Two of the EdLab’s current grant projects, YoungArts and Rock N Roll Forever, are dedicated to the arts and music respectively. There has been a lot of talk and movement towards reigniting interest in the arts and music in schools but school districts continue to cut art and music programs as a result of budget shortfalls.

Nashville, the music city, is hoping to buck that trend by unveiling what it is calling the “world’s most ambitious music education program.” The program, “Music Makes Us,” will upgrade existing music programs in the city’s public schools and introduce new classes where students will engage “playing rock ‘n’ roll bands, spitting hip-hop lyrics, DJing, writing and composing contemporary songs, and learning modern production techniques.”

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean noted that music “enriches a person’s life, makes them a well-rounded person and helps them academically.” Though the announcement of the music program didn’t note where the funding would come from, it is expected the music industry will bear a large brunt of the cost. Nashville’s program is part of what many are hoping to be a continuing trend towards teaching young people contemporary music. New Jersey’s Little Kids Rock is one such program. It has over 74,000 students playing instruments with a focus on contemporary music.

One of the primary themes of the Rock N Roll Forever project is how mainstream music has changed or help altered America’s history. Though most music genres can trace its roots to a specific city, e.g. New Orleans and jazz, few have had a lasting social and cultural impact on a city as much as grunge had and still continues to have on Seattle. This New York Times article commemorate 20 years since grunge captured the public imagination’s and also highlights its impact on Seattle’s artistic and cultural scene.

The article essentially looks at Seattle then and now through Nirvana, the three-man band that consisted of Kurt Cobain on vocals and guitar, bassist Kurt Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl. Though there were many acts associated with the grunge movement such as Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Nirvana, particularly Cobain, was the flag bearers of the movement. Their debut single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” became an anthem for dissatisfied youth and epitomized the carefree attitude of the grunge movement and Seattle as a whole. Though Cobain’s untimely suicide signaled the end of grunge as a full fledge musical movement, his music and everything he represented still looms large over Seattle.

One of the masters prominently featured in YoungArts/HBO Masterclass series, architect Frank Gehry, is close to completing his latest project: a 12 story residential building in the heart of Hong Kong. Renowned for his work on sites such as the Guggeinheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Gehry was reluctant to spread his talent to Hong Kong but was soon “intrigued by the possibility of working in Hong Kong.”

“The building kind of designed itself because of the beautiful site. You could almost just put a platform with glass around it as the views from inside are spectacular” said Gehry. The building, OPUS HONG KONG, is sure to be one of the most expensive apartment buildings in Hong Kong, which is ranked as the third most expensive rental market in the world by the Wall Street Journal.

Washington D.C.’s public schools will soon be testing students on their knowledge of human sexuality, contraception and illegal drugs starting early next year. The test will the first of its kind nationwide and is designed for 5th, 8th and 10th graders.

The need for such a test stems from D.C.’s high rates of childhood obesity, STDs and teen pregnancy. A 2009 study conducted by the district found that nearly half of the city’s chlamydia and gonorrhea (STDs) cases were among 15-19 year olds in the district. Though the district usually survey students’ attitudes towards such topics, officials feel a full fledge test will better help them understand what students know and how that inevitably affects how they behave.

The test, which will also test students on nutrition and mental health, is one of the provisions of a legislation passed last year to address health problems in the district’s school system. To quell any concerns students, parents and lawmakers might have about the new test, proponents of the exam argue that the test will merely serve as a progress report on students’ health problems.

In this article from GOOD magazine, global education expert Yong Zhao argues that the current US educational system restricts students’ ability to engage and dabble in more creative subjects such as music and art. Zhao uses Lady Gaga as a prime example of the kind of artistic talent the education system is ultimately failing to produce. Chief among Zhao’s arguments is the notion that “art and music aren't seen as useful or necessary skills here either, so too many schools continue to "educate" away the passion and raw talent students bring to the table.” At a time when most schools are eliminating music and arts program as a result of budget shortcomings, Zhao’s argument is a timely reminder of the need for students to be able to express themselves in other ways than their normal coursework.

Zhao’s argument is in line with that of the overall YoungArts project. The study guide, HBO Masterclass series and overall YoungArts program is aimed at inspiring and motivating young people to “pursue their passions,” specifically those that requires them to be creative, such as the arts and music.

Missouri’s state legislature are taking a second shot at the so-called “Facebook Law” after it was struck down by the courts as been too restrictive on student and teacher online contact. The original law, part of a wider range of laws and targeted at reducing sexual abuse claims, placed a ban on “teachers using websites that enabled exclusive access between a staff member and student.” Furthermore, the ban would have prohibited students and teachers from friending each other Facebook, a move swiftly rejected by the courts since communication between “friends” is a private endeavor.

The debate around the law in Missouri is sure to have ramifications nationwide as states and school districts try to find a way to ensure student safety online from predators. For instance, Dayton recently set a list of provisions restricting texting and social-media contact between teachers and students. Some education groups in Missouri are advocating leaving the decision of student-teacher network online relationship to school districts.

Time Magazine recently released its list of the 100 best nonfiction books of all-time. The list, as I expected, included famous autobiographies and academic, social and political selections, among others. I found it rather surprising that most of the books on the list that I’ve read were all for school: Orientalism (Edward Said), Black Boy (Richard Wright), A People’s History of the United States (Howard Zinn), and Manchild in the Promised Land (Claude Brown). The only other book I read was President Obama’s Dreams From My Father. The list also includes the works of notables such as Norman Mailer, Noam Chomsky, Ernest Hermingway, and Martin Luther King Jr.

What are some of your favorite non fiction works and do they merit a spot on Time’s list (assuming it is not there).

The UFR marketing and promotion team continues to research and work on new ideas and platforms to use for the next phase of promoting the curriculum. One of the things we want to include in the next phase is the UFR Teacher Sites (most of you have provided feedback at some point or another). The five teachers sites Skanda, Kate, Ariel, Kevin and I are created are now completed. In addition, we completed a lesson sampler site (based on Hui Soo’s recommendation), in which we aggregated activities from the first five lessons of the curriculum for teachers interested in using specific activities from a particular lesson.

All the sites are below for review and any further feedback will be great but more importantly, in what ways can we use these teacher sites in our promotion efforts?

Lesson Sampler

Fiscal Responsibility and Current Events

The History of Social Security

One of the most defining features of education is the yellow school bus. For most students, the yellow bus, in addition to been a means of transportation to and from school, also represents a host of things. Researchers from around the world are now experimenting with a concept dubbed “the walking school bus,” in which students either meet up to walk or bike to school together under the supervision of an adult. A need to cut obesity rates among young people and budget cuts are some of the reasons behind the need for a walking school bus.

Whether the walking school bus can replace the traditional bus as one of the primary ways of getting students to school remains to be seen but there is data to suggest the concept is gaining momentum. In a study of 149 fourth grade students in Houston, Texas, researchers found that children who participated in a walking school bus program were twice as likely to continue “active commuting”-meaning opting for people-powered transportation rather than automobiles—and increased their daily activity of moderate-to-vigorous activity by seven minutes a day.

Members of the EdLab’s Development and Research team have been thinking of various ways to put Vialogues at the top of Google searches. One of those ways is posting videos of current events and having thoughtful and meaningful discussions around the video since we want them to be a prominent feature of Vialogues and also to use them for promotion and case studies, among others.

Below is a Vialogues I created about the rule of Libya’s (soon to be ex) leader Muammar Gaddafi. With his 42 year reign all but over, the video looks at the enigmatic leader throughout the years.

Please discuss in Vialogues.