Jeff Frank's blog

The Power of Infographics, 1861

Fri, 06 May 2011 07:29:18 -0400

I found this post in the New York Times to be a fascinating reminder about how important it is to work at creating alternative forms of presenting information. According to Susan Schulten's informative analysis, as Gen. George McClellan's forces were entering the western regions of Virginia to secure them for the Union, "the United States Coast Survey issued a groundbreaking map of Virginia, the first ever to display Census statistics cartographically." The map is a striking visual reminder to anyone who looks at it that the state was divided in its dependence on slave labor, and led to the creation of a more ambitious map of slavery in the southern states.

Data-Driven Management

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:44:30 -0400

The most popular story at the Times right now is about Google's Quest to Build a Better Boss. What is most striking about the findings, in some way, is how simple they are. Simple, though, shouldn't be mistaken for simplistic, superficial or easy to implement. As such, I think these findings are worth considering as we work to continuously improve the culture of the Lab.

Creating Shared Instructional Products

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:27:40 -0500

The current issue of Educational Researcher has an interesting paper Creating Shared Instructional Products: An Alternative Approach to Improving Teaching that strikes me as interestingly germane to the work we are doing on creating an infrastructure to support adaptive learning. While the focus of this paper is an infrastructure to support teachers and teaching, its lessons can also be applied to work designed for direct (that is, non-teacher-mediated) use by learners.

Culturomics

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:54:24 -0500

The Guardian reports on "a new online tool developed by Google with the help of scientists at Harvard University. The massive searchable database is being hailed as the key to a new era of research in the humanities, linguistics and social sciences that has been dubbed "culturomics"." I know I will be spending a good deal of time playing around with this site: it will be exciting to see the projects and papers it enables.

Successful Online Publishing

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:37:10 -0500

I enjoyed reading this NY Times article about the revitalization of The Atlantic. While a number of factors went into this process, two elements--from an editorial perspective--were key: attracting people to the site using (1) high profile bloggers (most notably, in this case, Andrew Sullivan and (2) a page that aggregates material (in this case, The Atlantic Wire).

One Facet of the Future of Educational Publishing

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:24:25 -0400

I really enjoyed watching the Strage Prize video, and it led me to think more about the relationship between online video and the publication of educational research.

“This is like the aftermath of the Civil War, with all the carpetbaggers and charlatans...”

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:33:56 -0400

An interesting article in the Times today about the market developing in response to the influx of money made available through the education policies of the Obama administration.

How much does your professor make?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:13:36 -0400

A student-run newspaper out of Virginia Tech created a database that allows you an easy way to find out.

The Learning Network

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:47:31 -0400

I just stumbled across The Learning Network on the Times today. It has been on the site for about a half a year (on its own site for a number of years before that), and I wonder if (and if so how) the resource is being used.

Interesting Research

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:48:13 -0400

While doing research for an AERA submission I found that I kept coming across the work of Sharon Derry. Her research is relevant across groups at the Lab. In particular, I found her work on a collaborative (between Rutgers University and the University of Wisconsin) video archive interesting, as well as her work on creating standards for doing research with video.

The Media Show at Media That Matters

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:49:12 -0400

The Media Show captivated a packed audience last night at the Media that Matters premiere. As the screening began, I was overwhelmed that the work of the Lab would be screened for live audiences across the world, and that the online version of the festival would reach an extremely large audience. Congratulations Gus for this success (if I was more talented I would photoshop myself into a picture with you).

The end of "rubber rooms"

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:53:16 -0400

A topic of some interest on this blog
(1) (2), New York has decided to close down "rubber rooms".

Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today...

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:52:05 -0400

I just read Tony Judt’s Ill Fares the Land and am excited to see a nice long excerpt published today in the New York Review of Books. Judt’s aim is to offer American students—he is a professor at NYU—a new way of thinking about political responsibility in the 21st century. What is striking about Judt is his acuity in diagnosing our current state, and his ability to offer a new way of thinking that might strike a chord with a group of young people looking for a different way forward.

Why we need good education reporting

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:29:18 -0400

Once again news of a "Boy Crisis" resurfaces. Nicholas Kristof reports that boys are failing behind, and argues for "nurturing boys with explosions," as that is the type of curriculum that boys respond to. In response to this editorial, Belkin and Singer assert, "if fidgeting and foul humor are going to help our boys in school, then bring them on." I hope this isn't serious.

Reruning Milgram Experiment

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:56:05 -0400

A French television show called The Game of Death is replicating Milgram's obedience to authority experiment. The show is receiving a good deal of critical attention, and it has re-opened discussions about the ethics of reality television shows.