[Futurework] web gleanings

[Karen Watters Cole]

Three items from the web harvest this week.  Links are live. Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast. "Public Involvement. Public Education. Public Benefit." ******************************************************** DECIDING TO TEACH THEM ALL Asking the right questions has an enormous impact on how we pursue equity and excellence in our classrooms, according to Carol Ann Tomlinson. The United States has always balanced precariously on the twin values of equity and excellence. As a people, we believe that birth in a log cabin should not be a barrier to the boardroom or the Oval Office and that all citizens should have access to the opportunities that will help them realize their potential. Similarly, we cling to a vision of the United States as representing the best. We stand for the fastest cars, the tallest buildings, the finest medical care, and the most innovative technology. We are committed to excellence. To lose either equity or excellence as a guiding value would be to lose our identity.   To maintain both, however, is a balancing act of the highest order. And the challenge is perhaps greatest in the schools that shape young people to be good stewards of these values. Although we don't often think about the impact of education decisions on the balance between equity and excellence, many decisions push the fulcrum in one direction or the other -- for individual learners, groups, or schools as a whole. If we reframe the questions that we ask, a tectonic shift might occur in how we make decisions on behalf of academically diverse learners. Not, What labels? But, What interests and needs? Not, What deficits? But, What strengths? Not, How do we remediate? (or even, How do we enrich the standard curriculum?) But, How do we maximize access to the richest possible curriculum and instruction? Not, How do we motivate? But, What would it take to tap the motivation already within this learner? Not, Which kind of setting? But, What circumstances maximize the student's full possibilities? Read Professor Tomlinson’s principles for fostering equity and excellence at: http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200310/tomlinson.html FUTURE COMPUTERS Researchers at Purdue University have performed two steps critical to potential use of DNA for future electronic devices and computers. Strands of DNA were placed on a silicon chip and then stretched out so that their encoded information might be read more clearly. Other researchers have deposited DNA onto similar templates, but this is the first time DNA strands have been stretched in specific locations. This step could lead to the ability to stretch DNA molecules in specific locations on electronic chips, which is critical in harnessing the storage capacity of DNA for future computers. The templates contain positively charged lines of commercially available polymer. When the negatively charged genetic material is dropped onto the chip, it is attracted to the lines automatically. Then the researchers use a syringe to drag the DNA, uncoiling the strands along the template surface. Theoretically, future computers might tap the vast storage capacity that enables DNA to hold the complex blueprints of living organisms. These new computers would be based on DNA's four-letter code instead of a computer's customary two digits. This would offer advantages over conventional electronics in speed, memory capacity, and energy efficiency for solving certain types of complex problems. And Last but not least, I checked this out after hearing about it on C-Span 2 Book TV:  Book Movement, where you can get assistance starting and managing a book club or if an author, write your own readers’ guidelines (fee is $12/mo), but which sounds like very good marketing.  http://www.bookmovement.com/.