The various types of cloud technology services available to the K-12 sector are discussed in K-12 Edtech Cloud Service Inventory from the Berkman Center, Harvard University. Also from the Berkman Center – Youth Perspectives on Tech in Schools: From Mobile Devices to Restrictions and Monitoring – examines their use of digital technology in an educational setting and what they can, and cannot, do with it. Cellphone, smartphone, and Internet usage/ownership in developing economies are the foci of the Pew Center’s Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology. Numerous statistical tables along with breakdowns by age add to the utility of this report. Teens & Technology: The Digital Landscape (Pew) interviews students 12-17 years of age and elicits from them how they use with social media/mobile technology in their everyday lives. Children from low-income families face barriers when trying to interact with the digital world. Using Early Childhood Education to Bridge the Digital Divide from the RAND Corporation shows how this level of education can help overcome this deficit. Where we are now with the internet and where we will be going is the focus of an ongoing series of reports issued by Pew on its The Web at 25 site. Recent statistics on online higher education and the survey questions that generated them are at Grade Change: Tracking Online Education in the United States.
Archive for March, 2014
National Security Reports – March 2014 Update
The Future of the U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force (RAND); Reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts: Procedural and Operational Changes (CRS); Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community (DNI); Staff Report: Slipping Through the Cracks: How the D.C. Navy Yard Shooting Exposes Flaws in the Federal Security Clearance Process (House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform); Handbook on European data protection law (European Court of Human Rights); The Federal Government’s Track Record on Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure (Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs); Annual Report on Assistance Related to International Terrorism, Fiscal Year 2013 (US State Dept); CIVILIAN INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Reporting on and Planning for the Use of Contract Personnel (GAO); Cyber Electromagnetic Activities(U.S. Army); Countering Violent Extremism in the United States (CRS); Cybersecurity and the North American Electric Grid: New Policy Approaches to Address an Evolving Threat (Bipartisan Policy Center. Electric Grid Cybersecurity Initiative); 2014 Military and Security Development Involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DoD); and Who Are the Customers for Intelligence? (Association of Former Intelligence Officers).
2014 Jersey City Budget
Here is Mayor Fulop’s budget as he introduced it; it calls for a tax decrease.
Status of the Global Climate
The World Meteorological Organization has just issued its latest annual report of the state of the world’s climate. It ain’t pretty: “…it is clear that the planet is experiencing an overall warming trend. Thirteen of the fourteen warmest years on record have all occurred in the twenty-first century….”(Foreword) It reviews the severe weather that impacted the world in 2013 from a record number of tropical cyclones to abnormally cold weather. And so it goes.
Incidence of Autism on the Rise in New Jersey
According to the the recent report from the CDC – Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2010 – 1 in 68 children have autistic spectrum disorder; New Jersey’s overall rate is 1 in 45. Occurrence varies by sex, race and intellectual disability (meaning that 46% of those children with ASD have an IQ above 85). Key findings can be reviewed.
Read the Internal Report from Gibson Dunn That Exonerates Governor Christie
The internal report that examined thousands of pages of documents on Bridgegate was released yesterday. According to the report, Governor Christie played no role in the lane closures of the George Washington Bridge. Here is a release from the governor’s office highlighting the key points. Extensive coverage is provided by NJ Spotlight, The Star-Ledger, and The New York Times.
Economic Crisis – March 2014 Update
OECD forecasts during and after the financial crisis: a post-mortem (OECD); Beige Book (Federal Reserve); Are the Long-Term Unemployed on the Margins of the Labor Market? (Brookings);and Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test 2014 (Federal Reserve).
2014 Brown Center Report on American Education
This Brookings Institution annual report this year is divided into three sections: the controversy over the latest PISA results and its treatment of Shanghai; the question over whether too much homework is being assigned; and the current status of the Common Core and its implementation. Each of the sections is supplemented with visuals and references.. Previous Brown Center reports are also available. They all make for challenging reading.
What We Know, And Don’t Know, About Climate Change
This short booklet – Climate Change: Evidence and Causes – co-published by The Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences – explains in a Q&A format the present state of scientific knowledge about the underlying causes of climate change. Helpful visuals aid in understanding this complex topic; additional readings are suggested. If you want an informative overview of climate change, written in clear English, this is surely the document to read. To this end, the U.S. government has released a storehouse of information at data.gov/climate. Numerous datasets and resources are now available, and more will be added over time. Whereas previously you had to search multiple sites to retrieve relevant information, these disparate sources (maps, tools, updates, challenges) have now been compiled into a single site. And this valuable report is also of interest: Climate Change Legislation in the 113th Congress.
Updated Reports on Ukraine
Needless to say, more analysis and reports are forthcoming over the situation in Ukraine. In the past week, here are some important works: Debate Map: Ukraine Use of Force (Oxford University Press); Russian Political, Economic, and Security Issues and U.S. Interests (CRS); Ukraine, Crimea and Russia (UK Parliament Library); Crisis in Ukraine: A Vote on Crimea’s Future (Diane Rehm Show); and Peace and Security: The Situation in Ukraine (UN).
25% Increase in School-Age Children in Jersey City by 2017/18
According to this report commissioned by the JCBOE – District Forecast of Jersey City Public School Enrollment: Volume 1 – the school-age population is expected to increase from 27,945 in 2012/13 to 34,841 by 2017/2018. This report contains numerous tables and statistics on which this large increase is predicated. And with little new school construction underway, plans need to be generated/implemented quickly.
“One Newark” Plan for Schools
The plans for upgrading the Newark public school system have become contentious to say the least. (Reactions from NJEA , and the Newark Teachers Union; NJ Spotlight coverage on the plan; nj.com articles; WGBO news segments) Here are the future actions to be taken to re-invigorate the system, according to its proponents. Some schools will be closed or re-purposed or moved.
2014/15 Religious Holidays That New Jersey Students Can Be Absent from School
For the 2014/15 school year, the State Board of Education has issued this list. As this is a contentious topic, Religious Holidays in the Public Schools, sponsored by many religious and secular organizations, may help.
Online College Classes: Statistics and Survey
Grade Change: Tracking Online Education in the United States is a just-released report that contains a plethora of current information. Buttressed by many tables, the document reveals, among other items, that: 7.1 million students have taken at least one online course during the survey year; that colleges that offer MOOCs have increased from 2.6% to 5% over the past year; and that 90% of chief academic officers believe that most students will take at least one online course in the next five years. The report also provides a clear definition of what a MOOC is:
Those participating are not registered students at the school.
They are designed for unlimited participation and open access via the web – no tuition is charged.
There is typically no credit given for completion of the MOOC.(7)
More data on the present state of online education at colleges is presented, and a very useful infographic is provided. A worthwhile perusal indeed.
The Future of the Digital World
In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the Web, the Pew Foundation has established The Web at 25 site that assesses where we are and where we will be in relation to the internet. Presently, two reports are available: The Web at 25 in the U.S. and Digital Life in 2025; more reports will be forthcoming. The section also includes a World Wide Web Timeline full of links to relevant documents. Compare this to previous blog entries: Where is the Internet Going? and Future of the Internet III. Also, please visit the always-informative Diane Rehm Show for its discussion of The Future of the World Wide Web.
2014 St Patrick’s Day Celebrations in New Jersey
It would appear that everyone is Irish on this special day. N.J. St. Patrick’s Day: Parades, Parties & More really needs no explanation, does it? It is arranged by county. A chronological detailing of parades is at 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parades in NJ courtesy of NJ101.5. Here is the information on Jersey City’s celebration. Of course, the BIG parade is on the feast day, March 17. See you there!
What Do Academic Library Directors Think About Their Libraries?
The Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2013 polled hundreds of academic library administrators from institutions ranging from baccalaureate to doctorate level. Their responses to a series of questions and the interpretation of those responses make for illuminating reading. Key findings are on pages 6-8. Table 16 (p.33) shows the almost universal commitment that library directors have to providing both reference instruction to undergraduates and proffering spaces in the library for group collaboration. On the other hand, this table also shows that only a third of this group considers hosting centers that promote teaching or undergraduate learning a priority.
Books by Peter Henderson Online
And who is Peter Henderson, you ask? The short answer is he was an owner of a very successful gardening/seed catalog business in Jersey City, the land upon which New Jersey City University now stands. During his lifetime (1822-1890), he wrote several books on horticulture and gardening; a memoir by his son Alfred, Peter Henderson, gardener, author, merchant, is also online. A very informative entry on Peter Henderson is found in Jersey City Past and Present.
Online Primary Sources for American History: The War of 1812
We had previously written up primary and secondary sources from different viewpoints: American, British, and Native American. In this post, we concentrate mostly on more American resources. There are dozens of personal narratives available; there is some overlap with campaign histories but enough of them are unique. You will find many contemporary works on Andrew Jackson as well, including his memoirs written in 1818. Other first-person journals are available courtesy of PBS. Hundreds of documents and letters are at the War of 1812 site maintained by Indiana University; the materials can be searched by date, name, topic or place. And relevant volumes of the American State Papers are an absolute must for research. And before we leave, we need to point out some recently published secondary sources: Journal of the War of 1812; “The U.S. Army Campaigns of the War of 1812” series that includes Defending a New Nation, 1783-1811, The Campaign of 1812, and The Canadian Theater, 1813.
Projections of Education Statistics to 2022
Projections of Education Statistics to 2022 from NCES “,,,provides projections for key education statistics, including enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary public and private schools, as well as enrollment and degrees conferred at postsecondary degree-granting institutions. Included are national data on enrollment and graduates for the past 15 years and projections to the year 2022. Also included are state-level data on enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools….”(1) Dozens of tables and figures supplement this report and include numerous actual and projected figures.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 