Valiant, Etc.

News and Resources for Thoughtful Educators





537 Views

21st Century Basic Skills

Filed under: Educational Futures — Dr. Bob Valiant at 6:16 am on Friday, November 8, 2002
Educational Futures

Living and working in the modern world is becoming increasingly complex. The basic skills of learning that have become part of the enculturation of our children and have enabled the general population to find and hold jobs, make a comfortable home, and follow individual interests, limit the horizons of those trying to make sense of this far more complex environment. Not only are new basics required, but new modes of delivery are needed to teach these skills to both the youth entering the system and to adults who need the skills but have not been adequately prepared. This article will focus on the new skills and on research that gives us clues as to what types of learning activities are most appropriate for learning these skills. (Read on …)

390 Views

How Futuristic are You?

Filed under: Educational Futures — Dr. Bob Valiant at 11:11 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Educational Futures

The following was found in FUTURE UPDATE NEWSLETTER:

The Vision Center for Futures Creation in Goteborg, Sweden, has developed an online test of your “futures” personality.

The Futures Styles Inventory is a tool for helping individuals assess their beliefs and actions “when it comes to handling fast-paced change and the future,” says director Natalie Dian.

Respondents score their level of agreement or disagreement with such statements as “I do not rush into the future”; “I act against changes that are a threat to my world and me”; “I realize how important it is to focus on future questions”; “I have a clear vision of my own future”; and “I want to work with the big picture in the projects with which I am involved.”

(Read on …)

422 Views

Red Hat proposes to Enhance Microsoft Settlement Offer by Providing Open Source Software to all school districts NATIONWIDE!

Filed under: Educational Futures — Dr. Bob Valiant at 5:12 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2001
Educational Futures

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 20, 2001–

Red Hat, Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT ) today proposed an alternative to the settlement announced today of the class-action lawsuit against Microsoft. Red Hat offered to provide open-source software to every school district in the United States free of charge, encouraging Microsoft to redirect the money it would have spent on software into purchasing more hardware for the 14,000 poorest school districts. Under the Red Hat proposal, by removing Microsoft’s higher-priced software from the settlement equation, Microsoft could provide the school districts with many more computers–greatly extending the benefits Microsoft seeks to provide school districts with their proposed settlement.
(Read on …)

477 Views

Site Based School Improvement

Filed under: Educational Futures — Dr. Bob Valiant at 6:17 am on Saturday, November 16, 2002
Educational Futures

School-based improvement, sometimes called site-based management or school-based management, has been actively promoted as a means to improve the quality of schools, but there is little research to support the efficacy of the intervention. After working with schools to implement innovations over a period of several years the author has come to the conclusion that a systems approach is required if real change is to be sustained. The present study reviewed literature in both educational change and site-based management to identify key factors that must be managed to to effect the reform. The prominent factors were grouped into Enabling Conditions, Implementation Considerations, and Capacity-Building Components (as adapted from the work of Noble). It should be emphasized that the factors identified here received prominent attention in the literature but may only be representative of a broader range of conditions that may not as yet be identified. A brief description of each of the identified factors follows.

(Read on …)