Using social media is more than just establishing an account with Facebook or Twitter. Folks are using these tools to connect about ideas. Here's a link to an article posted today on ReadWriteWeb about the possibilities social networking can hold for Higher Education.

The Social Media Club Education Connection had a panel discussion on the topic last night in Richmond, VA. Here are the top five ideas emerging from that discussion:
1. Use Twitter to find your network.
2. Use feeds to stay informed about news, events and conversations.
3. Build your website.
4. Create content.
5. Be an early adopter and refine your digital toolkit.

There are good tips for the five ideas -- check them out.

Malindi is a small coastal city in Kenya. Its warm, beautiful beaches and culture that fuses Africa, India, and the Arab world, make it a tourist destination. In fact, it is a city that has been part of a global economy for centuries. Malindi is the site of the Da Gama pylon; the pylon that marks the spot that Vasco Da Gama and his crew stopped to rest after rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Since that day, Malindi has hosted traders and visitors from around the world. Even today, Malindi is very dependent on tourism from Europe, American backpackers, African vacationers, and development workers on holiday.

Last night two colleagues and I walked down the street of Malindi on our way to a small Italian restaurant in this small coastal Kenyan town. Every few feet taxi drivers, shop owners, and young men stopped us to offer us a ride, help in selecting a restaurant, advice on things to do and see. When questioned a bit, they explained that there have been very few visitors to Malindi recently owing to the downturn in the global economy. This downturn has led to fewer tourists and a sharp decline in revenue coming to Malindi and its people.

At first glance, it would seem that our work in Malindi on early mathematics development is somewhat esoteric in light of the towns difficult economic situation. Afterall, how would assessing children in the primary grades affect the overall health of the local economy. However, we discussed earlier in the week that this kind of systemic effort to improve education outcomes for young Kenyans has everything to do with the economy.

As African nations push for universal primary school, their goal is to ensure that Africans have access to knowledge that can help them stabilize their financial situations and become less vulnerable when there are downturns in the economy. In the US we frequently hear how difficult this global financial crisis has been on developing regions of the world. This is abundantly clear in places like Malindi. And for citizens of cities and regions of the world like Malindi, when tourism revenue stops, they have few alternatives and little in the way of savings to rely on. The consequence is that they suffer more than individuals who have a good education and can apply for other jobs or weather the financial crisis by using their savings.

Our work here in early mathematics is a small but important part of what is necessary to help individual children as well as nations to realize a secure future.

We have worked now for most of two days on the development of an Early Grade Mathematics Assessment for Kenyan schools. This is a project that is funded by USAID and the Agha Khan Foundation. This effort follows work by the Kenyan education system to create an Early Grade Reading Assessment. African countries, like Kenya, have long had national standards and national systems of assessment to determine if students were prepared to move on to the next level of education. This effort is the first of its kind to formatively measure students' progress at the earliest grade levels and to follow it up with an intervention to help schools meet the needs of all Kenyan students. Kenya was one of the first African countries to offer universal primary education. Now that universal access must be followed by a focus on quality assurance. Education officials believe this is best started by knowing where children are and what has to be done to help them meet grade level learning outcomes. Universal access to education has put stress on the system, however. Many classrooms are over-crowded and teachers need additional instructional support.

Interesting to me is how similar Kenyan schools and the school systems here are to the U.S. In some ways, Kenya has advanced well beyond the US in understanding the need for a systemic approach to teaching basic skills and preparing children for the next step in their educational career. With as many resources as we have to educate our children in the U.S., it would seem that we should be lightyears ahead in all aspects of education. Yet, we are experiencing many of the same difficulties that schools in Kenya are experiencing: preparing high quality teachers, teaching effectively, and ensuring that the system is effective in helping all learners reach their potential.

By Thursday we will be in classrooms in Malindi District near the Indian Ocean testing young children on early mathematics concepts. Education officials assure us that we will see a wide range of skills in the local schools here. The next step here in Kenya, as it should be in the US, is to make sure that all children have equal access to high quality mathematics instruction at the earliest ages.

I'm leaving today to go to Malindi, Kenya, on the Indian Ocean to work with Ministry of Education professionals on an early grade mathematics assessment. The goal of this assessment is not on accountability, but rather to help teachers change the focus of their instruction to what research suggests is necessary to develop later mathematical skills. Typically, in many schools around the world, teachers have taught early mathematics in a very rote fashion and haven't helped youngsters develop a sense of number and how numbers work conceptually. This assessment is designed to help us illustrate to teachers what students are learning and what they should be learning in order to reach more sophisticated mathematical insights. I'll provide some daily updates of my observations during the trip.

Although the Texas Senate and House ended the 81st legislative session this week, Gov. Rick Perry may call for a special session since the Senate allowed the departments of Transportation and Insurance to sunset in 2010. That not withstanding, here are some education bills that were approved:

A pay raise for teachers ($800 minimum)
Rejecting a minimum grade policy for all district schools
Allowing more e-textbooks
Third graders must take, but not required to pass the TAKS test
Tougher requirements for high school students to obtain their diplomas
Additional state aid for low-wealth districts, but the Lege didn't make any changes to the school finance (Robin Hood) plan.

For more information on the session check the local blogs and the weblogs on The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and KERA.

At a breakfast meeting last week with Mayor Tom Leppert, the West Dallas Education Task Force and Dallas Faith Communitites Coalition, Dr. David Chard announced that SMU will look at ways to work with residents and community organizations in West Dallas to strengthen education in K-12 schools. For the SMU press release click here.

Because of the educational thrust, the Simmons School will contribute significantly to SMU's commitment, but so will other schools on campus. The initiative will be coordinated with SMU's Community Engagement Council, led by Associate Provost Ellen Pryor.

This blog will update Simmons plans and activities in West Dallas, as they develop. But meanwhile, check out the new website, westdallasschools.org. It's the communications tool for the West Dallas Educational Task Force.

A version of one of Dr. Bob Barner's blog entries on getting a job was broadcast today on KERA 90.1 radio, the NPR affiliate in North Texas. To listen to his commnentary, click here.

Dr. Bob Barner is Associate Director of Executive Education for the school's Dispute Resolution program.

Since social networks and blogs loom large, casting a shadow even over Google itself (Twitter has a fascinating search engine), it's important to note news coming from them.

The flu-inspired hiatus on classes in Tarrant County, which is coming to an end this week, is the topic:
Extra Credit, the education blog in the Fort Worth-Star Telegram, reports that Energizer, the battery company, is donating 7,400 Wet Ones to the Fort Worth schools to help continue the antibacterial wave going in classrooms.

And on Twitter, education reporter Eva-Marie Ayala-- @fwstayala -- posted a live stream of classes from the FWISD Web site. Now students and parents can view the stream, even in a mobile way. But of course, classes resume tomorrow!

The Dallas ISD blog in The Dallas Morning News covers the refreshing news that the district had its first academic signing day for the class of 2009, indicating where students were reporting to college and universities.

A couple of newspaper stories today cover how technology is at the center of two local school districts trying different approaches to education.

Coppell opened the New Tech High School this school year to apply project-based learning to their curriculum. As the name indicates, project-based means that students work in teams, make presentations using technology and get feedback from their teachers, fellow students and business leaders.

The non-traditional curriculum is based on concepts developed by the New Technology Foundation in Napa, CA. New Tech High School has enrolled 270 freshmen and sophomores and will add juniors and seniors over the next two years. For more on the story in The Dallas Morning News, click here.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram takes a look at the Birdville Career and Technology program, which offers students several new media pathways to their education. For the full report, click here and for samples of student videos, click here.

Sen. Jane Nelson (R- Flower Mound) received the Texas Senate's backing yesterday in prohibiting school districts from setting policy on what minimun grades failing students should get. Dallas schools set new grading policies last year and Plano scuttled discussions of new policies recently.

Nelson's bill now goes to the House. For the full report in The Dallas Morning News, click here. For coverage in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, click here.