Cutting the U.S. Department of Education Harms Millions of Students with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education plays a key role in protecting and supporting students with disabilities.New America
The U.S. Department of Education plays a key role in protecting and supporting students with disabilities.New America
Texas Lawmakers Want a Charter School Network to Stop Paying Its Superintendent Nearly $900K. The School Board Says No.
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The rebuke from lawmakers and charter school leaders came after an investigation from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed that Salvador Cavazos, who oversees fewer than 1,000 students, is among the most well-paid superintendents in the country.
propublica.org/article/salvado…
Middle-class white Americans think that history is something that happened a long time ago, mostly to other people.
They are encouraged in this by an educational system that avoids dealing with anything more recent than 1980, because it is "controversial". Nothing in the living memory of the parents of school children is taught. Otherwise they might disagree with the accepted Whig view that the natural arc of history bends towards America.
Nominally, high school US history courses tend to be split into 1620-1870 and 1870-2000. They get equal weight... but there's always a crunch towards the end of the year, so the last couple of decades get short shrift. All you need to know, kids, is that Ronald Reagan defeated the Evil Empire and the Berlin Wall was taken down, then there were computers and cable TV. Time for a test!
Anyway, that's how we got here.
The #Libreoffice Youtube channel is posting a lot of interesting talks from the "Libreoffice and #Opensource Conference 2024"
Some of them:
#LuxChat for Governments: youtube.com/watch?v=JXdMKaEXq0…
#OpenDesk on #OpenCode: youtube.com/watch?v=rVhAltODe-…
#Education: youtube.com/watch?v=V4fkWfuFXf…
#Encrypted and #Signed Documents (UI, with #OpenPGP or #x509): youtube.com/watch?v=W-qFr8tL-L…
A talk from the LibreOffice and Open Source Conference 2024 in Luxembourg, with Patrick Weber. More details: https://events.documentfoundation.org/libreoffic...YouTube
Unbelievable
#ElonMusk’s US #DOGE Service are feeding sensitive data into #AI software via #Microsoft’s #cloud
#Musk’s US #DOGE Service have fed sensitive data from across the #Education Dept into #ArtificialIntelligence software to probe the agency’s programs & spending…. The AI probe includes data w/personally identifiable info for people who manage grants, & sensitive internal financial data…
#law #security #InfoSec #CyberSecurity #NationalSecurity #Trump #TrumpCoup
washingtonpost.com/nation/2025…
The state of Michigan will now require each public high school in the state to offer at least one computer science course to its students.news.slashdot.org
The Movement to Redirect Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Private Religious Schools
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Private letters reveal the strategy behind the decadeslong quest — successful in 12 states and counting — by politicians, church officials and activists to make taxpayer-funded school vouchers available not just to the poor but to the wealthy.
Are you in Brisbane this week? NV Access are at the SPEVI conference at 293 Queen Street. We're talking all things NVDA & Mick is on a panel this afternoon on "The New Frontier of Braille" about multiline displays, chaired by Ben Clare.
#SPEVI2025 #SPEVI #conference #nvda #nvdasr #accessibility #screenreader #blind #blindness #education
So questions for #Blind #Edgucaters, #teachers, #school staff and anyone in the #education field as a whole.
I am a university student who originally planned to double major in computer science and elementary education, but I’ve recently faced some concerns that I’d like to address.
I’ve been told that pursuing a teaching certification might not be advisable because schools may be reluctant to hire a teacher with low vision, who is mostly blind, to manage a classroom of thirty or more students. This has been quite upsetting.
My dream was to work with elementary students, focusing on #STEM subjects and teaching technology-related topics like understanding tech, its role in the world, and the basics of programming. Now, I find myself uncertain about what path to take.
Working with kids, especially those in elementary school, is my biggest passion, even more than tech or music. It’s something that would truly fulfill me. Since I can’t have kids myself, guiding and teaching young learners is the next best thing. It’s a career I’m committed to and want to excel in.
Being advised not to pursue a teaching certification and to focus solely on computer science has been quite discouraging. I’ve been told to study elementary education as a secondary focus and combine it with my computer science studies. This might involve developing educational systems for kids, but it would likely mean limited direct interaction, possibly just during product testing, which isn’t enough for me.
So, I have a few questions:
1. Are there any educators with #Blindness or #LowVision challenges working with elementary students? If so, in what capacity do you work with them?
2. How has your disability affected your effectiveness in the field?
3. What challenges did you face in getting certified and qualified, and how did you overcome them?
4. What obstacles have you encountered in the classroom and with colleagues, and how have you addressed them?
If these questions don’t apply, what advice can you offer me in pursuing my goal of working with children? While tech is a focus, I’m open to being flexible, as long as it’s an area I’m confident in.
Finally, if teaching isn’t possible for me, what other career paths would you suggest that align with my goals?
I’d really appreciate any support
and engagement in this discussion.
Boosts welcomed and appreciated.
#BlindEducators #Teachers #Education #AskMastodon #VocationalAdvice #University #TeacherLife #OvercomingAbleism
Christians or other people of faith may wish to consider these thoughts from Pastor Mark Peake of First Presbyterian Church of Monterey on Election Day, November 5, 2024.
#Christian #Bible #WWJD #Jesus #Gospel #Faith #CoreValues #Character #Family #Kindness #Marginalized #Economy #EconomicJustice #SocialJustice #Education #HealthCare #WholeLife #ProLife #Immigration #ElectionDay2024 #ElectionDay #Vote2024 #USA #Americans #Vote
Are you interested how to use Apple notes as an #accessible graphing calculator? Check out this post
nunonuno.micro.blog/2024/11/04…
#accessibility #apple #blind #ios #math #education #tech
Starting with the basics Exploring our graphs with VoiceOver How does it relate to other accessible graphing tools? Epilogue Starting with the basics With the release of their latest batch of operating systems Apple made some substantial updates to…nunonuno.micro.blog
For our (small) master dissertation about #education (but mostly because we are interested), we are doing research about using #OpenStreetMap within #secondary education (roughly 12 - 18 years old, but with a focus on 16 - 18 years old).
The long-term goal is to create a usable #lesson where pupils go out and map using a data collection app. If you have any experience with this, would you be so kind to spend 10 minutes of your time to fill out the survey?
India's schoolgirls are leading a silent cycling revolution
bbc.com/news/articles/c3g98lgy…
#bicycles #cycling #girls #education #schoolGirls #India
The most notable rise in cycling in India has occurred among rural schoolgirls, a study finds.Soutik Biswas (BBC News)
I learned about secure software development on the job, but like ethical computing (which I've talked about before), this should also be included in formal education. Because of the current threat models, topics like security by design and zero-trust frameworks are critical when developing Internet systems. linuxfoundation.org/press/linu…
#securitybydesign #security #softwaredevelopment #zerotrust #infosec #cybersecurity #education
Findings show nearly one-third of industry professionals are not familiar with secure software development practicesThe Linux Foundation
Recently, user Jordan shared a small but meaningful experience made possible with #NVDA: "When NVDA by NV Access reads alt text from your favourite #restaurant menu, now I just found a new #dessert I want to try! Thanks to NVDA, my day is getting off to a perfect start."
NVDA changes lives by providing access to #education, #employment & #connection. If you'd like to support our mission, you can #donate to NV Access here: nvaccess.org/support-us/#donat….
Some of us Internet Weirdos are doing a survey on Neurodivergence and Education.
If you are in school, college, university or whatnot, or have been in the last five years, could you spend a few minutes filling in this out for us?
We're writing guides for educators and learners and the more input we have, the better we'll be.
Appreciated folx!
#ND #neurodiverse #education #school #college #university #neurodivergent #autism #actuallyAutistic #ptsd #survey #surveys
I am always happy see the release of the WebAIM Million and 2024 is just out.
The figure most folks want to see is the percentage of home pages that had detected WCAG 2 failures. it is marginally better than 2023 but you will have to read the report.
It is also worth noting that sub domains have been excluded from the scan. The WebAIM team decided the long-term results would be better.
I understand that this has a big impact on #government and #education sites.
Sharing for a friend. Please boost/repost!
Parent or teacher interested in a Covid safe school?! Centered in disability justice. One is forming in MA/RI, location TBD. Email for more info or with questions!
@disability @mcas
@chronicillness
@disabilityjustice
@education @neurodivergents
#Covid #MaskUp #LongCovid #Education #disability #justice #school #k12
#GNOME #Education #LearnToCode #VideoGames
If you're interested in those topics you might also be interested in my upcoming "weekend" project.
[teaser] Gameeky: A new learning tool to develop STEAM skills
OK, trying an experiment with my Programming Languages class!
• Have an AI generate some of your writing assignment.
• Critique its output. Call BS on its BS.
Assignment details in screenshots below. I’ll let you know how it goes.
(Here are the links from the screenshots:)
Raw AI Text:
gist.github.com/pcantrell/7b68…
Comments on AI Text:
gist.github.com/pcantrell/d51b…
(Better) Human Text
gist.github.com/pcantrell/f363…
My favorite outcome so far: a student remarked (paraphrasing here) that she didn’t realize how much she had to say in her paper until she saw how wrong the AI was, how much it missed the point.
Observing her own reaction to BS about her topic made her realize she’d underestimated the extent of her own newly-forming knowledge. That…that is the sort of outcome an educator dreams of.
Florida rejects social studies textbooks, pushes publishers to change others : NPR
>In one case, references to the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement were removed. npr.org/2023/05/10/1175232763/… #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter #Florida #DeSantis #education
engineering.nyu.edu/events/202…
March 21: "Foundations First: Improving C’s Viability in Introductory Programming Courses with the Debugging C Compiler" - a live talk, evidently viewable over Zoom
If you ever teach people C or learn C, this might interest you
Let's Share Free Software
What's free software you use the most everyday? I work as a course teacher and mine's as the following.
GNU/Linux
KDE, Dolphin, Gwenview & Okular
Firefox
Jitsi
LibreOffice Writer & Calc
Thunderbird
VLC
Inkscape
Synaptic & apt
If you use #FreeSoftware, please boost. Thanks.
#GNU #Linux #OpenSource #Education
#SurveillanceCapitalism Spreading In #Schools, Sidelining Role Of #Teachers.
My Take: putting children under 24/7 monitoring, is harmful to natural development + #autonomy.
Ex: intense security (like recent proposal to add armed taser drones + force children to train with them) may do little more than put kids in more fear.
#News #Education #Privacy #HumanRights #AI progressive.org/public-schools…
Ed-tech companies are mining and exploiting students’ data while sidelining the role of teachers.Velislava Hillman (Progressive.org)
"LfDI expects schools to offer pupils alternatives to the MS365 #cloud service for #school operations by the summer vacations in 2022.
From the coming school year, the use of MS 365 at schools must be terminated or its data protection-compliant operation must be clearly demonstrated by the responsible schools."
This is how the SA of Baden-Württemberg starts its press release stating that M365 is not #GDPR compliant and it must be discontinued.
baden-wuerttemberg.datenschutz…
LfDI erwartet von Schulen, dass sie Schüler_innen bis zu den Sommerferien 2022 Alternativen zum Cloud-Dienst MS 365 für den Schulbetrieb anbietenPressestelle (Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Baden-Württemberg)
i'm derek, he/him. currently in central california and have lived in new york for a bit too
originally went through #music school up through #dma (lol i'd be surprised if that hashtag actually worked and referred to doctor of musical arts) studying #percussion with aspirations of being a "new music" percussionist but didn't stick the landing in music academia. i got a #math degree somewhere along the way and had been getting heavily into #computermusic and #creativecoding sorts of things working at a media lab during the dma so when covid, hit decided to go back to (online) grad school studying computer science. things i'm really into studying cs-wise are #ai/#ml things (more leaning on the ai-side but we'll see) and "soft-cs"/"extra-cs" sorta intersectional things like #hci and #education and starting to read about #computationalcreativity and other things. not sure where my cs studies will go yet but it'd be nice be able to research ai things more. also, i'm really into #foss / #linux sorta things.
other things i'm into are anime and manga (mostly iyashikei, mecha, and ikuhara things), video games, riichi mahjong, animals (mostly cats, sea otters and puffins), stars are cool, and also vast desolate expanses.
think my website better sums up things: derekxkwan.com/