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Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), the lawmaker behind the pork-barrel Bridge to Nowhere and an infamous revelation that the Internet is constructed of a series of tubes is at it again. This time, he wants to ban Wikipedia at schools that receive federal funding. From Computerworld:

Early in January, Stevens introduced Senate bill 49, which among other things, would require that any school or library that gets federal Internet subsidies would have to block access to interactive Web sites, including social networking sites, and possibly blogs as well. It appears that the definition of those sites is so vague that it could include sites such as Wikipedia, according to commentators.

Remember, this is from the senator, who, on the floor, said:

Ten movies streaming across that, that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day got… an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday, I got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially. [...] They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes. And if you don’t understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it’s going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material It seems to me that communications and new media literacy needs to be taught in the halls of Congress as well as in our schools.

It seems the senator is concerned all the knowledge distributed through Wikipedia would dangerously tangle the tubes of the Internet. What do you think?

This video was recently posted on Sivacracy:

I’m not sure what’s going on in the video, but it seems funny –maybe even Norwegian. On a serious side, however, the video seems to echo Marc Prensky’s digital natives and digital immigrants…

Dan, the guy behind Higher Ed Chat, is starting-up a Codex of Terrible Higher Ed Marketing.

He writes:

There will be a few categories:

1. “They Paid Someone to Design This?!”
A list of the most poorly designed college websites.

2. “This Video is Supposed to Inspire… Whom?”
A list of the cheesiest and most tasteless college promotional videos. (Currently, Appalachian State holds the title for this one.)

3. “College PR Blunders”
Dumbest moments in college PR. (Such as UNC’s 2,700 congratulatory emails on students’ un-admission.)

Please, nominate your favorites!
You can use the Comments link below, or simply email me.

Here’s one choice example…

And, one from my own university’s fund raising effort… http://giving.umn.edu/fall06/

Let’s help Dan out!

A great video created by Michael Wesch at Kansas State University:

I’ve been participating on the Minneapolis Public Schools Technology Planning Steering Committee. The committee has adopted the Leapfrog Paradigm and leapfrog thinking into its planning. Leaping frogs are showing up in presentations, and leapfrog is becoming a metaphor for creativity in the district. The committee’s work has, however, thus far focused on discussion on the use of technologies to promote its vision to advance student achievement and improve staff productivity. I think MPS can still do better. Leapfrogging can allow the district to lead in achievement, productivity, and meaningful knowledge production.

Here are five quick thoughts on what I believe MPS can do to reinvent itself and thrive as an institution:

1. Commit to leadership in the reinvention of education in Minneapolis, the state, and in the world. The technology planning group can be the catalyst for this new orientation toward global leadership.
2. Total success is possible. Do not set any goal too low, and do not be afraid to set any goal too high. Set big, hairy, audacious goals –but, make sure to align them with a Noble Quest in a broader leapfrog strategy.
3. Don’t worry about breaking the rules. Bypass them. Better yet, leapfrog them! The disruptive change required to revolutionize MPS requires a new set of rules on a new playing field.
4. Collaborate! Advances in communications technologies and socioeconomic globalization now means that MPS competes with the world in creating meaningful education. Rather than compete, why not leverage technologies and resources available to build global-reaching partnerships and collaborations?
5. Forget about planning for the 21st Century. It’s meaningless to continue to plan for educating in the 21st Century. We’re already here. We need to start planning for the 22nd Century –and reassess our goals and priorities today based on where we need to be in the future.

That’s my two cents. I hope that these ideas will help to build a new MPS that is vibrant, edgy, hard-charging, and value-creating for Minneapolis, the state and the world.

My interest in China is booming. I will travel to China in April for a teacher education conference sponsored by the Ministry of Education and several international organizations. I will present a workshop on leapfrogging in teacher education to build globally-competent and competitive human capital –particularly among youth. It appears they’re taking leapfrogging seriously. China is determined to become the world’s dominant economic power, and it is aggressively pursuing policies to meet that goal.

James Kynge believes China will “shake the world,” but others disagree. Is China on the verge of becoming the dominant world power, or will its bubble of development burst due to inherent defects in its social, economic and political structures?

By Internet standards, this article is a bit dated, but it is still a good read. Global Business Network posts a reprint of a Business 2.0 article on Four Futures for China Inc. Doug Randall and Jesse Goldhammer propose four scenarios for the future of China:

In “Emperor of Business,” China grows peacefully and plays by the rules, while in “Emperor’s New Clothes,” China’s growth rate is short-lived and it basically becomes a bigger Brazil. In “Emperor of Asia,” China grows only as fast as its neighbors; by contrast, in “Emperor of the World,” China’s speedy growth tips all the scales in its favor.

Read the full article…

This seems like a good idea. From Crunch Gear:

Widgetbox, a marketplace for Web widgets, now lets you quickly and easily build a widget for your blog.

Called Blidgets, they combine the power of RSS feeds with the “easy page integration of widgets.” The Blidget Maker auto-discovers RSS feeds, images and descriptions for the blog and then lets you customize the look and feel.

Once created, a one-click integration feature easily installs it and a “Get Widget” button onto the blog. Plus, all widgets registered with Widgetbox receive Widgetbox Syndication Metrics, showing you information about the use and adoption of the Blidget.

Feeling inspired, I made a Blidget for Education Futures:

Will it catch on?