September 15th, 2008
Blog Roundup 9/15/08: Education’s Everywhere
Seems like education is finally getting a bit more attention outside its traditional circles. Last week, The Other 85 Percent did a nice job of culling the relevant bits of the Republican Party’s education platform. There’s a summary here of everything in the platform that references non-traditional learners and adult students.
Meanwhile, in the world of technology, World Wide Web founder Tim Berners-Lee is starting a new foundation intended to “help promote the use of the Web for scientific research and to help ease the digital divide in developing nations.”
And in the cross-section of science, entertainment, and politics, I have to give a shout-out to Spore. I haven’t played it yet myself. But anything that takes an educational topic–in this case, evolution–and makes it hugely popular and plenty of fun is a winner in my book.
Not that Spore resembles actual evolution (i.e. random mutations and punctuated equilibrium) in any sense of the word. And some have argued that the role of the gamer makes Spore more about intelligent design than evolution. But with this fundamental scientific theory under heavy fire in the U.S. lately, I’ll take what I can get.
