Radio School: 1920
Dave, Shorpy, June 15, 2011.

I couldn't resist passing along this National Radio School photo from Shorpy's always interesting archive of old-time photography. Educational technology at its best.

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Iowa School District Goes All Digital: Trades Textbooks For Macbooks
Beth Dalbey, Iowa Independent, June 15, 2011.

Eventually stories like this will become myriad and boring. It will no longer be news that school districts have embraced all-electronic media. The cost savings are significant, and electronic media are easier to use and more convenient (sure, it's easier to simply read a book, but much harder to actually work with it, refer to it, look stuff up, forward readings, etc.). “All the kids carry around laptops, but it’s not the device that is the change,” Glass said after visiting the plugged-in classrooms in January. “The most encouraging thing I saw at Van Meter was that they told me that when they first got the devices, it was kind of ‘paper down wire,’ taking the tools on paper and putting them online. Now, after two years of exploring the capacity of the devices, the kids and teachers are learning and evolving in their own knowledge of how powerful new technology can be.” Via Edudemic.

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How Ads Create False Memories
Priyali Rajagopal and Nicole Votolato Montgomery, The Mark, June 15, 2011.

I have an excellent memory, or so I like to think, and so it troubles me when I find inconsistencies in my memories, which is a problem because it means I remember incorrectly, but can't tell what. Which is why I write things down. So while it's a concern, it's of no surprise to discover "consumers who read vivid print advertisements for fictitious products reported false memories of having tried these products, despite the fact that this would have been impossible." So I relate to my memory in the same way I relate to the Russians: trust, but verify.

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Why don't more jokes die?
Geoffrey K. Pullum, Language Log, June 15, 2011.

I'm running this item not only because of the classic facepalm moment (pictured), but also because Geoff Pullum draws out the lesson educators should note. "The joke is very simple and brief: The Dalai Lama walks into a pizza joint and says, Make me one with everything." But it fails utterly, because the Dalai Lama (right) does not understand the concept of ordering "one with everything" at a pizza joint. "How easy it is," remarks Pullum, "to underestimate the quantity of cultural and linguistic background needed if you are to reliably get the jokes that people tell." Yes, but on the other hand, I salute the audacity of a television interviewer who has the fortitude to try out a joke during his interview with the Dalai Lama. Few others would have dared.

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The Tuition Bubble is a Lie, CNN edition
Mike Caulfield, Tran|Script, June 15, 2011.

Two responses to the tuition bubble story, this from Mike Caulfield, and this from Eastern Michigan University. Caulfield argues that tuition is not a bubble, that because of discounting and government aid, the amount of tuition students actually pay is declining. Well maybe. But what this means is that unless they get some sort of grant or assistance, middle class students cannot pay current tuition rates, as evidenced by the fact that they are not paying these rates. An industry that prices itself to the point where its customers cannot afford the product without some sort of subsidy is almost the definition of a bubble, and when the subsidy ends - as it will - the bubble implodes.

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Social Crack
Adam Curry, Weblog, June 15, 2011.

I know it looks like sites like Facebook and Twitter and the rest are unstoppable. But don't invest too heavily on that. I'm not simply talking about Facebook's weakening numbers in Canada. Rather, it's the realization people have that acts like a genie that can't be put back into the bottle. This: "The problem with cetralized social networks like facebook isn't so much that you loose 'your stuff' or your 'contacts'. It's that someone else can make the decision to cut you off. I want to feel free when I'm socializing. No anvil over my head please." And eventually, "The social network I want, has the update capabilities of a feedhose, the context of an outliner and the inclusion properties of the World Outline." That's what's coming. Not sure when, who or how, but it's coming.

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