Instructify

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is in the process of launching Carolina on iTunes U, which uses iTunes software to provide a common platform for the entire University to share digital media.  When the project launches, the entire campus community can share lecture podcasts, video tutorials, and other media-based course material for free.

The initiative blurs the boundaries between the classroom and the campus at large, and allows students to get their neuroscience lectures from the same place they get the latest top ten hits.  It’s an extension of iTunes U – a part of the Apple iTunes store filled with free educational audio and video content.  The material is available to anyone with iTunes software, allowing Joe Schmoe and Joe College alike to access fascinating material from museums, PBS stations, and universities.

The Apple website proposes iTunes U as a way for students to “go right on learning while they grab a meal, walk to class, or work out at the gym.”  When I’m on the treadmill, I need something with a more forceful beat than a dactylic hexameter – but if Longfellow’s Evangeline really gets your heart pumping, knock yourself out. Workout preferences notwithstanding, the possibilities offered by iTunes U are nearly limitless, for colleges and K-12 communities.

Bonus: Warner Music won’t sue you for sharing that French and Indian War lecture with your friends. -EMILY JACK

Carolina on iTunes U

Welcome to the Carnival of Education Career Fair! We’ve retracted the bleachers and set up the booths on the gymnasium floor so these brave teachers can see what they might be doing if they weren’t teaching (perish the thought).

Motivational Speaker
Mr. D at I Want to Teach Forever agreed to sport a freaking mohawk as long as his students worked hard, which was about three weeks. Sadly, his motivational experiment has concluded. Long live the mohawk.

Camp Counselor
As a kid, my wife got to go to Space Camp and Marine Science Camp. Had Tisha Kulak and American Consumer News been around back then to point out how to save money on tuition to summer research camps, I might’ve been able to go, too.

Productivity Consultant
Instructify-favorite studenthacks.org has some great tips for students who want to learn how to write a research paper.

Pro Athletes
The Jose Vilson uses Derek Jeter as an example of how nurturing students’ talent and leadership ability early on can reap great results.

And over at Jay P. Greene’s Blog, the author talks about the importance of identifying students’ talents, whether they’re a left tackle or potential honor student.

Economist
ESL teacher Larry Ferlazzo knows that money is the international language.

Translator
Melissa B. at The Scholastic Scribe provides a handy-dandy English-to-Eduspeak dictionary.

Director
Mathew Needleman at Creating Lifelong Learners takes a proactive approach to managing disruptive students during a class movie project.

Advice Columnist
Let’s Play Math! has some advice on teaching math to a struggling student.

Detective
OverwhelmedMom gets to the bottom of problems that gifted students face.

Investigative Reporters
The proprietor of a voice from the middle knows the means to discovery is asking the right questions.

In addition, eduwonkette responds to a Wall Street Journal article about the criteria used to evaluate teachers.

Game Developer
Alvaro at SharpBrains shares a few games to stimulate your temporal lobe.

Diplomat
Coach Brown tries to reach an understanding with hostile parents.

Nutritionists
At Homework. Dinner. Life. Angela points out that good nutrition habits ought to be maintained year-round, not just a few days before the test.

Meanwhile, Chanman at Buckhorn Road says all that caffeine students drink can’t be good for them.

Cartographer
Dan Callahan, a.k.a. geek.teacher, harnesses Google Maps for a lesson in community mapping.

Librarian
@EDU takes the work out of student research by pointing them toward Google Alerts.

Politician
Jane Artabasy at Golden Apple Teaching Excellence Network unloads the loaded word of the day, “elitism,” showing it’s nothing to be frightened of - especially in schools.

The folks at Golden Apple also mull over the differences in races and learning styles.

Astronaut
HowDoWhy asks, what is a solar system, anyway? Furthermore, just how big is ours?

Human Resources Specialist
Over at Right on the Left Coast, Darren discusses the sticky situation of a teacher dating an 18-year-old student at a different school.

Mentors
Allison Jones at Entry Level Living wants to revamp the way young people think about leadership.

The folks at the Efficient Leadership Files have some ideas on that as well.

Statistician
Lead from the Start crunches the numbers about the disconnect between teachers and EdSector.

Strategist
Seth Pearce at NYC Students Blog has an intriguing idea on how to overcome schools’ non-stop test preparation.

Lobbyist
PZ Meyers at Pharyngula has some news about a disturbing bill in the Oklahoma legislature regarding religion in schools.

Road Grader
As the great homework debate rages on, Shabam School makes a good case for grading homework.

Kindergarten Teacher (sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything else)
Kiri at Elbows, Knees, Dreams shares her thoughts (and asks for others’ opinions) about early entrance to Kindergarten.

Photo credit: ou_ags on flickr

20 World Geography Facts That Might Surprise You - If the world were flat, we would all be spinning out of control right now, because 90% of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere. See, there are facts like that about our world’s geography that you did not know, but you soon will thanks to Boots-n-All. Also, did you know that France is about 30% larger than the state of California? No, you did not.

43 Amazing Resources for Writers - I know, I know, I write about writing a lot, but I think it is important. Also, as it turns out, there are a lot of resources out there for writers. In fact, here are 43 of them from Cath Lawson and they are all very amazing.

100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World - Stanford, MIT, Berkley, and other colleges are embracing the wonders of podcasting and making them available to you. Who needs to break the bank on expensive tuition when you can just plug in your eardoos and listen your way to knowing Engineering Ethics. Cultivate Greatness has compiled this list that has some great colleges to choose podcasts from… even (shudder) Duke.

The Top 101 Websites for Teachers - Thank me later– or now, if you want– for these 101 websites just for you. This blog is not terribly unlike our own, but you know, not as snarky. Presented by AssortedStuff.com, a site that is just as valuable as this list, but not quite as compartmentalized. There are some great resources here, but if you really want the tools and sites that will help you teach at your best, there is only one source you need. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Right now, your high school seniors are probably stressing out about the difference between the cost of college and the amount of scholarship money they received. If you’re a guidance counselor or a teacher who doesn’t want your students to have to decide between buying books or food, show them these financial aid options, courtesy of studenthacks.org. They’ll find information about Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, plus lesser-known options like Plus Loans, as well as Social Security for students unlucky enough to have a deceased parent.

This list is a good resource for students scrambling to fund their education. Juniors can also use it as a primer for all the financial aid rigmarole they’ll have to go through next year. By exploring financial aid options, your students will have the money they need for school, and the peace of mind of not worrying how they’ll pay for their next meal. -BILL FERRIS

How to Find More Cash for School – 9 Financial Aid Options via studenthacks.org

Related Stuff:
Warn Your Students Against Financial Aid Myths
Student Loan Advice for High School Seniors
The Final Countdown - Countdown to College

Welcome to your romantic and eerily educentric Valentine’s Day date. But will it end in love, tears, or possibly food poisoning from an undercooked Valentine’s dinner? These kind educators were gracious enough to share their Valentine’s Day experiences:

Dinner and a Movie: Benjamin Baxter at On the Tenure Track invites you to a live recreation of Saving Private Ryan in his own classroom.

Dining by Candlelight: Larry Ferlazzo at In Practice and Eric at Teachers Call say teachers should include more modern means of illuminating young minds.

Set the Mood with Music: Alvaro at SharpBrains says musical training stimulates the brain. Meanwhile, Creating Lifelong Learners tells you how to make the most of your iPod in class.

Send a Valentine’s Card: Ms. Cornelius says principals who care, trust and lead by example are sooo her type.

Like Romeo and Juliet, Minus the Suicide: The Bard Blog knows there’s no better way to woo someone than with poetry. Learn how to read Shakespearean verse like a true Romeo.

Even More Poetry: Eduwonkette has the same idea. Send your Valentine a funny poem.

On a Budget: American Consumer News has tips on how to get great books for cheap. Speaking of books, Money Blue Book talks about a few things you didn’t know your library could do.

On a Budget, Part II: Uncle Joe’s Leadership Blog tells parents and students how to get a free college education. And Thursday Bram at Wise Bread tells students where to shop when they have to start buying their own textbooks.

Propagating the Species: GrrlScientist at Living the Scientific Life has the skinny on a guide to teaching evolutionary theory.

Lovers’ Quarrel: Mr. Walker, The English Teacher, prompts a heated discussion on tracking.

Kiss and Make Up: Resolve conflicts with colleagues by employing these strategies, courtesy of Pat at Successful Teaching.

Share a Few Laughs: Scenes from The Battleground pokes fun at the idea of blaming the victim in education.

Spend Some Time with Your Kids: TutorFi’s Colleen Palat asks, “Does My Child Need a Tutor?“If so, not to worry. The kid can still excel in school.

Find a Special Someone where you Least Expect It: Joanne Jacobs dishes on Principal Shimon Waronker, a Hasidic Jew, ignoring potential culture shock to turn around a prominently black and Hispanic school.

Watch the Sunrise: Circle Time “Lead From The Start” discusses teaching with both sides of the brain to usher in a new tomorrow in student learning.

Remembering the Way We Were: The Tempered Radical’s Bill Ferriter asked beginning teachers to remind older colleagues they’re still learning how to do this job.

Stand by Your Man (or Woman): Nancy Flanagan, a Teacher in a Strange Land, sticks up for teachers in the face of claims that the professions isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Get Some Alone Time: Dana at Principled Discovery doesn’t like the idea of the federal government butting in and bossing around local schools.

Remembering it’s the Thought that Counts: Like many parents reared on New Math, NYC Educator struggles to help his daughter at math. But he’s a dear for trying.

Fending off Suitors: Ms_Teacher isn’t interested in ETS’ insultingly low wages.

Dumped: To MasterPapers.com and CustomEssays.co.uk - We both knew this was coming. Selling essays to students is just wrong, wrong, wrong. And your advice on essay writing is pure fluff. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

Photo Credit: Candy hearts at cryptogram.com.

Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without - Wikipedia is always a great place to get started on researching a subject, but you can never fully rely on just the information found there. Daily Revolver presents this list of general and subject specific sites and resources to aid you and your students in research.

6 Great Money Saving Tips for Students on a Budget - We all love money, despite its evil nature. Unfortunately for many young adults, the stereotype of being a “starving student” might be all too real. TextLister.com brings us this quick list of tips to cut down on spending superfluously - something we all could probably benefit from.

25 Articles Every Student Should Read - If you are into “hacking” (and I don’t mean enjoying your winter cough) you will probably know most of these ideas already, but check out this list anyway. The article, via StudyHacks, helps those of us who might be looking to tap into that unused part of our brain that helps us, um, think better or something.

Top 10 Web Tools for College Students - OK, so maybe these are directed at college students, but most of the tools here can be used by students of any age. My favorite is Cramster - surprisingly, a homework help forum, not a crocodile/hamster hybrid. Oh well. Thanks Campus Squeeze.

50 Ways To Boost Your Brain Power - So, many of the tips on this list are great, but others are just common sense. Out of the 50, there are quite a few that will help you and your gray matter - choose wisely and avoid the contradictions though. “Drink Red Wine” or “Cut Alcohol Consumption” - you decide. From 4Mind4Life.com. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: JCKham on flickr

As your students start to get college acceptance letters, they’re probably trying to figure out how they’re going to pay for the next four years of school. If your students are stressing about an expensive education, have them check out Campus Grotto’s advice on how to avoid a lifetime of crushing education debt.

The article focuses on the various types of student loans, and what to watch out for. Campus Grotto advises using federal loans before turning to privatized lenders. Federal loans have more borrower protection, and are easier to get for families who don’t have perfect credit.

No matter how they pay for it, your kids’ college education will cost them a big chunk of money. Make sure they read up on the subject so they can make informed decisions. -BILL FERRIS

Student Debt in America via Campus Grotto

Are your students freaking out about their SAT scores? Before they spend a bundle on SAT preparation materials, have them frequent the College Board’s SAT Question of the Day. Every day they’ll get hit with questions just like they’ll see on the tests. If they create a free user account on the College Board site, they can keep track of their results. To make things even easier, RSS feeds and email can deliver the questions directly to their computers, so they won’t have to muck about with filters and firewalls.

For more review, check out their SAT Practice Questions in Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing. Note: on the main page, they’ll see a lot of products with price tags. Though more review never hurts, they can still get some practice with the freebies listed above. And when in doubt, their local library will probably have SAT review books available. So while the SAT test is expensive, studying for it doesn’t have to be. -BILL FERRIS

SAT Question of the Day

SAT Practice Questions

Words… I love them! I’ll take crosswords or curse words, word play or word-of-the-day; in lines, on lists, or out of lips, I just get a kick out of them. For this reason, a good friend of mine, who has recently started student teaching, thought I might be a good person to ask about fun ways to teach word roots to her high school classes. She was wrong. At first my answer was, “aren’t word roots like inherently fun?” Thinking I owed her something more useful, I figured I’d turn to one of my other great loves (the Internet).

The coolest thing I found was an SAT prep game at Quia.com. This game has Jeopardy-style, one- or two-player games for an impressive array of subjects – one of them being word roots. The game is actually quite difficult if you attempt it unprepared, but if your students are studying the roots that the game uses, then it would be about right. -MARIELLE PRINCE

SAT Word Game via Quia

The Online Education Database has hundreds of free online courses for your perusal– 200 to be exact. The database has compiled a list and description of these courses to help hopefuls such as yourself to be able to learn the things you didn’t know already. Who has the time to visit the learning annex every Wednesday night just to listen to some old stiff coat ramble on about modern poetry? If your work and home life don’t allow you to go out and do such stuff, then sit in front of the computer and use the power of the internet to guide you toward knowledge.

The database is broken up into several categories that might sound vaguely familiar such as Math, Science, Language Arts, and Health. The real gems lie in the categories such as Theology, Business and Finance, and Social Sciences. The courses themselves are from real universities and colleges such as The University of Notre Dame, Utah State University, and Tufts University to name a few. If you’ve got some spare time at home, and you can’t swing going back to school, this might be a great option. Send your students to this site, too, if they don’t have too much homework already, that is. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Online Education Database

Top 5 Open Source Wiki Engines - Wikis are Web 2.0 incarnate, but they can also seem a bit overwhelming at times. TechCorner gives us these five open source resources for manageable wikis. Be careful of the atrocious grammar in this article though. Too bad the article isn’t a wiki you can edit yourself.

Top 10 Underhyped Webapps - Lifehacker presents these webapps (some of which we’ve touched on here before, including Jott) so you can make your online life as simple as it should be. Some of my favorites include Meebo and Remember the Milk.

11 Tips to Carve Out More Time to Think - Lifehack is the source for life management, and they don’t relent when it comes to bringing great articles like this one to help you deal. These tips include such gems as Walk, Talk, and Type.

50 Inspirational Quotes to Make You Think - via Goal Setting College - While we’re already thinking about thinking, delve into these quotes to give you something to think about. These quotes from such legendary thinkers from history such as Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, and Confucius will have your brain exploding with deep thoughts. Unfortunately, Jack Handy is nowhere to be found.

10 Ways to Green Your Bathroom - Luckily for mother Earth, being green is still in. There are ways we can all do our part to get in on the action, and there are chances to conserve and reduce in almost every area of our lives. Tiny Choices presents these ways you can do your part even when it comes to the nitty-gritty of the grittiest of places - the bathroom. Give one or more of these a try - maybe even recycled toilet paper (not as gross as it might sound). –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

photo via pualv or flickr

Graduation comes in only a few months, and your precious youngsters are about to make the harsh transition from parent-subsidized affluence to scrounging up change for laundry they should’ve washed weeks ago. They’re ready for college classes, but can they juggle homework and a 20-40 hour a week job?

Do your soon-to-be cash strapped students a favor and tell them about Software for Starving Students. It’s a bundle of great programs you probably already know about like Open Office, Audacity, Firefox, plus stuff you might not have heard of like PDFCreator (you get three guesses what this does), and Blender, a 3D graphics program. Everything is free, and students can get it all in one easy download, rather than jumping from site to site to download the apps.

The software is available for both PC and Mac users. FYI, the download is in .img format for CD burning, so you’ll need a CD burning program to install it (there’s one included in the download, for all the good that will do you).

The only problem with most of this free software is that the people who need it don’t know it exists. With Software for Starving Students, your kids can get a bundle of useful programs in one shot and still have money to wash their whites. –BILL FERRIS

Software for Starving Students

Related Stuff:

Ditch Microsoft Office: OpenOffice Provides a Free Office Suite

Lifehack comes to the rescue once again by providing this useful and succinct article that suggests that studying less and learning something right the first time around is more beneficial than repeating and reviewing information over and over again. In ‘How to Study Less by Learning Things Once’ writer Scott Young helps readers to imagine the brain as a structure full of holes, and that by reviewing study material over and over, we are really just putting a band-aid over a sieve.

A student himself, Young seems as good a candidate as any to write about effective study habits. He breaks the process into steps, offering guidance along the way and giving tips on how to maintain the techniques that work best for you. Some are merely mnemonic devices that we should all know by now, but there are other bits of wisdom such as ‘your brain is not a computer,’ that will help learners rethink their study habits. Students can surely benefit from the steps here, and they might even stop blaming you when they claim to be ‘tired from studying ALL night’. –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

How To Study Less by Learning Things Once

The Hundred Greatest Theorems– There’s a top 100 of just about everything nowadays. Now, it’s time you geometers and algebrainiacs had your turn. According to the site, the ranking is based on “the place the theorem holds in the literature, the quality of the proof, and the unexpectedness of the result.”

The Hundred Greatest Theorems

The Seven Blunders of the World – Mahatma Gandhi was known as one of the wisest spiritual leaders of all time, and he didn’t get to be revered without saying and doing some pretty great things. Here is a list of his Seven Blunders of the World presented by Dr. Hugo. My favorite: “Politics without principle.” Heh.

Dr. Hugo

64 Interview Answers You Need to Know - CrackInterview.info offers this extensive list to assure you’ll be prepared for the next time you have to be on the answering end of an interview. Some of the questions here are no-brainers, others you might have never even considered, like “Why aren’t you earning more money in this stage of your career?”

Crack Interview

10 Do’s and Don’ts for Your Statement of Purpose - Getting into grad school is hard enough as it is– luckily, Accepted.com presents this list of things to include and exclude from your statement of purpose when applying to the schools of your choice. When you’ve got a lot to say, you should know what not to say, too.

Accepted.com

100 Kick-butt Lifehacking Blogs - Whitepapers.org has done a wonderful thing for those of us obsessed with productivity. Here is a list, presented by topic, of the 100 best life-improving, time-saving, and get-it-done-right blogs on the web today. Some of our favorites like Dumb Little Man and 43 Folders are up there, and some new ones we’re looking forward to exploring. Maybe next time you’ll see Instructify up there, too.

White Papers

–JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Deborah Fox is every teenager’s parents’ hero. On her Pay For College Blog, Fox gives oodles of great tips and advice on going to college without having to join the Armed Forces or becoming a plasma prostitute. In a recent article, she describes the ways to easily spot a scholarship scam. Everything she mentions follows the old adage “if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.” The bottom line: if someone is offering you a great deal for no effort on your behalf, or if they want something in return, then it’s likely a scam.

For that matter, what tips do YOU have for spotting a scam? Have you fallen victim to a Nigerian diplomat looking for a place to keep his funds? Won a “Toy Yoda”? Accidentally purchased a Nintrendo Wiii on E-Bay.net? Tell us your stories, and enjoy Ms. Fox’s helpful tips on avoiding sleight of hand when it comes to getting what you’ve earned. –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Six Ways To Spot Scholarship Scams