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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The new mantra, the next big thing, among educators who need a serious sounding phrase to rattle around in reports is '21st Century Skills'. I hear it often, almost always in some overlong, text-heavy, Powerpoint presentation at an educational conference, where collaboration, creativity, communication and emotional intelligence skills are in short supply. Thank god for wifi!
But does this idee fixe bear scrutiny? In a nice piece of work by Stepahnie Otttenheijm, she asked (radical eh?) some youngsters what 21st C skills they thought they'd need. Not one of the usual suspects came up. They were less vague, much bolder and far more realistic. Rather than these usual suspects and abstract nouns, they wanted to know how to create and maintain a strong digital identity, be nice, recognise what's learnt outside school, learn how to search use my Facebook privacy settings. My suspicion is that they know far more about this than we adults.
Collaboration & sharing
Young people communicate and collaborate every few minutes – it's an obsession. They text, MSN, BBM, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook message, Facebook chat and Skype. Note the absence of email and Twitter. Then there's Spotify, Soundcloud, Flickr, YouTube and Bitorrent to share, tag, upload and download experiences, comments, photographs, video and media. They also collaborate closely in parties when playing games. Never have the young shared so much, so often in so many different ways. Then along comes someone who wants to teach them this so called 21st C skill, usually in a classroom, where all of this is banned. I'm always amused at this conceit, that we adults, especially in education, think we even have the skills we claim we want to teach. There is no area of human endeavour that is less collaborative than education. Teaching and lecturing are largely lone-wolf activities in classrooms. Schools, colleges and Universities share little. Educational professionals are deeply suspicious of anything produced outside of their classroom or their institution. The culture of NIH (Not Invented Here) is endemic.
Again, we live in the age of abundant communication. There's been a renaissance in writing among young people, who have become masters at smart, concise dialogue. The mobile has taken communication to new levels of sophistication. They know what channel to use, in terms of whether it's archived or not, synchronous or asynchronous. Texts and Facebook comments are archived, some messages are not (voice and BBM). You call people, synchronously, when you want them to make a decision. Text is asynchronous, therefore slower, more relaxed. They can also handle multiple, open channels at the same time. What do we educators have to offer on this front? Whiteboards? Some groupwork round a table? Not one single teacher in the school my sons attend has an email address available for parents. I've just attended two major European conference where only a handful of the participants used Twitter. What do we know - really?
Problem solving
Problem solving is a complex skill and there are serious techniques that you can learn to problem solve such as breakdown, root-cause analysis etc. I'm not at all convinced that many subject-focussed teachers and lecturers know what these generic techniques are. Problem solving for a maths teacher may be factoring equations of finding a proof but they're the last people I'd call on to solve anything else in life. Do teachers actually know what generic problem solving is or is it seen as some skill that is acquired through osmosis when a group of kids get together to make a movie?
Beware of big, abstract nouns. This one has become a cipher for almost everything and nothing. I have no problem with art and drama departments talking about creativity but why does creativity have to be injected into all education. Creative people tend to struggle somewhat at school where academic subjects and exams brand them as failures. When it comes to creativity, my own view is that the music, drama and other creative skills my own offspring have gained, have mostly been acquired outside of school.
Critical thinking
I have some sympathy with this one, as critical thinking is sometimes well taught in good schools and universities, but it needs high quality teaching and the whole curriculum and system of assessment needs to adjust to this need. However, as Arun has shown, there is evidence that in our Universities, this is not happening. Arun (2011), in a study they tracked a nationally representative sample of more than 2,000 students who entered 24 four-year colleges, showed that Universities were failing badly on the three skills they studied; critical thinking, complex reasoning and communications. This research, along with similar evidence, is laid out in their book Academically Adrift.
Digital literacy
Across the Arab world young people have collaborated on Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to bring down entire regimes. Not one of them has been on a digital literacy course. And, in any case, who are these older teachers who know enough about digital literacy to teach these young people? And how do they teach it – through collaborative, communication on media using social media – NO. By and large this stuff is shunned in schools. We learn digital literacy by doing, largely outside of academe. To be frank, it's not something they know much about.
Beneath all this, is there just a rather old, top-down, command and control idea – that we know what's best for them? Isn't it just the old master-pupil model dressed up in new clothes? In this case, I suspect they know better. There's a brazen conceit here, that educators know with certainty that these are the chosen skills for the next 100 years. Are we simply fetishising the skills of the current management class? Was there a sudden break between these skills in the last compared to this century? No. What's changed is the need to understand the wider range of possible communication channels. This comes through mass adoption and practice, not formal school and university. It is an illusion that these skills were ever, or even can be, taught at school. Teachers have enough on their plate without being given this burden. I've seen no evidence that teachers have the disposition, or training, to teach these skills. In fact, in universities, I'd argue that smart, highly analytic, research-driven academics tend, in my experience, often to have low skills in these areas. , formal environment is not the answer. Pushing rounded, sophisticated, informal skills into a square, subject-defined environment is not the answer. Surely it's our schools and universities, not young people, who need to be dragged into the 21st century.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Learnt to ride a bike from a single sentence in a book!
The Bike, by Robert Penn, is a brilliant paean to the bicycle and it brought back some great memories. Above all it made me think of my late, great, lifelong friend Frank Gormley, who hilariously learnt to ride his bike from a book. He came from a large, poor family in Barrhead (or Barrheid as he would pronounce it) in Scotland and never had a bike as a child. So when he bought one later in life, he couldn't get the hang of it. Eventually, he went to the library, found a book and learnt to ride from a single sentence, 'Turn the handlebars in the direction in which you feel yourself falling'. With this one piece of advice off he sailed. In fact, off he sailed, on his own, across Europe and through Turkey. Tragically, he died on his bike, coming off going downhill on his own in northern Spain. I like to think of him enjoying those last moments with the wind in his hair and the warm sunshine on his face. He was always an independent sort of guy, the sort I admire.
Despite the fact that I have fallen off, shattered my wrist and lay in agonising pain waiting for the ambulance, needing a full-anaesthetic operation and titanium plate, I also love cycling. Like Frank I took to cycling late in life. In this, my 54th year, I've cycled the whole Hadrian's Wall on a sort of 'Four Men on a Bike Run' trip, and loved it. Later in the year we cycled down the Danube through vineyards and orchards visiting the castle in which Richard II was held, Baroque monasteries and Vienna. Above all, I love to ride along the sea cliffs of Sussex and in my local woods where for the last two years I've seen the seasons change close-up; butterflies in summer, mushrooms in Autumn, snow and ice in Winter and wild flowers in Spring. I've even taken the plunge and bought a mountain bike (Andy tedd was the spur for this), and now relish the pleasure that roots, mud and weaving through single path routes in Stanmer Woods can bring.
I'm not a road bike sort of person, none of that lycra and drop handlebars for me. My good friend Ken is such a creature. It's all sweat, effort and speed for him, on his Harry Quinn frame (rebuilt twice) and Brookes saddle (he's a traditionalist). I admire this but it's not for me. I don't drive and prefer to avoid the manic world of roads, drivers and cars. When my other cycling mate, Ronnie, asked me what improvement I've had on my clock times around Stanmer Park, I replied. "Don't know, as I often stop for a picnic!"
A bike even featured in a quite unusual family affair. My son's bike was stolen by a bare-chested, tattooed thug, who didn't reckon on him, his brother and mother's perseverance. After driving around Brighton for half an hour, in a long-shot attempt to spot the thief, they did. Gil operated a SWAT team swerve, cornered him on the bike my two boys leapt out recovered the bike, and saw him off (they're both second degree Black Belts in Taekwon Do). As my son said in the article that appeared in The Sun, headlined 'Boys Belt Thief' "My mum;'s quite scary - she's Scottish!"
In any case, whatever your cycling proclivities, gentle rides in the country, hard road riding, mountain biking –especially if you've ever had that feeling of being king of the world when in the saddle or that rush when you're hammering downhill, you'll love this book.
In any case, whatever your cycling proclivities, gentle rides in the country, hard road riding, mountain biking –especially if you've ever had that feeling of being king of the world when in the saddle or that rush when you're hammering downhill, you'll love this book.
Penn interleaves the history of the bicycle with personal memories (he's cycled round the world) and his goal of building his perfect bike, one that will last the rest of his life. For the techies, there's lots of detail on tubes, spokes, rims, tyres, handlebars and gears. He travels the world, at least the US and Europe, to get the perfect components and meets the people who make them and watches their often hand crafted manufacture.
But the real joy of the book is the sheer pleasure he (and others) get from this simple self-propelled vehicle. There's nothing like a simple book where the author's passion for a subject is just overwhelming, especially if it's a passion you share.
Lessons learnt? It's never too late to learn, don't let adversity stop you, teach your kids to stand up for themselves, and (in learning) less is always more (even a single sentence can teach you a new skill). God bless you Frank.
Friday, November 11, 2011
From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg – scale matters
Bend it, shape it, anyway you want it but at some point you have to scale it. At the world summit on education WISE 2011 I heard a lot of talk on scalability. A problem was the failure to address the real meaning of the word and the various species of scalability. Until we truly understand scalability, education and training will remain the world's biggest cottage industry. Teachers are not scalable. Classrooms are not scalable. When good practice is tied to both of these, it is prevented from becoming scalable. Tied to the tyranny of location and time, learning's stuck in non-scalable boxes. But guess what, technology is scalable. So where do you put your effort and money?
Non-scalable learning
We have physical things, like teachers and buildings that are simply not scalable. Every new teacher, lecturer, trainer and building costs the same or similar amount as the previous one. Yet this remains the dominant mantra among many politicians and educational commentators – we simply need more teachers, trainers, lecturers, schools, colleges, universities.
Scalable (physically replicable)
Some physical things, like books (everyone forgets these are a form of technology) are printable therefore scalable. Moveable type and printing was the 'technological' Gutenberg revolution that massively accelerated learning through scalable learning content. Books are scalable in terms of being cheaply replicable.
Scalable (amplification)
Radio and television, as broadcast media are scalable in terms of reach. In poor countries radio remains a powerful tool for learning, as it was in the Australian Outback for many years. Similarly with TV. This is 'one to many' scalability.
Scalable (replicable ideas)
Ideas are scalable if they can be disseminated and copied by word of mouth and print. Yet innovative theory and practice remains patchy if the recommendations themselves are not scalable. The problem is often the institutional resistance and 'not invented here' tendencies. Education is a slow learner and ideas are not at all viral.
Scalable (digitally replicable ideas)
Ideas and content can be massively replicated at little or no cost in the Zukerberg age. It's bits not atoms. Digital replication has led to a digital reformation and an age of digital abundance. This is the only real, scalable solution, especially for ideas, but also for content; digital replication at zero cost across the entire globe. Even for communication and collaboration, the other important dimension in learning, the only real scalability comes through technology.
Scalable (digitally replicable and free)
The most scalable ideas are not only digital but free. Wikipedia and Moodle are two good examples. Wikipedia gained its scalability through crowdsourcing, Moodle through open source development and community. This is the most bountiful form of scalability.
Mosquitos v Tortoises
Most research projects in learning are non-scalable and have short lives. The live and they die. Some, however, have the longevity of tortoises and can live for decades, even hundreds of years. Scalable innovations include Janet/Superjanet, Open University, University of Phoenix, Wikipedia, Moodle.
What do these successful innovations in learning share? Scalability through technology. From Gutenbeg to Zuckerberg, replication, first at low cost, than at no cost is the key to low cost education and training.
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
UK e-learning companies in rude health? A rude review!
The UK e-learning business remains, I think, in rude health, with predicted growth this year for Kineo, Epic, Brightwave, Line and Learningpool. It's not all been plain sailing, but here's a gander at the top UK e-learning businesses over the last three years.
Kineo has grown every single year since the guys set up after Epic was sold to Huveaux in 2005 and have never had any debt. Well that's not quite true, as they converted their company from a partnership to a limited company, thereby lending money to themselves, a common tax wheeze, but it's not really debt in the sense of a liability. It's a good team, led by the force of nature that is Steve Rayson, and they're going strong on the back of bespoke work, franchising and Totara. What's really interesting is their rapid expansion abroad where revenues across their shared businesses are probably nearer 15m, making them a salable entity. (3.7 m 2008, 5.2m 2009, 7.1m 2010).
Line have never really been interested in recapitalising and going for rapid growth, which has kept them clear of debt. However, they have over recent years, strengthened their focus on defence. Although dropping by a million in revenues last year, again I think they'll bounce back this year on the back of defence work. Piers (ex-Epic many years ago) has a good team who do good work. (6.95 m 2009, 6.15m 2010)
Epic declined badly under the weight of a bad loan from the Bank of Scotland to Huveaux, and has declined in revenues every single year since it was sold it in 2005, when they eliminated the huge cash reserve and started to drop on revenues. Although bought out from Huveaux, they also suffered badly from a talent drain to Kineo, whose management team are all ex-Epic. However, it looks as though they may be bouncing back, with a possible increase in revenues in 2011. They've won a couple of large contracts and are dabbling in mobile and Moodle, which is a sign that they're thinking afresh. (6.1m 2008, 5.15m 2009, 5.1m 2010).
Brightwave have also taken senior people from Epic and have a good reputation for well-designed content but seem stuck at revenues more akin to a lifestyle business. However, Charles Gould, who also worked at Epic many moons ago, is a smart cookie, and has recently shown more signs of ambition for growth. I suspect we'll see good growth this year on the back of this ambition. Brightwave don't put out accounts which shows they're below the £5 million threshold, probably in the £3.5-4.5 million range. (estimates: 3.8m 2008, 3.0m 2009)
Redtray seem to be mired in debt and have been laying of staff. What distinguishes the successful from the non-successful is that all too familiar word 'debt'. To grow by acquisition means taking on debt that has to be financed at the same time as you try to get efficiencies and revenues from your acquisitions. Not easy. (3.75m 2008, 3.66m 2009)
Learningpool have grown steadily since 2007, with a focus on a licensed service to the public sector and they will grow again this year, showing there's space for sector specialists. Their successful, hosted content delivered via Totara will drive sales this year. (1.23m 2008, 2.07m 2009)
Saffron Interactive seem steady at below £2 million and we all hope they'll remain. a player after the tragic death of Hanif Sazon. (1.8 2008, 1.8 2009)
The irrepressible Steve Dineen's a trooper and has, presumably, timed out on his non-compete clause and resurrected Fuel as Fusion, with the same shocking pink corporate palette, and check out the shot of the company management team on their website– it looks like a cheap version of the Bullington Club!
Other news includes the sale of Edvantage (ex-Futuremedia). It looks as though Lumesse have bought them for their LMS and tools, so it will be interesting to speak to that other Brighton force of nature Andrea Miles (ex-Epic) to see what the future holds.
Specialists in oil & gas, these folks from Aberdeen have shown that sector specialisation has its rewards. However, I don't know them, so will not comment.
Specialists in oil & gas, these folks from Aberdeen have shown that sector specialisation has its rewards. However, I don't know them, so will not comment.
Brighton rocks
Brighton remains the epicentre for UK e-learning, with Kineo, Epic, Brightwave, Edvantage (now Lumesse) Vivid and many other small companies forming the backbone of the UK industry. Sheffield like to say they have the edge but it's the Kineo and Line satellite production groups there that keep it strong, showing a degree of dependence on the south-east.
Brighton remains the epicentre for UK e-learning, with Kineo, Epic, Brightwave, Edvantage (now Lumesse) Vivid and many other small companies forming the backbone of the UK industry. Sheffield like to say they have the edge but it's the Kineo and Line satellite production groups there that keep it strong, showing a degree of dependence on the south-east.
The new league table should show Kineo and Line (neck and neck finish I reckon) then Epic, Brightwave, Redtray (if they survive), Learningpool and Saffron. I wish all of the above companies well in 2012. Times are tough but they're all seasoned campaigners and should do well.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Education's a slow learner (lessons from WISE 2011)
1200 leaders in learning from 120 countries at WISE2011, all flown into Doha by the Qatar Foundation to shape the future, with a focus on innovation. Did they succeed? Yes and no. It takes more than three days to create an Education Spring. Here's my take.
Education's a slow learner
It may be more accurate to say that education has learning difficulties. The system is fixed, fossilised and, above all, institutionalised, so the rate of change is glacial. People are, by and large, trapped in the mindset of their institution and horizontal sector. In truth, small pools of innovative practice are patchy and stand little chance of wide scale adoption.
Many of the speakers repeated platitudes about education being the answer to all of the world's problems. What they were short on were solutions. Education is always seen as the solution to all problems. The problem with all this utopian talk is that it dispenses with realism.
It took a politician, Gordon Brown, to show we educators how to communicate, teach, frame a problem THEN a solution. His speech was masterful, laying out the many dimensions of the problem, informing through humour, moving the audience with heart rending stories then he hit us with a vision, a clear goal and details on funding. All children in school by 2015, with massive injection of funds by the private sector, public sector, religious institutions and not-for-profits. He put great emphasis on tech companies such as Google, Apple and so on, which was novel.
Generation gap
Few were using Twitter, Facebook was a mystery to most and fewer still blog. The stage was often filled by older people in dull suits who all agreed with each other, that education was a glorious and great good. If only our leaders could see this, give us more money, then all our sins would be washed away. But this doesn't wash. Things only sprang into life when we got younger learners' voices, like the young Qatari woman who shocked the academics by saying she wouldn't have got through her medical degree without Wikipedia. She challenged the audience to step into their local school to see if things have got better (obviously meaning they had not).
Real innovators, like Jimmy Wales, were thin on the ground. I would have given him the WISE prize, as Wikipedia is a truly amazing, global, scalable success in learning. He explained that he didn't have a business plan and just got on with the task, "I'm a carpenter not an architect". A recurring theme of the conference was the undercurrent of ludditism. Even the presenters were at it, with little digs at technology. We kept hearing 'technology is only a tool', 'technology is not proven', 'it's not the technology its teachers that matter'. Replace the word 'technology' with 'books' and you'll see how odd this is. Valerie Hannon of the Innovation Unit has continued with this anti-technology theme in her blog.
Crisis of relevance
The Arab Spring has taught us educationalists a lesson. The heavy investment in education, especially universities, is turning out graduates with low, relevant skills, resulting in mass unemployment. Across the Arab world of 85m 18-24 year olds, nearly 1 in 5 is unemployed. The immediate (and it is immediate) challenge is to develop skills for employment and security. 1 in 4 are out of work in Tunisia. In Egypt 34% of young people wait for a long time before finding a job. They call it the 'waithood' and can be up to 3 years or more. At 7% of GDP on education, Tunisia is near the top of the league table, so what went wrong? Why has so much money been spent with so little success? Ask the graduates. "No one wants the skills we have and we don't have the skills they want". E4E (Education for employment) has a real and relevant approach where employability matters with application based learning and good career guidance. Employers want real world experience not just paper qualifications, so you have link education to the workplace. With female job seekers it's worse , with unemployment at more than 30-35% among female graduates.
There was some agreement on the lack of relevant skills, most employers expressing dissatisfaction with critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork and communications. The system was stuck with memorisation and lecture based learning. Professors sell their notes and set exams around the memorisation of these notes to increase sales. Asking questions and questioning the knowledge of teachers and academics is barely tolerated. This is not education, this is programming. On top of this there's a strong stigma against vocational training, especially among educationalists.
Edgar Morin saw modern universities as having failed to respond to modern times. Their disciplines limit our knowledge and lead to separation. We need relevant knowledge, not barren , specialised experts, lost outside of their discipline. The proof? The current financial crisis shows this – academics are impotent and lost. They have lost the ability to communicate properly and come up with solutions.
Educational colonialism
A German Professor of Mathematics told me that he's just spent 6 months in Ethiopia help set up 40 (not a mistype) Universities. He thought this was lunacy. The country has barely functioning schools and they've been fed the line that HE is the answer to their problems. What they need, he explained was more vocational colleges for technicians and functional jobs, not advanced degrees. This is the madness of institutionalised initiatives.
All over the Middle East and Africa, western Universities are playing this game, setting up campuses in education parks. It's a distortion that they could do without. It sets the expectation that everyone should become a 'Doctor or Engineer'. That's the phrase you hear all the time. No, these countries need functioning managers and professionals across a wide range of professions. On the same panel, a South African claimed that the country needed 'more postdocs and women in Engineering' (that old trope). Oh yeah?
I attended a completely sterile debate on University rankings. Despite general agreement that a linear sequence does not statistically represent the diversity of the institutions or data, and despite knowing that they don't represent teaching (yet are used by parents and teachers to choose universities), they are still used by academics who should know better. These are lies told by people who know they are lying. Prof Jeffrey Sachs was clear, don't invest in the American model, now driven by greed selfishness and short-sightedness.
Revolution's here
The Arab Spring was omnipresent. It coloured everything. Young people want jobs and in the Middle East the current model hasn't worked. Degrees have been commoditised. What people need is jobs. We need to recognise that technology played a huge role in the Arab Spring, and if it can help topple governments, it can help transform education. The Arab world has one language and could benefit hugely from an initiative that produced good Arabic content, from the cloud, that was device-independent. If the Qatar Foundation could step up to the plate on this one, we'd have real progress.
Some voiced the opinion that the Arab Spring is the best thing that could have happened for education in the Arab world. It could help elevate the agenda to where it ought to be. Why? Long standing institutions, with sclerotic structures and management, are the problem, with deeply rooted incentives to prepare for a test or get a diploma. So, at the heart of any programme needs to be the reform of incentives, comprehensive and ambitious reform, not only in countries that have gone through revolutionary change but other countries by proximity.
A deeply depressing incident occurred in Charlie Leadbeater's session on innovation. After a brilliant triplet of innovators who were reshaping education by getting it out of the traditional classroom, the Minister of Education for Iran swanned in with a posse of henchmen. Or so we though. It was actually a lackey who read a speech that had numbered goals around setting tens of thousands of Koranic schools and prayer rooms, linking, and I quote 'knowledge to religion'. This cultural engineering is a disgrace. More education, in this, sense is casting the net backwards.
Out of the box
You must not only think out of the box but get out of the box that is the classroom. Indeed, the best workshop was on three innovations from India, Denmark and Australia. All three had taken education out of the classroom. A school in Denmark, Hellerup Skole, had been built as a 'house' then space allocated and appropriate furniture bought. In Australia Stephen Harris had abolished classrooms and reimagined education around different concepts of space. I asked him why his kids were still in uniforms and he said, clearly annoyed, "it's the legacy of the British public school system".
I heard of schools under mango trees, walking schools that took place in a different house in the village each day, learning in church halls after hurricanes that had wrecked everything else, pavement kids in India that had school bussed to them as they couldn't leave their home unguarded. Did you know that 50% of all schooling in Afghanistan takes place in tents?
Of course, the real space that has been colonised by learning is virtual. Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, Khan Academy, VLEs, OER and a huge number of other sites and tools have created an alternative world of learning. Despite WISE attendees being largely lost with technology, technology is easily the most important innovatory force in learning.
Get real
Lifelong learning appears to have been hijacked, at least in Europe, by educational institutions. I attended a workshop on LL that started with nothing but talk of Universities and the funding they receive in Lifelong Learning. Until, that is, the audience revolted and pointed out that institutions are the reason why Lifelong Learning is failing. We know that formal and informal must be recognised. This is not about schooling, but avoiding the trap that schooling leads to – that learning must take place in institutions through courses, with teachers. One could argue that Universities have little or nothing to do with this.
On the topic of realism, Martin Burt runs schools as businesses. The schools pay for themselves. Rather than teaching abstract maths they teach business maths. For him this is not a business project but a business. This is interesting, an appeal that more learning should be REAL and RELEVANT. Until we see knowledge, skills and learning in context we'll be stuck in a culture that values the academic over everything else. We know this has been a huge mistake. Vocational learning needs a voice.
Get mobile
Despite the obvious barriers, such as small screens, cost, technical variability in devices and basic illiteracy, it's starting to happen. Mobiles are powerful, personal and portable. The costs are plummeting, with some operators offering zero rates for educational use. In some countries the cellphone has leapfrogged other technology for the poor.
Dr Maths has been used by 30,000 students in Africa, and elsewhere, to deliver text and tutor support in maths. They bypassed schools and teachers entirely relying on word of mouth. They operate in S Africa and found that even in the townships mobile ownership and access was pretty much universal. In fact it is staggering how much poor people will spend on mobiles – up to 30% of their income.
Of course, seeing mobile as just a communication device between teachers and learners restricts its primary advantage – scalability. Tutors and teachers are not scalable. I learnt how Twitter was used for language learning (the 140 letter constraint is the trick). Siri offers a breakthrough here with voice recognition and AI driven coaches, assistants and language learning.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Going online way forward for education says Gordon Brown
I slipped into a front row VIP seat for Gordon Brown's talk at WISE in Doha, Qatar (security were clearly fooled by the Scottish name on my pass). I have to say he was on fire. No notes, just a brilliant analysis of global education and poverty that captivated the audience and gave the summit wings. This may be hard to believe but he seems to have been reborn.
After an endless series of lacklustre educational panellists Brown's speech had it all. Millennium goals for 2015 will not be met for another century; children been betrayed. It's now impossible to meet the Millennium Development Goal to cut infant mortality by half, but, he claimed, the goal on education could be achieved if we have focus and will.
Reagan joke
His Reagan joke was a cracker. When A Swedish minister spoke on world poverty and education Reagan asked if he was a Communist. He was politely told by his ambassador that the Swedish minister was, in fact, an anti-Communist. "I don't care what kind of communist he is" said Reagan, "he's wrong". The point was that politicians, companies and not-for-profits must all pull together on this one.
One of Brown's strengths as a politician is his principled approach to world poverty and when he tells stories of his visits to Africa and other countries in the developing world, they're told with feeling. The evil o child labour where 300 million children working today when they should be at school. We heard of a child bride who died in childbirth, too young to bear her child, the woman who turned to prostitution to send her child to school, the child soldiers, a real evil, forced to commit atrocities. Killer facts, for example, a Sudanese girl stands more chance of dying in childbirth than receiving a school education. I spoke to several people afterwards who were truly moved by this part of the speech. I was.
He was also brave enough to have a pop at Koranic schools, unusual in an Arab country. But he was right. I had heard a depressing speech from the Iranian Minister of Education at the summit the previous day, who had an appalling plan to link education to the Koran, and all knowledge to religion. God save us! Politicians can be bad news and education is not always a good
"We must hold national Governments to their promises to provide the funding both in development aid and of course the funding that individual developing countries' governments have promised for education in their own areas," he said. "And where countries fall behind, we should be telling them that this is not acceptable because it is not simply about them and their generation – it is about future generations, "what was required, he added, "was a global fund for education in the same way there was one for health". Heady stuff.
Online the way forward
Now listen to this, as at this point things got really interesting. He gave a detailed account of why online learning was essential to his vision. I was not surprised at this. Brown was the brains behind UFI, an e-learning charity I've been a Trustee on for over six years. Unlike Gove and co, he believes in this stuff. "I want all the technology companies, the Microsofts, the Apples, the Facebooks, the Googles to be involved in this project," he said. He said he wanted technology to be available to the poorest countries. "If they have a worldwide vision, as we have, about the importance of education, then they should, as Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Internet has said, make it possible not for 20% of the world to benefit from the internet, but 100% to benefit from the new technologies, including the Web, that are available." The only odd moment was mentioning Simon Cowell. Educational Idol here we come. This was the really fresh idea, that scalable technology will, is in the end, the only real global driver in terms of reducing cost and reach. Far too many of the educational leaders at the conference were closet luddites, who can't see past the 'we need more teachers argument'. They're right but teachers are not scalable.
It took a politician to show the word's educators how to communicate, teach, frame a problem, provide facts and detail, THEN a solution. His speech was masterful, laying out the many dimensions of the problem, informing through humour, moving the audience with heart rending stories then he hit us with a vision, a clear goal and details on funding. All children in school by 2015, with massive injection of funds by the private sector, public sector, religious institutions and not-for-profits, all given wings by technology, mobiles and the web.
Suddenly he's naming Sartre, de Beauvoir and quotes Camus, "shouldn't we admit we got it wrong" and asks that we put it right. Education at that turning point, every child in 21st C should be at school. "When Cicero turned to the crowds in ancient Rome, people said, 'great speech'. When Demosthenes spoke to the crowds in ancient Greece and people turned to each other, they said: 'Let's march. Let's march for education and let's march for it together." At last, a call to action.
Standing ovation then exit stage left
For me, this was the high point of the Summit. His standing ovation was deserved as he had stood up for the poor. Education is not an end in itself, it is a means to an end. He was mobbed as he left the stage and it was a shame that he didn't stay to answer a few questions and speak to a few of the people from the developing world who had clearly been moved by his words. In fact he seemed uncomfortable in the melee and relieved to be rushed out of the side door.
I spoke to Charles Clarke afterwards, but he missed the speech due to a misreading of the programme (they are arch enemies, Charles having attempted a coup in 2009) and agreed with Clarke's point that the focus on primary schooling was wrong. What we need is focus on vocation education to tackle relevance and unemployment.
At least these guys have the big picture and vision. I heard nothing like this from the educational establishment, many who seemed past their sell by date. But my real worry is whether his call for action is realistic. We're in a recession and finding funds for a fresh push on a reframed Millennium Goal seems unlikely. The idea of a single fund is the only way to solve the problem and as Jan MorganKaufman pointed out view Elizabeth King, the Director of Education at the World Bank, we have a fund. Unfortunately it's too small. However, I hope the golden wind will fill his sails, as it's such a noble cause.
At least these guys have the big picture and vision. I heard nothing like this from the educational establishment, many who seemed past their sell by date. But my real worry is whether his call for action is realistic. We're in a recession and finding funds for a fresh push on a reframed Millennium Goal seems unlikely. The idea of a single fund is the only way to solve the problem and as Jan MorganKaufman pointed out view Elizabeth King, the Director of Education at the World Bank, we have a fund. Unfortunately it's too small. However, I hope the golden wind will fill his sails, as it's such a noble cause.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Flippin' heck –is the whole of education doing things backwards?
The TES has just published an article on 'flipped learning' with views from myself, Salman Khan and others. My first point was that flipped learning is not new. The Open University has been doing it for over 40 years. "They let you learn in your time through the materials they provide and the tutors are there to help and close the knowledge gaps". However, "we have only just started to explore this. It is literally thinking outside the box, the box in this case being the classroom" or lecture hall".
Out of the box that is the classroom
Additionally I stated that, "we should be taking technology out of classrooms so they can be used for their intended purpose – learning". Why? The classroom is a cramped box crammed full of alternatives targets for attention, "an incredibly awkward environment in which to learn because of all the distractions". Conversely, "the trouble with a lot of homework (awful word)…is that kids get stuck because there's little or no help at home". So why not flip them and do the straight exposition at home, and formative learning in the classroom?
Trapped in fossilised pedagogies
The problem is that teachers and lecturers have become trapped in fossilised pedagogies – quite simply, huge dollops of talking at people in the classroom and lecture hall. To be fair, expectations of institutions, expectations of students, job titles (lecturer), buildings, budgets and quality evaluations, all target the fossilised model. So there will only be change when there's a "concerted effort to change the fundamentals…. You have to redesign your course from scratch and not just add technology. It should be a compulsory part of teacher training to use technology in innovative ways".
Don't talk – teach
I've blogged on flipped learning before, extolling its sensible approach to the use of technology in learning – DON'T PUT TECHNOLOGY IN CLASSROOMS, use classrooms to teach through formative assessment. The internet has given us more pedagogic shift than the entire cadre of educationalists over the last century. First text (Wikipedia), then audion(podcasts) and then ubiquitious video, along with links and interaction, have all given us the opportutnity to learn the basics online. What we need from teachers is teaching – namely constructive feedback.
Flip and force them to teach
To be honest, 'flipped learning' is merely a species of 'blended learning', just one of many possible blends. What makes it such a great fit in education, is the obsession with the lecture or talking at people in classrooms. If you can't get people to stop reading at you for hours in a lecture hall or classroom, and calling it 'contact time', do something radical, get them to stop the madness, flip it, and force them to teach.


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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
Record student observations on the similarities and differences between plants and animals on a Venn diagram and determine the basic needs of each.
Compare a sugar cube and an equivalent amount of granulated sugar, each dropped in an equal volume of water. Mix granulated sugar with cold and warm water.
Distribute a mystery material or "green stuff," and ask students to determine what category it belongs to: living, dead or nonliving.
Introduce a variety of solid objects and use senses to sort them. Then explain the criteria used for the sorting schemes.
Use Playdoh® and wax paper to simulate the collision between two tectonic plates.
© Annenberg Foundation 2017. All rights reserved. Legal Policy

subset: commoncrawl


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Miniature Child ceramic Tea Set 10pcs. C303, comes with (1) Creamer, (1) Sugar Bowl, (2) Teacups with (2)tray, (1) Tea pot and (1) tray. This Miniature Tea Service makes a great gift! This product is not large enough for actual use, for decorative purposes. Hand wash only. Tea set Dimensions: W7" x L5 " x H4". This ceramic tea set features glorious flowers for an absolutely lovely design.
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April Fools parade
For the 35th year, the St. Stupid's Day Parade took place in San Francisco on April 1st. Odd costumes, noise makers, and satiric signage on the 'business of religion' and 'the religion of business' were encouraged by the organizers.
April 1, 2013 4:57 PM
Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle


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Looks like you are using an old version of Internet Explorer - Please update your browser
Although these two sample articles were written by the same journalist, they both reveal how easy it is to "slant" the very same information in two very different ways.
No results found in .
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


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This is a great question asked by Nibuca on Twitter which was brought to my attention by Gnomeaggedon.
Guild websites can be a great tool for communications between guild members and detailing raid accomplishments. You can use it to hold information for prospective recruits, keep track of loot that has been awarded and set up forums for active discussion between your players.
So here's today's questions for you all. I'm actually in the midst of writing a long post about guild website essentials, so consider this a research post designed to see if I'm on the right track.
Does your guild have a website? Do you use it or not, and why? What features would you consider important or expendable?


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Oct. 25, 2007
Head Coach Jerry Smith
On the game overall:
"We played really well in the first half. We had a lot of opportunities but were unable to score and when Gonzaga scored the game really became a battle. I feel as though we coasted through the first half. We may have been overconfident and took our opponent a little too lightly."
On Courtney Lewis' attack on goal:
"She is one of our best competitors and leaders. She always puts everything on the line and in the second half we needed our leaders to step up and take control. She did a great job for us."
On Kiki Bosio's goal:
"It was an amazing goal that was very similar to her goal against Pepperdine. Gonzaga puts a lot of their players in the penalty box and it takes a special dribble and a special shot to breakdown that clutter in the box and that's exactly what Kiki did."
On Gonzaga:
"They are a well coached and they are way to organized to throw in a mediocre performance and expect a win."
On Sunday's game against Portland:
"It is a very rich rivalry match on Sunday. We look forward to be in the underdog role. Not that this is an excuse but the excitement surrounding Sunday's game may have made us overlook Gonzaga."


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Tag Archives: streaming
Free Movies on Youtube
YouTube began legally offering free movies a while ago, though the selection at the time was kind of iffy. Fortunately, one of the movies was the original 1958 The Blob, a personal favorite, so it wasn't a complete loss (though it's … Continue reading


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I&K Clip in hair extensions are 100% real human hair extensions
I&K human hair extensions are made in a unique way, as each set is made by hand individually, and not cut from one weft. This gives the advantage of more hair being added to each of the clip in hair extension pieces, making the hair look much thicker. Each clip in hair extension piece has been designed to fit your to your head closely, making our clip in hair extensions look as natural as your own hair.
With this clip in hair extension set you will receive 10 clip in pieces with 18 clips attached, plus 2 pieces without clips. There is enough clip in pieces in one pack for your whole head. As it is made from 100% real human hair, it can be cut, coloured (use a test strip before colouring), straightened and curled.
With our clip in hair extensions the actual length is 2 inches longer, for example if you order 18 inches the full length of the extensions you will receive will be 20 inches. This is so you will not lose length if you have them cut in.
Our wavy hair is treated to be wavy and therefore not a permanent curl, the more the hair is washed and straightened the quicker the curls will drop out.
Product Information
Ask a question about: I&K Gold Clip In Body Wave Human Hair Extensions - Full Head
Signin or Register to add your own review.
Lovely but not enough for thick hair
My partner brought these for me for our wedding. Very quick delivery. Packaging lovely and secure. There extremely soft and have a little wave to them. Only problem I had was I have extremely thick hair and their very thin. Will have to buy extra to be able to make it work. So just be warned if you have very thick hair you will need two pack
Weight of extensions.
They are not 130g for the 22 inch as advertised. Only 100g bit disappointed. A bit expensive for 22 inch 100g. :(
I ordered this piece delivery was 3 days pritty quick, but the colour was a lot lighter than expected, if you buy this pice thinking it a dark brown with blonde it's more of a light brown so go for a darker colour.
Arrived in 4 days, from Newcastle to Devon. Feel lovely. I have very thick hair so was worried they wouldn't be thick enough, but they are perfect. The wave is a little unrealistic and doesn't look right when they are behind you. Haven't washed them yet as only received yesterday, the bonds aren't quite tight enough so hair does come out pretty easily.
the color is great it blends in very well, i love this hair , the quality is great, ! thumbs up !
Fantastic product and excellent hair match! Very recommended by someone who regulary wears extensions! Thank you :)
I bought this for the first time, I just love them!! they are so soft and natural. :-) The only negative thing is the strong smell they had when they are new. I have washed them as I received them with this I got the prove they are real good. I appreciate their quality and density of hair. Many thanks, hairtrade.
I found that one pack was plenty for my hair, the loose waves of these extensions are amazing, and look so much more natural than curling straight extensions. cant live without them now!!
just had to review this product.its fantastic!!the colour matched my hair beautifully and the quality is amazing. love them and will be buying more in the future
I'm am a very satisfied customer and will definitely be ordering hair from hairtrade again. The hair has a little more red in it than mine, so I will have to put some more highlights in the hair to blend better. I can wear it as is, but it would look much better with more highlights. There is a lot of hair, and it is very soft and shiny. The delivery was quick-it arrived exacly when expected! I was so excited, I put it in right away! Thanks! =)
nice wavy hair! look fantastic on me thank
Brilliant, they were deleivered within 2 days and they look amazing! definatly a good buy!
Very quick delivery and the weave hair is nice. I thing I do not need to make my hairdo again to have such wavy styling
I had tried some of your hair extensions n they look fantastic however it would be better if you can have some demo/flowchart usage for new comers.
Not really alot of hair in one packet, I needed at least two packs to make it look natural and not so 'stringy', three packs if you're hair is really thick. Quite an expensive way to do it really.
Im so excited to have this human hair on and is good for party
I love the hair extensions does it come with other style?
i have shorter straight hair right now.. but i want my long hair back and i was thinking of getting wavy extensions for something different... do you think it will look weird with straight hair???
i bought this for the second time now. i just love them!! they are so soft and natural. the last extensions i had for 4 months, so if i buy them 3 imes a year it's not that much:) the only thing i don't like it's the smell when they're new, that's why i wash them as soon as i get them. and then there is no point in ordering wavy ones:)) next time i'll order straight ones cause they are the same( my friend has them). i just love this qulity nd density of these hair.thanks, hairtrade.
the hair itself is beautiful condition. but i was very dessapointed when it wasnt my colour. on the web site it looks just like my hair colour 'strawberry blonde' but when i took it out of the packaging, it was very much a ginger. almost orban colour. i am exchanging it for a lighter colour as the hair is beautiful
I bought this product because i have sort of pamela anderson bleach blonde long wavy hair and wanted to add more volume. i bought colour 24 because it looked like a good match but i cant believe how dark it is, it is more like a honey golden blonde than a bright creamy bleach blonde, so don't let the photo fool you. The quality of the hair however is fantastic albeit abit silky compared to my porous bleached hair however blends in well. I am going to swap my order for colour 613. I would advise phoning the hotline to ask what colour would suit your hair colour before ordering, if you can describe it properly that is. I cant wait to get my new ones!!! Thanks HairTrade!!!
Hi Hair Trade, Wasn't too sure how to contact you? I recently bought item 1 x Clip in Body wave 4 (Clip in Body wave 4#) and I just wanted to say thanks! When it came it felt very light and thought that I might of just ordered one clip on hair extension, how wrong was I! The colour matched really well and because it's human hair shines in the sunlight the same as mine without looking like synthetic! I can't believe how many pieces I got with the pack. I only used 5 and it made such a difference. So I put the rest in and it looks so glam! They feel secure like they are not going to fall out. Thanks again you have made me feel really good about myself…and upped my self-esteem! You are more than welcome to use this testimonial on your site and edit it if needed. Thanks again Fiona, Cornwall
Not sure which colour is best for you?
We understand it may be difficult to choose the correct shade when purchasing hair extensions online.
We are here to help you out!


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A river in an area of planned oil palm plantation expansion. Many rivers cross this area before entering the Korup National park and the Cross-River basin (one of the biggest hydrologic system in the Congo Basin). If the project of plantation expansion goes ahead, these rivers will be polluted, affecting the human consumption of their fish and the Korup National Park and the whole Cross-River Basin will be contaminated. Already a river whose water was used as drinking water by the people in the village of Fabe, has been polluted by the palm tree nursery of Herakles Farms.02/19/2012
© Jan-Joseph Stok / Greenpeace
1 - 12 of 5650 results.


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BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- In the ongoing debate about what killed off the dinosaurs, new evidence suggests a comet or asteroid was the final if not only blow, U.S. scientists say.
A comet or asteroid impact has long been considered a possibility, but others theories have focused on volcanic eruptions or climate change.
Now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, with British and Dutch colleagues, have determined the most precise dates yet for both the dinosaur extinction around 66 million years ago and for the well-known cosmic impact that occurred around the same time when a 6-mile wide object slammed into the Caribbean off the Yucatan coast.
The dates are so close, the researchers say, they now believe the comet or asteroid, if not wholly responsible for the global extinction, at least dealt the dinosaurs their final death blow.
"The impact was clearly the final straw that pushed Earth past the tipping point," Berkeley earth and planetary science Professor Paul Renne said. "We have shown that these events are synchronous to within a gnat's eyebrow, and therefore the impact clearly played a major role in extinctions, but it probably wasn't just the impact."
The new date for the impact -- 66,038,000 years ago -- is the same within error limits as the date of the extinction, Renne said, suggesting the events were simultaneous.
He cautions this doesn't mean the impact was the sole cause of the extinction.
Dramatic climate variations over the previous million years, possibly made more extreme by volcanic eruptions, probably brought many creatures to the brink of extinction, ready to be kicked over the edge by the asteroid or comet impact, he said.


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Ep 9: Dress Down and Strip Bare
With the ladies back from romantic Anguilla, relationships are tested and this time it's not only Kenya and Walter in the romantic hot seat. Divorce rumors swirl around Phaedra and Apollo, while Kandi and Todd's relationship moves forward when they receive a visit from their pastor. Kenya continues to investigate whether her man is serious about love and NeNe gets the money shot in the cover shoot of a lifetime.


text: We don't know if this Facebook post daring the U.S. to attack -- the one that appears under the name and image of the 11-year-old son of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- is real. We also don't know what special skills our nation's finest soldiers on Seal Team Six possess, beyond that they regularly do the impossible. But let's leave it at this: if the post is from the child of Assad and Seal Team Six does have a spanking specialist in its ranks, we would like to back a military intervention limited to punishing this child for being obnoxious on a global scale. We won't enjoy it any more than him, but somebody has to do it.


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Short Floral Kimono Blouse - WhiteRegular Price $39.99 Sale Price $14.99 Save 63%
- Women's Kimono
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- 95% Polyester, 5% Spandex
- Machine Wash According To Instructions On Care Label
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Stage 1: May 8 2010 - Amsterdam 8.4 km
Starting out
The 2010 Giro begins with a short and high-speed time trial through the heart of one of the world's most famously bike-loving cities. Linking two of Amsterdam's most renowned attractions, the Rijksmuseum and the city's Olympic stadium, this course is more of a flat-out drag strip than a technical tester. That should mean that the specialists will stand out, but there's unlikely to be big gaps between the main contenders, who will want to save most of what they've got for the frightening final week.
Procycling's favourite to win:
With the emphasis for the Dutch teams very much on making an impact on home soil, Rabobank have just the rider to do so in Lars Boom. A former world cyclo-cross champion who announced himself on the road scene with a Vuelta stage victory last year, Boom convincingly won the prologue at Paris-Nice in March on a course of the same length but with more climbing than this.
Flashback: Where to start…
This is the ninth time that the Giro has started on foreign soil. The first was in San Marino in 1965, when the 48th corsa rosa began on soil that wasn't Italian but still surrounded by it. Monte Carlo got the honour the year after.
In 1973, to mark the expansion of the European Community, Giro boss Vincenzo Torriani had what was described by one of his successors as "the reckless idea" to start the race in the Belgian town of Verviers. The route moved on through Germany, Luxembourg and France. Travel arrangements weren't so complicated in 1974 when the Giro set off from the Vatican City.
Foreign starts fell out of vogue for the next two decades until the Giro bosses took the race to Athens in 1996 and Nice in '98. In 2002, the Giro started in Holland for the first time, marking the introduction of the euro.
Pinotti says:
"On paper, stage one is a typical city-centre course. This is a bit short for me but perfect for Wiggins or, if he rides, Cancellara. Some say such a short TT is a good litmus test of even the overall contenders' form. It may be, but a bad result may also just mean someone's had a bad day."
Stage Details
Distance: 8.4km
Vertical climb: 10m
Highest point: 8m
Terrain: Flat
Category: Individual Time Trial
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Maritime art for the living room, youth room, winter garden and sailing fans. The cosy cushion »Sail Boat« with its striking figure 20 develops its decorative effect on your couch as well as on a garden chair. Or wherever there is still a lack of colour in blue shades.
The fabrics – recycled sailcloth or new canvas – feature recycling, upcycling, fair and social production and circular economy.
Do you like the design of the upcycling cushion number 20? – Then you can purchase it directly the way it is.
Customization: You can create an individual cushion cover with the numbers from 0 to 99 and choose between recycled sailcloth and new canvas. Number: selected figures may refer to a birth date, birthday, department, number of kids, anniversary, fetish number. The photo is by way of illustration; minor changes possible. The product is delivered to you within 6 to 8 days, if the personalization is not in stock. Only while supplies last.
Facilities and Facts
For bulk orders or business customers please contact us here.
Or how nonconformity finds its creativity space for decorative design objects, and fashion accessories
A 100% Lyon Design
All Marron Rouge fashion accessories and decorative objects are created by Jean-Marc Attia in his showroom workshop. The soft toys were created by Parisian designer Marie-Noëlle Bayard.
Recycling is the "raison d'être" of Marron Rouge for the beauty of unusual materials and the protection of the environment through a "smart" waste management.
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Shipping Costs for orders with a total amount up to 100,- Euro
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all other countries 30,- Euro
Shipping Costs for orders with a total amount between 100,- Euro and 300,- Euro
France 17,- Euro
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other western EU-countries 22,- Euro
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all other countries 50,- Euro
Shipping Costs for orders with a total amount of more than 300,- Euro
France 29,- Euro
Germany 35,- Euro
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other western EU-countries 35,- Euro
eastern EU-countries 70,- Euro
Norway 70,- Euro
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all other countries 120,- Euro
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Collismo, France
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For deliveries abroad, the actual delivery time may differ from the stated delivery time, and be between 3 and 7 working days more than specified for each product.
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Our own business: At Greenpicks sustainability is in every single detail – with conviction. We use green electricity, have a green bank account, let our flyers be printed green and much more:
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In its latest efforts to respond to today's evolving publishing climate the American Anthropological Association (AAA) celebrates the decision by one of its most influential sections to undertake efforts to expand the way its signature journal is made available to scholars, researchers and the general public.
In 2012 the AAA Executive Board invited its sections to submit creative publishing proposals. The Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA) responded with a proposal to transform Cultural Anthropology to an open access format. The plans, while still under development, will provide Cultural Anthropology at no charge to readers beginning in 2014.
While the publication will soon be available open access via Cultural Anthropology's website, www.culanth.org, it will also remain available via AAA's AnthroSource, the premier online portal serving the research, teaching and practicing needs of anthropologists.
AAA is very excited for the opportunity to test this format. This experiment will pave a path for the publishing program to learn best practices and responsible approaches towards a sustainable publishing model.
For additional details, please read the latest SCA press release.


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Previous / Next
Helsinki lives in the moment – and so does Nyt, the weekly supplement of the city's largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. Nyt is all about the going-ons in Helsinki – the name means "now" in Finnish. Since it is all about the moment, we did Nyt's print ads with the same mentality. No stylists and no tight schedules on Excel-sheets. Just one photographer capturing a bunch of young people enjoying life in Helsinki – right here, right now. And it was all very immediate: shot today, printed tomorrow.
Client: Helsingin Sanomat Advertising Agency: 358 Helsinki, Finland Creative Director: Ale Lauraéus Copywriters: Valtteri Väkevä, Verneri Leimu Art director: Ale Lauraéus Graphic designer: Iiris Ojanen, Mark Nurmi Client Team Director: Sonja Eiramo Producer: Krista Durchman


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Model #SBT-82454PH
|List Price:
|Our Price:
|$369.00 New
General Description
We're committed to exceeding your expectations:
- Found it for less? We'll match the price
- 25-Year or Limited Lifetime Warranty
Our customers come first — we guarantee it!
Do you need lab tables that are impervious to most acids, but can't afford to pay the price? We've taken our solid-phenolic lab tabletops and put them on a steel frame (instead of wood) to help keep the cost down. These science tables feature 1.25"-square steel legs of 16-gauge, and a 3" steel apron. The solid phenolic top is highly impervious to moisture and most acids.
- Manufacturer:
Allied Plastics
Allied Plastics has manufactured custom-crafted tables for over 60 years. Unique items like fruit-shaped tables and extra attention to technical details have given Allied's products a deserved reputation for quality.
- Width:
- 24 in.
- Length:
- 54 in.
- Height:
- 29.5 in.
- Weight:
- 90 lbs.
- Folding:
- No
- Glides:
- Self Leveling Glides
- Leg Finish:
Enamel Paint
Enamel paint is an oil-based paint which dries hard, opaque and glossy.
- Leg Specs:
16-Gauge Steel, 1.25"dia
Gauge is a measurement of steel thickness - the lower the gauge, the thicker the steel.
- Leg Style:
- 4 Straight Legs
- Seating Capacity:
- 2
- Tabletop Core Material:
- Phenolic
- Tabletop Edge:
- Self Edge
- Tabletop Support:
- Steel Apron
- Tabletop Surface Material:
Solid-phenolic tops are highly impervious to most chemicals, acids, stains and moisture, but have limited resistance to heat.
- Tabletop
- .75
- Tabletop Weight Capacity:
- 400 Lbs. Evenly Distributed
- Warranty:
- Limited Lifetime
- Made in USA
- Sturdy Frames: The 16-gauge, 3" steel apron with double flange and 1.25" legs make this a strong, long-lasting science table. Adjustable leveling glides come standard with each table.
- More Chemical Resistant: Solid phenolic tops are impervious to moisture and most acids.
- Budget Friendly: The combination of our best-selling Science-Lab Table and our best selling utility table give you the best value.
- Lifetime Coverage: Our Limited Lifetime Warranty guarantees many years of use and enjoyment.
This product is made with pride in the United States of America!
We're committed to exceeding your expectations:
- Found it for less? We'll match the price
- 15-Year or Limited Lifetime Warranty
Our customers come first — we guarantee it!
Shipping & Assembly
- Ships Via:
- Common Carrier
- Leaves Factory In:
- Approximately 29 business days
- Assembly:
- Minimal
- Average Assembly Time:
- 5 Minutes
Science Lab Table with Steel Legs and Phenolic Top
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|Our Price:
Product Family
This product is a part of Steel Frame Phenolic Top Science Lab Tables
There are 6 products in the family


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Our mortgage broker has access to the whole of the market as our home loan brokers aren't tied to any particular mortgage providers.
Mortgage Brokers Tower Hamlets offering free first consultation (terms apply).
With no need for face to face meetings you'll be called on the same day by one of our mortgage specialist brokers to discuss your circumstances and can support complex applications for Help to Buy, Right to Buy and Shared Ownership mortgages
You'll have access to the whole of the market as our mortgage brokers aren't tied to any one mortgage company.
|Average property price in Tower Hamlets
|% Change compared to last year
|Population of Tower Hamlets
|304,900 (2016)


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If you're looking for a holiday in the picturesque English countryside with rolling green hills, delightful dales and tiny riverside villages, Derbyshire would make the ideal destination. Instead of being confined to a cramped hotel room in a town, why not rent a holiday cottage in the heart of the countryside? Self-catering accommodation gives you the space to store your hiking gear as well as the freedom to cook the food that your family enjoys best, whenever it suits you. Renting a cottage or apartment in a village brings you closer to the Derbyshire dales and attractions of the countryside.
The county of Derbyshire is the perfect destination for lovers of the countryside. The hills and dales of the Peak District are a delight for walkers and hikers as well as birdwatchers. Why not visit the caverns at Castleton, the only place where the colourful Blue John stone is found? Admirers of stately homes and art will certainly be impressed by Chatsworth House, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Interested in ancient history? Don't miss the Arbor Low stone circle that dates from the Bronze Age and then there's the tradition of well dressings, which can only be seen in Derbyshire.
Derbyshire has plenty to offer families with children. Consider renting a holiday apartment in the town of Matlock, where youngsters will love the model village of Gulliver's Kingdom, and there is the opportunity to visit Riber Wildlife Park in the grounds of John Smedley's mock medieval castle. The whole family will enjoy a ride in a cable-car up to the Heights of Abraham where there is a maze, a nature trail and water gardens, not to mention a wonderful view down the gorge. In the grounds of Chatsworth House, children can have fun at the farm as well as enjoy themselves in the adventure playground.
Self-catering accommodation can be an ideal low-cost option for families holidaying in Derbyshire. How about renting a converted barn, or rooms in a farmhouse? As it will be on your doorstep, you will save not only on the cost of a hotel but also on travelling to and from the countryside. Whether you choose a luxury pine lodge or a stone holiday cottage, you will be assured of getting good value for your family holiday when you book through us.


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May 4, 2010
Santa Barbara, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's tennis team had five players make the 2010 Big West Women's Tennis All-Conference team. In total, three singles players and two doubles teams were recognized for their accomplishments.
The three Gauchos that received recognition for the singles team were Sofia Novak, Natalia Lozano, and Tova Hausman.
Novak was voted First Team All-Conference after being the only Gaucho to be nationally ranked this season. She was ranked the No. 93 singles player by the ITA rankings in mid-February. She finished the season with a dual match record of 9-14, and teamed with Hausman to finish 6-2 in doubles action. Novak spent almost the entire season at the No. 1 singles position for the Gauchos.
Lozano and Hausman both received honorable mentions for their singles performances this season. Lozano played almost exclusively from the No. 2 spot this season, but also made four appearances at No. 1. She finished the season with a dual match record of 11-13.
Hausman played the majority of her matches at the No. 5 position, but her strong play propelled her as high as No. 3 down the stretch, where she finished 4-0. She also made limited appearances at the Nos. 4 and 6 slots, and ended the season with an impressive dual match record of 14-3, including victories in her last 12 matches.
On the doubles front, the team of Bryanna Ojeda and Hausman received second-team honors. The duo debuted late in the season, but finished with a solid record of 7-1, with all of their matches coming from the No. 1 position.
The pairing of Jordan Dockendorf and Lozano was also voted as an honorable mention. The two finished the season with a dual match record of 9-12, and split time between the top two positions for the Gauchos.


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Grains finished sharply higher with the front month contracts leading the way again. July wheat was the strongest finishing 30 ¼ cents higher at $6.38 ¾, July corn 22 ¾ cents higher at $6.20, and July soybeans 9 cents higher at $14.22.
Short covering in the wheat market helped spur the July Chicago wheat contract to rally up and settle directly on its 50 day moving average.
Chart: July Chicago Wheat (red line is the 50 day moving average)
Dry weather in Russia is the main headline behind today's rally. Last week's report showed a large decrease in world wheat ending carryout from larger feed demand. The last COT report shows the funds still net short 46,187 contracts of SRW wheat using futures and options. With such a large spec short in wheat this leads me to believe that these were exiting positions, but we will have to see what open interest did.
Corn was also sharply higher today which was in large part due to the wheat rally. The discount wheat has held to corn for the past year has forced some international demand away from US corn. Obviously if wheat gets to a large premium to corn again, we could see demand for US corn go up. Corn also had slightly "bullish" ethanol numbers as well as some export business reported by the USDA. The EIA ethanol numbers at the 9:30 am open showed higher production and lower stocks. This is the third week in a row that we have seen an increase in ethanol production and haven't seen production this high since March 2nd. The USDA export sale announcement was a little deceiving this morning showing a sale of 900,000 MTs of US Corn to China between old crop and new crop. It was actually only 240,000 MTs of new crop that was sold and the rest of it was just previous demand that was switching from "unknown destinations" over to China.
Soybeans had a large selloff overnight only to come back to positive territory during the day session on heavy bull-spreading again. The July–November soybean spread is back to +$1.19 ¾ on today's settlement which is not far from its $1.33 high from April 27th.
Chart: July – November Soybean Spread
With corn planting well ahead of schedule and a massive amount of corn acres, there is not a whole lot that can be viewed as "bullish" for new crop corn right now. The USDA increased demand by over a billion bushels on the last Supply and Demand report and they still have carryout expected to be over 1.7 billion. This leaves the market with plenty of leeway on national average yield. For the corn market to rally from here it would most likely have to be a large impact weather event. Obviously today it was also helped out by a sharp move higher in the old crop. The next target to sell Dec corn is at the 50 day moving average of $5.41 ¾ if it can get there.
Chart: December Corn
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Trading commodity futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and may not be suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge and financial resources. The market information contained in this message has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed as to its accuracy or completeness. Market information may not be consistent with current or future market positions of EHedger LLC, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees or agents.


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What It's Like Raising $1 Million In Less Than 10 Hours To Crush The Xbox (MSFT)
OUYA, a Kickstarter project that started literally hours ago, has already collected more than $1 million in funding—and still counting.
This is extremely impressive for a crowd-funding project that started at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
OUYA is a $99 Android-powered box that's open to any developer for hacking. That means you can crack it open, play with the hardware, and develop any kind of Android application for a television.
By embracing the hacker community, OUYA is making a strong, alternative play to the rest of the devices gunning for control of the living room. And with good developers come good apps and good hardware—and a better end-user experience.
In addition to running Android applications, OUYA is going to carry a ton of games that you can play for free. Developers, by default, have to make part of their games free to play.
But instead of raising money through traditional means to build the console, which is difficult for a hardware company, OUYA decided to try and raise $950,000 on Kickstarter. It's since blown past that goal.
We caught up with Julie Uhrman, CEO of OUYA, to find out what it's like to raise $1 million in a matter of hours. Here's what she said:
- OUYA's ready to go—now the company will work on extra features. The team will use the extra cash to work further with developers to bring better applications, games and features to the console when it's ready to go.
- The timeline hasn't changed. OUYA is still just about to enter development, so this is more of a pre-order phase.
- Still, the team was ecstatic at work. "Everyone was mashing the refresh button every five seconds," Uhrman said.
BUSINESS INSIDER: What's it feel like to hit $1 million?
JULIE UHRMAN: I haven't looked at it in a minute, but it's amazing. It's totally incredible, we're completely blown away. We struggled over the amount that we wanted to raise, we wanted to make sure we'd be able to fund game development and build a phenomenal product. We want to change things, and it looks like the world wants to too.
"The team, they said they are having a very unproductive day. It's impossible to work when you're hitting refresh every 5 seconds."
The team, they said they are having a very unproductive day. It's impossible to work when you're hitting refresh every 5 seconds. It's just amazing to get such a level of support, Kickstarter is such a phenomenal platform. Bring your ideas to market and have people say that they want it by putting dollars in, instead of philosophically supporting it in theory. This is such a big idea, to disrupt something that hasn't changed. The fact that it's really resonating, we hit our goal and we're continuing to succeed and my email box is blowing up, it shows people wanted something new.
I have the best team in the entire world. We got great support from developers, they've been hitting Twitter and getting giddy. We have the most amazing friends and family that after 10:30 a.m. haven't stopped working. They're sending out emails, everything. The idea just really resonates. Something that welcomes the hacker community, that's inclusive, that's affordable.
BI: What will you do with the extra funds you guys are bringing in?
JU: We had a lot of things we wanted to do, but we were not getting excited too early. Now we have the opportunity to take a step back and make some of those new ideas a reality. We're going to reach out to the community and ask them what they want. We're going to keep adding to this product, make great tools, we'll be announcing that type of stuff in the coming future. It's just not old enough to even write it down in advance, this result is just unbelievable.
BI: What happens next? Does it go into production right away?
JU: It doesn't change our timeline, we have a lot of work to do. The great thing is, the support we're getting from backers—both gamers and developers—we always knew we had a great content library at launch and now it should be reinforced. It's super exciting when you get this kind of support from people at the beginning, not at the end.
We've seen good traction on all of the rewards. The most popular is the console for sure, that makes sense, our console is a developer kit. All the tools you need are with the developer kit. It totally makes sense, we're gonna try to come up with some additional great ideas that will pop up as we get further and further on develop.
BI: Sounds like you guys are pretty excited. How confident are you in the project now that it's passed that barrier?
JU: Everyone always says, build it and they will come. Kickstarter is the complete opposite. They will come and you will build it. It's so counterintuitive to how you think about hardware. Kickstarter's just a phenomenal platform to get people on board. It's super exciting and it's totally energizing and you have more on the line. You have people you have to deliver for. We can all be a lot more eloquent had we not been working around the clock. It's awesome to have a concept and have so many people make it real.
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Choo does his part, but bats stifled as Reds fall in 13
Collects two of club's three hits; Cueto, 'pen stellar before late blip
CINCINNATI -- The Reds had it all designed in the offseason. Shin-Soo Choo was acquired in a trade to get on base and create chances for the rest of their lineup.
The part where Choo needed to reach base worked great. It's the getting him home -- the most important of the two parts -- that lacked in a big way during the Reds' 3-1 loss to the Angels in 13 innings on Monday's Opening Day. Choo reached base three times and had two of Cincinnati's three hits. But he only scored once -- on a wild pitch play that still had negative consequences.
Scoring was tough to come by for both teams. The Reds were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men. The Angels left 12 men on base.
"We lose and we can't point at anybody," said Choo, who came over from Cleveland in December. "It's bad for everybody. We won and everybody did a good job. Not [only] one guy is doing a good job or not. That's my opinion."
A 4-hour, 45-minute duel that made Opening Day stretch into Opening Night, was ultimately decided by Chris Iannetta, who drove in all three runs for the Angels. It was the first time the Reds played extras in the opener since 1990, and first time in a home opener since 1988.
Reds reliever J.J. Hoover, who earned his way on to the roster with a fantastic spring, masterfully escaped after having a runner on third base during a scoreless 12th, but he could not add another zero in the 13th.
Hoover walked Josh Hamilton with one out and intentionally walked Howie Kendrick with two outs. On a 1-2 pitch, he hit Hank Conger -- the Angels' final available bench player -- to load the bases.
That brought up Iannetta, who scorched a full-count pitch past third baseman Todd Frazier for a two-run single to left field.
"I kind of put myself in that situation when I hit Conger with that slider," Hoover said. "I was trying to go back foot. I yanked it a little bit. Then Iannetta worked me to a full count, and he got me. I'm happy with that [12th] inning, but when it all comes down to it, I didn't do my job in the second inning. That kind of makes it a little bitter."
So did the loss of Reds left fielder Ryan Ludwick, who separated his right shoulder going from first base to third base as Choo scored on Angels ace Jered Weaver's wild pitch.
"It's sort of disheartening," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
Overall on a frigid day where temperatures dipped into the 30s after the sunset, both teams featured fantastic pitching. The Reds' staff notched a club Opening Day record 17 strikeouts. Ace Johnny Cueto was responsible for nine of those strikeouts as he gave up one run and three hits over seven innings.
Cueto retired 10 of his first 11 batters, with the only glitch being a critical one. In the top of the third, with one out, Iannetta launched his 0-1 pitch into the left-field seats for a 1-0 Angels lead.
"We had opportunities, guys in scoring position. We couldn't get the hit early," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "But Cueto threw a great game. We didn't get too many looks at him, we struck out ... 17 times, so that says something about the level of the guys they brought out. I mean Cueto, [Jonathan] Broxton and [Aroldis] Chapman, they're all terrific. But the way you beat good pitching is you have to pitch with it, and we were able to do that tonight."
Weaver gave up only one run over six innings, and it came on a close call. Choo led off with a double to the left-field corner and went to third base on Brandon Phillips' groundout. Ludwick followed with a walk. On Weaver's wild pitch to Jay Bruce, Choo came home and slid with his foot touching the plate to narrowly beat the pitcher's tag while covering.
"I got a late jump. I can't stop and I still kept going," Choo said. "As soon as the catcher tossed to Jered Weaver, I thought I was out. I saw my foot on home plate, barely touched, I knew it was safe."
Following Choo's single in the eighth, the Reds did not notch another hit. The single to right field off Garrett Richards put runners on first and third with no outs. Baker ordered Phillips to sacrifice bunt to move Choo to second base. Joey Votto was intentionally walked to load the bases. Chris Heisey struck out against Richards before Jay Bruce struck out for the third time on the day while facing lefty Sean Burnett.
Baker defended calling on the sacrifice play from Phillips.
"We couldn't take a chance on a double play," Baker said. "If Brandon has one fault, kind of, it's hitting the ball into a double play, because he hits the ball hard on the ground."
The game ended for the Reds, fittingly, with a runner stuck on second base. Ernesto Frieri notched the save by getting Bruce's fourth strikeout -- looking at a 95-mph fastball.
"It was a tough day for both of us," Baker said. "Both sides had a bunch of strikeouts. We had opportunities. That was plaguing us early last year and especially this spring -- the runner on third, less than two outs. It seems like it's all over baseball, not only us.
"We just have to get better at putting the ball in play. There are those that say strikeouts aren't important, but they're important if you're trying to play winning baseball."


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Players not thinking what Andrus deal means for them
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Elvis Andrus has an eight-year, $120 million contract, and his teammates are happy for him.
"He's worked hard for it and deserves it," second baseman Ian Kinsler said before the Rangers' home opener, against the Angels on Friday.
The home opener was not the time for Kinsler or others to reflect on what this might mean for them in the future. Kinsler is signed through 2017, but the Rangers also have middle infielder Jurickson Profar, their top prospect, playing shortstop at Triple-A Round Rock. Club officials admit that somebody could be traded or switch positions at some point, but that decision is far in the future.
"I'm just trying to win today," Kinsler said. "I'm not worried about next year or last year. We want to win as many games as we can and not worry about next year. As far as who has the longer contract or that we've got our infield locked down for years, we not thinking about that. ... 2013 is what's important."
Right now, Andrus is the only one getting a long-term extension. Outfielders David Murphy and Nelson Cruz are unsigned beyond this year and can be free agents at the end of the season. The Rangers have had only token conversations with both about long-term deals, and nothing serious ever came up during Spring Training.
"The season has started," Murphy said. "It's one thing to think about it in the offseason or Spring Training, when things are more relaxed. We're in the regular season now; that's not something to think about or focus on. I have a job to do for my teammates and coaching staff.
"In my mind, I'm not expecting anything to happen. I'm expecting to play hard this year and see what happens in free agency and this offseason."


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So today is the reveal for the Cardabilites sketch #36:
I really like the fact that it's simple, I went a little overboard myself--but had SO MUCH fun! (I used Echo Park Splash line.)
as you can tell because of the direction of the umbrella I flipped the card a bit. I especially like the googly eyes on the crab.
*One little tip to add dimension is pop dots on the back of the stickers. you don't have to back the sticker with anything just apply directly to the sticker--it just adds that little touch.*
Thanks so much for popping in for visit! If you feel like you want to play along the link for the Cardablities is HERE.


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|Friday, 02 November 2007 10:41
First Achievement Center of 'Hope and Harmony for Humanity' Initiative to Open on Blackfeet Nation
ARMONK, NY – September 25, 2006 – In partnership with the Native American Chamber of Commerce and with SeniorNet, a leading nonprofit technology educator of older adults, IBM today announces 'Hope and Harmony for Humanity', a grant-based initiative designed to bring computer technology access and education to low-income and remote Native American reservations across the nation.
The initiative kicks off with the opening of the first Achievement Center at the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana on Thursday September 28 th, 2006, and will continue over the next three years with the opening of five Achievement Centers on rural and low-income reservations.
Hope and Harmony for Humanity Initiative Achievement Center Grand
Thursday, September 28 th, 2006
"IBM is proud to sponsor this groundbreaking initiative," said Ron Glover, vice president of IBM Global Workforce Diversity. "As Native American reservations are geographically distant from metropolitan centers and often lack community infrastructure, they are often left behind in the information age. This program really aims to help them realize all of the education and communication benefits of technology and to bridge the digital divide."
The Lenovo PC-based Achievement Centers will offer computer and Internet access, education and training at all levels for reservation residents of all ages. In addition to computer training that covers the fundamentals through more advanced courses, the Achievement Centers will serve as an education center for the communities, offering classes on topics such as Family History and Genealogy, Health, Language Training, Work Skills, and Tutoring, as well as a host of life skills and enrichment curriculum for the community's residents.
"Many are not aware of the extreme poverty that exists on the Blackfoot Nation which leads to a daily dismal picture of everyday life," said Carroll Cocchia, President of the Native American Chamber of Commerce in Houston, Texas. " With the help of exceptional corporations like IBM through their participation in the Hope and Harmony for Humanity initiative, we are helping to better the situation for tribal communities like the Blackfeet Nation, and leveling the playing field by giving them access to computers and technology education."
"In SeniorNet's 20-year history we've brought over one million older adults around the world together with computers and technology, and IBM has been a key contributor to this milestone," said Kristin Fabos, SeniorNet's Executive Director. "Despite this success, the 'Digital Divide' remains a very real issue, and as we embark upon SeniorNet's next 20 years, we're expanding our mission and leveraging our proven curriculum to bridge the digital divide for older adults in underserved and rural communities. We're thrilled to partner with IBM and the Native American Chamber of Commerce to enable the residents of the Blackfeet Nation to experience the benefits of computers and technology education."
This first IBM-funded 'Hope and Harmony for Humanity' Achievement Center at the Blackfeet Nation reservation in Browning, Montana will offer its first semester of courses this Fall, beginning with the SeniorNet Computer Curriculum.
About IBM
About SeniorNet
About the Native American Chamber of Commerce (NACC)
The Native American Chamber of Commerce strives to serve the identified needs of the American Indian, Alaskan, Aleut Native owned businesses and serves as a liaison with corporations, governmental and educational institutions, businesses, public media and other civic and religious entities---and facilitates communications with other community-based organizations. The NACC strives diligently in a 'corporate partnership' to support, endorse, educate, assist, counsel and advocate---working for the positive benefit of our membership, while earning the trust and respect of the entire business community.
The NACC Website, http://www.namcham.org/, provides access to members listing, events information, bid postings and job opportunities.
For Additional Information Contact:


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It is just because of the protected copyrights of the iPhone videos or music, we must find that the Apple has very difficult to copy the songs and music as well as any audio files that reserved on one iPhone to another iPhone. This situation has just appeared between the transfer from computer and the iPhone. But it is a informationized times that we really need to communicate among the Apple devices that from iPhone to iPhone Transfer or computer to iPhone Transfer. The question is how to transfer music from iPhone to iPhone. Yes, this problem really has a solution, that is the iPhone Transfer software, it can help us with what we needs of the operations.
The iPhone transfer is a kind of audio or video management software similar to iPod Rip, which would let us to get rid of the bonding of iTunes, and bring convenience to the transfer and backup the music and movies on the iPhone. This iPhone Transfer would support the iPhone OS firmware system, support iTunes to provide the iPhone audio management plan and support to create, edit and delect the iPhone playlist. It is the same function which is applied both in iPod and iPhone.
Firstly, you can go ahead to download and install the tool of iPhone Transfer. Running the software, and then use the USB cable to connect the iPhones to the computer, to copy your iPhone files to the computer. During the process, you must set the import files as well as the export files. the last step is to transfer files from one iPod/iPhone to another iPod/iPhone. The whole process you can watch on your computer as the playlists will appear in the Device list.
As a iPhone's music transfer's working principle is like this, the transfer would also enables itself to export many other popular media file types of movie, Pictures, eBooks to your computer. At the meantime, this iPhone transfer could import these music or other files from PC to iPhone. Moreover, the multiple Apple devices would be allowed to connect on the computer simultaneously, that means any two Apple devices would communicated transfer their own files of music with each other.
The iPhone transfer has not only could convert any music or video file to iPhone, but also allows you to trim, edit as well as rename the source. It has also could be called perfect solution for iPhone users.
Article Source: Bestsoft4u.com, and you can also free download wonderful iPhone Transfer from this source website.