Tuesday, July 2, 2002

We're back from Cleveland in plenty of time to break out the barbecue supplies for the Fourth of July. While we were in Cleveland, we managed to miss President Bush's visit to the State Theater to laud the Supreme Court decision on the Cleveland voucher program. We also missed the traffic jams, etc., caused by a presidential visit:-).

To add a bit of...???...to today's posting, let me share the rather poor shot of a family of barn swallows that nest under our front porch each year. I took it before we left for Cleveland. Last year, I flooded the kitchen while playing with a freeware, writing the column Beware: MacIdiot at Work, and trying to snap a good picture of last summer's second clutch of chicks hatched out. When we looked out this morning, the nest was empty, but the air was filled with barn swallows joyously swooping through the air.

While you'd think the Cleveland Plain Dealer would have great coverage of the President's visit there, all I could find on their site online were Associated Press stories about the visit. The best coverage I've seen so far of the President's speech is in today's New York Times. Elisabeth Bumiller's Bush Calls Ruling About Vouchers a 'Historic' Move (free registration required) tells about President Bush's renewed call for the use of school vouchers to improve education. The Toledo Blade's Jim Provance give a good report on the Ohio implications in Bush renews voucher push. The Associated Press and Reuters have postings on the speech as well.

Larry Eichel has an excellent commentary on vouchers in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Vouching for vouchers? He notes that "constitutionality is only the threshold question..the larger issue, still to be engaged nationally, is whether vouchers make for good public policy."

The Christian Science Monitor has an excellent commentary today on the possible effects of the voucher decision in Voucher win's ripple effect on faith groups. Monitor staff writer Jane Lampman points out, "The shift away from strict separation of church and state could signal a new era of religious accommodation or of religious divisiveness &endash; but more likely both."

The National Education Association's outgoing President Bob Chase described the decision in the Cleveland private school voucher case (Zelman v. Simmons-Harris) as "divisive and counterproductive" in Statement of Bob Chase.... This posting is a plainly written, hard hitting statement expressing the NEA's (via Mr. Chase) opposition to vouchers. A

As a career public educator, I really agree with Mr. Chase's views. I, too, see vouchers as draining desperately needed resources away from public education. I also fear a dual school system in the future -- one for the affluent, who can afford the difference between voucher value and tuition at a good school, and a public school system of the poor, special needs students whom private schools don't want, and children of parents too lazy to use a full-value voucher. It's a scary scenario.

But I also wonder, what do you do if you are a concerned parent with children in an unproductive and unresponsive school system?

While the Plain Dealer apparently flunked out for local coverage of the Presidential visit, their Scott Stephens has an excellent article on some of the potential problems of the new education reform act as applied in Ohio in New law may leave schools behind.

New Item on SchwabLearning.org

The lone new item on the Schwablearning.org site this week is Preparing the Babysitter for Success. As always, links to all of the new and updated SchwabLearning.org articles are available in the Schwab Learning Online Newsletter (link expires 7-7-02). Past newsletters are now archived in the new SchwabLearning.org Email Newsletter Archive.

Software

The Mac OS X Security Update July 2002 has been posted for download (1.2 MB).

Since there doesn't seem to be a lot of education software being upgraded or released new right now, let me add a plug for a Mac freeware application that I think is a real gem for middle school kids and haven't mentioned since last April. Blufire Software's GridX is a really interesting basic fact and reasoning game. Players race the clock trying to fill a 1-100 number grid by applying any combination of the four basic operations to three numbers displayed. The numbers change with each solve. It's easy at first, but becomes challenging as grid numbers get used. It's really a lot of fun! I can see this one as an application that could drive a really healthy competition among students. GridX is available in Carbon (796K) and PPC (661K) versions for Macintosh only.

If you have suggestions, news ideas, etc., please .

Wednesday, July 3, 2002

After all of the rapid fire news last week concerning court decisions on education, maybe it's a blessing that there isn't much going on as we head into a national holiday (in the U.S.).

Disabled Students Present NASA Computer Artwork

Students with disabilities working with CADartists, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in San José, Calif., that helps disabled students of all ages use the power of computers to express themselves with art, presented some of their work June 12 to NASA Ames Director Dr. Henry McDonald. "Their latest project was to do artwork about the space shuttle &endash; drawing the shuttle, an astronaut and also what the astronaut might see from the flight deck," said Dick Kurkowski, a NASA retiree who arranged a tour of NASA Ames for the students." The artwork was "made solely with computers" to eliminate "frustration many of these students would have in a traditional art class." (NASA Press Release)

Connection of Economics and Educational Achievement

Another state has documented a connection between economics and educational achievement. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel column, Test results show economics helps education, tells that "State math and reading test results for Milwaukee area school districts in many cases broke down along predictable socioeconomic lines this year." The column notes that tests are "one snapshot in time" and "just one of the pieces we continually use to monitor our programs."

Two More Voucher Columns

Mike Bowler, writing for The Baltimore Sun, makes a case for publicly funded vouchers in Baltimore in Conditions ripe for voucher bid. He compares the Cleveland voucher program with Baltimore's privately funded Children's Scholarship Fund.

Teachers, unions criticize voucher ruling (free registration required) in the Chicago Tribune reports attendees at the National Education Association's annual conference in Dallas are universally against publicly funded vouchers. While that's almost a given, the surprise in this article is it's last lines, "Late Tuesday, National PTA President Shirley Igo said her organization would join "in strong opposition" to vouchers."

Speaking of the NEA Representative Assembly, the National Education Association site has lots of news from the conference. A quick listing follows:

• Classroom Issues Take Center Stage at NEA Annual Meeting in Dallas
• Chase Reminds Delegates "Children Come First"
• Illinois Science Teacher Elected as New NEA President
• NEA Elects Arizona Math Teacher as New VP
• Wilson Challenges NEA Members to Greater Political Activism

Software

After writing last Friday about using Ryan Rempel's XPostFacto to install Mac OS X on my Power Mac 7500, I missed the weekend update to version 2.2b9.

MacUpdate has posted MUMenu X 1.0 (36K) as a free download. MUMenu X is a small menu extra that checks periodically for updates from MacUpdate.

Devotion For June 30-July 6, 2002

Zach Wood's weekly devotional for this week is God's Size Overcomes ALL Obstacles. I hope it adds a bit of brightness to your week. Zach also maintains an archive of previous devotionals.

Have a great holiday!

Friday, July 5, 2002

Pertinent Columns

Los Angeles Times staff writer Richard Lee Colvin has an interesting column in Students Get Strong Push on a Tough Path (free registration required). He writes about the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program designed to "reach out to students in the middle range of achievement, adolescents who have great potential but are not meeting it." It sounds like one of those quiet success stories that don't often make the news.

AVID students at Hoover usually start their school day an hour earlier than others, for a period of checking homework in groups, studying and preparing college applications. For another hour, later in the day, they come together again for tutoring and to work on study skills, note taking and essay writing. Seniors conduct college-style discussions in the Socratic questioning method.

I frequently link to columns by Greg Toppo, who writes education postings for the Associated Press. I think Greg has landed on his feet this week as he's covering the National Education Association's Representative Assembly in Dallas, Texas. Where else could you find a diverse bunch of committed teachers who are delighted to be interviewed about various educational issues. Greg's most recent effort is about the announced changes to the SAT test, Teachers Embrace Proposed SAT Changes.

The Washington Post's Jay Mathews adds a little perspective to the recent voucher decision and announced changes in the SAT test in Educational Decisions Felt Generations Away. Jay writes, "Change in American schools takes a long time. The greatest impact from these two decisions is at least a generation away, which is fine with me."

Richard Rothstein adds his views on the national voucher discussion in his New York Times column, Defining Failed Schools Is Harder Than It Sounds (free registration required).

Software

I frequently link to Bob Levitus's Dr. Mac's OS X Tip-of-the-Day Freeware Friday tip. A couple of weeks ago he titled his tip Do Not Download Today's Dr. Mac's OS X Freeware Pick If You Know What's Good For You!!! Bob wrote, "So while today's Freeware Friday pick is indeed JewelToy, I implore you not to download a copy. It could very well ruin your life. It's insidiously addictive."

Ignoring Bob's advice, I downloaded Giles Williams JewelToy, updated to version 1.3 (2700K) this week, and had little problem with it, other than its addictive nature that Bob documented. Several days ago, Julia, one of my daughters peeked over my shoulder and squealed in delight, "That's what Logan used to play in the lab at school." It made me wonder about their school lab, but also makes JewelToy school related in some distant fashion and therefore appropriate for this site. I've already been sharing internet time with her, as during the summer Instant Messenger is one of her primary means of talking with her school friends. Now, I've been having to share my computing time on the G4 with her, as she absolutely loves the game. Unfortunately, it's OS X only and she chose to stay with our Power Mac 575 (upgraded Performa 575) as her computer, even after it lost its power supply a few weeks ago.

So I add my caution (and recommendation) to Bob's. JewelToy is a delightful OS X application for young and old at our house.

Thorsten Lemke's excellent GraphicConverter for Macintosh has been updated. Version 4.4.1 is available for download for PPC (4.4 MB) and Carbon (3552K). Version 4.1 remains available for those with 68K (2.2 MB) Macs. GraphicConverter is the Swiss army knife of graphics tools for the Mac. It easily converts images from one format to another, as its name implies, with many automated options. Version 4.4.1 adds a number of improvements and bug fixes. I love the browser feature of GraphicConverter. It's navigation menu saves lots of time when working through multiple folders of photos. If the LemkeSoft site is overwhelmed with requests, you might try the Ausmac archive, PPC (4581K) and Carbon (3552K).

Internet Explorer for Macintosh has received updates for both the Classic and OS X versions.

• Internet Explorer 5.1.5 for Mac OS 8.1 to 9.x (5.4 MB)
• Internet Explorer 5.2.1 for Mac OS X (7.2 MB)

IE for Windows remains at version 6, but Opera 6.0.4 became available today! Opera now comes in a free ad-supported version or the regular $39 version.

Mac "Rumor" Sites Blacklisted

In one of those classic Apple shoot-yourself-in-the-foot moves, press credentials for Macworld Expo are being denied to a number of Mac web sites. While the total number of sites involved is unknown, it appears from Scott McCarty's posting on his GraphicPower site, Apple Bullies the Mac Press, that sites perceived by Apple's Hardware Products & Technology Media Relations person, Nathalie Welch, as dealing in "rumors" have been excluded from press status at the coming convention. That excuse changes as one reads the various postings, but it certainly appears from his documentation that Scott got it right.

Well known and often helpful sites such as Mac OS Rumors and Think Secret commented on the action but weren't touched by the edict. They hadn't requested press credentials for the convention. A number of other sites were singled out to be targeted as offensive sites to Apple and not worthy of press passes.

Several sites have gone public with their communications with MS&L, "the Public Relations firm that is handling press registration for IDG World Expo, which is organizing Macworld Conference and Expo." Scott McCarty is obviously furious from his posting (using the "all-purpose" profanity in his page name -- you know, it's a noun, it's a verb, it's an adjective...interjection--remember, this is an education web site:-) and plans to shut down his web site in response to the exclusion. George M. Gunderson isn't shutting down thinkAAPL.com, but comments in Expo Thumbs Nose At Small Mac Sites, "So, anywhere from a conservative 10 to a liberal 25 articles were lost, along with free advertising and publicity for Apple and their valued exhibitors."

A number of Mac columnists have commented on the current controversy. eWeek's Matthew Rothenberg broke the story early this week in the column, Can Apple Stop the Presses? His take on the whole deal was to advise Apple, "Suck it up&emdash;and count your blessings." His comment about "how thoroughly the Web has blurred the line between journalists and enthusiasts," brings to mind Thomas Wetzel's excellent column, Spelling, Grammar, and the Fanzine Mentality. But aside from the issue of "the line between journalists and enthusiasts," John Farr of Applelinks may have stated the issue most succinctly in his Comments: Media Pass Crackdown at MWNY? "Apple needs all the free publicity it can get -- and we can't think of a better way to make that happen than to put enthusiastic Mac site people into Expo keynote chairs."

Apple regularly participates in such silliness. In October, 1999, the issue was Mac sites reporting about a German site that had posted photos of the then code-named Kihei iMac revision. Apple Legal sent a number of cease and desist orders to sites carrying the image of the German site. I publicly took issue with Apple on that one in Which Apple "Special Event?" It actually gave me a chance to speak my mind about the corporation that produces my computer of choice:

Apple has long benefited from the public perception of being the little guy battling the "Goliaths," Microsoft, IBM, etc. While I believe this to be an illusion created mainly by Apple and the Mac press, loss of this illusion may negatively effect Apple by allowing users and potential customers to see Apple for what it appears to be in this case, a large, rather heartless corporation, that pound for pound, may be far more avaricious than Microsoft and others ever dreamed of being!

Maybe it's time for Apple to make peace with the many Mac web sites and acknowledge the significant contribution they make to the Mac computing platform and Apple Computer's welfare in general. With a meager 2.4% marketshare, Apple can't afford to be offending their allies. And make no mistake, GraphicPower, thinkAAPL.com, Mac OS Rumors, Think Secret, and all the others are part of the "Mac community" Matthew Rothenberg meant when he wrote:

Apple owes its survival to the unshakable support of the Mac community, which has suffered with rare good humor Cupertino's sometimes rocky financial and product performance&emdash;as well as its frequent spasms of unrivaled arrogance. Thanks to that support, the company is more than big enough to endure the scrutiny of those Web sites audacious enough to accept its invitation to "think different." My advice to Apple: Suck it up&emdash;and count your blessings.

This is one of those times when I'm glad I don't attend computer conventions. I'm also glad that I didn't make Educators' News a Mac site, but rather, an education and technology site -- that happens to lean rather heavily at times towards the Mac platform. Right now, I'd be embarrassed to have any affiliation, official or otherwise, with the cranky hardware and software vendor.

Have a great weekend!

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