The combination of dogs and reading may seem irrelevant, but it’s proving to be quite the opposite—specifically as a method for assisting children who have difficulty practicing this essential skill. Various dog reading programs are becoming exceedingly popular as their overall results show a great improvement in reader confidence and ability. The main logic behind these programs is that children who are struggling [...]
From old school VCRs to DVD players, HDTV, Blu-ray players and Netflix, closed captioning is all around us. But whether we use captions for foreign film translations or to understand TV dialogue, its variety of uses begs the question: What exactly is closed captioning? Closed captions display spoken dialogue as printed words on a screen. Captions are often used by those with hearing loss so that [...]
There’s a new show out there bringing some logical calm to the chaotic frenzy that is often children’s programming. The show is called Moochie Kalala Detectives Club. And its name, purposely silly, certainly isn’t the only unique thing about it. The show is live action, set in Chicago and aims to bring STEM to elementary school students. Centered on the characters of Grandpa, his [...]
In many communities, the public library is a well-recognized institution by adults and children alike. However, some libraries find their halls to be frequented only by a fraction of their community‘s population, and are reaching out to increase their membership. Last spring, the Evanston Public Library (EPL) in Illinois found a new way to cater to their patrons, looking to become more accessible by becoming [...]
From Toy Story to Finding Nemo to Up, no computer-generated imagery (CGI) production company has conquered the animated feature film industry quite like Pixar. Each film opens with the iconic Pixar lamp staking its place in the Pixar logo, usually to the delight of contented moviegoers. Pixar’s success owes much to the technical innovation behind the films that have dazzled the general public and won not only viewers’ [...]
Let’s face it. The typical high-school poetry experience is usually not the most inspiring or transformative. Toiling over iambic pentameter, archaic vocabulary and the subtlest of metaphors can strike many students as somewhat pointless and irrelevant beyond their obligatory English courses. In Florida, however, a poetry program run by Tigertail Productions called WordSpeak is offering an alternative poetic experience for 1,000 South Floridian teenagers. Each [...]
“The difference between arts and sciences is not analytical versus intuitive, right?” That’s what Mae Jemison, the first female African American to travel in space, questioned during her 2009 TED talk. Both a NASA astronaut and a dancer, Dr. Jemison has lived her life in the crossroads between art and science. The fact that she didn’t view career choice as an either-or situation between [...]
by Nick Persad Zombies! What comes to mind? AMC’s The Walking Dead? The Resident Evil franchise? Education? Personally, I imagine the rotting flesh and deep groans of humans who now walk the Earth (extremely slowly) as the undead—acting on one impulse: to satisfy their ravenous appetite for human flesh. But, surprisingly, it is scenarios like this that are proving essential in teaching college classes about survival [...]
I have a bad habit of multitasking. I watch TV while I study, listen to music while I study, and hang out with friends while I study. Doing two things at once makes me feel as if I’m making better use of my time. But, interestingly, researchers have discovered that humans can’t actually multitask. What we call multitasking is really just quickly switching [...]
If you’ve ever tried to read one of George R. R. Martin’s books in his Song of Ice and Fire series, then you know it’s going to take some time, as the books are typically over a thousand pages long. Even reading newspaper articles or Facebook updates, let alone full–length novels, can be difficult to fit into a busy schedule. With so many [...]