If you’re over 40, this probably won’t apply to you directly, but might apply to one of your children. College Scholarships.org is awarding a $10,000 college scholarship to a college student who blogs. To win, the blogger must be nominated or nominate himself, via a 1000 word essay. All of the possible essay topics are blogging related, such as “why did you start blogging?” The deadline for nominations is November 14, 2011, so get cranking.
Do you wish you knew how to program? I sure do. Even though I had a programming class or two in college, I know only enough to muddle through some code to get a rough idea about what is happening. When I’ve looked into learning how to program, I’ve seen only boring tutorials in print or online. Until now. Try Ruby is an online interactive tutorial, based on Ruby, that walks you through some of the basics of programming in Ruby. Read more
When you were young, did you participate in a school science fair? I remember my paper mache volcano – seemingly a popular choice for kids – into which I mixed vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring. We now live in a global community, and, fittingly, Google is hosting a global science fair. If your child is between 13-18 years of age, he or she is eligible to enter the contest.
If you’re an aspiring children’s author, a teacher, or just looking for something fun to do with a kid in your life, Storyjumper is something you’ll want to take a look at. I came across the web app randomly and was amazed by how easy it was to jump in and start creating. In fact, me and my two year old made a book just tonight — and she wrote it.
There are many, many, great resources on the web, especially in the area of education. There are thousands of sites dedicated just to teaching languages, for example. In fact, Bill Gates said earlier this month that he expected that within five years the web would provide a better education than our institutions of higher learning. Here in Texas, the Board of Education seems to have fully embraced this trend, and now offers a home schooling program for elementary school-aged kids that is completely online. They even provide the computer.
My Life Scoop recently listed a few of the best sites for education, and there are more created every day. In fact, Xconomy pubished an article yesterday about a new startup, Udemy, whose name comes from “academy for you.” Udemy received $1 million in seed funding to “democratize learning on the web.”
Notwithstanding these great online learning opportunities, I’m still not sure that I want a lawyer representing me who got a law degree from iTunes U. So what do you think: will the internet ever truly replace the classroom, or will it always be a supplement to improve the classroom experience?
Bill Gates: In Five Years the Best Education Will Come From the Web [via TechCrunch]
Feed Your Mind For Free Online [via My Life Scoop]
Udemy Collects $1 Million to Exapnd Casual Learning Platform [via Xconomy]
