Informative Reading: CRITICAL-THINKING SKILLS: Relentless Questioning Paves a Deeper Path

CRITICAL-THINKING SKILLS: Relentless Questioning Paves a Deeper Path. Washington Post. Online February 2008. …Critical thinking…has become a mantra among educators from pre-kindergarten through graduate school who call it a central learning goal… Institutes, foundations, councils and centers are devoted to thinking about critical thinking. Conferences are held on it, papers are written and books are published. Standardized tests are given to assess it, and educational programs are sold with a proposed path to the promised critical-thinking land. Yet there is no agreed-upon definition of what critical thinking is or how it can be developed. …

Informative Reading:International Journal of Education and Development using ICT.

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT. Vol.4, No. 1 (2008). IJEDICT. Online February 2008. . ... articles on the use of ICT in education from and/or about Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Sultanate of Oman and USA. It also brings a blog by one of the editors – “CEDICT: Communication, Education and Development using ICT” - http://cedict.blogspot.com/

Update from Microsoft and HP:Microsoft, HP introduce new teacher exchange web site

Microsoft, HP introduce new teacher exchange web site. eSchool News. Online February 2008. Microsoft and HP have teamed up to introduce an online project called the Teacher Experience Exchange (TEE). This new web site provides educators with a one-stop resource to discuss, share, and learn with other educators and to access tutorials for teaching with technology in the classroom. Educators are encouraged to preview the TEE web site and join the group of initial Teacher Advisors to provide feedback on proposed content, or simply pre-register to become a member and see some of the features to come. These features might include forums to discuss teaching techniques, get advice from colleagues, or share information; teacher-generated content and sharing of lesson plans, projects, and photos of classroom set-ups; and access to tutorials for teaching with technology in the classroom--including courses on Vista, XP, and Office 2007 that are available through podcasts and videos. http://www.hp.com/go/TeacherExperience

Update from Industry:The WiMAX way

The WiMAX way. Federico Membrillera, Ingrid Flores, and Matthew Beckner. Itp.net. Online February 2008. The MENA region's low broadband penetration represents a large untapped market that operators are keen to target, …. Numerous WiMAX licences have been awarded to date and several more are expected in countries like Qatar, Egypt and Oman in the near future. …

Informative Reading:The Road Not Traveled: Education Reform in the Middle East and Africa

The Road Not Traveled: Education Reform in the Middle East and Africa. MENA Development Report. World Bank. Online February 2008. … traces the successes and the challenges facing the development of education to identify promising education reform options for the future. … emphasizes the central role of incentives and public accountability to meet sector goals. Most reforms in the region have attempted to engineer changes in the education system: building schools, hiring teachers, and writing curricula. The success of future reforms will require instead changes in the behavior of key education actors—teachers, administrators, and educational authorities. This is the road not traveled in the education sector. …