August 2010

Is new media changing politics?

YouTube, Blogs, Texting, the Web: How Are New Media Changing Politics?

Political discussion is becoming more and more active in terms of social media allowing responses to discourse, but what has it really changed and how? Three UC Berkeley professors discuss these changes in terms of political participation, transparency, and language.

Political Philosophy Yale Course Steven Smith

24-Lecture Course: Introduction to Political Philosophy (PLSC 114)

This course uses famous texts to introduce ideas by intellectuals that helped to form the Western political tradition. Some examples of these are the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville).

Seth Priebatsch social game

Building the Game Layer on Top of the World

Seth Priebatsch, Princeton dropout, says building the social layer to society is finished. It’s over. Facebook rules that world. But Priebatsch says there the next framework to be built will be the game layer. In fact, we have already begun building this, it is just poorly constructed so far.

The Good and Bad of Online Education at Chico State

Online education has been growing fast at Chico State University in Northern California, since it launched its first online course in 1995. In the last 15 years technology has turned traditional teaching methods upside down as both teachers and students are make adjustments to the internet’s new role in education.

Open University Setting Records

The Open University, based in the United Kingdom offers over 500 courses, available to anyone, no qualifications required. According to the BBC, their numbers are on the rise. They noted a 34% increase in applicants, along with reaching a record breaking 20 million downloads of their open lectures and academic podcasts on iTunes earlier this year.

E-learning Benefits Teachers as well as Students

A new study from Boston College now shows that online education is also a benefit for teachers seeking to work on their professional development. And improvement came not just in the obvious area of knowledge of the subject matter, but also in their teaching methods.

Tom Davenport, Innovate like Google

Innovate Like Google

Google has taken over the internet since their creation in 1998. Their creative thinking and innovation have made them the powerhouse they are today. So what exactly is the secret to their success? Is it their programming, employees, constant release of new products?

Physics of the Impossible, Michio Kaku

Physics of the Impossible

Michio Kaku is a world renowned physicist, who in this lecture, will show you how ‘magic’ can become fact. Whether it is warp drive, invisibility, or teleportation you are fascinated with, Kaku shows that the worlds of Harry Potter and Star Trek are not too far from becoming reality.

Dale B Martin New testament History

26-lecture course: Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (RLST 152)

This course studies the origins of Christianity by using the New Testament and other literature for historical context. The course does not use the New Testament as for theological purposes, but rather as a source for historical study.

Matt Ridley, When Idea Have Sex

When Ideas Have Sex

Forget IQ. It is a concept that has become irrelevant, says author Matt Ridley. It’s how well people communicate their ideas that makes us intelligent. By communicating effectively, our ideas are able to meet and mate — a natural selection of thoughts that weeds out the bad ones — which expands our collective brain.

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