FILLIP FOR RTE State govt to conduct annual mapping of all schools

Mumbai: The state government has decided to map the availability of schools every year, in a major fillip for implementation of the Right to Education (RTE).
 
Satellite imaging will be used for the annual exercise, which will be undertaken between October and December in urban and rural pockets. 

The survey will ascertain the availability of schools in an area. Approval for new schools will depend on the survey’s findings, which will be incorporated in to the plan for schools in an area. RTE guidelines make it necessary to have at least one primary school (class I to IV) every kilo metre, a secondary school (class V to VII) every 3km and a higher secondary school (above class VIII)every 5km.
 
The state government had decided to use satellite imaging to prepare a master plan for schools in urban and rural areas in February 2010. 

The Nagpur-based Maharashtra Remote Sensing Applications Centre(MRSAC)was appointed for the exercise. 

 A draft master plan for the urban and rural pockets was formulated on the basis of the first exercise. Even as the final plan for these pockets awaits formal approval, the school education department has decided to make the
mapping exercise an annual feature. 
 
Source   | Times of India | 2 May 2012

HATLEY -- Children visiting the Hatley branch of the Marathon County Public Library have been captivated by the library's latest addition.

An electric Thomas the Train set now hovers high above the heads of library patrons. The train, a donation to the library from an anonymous donor, runs on a circular rail suspended from the ceiling. Library assistant Karen Johnson said the train is a big hit."The kids absolutely love it. So do the parents," she said.

Alyiah Taylor-Medina, 5, of Weston stood transfixed as she watched the train go around during one of her weekly visits to the library. Aliyah typically spends several days a week in Hatley where her uncle, Jeremiah Taylor, 32, of Hatley brings her to story hour every Tuesday morning.

"I love the library," Alyiah said. "I love the stuffed animals and all thestories and the train, too." Johnson said the library asked community members, through a newsletter early last year, to consider donating a train for the children's section. When presented with the train set in May, she said she was pleasantly surprised by the gift. "I wasn't expecting anything quite so nice. This is quite a valuable train," Johnson said. Three additional anonymous donors stepped forward to donate the time and talent necessary to build a track, which includes mountains and a tunnel. Johnson's husband, Glenn Johnson, also of Hatley, designed the suspension system to hang the train from the ceiling, well out of harm's way. The train, which moves forward and backward at varying speeds, is operated by a switch that is out of the children's reach but easily accessible for most-parents. Johnson said the library constantly searches for ways to capture children's interest, and the train was a perfect way to do just that. "The train brings the kids in and keeps them quiet, too," Johnson said. "It's mesmerizing."

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20120504/WDH100201/205040323/Library-train-captivates-kids

Google Trains Students With Search Education

Google has launched a free tutorial website, Search Education, which will help students learn how to better use Google Search for learning and academic research. The site is aimed at both at teachers and at individual users. The company knows that while its many tools can be useful, not everyone understands how to use them. Student Education seeks to solve this by providing live training that anyone can access as well as lesson plans that teachers can use to teach their students about Google’s many services. There are even “A Google A Day”challenges that can be used to reinforce search skills in students.

Teachers will be pleased to findhat the lessons plans are comprehensive. They include beginner, intermediateand advanced versions covering five different topics. There are also tenhallenges, each of which covers a specific academic topic (such as history, biology and even math). Individual learners are mainlyencouraged to check out the live learning section, which consists of videos (some are hosted on YouTube) designed to guide individual learners through specific tasks. Some of the videos are almost an hour long. The lesson plans could also be used as personal step-by-step training, though they are obviously not perfect for that purpose.

All of the content can be reached by checking out Google’s Search Education site.

Source | http://www.makeuseof.com