Problem: How a principal’s limited leadership abilities within a highly coupled, culturally diverse organization led to an increased feeling of isolation, unappreciation, and alienation by a group of staff members, all of whom shared a common identity, by which they believed themselves to be grouped, secluded and ignored by the rest of the staff members from the administration’s decision making process.

September 27, 2010

While the differences in the identities of the staff members, and the socio-cultural complexity of the institution could have promoted an environment of tolerance, understanding and cultural exchange, inadequate management exacerbated socio-cultural differences between the members of the staff and led to a breakdown of trust and communication. This contributed to a decrease in the quality of instruction, voiced dissatisfaction by some staff members in regards to their employment, and an increase in turnover rate among the isolated group of staff members.

Hope Ranch Middle School is located in Ocala, Florida, and opened its doors as a public charter middle school in 2008.…

**It is September 2015. You are a memetic designer whose task is to introduce culture change to the national education system of Tanzania. You are funded by UNESCO..

Your goal is to assist the leadership of the education system in its attempt to leapfrog hundreds of years of educational tradition, effectively moving from 12th-14th Century learning to advanced 21st Century learning, including routine knowledge production and innovation by students at all levels.

You are using the tools of the Anthropologist and the Experimenter. Indicate how you put these tools to use in your work, including how you solve problems that present themselves. Pay special attention to how simulations (including ‘serious’ games, if you so choose) play a role in your work.**

September 27, 2010

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Give or take, Homo sapiens have been around the earth for 200,000 to 100,000 years, yet in the past 100 years our level of innovation and the extent of generational and intergenerational change has increased exponentially.…

Focal Country Essay – The Dominican Republic

September 23, 2010

The Dominican Republic was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, becoming an important colony of the Spanish government and a springboard for Spanish expeditions to colonize the rest of the Americas. Economically, the country has traditionally been an exporter of agricultural products such as sugar, coffee and tobacco. However, in recent years there has been a growth in the service industry, including tourism, which now accounts for over 66% of its GDP. This change has been beneficial to the Dominican Republic’s economy which has grown steadily since the 1980s, having an average economic growth rate of 5.43% from 2007 to 2009 and a Per Capita GDP of $8,300 (CIA, 2010). Neo-liberalism and free trade policies have led to the improvement of aggregate economic statistics for most Latin America countries including the Dominican Republic. Through tariff reduction policies and the positive effects of globalization including the increased exchange of ideas and products, most countries may in the future obtain a level of economic development only previously achievable by a few western states (Sachs, 2005).…

Education Quality – Johnstone

September 22, 2010

All the articles offer varying definitions of quality of education, in reviewing these definitions are there any common themes?

While “Defining Quality in Education” dealt directly with this topic, the other articles gave a particular focus to the question and elaborated on the complexity of the issue. Taking into account the context of the articles and their focuses, some disagreements such as to whether or not to promote a national identity and a language, whether to centralize or decentralize education, or whether to increase or reduce standardized testing were noticeable. In the aggregate, the articles agreed about the need to prepare students for a more globalized world and emphasized the importance of teacher training, curriculum improvements, increased access to vocational education, improvement of school facilities, increasing communication between the different administrative levels, and promoting peace education, among other changes. While, a basic recipe may be shared, the difficulty originates in regard to properly administering limited resources.…

CSCI 8970 – Colloquium Series – Fall 2010 – Second Event

Robotic Sensors Networks for Environmental Monitoring

Monday, September 20, 2010

During this interesting session, Volkan Isler introduced to us what his research team at the UMN has recently been researching and implementing. Through the use of a sensor network, Isler has programmed a robotic boat to help with a carp control program by monitoring carps within a particular region through the use of wireless controllers. The boat was first developed and launched in 2008. While the original boat stayed within his via points, the boat was somewhat fragile and the boat’s router kept breaking. As a result, in 2010, the team introduced its second drone. This time, the robot has not only a sparkling and sharp look, but it was also resistant to the wake generated by nearby boats. Carps have increasingly threatened to enter the great lake system and various control alternatives are being researched.…

An IPID – Reconsidering Development Proposal (LA and OCW)

September 16, 2010

Proposal:

IPID will promote web 2.0 technologies with the goal of offering quality educational material over the internet to the global community. Through improvements in technology and the increased access to information around the globe, it is possible for individuals today to access a large quantity of educational material over the internet. IPID hopes to support this movement by not only openly publishing the journal but also by offering information about interdisciplinary development research in various formats, including audio-visual and recording of forums and speeches.

Following in the footsteps of the philosophy in which the University of Minnesota was founded and its greater purpose of not only promoting the search of knowledge within its student-body but also throughout the greater Minnesota, the United States and the World. IPID believes that information should be increasingly made available for free to the general public.…

CSCI 8970 – Colloquium Series – Fall 2010 – First Event

Discovery of Patterns in Global Earth Science Data using Data Mining

Monday, September 13, 2010

His lecture was interesting and informative, but it left us with a challenge. To truly take advantage of the data that is increasingly being gathered, more specific and encompassing algorithms need to be developed. Also, one can anticipate that with the success of the program, future more accurate and detailed satellites and imagery systems will be developed.

The lecture talked about the challenges in analyzing Eco-Climate date. During his lecture he showed comparisons of global sea surface temperatures, a 3D rendering of the globe and how “green” different locations are around the world. The satellite permits data from fires around the world to be analyzed including the extent of the damage.

He illustrated the applications of data mining. The satellite can analyze the changes in forests which account for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions (2^nd only to fossil fuel).…

Contactando a la Republica Dominicana – Proyecto

September 8, 2010

Buenas,

Mi nombre es Alfonso Sintjago. Yo soy un estudiante de doctorado en la Universidad de Minnesota en los Estados Unidos. Mi programa de estudio se enfoca en la educación comparativa e internacional en países latino americanos. Estoy comenzando el programa y aunque naci Venezuela, me gustaría hacer mi estudio en la Republica Dominicana. Mi abuelo Rinaldo Sintjago era dominicano, y junto a mi tío ellos murieron en un intentando derrocar a Trujillo como miembros del movimiento Constanza, Maimón y Estero Hondo.

http://www.museodelaresistencia.org/resistencia/testimonios/Carta_Alfonso_Sintjago.html.

Aunque solo he visitado en dos ocasiones, tengo un gran amor a la isla, y la Republica Dominicana abarca un gran espacio en mi corazón. Actualmente, tengo varios primos que viven en la Republica y me gustaría ayudar a el país como sea posible. Como estudiante en los Estados Unidos podría al hacer un estudio comparativo crear vínculos y fortalecer conexiones entre la Republica Dominicana y la Universidad de Minnesota, la cual es una universidad muy prominente en los Estados Unidos.…

Webinar – Technology Innovations in Higher Education

September 6, 2010

Despite missing the actual webinar, I was able to listen this online session later through a Phoenix Online courtesy email. The webinar overviewed the changes to the online education industry over the years, where online education is moving towards, and how the University of Phoenix plans to take advantage of social networks within their education program to enhance their online platform. The speakers, Adam Honea and Michael White, contend that the proper use of technology can promote a more student centered, constructivist, personalized, social, and convenient form of education.

Here is the link to the webinar recording. The interface also allows the viewer to download the presentation slides as a pdf file. Hope you enjoy it!

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We heard a wide range of viewpoints on “Technology Innovations in Higher Education” from University of Phoenix leaders Bill Pepicello, President; Adam Honea, Provost; and Michael White, Chief Technology Officer.…

Service Learning Conversation

September 5, 2010

In a meeting with Dr. Andrew Furco while discussing service learning, we talked about ways in which UMN could design a course together with Argentina – FLACSO in which undergraduate students could learn about the capability of youth in bringing about global change and the different programs in the world where this has taken place, analyzing both advantages and disadvantages. The class currently is conceived as a six credit course in which students could learn the theory and its history during the spring semester of 2011 at the University of Minnesota, where the students divided in groups of 3 to 4 students will partner with a local organization and help their youth members conduct a service learning project. The goal is not to help the children directly but rather have the students work side by side with the young adults and children taking part in this project and learn the capabilities for youth to bring about change.…