Since we’re in the process of selecting not only the new leaders of the United States, but also the new leaders of the Free World, I wanted to do a little research on their educational backgrounds. Personally I view wisdom as an important trait in a leader, and there can be no wisdom without knowledge. It also seems to me that humans have basically always universally held this belief, as we even see evidence dating back to Plato’s Republic in which the Guardians of the state required strict educational training.

I then decided that we should include the Vice Presidential candidates in the research because, after all, they are next in line for succession to the Presidency in case something terrible happens. On top of that, the Vice President of the United States is also the President of the US Senate. So, they’ve got one hell of an important job either way.
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Alan Levine gave the opening presentation at WordCamp 2008 in San Francisco entitled “It’s All You Can WordPress at the EduBlog Diner”. Luckily for all of us, he’s also put together an amazing blog post to accompany his presentation, complete with links to the many, many Web sites he referenced. (Just like an educator to be thorough, huh?)

Since the film doesn’t capture all of the slides as Alan goes through them, you can check out his flicker set of the presentation and follow along as he presents. At some point in the future if I get time I’ll try and pull them back into the presentation.
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Yes kiddies, I said Disney.

In 1946, Walt Disney produced an animated film called “The Story of Menstruation“. At the time, Disney was hurting for cash because World War II killed the European market, which cut off a significant source of Disney’s revenues. At home “Fantasia” was a major commercial failure, draining more money from the company treasury. Disney was in desperate need of new funds, so he began to take for-hire assignments.

During this time, Disney opted to take a commission from the International Cello-Cotton Company for an educational film designed to be shown in health education classes. What resulted was “The Story of Menstruation,” a 10-minute animated film covering an area where Disney’s films never went before. Indeed, “The Story of Menstruation” is the first film which uses the word “vagina” (both in the narration and in an on-screen demonstration).
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I came across one of the Schoolhouse Rock videos and was going to post it for old time’s sake, then I figured that everyone would have a different favorite, so I better post them all. That was also before I remembered how many of them there are!

Anyway, I wasted half the day gathering as many as I could find, so here they are – at least for as long as they last on YouTube. (I sure hope everyone is on a broadband connection!)
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MIT’s OpenCourseWare project aims to offer the complete course material for every class online, free of charge.

President Susan Hockfield offers this explanation:

“OpenCourseWare expresses in an immediate and far-reaching way MIT’s goal of advancing education around the world. Through MIT OCW, educators and students everywhere can benefit from the academic activities of our faculty and join a global learning community in which knowledge and ideas are shared openly and freely for the benefit of all.”

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This is an AWESOME story of a mother not just talking – but actually doing everything she can to ensure that her child turned out right.

Chou Sa-Ngoun was desperate.

Her teenage son was skipping school for weeks at a time, using drugs, getting arrested, staying out all night, hanging out with the wrong kids.

Nothing she did seemed to make any difference. Grounding didn’t work. Neither did yelling, crying, taking away privileges, counseling, switching schools, probation or stints in juvenile hall.
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Donors Choose is a site which brings together teachers in need of classroom tools and supplies with donors willing to help fulfill those needs.

According to the site:

Donors Choose is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.
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