<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16LE"?> <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/rss2full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><rss xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" version="2.0"> <channel> <title>Educitizens</title> <link>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Educitizens.aspx</link> <description>Students and families affiliate around educational needs and claim rights as learners. As families assume more responsibility for education, people identify around specific educational needs, values, and strategies. This array of affiliations is fostering different senses of rights and responsibilities as learners, and many are acting in the civic sphere not just the political to create quality learning experiences. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Read and subscribe to the &lt;a href="http://students2oh.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Students 2.0&lt;/a&gt; blog&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Run for public office or communicate with public officials about the purpose and meaning of public education&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Network with people in other professional learning communities to share ideas about encouraging collaboration and system change&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Read Chapter 8 of &lt;a href="http://www.herecomeseverybody.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Here Comes Everybody&lt;/a&gt; by Clay Shirky&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Host a &lt;a href="http://nyra.meetup.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Meetup for Youth Rights&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; </description> <name>Educitizens</name> <atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Educitizens" /><feedburner:info uri="educitizens" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><item> <title>A New Civic Discourse (Driver of Change)</title> <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rearticulating identity and community in a global society&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The convergence of participatory media culture, diverse diasporic movements (the formation of dispersed populations that share common roots and identity), and frameworks for creating new commons (bottom-up means of managing shared resources) set the stage for re-articulating identity and community in a global society. Education will find itself a contested resource in the crossroads of these forces of change. It will become part of the civic discourse in multiple new kinds of public forums and spaces as  educitizens make visible the status of schools and of educational decision-making, resources, and activities in their communities. School administrators, district level staff, and teachers will need to learn how to communicate and interact in a bottom-up world of engaged educitizens.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;What kinds of roles can educators and schools play in an increasingly transparent world with more bottomup monitoring of learning?  &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;What kinds of public, visible dialogues should educators be catalyzing? &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More on This Topic&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The convergence of participatory media culture, diverse diasporic movements (the formation of dispersed populations that share common roots and identity), and frameworks for creating new commons (bottom-up means of managing shared resources) set the stage for&lt;strong&gt; a re-articulation of identity and community in the global society&lt;/strong&gt;.  Education will find itself a contested resource, right and experience, in the crossroads of these forces of change.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="/trend/Diasporas-as-New-Markets.aspx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Diasporic flows of learners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; will bring new layers of complexity to defining rights and responsibilities around education and learning.  Climate refugees (such as those who experienced Katrina), families of global corporate employees, global immigrants, growing numbers of homeschoolers and online learners, and religious communities comprise new groups of learners with distinct learning values, conceptual frames of education, and a sense of rights as learners.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; These diverse values and conceptions of education and learning will be reflected in their &lt;a href="/trend/Personal-Learning-Ecologies.aspx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;personal learning ecologies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; - networks of resources, tools, and learning assets that families stitch together to support their children s education and development. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Educitizens - &lt;/strong&gt;equipped with camera phones, mobile blogging, and social media (such as Twitter, Facebook, web logs) - will &lt;a href="/trend/New-Civic-Literacies.aspx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;leverage participative media and new civic literacies&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/a&gt;(digitally mediated collective processes of creation, debate, expression, and organization) to surface tensions and articulate perceived rights to education and learning.  They will act to &lt;a href="/trend/Learning-Commons.aspx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;build learning commons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, as in Washington DC where DC Voice works with citizen volunteers to audit their public schools for readiness in a publish results for the community.  They treat their schools as a new commons - a shared resource that benefits the entire community.  And recall that the first image of the Virgina Tech shooting that the world witnessed was a camera phone image taken by a student witness on campus and sent to CNN. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; As communities develop increasing levels of transparency through citizen generated data and exchange, local schools and the robustness of a community s learning landscape will come under the spotlight, exposing &lt;strong&gt;learning deserts&lt;/strong&gt; (those area barren of resources and experiences that support healthy development and learning) and &lt;strong&gt;learning oases&lt;/strong&gt; (robust geographies with ample opportunities that support community learning and regeneration.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Implications for Learning&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Education will increasingly become part of the civic discourse as educitizens bring transparency to the status of schools, educational decision-making, learning and health resources, and activities in their communities.  &lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;School administrators, district level staff, and teachers will need to learn how to communicate and interact in &lt;strong&gt;a bottom-up world of engaged educitizens&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Social media tools and the explosion of citizen-based mapping create new opportunities to &lt;strong&gt;make public the relationships among issues&lt;/strong&gt; such as economic success, health, and education.  &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Such public exposure of critical issues can help rally shared the interests of the broader, enabling &lt;strong&gt;a collective commons for learning and a new form of public legacy&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5 Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Network with people in other professional learning communities to share ideas about encouraging collaboration and system change &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Check up on politicians or legislation with one of the projects run by the &lt;a href="http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Sunlight Foundation &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Search the &lt;a href="http://www.greenspace.info/twitter/stream/en/index.html" target="_blank"&gt;twitterstream &lt;/a&gt;for conversations about current events &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Join the parents of &lt;a href="http://www.letparentschoose.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Let Parents Choose &lt;/a&gt; in taking back more control of children's education &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Contribute to the &lt;a href="http://www.oercommons.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Open Educational Resource (OER) Commons&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome" target="_blank"&gt;Curriki&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href="http://www.wikieducator.org" target="_blank"&gt;Wikieducator&lt;/a&gt; to exchange free teaching and learning content from with others around the world  &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/bHL76Lcgjns" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/bHL76Lcgjns/A-New-Civic-Discourse.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/driver/A-New-Civic-Discourse.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Open Leadership and Sociability (Trend)</title> <description>Open collaborative platforms enable networked teams to self-organize and support ad hoc leaders. New connectivity tools support flexible, self-organizing networks. This new mode of collaboration sociability is best facilitated by building open platforms for leadership, which allow different team members to contribute when they deem most appropriate and effective. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Involve students in your professional learning community &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Join or form a professional learning community, such as &lt;a href="http://www.classroom20.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Classroom 2.0&lt;/a&gt;, to pursue ongoing professional development, support other educators, and organize with colleagues &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Follow colleagues' activites and locations at &lt;a href="http://plazes.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Plazes&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.jaiku.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Jaiku&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Contribute to or create a "citizen reporter" newspaper such as &lt;a href="http://english.ohmynews.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;OhMyNews&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Host an &lt;a href="https://www.collaborationjam.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Innovation Jam&lt;/a&gt; to engage students and teachers in developing new ideas for learning &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chuck House, executive director of Media X, Stanford University's membership research program on media and technology, talks about the new skills needed for 21st century jobs.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qSFuZDc-7yw&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp&amp;showinfo=0;rel=0&amp;amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/DqKiQ_2NMBs" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/DqKiQ_2NMBs/Open-Leadership-and-Sociability.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Open-Leadership-and-Sociability.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Collective Sensemaking (Trend)</title> <description>Diverse and abundant data streams increase the need for organizations to tap collective intelligence. New tools and platforms can mobilize collective intelligence for gathering information, sorting through data streams, and aggregating input and interpretation. Knowledge and insights grow from collective contributions. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Use data-driven decision-making to assess student learning as well as the effectiveness of learning agents in supporting them &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Contribute to the ranking of stories on &lt;a href="http://www.digg.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Digg&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href="http://www.reddit.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Reddit&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Install the &lt;a href="http://del.icio.us/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Del.ico.us&lt;/a&gt; toolbar and start tagging articles and other work for your students or organization &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Improve collaboration and innovation through multiplayer online games with &lt;a href="http://www.seriosity.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Seriosity&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/VflYjsLd69Y" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/VflYjsLd69Y/Collective-Sensemaking.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Collective-Sensemaking.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Smart Localism (Trend)</title> <description>Smart networking, data transparency, and bottom-up monitoring enable responsive, open decision-making. New local monitoring tools, information sharing platforms, and networking practices support smart intra-community coordination. Camera phones, wikis, meet-ups, map mash-ups all are enabling new strategies for dealing with complex challenges that play out at local levels. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Use data-driven decision-making to assess student learning as well as the effectiveness of learning agents in supporting them &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Form a group in your community to respond to the challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change through &lt;a href="http://www.transitiontowns.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Transition Towns&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Learn about how the &lt;a href="http://www.dangerousground.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Dangerous Ground&lt;/a&gt; project tracks landmines &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Read this blog post on a &lt;a href="http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/06/the-personal-outsourcing-olympics-bangalore-butler-or-american-assistant/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;four hour workweek&lt;/a&gt; and outsource your personal chores &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Start a &lt;a href="http://www.thegroupery.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Groupery&lt;/a&gt; site for your local PTA, after-school club, or other group to get organized and raise money &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jessica Margolin, Director of Communities at The Groupery, speaks about efficient ways PTA's and other communities can organize and fundraise, and the impact these services have on education and getting the for-profit and non-profit sectors to work together.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hfFQxhC8cJM&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp&amp;showinfo=0;rel=0&amp;amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/Rgv_PlWNOro" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/Rgv_PlWNOro/Smart-Localism.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Smart-Localism.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Eco-Schools (Trend)</title> <description>&lt;p&gt;Eco-schools become a nexus for health, environment, community, and learning. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Many schools operate in a complicated community arena in which a variety of issues come together food nutrition and safety, children s public health, community involvement, environmental safety, rising energy costs all in addition to learning and education. Schools can become centers for these connected issues, creating safer environments for children and fostering environmental stewards of tomorrow.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Join a group for advocating children's health or environmental safety in schools, such as the &lt;a href="http://www.healthyschools.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Healthy Schools Network&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Find out how to make your school more sustainable at the &lt;a href="http://www.ecoliteracy.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Center for Ecoliteracy&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Connect your school with the nearest &lt;a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Farm-To-School&lt;/a&gt; program, or start one in your area &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Support the &lt;a href="http://www.greenschools.net/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Green Schools Initiative&lt;/a&gt; and find resources to create a healthy school &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Zenobia Barlow, cofounder of the Center for Ecoliteracy, says schools are not just buildings, but networks of relationships.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tfCJTfLNyFM&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp&amp;showinfo=0;rel=0&amp;amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/Kd3H5q-h6SU" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/Kd3H5q-h6SU/Eco-Schools.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Eco-Schools.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Learning Commons (Trend)</title> <description>Educational stakeholders grow collective learning resources, creating an alternative to public and private education. Such commons are common-pool resources that benefit the entire community but are vulnerable to depletion e.g. land (recall the pivotal  tragedy of the commons argument). Various education stakeholders are framing learning resources  local community assets, schools, online curriculum databases  as education commons that need to be managed collectively (not privately or publicly) to maintain their long-term collective benefits. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Network with people in other professional learning communities to share ideas about encouraging collaboration and system change &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Advocate reward structures that give teachers incentives for sharing and creating collective educational resources &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Contribute to the &lt;a href="http://www.oercommons.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Open Educational Resource&lt;/a&gt; (OER) Commons, &lt;a href="http://www.curriki.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Curriki&lt;/a&gt; , or &lt;a href="http://www.wikieducator.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Wikieducator&lt;/a&gt; to exchange free teaching and learning content from with others around the world &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Explore how &lt;a href="http://www.dcvoice.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;DC Voice&lt;/a&gt; is stengthening public voice in education &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Join the parents of &lt;a href="http://www.letparentschoose.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Let Parents Choose&lt;/a&gt; in taking back more control of children's education &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;strong&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt;Lisa Petrides, President of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, speaks about OER commons and how to put the teaching and learning processes back into the hands of those who use it. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt;&lt;a href="&lt;object width=" height="364"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ge3HWnJkUn0&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp&amp;showinfo=0;rel=0&amp;amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/RD9YUrXV2jM" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/RD9YUrXV2jM/Learning-Commons.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Learning-Commons.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>New Civic Literacies (Trend)</title> <description>Participatory media and digital natives bring transparency and collective action to the civic sphere. People who are accustomed to the world of participatory media, user-generated content, and smart networking bring a powerful voice to the civic sphere. Using new tools, people will act collectively, whether joining in  netroot (i.e. Internet enabled grassroots) political campaigns, working together to solve social issues, or forcing transparency into civic processes. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Learn from &lt;a href="http://www.futuremelbourne.com.au/wiki/view/FMPlan" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;FutureMelbourne&lt;/a&gt; and how citizens there are preparing their city for the future &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Check up on politicians or legislation with one of the projects run by the &lt;a href="http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Sunlight Foundation&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Explore how &lt;a href="http://www.microsociety.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;MicroSociety&lt;/a&gt; brings real life to learning &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Search the &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;twitterstream&lt;/a&gt; for conversations about a current events &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;strong&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt;David Nordfors, who runs the innovation journalism program at Stanford, stays studens are moving towards a journalisatic method of learning - finding knowledge, assesing it, and then connecting the dots to build a story.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uoE-tCurDNY&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp&amp;showinfo=0;rel=0&amp;amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/6n6zuZUfW9c" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/6n6zuZUfW9c/New-Civic-Literacies.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/New-Civic-Literacies.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Diasporas as New Markets (Trend)</title> <description>Diverse movements of people create new identities and flows of learners. Global, domestic, and digital journeys will create a new cauldron of diasporic identities, as people find ways of communicating and connecting despite geographic separation. Physical and online communities will form, creating new affiliations around shared experiences, and opening new possibilities for learning opportunities. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Look for Hope in New Orleans, a 36 story comic book that centers around New Orleans&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Read about the educational services that &lt;a href="http://iss.edu/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;International School Services&lt;/a&gt; provides for children attending overseas schools&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/LIRjNOdec3Q" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/LIRjNOdec3Q/Diasporas-as-New-Markets.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Diasporas-as-New-Markets.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Personal Learning Ecologies (Trend)</title> <description>Families look outside the traditional  system to create ecologies of learning experiences. Families will leverage the emerging learning economy to cultivate their own ecologies of learning resources. School will be part of this ecology, but it will play different roles for different families, and it won t be the only player in the wider learning ecosystem. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ways to Start Taking Action&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Provide coaches to help students select appropriate learning experiences &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Create a network in your community like the &lt;a href="http://parents.berkeley.edu/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Berkeley Parents Network&lt;/a&gt; and read this &lt;a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/24/CMGGJDDL2D1.DTL&amp;amp;type=printable" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; about it &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Learn more about homeschooling options: &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;Jon s Homeschool Resources - &lt;a href="http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;www.midnightbeach.com/hs/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The Homeschool Mom - &lt;a href="http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;www.thehomeschoolmom.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Homeschool Central - &lt;a href="http://www.homeschoolcentral.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;www.homeschoolcentral.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Homeschool Resource Center - &lt;a href="http://www.hsrc.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;www.hsrc.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Muslim Homeschool Network - &lt;a href="http://www.muslimhomeschool.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;www.muslimhomeschool.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Let parents and students know about the summer camp directory at &lt;a href="http://mysummercamps.com/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;mysummercamps.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Explore how &lt;a href="http://www.educationalconsulting.org/" class="jive-link-external-small" target="_blank"&gt;Independent Educational Consultants&lt;/a&gt; can help families find the right opportunity for children in college, grad school, or special programs &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &lt;p style="margin-bottom: 0in"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tom Munneke, who turned a shed in his backyard into a science laboratory for kids, says that one way to add excitement and enthusiasm to education is to have adults and peers do more teaching. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a href="&lt;object width=" height="364"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="&lt;object width=" height="364"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cfXCsl2NbFE&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1&amp;amp&amp;showinfo=0;rel=0&amp;amp;border=1" width="445" height="364" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/4Ur6ubFTxlo" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/4Ur6ubFTxlo/Personal-Learning-Ecologies.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/trend/Personal-Learning-Ecologies.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Youth Food Movement (Signal)</title> <description>The Youth Food Movement is a network of young farmers, cooks, artisans, activists and students who are actively changing the future of food and farming.  Affiliated with Slow Food, it organizes the international Terra Madre Youth Network; a collection of university-based convivia that students can join to address the social and environmental causes associated with food issues; and a Pangaea: Ark of Knowledge apprenticeship project that offers mentorship in sustainable, artisanal production and cultivation methods to help prepare young people to create alternatives to the industrialization of our food system.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/DL9pBq5W6oM" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/DL9pBq5W6oM/Youth-Food-Movement.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Youth-Food-Movement.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>PTA Creates Edu-citizens (Signal)</title> <description>Even the venerable Parent Teachers Association sees the power of educitizens. Its Online Advocacy Toolkit suggests that its members contact members of Congress by E-mail.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/-achlfCpGqs" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/-achlfCpGqs/PTA-Creates-Edu-citizens.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/PTA-Creates-Edu-citizens.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>George Soros, Educitizen (Signal)</title> <description>Rather than confining himself to private philanthropy, global financier and philanthropist George Soros has become an educitizen: he recently donated $35 million to needy schoolchildren in NY, enabling the state to receive $140 million in federal matching funds. The gift reflects a trend among private philanthropists and foundations who are partnering with government agencies to maximize their gifts.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/VvKry-d0ErQ" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/VvKry-d0ErQ/George-Soros2c-Educitizen.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/George-Soros2c-Educitizen.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Philanthropic Educitizens (Signal)</title> <description>Rather than confining himself to private philanthropy, global financier and philanthropist George Soros has become an educitizen: he recently donated $35 million to needy schoolchildren in NY, enabling the state to receive $140 million in federal matching funds. The gift reflects a trend among private philanthropists and foundations who are partnering with government agencies to maximize their gifts.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/OROr3ilifOg" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/OROr3ilifOg/Philanthropic-Educitizens.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Philanthropic-Educitizens.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>The Five Freedoms Project (Signal)</title> <description>The Five Freedoms Project is a community of educators, students, and citizens committed to First Amendment freedoms, democratic schools, and the idea that young people should be seen and heard. Their vision is of a nation where all citizens possess the skills and self-confidence they need to be visible to others in meaningful, responsible ways. The organization provides "local school leaders with the leadership development, coaching, and support they need to address two of America s greatest challenges  improving the performance of our public schools, and strengthening the quality of our civic discourse  at the same time."&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/zSaa-fIcnXo" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/zSaa-fIcnXo/The-Five-Freedoms-Project.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/The-Five-Freedoms-Project.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Fremont High School SIFE (Signal)</title> <description>Students at Oakland's Fremont High School drew upon their entrepreneurial spirit to fight truancy and design a new school.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/ZVRX0SFoWtQ" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/ZVRX0SFoWtQ/Fremont-High-School-SIFE.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Fremont-High-School-SIFE.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Speak Up (Signal)</title> <description>Speak Up is a national research project conducted by Project Tomorrow, a national education non-profit group.  Project Tomorrow s vision is  to insure that today s students are well prepared to be tomorrow s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world. &lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/BBRlcrDDtpE" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/BBRlcrDDtpE/Speak-Up.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Speak-Up.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Homeschoolers Grow: (Signal)</title> <description>More parents are citing their opinion that standard curriculum methods and standardized testing are counterproductive to a quality education as reasons for homeschooling their children.  The number of homeschoolers in America hit 1.5 million in 2007, up 74% from 1999 and 36% from 2003. &lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/JxS3iz71u2k" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/JxS3iz71u2k/Homeschoolers-Grow-.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Homeschoolers-Grow-.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>MomsRising.org (Signal)</title> <description>MomsRising is an online grassroots movement committed to creating a more family-friendly America, arguing that women should not be the objects of discrimination just because they are mothers. It was founded by Joan Blades, who also founded MoveOn.org. It has issued a Motherhood Manifesto, and offers space for mothers to connect with other, and to coordinate action.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/wIllKq2ZTAs" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/wIllKq2ZTAs/MomsRisingorg.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/MomsRisingorg.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title> A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch (Signal)</title> <description>Mr. Wesch is a university professor who created a video to demonstrate how far today s classrooms are from the learning modes of the students.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/S9_do5cC7MI" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/S9_do5cC7MI/e2809cA-Vision-of-Students-Todaye2809d-by-Michael-Wesch.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/e2809cA-Vision-of-Students-Todaye2809d-by-Michael-Wesch.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title> Shift Happens by Karl Fisch (Signal)</title> <description>Mr. Fisch is a teacher who created a video to stress the need for change in the United States education system.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/1x39e-WQn80" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/1x39e-WQn80/e2809cShift-Happense2809d-by-Karl-Fisch.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/e2809cShift-Happense2809d-by-Karl-Fisch.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Students 2.0 (Signal)</title> <description>This blog is a space where students are writing to claim a voice in the future of education.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/Gz1iJwbQjoY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/Gz1iJwbQjoY/Students-20.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Students-20.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>We Can Complain Too (Signal)</title> <description>In Britain, several counties empower youth to issue formal complaints about public services. The public information on this right cites the UN Convention on the rights of a child, which says to children: &lt;br /&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;You have the right to be heard. &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;You have the right to express yourself. &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;You have rights, whoever you are, wherever you come from. &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/MM7H8JedGVg" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/MM7H8JedGVg/We-Can-Complain-Too.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/We-Can-Complain-Too.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Meetup for Youth Rights (Signal)</title> <description>Students use Meet-up to gather and discuss their rights as youth.  The National Youth Rights Association aims to defend civil and human rights on youth in the United States, including rights as students.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/_Iy_jp2-T10" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/_Iy_jp2-T10/Meetup-for-Youth-Rights.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Meetup-for-Youth-Rights.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Here Comes Everybody (Signal)</title> <description>Professor Clay Shirky writes about how Web2.0 is revolutionizing the social order. People can organize without routing through traditional organizations, create resources more quickly and efficiently than large corporations, and amplify their political voice without relying on traditional media.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/FaSLT9xyUbI" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/FaSLT9xyUbI/Here-Comes-Everybody.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/signal/Here-Comes-Everybody.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Education Sousveyor (Learning Agent)</title> <description>Education sousveyors will keep the learning process transparent and will stimulate public discussion around it. Through mechanisms such as blog posts, pictures, podcasts, and videos, they will keep learning on the forefront of stakeholders minds.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/bzFYjEUDE-k" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/bzFYjEUDE-k/Education-Sousveyor.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/learningagent/Education-Sousveyor.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Community Intelligence Cartographer (Learning Agent)</title> <description>Community intelligence cartographers will tap the collective intelligence of their local communities. They will leverage social networking strategies to develop swarms and smart mobs in order to identify emerging learning opportunities in the community, organize community members, and locate community resources.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/-c-rsEzSIPI" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/-c-rsEzSIPI/Community-Intelligence-Cartographer.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/learningagent/Community-Intelligence-Cartographer.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Personal Education Advisor (Learning Agent)</title> <description>Assigned by certified local education agencies, such as schools, resource centers, and libraries, or selected and contracted by families, personal education advisors help families create, nurture, and maintain personal learning ecologies.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/TjwmU6wRGag" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/TjwmU6wRGag/Personal-Education-Advisor.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/learningagent/Personal-Education-Advisor.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Social Capital Platform Developer (Learning Agent)</title> <description>Social capital platform developers will link the social capital infrastructure to teaching and learning practices and outcomes. They will use tracking programs to provide an accounting of people s contributions to open education resources and collaborative processes.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/CzbA90bj7PQ" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/CzbA90bj7PQ/Social-Capital-Platform-Developer.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/learningagent/Social-Capital-Platform-Developer.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Building A Districtwide Small Schools Movement: Oakland Community Organizations (Resource)</title> <description>This six-year study by the Annenberg Institute documents how low-income communities of color have organized to improve their local schools. In the first of seven case studies, Annenberg's research team describes the success of Oakland (Calif.) Community Organizations (OCO) in building a district-wide movement that has created 48 small schools dedicated to student achievement. The report analyzes documents, surveys, interviews, and student performance measures. As a result of OCO's organizing efforts, it found, both teachers and principals in Oakland conclude that small schools give students more individualized academic supports. Both teachers and parents say school climate -- school safety in particular -- has improved, and say parent-teacher relationships, and shared faculty decision-making have been positively affected. In the view of the Annenberg researchers, OCO's organizing gives important lessons on community- and educator-generated reform, and illustrates the challenges and opportunities associated with these reforms. These Oakland community organizations are pioneer educitizens.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/la01vOKH3ks" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/la01vOKH3ks/Building-A-Districtwide-Small-Schools-Movement-Oakland-Community-Organizations.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Building-A-Districtwide-Small-Schools-Movement-Oakland-Community-Organizations.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Lisa Petrides talks about how education can work in a commons (Resource)</title> <description>Lisa Petrides, President of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, speaks about OER commons and how to put the teaching and learning processes back into the hands of those who use it.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/uzs9o744_XA" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/uzs9o744_XA/Lisa-Petrides-talks-about-how-education-can-work-in-a-commons.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Lisa-Petrides-talks-about-how-education-can-work-in-a-commons.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>David Nordfors notes how access has now changed who owns the knowledge in a classroom (Resource)</title> <description>David, who runs the innovation journalism program at Stanford, stays studens are moving towards a journalisatic method of learning - finding knowledge, assesing it, and then connecting the dots to build a story.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/XDeBNCKdqqs" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/XDeBNCKdqqs/David-Nordfors-notes-how-access-has-now-changed-who-owns-the-knowledge-in-a-classroom.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/David-Nordfors-notes-how-access-has-now-changed-who-owns-the-knowledge-in-a-classroom.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Tom Munneke says kids can teach each other (Resource)</title> <description>Tom Munneke, who turned a shed in his backyard into a science laboratory for kids, says that one way to add excitement and enthusiasm to education is to have adults and peers do more teaching.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/OwOgePZeWrc" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/OwOgePZeWrc/Tom-Munneke-says-kids-can-teach-each-other.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Tom-Munneke-says-kids-can-teach-each-other.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Future of Education Community (Resource)</title> <description>This community is devoted to providing an opportunity for those who care about education to share their voices and ideas with others. It's a place for thoughtful discussion on an incredibly important topic.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/WTx4ZblAkvw" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/WTx4ZblAkvw/Future-of-Education-Community.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Future-of-Education-Community.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Families and the Emerging Learning Economy: Crafting Personal Resource Ecologies to Support Learning (Resource)</title> <description>Read how sixteen families plan learning strategies for their children in the new learning economy, a learning system comprising a vast array of services, products and resources beyond the traditional classroom environment. See what choices they made, and discover new options you never knew about!&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/BUI0Ti1kcS8" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/BUI0Ti1kcS8/Families-and-the-Emerging-Learning-Economy-Crafting-Personal-Resource-Ecologies-to-Support-Learning.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Families-and-the-Emerging-Learning-Economy-Crafting-Personal-Resource-Ecologies-to-Support-Learning.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Celebrity Commencement Speeches (Resource)</title> <description>Many of this year's college commencement speeches featured themes of saving the world and the power of grassroots activism.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/X5x33IKUG9M" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/X5x33IKUG9M/Celebrity-Commencement-Speeches.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Celebrity-Commencement-Speeches.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Promoting a Systematic Focus on Learning Supports (Resource)</title> <description>Anticipating Congressional hearings related to reauthorizing NCLB,&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/qYsAOItre4E" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/qYsAOItre4E/Promoting-a-Systematic-Focus-on-Learning-Supports.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Promoting-a-Systematic-Focus-on-Learning-Supports.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Alternative Scheduling Gaining Popularity in Michi (Resource)</title> <description>The trimester is hardly a new scheduling concept for schools. But in Michigan, the three-term alternative schedule has rapidly gained converts at the high school level in light of the state's new 18-credit graduation requirements as well as the possibilities it holds for reducing student failure rate. School officials expressed concern that students would have trouble fitting in the necessary credits along with their electives and dual enrollment opportunities. The trimester schedule, which is made up of five 70- to 75-minute classes that change every 12 weeks, allows students to fit more courses into their high school experience. It also offers a way for teens who failed a core class to repeat that class the next trimester rather than waiting a whole year. A number of Indiana schools have also used the trimester model with success for the past six or seven years.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/aEzbwcDrilc" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/aEzbwcDrilc/Alternative-Scheduling-Gaining-Popularity-in-Michi.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Alternative-Scheduling-Gaining-Popularity-in-Michi.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Digital Divide to Digital Continuum (Resource)</title> <description>New research funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement and conducted by the Michael Cohen Group LLC, under the auspices of a grant to the Ready to Learn Partnership (RTLP), revealed that while television took nearly 3 decades to become universal, nearly 40% of low income families now have some forms of computers and almost 33% have obtained some degree of Internet access at home in the last 5 to 7 years. This research suggests that given the proliferation of media across the socio-economic spectrum, although significant differences do still exist by income level, a stark digital divide no longer captures the relationship between income and technology ownership and that technology is, at least to some degree, integrated into children's lives, regardless of their families' income.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/JPnuZPpuC78" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/JPnuZPpuC78/Digital-Divide-to-Digital-Continuum.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Digital-Divide-to-Digital-Continuum.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Tough, Sad, and Smart (Resource)</title> <description>Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors is a new book by Bill Cosby, Ed. D., (comedian-philosopher) and Dr. Alvin Poussaint (Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry). The book explains the difficult route African-Americans have to take to free those who are trapped in prisons of extreme violence, poverty, degradation, and depression. The authors address the absence of fathers, how feelings of abandonment inevitably affect the children s sense of self-worth, as well as the importance of family, education, hard work, mentoring, and civic participation. The book emphasizes the importance of maintaining one s personal dignity and self-respect. Hard times and rough circumstances are not excuses to degrade others.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/aJFnnaL-umY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/aJFnnaL-umY/Tough2c-Sad2c-and-Smart.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Tough2c-Sad2c-and-Smart.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>New Philadelphia Mayor s Top Task: Fight Crime (Resource)</title> <description>When Michael Nutter takes office as mayor of Philadelphia in January, he will face a crime wave that has left at least 355 people dead so far this year.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/HQgSs1X7HnU" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/HQgSs1X7HnU/New-Philadelphia-Mayore28099s-Top-Task-Fight-Crime.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/New-Philadelphia-Mayore28099s-Top-Task-Fight-Crime.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>World s Best Medical Care? (Resource)</title> <description>The disturbing truth is that this country lags well behind other advanced nations in delivering timely and effective care. There is a growing body of evidence that, by an array of pertinent yardsticks, the United States is a laggard not a leader in providing good medical care. The Commonwealth Fund compared the United States with other advanced nations through surveys of patients and doctors and analysis of other data. Its latest report, issued in May, ranked the United States last or next-to-last compared with five other nations  Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom  on most measures of performance, including quality of care and access to it. Other comparative studies also put the United States in a relatively bad light&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/ujh7d3AEOsg" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/ujh7d3AEOsg/Worlde28099s-Best-Medical-Care.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Worlde28099s-Best-Medical-Care.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>The Soul of a New Vaccine (Resource)</title> <description>Sanaria Inc. is making a vaccine with gamma rays. Avoiding modern recombinant DNA technology that injects tiny fragments of parasite protein to prime an immune response, Sanaria uses the whole parasite, extracted by hand from the mosquito s salivary glands, and weakened so it cannot multiply. Because the world now fights malaria  ineptly  with nets, insecticides and drugs, a vaccine is desperately needed. Sanaria s is the sole vaccine using the whole parasite. Injected into a capillary, it rides the bloodstream to the liver and starts making proteins. But after about three days, it stops, and it never floods the blood with copies of itself. Radiation-weakened parasites have protected many lab mice and a handful of humans, but making a vaccine that can be mass produced is a huge challenge. The lucrative market is made up of tourists and the world s military forces. The larger goal is to protect the 3,000 children who die of malaria each day.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/ZoxjwxL_olc" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/ZoxjwxL_olc/The-Soul-of-a-New-Vaccine.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/The-Soul-of-a-New-Vaccine.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>In an Era of School Shootings, a New Drill (Resource)</title> <description>Many schools are preparing for unusual emergencies: bomb threats, hazardous material spills, shelter-in-place preparation (students would use schools as shelters if a dirty bomb s plume were dangerously close) and armed, roaming sociopaths. School administrators and police officers push increased emergency preparedness efforts, as many states encourage schools to practice for dire situations. Kenneth Trump, pres. of National School Safety &amp; Security Services, a private company that counsels campuses on how to prepare for emergencies, sees a  tremendous lack of training particularly for school secretaries, bus drivers, and other support staff. Since Sept. 11, more people have been killed in school buildings than in terrorist attacks in this country.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/wijGhL7xYyQ" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/wijGhL7xYyQ/In-an-Era-of-School-Shootings2c-a-New-Drill.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/In-an-Era-of-School-Shootings2c-a-New-Drill.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>I.B.M. Plan Ties Training and Accounts (Resource)</title> <description>Corporations search for efficient, low-cost sources of labor, and American workers seek to improve their skills with training and education. Training costs often go to employees and increase their sense of economic insecurity. I.B.M. is taking a step to address help workers, and it hopes other companies will follow to help encourage a change in tax policy. At a recent conference in Washington, I.B. M. announced that it will offer its U. S. employees specialized savings accounts for training and education. The  learning accounts will be modeled on 401(k) retirement accounts. Workers will put up to $1,000 a year into the accounts, and I.B.M. will contribute 50 cents for every dollar put in by the employee. The employee decides how and when to spend the money, held in an interest-bearing account. When employees leave I.B.M., they take their accounts with them. I.B.M. spends over $600 million a year on education programs, to upgrade workers skills for their next job in the company. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a professor at the Harvard Business School said,  The significance is that it s controlled by the individual, as opposed to programs that are part of a career scheme that the company has in mind. &lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/n5ptVrw6feI" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/n5ptVrw6feI/IBM-Plan-Ties-Training-and-Accounts.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/IBM-Plan-Ties-Training-and-Accounts.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>A High School Struggles With Surprise Students (Resource)</title> <description>Beach Channel High School, in Queens, New York, is struggling with an influx of students from outside its attendance boundaries, who the school said have brought with them a higher number disruptive incidents, including drug possession, weapons possession, fighting, insubordination to school safety officers and an attack on a dean. The school received 50 new students whose zoned school is Far Rockaway High School; 16 new students from alternative programs, including those for incarcerated teenagers; and 11 students from all-day special education programs. Under the Education Department s new system for transferring students from over-crowded schools,, a computer program seeks open spaces in schools closest to a student s home.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/5awK231uS3Y" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/5awK231uS3Y/A-High-School-Struggles-With-Surprise-Students.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/A-High-School-Struggles-With-Surprise-Students.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Critical Issue: Promoting Technology Use in Schools (Resource)</title> <description>By Jan Gahala, at NCREL (now Learning Point Associates).&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/GB8yvZeT2qY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/GB8yvZeT2qY/Critical-Issue-Promoting-Technology-Use-in-Schools.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Critical-Issue-Promoting-Technology-Use-in-Schools.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>3 Teachers Travel 7,000 Miles to Teach Mandarin in (Resource)</title> <description>3 teachers will spend the current school year in Saginaw, Michigan, teaching Mandarin Chinese to students at Arthur Eddy Academy, Handley Elementary School, and Zilwaukee School. Saginaw is among several school districts the Michigan Department of Education is providing with Chinese teachers as part of a pilot program. The initiative could extend beyond the 2008-09 school year, school district spokeswoman Safiya Mosley said. "It's a wonderful way to introduce our students to a new culture," Mosley said. "We're in an increasingly smaller global society. We want to prepare our students for the future. This is a great start." The U.S. State Department classifies Mandarin Chinese as a Level III language, which means it is "exceptionally difficult" for English speakers. Mandarin is the most spoken language on Earth. English is spoken by an estimated half-billion fewer people.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/TbdYpGqFrYY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/TbdYpGqFrYY/3-Teachers-Travel-72c000-Miles-to-Teach-Mandarin-in.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/3-Teachers-Travel-72c000-Miles-to-Teach-Mandarin-in.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Open Source As a Signaling Device (Resource)</title> <description>By Samuel Lee, Nina Moisa, and Marco Weiss. Explores the economic feasibility of the open source economy.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/O5OdggqZf_s" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/O5OdggqZf_s/Open-Source-As-a-Signaling-Device.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Open-Source-As-a-Signaling-Device.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Note to helicopters: (Resource)</title> <description>Quit hovering, helicopter parents...&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/7OynijS6E_M" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/7OynijS6E_M/Note-to-helicopters.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Note-to-helicopters.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Unequal America Causes and Consequences of the Wide  and Growing  Gap Between Rich and Poor (Resource)</title> <description>The U.S. no longer boasts of having anywhere near the world s longest life expectancy. It doesn t even make the top 40. In this and many other ways, the richest nation on earth is not the healthiest. Scholars find further cause for concern in the pattern of health disparities. Poor health is not distributed evenly across the population, but concentrated among the disadvantaged. Disparities in health tend to fall along income lines everywhere: but in the U.S., the gap between the rich and the poor is far wider than in most other developed democracies, and it is getting wider. The U.S. also does less than most other rich democracies to redistribute income from the rich to the poor. American attitudes focus on equality of opportunity, while Europeans tend to see fairness in equal outcomes. Among Americans, differences of opinion about inequality result in disputes over whether poor people deserve help and sympathy or should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Research indicates that high inequality reverberates through societies on multiple levels, correlating with, if not causing, more crime, less happiness, poorer mental and physical health, less racial harmony, and less civic and political participation. Tax policy and social-welfare programs take on importance far beyond determining how much income people hold onto. The recent U.S. increase in economic inequality reflects a migration of money upward as salaries have ballooned at the top.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/2xZlhUp5hf0" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/2xZlhUp5hf0/Unequal-America-Causes-and-Consequences-of-the-Wide-e28093-and-Growing-e28093-Gap-Between-Rich-and-Poor.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Unequal-America-Causes-and-Consequences-of-the-Wide-e28093-and-Growing-e28093-Gap-Between-Rich-and-Poor.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Boomers Take Work Ethic to College (Resource)</title> <description>Baby-boomers enroll in community college to gain new skills.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/AWW_b9ZXIJU" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/AWW_b9ZXIJU/Boomers-Take-Work-Ethic-to-College.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Boomers-Take-Work-Ethic-to-College.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Teachers as Growing Target of Cyberbullying (Resource)</title> <description>Students are finding new ways to leverage technology to talk about their teachers - but sometimes it turns malicious.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/EZZaMWyTbgA" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/EZZaMWyTbgA/Teachers-as-Growing-Target-of-Cyberbullying.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Teachers-as-Growing-Target-of-Cyberbullying.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Survey: Parents Talk to Their Kids about the Web (Resource)</title> <description>A survey from Common Sense Media, and the Cable in the Classroom, finds that 85% of parents talked to their children in the past year about how to be safe and ethical on the online. But far fewer have discussed how to determine the credibility of online information, to be savvy internet consumers, or how to determine if a web site contains biased information.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/1GmPEDjWxNM" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/1GmPEDjWxNM/Survey-Parents-Talk-to-Their-Kids-about-the-Web.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Survey-Parents-Talk-to-Their-Kids-about-the-Web.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Power Users Drive Pedagogy (Resource)</title> <description>This article from Eschool News explains that, according to a new survey of educators, students who excel in the use of technology are driving change in classroom instruction,. Dubbed "Power Users," these ultra tech-savvy students have a growing influence over what--and how--teachers now teach, the survey said.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/-N8qauZeOfg" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/-N8qauZeOfg/Power-Users-Drive-Pedagogy.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Power-Users-Drive-Pedagogy.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Online Safety: Dispelling Common Myths (Resource)</title> <description>At the recent 2008 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), with more than 18,000 educators, technology coordinators, policy makers, and administrators attending, a panel of internet safety experts agreed that education is the best tool to keep kids safe online&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/9mW30QZbdf0" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/9mW30QZbdf0/Online-Safety-Dispelling-Common-Myths.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Online-Safety-Dispelling-Common-Myths.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>New Twist to Student Loans: Peer-to-Peer Lending (Resource)</title> <description>A new trend in the student loan business capitalizes on the online social-networking phenomenon to connect students with those willing to lend them money for college. The credit crunch has driven dozens of lenders out of the student loan market. But a number of new web sites are facilitating loans between students and anonymous investors or even friends and family members. The latest startup player in this so-called "peer-to-peer" student lending market, GreenNote, was launched in early June. The field is still small but expecting sharp seasonal increases. Fynanz, a competitor that matches up students anonymously with investors, said it has seen a big uptick as students start piecing together financial aid over the summer, with applications for about $180,000 in loans arriving in just the last few days. Fynanz evaluates students for credit risk and matches them with an individual investor or investors, who bid to finance the loans. The sites are increasing as many traditional lenders have stopped issuing federally subsidized loans. Such loans are still available, but they require students to hunt for banks or turn to the federal government itself. More and more students need private loans once they hit the ceiling on cheaper federal aid. The underlying concept is that students can secure better terms by turning to individual investors willing to back them. Investors might get satisfaction from helping out a child, relative, or friend. Also, if the lender knows the borrower personally, it lessens the likelihood of late payments or default. Alumni might choose to use one of these sites as a way to provide loans for current students. For example, three supporters of New York Univ. have put up $500,000 through Fynanz to be available to students there. Even nonprofit lending agencies have concluded that Fynanz is an effective way to get their money to students and are putting up funds.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/amzHygcHlMs" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/amzHygcHlMs/New-Twist-to-Student-Loans-Peer-to-Peer-Lending.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/New-Twist-to-Student-Loans-Peer-to-Peer-Lending.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Animal-Rights Groups Push for Virtual Dissection (Resource)</title> <description>Animal-rights organizations are using software donations and outreach efforts to spur interest in the use of "virtual dissection" tools among schools-- adding a new chapter in the debate over whether these tools offer a viable option for teaching biology. Mandates in 14 states that allow biology students to opt out of dissection without jeopardizing their grades are fueling interest in virtual dissection as an alternative for teaching anatomy. Virtual dissection software, such as The Digital Frog, is an alternative for students who find dissection repulsive, and it can save schools money. Besides the SPCA, the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS)--a Chicago-based nonprofit organization--also is dedicated to this cause. NAVS sponsors the Biology Education Advancement Program (BioLEAP), a library of state-of-the-art dissection alternatives, available on a free loan basis to students, teachers, school boards, and others interested in advancing science education without harming animals. NAVS does not produce its own software, but the group promotes The Digital Frog and other programs from sources such as Dissection Works, Thieme Interactive, Ventura Educational Systems, the UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and Nebraska Scientific.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/L0wLVOG08MA" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/L0wLVOG08MA/Animal-Rights-Groups-Push-for-Virtual-Dissection.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Animal-Rights-Groups-Push-for-Virtual-Dissection.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>4-day Week on the Rise in Education (Resource)</title> <description>School districts and universities are instituting 4-day weeks, a trend becoming the norm as gas prices and energy costs continue to rise. The trend is particularly popular in some of the most remote school districts (Minnesota, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah) where buses travel hundreds of miles for student pickups, drop offs, and sporting events. At some colleges, administrators are authorizing alternative schedules as an employee-friendly policy designed to abate increasingly costly daily commutes.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/g7RooSrSn7o" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/g7RooSrSn7o/4-day-Week-on-the-Rise-in-Education.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/4-day-Week-on-the-Rise-in-Education.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (Resource)</title> <description> Edward Granger-Happ, the CIO at Save the Children and chairman of NetHope, writes at the Journal of New England Technology that the face of corporate social responsibility is changing  it is no longer an adjunct activity for good community relations; it s about core business strategy. Corporate philanthropy used to be about supporting the arts and local community. But now employees are demanding companies to have CSR programs that apply the company s specific resources to help with world issues. Granger-Happ says the next generation of CSR is about skill-based philanthropy. Instead of leveraging the time and general management skills of employees, the focus now shifts to working on projects that leverage the specific skills of the employee and the organization. So if the company s skill is software development, then the CSR program may be helping nonprofit organizations develop emergency response supply chain management applications. For Granger-Happ, CSR is now also strategic: It s about employee response and engagement, and also about developing the next generation of corporate leaders. According to the 2006 Cone Inc. Millennial Cause Study, 79% of 13-to25 year-olds want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts and contribute to society, while 56 percent said they would refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/bkn6qcmoc58" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/bkn6qcmoc58/Evolution-of-Corporate-Social-Responsibility.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Evolution-of-Corporate-Social-Responsibility.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Community Activism Plays Major Role in Education Reform (Resource)</title> <description>The  Keep the Promises Coalition is an association of more than sixty education organizations and dozens of elected officials whose ongoing battle for budget revision is still making national headlines. In fact, as schools across the nation find their meager budgets slashed -- alongside a litany of other inequities -- angry constituents are taking action. "Parents, teachers, students, and community members recognize that if they want better schools, they have to fight for them," says Aaron Dorfman, exec. dir. of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and former lead organizer of People Acting for Community Together (PACT), in Miami, Florida. "If they don't hold school districts accountable, no one will." This year, the rising tide of community-based organizations working for education reform will prove an indispensable part of the education system as a whole. Policy makers and philanthropic funders are taking note of the power of grassroots activism to shape political will, communicate local needs, and create long-lasting change in struggling schools. Along with the success rates of these kinds of organizations, so goes the growth in funding for them: "Funders are recognizing that if they want education reforms to last, they have to have a constituency on the ground that is invested in those reforms.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/S5R1OXHPWp8" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/S5R1OXHPWp8/Community-Activism-Plays-Major-Role-in-Education-Reform.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Community-Activism-Plays-Major-Role-in-Education-Reform.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Demographics for the Gen Y Population (Resource)</title> <description>This website presents fascinating demographics about the culture and tastes of Generation Y and offers links to a variety of resources.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/yA7cq4quDbw" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/yA7cq4quDbw/Demographics-for-the-Gen-Y-Population.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Demographics-for-the-Gen-Y-Population.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>The Future Wave of School Volunteerism: Be the Textbook (Resource)</title> <description>This blog describes how a teacher used Skype, a webcam, and a headset to connect a rural Georgia, USA classroom to Earl Boysen, a nanotechnology expert, for a class dicsussion. The article provides specific instructions about how to make such connections happen in the classroom.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/u30tCJs56EU" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/u30tCJs56EU/The-Future-Wave-of-School-Volunteerism-Be-the-Textbook.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/The-Future-Wave-of-School-Volunteerism-Be-the-Textbook.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Enterprise Foundation Says Community Revitalizatio (Resource)</title> <description>The Community Developers Guide to Improving Schools in Revitalizing Neighborhoods", argues that suggests that despite obvious linkages between the health of neighborhoods and the quality of the local schools, community revitalization efforts usually do not include schools. The report shows that this is beginning to change. It demonstrates in cities all over the United States those developers, foundations, and other investors who are committed to neighborhood revitalization and have made school improvement part of their agenda in the past 15 years. Is your community building its school as centers of community?&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/TOUOrGyUKYk" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/TOUOrGyUKYk/Enterprise-Foundation-Says-Community-Revitalizatio.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Enterprise-Foundation-Says-Community-Revitalizatio.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Venture Fund Fueling Push for New Schools (Resource)</title> <description>Analysts suggest NewSchools biggest impact has been to help firmly establish charter-management organizations nonprofits that spawn and operate clusters of like-minded charter schools as part of the education marketplace...&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/7MHcMBaFZec" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/7MHcMBaFZec/Venture-Fund-Fueling-Push-for-New-Schools.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Venture-Fund-Fueling-Push-for-New-Schools.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Microsoft Faces University-Based Patent Suit (Resource)</title> <description>A federal appeals court has given the company that manages a set of lucrative technology patents for the Univ. of Rochester a chance to pursue its infringement claims against Microsoft. The ruling reverses a lower-court finding that said the university-based inventors intended to mislead the patent office. The patents cover a technique for computer-driven printing technology known as Blue Noise Mask. A company called Research Corporation Technologies has rights to commercialize the patents from the university and has collected tens of millions of dollars in royalties for the university by licensing the patents to companies. Recently the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a district-court judge in Arizona had erred when he ruled in 2006 that the university s patents were unenforceable. The district court had ruled against the patents after finding that the 2 Univ. of Rochester inventors had not disclosed previously published articles about their invention to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. But the appeals court said the findings in the publication  were not material to their inventive activity, and so the inventors were not required to report it. The appeals court vacated the ruling and ordered the case to be re-heard by another district-court judge. (&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/wPlkJFkMleo" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/wPlkJFkMleo/Microsoft-Faces-University-Based-Patent-Suit.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Microsoft-Faces-University-Based-Patent-Suit.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Real Schools, Virtual Classes? (Resource)</title> <description>Students nationwide are enrolling in cyber programs to bolster or replace a brick-and-mortar education. Nationally, virtual classrooms -- cyber schools based on the Internet and run by public and private schools -- are beginning to augment traditional middle and high schools.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/6dEW3Q_QSzY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/6dEW3Q_QSzY/Real-Schools2c-Virtual-Classes.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Real-Schools2c-Virtual-Classes.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Home-schooling Numbers Increase (Resource)</title> <description>As Vermont public school pupils are back in school, so are many of the 2,215 home school students -- up from 92 in 1981. Home school students are free from the rules and course requirements that abound in public schools. But parents must enroll home study children with the Vermont Education Department and, in most cases, provide the department with an annual report demonstrating how the students will meet minimum course requirements.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/j-sshpKhBeU" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/j-sshpKhBeU/Home-schooling-Numbers-Increase.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Home-schooling-Numbers-Increase.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Bilingual Teachers Wanted (Resource)</title> <description>Boston recruiters were looking for educators to teach English as a second language, as well as math, science and special education to help the city's fast-growing Latino student population. Their mission took them to several locations in Puerto Rico. Because the island is a commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Ricans are American citizens and therefore do not face immigration hurdles&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/ZjflKIjQCQQ" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/ZjflKIjQCQQ/Bilingual-Teachers-Wanted.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Bilingual-Teachers-Wanted.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Kansas High School Bars Woman from Overseeing Boys (Resource)</title> <description>A private high school in Kansas will not allow a woman to be put in a position of authority over its class of boys...&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/Tnnrewk5R9A" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/Tnnrewk5R9A/Kansas-High-School-Bars-Woman-from-Overseeing-Boys.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Kansas-High-School-Bars-Woman-from-Overseeing-Boys.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>Low-Income Students Are Public School Majority in (Resource)</title> <description>More than half of public school students in the U.S. South come from low-income families, according to a new report (released by the Southern Education Foundation, an Atlanta-based group) which predicts that the nation as a whole could reach the same demographic milestone within a decade if current trends persist. Overall, the study found that in the 2006-07 school year, 54% of students in 15 southern states came from families that are poor enough to qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program. Under the guidelines for that program, families cannot earn more than about $31,765 a year for a family of three to participate.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/wjtqeMKUKP4" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/wjtqeMKUKP4/Low-Income-Students-Are-Public-School-Majority-in.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/Low-Income-Students-Are-Public-School-Majority-in.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>11 Tips for Managing Millenials (Resource)</title> <description>11 Tips for hiring, managing, and working with Generation Y&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/tvjVQAz_R9I" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/tvjVQAz_R9I/11-Tips-for-Managing-Millenials.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/11-Tips-for-Managing-Millenials.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> <item> <title>2 Million Minutes (Resource)</title> <description>This film takes a deeper look at how the three superpowers of the 21st Century China, India and the United States are preparing their students for the future. As we follow two students a boy and a girl from each of these countries, we compose a global snapshot of education, from the viewpoint of kids preparing for their future.&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Educitizens/~4/JvuIRvjShnQ" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description> <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Educitizens/~3/JvuIRvjShnQ/2-Million-Minutes.aspx</link> <feedburner:origLink>http://www.futureofed.org/resource/2-Million-Minutes.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item> </channel> </rss>