News
International Education News Round-up
(April 27 to May 3, 2009)
Primary school children will learn to read on Google
(The Telegraph 04/30/2009 Graeme Paton)
Under the new curriculum reform, children will be taught to read using
internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo in the first few years
of school, according to education experts.
Computers enter learning 'core'
(BBC News 04/30/2009)
Computer technology is to move centre stage alongside English, maths
and personal skills in an overhaul of England's primary school
curriculum.
Schooling was better under Henry VIII's rule, claims TV historian
(Daily Mail 05/01/2009)
TV historian Dr. David Starkey says headteachers should bring back
debating competitions and elocution lessons because schools are
producing a generation that is illiterate and cannot communicate
properly.
When the Cellphone Teaches Sex Education
(New York Times 05/01/2009 Nicole Fineman)
The Birds and Bees Text Line is among the latest efforts by health
educators to reach teenagers through technology — sex ed on their turf.
US closes 300 schools amid swine flu scare
(Inquirer.net 05/01/2009 AFP)
Some 300 schools in 11 states were closed across the United States amid fears of the spread of swine flu.
In grip of fever fear, schools ready to shut
As suspicions mount in Yokohama that a new type of flu had finally
landed in Japan, schools begin drafting worst-case scenarios and
measures to prevent its spread.
Finland, NZ high schools top science study
(Inquirer.net 04/29/2009 AFP)
High schools in Finland and New Zealand have the best science results
in the world, while Greece, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Turkey
are on the bottom, according to the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
Italian city makes students walk to school
(Inquirer.net 04/28/2009 Linda Bolido)
Students in Lecco, a city near Lake Como in Italy, had been walking to school instead of taking the bus since 2003.
Cash-strapped schools cancel field trips
(USA Today 04/29/2009)
Technology is increasingly being used to bridge the gap for schools
that reduce field trips, says Ruth Blankenbaker, director of the Center
for Interactive Learning and Collaboration in Indianapolis.
(Published 4 May 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)
