Fall, 1947. New York City. Private Investigator Ida Davis has been called to New York by her old partner, Michael Talbot, to investigate a brutal killing spree in a Harlem flophouse that has left four people dead. But as they delve deeper into the case, Ida and Michael realize the murders are part of a larger conspiracy that stretches further than they ever could have imagined. Meanwhile, Ida's childhood friend, Louis Armstrong, is at his lowest ebb.
Prague, 1599. Christian Stern, a young doctor, has just arrived in the city. On his first evening, he finds a young woman's body half buried in the snow. The dead woman is none other than the emperor's mistress, and there's no shortage of suspects. Stern is employed by the emperor himself to investigate the murder. In the search to find the culprit, Stern finds himself drawn into the shadowy world of the emperor's court - unspoken affairs, letters written in code, and bitter rivalries. But can he unmask the killer before they reach their next victim?
London, 1909: the British Empire seems invulnerable. But Captain Vernon Kell, head of counterintelligence at the War Office, knows better. In Russia, revolution; in Germany, an arms race; in London, the streets are alive with foreign terrorists. Kell wants to set up a Secret Service, but to convince his political masters, he needs proof of a threat - and to find that, he needs an agent he can trust. Kell needs Wiggins.
The winner of the Harvill Secker/Daily Telegraph crime writing competition.
A senior official has been murdered, and a note left in his mouth warns the British to quit India - or else. With rising political dissent and the stability of the Raj under threat, Wyndham and his two new colleagues - arrogant Inspector Digby and British-educated but Indian-born Sergeant Banerjee, one of the few Indians to be recruited into the new CID - embark on an investigation that will take them from the luxurious parlours of wealthy British traders to the seedy opium dens of the city. The start of an atmospheric and enticing new historical crime series.
This is one of my favourite audiobooks and indeed books ever. Excellent writing & perfect performance reading.
The novelist describes Calcutta life in the build up to the breakdown of life prior to independence. All nationalities, including Anglo-Indian are well integrated in the narrative.
A really good story, unfolding gently, without too much gore, to an excellent end. The narration was superb, and the characters were diverse and tangible. Loved it.
Being an avid crime novel reader, I've always loved the classic Christie's, Sayer's, Allingham's etc - and this novel set in post first world war India is up there with the best of them.
This audio version is brilliant. A treat for crime fans everywhere.
I think the title refers as much to the author as the central character.
I came across this via an Ian Rankin recommendation, and I guess, like most of us, that we are searching for the next thing to get excited about. Where do you go when you have run out of Rankin or Peter May?
As a debut, this is quite remarkable. The narration is too. A worthy investment of your time.
Looking forward to the rest of this trilogy. Excellent historical crime novel set in India after WW1. What was so good was the view of the Raj from an Indian point of view. Well balanced but enough to keep one thinking of the politics and history on top of a well constructed crime story. As good as David Downing , Peter May or William Ryan at their best.
An excellent story and very well read. I particularly enjoyed the Scots accents. The narrator does a wonderful job of capturing the listeners attention. Heartedly recommended.
Throughly enjoyed this book from start to finish, story never dimmed and the narration equalled it.
Let's just hope this isn't the last time we hear from Sam and co!
It is no surprise that this book has won an award; it is so much more than a crime novel, as it is set at the time of the movement for Indian independence from the British Raj and paints a clear picture of life in Calcutta in 1919.
This is an excellent story of Calcutta and Empire at the end of WW1. Sam Wyndham has been brought in by the police chief to clean up the department. He is thrown into finding the killer of a high profile local civil servant almost as soon as he has landed and rapidly finds himself in deep trouble and complex political problems.
There are all sorts of strands to this story - empire, trade, business, race, nationalism and many more issues that make this a rich and interesting story. There is also some humour to amuse the listener and an excellent narrator.
I hope this is just the first as the characters could all be developed.
Fantastic characters, meticulous research, and a wealth of characters make this a terrific listen. I cannot wait for the next one! Abir Mukherjee also weaves in a great sense of humor to keep one smiling while the suspense builds. One of my best audiobook purchases ever.
I've been listening to one or two books a month for over a year and this book is the best of any of them. The story was fast paced and believable with enough twists to make it a great read. Simon Bubb is the best narrator I've heard so far. Can't wait for the next in the series.
Set in colonial Calcutta just after WWI, this is a very fertile setting for a creditably woven mystery. I found the detective character a little conveniently stupid for plotting purposes, but engaging nonetheless. I wouldn't say the actual mystery itself is all that surprising, but the setting and characters - especially the secondary characters - make up for it. If you like detective fiction in interesting and fresh historical settings, you'll really enjoy this.
Good detective story, taking place in India during the period of the Raj. The narration was a pleasure.
I enjoyed A Rising Man, with its perspective on British India in 1919. I was amazed to discover that only slightly more than 100,000 Britians were able to control a country of 300 million Indians. So much history to tell. And the author does it well. Though, for me, the story was slow at times when characters lectured our detective (and the reader) in order to convey that history. I would have preferred that Wyndam had spent a bit more time in the street experiencing India. Hence my 4 stars for the story. I find that first person narratives are often a bit detached from the setting. I would recommend the book, however. The first person narrative issue is a personal one and shouldn't detract from an excellent book.
I really enjoyed this book. It would make a really good PBS mini-series. It's your basic murder mystery, but the time and place, and supporting characters is what makes this story shine. I do hope that Mr. Mukherjee writes another Wyndam/Banerjee book. It's nice to read a story about colonial India where the Indians are the true heroes.
What did you love best about A Rising Man?
The depth of characters and history.
Many twists and turns. So very well written.
I can't wait for the next book to be written.
A well written tale that keeps one guessing till the end. Its not magnificently original but its solid and a lot of fun.
The main characters are nicely drawn and engaging. The pomposity of empire is adds a lightness with an undertone of skulduggery and class warfare.
Sam Wyndham, veteran of WWI and former inspector with Scotland Yard, has been persuaded to move to Calcutta and work with the police there. He is still trying to find is footing in this strange new country when a white high-placed government employee is found murdered outside an Indian whorehouse.
This would have been an excellent mystery anyway, but I believe it is even more so because the author is a Brit from an Indian heritage who is able to give the reader insight into thinking and attitudes of both the British Raj and the Indians.
Simon Bubb is now of of my favorite readers, able to both distinguish the characters, and accurately handle multiple accents.
Excellent storytelling and character building. Portrays the city of Kolkata during the time of British Raj and revolutionary movements. Narration is good, would listen to next audio books in the series. Apart from being a detective story it also provides good perspective on British Raj during that time in India.


Adressing the delegates, Ravi Gururaj, Chair - Product Council, NASSCOM said "Two tenets of success at startups that large companies can pick are that Purpose drives plans and pace trumps perfection. Startups can learn to think autonomic and imbibe modular thinking from large companies". He also built a strong case for factors which will ensure that we continue to live in a world of business that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguos (VUCA world).
The Venture Capital panel saw a very candid discussion with Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital; Rahul Chowdhri, Partner, Helion Ventures; Rohit Jain, Principal, SAIF Partners and Anand Daniel, Partner, Accel Partners; moderated by Tamhant Jain, Co-founder, Northwest. On the topic of "20 something college dropout founders", they reflected that such entrepeneurs are better fit for areas (E.g.: mobile apps) which need a deeper connect with young demographics while there are domains such as enterprise software and analytics which need deep domain expertise and wider business experience typically found in older entrepreneurs. One of the biggest challenges they see in current environment is well funded companies fighting it out in market with aggressive spending leaving little margin for efficiency and sustainability improvements and leaving no choice for other players but to match up the spending.
Vijay Anand, VP & Managing Director, Intuit India said "Design Thinking has to get embedded in the organization enabling every employee to innovate. The purpose has to be to design for customer delight and exceed expectations not with features but with deep customer empathy." His team from Intuit, led by Apparna Ramadoss, GM and Innovation Catalyst, got people deeply involved in the "Design Awesome" workshop.
Impact investment panel saw partcipation from top proponents of impact investing in India including Somak Ghosh, Managing Partner, Contrarian Capital India Partners; Naga Prakasam, Partner, Acumen Fund; Satyam Darmora, Director, Family Economic Stability, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation; Kartik Srivatsa, Managing Partner, Aspada and chaired by Ganesh Rengaswamy, Managing Director, Frontier Investments Group, Accion. They emphasised that innovation for large social impact is scalable and can be profitable rather than being charity. They highlighted the need to focus on large outcomes and investing in high quality motivated talent for this sector.
In his closing keynote for IIF 2015, Ajay Bakshi, Managing Director & CEO, Manipal Hospitals highlighted the neural basis of creativity and innovation. He also highlighted the need and opportunities to innovate in healthcare domain and invited people to contribute actively to improving the lives of people at large.
The delegates comprised of senior leadership in organizations such American Express, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, GE, Texas Instrument, Dell, Oracle, Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group, Infosys, Goldman Sachs, Samsung, Government of India, Airtel, DLF, NEC, L&T, Wipro, Schneider, and several other renowned companies and entrepreneurs.


Kavaye InfoTech Solutions is Canada & India based Web and mobile app development company. We are providing top-notch service to make client satisfied with development, service and solutions. Our staff are always updating information and are very precise about our work. By providing the best service we are always engaged to our clients by communication, involvement and encouragement.
We believe in innovation, creativity and real time application. Company always uses present market technology and providing potential solutions to convert it into reality. Our company always believes on principals that will take us to a new level to satisfy our client. Team focuses on client satisfaction and goes beyond expectations on project work.
Experience with governments, private enterprise for large business services. Customer centric, technical support, after final product delivery services and much more will stand out others from us. Innovation and research to make better community and share it with others.
Visionary collaborative business with every companies and satisfaction for services. Every time to help you serve better with respect to future aspects. Quality of work and satisfaction proves better. Propelling business to meet passionate workers to help and push for right candidates.
We are helping new start up endeavours to grow business with our private contacts. Hosting events with new entrepreneurs and various business owners for better community. Crating a very professional environments for experts to meet new people.
Amazing team and great to work with. They are very responsive, very nice and offer an amazing deal. I recommend this company highly to anyone looking to develop an app.
They executed well and very accommodating to completing changes. I would definitely use them on future projects.
Thanks Kavaye for helping me with my game. Made lot of modifying to satisfy my demands and very understandable for my passion to my project. Highly recommended, big thumbs up !!!


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Q: How to align multiple items in CSS column I am struggling to make the individual box titles line up, and hence their position within the box changes with the length.
I am currently using a grid with 3 columns and they all have the same height. However the text is placing itself in the middle and if I change it to
align-items: start;

then I have uneven height columns but everything is lined up
How can I make sure my icons and sub title are always lined up? I have attached some pictures and the code:

A: Keep the align-items: start; and add flex-grow: 1; to the cards.

A: It'd be easier if we could copy your HTML and CSS to play around with, but my initial thought would be to try wrapping your <h1> and <p> in a new div, and then add height (try using 'min-height') and width values to that new div.
That way the logos are forced to sit above the text div regardless of the amount of text below them.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Our Saint Petersburg bad drug case law firm understands that it often takes years for dangerous medications to be recalled by pharmaceutical makers or the Food and Drug Administration. Even so, our reputable attorneys have fought aggressively against medical product manufacturers to obtain financial compensation for our injured clients in cases involving drugs considered to be safe. Because of our resources and comprehensive understanding of Florida tort law, we will never be intimidated by major drug companies who recklessly promote dangerous medications.
Contact us today by filling out the online intake form now to schedule a comprehensive case review at no charge to you. We can begin working on your case today because we will postpone your payments for our legal services until after we successfully resolve your case at a jury trial or negotiated settlement.
We posted below the most recent drug recall cases in Florida and provide valuable current information on faulty medical devices.
It is not uncommon for doctors, nurses and other health care providers to make serious mistakes or errors that lead to patient injuries and premature death. Our experienced personal injury law firm specializes in medical malpractice cases and assists victims to ensure that they receive adequate compensation for their losses, injuries, and harm.
Our pharmacy malpractice law firm is ready to assist you in pursuing compensation if you have been injured or lost a loved one due to a prescription error. Pharmacy mistakes are not uncommon. In 2015, Florida pharmacists dispensed more than 255,160,000 with some involving prescription malpractice where the consumer was given the wrong medication, the wrong directions or the wrong dose.
Are you wondering if you should continue taking a medication if it has been recalled?
Are you struggling with an uncomfortable hip or knee replacement?
Did you receive substandard care at the local hospital that caused you additional harm or injury?
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Our attorneys can begin the process of handling your case through a free case evaluation. We postpone payment of our fees until we successfully resolve your case and offer a "no win/no fee" guarantee. Our legal firm currently represents many victims of faulty medical devices and defective pharmaceutical products in the Saint Petersburg area including those with ZIP Codes like 33710, 33711, 33712, 33713, 33714, 33715, 33716, 33762, and 33782.


The love of literature is built in children's early years. As toddlers, children pour over the pages, admiring pictures that capture their attention and ignite their imaginations. As children grow into adolescence, books are an easy way to build connections from one world or time to another. The magical pages transport children to different times and cultures. They get to swim with mermaids or travel through rough waters in rickety boats with explorers. There is no limit to the adventures children can enjoy through books.
And who doesn't like a little romance? Without realizing it, our culture has provided literature with hints of romance to young children for centuries. Some of the timeless classics woo young girls with the delights of love and protection. As a child, what are some of your favorite books? Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or The Princess Bride? The underlying current of friendship and love cannot be denied in these stories, no matter how innocent and subtle. And you cannot forget the amazing effect Disney has on children. Disney is just now creating stronger, independent female characters who don't wait to be rescued, but who slay their own villains and overcome their challenges.
Parents have used literature sprinkled with fear to teach their children about the dangers in the world around us. The Brothers Grimm wrote classics so troubling that they have been recently altered to soften the horror for children and lessen the nightmares that surely result. Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood taught the dangers of trusting strangers and making bad decisions. And for adolescents, the riveting true events portrayed in Number the Stars and Stella by Starlight frighten and inform young adolescents of the true evils that lurk around them. There's an excitement and rush of adrenaline that suspense or horror books provide to the thrill seekers.
It's no surprise that the romance genre is a billion-dollar industry. People have been conditioned to love happy endings and the occasional fright. So, the blending of the romance with suspense delivers an incredible pull that keeps readers turning the pages long after lights out.
Thanks for spreading the news. I appreciate your support.


During Vacation Bible School this year, I was showing some preschool children some pictures I took in Liberia.
I explained that being generous was sharing what you have with others, like the time a little boy shared his lunch with Andrew, a disciple of Jesus, who then gave it to Jesus, who then multiplied it to feed thousands of people.
The children had just finished their meal. So I told them that they had something to eat because other people were generous by providing them with their food.
We then looked at another picture of three hungry Liberian children squatting down to eat leftovers from a big bowl used for cooking food for the students at Ricks Institute.
While in Liberia, I have known people to eat only a cup of rice a day, and even that was due to the generosity of others. Some have gone without food for days.
When Jesus said He was the Bread of Life, he wanted people to hunger for a relationship with him like they desired food when they are hungry.
Generosity is one of the most important words to describe Jesus' life. Jesus' presence among us was an act of generosity. Jesus left heaven to live among us. He said that he came down from heaven not to do his will but to do the will of the Father that sent him (John 6:38).
Part of that will was to live a life of generosity.
He came alongside us and suffered with us and for us. It was the will of the Father that Jesus not come to serve himself, but to serve us.
His generosity was so great that He gave "his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). What greater act of generosity is there than for someone to give away his or her life for others?
Jesus once said, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you" (John 13:15).
Being generous is one of the best ways to be like Jesus.
Recently, I spoke with a nurse who told me she had been away from her job for nearly two months. The illness she had was likely contracted in her work environment, but there is no work compensation for these kinds of unproven circumstances.
As the extended illness continued, she ran out of sick days. With no sick days left, there was no income. With an extended illness, she ran the risk of losing her health insurance.
Working people usually struggle to ask others for help, but sometimes we must do so to survive. She posted on the hospital's community board that she needed some sick days if anyone had any to spare.
The hospital makes it possible for employees to give unused sick days to each other in times of need. However, when such a gift is given, it must be given anonymously.
My friend was overwhelmed by the generosity of her collogues. She received enough days to stay home and recover without missing a paycheck for the entire two months.
One day, while she was still recovering, she received a phone call from a nurse who said she didn't have any sick days to give, but she had something else. She delivered a carload of groceries her and her husband, who is disabled. Her friend's generosity brought her to tears.
If we live long enough, we will all experience loss of some kind, loss of health, loss of a job, loss of a friend, loss of confidence, loss of a loved one, loss of status, loss of money, loss of ability. When there is a loss, some people grow bitter, angry, and resentful and never move beyond it.
For others, the loss reminds them of the gifts they had and how easy it is to take the good for granted. We live too many of the good days with an ungrateful spirit.
Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer at Facebook. At a graduation commencement address at the University of California at Berkley in 2016, Sheryl shared about the lessons she had learned after living through a year without her husband who died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Sheryl wanted to teach the graduates an important lesson about generosity. She wanted them to learn to be generous without having to live through the pain she had lived through to discover the spirit of generosity.
She's found inspiration from others who have made this choice in the presence of significant loss, like Antoine Leiris, a journalist in Paris whose wife Hélène was killed in the 2015 Paris attacks.
Sheryl said that it was one of the most touching Facebook posts she had ever read. It was just more thing that she found that had helped her to hold loss and generosity in tension, which she said has been the greatest irony of her life.
In losing her husband, she said she discovered a spirit of generosity.
After missing two months of work, my nurse friend learned to be more grateful for her collogues and for her health and see how their generosity made a difference in her life.
Isn't that the way it works sometimes?
Every moment would count, wouldn't it? Every conversation would be meaningful. We would be thankful for every minute. We would be kinder and more loving. We would find something to be grateful for even in the midst of our loss.
We would be more generous with our possessions because they wouldn't mean as much.
We would be more generous with our speech because what we say would mean more.
We might learn to be more like Jesus, who lived his life like he only had 33 years to live among us. He knew he didn't have long to make a difference. He knew his life was not his own. He gave it away.
What if we lived that way?
What if we lived with a spirit of generosity?
That's how Jesus taught us to live.
"Give," Jesus said, "and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38).
This is an incredible promise! What it says is that generous people discover one of the secrets of life. You cannot out give God.
We get when we give.
One of the best ways to deal with loss is to find ways to give and be generous in spite of our grief.
Don't wait until you lose something or someone significant to discover and practice this valuable lesson of life.
Cultivate a life and spirit of generosity each day. Make your life a living sacrifice.
With each selfless act we do in the name of Jesus for another person, God opens our hearts to the goodness He wants to pour into our lives.
Our generosity becomes the avenue through which we are actually able to receive some of the intangibles of life. You cannot buy joy and meaning, but apparently, you can find these by giving yourself away.
You can find joy and meaning by worshipping the God who gave Himself away through his Son, Jesus.


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"The Cenci", or the Complex Reception of Percy Bysshe Shelley in Italy, between Translation and Gender
Expanding on existing scholarship, this article explores the Italian reception of Percy Bysshe Shelley with a dual focus on gender and translation. In this regard, I examine "The Cenci: A Tragedy in Five Acts", which Shelley wrote in 1818. In his Preface, the poet offers a visual representation of Beatrice Cenci that is based on the portrait, allegedly by Guido Reni, which he saw at Palazzo Colonna in Rome. However, I suggest that the "beautifully tender and serene" demeanour of the painting does not find its counterpart in Beatrice as depicted by Shelley, who stresses the young woman's opposition against patriarchal authority and its abuses. Accordingly, I first explore Shelley's verbal remediation of the portrait he saw in Rome. As a second point, I consider whether the circulation of "The Cenci" in Italy might have been stirred by similar discourses of gender. To this end, I focus on Giovanni Battista Niccolini's drama Beatrice Cenci (1844) and Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi's 1854 homonymous novel as paramount examples of Shelley's reception in the mid nineteenth century.
Titolo: "The Cenci", or the Complex Reception of Percy Bysshe Shelley in Italy, between Translation and Gender
CANANI, MARCO
Abstract: Expanding on existing scholarship, this article explores the Italian reception of Percy Bysshe Shelley with a dual focus on gender and translation. In this regard, I examine "The Cenci: A Tragedy in Five Acts", which Shelley wrote in 1818. In his Preface, the poet offers a visual representation of Beatrice Cenci that is based on the portrait, allegedly by Guido Reni, which he saw at Palazzo Colonna in Rome. However, I suggest that the "beautifully tender and serene" demeanour of the painting does not find its counterpart in Beatrice as depicted by Shelley, who stresses the young woman's opposition against patriarchal authority and its abuses. Accordingly, I first explore Shelley's verbal remediation of the portrait he saw in Rome. As a second point, I consider whether the circulation of "The Cenci" in Italy might have been stirred by similar discourses of gender. To this end, I focus on Giovanni Battista Niccolini's drama Beatrice Cenci (1844) and Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi's 1854 homonymous novel as paramount examples of Shelley's reception in the mid nineteenth century.
ISBN: 978-883339-2479

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The British Geological Survey (BGS), along with other centres in the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), has been assessed to determine the excellence and impact of its research. The review, carried out by the NERC, was similar to the Research Excellence Framework system used to assess the quality of research in Higher Education Institutions (HEI).
The BGS is extremely pleased that the committee found that the impact of the research carried out by the BGS is 'outstanding'. One area of particularly outstanding impact is the use of information technology to transform the usability of its data by creating 3D geological models and digital geoscience information products such as the iGeology app. Other areas of outstanding impact included the BGS National Geological Repository, the BGS's international activities and the NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory's (NIGL) work on depleted uranium.
The review panel considered that that 78% of the BGS's research was the equivalent of the REF 'internationally recognised' standard, with a significant proportion being at the REF 'internationally excellent' level. NIGL, along with Climate Change and Quaternary Science, and Hydrogeology are to be commended for their performance in the research review.


I spent the week relaxing, eating (getting it in before the year ends!) and getting everything organized for this new year. I'm still not done. I have a lot more to do but I've made a nice dent in my to-do list. Today, I got cracking on my editorial calendar for this blog. Like I said in my 2018 work prep post, I'm working everything out quarterly to avoid getting overwhelmed.
This will be my first full year as Perennial Chic, and I'm looking forward to sharing content all that inspires me, you and anything and everything that is relevant to the ageless woman. It's a lifestyle I feel passionate about, as I've felt (over the last few years) that I didn't fit the mold of what society has a defined as a woman in her 40s to be like. Much of that is changing, thank goodness.
So as I cook, exercise, shop, run a business and work on portraits, I'm taking you all with me.


I'm having some issues with the list 41 (MIPSpace-poor). It is to strickt for my server, and a lot of clients are getting false-positives.
When i set it to off, it keeps SPAM makring incoming mail after list 41.
I then tried to flag it to "Flag", but same happen. Rejected SPAM.
Is anyone else seeing this? And if not , any ideas as to what i can try?
Running v 2.1-5.3 on WHM / Centos 7.
It appears that you have MagicSpam PRO which offers advanced features such as message flagging and it also allow your customers to set their own spam settings in cPanel to their desire, as long as the policies are not tuned 'ON' on the system level (Enforced).
This means that even though the MIPSpace-poor is disabled policy on your system level, your customers still may have this policy enabled in their MagicSpam spam settings through cPanel user interface, hence the rejected email.
Our development team is currently working on the new feature of the PRO series that will provide the ability to push updates of spam rules and IP reputation lists settings to all accounts and/or select accounts.
This command will disable the MIPSpace-poor list from all user's MagicSpam IP Reputation settings.


News / Sports / Remember where the Circus Grocery Store was?
Campbell County Deputy Dakota Williams did not have to go far for his latest arrest.
State Representative Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro in top photo at podium) has successfully guided House Bill 948 through the Tennessee House of Representatives.


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Visions of learning in 2020 will help shape future ed-tech policy
A new report that forecasts what education will look like in the year 2020 will help shape the new National Educational Technology Plan due in January as required by the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as the president's budget priorities for education research.
The report, "2020 Visions: Transforming Education and Training Through Advanced Technologies," was released Sept. 17 by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
"2020 Visions" is a compilation of 14 short stories written by experts and scholars that illustrate what a child's day might be like in a futuristic, technology-infused world.
These fictional accounts describe students learning through simulations, immersive environments, game playing, intelligent tutors, networks of learners, and digitized content.
"They really stretch our traditional notions of education," said John Bailey, ED's director of educational technology. "I think that is always helpful when you are setting out to plan education."
Representatives from Harvard University, the National Education Association, Microsoft Corp., WorldCom, and more contributed to the report.
What is absent from the tales is as important as what they describe, Bailey said. "You don't see a lot of reference to schools, you don't see a lot of reference to grade [levels]," he said.
Some vignettes are optimistic and describe scenes where learning is engaging, enticing, and takes place all day. Students interact virtually with multiple experts, engage in hands-on simulations, and education is personalized for each student.
Others highlight sinister consequences in which students become anti-social, they drown in information, and robots replace teachers entirely while corporations profit.
Each author predicts which technologies will succeed and fail. For example, Randy Pausch, co-director of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, writes, "Virtual reality will (finally!) arrive, and we won't use it very much. While the experience of being perceptually immersed is extremely powerful, the cost (not in the technology, but in the content matter) of developing these experiences will remain prohibitive. How often does Hollywood spend $100 million on a film to teach history to third graders?"
Different roles for teachers
Ruzena Bajcsy, director of the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society, suggests that school buildings might not be necessary in 2020 because of a technology still in development, called tele-immersion. This technology could project a three-dimensional, life-like image of the teacher to a student's home, for example, and they could meet and interact online in real time.
But tele-immersion could present some problems, Bajcsy said. "One open question remains—can the tele-presence reproduce a sense of being there, so that what is learned transfers to the real world?" she wrote. She added that this technology would require significant financial investment to be usable and sustainable.
Teachers would not lecture in the future, ventured Caleb Schutz and Vinton Cerf of WorldCom. Instead, students' learning would be self-paced, they said.
Many authors predicted that computers imbedded in everything from furniture to clothing would assess, track, and monitor students' progress and interest in various subjects—even from the moment they woke up in the morning. Computers would start creating these profiles for children when they are infants. Their toys, and other things they touched, would access and record their interest and behaviors.
Some expect robots to play a larger role in educating students. For example, Chris Dede, a Timothy Wirth professor of learning technology at Harvard University, describes a school where "machine-based 'intelligent' tutors" replace some teachers and reduce the need for so much staff.
"While the school board appreciated the cost savings with a pupil-teacher ratio of 150 to 1, maintaining order with that many students was hard even with the ever-vigilant Hal-tutors monitoring each classroom," Dede wrote in his vision.
While some predict student-teacher ratios will widen, others predict technology will facilitate one-on-one tutoring and apprenticeship relationships, reminiscent of the days before the printing press.
Michael Zyda, director of the Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation (MOVES) Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School, and Douglas H. Bennett, study director for the National Research Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, described a future where students each have their own "constant school-time companion." This companion—known as a "Cog" in the story—is a wearable robot that provides students with specific instruction and guidance.
"Spiral kicked at the dirt in the recess yard. He looked up and saw a group of his classmates looking at him and whispering. They knew his Cog, Vivian, was chastising him through his ear gels—the combination speaker and microphone that molded like soft chewing gum to the inner curve of each ear," they wrote.
In their vignette, a corporation designs the Cog by studying the science behind teaching, and eventually these Cogs completely replace teachers.
"We put monitoring systems in over a thousand classrooms across the United States and watched them for over a year. We were able to break down exactly how the best teachers teach kids and turn that into a personalized teaching device for students. That is where the Cogs came from. And, in the process, we created a one-to-one student-teacher ratio," Zyda and Bennett wrote.
Use of the report
Looking into the future nearly 20 years, the report aims to give policy makers some guidance as to technology's potential to transform learning, for both good and ill effect. It also aims to suggest what additional research is needed and what challenges lie ahead.
"We can't plan for what we don't know, but we can set up some good guidelines for the technology that is going to exist," said Bailey, who added that policy makers at the federal level likely will incorporate some of the concepts outlined in the report when they draft a new national ed-tech plan this fall.
Ed-tech advocates who spoke with eSchool News were pleased that this forward-thinking document would be used to shape education policy.
"Here we have a very fine document written by leading lights in education, but what do we do next? I was very pleased to hear from John Bailey that this report is going to be used to help form the next educational technology plan," said Irene Spero, executive director of the SchoolTone Alliance and director of external relations for NetDay.
"I read all of the vignettes with interest and am excited about what [some of] the visionaries are predicting. … [S]ome of the things they predict are starting to happen already in our schools," said Kathy Schrock, technology coordinator for the Nauset Public Schools in Massachusetts.
"The one thing I did notice was that none of the vignettes was written by a practicing educator," Schrock said. "I feel that a practicing educator could have written an additional compelling vignette which illustrated [his or her] perception of technology use in the classroom in 2020."
"2020 Visions: Transforming Education and Training Through Advanced Technologies"
http://www.ta.doc.gov/reports/TechPolicy/2020Visions.pdf
Study: Nearly two-thirds of U.S. school districts use wireless technologies
Wireless technologies and mobile computing have moved beyond the pilot and early-adoption stage and into mainstream use in United States schools, according to a study co-published by The Peak Group and The Heller Reports, a division of market research firm Quality Education Data.
The study polled a random sampling of public and private schools and districts representing about 3 percent of the total student population. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they are currently implementing some form of wireless networking in their schools.
Projected across the entire student population, the responses of those surveyed suggest the total market size for wireless technologies during the 2001-2002 school year was $495 million—and this figure is expected to jump to $776 million during the 2002-2003 school year, or roughly 14 percent of the total ed-tech market, according to the study.
The growth in wireless "has been fueled by several benefits that wireless technologies provide to the education environment [such as portability and flexibility of deployment], as well as falling prices, significant improvements in the technology, and increased applications," the report said. "Maturing standards, feature-rich handheld devices, and education-specific applications are also driving the education market to seriously consider wireless technologies."
Student access to wireless technologies is projected to more than triple in the next two years, and teacher access is expected to more than double, the study said. As many as 24 percent of respondents said student access would be in the 75 to 100 percent range for their schools or districts by the 2003-2004 school year, up from 7 percent during the 2001-2002 school year. Similarly, 21 percent of respondents said teacher access would be in the 75 to 100 percent range for their schools or districts by the 2003-2004 school year, up from 9 percent during the 2001-2002 school year.
Despite the surge in wireless, educators who responded to the survey said a variety of challenges still concern them regarding the technology. One of the biggest obstacles—mentioned by 25 percent of respondents—is understanding the many wireless platforms and standards that aren't necessarily compatible with each other.
For example, educators who deploy wireless networks must choose between infrared, cellular, microwave, and radio frequency (RF) technologies, the report said. Among RF technologies, several established and emerging standards—including 802.11b, .11a, and .11g—force educators to make tough decisions about which types of products to buy.
Other obstacles to wireless deployment include cost and the security of data transmitted wirelessly, respondents said.
Rick Bauer, chief information officer for The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., said his school is using bi-mode 802.11a and 802.11b wireless technologies. Like respondents of the Peak Group study, Bauer told eSchool News his school's use of wireless isn't worry-free.
"Clearly there are benefits, but we would like to technology to quiesce a lot more for schools to deploy it more broadly," Bauer said. "I think one of the concerns we have is that we don't want to be the poster child for the 'next big thing' in a technology space that is so constantly changing. We need shelf lives for products and technology that are longer than the manufacturers are producing."
Bauer also agreed that security remains a huge concern for schools.
"The vendors have, to my mind, been far more concerned about selling gear than making sure schools configure it well, leaving security to be 'bolted on' afterward," he said. "My suggestion is for some of them to stop selling us products with these liabilities if they can't step in and provide the training and management advice in the configuration and deployment phases."
Marc Liebman, superintendent of the Marysville Joint Unified School District in California, said wireless has the potential to give students more access to technology, as well as allow technology to be used in more ways and locations. But for districts with high-speed, hard-wired networks, the cost of transition might outweigh the value gained, he added.
"At this point I would rather spend more of my limited resources on computers, thereby reducing our user-to-computer ratio, [instead of] transitioning to a new technology of distribution," Liebman said.
The Peak Group
http://www.peakgroup.net
The Heller Reports
http://www.hellerreports.com
http://www.thehill.org
Marysville Joint Unified School District
http://intergate.mjusd.k12.ca.us
FCC seeks comment on digital copyright technology
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has entered the fray of the digital copyright debate, setting an Oct. 30 deadline for public comments on a new technology that would prohibit consumers—including educators—from making copies of digitally broadcast television programs.
At stake is whether or not content owners and device manufacturers should be allowed to equip their products with a new copyright-protection measure known as a "broadcast flag," which would eliminate the free reign owners of DVD players and other digital recording devices have to make copies of programs broadcast on TV.
A "broadcast flag," essentially, would be an electronic marking or signal sent out by digital television content and picked up by newly equipped televisions or digital recorders, prohibiting the machines from copying certain programs. The issue presents a special problem for educators, many of whom record news and media content at home for redistribution in the classroom.
The proposal is part of the Consumer Broadband Digital Television Promotion Act (S. 2048). Sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., the bill is meant to encourage media companies—disheartened by a nationwide increase in movie and music piracy—to continue developing emerging media technologies, including the eventual rollout of digital television across the nation.
The bill's opponents argue that, while it is important to protect the rights of intellectual property owners, the new "broadcast flag" is too extreme a solution. They say the measure would limit how content can be used for important education-related purposes and would anger consumers.
"Consumers have interests in protecting copyrights for digital television so that high-quality content will be available. They also have an interest in protecting their own reasonable expectations about personal use of programming and in the future health and growth of the internet," said Jerry Berman, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, in a statement. "The 'broadcast flag' raises many unsettled policy questions, and it is fair for consumers to ask that those questions be addressed before regulations are made."
To meet these concerns, the FCC last month began soliciting comments from the public in a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making on its web site.
Some questions the agency is asking consumers include:
Are there any First Amendment rights that would be affected as a result of the proposed broadcast flagging system?
Will the technology allow consumers—especially educators—to exercise the same fair-use exceptions to copyright laws they have come to expect in the past?
Will broadcast flagging have a downstream impact on the growth and emergence of other technologies, including the internet?
Will the legislation open the door for broader government involvement in setting standards?
Do consumers fear it will be impossible for them to make secure copies for educational and home use under a flagging system?
Are broadcast flags likely to drive up the price of equipment to unaffordable levels?
Do the benefits of such a proposal outweigh the costs to the consumer market?
Likewise, some questions for manufacturers include:
What is the true extent to which high-quality digital programming is being withheld from the public for fear of piracy?
What are the technical impediments to implementing a broadcast flagging system on existing consumer electronics devices?
If the FCC refuses to accept broadcast flagging, how will that affect the industry's position on the implementation of digital TV nationally?
Is the flagging technology efficient, and will it have the capability to be upgraded or changed easily over time?
Should the FCC impose regulations that require makers of consumer electronics devices to begin installing the technology, or is there a better, more efficient type of marking system that should be used instead?
eSchool News first reported on the Hollings bill in May. Even then, there was speculation as to how the bill—especially the "broadcast flag" provision—could be carried out without infringing upon the fair-use rights of educators.
"A one-size-fits-all technology mandate is not good for innovation on the internet, and [it] is not good for what we consider to be reasonable uses of content," said Alan Davidson, a spokesman for the Center for Democracy and Technology. "The reason is that there are some major consumer concerns that haven't yet been addressed by Congress."
One problem, he said, is that the legislation did not mention how educators could get around the use of broadcast flags to redistribute digital TV recordings and other content for use in the classroom.
"It doesn't tell us, 'Can you replay portions of a recording for educational purposes?'" he said of the bill.
Davidson added that the current legislation does not specify how the new technology requirement would affect consumers with older equipment. For example, it's unclear whether consumers would be forced to buy new equipment to meet the bill's proposed technology specifications. If so, he said, the switchover could be a costly one for schools as well as consumers.
"A lot of people are not going to be happy when they see these proposals moving forward," he said.
Despite these criticisms, a representative from Sen. Hollings' office said the lawmaker remains wholly supportive of the legislation. Hollings is pleased that the FCC is taking comments from both industry leaders and consumers on how best to approach possible regulations, the spokesman added.
The issue of piracy has taken on a new urgency for the entertainment industry as analog recordings have given way to digital reproductions, which have allowed people to produce high-quality copies of pirated video and music from home.
Davidson thinks it's unlikely that Hollings' bill will pass this session of Congress in its current form. But, he said, it's possible that many of the provisions included in the bill could reappear in the future as "a bunch of mini-Hollings bills."
"They would be smaller, narrower technology mandates—like the 'broadcast flag'—that still raise major consumer concerns that haven't fully been addressed yet," he said.
http://www.fcc.gov
Notice of Proposed Rule-Making
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-02-231A1.txt
http://www.cdt.org
Sen. Fritz Hollings' Online Office
http://hollings.senate.gov
Digital piracy bill raises fair-use concerns; eSchool News, May 2002
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=3672
Study: District leadership, technology keys to urban school reform
Urban school districts that use data-driven decision making and other tactics to spur system-wide reforms are more likely to achieve academic improvement than those districts that adjust solely on a school-by-school basis, according to a study released by the Council of the Great City Schools Sept. 5.
The survey, "Foundations For Success: Case Studies of How Urban School Systems Improve Student Achievement," takes a look at four of the nation's most rapidly improving urban districts: Houston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Sacramento, and New York City.
Its findings indicate that some of the nation's urban school districts are raising academic scores while reducing achievement gaps by implementing strong, district-wide approaches to leadership, professional development, and data-driven accountability systems. These gains are especially important in light of the Bush Administration's No Child Left Behind Act, which now requires schools to provide documented proof of improvement or risk losing federal funding for certain programs.
Although there are 16,850 school districts in the country, just 100 of these—mostly urban districts—serve approximately 23 percent of the nation's students, the report said.
"While there has been much research on what makes an effective school, there is relatively little information on what makes an effective district and whether district-level changes could affect individual school performance," said the council's executive director, Michael Casserly. "This new research will help us understand how to provide all students with the opportunity to achieve new levels of academic success."
According to researchers, urban schools face a number of problems that "exist above the level of individual schools." Some of these difficulties include poor academic achievement, political conflicts, inexperienced teachers, lack of demanding curriculum, lack of instructional cohesion, high student transfer rates, and unsatisfactory business operations.
In Houston, for example, one-fourth of the students did not speak fluent English and less than half performed at grade level. In Charlotte, N.C., violence, a lack of community support, poor funding, and wide achievement gaps between students of different socio-economic backgrounds kept schools from reaching desired levels of performance. Urban schools in New York and Sacramento saw much of the same. However, in the study, researchers claim that district-wide reforms have led to notable improvements on all fronts.
"Individual school reform is necessary but far from efficient" when dealing with large urban districts, said Sharon Lewis, research director for the council. The problem, she added, is that just because a program works well in one school doesn't mean it will be successful in another. There are too many variables to consider, including students' socio-economic status, computer accessibility, racial disparities, and teacher quality.
To combat the uncertainty associated with such variables, the four most improved districts concentrated on reform efforts that could be filtered down to schools from the district level.
One such effort included the use of data-driven decision making and computer assessment tools to judge how well individual students throughout the district were performing at various schools compared with their peers. According to Lewis, the information collected by school districts included student test scores broken down by race, school, and individual grade level. The data also were disaggregated, she said, to help show which concepts certain students understood and which concepts needed to be emphasized more effectively in the classroom.
All four of the districts profiled in the study used some sort of data-mining tool to diagnose the specific instructional needs of students, Lewis said: "Each of these school districts used data extensively."
According to the study, "Teachers may be able to use achievement data as a tool to help them improve instructional practice, diagnose students' specific instructional needs, and increase student learning." However, researchers caution that data mining is only effective when performed at regular intervals from the start of the academic year until its conclusion to show what improvements, if any, have been made by traditionally underachieving groups within a given school system.
Lewis said data-driven decision making is especially important in large urban school districts, because students with various levels of learning—as well as teachers at various levels of professional training—are constantly moving about and changing positions throughout the system.
"Students come in with more challenges. Teachers often come with less support and need more training," she said of urban districts.
Lewis added that each of the four best-performing districts also used a variety of professional development tactics, including everything from in-class coaching to online curriculum tools and a library of computer-accessible lesson plans.
"It's the idea of giving teachers a variety of strategies to address different needs in the classroom," she said. "The common themes just sort of jumped out at us."
But better use of technology alone won't bring on massive improvements at the district level. According to the study, there are three key contextual factors that also affect change in large urban school systems.
The first, of course, is budget pressures. Although none was in dire financial straits at the time, the study said even the four best-performing districts faced some mandatory cutbacks in spending.
Another factor—the increasing focus on accountability in schools—helped stakeholders find new ways to focus on boosting student achievement, the study said: "Each of the four case-study districts operated within a broader policy context that emphasized student academic achievement, concrete goals for improvement, and incentives and consequences for performance."
Finally, there was some dissention regarding school reform in those cities and surrounding areas where local politics and power relations were particularly volatile, owing either to longstanding polices or strained race relations, the study found.
Still, urban districts that improved at a faster rate than others within their respective states were able to adapt these nine shared strategies for success:
Districts should focus on specific achievement goals geared toward state standards.
Districts should employ concrete accountability systems, including data-mining tools, which measure student progress and hold individual staff responsible for results.
District-wide improvements—including better professional development and improved teacher quality—should focus on boosting performance at the lowest-achieving schools.
Districts should adopt a system-wide curriculum that is proven to work and can be shared by educators, instead of relying on individual instructors to devise their own well-meaning lessons.
All incoming, as well as current, teachers should be familiar with district-specific polices and other educational strategies for improvement.
The central office should play a role in guiding, supporting, and improving instruction at the building level.
Teachers must be schooled in how to interpret the data that are mined as a result of new data-driven decision-making technologies.
Reforms should be initiated at the lowest levels, such as in the elementary grades, instead of trying to fix everything at once.
Districts must step up instructional efforts for critical subjects such as reading and math, even at the expense of other subjects.
According to the study, all four cities made use of these strategies to improve the quality of education in schools throughout their systems. Researchers claim notable progress occurred in standardized test scores, especially where racial disparities were concerned. And traditionally low-end achievers performed particularly well during these reforms, the study said. Also, progress was most evident at the elementary school level, where reforms are the easiest to implement and carry out, according to the study.
"Urban school districts serve a large proportion of children in the United States, yet face the biggest challenges," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in a statement. "This report provides great promise for helping children in city schools and beyond get the education they need to succeed in life."
http://www.cgcs.org
Report: Foundations For Success
http://www.cgcs.org/reports
http://www.ed.gov
http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov
National School Backpack Awareness Day 2002
On September 25, AOTA is sponsoring National School Backpack Awareness Day, the first national event to call attention to health problems in children caused by backpacks that are too heavy or worn improperly.
Police investigate alleged computer theft in San Diego schools
When school board member John DeBeck ordered a new laptop through a company under contract with the San Diego City Schools, he fully expected to receive it. But when the machine failed to arrive, he became suspicious.
Now, authorities are investigating an alleged scam within the school system in which one or more district employees, reportedly working in concert with Oregon-based computer reseller NSX Technologies Inc., might have swindled the city's schools out of thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment over the last several months.
According to San Diego City Schools Police Chief Tom Hall, the investigation began several months ago, following an anonymous letter to police alleging "unlawful activities" within the school system.
Upon receiving the tip, Hall said police served several search warrants and found enough evidence to indicate potential corruption on the part of NSX Technologies and at least one school system employee.
"We found activity that would lead one to believe that some amount of foul play was taking place," he said. "We are examining the evidence."
NSX Technologies is a major reseller of software and hardware products to both schools and corporations. Its catalog includes everything from hard drives and keyboards to mouse pads and power strips.
Although one company representative said he had heard about the ongoing investigation, Todd McKelvie, the company's president, declined an interview with eSchool News. McKelvie's lawyer, Richard Boesen, said his client would not comment on an ongoing investigation.
DeBeck—who was unaware that an official investigation already was under way—said he became suspicious of a problem when the laptop computer he had ordered supposedly was received by the school system and then suddenly disappeared.
"At first, we had thought it simply got placed in another school—no big deal there," he said.
According to DeBeck, the school system has a procedure for checking all purchases it makes and receives before sending payment. Once a piece of equipment is ordered and an invoice is received, then a purchase order is created, he said. Only when the equipment is delivered is the purchase order signed and the transaction completed.
However, in this particular case it appears some amount of equipment was ordered, signed off on, and paid for—but either never was received or somehow was returned to the company, he said.
So far, it is unclear exactly how much equipment is unaccounted for. On Aug. 16, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported as much as $600,000 worth of merchandise was missing. But police chief Hall said that number is inaccurate.
"We never released that information at all," he said. "We are not prepared to commit to a number."
He did say the investigation involves a myriad of computer components, including hard drives, floppy drives, laptops, and some fully equipped desktop computers.
Hall, who called the investigation "very complex," said the police have enlisted the help of two investigators from the district attorney's office, several special auditors, and inspectors from a regional computer forensics task force to help sort through the evidence. It will be the job of computer forensics experts to dig through the district's computer files and find records that might have been deleted or erased to cover up any illegal activity, he said.
DeBeck said this is not the first time the San Diego City Schools have experienced potential accounting problems that led to costly mistakes in receivables and the loss of computer equipment. In fact, police investigated reports of a similar problem not more than two years ago, he said.
DeBeck said the school system had been forewarned during the first such investigation that its accounting system was disorganized and susceptible to corruption.
"During the last investigation, the police investigators told us that our internal controls were terrible," he said.
DeBeck said he had hoped Superintendent Alan Bersin, a lawyer and former businessman, would step in and denounce questionable practices within the district's accounting office. But so far, he said, there has been little change.
"You would assume that there would be a better set of checks and balances when you have such a large system as this," DeBeck said.
Steven Baratte, a spokesman for San Diego City Schools, told eSchool News the district is currently reviewing its business practices.
"The district is currently in the process of a business-modernization overhaul designed to improve the efficiency and increase the accountability of all aspects of its business," he said. "We are currently taking a look at all of our business policies including those in our accounting department."
So far, no criminal charges have been filed against NSX Technologies or any district employees, Hall said. However, at least one employee has been placed on paid leave and removed from the work force for an undetermined amount of time.
Police say the investigation is still under way.
San Diego City Schools
http://www.sdcs.k12.ca.us
NSX Technologies Inc.
http://www.macx.com
San Diego City Schools Police Department
http://prod031.sandi.net/policeservices/frame.htm
County of San Diego District Attorney's Office
http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/cnty/cntydepts/safety/da
AOTA launches school ergonomics program
Teachers and school administrators can take inexpensive steps to improve classroom ergonomics and prevent health risks caused by heavy backpacks and frequent computer use, according to Strategies for Schools, a program released by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Sept. 19.
Placing computer monitors at eye level, having students take breaks every 30 minutes to stretch out, and putting course material online can ease muscle strain and reinforce good computing behavior, the group said.
Students tend to use computers sporadically at school and for longer periods at home, but AOTA hopes that by setting good examples, schools can instill in students proper computer habits that will last a lifetime.
"We are trying to change behaviors in children, and I think schools can be role models for correct computing behavior," said Karen Jacobs, a school ergonomics expert and professor of occupational therapy at Boston University.
Jacobs, a former AOTA president who is in the middle of a school ergonomics research project, has surveyed 452 middle school students about their health and analyzed their computer workstations. She plans to compare each student's survey results in relation to his or her workstation.
"[More than] 42 percent of kids are complaining of muscular skeletal problems from computer use," Jacobs said. "The same kids complaining of muscular skeletal pain from computers said they had difficulty carrying their backpacks."
She added, "We aren't talking about complainers; we are talking about kids [who] are hurting."
Working in ill-conceived and poorly designed classrooms can translate into a lifetime of problems for students, Jacobs said. She recommended that educators consult their schools' occupational therapists for guidance, because they are trained in ergonomics. Nearly 10,000 occupational therapists already work in schools with special-needs students as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
"As occupational therapists, we can make simple changes that really can reduce some of these hazards or eliminate them completely," she said.
The release of these strategies coincides with the first National School Backpack Awareness Day, which takes place Sept. 25. School occupational therapists in more than 25 states will get students to weigh their backpacks and teach them proper ways to select, pack, and wear their bags.
Backpacks should weigh no more than 15 percent of a student's weight, AOTA says.
But more than half of the 40 million students who wear backpacks carry too much weight, and this causes neck, shoulder, and back pain; posture and spine development problems; labored breathing; and fatigue.
Schools interested in participating in the Backpack Awareness Day can get free materials from the AOTA web site, including a printable weigh-in sheet, pamphlets, and permission forms. The site also has an eMail list for event planners.
To lighten backpacks, AOTA recommends the following steps for educators:
Examine what students carry and remove unnecessary items;
Supply lockers or cubicles to store books, supplies, and athletic equipment;
Rethink homework so students don't have to carry multiple textbooks at once;
Consider making course materials and resources available online, providing two sets of books (one for home and one for school), or buying from companies that divide a large textbook into multiple volumes;
Ask students for suggestions.
In the classroom, AOTA suggests that school leaders do the following:
Provide a variety of chair and desk sizes to fit different-sized students, or adjustable furniture that can expand as children grow;
Place computer monitors at eye level to avoid neck and shoulder strain. If using a laptop, plug in a separate keyboard so the monitor can be raised to the appropriate level;
Make students take stretching breaks while using the computer to decrease continuous pressure on the spine. Jacobs offers free software, called Stretch Break for Kids, that educators can download from her web site. The software runs in the back ground, and every 30 minutes a two-minute stretching activity pop ups for kids to follow. The software is available for both PCs and Macs.
Give students a platform or phone book beneath their desk, so they can rest their feet instead of dangling them. For taller kids, raise the desk's height with wooden blocks.
American Occupational Therapy Association
http://www.aota.org
http://www.aota.org/backpack/index.asp
"Stretch Break for Kids" software
http://people.bu.edu/kjacobs
Free-speech groups sound off on CIPA in schools
With a victory in the public libraries behind them, anti-censorship activists joined with parents, teachers, and students Sept. 18 in a move to beat back the imposition of federally mandated web filters in schools.
The nationwide "speak-out" served as a rallying point for anti-censorship organizations—including, the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and National Coalition Against Censorship—to sound off against the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The law that requires all schools receiving eRate funds to use "technology protection measures" to keep kids from accessing inappropriate material online.
Although the event, which took place simultaneously in Boston, New York, and San Francisco, did not include the announcement of any formal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of CIPA in schools, it did encourage a national student letter-writing campaign, which organizers hope will increase public scrutiny of the act and pressure lawmakers to adopt new policies for safe, effective internet use in schools.
CIPA detractors claim that school-imposed web filters inadvertently block access to educational sites, making it virtually impossible for teachers to use professional discretion when deciding what content to allow in the classroom.
One speak-out participant, Marjorie Heins, who is director of the Free Expression Policy Project and author of Not in Front of the Children: 'Indecency,' Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth, called the law "outrageous," saying it's inconceivable that the federal government should ask teachers to give up their professional discretion in favor of corporate filtering products designed by companies that are far removed from students and their individual instructional needs.
Several educators agreed with Heins. These needs, they said, go unfulfilled because web filters often operate by singling out certain words—including "rape," "terrorism," and "anarchy"—which might or might not be used in an inappropriate fashion.
For instance, in one New York City school, students were blocked from accessing information related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because the filtering system there inadvertently identified the word "terrorism" as dangerous and offensive to students, said John Elfrank, a social studies teacher with the city's school system.
David Burt, public relations manger for N2H2 Inc., which makes one of the most widely used filtering products in schools, said a lot more goes into choosing blocked sites than simply red-flagging certain words for detection. Burt said N2H2's filter does not block solely on the recognition of a potentially harmful word, but rather looks for such indicators as adult warnings, pornographic content, and specific tags in web addresses commonly associated with lewd or inappropriate content. Like most other filtering companies, N2H2 also uses human reviewers to check red-flagged sites to make sure they are not blocked inadvertently.
But critics of filtering software argue there is no way a team of employees can keep up with the thousands of new sites on the internet each day, and mistakes are inevitable.
Elfrank, who spoke during the event, told eSchool News that as a social studies teacher his duty is to instill democratic values in his students. It's hard to do that, he said, when kids are not allowed to think for themselves.
"It's demoralizing to students," he said of filtering. "Especially when 99.9 percent of the time they are trying to access legitimate content. It can be really frustrating."
According to Elfrank, schools in New York City have centralized lists where teachers can lobby to have certain words removed from the filtering cipher. But, he said, busy teachers have little time to take on the bureaucratic red tape required to make these changes. Also, it's difficult to know what words are being blocked, because most filtering manufacturers have refused to release such lists. They say doing so would hurt their competitive advantage.
"Teachers should be able to control the content that comes into their classroom," Elfrank said. "They should have the right to exercise professional discretion."
"We couldn't even get the New York Times [web site] up," said Jan Shafkosky, a former New York City school teacher, who retired this year after 30 years of service. Another example of inadvertent filtering reportedly came when students were denied access to the government's Thomas.gov site while attempting to access information on the Date Rape Act of 2001. "There was some very political blocking," she said. "And students could not do research."
Shafkosky said schools that operate off the New York Department of Education's web server are at a distinct disadvantage compared with city schools operating off of local college or other public web servers, because only those schools on the department's server are subject to web filtering.
"Don't be under the delusion that there is equal education in New York City," she said, adding that it's difficult to promote equality in education when some students are granted greater levels of access and personal responsibility than others.
"Look, I don't believe children should be able to access [pornography]," she said. "But I think people have to realize that we need to teach our own kids how to" think critically and make decisions.
Shafkosky said school filters also often blocked sites providing information on such topics as gun control, diabetes, abortion, and smoking.
In fact, the Free Expression Policy Project has compiled a list of hundreds of blocked sites as reported by educators and has included it in "Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report," which is available on the organization's web site.
Another organization, Peacefire.org, established in 1996 to protect the free-speech rights of children under 18 on the internet, highlights a new inadvertently blocked site every week. One example: the 19th-century classic Jane Eyre, which Peacefire claims is blocked by Symantec Corp.'s I-Gear filter when accessed through the archives at Carnegie Mellon University.
Shafkosky said she became so irate with the limitations imposed by school web filters that she sometimes would bring her own laptop into school and plug it directly into a classroom phone line, using dial-up internet access to evade the blocks. "You couldn't do any work," she said.
Despite the frustrations of some, many educators contend filters are necessary for keeping children safe online while at school.
"I definitely think filtering is necessary," said Carlos de Sousa, network manager for the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School in Haverhill, Mass.
Sousa draws his convictions from the memory of an incident that occurred six years earlier, while he was working at a different Massachusetts school.
According to Sousa, a third-grader had accessed pornography over the internet at home, then printed a few lewd pictures and brought them into school. When the child showed a few of his peers the printed photos, they insisted that the boy use a school computer to show them where the pornography could be found. He did so.
"I deal with kids every day, and I know that the temptation is great to seek out that kind of stuff," Sousa said. "We're not talking lace and lingerie, either, but real, hard-core pornography."
Even more disturbing than when students seek out inappropriate content in school is when they stumble upon it by mistake, Sousa said. He believes filters are needed to keep students from accidentally stumbling upon inappropriate sites with web addresses that closely resemble those of popular educational and children's web sites.
Other proponents of CIPA, which was introduced in 1999 and co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., argue that 75 percent of schools already used some type of filtering technology before the bill became law.
Still, critics argue that CIPA, which requires compliance for all schools seeking eRate funds, imposes excessive limitations that were not in place when schools were drawing up localized filtering policies independent of government mandates.
According to Chris Hunter, a filtering expert who testified during the challenge of CIPA in America's public libraries, the requirement is so stringent that it does not even allow teachers to disable the filters when accessing the internet to do research or construct lesson plans.
Any time an educator wants to have a site unblocked, he or she first must ask permission from the administration, Hunter said. This stipulation was not widespread when schools were devising their own independent policies.
CIPA's opponents are critical of the use of web filters in schools as a means to protect children from the internet, but many say they are not adverse to employing other methods of online protection, including better teacher training, student preparation, disciplinary action, and strategic computer lab setups that would allow teachers to monitor each student's screen.
Although organizers of the Sept. 18 speak-out said they don't expect the event to cause an automatic change in the status of the law, many said they hope the event will serve to promote a greater awareness and understanding of the debate at hand.
"I am hopeful that if we keep the pressure on, the fear level will be greatly reduced," Elfrank said. "There will be fewer people in the education community [who] will be so reactionary."
"What this press conference does indicate is that, now that there has been success on the library front, the spotlight is turning to schools. The use of these [filtering] products in public schools will not survive scrutiny," said Nancy Willard, director of the Responsible Netizen Project at the University of Oregon's Center for Advanced Technology in Education.
Free Expression Policy Project's "Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report"
http://www.fepproject.org/issues/filteringreports.html#BESS
http://www.nycenet.edu
Peacefire.org
http://www.peacefire.org
N2H2 Inc.
http://www.n2h2.com
Symantec Corp.
http://www.symantec.com
$20 billion ed-tech project awaits action by Congress
Legislation that would funnel an estimated $20 billion in revenue toward educational technology research and development (R&D) is languishing in committee in both the Senate and the House, and supporters of the measure say it's doubtful that Congress will take up either bill before the end of the current legislative session.
The Senate's version of the legislation, called the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust Act (S. 2603), proposes creating a billion-dollar government agency—on par with the National Institutes of Health or National Science Academies—to enhance federal ed-tech programs.
Funding would come from auctioning the publicly owned electromagnetic spectrum that carries television, radio, telephone, and other signals. Portions of this spectrum are still being allocated and reallocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the highest-bidding companies, government agencies, and others.
The bill's sponsors, Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and James Jeffords, I-Vt., estimate that auctioning the remaining spectrum could yield more than $20 billion in revenue for the United States Treasury.
Normally these proceeds go into the treasury as general funds, but the lawmakers propose they be used to transform learning in the 21st century.
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., introduced a similar version of the bill in the House of Representatives, called the Wireless Technology Investment and Digital Dividends Act of 2002 (H.R. 4641).
Former NBC News President Larry K. Grossman and former FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow came up with the idea for the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust last year and have been promoting it through their Digital Promise Project web site.
The premise is that the educational potential of the internet and other technologies have barely been tapped—and while many institutions serve as repositories of knowledge, information, and educational resources and programs, they are fragmented and uncoordinated.
The project's organizers envision developing the internet, virtual reality, gaming, and software applications in ways that truly transform learning.
"The internet is at that very infantile stage. It's not even crawling yet," said Anne Murphy, director of the Digital Promise Project. "We think there needs to be a drive and focus on getting technology to support learning."
One of the goals is to digitize content from museums, libraries, and universities and make it available online to revolutionize learning.
"What research is being done is great, but it's not being done in a concerted way and there's no cohesive plan," said Murphy, who added that the bill appears unlikely to move this year.
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) was one of the first educational organizations to endorse the Digital Promise Project.
"We think it's important that there be some investment in research and development as well as online content," said Keith Krueger, CoSN's executive director. "We think there is a lack of R&D on educational technology in general."
The eRate has provided schools with technology infrastructure, and schools are adding increased bandwidth that makes interactive content possible. "What good is bandwidth without good applications and content?" asked Krueger, who added that he's not surprised the legislation appears stalled this session.
"It's been moving faster than most would have predicted, given the size of the request," he said. "It took several years [for the eRate to pass]. … I think this is laying the groundwork for the next [session of] Congress."
Some educators applaud the legislation's goals.
"We need to anticipate the future," said Sandra Becker, director of technology for the Governor Mifflin School District in Pennsylvania. "I am impressed with the potential."
Others question how useful the measure would be to educators, considering the value of what already exists.
"I think that the bill is on the right track, as there is a need for research and a comprehensive [strategy]," said Marc B. Liebman, superintendent of the Marysville Joint Unified School District in California. "However, this is not a $20 billion project. Much of the work is already done and just needs to be codified and translated into useable strategies for schools."
The legislation proposes using the funds from the spectrum sale to supplement federal funds for education programs, funding innovative research, training teachers, researching and developing educational software, digitizing educational materials, retraining workers and unemployed individuals, and to enable schools, community colleges, universities, libraries, museums, civic organizations, and nonprofit agencies to take advantage of innovative telecommunications and information technologies to reach outside their walls and into homes, schools, and the workplace.
Digital Opportunity Investment Trust
http://www.digitalpromise.org
Consortium for School Networking
http://www.cosn.org
Learn from these four exemplary institutions at "Schools to Watch"
The time for preparation is over: Starting this month, schools across the country will be forced to adhere to strict guide lines for improved performance set fourth by the No Child Left Behind Act and other ambitious initiatives imposed by the Bush administration. The "Schools to Watch" web site is a unique resource that provides virtual tours of schools across the country that have made significant strides toward academic excellence. Each school on the site was chosen based on stringent criteria specified by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle School Reform. While the stipulations don't exactly match those imposed by the federal government, they do focus on a number of issues critical to creating improved instruction on any front.


text:
Jacob Anderson
Photography Jason Hetherington
JACOB ANDERSON IN LONDON, MAY 2017. PHOTOS: JASON HETHERINGTON/SERLIN ASSOCIATES.
As Grey Worm on Game of Thrones, Jacob Anderson is largely silent, standing loyally behind Daenerys Targaryen and leading the Unsullied. In real life, Anderson is affable, forthcoming, and certainly not quiet; under the name Raleigh Ritchie, he makes playful pop- and R&B-inflected music. In February 2016 he dropped his first LP, You're a Man Now, Boy, and since then the 27-year-old, who's based in London, has released an EP (Mind the Gap) and started writing his sophomore album.
As Anderson explains of his various pursuits, "They all serve their purposes and hopefully balance each other out," but music cuts to the core of it all. Since his childhood growing up in Bristol, he's written as a means of getting out thoughts that were "jabbing" at him. "I need all of my songs while I'm writing them, because I need to get the stuff out of my body and out of my brain," he says. "I write out of necessity, not because I want to be a pop star." Though he's quick to say he isn't one, he perhaps looks up to rappers most of all. "A good rapper is an amazing thing to me," he says. "It's like a 17th-, 18th-century poet. It's a genius thing to be able to do, and I don't think that I do that," he continues. "I use things that I've learnt from rappers to tell stories."
In May, less than an hour before Anderson performed for the first time in New York, we spoke to him about being Raleigh Ritchie, creative catharsis, and, of course, Game of Thrones.
HALEY WEISS: Do you always get nervous before you're on stage?
JACOB ANDERSON: Yeah, I'm always this nervous. Once I get on stage, everything is fine and I can just enjoy it. I quite like seeing what happens, so the idea of sound checks and all that stuff always makes me anxious. Once you're on stage you've got no choice; it has to be fine how it is. I would just rather be on stage.
WEISS: Is that something that only happens with performing live? Or if you're about to do a scene and you're acting, is that something that happens as well?
ANDERSON: I never really get it when I'm writing; that's different stuff, that's not really nerves, because normally I would write a song to get rid of anxiety or stress. But when I'm acting, I definitely have my moments where just before a director says action, I do get a bit of, "Uhh." Sometimes I have this weird thing where I can't move my head properly. [laughs] That sounds like a stupid thing to say, but it's like my head goes into Terminator mode—I'm not sure what it is. I've got a little shiver behind my back. But I can't explain that one, so I'm just going to call it a little lucky charm.
WEISS: I'd like to hear a little bit about the stuff you're doing now music-wise, because you're working on the second full album. Does it feel different from writing the last album? What has your approach been?
ANDERSON: The difficult second album thing, I thought that was a lie. I thought that was just a thing people said, because I've had people say it to me as well, like, "Oh, you have a second album coming, how are you feeling about that?" It's really hard actually. It exists; it's a real thing. I'm not sure if it's a mix of wanting to do better, but I'm trying to not focus on making it sound different. I don't want it to be self-conscious because that's not how I've done things in the past. I'd rather do that at the end, when you look back at everything and start putting it together and say, "I'd quite like to change this so it sounds more in line with this other thing." I want the songs to have more of a relationship to each other than my first album did. I listen to a lot of different things, and I'd like to tie them in together and make one new thing, hopefully. I feel like with this next one I can find a way to distill it even better. I hate when an album feels like it's the same song 12 times, but I do like it when it flows really naturally, so that's my only goal. Apart from that, we have quite a fluid approach to writing songs. It all depends on how I feel that day, and we're actually going to go away, go out to the countryside, and finish the album there. It's the same thing with shows and the same thing with writing songs, where I find it a lot easier if it's a spontaneous thing and it comes from how you feel at that time. It's the thinking about doing a second album and the talking about doing a second album that makes me go, "Oh, what am I going to do with it?" But then when I'm in it, I know that I can do it. I haven't told you anything about the second album whatsoever, but I think it's because it's not there yet. It's not done yet. But I'm excited to go away and to do that. I'm going to go away for two weeks to work on that and nothing else.
WEISS: You've said you were a shy kid. Are you still shy? Would you consider yourself introverted?
ANDERSON: Yes. I have highs and lows. I'm definitely introverted, and I like my own company and I can keep my head down while I'm going about my day, but then I do have spells of mad hyperactivity. [laughs] I'm a bit of a contradiction in that way. I can be really, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" and then I can be really, "I need my space. I need to be on my own," which is why I write songs, because it's my best way of articulating that stuff. … When I feel shit, I need to write a song, because I can't really tell people why I feel shit. I'm not very good at explaining it, but I can explain it if I put it down. That's what I did as a kid; I used to write in books, write on scraps of paper, "I feel sad and the reason I feel sad is because of this." And then it was when I started to listen to music that was more confessional that I was like, "Oh, shit, I've felt like that before. I completely get what you're saying, and the way you're saying it is so to the point and so conversational and confessional." I thought, "Maybe that's something that I could do. I could use that as an outlet."
WEISS: Do you write anything other than songs? I know you're interested in directing as well.
ANDERSON: I don't think I have a very novelistic brain. I like to read, but I don't know if I could ever write a novel. But me and my friend are writing a film, a feature film, and I've got lots of ideas. So yes, I would like to, but I want to write so I can direct things. The writing part of it is a means to an end. But I'm a bit of a control freak, so I don't want to get somebody else to write something that I can see in my head. I can see it, it's just getting it down. I need to finish things. That's my problem: it's finishing things. Even with writing music, when it actually comes down to finishing an album and putting it together and the mixes, I can be quite tough.
WEISS: Yeah, I read that you finished your last album multiple times. How do you get to a point where you say, "Okay, I have to let it go." Is it giving it to someone else to look at?
ANDERSON: I think when somebody else tells me to stop. I trust my manager, and I really trust my girlfriend. I feel like both of those people know me well enough to be like, "Okay, you're obsessing over this now. Make peace with it, sit away from it for a while, and then listen back, see how you feel. If you feel like you've said what you wanted to say, done what you wanted to do, then do it." But also, for the first album, the label were like, "You have to give it to us. Now," basically. [laughs] The first album they gave me a deadline but I found it really satisfying. I thought, "Whatever happens, whatever the album is today, on this deadline, is what the album is regardless." It's out of my hands then. That was a really good thing for me, I think, and we self-imposed that for the last EP.
WEISS: Music predates acting for you. Would you consider yourself equally interested in both? What does one give you that the other doesn't?
ANDERSON: Music is, as you can probably tell, me just in my head. It's very much that I have to dig in and pull stuff out, whereas if I'm acting, it's like putting a mask on. It's the opposite. I don't have to think about anything to do with myself; I can just be something else. That's equally as cathartic as writing is in the opposite direction, and it's fun. I really like making things, generally. Like I said, I want to direct. I don't want to direct myself, because that's hard—I've done it twice now and it's really difficult—but I just need to get the confidence, I think, for that. That's something that I've wanted to do since I was little.
WEISS: Do you have to carve out time to write on set?
ANDERSON: I record things on my phone basically every day, melody ideas or lyric ideas … but I don't tend to write when I'm on set, and that's because it's fun. Writing can be a lonely thing, I think, or it's being lonely with the producers you're working with. Also when I write lyrics, I'll leave the room, I'll go off on my own and write somewhere for however long I need to. But with acting, it's all these fun people I get to play with for the day; it's like going to play school, so I wouldn't want to isolate myself. I enjoy everybody's company, just messing about. You'd be surprised how much we mess about on Game of Thrones.
WEISS: Tell me a story. I'm sure the internet would be thrilled to hear about how you messed about.
ANDERSON: There's probably nothing I could tell you. It's not spoiler stuff; it's stuff where I'd get other people in trouble. I've got way too much energy during a shooting day. Okay—there was one day, it was particularly quiet, and I hid behind—when you get big sets, there are slats in the scaffolding—I basically climbed the scaffolding and hid in the darkness and jumped out at crewmembers, which is not funny. It's just childish. [laughs] I don't think they found it funny. They're like, "I'm trying to do my job."
WEISS: "This is a union gig."
ANDERSON: Exactly. Peter Dinklage and Conleth Hill, it's a sport to them to make me laugh, because I'm not allowed to laugh, so they do their very best. And I'm weak. I can't hold it. [laughs] We have a lot of fun though, genuinely.
WEISS: This may be a stretch, but because you're not always speaking English on the show, is musical ability helpful in that and having to memorize lines?
ANDERSON: It's really helpful, because you can hear the melody in a language and then copy it, and that comes more naturally to me. I have the worst memory in the world; I'm a really bad memorizer. I have to repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. So in one sense, it's a melodic thing, but that's a bit later on. But another way that I learnt how to memorize was from JAY-Z, because JAY-Z said—it's similar to the Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours thing—if you repeat anything 18 times then it'll stay in there, so I repeat things 18 times. But I do try and act it as well—I don't just memorize it. But I've got to memorize it first and then think about what it means afterwards.
WEISS: It's a lot of facial communication, too.
ANDERSON: It's been harder the last few years because they're trying to make him more human now, but in the first few years it was, "Play a robot. You've got to be like walking trauma. Don't play anything." Now I have to be a human. The hardest bit of acting I've ever had to do in my life was smiling, because it was, how does a person smile when they're never smiled in their life?
FOR MORE ON JACOB ANDERSON'S MUSIC AS RALEIGH RITCHIE, VISIT HIS WEBSITE. GAME OF THRONES AIRS SUNDAYS ON HBO.
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This strong, stable work platform can be used for everything from painting and decorating to making light repairs, giving you a wider work area so you won't have to constantly move a ladder. Portable, collapsible and easily storable, it converts from a workbench with a large work surface, to an elevated scaffold that is rated at 330 lbs. but was tested holding 500 lb. Legs adjust from about 19 1/2" to 29 1/2" high. Work surface measures 33"l x 18"w. Store loose bolts and screws in the tool tray. 8 sawhorse holes along with a compass to ensure precision cutting. Comes with an on-board 2-outlet power strip, 110v plug and aluminum steps for ease of use. Folds to less than 5" wide for storage. With the legs folded, heavy-duty 1 1/2" wheels at each corner and extra-long handle turn the Workbench/Scaffold into a handy dolly or creeper. Weighs 32 lbs.