Education : Buzz

It's no secret that Towson University offers students a quality education. What people may not know is that the liberal arts university is one of only a handful of higher education institutions in the country that consistently graduate as many white students as black students.

Here's an excerpt:

"In 10 years, according to school data, Towson has raised black graduation rates by 30 points and closed a 14-point gap between blacks and whites. University leaders credit a few simple strategies: admitting students with good grades from strong public high schools, then tracking each student's progress with a network of mentors, counselors and welcome-to-college classes.

"Regardless of your background, there's people here for you who understand what you're going through," said Kenan Herbert, 23, an African American Towson senior from Brooklyn, N.Y."

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The system had churned through six superintendents in six years, so Dr. Alonso's priority was to persuade people that things would be different this time. For his changes to work, he needed a lot of support, but that took some convincing.

"The community felt alienated," said Bishop Douglas I. Miles, a pastor at Koinonia Baptist Church and a major sponsor of youth programs in the city. "There was a sense that we weren't wanted except to do bake sales."

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But smart, successful reform in Baltimore or anywhere else doesn't happen without the input and participation of the system's teachers and their union. Dr. Alonso partnered with the community and the Baltimore Teachers Union to achieve sweeping, even groundbreaking changes."

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This is the problem that keeps Freeman Hrabowski awake at night. Mr. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, led the committee that produced "Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation," an eye-opening study issued by the National Academies, the country's leading science advisory group."

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But a novel collaboration between the Baltimore City Department of Social Services (BCDSS) and Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) holds the promise of offering something to Baltimore foster children that is in wide variance across this country: the chance at educational stability."

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Five days a week, from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., camp is held inside a sprawling concert hall. The four-week session aims to introduce the texting generation to opera. Students receive instruction in music, acting, dance, lighting, set design, and makeup and wigs. Thanks to private donors, everything from field trips to lunch is free."

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Could you put down or iPhone or Blackbery? Could you turn off your laptop, netbook, desktop, TV, Wii, PS3 or Xbox? And then go 24 hours before you picked them up or hit the power button? A new study conducted by College Park researchers found that students at the university are addicted to their media devices.

Here's an excerpt:

"What is is like to go without media? What if you had to give up your cell phone, iPod, television, car radio, magazines, newspapers and computer (i.e. no texting, no Facebook or IM-ing)?

Could you do it? Is it even possible?

Well, not really, if you are an American college student today.

According to a new ICMPA study, most college students are not just unwilling, but functionally unable to be without their media links to the world.

"I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening," said one student in the study. "I feel like most people these days are in a similar situation, for between having a Blackberry, a laptop, a television, and an iPod, people have become unable to shed their media skin."

This new study conducted by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda (ICMPA) asked 200 students at the University of Maryland, College Park to abstain from using all media for 24 hours. After their 24 hours of abstinence, the students were then asked to blog on private class websites about their experiences: to report their successes and admit to any failures. The 200 students wrote over 110,000 words: in aggregate, about the same number of words as a 400-page novel."

Read the blog post here.

The University of Maryland creators took their existing Web site and adapted it for the iPad. When kids rotate their device vertically to "portrait" mode, they see one page of a book. When they turn it horizontally to "landscape" mode, they see two pages. "We encourage kids to read how they're comfortable," said Ben Bederson, associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland. "iPad is really the first time the International Children's Digital Library can be used with children in their parents' laps." As a result of the iPad's portability and convenience, he said, he projects that kids will spend more time with stories."

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