MHetherington.net

The Coming Trade War

mhetherington — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:47:28 +0000

When consumer demand dives and worldwide manufacturing capacity is left idle, countries turn to protectionist measures.

Interesting article : The Vanishing American Consumer and the Coming Trade War by ex-Secretary of Labor and Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley Robert Reich.

Information Overload

mhetherington — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:08:33 +0000

Knowledge Overload – Ken Coates, professor of history and dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo, is concerned that the increased flow of information will overwhelm the ability of qualified experts to review academic work. Although the amount of information available to each individual is greater than ever before, I believe the proliferation of new information and communication tools (Twitter, RSS readers ) has in turn increased the supply of networked “experts” and given researchers new powerful ways to efficiently organize and process information. As sophisticated artificial intelligence enters the scene over the next 25 years, machines will join humans in making judgments about the validity and value of information. http://bit.ly/3Bzxky

Increasing Numbers Look to Teaching as a New Career

mhetherington — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:57:09 +0000

The economic crisis is driving interest in “Alternate Route” teaching programs. http://bit.ly/BrGKZ

Adding Fractions

mhetherington — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:47:02 +0000

Adding Fractions from Voicethread

Mental math anyone?

mhetherington — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:13:34 +0000

I really like this. A fast method of multiplying two digit numbers mentally.

Paris Day 3 via Cinematic AI

mhetherington — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:24:21 +0000

Here is a preview of the future, as machines do the intellectual work of humans in a fraction of the time. It took me about 3 minutes to put together the following video, using an incredible web application called animoto.com

A Great Night in Paris

mhetherington — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:25:07 +0000

Here are four video’s I recorded last Friday night at the Parc Des Princes in Paris. Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band put on a great performance. As one of my teenage sons observed afterwards “That was quite the show!”

First, the highlight of the show. Bruce plays solo piano for the first time since 2003, rendering a moving performance of “For You”, a 1973 classic filled with regret and longing. “It’s not your lungs this time, it’s your heart that holds your fate.” Just before the song, Bruce told the crowd “pour vous Paris” translation – “For You Paris.” I did not film the whole song as I had limited battery available and it was too hard to concentrate on the music while recording.

Janey Don’t You Lose Heart – a rare performance early in the concert.

With darkness descending on Paris, the stage lighting adds to the atmosphere as the band starts the encore with “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” from the Magic CD.

The intro to 10th Avenue Freeze Out – “ooooh, oooh, oooh..!”

Gcast – Just Phone in Your Podcast

mhetherington — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:30:36 +0000

I just finished recording and publishing my first podcast on Gcast. It’s a very easy to use system. Just call the Gcast number, podcast into your phone, then hit the # button and publish your podcast. If you have a blog you can add a flash widget to your sidebar and the podcast will be available to your readers. The quality is not bad and it’s simplicity invites use. Thanks Vicki Davis at Cool Cat Teacher Blog for the idea. Vicki has been podcasting for several months using Gcast and is very good at it.

Using The Internet in the Classroom Presentation

mhetherington — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:52:02 +0000

Note: This was originally posted at School_Talk, my early and short-lived attempt at a professional development blog. Surprisingly, the overall content of the presentation has held-up well over time.

The PowerPoint presentation from the August 28, 2005 professional development meeting can be downloaded here.

Mathtrain.tv – Middle School Math Instruction – by Students for Students

mhetherington — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:42:34 +0000

Mr. Marcos & his students at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, CA have the right idea here. Empower the students to teach the world what they have learned about fractions, decimals, exponential notation and algebra. Very impressive. I registered at the site and would love to have some of my students contribute next year. Mathtrain.tv is the address. Here is a promo designed and performed by Mr. Marcos’s sixth grade students.

Student Promo for Mathtrain.tv

Here is my one of my favorite math topics, division by fractions, as taught by “Phillip”, a sixth grader.
Dividing by Fractions