly Bright Girls. This is because praise tends to promote a fixed mindset about yourself. Comments such as "You are smart," or "You are a good student" lead to fixed ideas about who you are, and thus the need to continually prove yourself. Bright Girls would rather give up than tackle a difficult task that might lead to failure. That would be too painful, since it could involve giving up your basic identity.
Boys, on the other hand, are usually considered a handful by parents and teachers regardless of how well they perform in school. Bright Boys tend to receive feedback such as, "If you try harder, you can get it right." Thus they are free to continually improve themselves without risk of identity failure.
In Mindset, Dweck promotes the idea of people having a "fixed mindset" versus a "growth mindset." When people have fixed mindsets, they tend to exhibit rigid thinking. Dweck gives the example of one of her former teachers, who organized students' seating arrangements according to IQ rank - ironic, since the founder of the IQ test himself did not believe in fixed IQs. People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, regard things such as "intelligence" as just a starting point. Purposeful engagement is the key to achieving expertise or success, not pre-existing attributes such as "talent" or "genes." Dweck noticed that some of the boys she observed loved failure. In fact, they saw "failure" as a stimulating challenge - a temporary state of affairs.
Positive mental attitudes can be adopted by anyone, is the point made by both Grant and Dweck. Seek out people who will challenge you to grow, and don't let "beliefs" about yourself lead to pre-mature conclusions. Embrace challenges without fear.
Read more about real science used for real goals and struggles in:
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Ferguson: The financial meltdown up close isn't pretty
Why isn't there more popular outrage over "a crime story like no other in history" - a.k.a, the 2008 Wall Street financial meltdown?
Charles Ferguson, the Oscar-winning director of "Inside Job," suspects many people find the financial services industry just too complicated to understand. The industry is awash with obscure jargon. Additionally, digital technology has complicated and fundamentally changed how the industry operates, to the point traders are studying computer programming and computing.
But Ferguson believes people CAN understand what's going on, with a little effort. The official Inside Job website has a study guide for teachers, complete with hands-on activities and a list of players. This is pretty radical stuff. I'd be interested in finding out how many K-12 teachers are using it.
If you still just can't see yourself spending money on a documentary about the financial services industry, you might want to listen to Ferguson being interviewed at the Commonwealth Club of California. The audience is clearly on Ferguson's side, and a sense of outrage comes alive after the first few minutes. I haven't seen the film, but I plan to after listening to this show. For example...
Ferguson, a former software entrepreneur and technical policy academic and consultant, commented "too bad" when informed some people on Wall Street didn't like their portrayal in his film.
"How did you get to be such a tough guy?" asked the Commonwealth interviewer.
"Well, I've been one for awhile actually. Partially perhaps the way I was raised, I don't know. When I was an academic, certainly it was quite routine to get into tough fights - intellectual fights, not personal ones. People were very direct about their views of each other's ideas."
Ferguson also talked about his Ph.D. thesis advisor, a man who had spent real time out in the read world.
"I remember one time when I complained to him that I was under a lot of pressure, and he kind of smiled and said, 'Charles, let me tell you about the Cuban missle crisis. That's pressure. Your problems are not pressure.' So he set a high standard."
Then there was the time he spent filming in Iraq. It sounds more interesting via audio.
As good as Inside Job is (at least I think it is), we need more articles, films. photos, and general documentation about the impact of the financial meltdown from a variety of perspectives and social levels. History is in the making - and with digital technology perhaps more of it can be collectively shaped than in the past.
For more insight about "Inside Job" or the Charles Ferguson writing, please consider the following;
Charles Ferguson, the Oscar-winning director of "Inside Job," suspects many people find the financial services industry just too complicated to understand. The industry is awash with obscure jargon. Additionally, digital technology has complicated and fundamentally changed how the industry operates, to the point traders are studying computer programming and computing.
But Ferguson believes people CAN understand what's going on, with a little effort. The official Inside Job website has a study guide for teachers, complete with hands-on activities and a list of players. This is pretty radical stuff. I'd be interested in finding out how many K-12 teachers are using it.
If you still just can't see yourself spending money on a documentary about the financial services industry, you might want to listen to Ferguson being interviewed at the Commonwealth Club of California. The audience is clearly on Ferguson's side, and a sense of outrage comes alive after the first few minutes. I haven't seen the film, but I plan to after listening to this show. For example...
Ferguson, a former software entrepreneur and technical policy academic and consultant, commented "too bad" when informed some people on Wall Street didn't like their portrayal in his film.
"How did you get to be such a tough guy?" asked the Commonwealth interviewer.
"Well, I've been one for awhile actually. Partially perhaps the way I was raised, I don't know. When I was an academic, certainly it was quite routine to get into tough fights - intellectual fights, not personal ones. People were very direct about their views of each other's ideas."
Ferguson also talked about his Ph.D. thesis advisor, a man who had spent real time out in the read world.
"I remember one time when I complained to him that I was under a lot of pressure, and he kind of smiled and said, 'Charles, let me tell you about the Cuban missle crisis. That's pressure. Your problems are not pressure.' So he set a high standard."
Then there was the time he spent filming in Iraq. It sounds more interesting via audio.
As good as Inside Job is (at least I think it is), we need more articles, films. photos, and general documentation about the impact of the financial meltdown from a variety of perspectives and social levels. History is in the making - and with digital technology perhaps more of it can be collectively shaped than in the past.
For more insight about "Inside Job" or the Charles Ferguson writing, please consider the following;
Friday, March 4, 2011
Dangerous clouds: Why critical digital literacy matters
OK, here’s the situation. I was watching TV the other night, and heard about a new danger: Hydrofluoric acid (HF). Hydrofluoric acid can travel swiftly in huge clouds, and cause horrible death to anyone in its path, according to a report by The Center for Public Integrity. With 50 oil refineries in the US still using HF, more than 16 million people are in the potential path of HF – most of them unaware of the danger they face. The friendly and concerned TV anchorperson advised checking the map on The Center for Public Integrity Web site for more details.
I don’t usually follow up on such things. But noticing two oil refinery plants that appeared to be very near where I live in the center of the country, I decided to check it out. I couldn’t find a map on the Web site. But I did find an Excel spreadsheet of the 50 oil refineries. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the headings on the Excel spreadsheet to appear, or get the scroll bar to show up, so I couldn’t make sense of – I assume – valuable and free information. I never did like Excel, and I forget everything I learn about it. But I shouldn’t. Excel is apparently here to stay, at least for awhile.
I still don’t know if I’m in the path of HF. But maybe you can figure out if you are.
I don’t usually follow up on such things. But noticing two oil refinery plants that appeared to be very near where I live in the center of the country, I decided to check it out. I couldn’t find a map on the Web site. But I did find an Excel spreadsheet of the 50 oil refineries. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the headings on the Excel spreadsheet to appear, or get the scroll bar to show up, so I couldn’t make sense of – I assume – valuable and free information. I never did like Excel, and I forget everything I learn about it. But I shouldn’t. Excel is apparently here to stay, at least for awhile.
I still don’t know if I’m in the path of HF. But maybe you can figure out if you are.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Using GPS to track truant students
The Anaheim Union High School District in California is using GPS units to track truant students, according to the Orange Country Register. Students who have more than three unexcused absences from school are being given the GPS units, developed by AIM Truancy Solutions.
"Every school day, the participants receive an automated phone call reminding them to get to school on time. They are then required to enter a code that tracks their location during their departure for school, arrival at school, lunch period, departure from school and at 8 p.m.,' according to a recap of the article by PCWorld.
"The devices cost between $300 and $400 apiece. All together, the six-week program costs about $8 per day for each student, or $18,000. It's estimated that schools lose $35 per day for each absent student, so AIM Truancy Solution's program is a cost savings."
The threaded discussion that follows the story in PCWorld is interesting. Most of it focuses on the accuracy of the math, with a couple of comments about the threat of "juvie" and the poor quality of schools. Interesting in itself, and an example of how smart, technocratic thinking can quickly dominate educational issues. But what about the social aspect of having schools track students from first thing in the morning to night? Is this an example of schools and parents working together to ensure better futures for their children? Or is technology being used in too controlling a fashion?
"Every school day, the participants receive an automated phone call reminding them to get to school on time. They are then required to enter a code that tracks their location during their departure for school, arrival at school, lunch period, departure from school and at 8 p.m.,' according to a recap of the article by PCWorld.
"The devices cost between $300 and $400 apiece. All together, the six-week program costs about $8 per day for each student, or $18,000. It's estimated that schools lose $35 per day for each absent student, so AIM Truancy Solution's program is a cost savings."
The threaded discussion that follows the story in PCWorld is interesting. Most of it focuses on the accuracy of the math, with a couple of comments about the threat of "juvie" and the poor quality of schools. Interesting in itself, and an example of how smart, technocratic thinking can quickly dominate educational issues. But what about the social aspect of having schools track students from first thing in the morning to night? Is this an example of schools and parents working together to ensure better futures for their children? Or is technology being used in too controlling a fashion?
Don't pay for reading, writing & math skills!
What are K-12 students actually learning in school? According to an article in the New York Times, 65% of community college students nationwide need remedial education in reading, writing or math. With fees ranging up to $910 per class, students are paying a lot of money - and earning no college credit - for education that should have got in middle and high school. No wonder only 35% of community college students nationwide graduate in six years.
According to the article, many students are surprised to find out they need remedial classes. Math is the subject where students most frequently lack skills. Test your own college-level math skills with four basic math problems offered through ACT, a nonprofit organization that engages in educational and workforce assessments, certifications and research.
With K-12 schools failing to give students the skills they need to succeed in community colleges, could critical digital literacy help fill the knowledge gap? Maybe schools should help students learn to teach themselves, through connecting them to some of the many online math resources. That way, students could teach themselves when they need to, as often as they need to. After all, an associate degree can mean the difference beween an $85,000 nursing job and a minimum-wage service job, as a community college president pointed out.
According to the article, many students are surprised to find out they need remedial classes. Math is the subject where students most frequently lack skills. Test your own college-level math skills with four basic math problems offered through ACT, a nonprofit organization that engages in educational and workforce assessments, certifications and research.
With K-12 schools failing to give students the skills they need to succeed in community colleges, could critical digital literacy help fill the knowledge gap? Maybe schools should help students learn to teach themselves, through connecting them to some of the many online math resources. That way, students could teach themselves when they need to, as often as they need to. After all, an associate degree can mean the difference beween an $85,000 nursing job and a minimum-wage service job, as a community college president pointed out.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Ready or not: K-12 Students MUST take online courses
More states are requiring students to take an online course before graduating from high school. Michigan, Alabama, New Mexico, and Idaho have or are proposing some form of e-course requirement, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning in Virginia.
I have a bad feeling about this. Not only are there serious equity concerns, which states claim to be addressing, but is there any better way to kill students' interest in digital learning and technology? Instead of computers being an escape from school, a place where kids can engage in social networking and perhaps explore sites and information outside the boundaries of common core standards, online learning will become a duty - right up there with turning in truly boring homework.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe students need to be pushed into online learning, in order to get comfortable with what is likely to be - more online learning in their future! What do you think?
I have a bad feeling about this. Not only are there serious equity concerns, which states claim to be addressing, but is there any better way to kill students' interest in digital learning and technology? Instead of computers being an escape from school, a place where kids can engage in social networking and perhaps explore sites and information outside the boundaries of common core standards, online learning will become a duty - right up there with turning in truly boring homework.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe students need to be pushed into online learning, in order to get comfortable with what is likely to be - more online learning in their future! What do you think?
Parents pay big bucks for e-high schools
It looks like digital literacy is becoming necessary to compete at the K-12 school level, where until recently paper and pencil used to rule. Parents are increasingly paying tution for online private high schoolsk said a spokesman for the Evergreen Education Group, which conducts research on online K-12 education . The George Washington University Online High School (GWUOHS), which just launched this year with 18 students, charges $9,999 annually per student.
GWUOHS is a partnership between George Washington University and Virginia-based K12 Inc, which operates public schools in 25 states. The school is targeting college-bound, high achieving students. Read an article about the partnerhip in Education Week (where access to much of the content costs about $10 a month).
Can the compounded advantages of money and advances in digital learning be overcome? What do you think?
GWUOHS is a partnership between George Washington University and Virginia-based K12 Inc, which operates public schools in 25 states. The school is targeting college-bound, high achieving students. Read an article about the partnerhip in Education Week (where access to much of the content costs about $10 a month).
Can the compounded advantages of money and advances in digital learning be overcome? What do you think?
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