The topic sounded simple enough: Powers of Ten. What could be so mind blowing about that? What proceeded was 41 minutes of amazement followed by a 9 minute video that will forever be a part of my analytical and interpersonal psychological make up.

The video that I am referring to was produced in 1977 by Charles and Ray Eames. Through it’s study of magnitude, exposes young adults to a world more complex and unfathomable than they could have imagined. Here is the film, if you are interested in this scientific classic.

However, I didn’t write this blog to talk to you about a 35 year old movie short. What inspired this particular column was the 21st century adaptation of this concept.

There really is no way to describe what you are about to see that will give it justice; you are just going to have to try it for yourself. So…sit back, click the link, and prepare to have your mind blown.

When you return to 10¹, please share some ways that this might help illustrate math and science concepts to your students.

Without further ado…

The Scale of The Universe by Cary Huang

“Every single one of you understands the responsibility we have,” Perry said to a room of 5,000 educators. “And the question you have to ask yourself is ‘is this what you’re called to do?’”

And “a calling” was the only thing teaching can be, Perry stressed throughout his speech. Perry is the founder and principal of one of U.S News and World Reports’ “America’s Best High Schools”, Capitol Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, CN. He said he doesn’t tolerate anyone on his staff who doesn’t view teaching as a calling, and teachers who accept mediocrity–or worse–from their peers are “co-conspirators” in doing damage to students.

“Every single one of us knows who the bad teachers are in every single building,” he said. “On the day you turn your back and pretend you don’t see it… You are contributing to a caustic environment that will not produce the fruit that we need.”

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

He likened keeping silent on sub-par teachers to allowing a known drug dealer to continue to operate.

Perry is something of a controversial figure in the world of education, known widely for his confrontational tone and stance. He has been criticized for partially placing the blame on current, negative trends in education on educators themselves. On Monday, he directly addressed these criticisms in his keynote speech.

“People say I beat on teachers,” he said. “I [just] don’t want bad teachers in the building. I don’t want bad teachers to exist. I’m not here to make friends.”

Perry said he expects greatness from teachers at all times because in many communities, for many students, the only support received will only come from teachers. He said no one can force a parent or guardian to take an interest in the life of a young person.

“We have an obligation,” he said. “We understand what we signed up for. If this is too hard for you, then find something else to do.”

Perry further warned against treating teaching like a typical, 9-5 job saying that instead of fighting for a job, teachers should be fighting for children.

“We can do better than this,” he said.

- Chris Brennaman

If for some reason you’re not able to attend the IRA 57^th Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois from April 29^th to May 2^nd, have no fear, Logical Choice Technologies will be there. It’s our pleasure to hold the honor of broadcasting the IRA’s opening session and keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Perry (of CNN fame), live from our website on April 29^th. So be sure to check out LogicalChoice.com at 9 a.m.CDT April 29^th. It’ll be the next best thing to actually being at IRA2012!

If you are going to be at IRA, though, make sure you stop by booth 2251 and say hello. Logical Choice is going be there in full force not only showing off the revolutionary reading curriculum that is Letters alive, but handing out free storybook apps for your iPad and Android tablets as well. See ya there!

-Chris B.

We have our own products that we are proud to be contributing to reading education; but, I really would like to see what others are doing in the fields of math and science. While these subjects have always been near and dear to my own heart, I also recognize the difficult situation that this country faces if we don’t start churning out more engineers and scientists. I know…I know, this is a reading show. However, this is also one of the biggest education shows in the country. An event where scholastic innovators bring their A-game in hopes of showing educators–from around the globe–truly amazing break-throughs. The potential for this emerging generation of learners is astronomical.

Also on the agenda for IRA are addresses from some of the most influential players in education reform. Dr. Steve Perry from CNN is the keynote for Monday’s general session. On Tuesday, Ron Clark and Steven L. Layne will share a little about what they see as the next big thing.

If you are not able to attend the show, you can still participate. We will be broadcasting the general session keynote LIVE on our new .TV website. Check back after 4/20 for details!

Technology can engage young children – visual, auditory and tactile learners alike – and draw them in.  Augmented reality provides a great way to engage children so they can learn effectively.

To view the original blog written by Elizibeth of The EasierLiving Blog, click here.

Children with autism learn differently from their peers, but are often exposed to the same teaching styles. An autistic child may struggle to visualize a concept, or be unable to understand or relate to a story or picture on a page. Now, with the help of 3D technologies, children with autism have a new viewpoint from which to learn.

“Letters alive” is an interactive 3D reading curriculum that can benefit the minds of all children, but especially those with autism. The teacher controls cards that display a letter with a coordinating animal. Depending on what the teacher wants to display, that animal can change to a certain color, do a specific task or move in a way that is indicative to that animal. The images are 3D and appear to interact with the user, giving the child an actual life like character to relate to. Because of the functionality of the animal, the image is no longer just a static, lifeless creature, but something a child with autism can remember and understand

To view the original blog written by Elizibeth of The EasierLiving Blog, click here.

As a general rule, I don’t watch videos others have found. Nine times out of ten, it’s someone’s dog doing something “funny” or a cat/Pop-tart hybrid flying through space. But, Tess being a trusted co-worker and all, I grudgingly gave her the benefit of the doubt. So, I pulled up a chair and steeled myself as she hit play.

What followed was 17 minutes of my mind being genuinely blown.

It was a lecture education scientist Sugata Mitra presented at TEDGlobal 2010 and he leads with presenting an old problem–probably one as old as education itself. That the best teachers and schools don’t really exist where they’re needed the most. Places like the slums of New Delhi and other poverty stricken areas all over the world where quality education is as about as scarce as any other opportunity.

As Mitra points out, the children in these areas are traditionally education system castoffs–forgotten and left behind. Mitra chose one of these areas and did something, well, kind of weird. He cut a hole in a wall and installed a computer. This computer was placed at just the right height that a child would need to access it and then… he just walked away. Desperately impoverished kids in the area, of course, found the computer built into the wall, and, completely unsupervised, started their education.

By merit of wanting to learn, they taught themselves to use the computer, the Internet, and then how to use the software loaded on the computer. Children with zero exposure to such technology began to work comfortably with complex systems and ideas because they wanted to.

I’m not doing the video any justice with the description. Suffice it to say, Mitra learned–or proved rather–that not only do children want to learn, but also, they’ll find any way to do it. Mitra goes into great detail over the course of his 17 minute lecture as to how he not only modified the experiment in New Delhi, but how he took the experiment all over the world, creating conditions wherein any adult would surely give up. He saw and carefully documented child after child in city after city teach themselves genetics, complex math, and foreign languages.

We know children are naturally inquisitive. There’s nothing really revolutionary about a statement like that. Every parent has volumes of anecdotal evidence backing it up. But, it does seem like somewhere, in the mists of adulthood, we forget that.

Of course, in the lecture, Mitra delves into a host of other discoveries and insights he made during the course of his experiments, discoveries and insights that I’ll do absolutely no justice to here. If you have the time to spare (and, you should make it if you don’t) then you really ought to give this video a once over.

–Chris B.

Click here to visit Epiphio’s YouTube page

Spencer Kelly of BBC's "Click"

Malware and other forms of digital security breaches threaten every aspect of our now technologically advanced society. Few people understand the complexities involved with cyber crime better than the IT professionals that we depend on to defend our sensitive information. Schools and businesses spend tremendous resources on virus and spyware protection–including software and the personnel knowledgable enough to “Man the Machines.” But, how can we–as individuals–do our part in a war against this invisible enemy?

We must come to know our enemy, learn his habits, and create a plan to minimize the effectiveness of his attacks.

Here are some reminders for you while browsing the web:

1.) Be very careful about on what you click.

If something unexpected pops up, do not click on anything in it–just try to close the window. If you have to kill the browser to get rid of it, do it. On a PC, you can hit the CTRL and F4 keys together to shut down the browser. COMMAND and Q will quit the browser on a Mac. However, if it takes turning off the computer, do it.

2.) Never click on links in an e-mail unless you are 100% positive it is genuine.

It is always better to access the information directly from the original website. Also, genuine sites will always allow you to get to the information from their site and not just from an e-mail.

3.) Be careful when moving your mouse over a web page.

Some items will pop up just because the mouse it over them. Also, malware can install itself just because your mouse moved over where it was hiding.

4.) Double check the URL in the address bar.

Fake sites often mimic genuine sites, however, the address is slightly different. For instance: a simple typo can land you on www.gogle.com instead of www.google.com or www.lenzinfo.com instead of www.lensinfo.com. These small mistakes can expose your computer to predators.

5.) Genuine sites can be hacked.

Malware can be inserted into a genuine site. So, don’t let your guard down just because your are sure of the site. Treat all websites as a potential threat.

6.) NEVER offer account information on an unsecured site!!!

Genuine sites will always use https:// at the start of a URL any time you need to provide the following:

• Username & Password
• Financial information
• Make a purchase

If you get a certificate warning on a site, always contact the site owner to verify that the site is indeed genuine.

7.) For normal browsing it is usually best to have the pop-up blocker turned on.

If you have tips that you would like to share, post them below in the comments section.

To view the original story provided by BBC Click, click here.