OSU-Tulsa has partnered with the renown Annenburg Media/Learner.org to bring educators a variety of resources. You can find a direct link to the media by accessing the Annenburg Media link at the OSU-Tulsa website - here!
Google...now a verb, has managed to find its way into the daily lives of everyone using technology. We wanted to make it a little easier for our members by providing short-cuts and information here.
Look for new Google classes coming soon on The Eighth Floor!
MIT has done it again! Check out their new "Highlights for Highschool" opensource classes! They provide lots of educational material for students and teachers! Click Here!
If you aren't aware of the free and easy world of what opensource has to offer this is a great place to begin. With Opensource the world is quickly becoming flat and affording all global education opportunities. (More)
MIT OpenCourseWare
Did you know the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers a free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-directed learners around the world? Check it out here: MIT OpenCourseWare
Curriki
What do you do when you want to replicate the encyclopedic knowledge-sharing features of Wikipedia within a Web resource that will hopefully provide universal access to free curricula and study material for children everywhere from kindergarten to Standard 12? You call it Curriki.
And if you are Scott McNealy, Chairman and driving force of Sun Microsystems, champion of free-and-open computing environment, you pump in a few million dollars of your personal money to kick-start the project, then step aside, leaving the world¹s top educationists to give your vision a practical form and shape.
Conceived as an online repository of tools and aids that will make learning possible for any one, anywhere in the world, Curriki has been up and running for a few months now. www.curriki.org
SchoolForge's mission is to unify independent organizations that advocate, use, and develop open resources for education. SchoolForge is intended to empower member organizations to make open educational resources more effective, efficient, and ubiquitous by enhancing communication, sharing resources, and increasing the transparency of development. SchoolForge members advocate the use of open source and free software, open texts and lessons, and open curricula for the advancement of education and the betterment of humankind.
It is where you will find the information, the tools and materials you need to "forge" or make a school and all its parts. All free for the asking (or download), and, in the future, international in content and character, SchoolForge is not a place or an organization, but a cause, and a collection of people and projects dedicated to it: bringing quality, affordable and dependable software and teaching materials to the people who need them around the world. As such, it is not a "service" so much as it is a community focal point, which, as much as anything else, represents an opportunity to get involved in one of its aspects. (More)
SplashCast is a Portland, OR based start-up that is bringing the power of media syndication to everyone. Using proven technology in development over several years, SplashCast is giving people the power to become their own broadcasting network across the Web.
The SplashCast service enables anyone to create streaming media ‘channels’ that mix together video, music, photos, narration, text, as well as RSS feeds, PowerPoint presentations and PDF documents. These user-generated channels can be played and easily syndicated on any web site, blog, or social network page. When channel owners modify their channel, their content is automatically updated across all the web pages ‘tuned’ to that channel (More) .
Teens and 'Tweens Using Technology For Educational Purposes
Key findings of a new study by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC exploring the online behaviors of U.S. teens and 'tweens show:
96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz. Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education.
Nearly 60 percent of online students report discussing education-related topics such as college or college planning, learning outside of school, and careers and 50 percent of online students say they talk specifically about schoolwork.
Students report spending almost as much time using social network services and Web sites as they spend watching television. Among teens who use social networking sites, that amounts to about 9 hours a week online, compared to 10 hours a week watching television.
96 percent of school districts say that at least some of their teachers assign homework requiring Internet use. (More)
The arts allow kids to express themselves creatively
The arts promote individuality, bolster self-confidence, and improve overall academic performance
The arts can help troubled youth, providing an alternative to delinquent behavior and truancy while providing an improved atttitude towards school (More)
Art Around Town
The Eighth Floor supports local artist and events!
The Eighth Floor supports the arts including local artists and events! Currently we are featuring the work of local artist Matthew Moffett. He is a self-taught artist who paints for the love of painting. Raised in California, Oklahoma, and Spain, Moffett was taught to appreciate beauty in all forms and to express this beauty through art. His love of dogs is evident in the whimsical portraits he creates. Learn more about this established artist at:www.m2studioportraits.com
Fall 07 - T he Eighth Floor supports the arts including local artists and events! Currently we are featuring the work of Shalla Javid. Acrylic is the medium she uses to create her colorful works of art. Originally from Iran, Shalla takes pride in representing the Tulsa Art community. Her work is displayed in several restaurants and galleries in Tulsa including The Eighth Floor lobby! Learn more about Shalla (here) .
