The government says the changes will save £7bn in welfare spending
Eighteen Church of England bishops have signed an open letter, criticising the governments proposed welfare changes.
In the letter, in The Observer, the bishops express concerns about plans to limit the amount any household can claim in benefits to £500 a week.
Designer John Murphy uses the SMALLab at ChicagoQuest school.
What does a digital classroom look like? Some schools roll smartboards and carts of computers into each classroom. At others, students plug into iPads at every desk to play interactive learning games.
The Institute of Play envisions a different picture: A dark, empty classroom with the window shades pulled shut, where a life-size computer game board is projected onto the linoleum floor, and students act as both the players and joysticks to accomplish problem-solving tasks.
There are only a handful classroom labs like this in the country that serve as a testing ground for embedded learning environment games, and a New York City middle school houses one of them.
The Institute of Play is a non-profit research group that studies the relationship between game-playing, learning and engagement. Read more…
Did you guys miss yours truly? You probably didn’t even notice that I wrote no articles for the newspaper this week. I’ve been on Turkey Tussle magazine patrol, but the magazine’s all but put to bed and I’m ready to get out to Arcadia for what I’m hoping will be a Pacific League showdown. This could be a close game for several reasons. Pasadena’s defensive line is strong and has a lot of size, led by defensive end Alex Baer (6-3, 215) and nose tackle Anthony Robinson (6-1, 225). Arcadia counters that with Clearance Irvin, a Star-News All-Area defensive lineman. Both teams have mobile quarterbacks, but the edge here goes to Brandon Cox who is surgical on the run. He’s elusive and can accelerate perhaps like no other quarterback in the Pacific League. The wide receivers edge goes to the Apaches, who are led by Washington-bound Taylor Lagace. The running backs edge also goes to Arcadia, but slightly.
St. Paul, Minn. Sizing up competing college financial aid offers should become easier with some federal help announced today at the University of Minnesota.
The government’s “Know Before You Owe” project would cut through confusing terminology and establish one easily understandable report for students to compare each college’s total cost and financial aid, including loans and scholarships.
Under the current system, it’s difficult to discern when a college is offering free money and when it is factoring in a student loan, said student leader Amanda Bardonner.
“There is a lot of unclear data, especially between public schools and private schools,” Bardonner said. “Because private schools, obviously, have that option to offer the larger financial aid packages. But they’re not marketing it as a financial aid package, they’re marketing it as a scholarship.”
Officials hope to roll out the streamlined report next year.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the names of finalists vying to become a California State University campus president may be kept secret.
That’s the likely outcome of a 15-1 vote Wednesday by CSU trustees meeting in Long Beach, who – over the objections of CSU faculty – will no longer require presidential finalists to make a public visit to their prospective campus.
It’ll be an issue this year, as four campus presidents are retiring: Robert Corrigan at San Francisco State, Milton Gordon at Fullerton, Jolene Koester at Northridge, and Albert Karnig at San Bernardino.
The trustees eliminated the visits after Chancellor Charles Reed said some potential candidates would refuse to be considered without a guarantee of privacy.
For years, presidential finalists have been required to spend a day or two visiting with campus leaders and students. Press releases would go out. Names would be disclosed.
