Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Classroom Website
My website was intended for a general audience of folks concerned with sustainability issues and local farming. The Anthill Farm is highly connected with New York City, and that's where more of half of our income comes from. I realize this as a potentially vast intern resource, and hope to tap into the vibrancy and enthusiasm existing around "green living" today.
I am hoping to develop a more intensive internship program after I complete my Masters of Arts program next summer. I will certainly be using a website (and I will most likely upgrade to a more sophisticated server/host) to educate, but in a more general sense of the word. The internship will be directed at mature high school students all the way up to interested adults. Visit my site here
I am hoping to develop a more intensive internship program after I complete my Masters of Arts program next summer. I will certainly be using a website (and I will most likely upgrade to a more sophisticated server/host) to educate, but in a more general sense of the word. The internship will be directed at mature high school students all the way up to interested adults. Visit my site here
Monday, August 16, 2010
Gapminder World Agriculture 1961 - 2005!
Notice how my people from the Netherlands make smart investments...
Agro-economics over time
Agro-economics over time
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Anthill Farm Podcast
Here's The Farm in Pennsylvania that I worked at for summer 2008/09. I hope this gives everyone a sense of what its like down there, and also a reason why my new abode in Orono is so incredibly awesome
2010 Horizon Gadgetry
Reminiscent of Paramount Pictures Iron Man, the 2010 Horizon Report shows how new technologies will emerge and become critical for educators every where to stay abreast of. One particularly nifty factoid in the report is that the Edinburgh college of art has put out an app called "Walking Through Time" that allows mobile computer users the ability to look into the past, wherever you go. I could walk downtown NYC and find where old parks were, see if their were any battlefields where McDonald's now stands, search for the beginning of Wall Street, etc. For me, this would be very helpful as I am mainly a kinesthetic/visual learner. If I could walk around and point out a physical location where a historical event took place, it would be much more real for me.
Although... I cannot bring myself to accept these gadgets and apps whole-heartedly. The environmental cost of e-books, for example, is mentioned as a contribution to environmentally conscious campuses. Put this way, it sounds green, but it is not simply an environmental "gain" because of less paper. Instead of paper, we have another reason to drill for oil, more ongoing energy usage, and another piece of junk (when all is said and done). So there are certainly trade-offs with these "advances" and they remain undisclosed in the name of the majority. If we, as a society, could somehow build in economic incentives for sound environmental practices (within manufacturing and resource flow), then I would be gung-ho for gadgets. But as an accountable environmental policy would sacrifice the short-term profits for some, and there is simply not enough public concern or dialogue about the issue, I am fairly sure that I will remain halfheartedly invested in these gadgets (with hopes that I will be whole-hearted sooner than later).
If the coming climatic crises were merely an informational conundrum, then gadgets could solve it. Unfortunately, the world our children face will require much more than that, and they will need to develop keen intuition, critical discernment, and moral questioning skills in addition to technological "gadgetry". These skills have been translated forever in time without gadgetry... Although these gadgets are very helpful, I would like to see more energy put into their sustainable production and reproduction (and by this i don't mean green-washing e-books).
Although... I cannot bring myself to accept these gadgets and apps whole-heartedly. The environmental cost of e-books, for example, is mentioned as a contribution to environmentally conscious campuses. Put this way, it sounds green, but it is not simply an environmental "gain" because of less paper. Instead of paper, we have another reason to drill for oil, more ongoing energy usage, and another piece of junk (when all is said and done). So there are certainly trade-offs with these "advances" and they remain undisclosed in the name of the majority. If we, as a society, could somehow build in economic incentives for sound environmental practices (within manufacturing and resource flow), then I would be gung-ho for gadgets. But as an accountable environmental policy would sacrifice the short-term profits for some, and there is simply not enough public concern or dialogue about the issue, I am fairly sure that I will remain halfheartedly invested in these gadgets (with hopes that I will be whole-hearted sooner than later).
If the coming climatic crises were merely an informational conundrum, then gadgets could solve it. Unfortunately, the world our children face will require much more than that, and they will need to develop keen intuition, critical discernment, and moral questioning skills in addition to technological "gadgetry". These skills have been translated forever in time without gadgetry... Although these gadgets are very helpful, I would like to see more energy put into their sustainable production and reproduction (and by this i don't mean green-washing e-books).
SAVE YOUR PODCASTS!!!
SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN WHEN YOU USE GARAGEBAND!!! And save it!!! I just lost 3 hours worth of work. Luckily, I was developing some skills during that time, so it wont take THAT long to redo. I naively assumed that Garageband would save itself regularly, like my Word documents do... WRONG!!! I was considerably frustrated, but I realize there's nothing I can do about it but warn y'all... hopefully you read this before it's too late!
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