Oct 27, 2008

Debate: Muslims for McCain vs Muslims for Obama



Looking forward to this very interesting debate:
http://muslimmatters.org/2008/10/26/live-debate-muslims-for-mccain-vs-muslims-for-obama-oct-30th-10-pm-est/

from the site:

When?

Oct 30th 2008 @ 10 PM EST

How does it work?

The debate will take place on MuslimMatters.org. Format will be chat-box.

Can the audience ask questions?
You can ask questions by placing them as comments on this post (preferred) or e-mailing them to live@muslimmatters.org (deadline for questions: Oct. 29th midnight PST).

Oct 25, 2008

amazing creative site - create a movie a click

check it out:
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20081024115052467


amazing site: you write the script, and in few minutes you have an animation movie of your own.
truly very creative concept and implementation.

Oct 18, 2008

60% of internet traffic is P2P!!

and according to eMarketer.com, video might throttle the internet in the coming years.
Monthly Consumer Internet Traffic Worldwide, by Segment, 2006-2012 (% of total and petabytes*)

Oct 17, 2008

Mysterious Incidents

Mysteriously, things seem to happen in our house. As I pick my bag to work, I find out that the straps, which usually just hang there, have been clicked and tied together. Later in the train I notice a little cup coaster in the outside pocket. Finally at the office, I open my bag to find a pretend-teacup, just for me, in case I want some tea while at work...

The mystery of having a daughter... a blessed mystery.

Oct 2, 2008

Direct Instruction - for Jordan?

I am reading an interesting and entertaining book these days, Super Crunchers. (a very good review) The book emphasizes the importance of using Statistical Evidence for making decisions in every aspect of life where data is available.

One of the examples the book talks about is Direct Instruction (DISTAR) teaching method. According to the book, this was the most successful teaching method tested in the huge Project Follow-Through educational experiment that the American government conducted in the 60s/70s.

The method is outrageous: the course is fully-scripted! The teach simply goes through the script.
However, its success rate is huge. Thinking further about it, I think it might prove very useful in basic-learning classes, like languages or basic math, where a lot of concepts need to be learned. This is of course as opposed to classes that are supposed to expand critical-thinking like Philosophy or Algorithm Programming.

This method might be a perfect fit for teaching English in Jordanian public schools.

The method was devised at University of Oregon. They have a favorable article about it here. Many teachers in the US do not like this method, calling it "teacher-proof" method. However, I'm interested in learning more about it.

Here is a graph on the effectiveness of this method compared to others.