Have you ever been reading a book and found yourself so engrossed in the plot that you want to reach in and become part of the story? With interactive fiction (IF) you can do just that. Part book and part game, interactive fiction uses an online book format that gives the reader a say in how plots develop. As people read these text [...]
by Chris Hartman The scholarly treatment of rare books has undergone significant changes since the advent of the internet. Having spent over a decade working with rare books and other written materials, I have seen reference books evolve from an almost exclusively print-based medium to a virtual one. But the canon of standard references that rare book librarians, book collectors and dealers use [...]
Within the vast public school system in Philadelphia, an alternative kind of education rears its tiny head. This atypical school rebuilds the educational framework—literally. At the Workshop School, students are self-driven, becoming their own inspiration to achieve their goals through their own innovation. Taking on projects ranging from electric car design to soundproof recording studios; the Workshop School allows students to delve into the hands-on [...]
Within the vast public school system in Philadelphia, an alternative kind of education rears its tiny head. This atypical school rebuilds the educational framework—literally. At the Workshop School, students are self-driven, becoming their own inspiration to achieve their goals through their own innovation. Taking on projects ranging from electric car design to soundproof recording studios; the Workshop School allows students to delve into the [...]
In 1877, two professors at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg, published a book entitled, Higher Lessons in English, wherein they offered an altogether new way of teaching students how to structure sentences. Termed sentence diagramming, this technique used a particular graphic layout to demonstrate the relationships between the various parts of speech. By configuring the individual parts of sentences in this visual [...]
Much of the rhetoric concerning the present state of America’s education system revolves around the need to create new assessments, new standards and new methodologies. But what if progress lies somewhere in our past? An interesting model of personalized learning—reminiscent of the old-time one-room schoolhouses—is just now emerging and beginning to gain some traction. Dubbed the “micro-school,” this divergent educational format breaks with [...]
My actuarial dad and scientist mom knew they had a budding writer on their hands when, at two-and-a-half years old and tottering from the weight of my jumbo-sized, sixty-page Lion King book, I came into their room in the middle of the night. I climbed into bed with them, sitting down to reverse the role of parent and child. I wanted to read them a [...]
Lounging by the poolside last summer vacation, I thought nothing could disturb the tranquil ambience of lapping water and the steady heat of the sun. With Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Dreams in my hands and cabana music wafting over from the beachside snack shack down the road, life felt paradisiacal. Then it came: the dissonant sound of my father’s smartphone, buzzing on the chaise nearby. Not again . [...]
A museum is traditionally thought of as a meditative setting, an island of hush in a cacophonous world of ceaseless tumult. When I think about the last time I visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston—or the MFA, as it is commonly called—I can remember the ambiance of the dimly lit blue exhibit room as clearly as I can remember the art [...]
by Andy Trossello Science Teacher, Waltham High School STEM Instructor, College Bound at Boston College How do you offset the growing epidemic of overly available, poor quality, cheap food in highly urbanized communities? By providing affordable, nutritious and locally grown hydroponic foods produced by minority youth who will become empowered with the tools they’ll need to pursue STEM careers! When people think of [...]