TEAM T3 / Clarkston, Brandon, Holly, Waterford District (WIN Highly Coveted Chairman's Award)

FIRST Robotics Crowns Great Lakes Champs

You can read all you want to about a FIRST Robotics competition.

About how it brings teams of bright high school students together with science and engineering mentors. About how it shows them that science and engineering careers can be a lot of fun.

About how it celebrates science and technology -- and teamwork and perserverance and sportsmanship -- in an atmosphere reminiscent of a state championship athletic event. (Heck, even better, more like college -- with professional lighting, sound and announcers.) And about the way it celebrates and teaches skills that most students are likely to actually USE in their REAL LIVES, as opposed to the finer points of the goal-line formation or the pick and roll or the hanging curve ball, which only a tiny fraction of high school students will ever use in their professional lives.

But to really understand it, you have to go to a big regional competition. Which is exactly how I spent my Saturday at Eastern Michigan University, with about 3,000 other proudly nerdy robot fans at FIRST Robotics' Great Lakes Regional.

This year's FIRST game, called Overdrive, saw robots racing around a 27-by-52-foot racetrack.

Three robot teams make up a "red alliance," while on the other side three other teams make up a "blue alliance." To make the game more complicated, over the middle of the racetrack was an overpass on which were placed four giant Pilates balls, two for either alliance. Alliances earned bonus points for tossing the balls over the overpass, and at the end by placing balls back on the overpass. To keep the competition from becoming a simple demolition derby, there were penalties for excessive contact between robots -- some contact is allowed, but intentional ramming isn't.

For the first day and a half of round robin competition the alliances are thrown together on a random basis. The top eight teams in this round robin phase automatically advance to the quarterfinals.

Then, at noon Saturday, there's a bit of psychological drama, as the top eight teams ask two other teams apiece to join their alliance.

After that matchup session, there was an hour break before the quarterfinals began at 1 p.m. I spent that time in the pits, mostly with Team 27, called Team Rush, from the Clarkston schools and a math and science academy at Clarkston called OSMTech. This large group of several dozen students learns from mentor engineers and machinists. (That's the team pictured.)

In the end, after a day of competition that left judges and competitors exhausted and the robots sputtering, an alliance of Milford-Lakeland, Romulus and Novi high schools won the regional. They're now eligible for the national finals in Atlanta next month.

Runners-up were an alliance of Ypsilanti Willow Run, Utica and Madison Heights Bishop Foley.
In all 63 teams competed in the regional -- mostly from Michigan, but there were also teams from Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and even Santiago, Chile in South America.

Teams get six weeks to build their robot after receiving details on the current year's game in a kickoff video simulcast to sites around the country. The teams also pick up their starter parts at the January kickoff. All teams must stop working on their robots and lock them up after six weeks, eliminating any advantage from entering a later regional competition.

The folks from Team Rush told me it takes about $60,000 a year to field a competitive team, making finding sponsors crucial for most schools.

The games are designed by scientific luminaries such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Woody Flowers and NASA exploratory robotics director Dave Lavery.

The Great Lakes Regional was the last of four regionals held in Michigan this month. The first was for rookie teams only played at Kettering University; the second was the Detroit Regional at Wayne State; and the third was at Grand Valley State University March 20-22.

The Great Lakes Regional tends to draw traditionally strong teams – and in five of the last six years, an International Champion has come from the state of Michigan and gone through the Great Lakes Regional to get there.

Youth participants also compete for other awards, including for community service, marketing, web site design and computer animation – plus the ultimate Chairman’s Award, won Saturday by Team T3, a team comprised of students from a variety of Oakland County schools, including the Waterford district, Holly, Clarkston and Brandon.

CONGRATULATIONS to Kyle Hughes and TEAM RUSH of OSMTech at Clarkston High School!

More about the competition overall at http://www.usfirst.org/.

Renewable Energy Legislation / Update

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Renewable Energy Legislation Passes Michigan Senate

LANSING - Renewable energy legislation passed one house of the Michigan Legislature unanimously on Thursday, but it wasn't the wide-sweeping standard Gov. Jennifer Granholm and environmental groups have called for. The Senate approved SB 1000 on a 38-0 vote.

Supporters of the legislation that would require state government to purchase increasing levels of renewable energy said it was the first step towards a larger package and on its own would help stimulate the renewable energy industry in Michigan.

Also approved unanimously were bills creating tax breaks for using qualified energy programs and requiring electric utilities to offer green energy programs.

Senate Republicans said their bills were superior to measures under consideration in the House because they would promote development of renewable energy without adding costs to ratepayers.

Critics have charged that the more extensive renewable energy portfolio standards under consideration in the House could cost consumers as much as $8 billion over the long-term.

But Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) said critics of SB 1000 derided it, asking how little was the state willing to do on the issue of renewable energy. Sen. Patricia Birkholz (R-Saugatuck) said the measure was a first step towards more legislation, but that it would have a positive effect on developing the renewable energy industry by assuring there is a market for its generated power.

Under the bill, 3 percent of the energy purchased by the state in 2009 would have to come from renewable resources. That would increase to 10 percent in 2010, 20 percent in 2020 and 25 percent in 2025. However, the state would only be required to purchase the power if its cost was within 5 percent of the cost of non-renewable energy. Also approved was SB 1041 that requires all electricity providers to offer customers the ability to purchase power through renewable resources.

However the companies would also have to report on the different costs of renewable and non-renewable energy on a customer's bill and tell them that a tax credit is available. SB 1040 would create an income tax credit that would allow an individual to claim up to $200 a year to offset the cost of green energy.

Since some 20,000 homes in the state now participate in the programs that are available, the proposal could cost the state revenues about $4 million a year. The measures drew praise, though some of it muted.

The MI Energy Future group, which includes businesses, environmental and agricultural groups calling for a 10 percent renewable standard by 2015, called the bills a signal that "renewable energy is at the central pillar of our policy going forward.

" Marty Kushler of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy said the measures were "fine, as far as it goes." But the bills were more symbolic than anything else because it would involve less than 1 percent of the state's total energy usage.

But David Waymire, speaking for the Customer Choice Coalition, called SB 1000 the "perfect bill," because it is simple and easily understandable. "It shows exactly how good policy can work when leadership lets it," he said.

BEGINNING is THE ONLY OPTION!

Quitting is NOT AN OPTION!

Our Rural "Small School" Execution!

PUBLISHED: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Ortonville mill addition will house more history

By KAREN AUCHTERLONIE
Of The Oakland Press

Ortonville's Old Mill will boast 1,600 square feet more of historical displays, thanks to a $35,000 addition that should be open to the public in May.

"We've been working on it every weekend," said Dean Salley, president of the Ortonville Community Historical Society. "We hope to have it open and ready to go by the middle of May."

The society planned the addition to be large enough to house Ortonville's first motorized fire engine, which will be on display when the addition is finished.

"The fire engine has been in storage for many, many years. (Brandon Township) Fire Chief Robert McArthur made me aware that it was available and he'd be willing to put it on display," Salley said.

Though the society has been discussing an addition to the mill for the past four years or so, finding out the 1920s fire engine could be displayed spurred members to start construction, Salley said. Construction began in spring last year.

"It's replacing a much smaller shed that was hooked on to the mill and built in 1943," Salley said.
The shed's condition had deteriorated severely in recent years, and since it was an add-on from the 1940s, it didn't have the same historic value that other buildings on the property have.

The first mill, which no longer stands, was built by Ortonville's founder, Amos Orton, in 1852. Because of its success, Orton built a larger mill in 1856.

"He built the building we're in now, and all the lumber that it was built with was harvested right on the property here," Salley said.

"Some of the boards in here are 3 feet wide. At that time, the tree was probably 300 to 400 years old."

The new addition is located where the shed used to be, on the back of the west wing of the building. It has two levels, and the fire engine will be displayed on the lower level.

Since the engine still runs, it won't be difficult to get it in the new addition.

"It'll be driven right in off the yard, through two big doors. It'll be there, along with artifacts from when Ortonville used to have its own police department. Those will all be new things that have never been on display before," Salley said.

Artifacts from when the community's first Boy Scout troop began in the 1920s also will be on display.

In the upper level of the new addition, artifacts and photos of historic Ortonville buildings including a doctor's office, drugstore and bank will be showcased.

"We have the vault door off the original bank that was here and also some artifacts from the hotel before it burnt down," Salley said.

The historical society also plans to display its extensive collection of graduating class pictures.

"We have almost every class picture from 1896 until now," Salley said.

Many of the pictures are of students who attended the Mann School house, which was moved and rebuilt behind the Old Mill in the late 1990s.

"There's something for everybody to see," Salley said.

In warmer months, the Old Mill is open for free tours from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed in the winter because there is no insulation in the walls to keep the Mill warm.

The society has not yet decided when to reopen the Mill for tours. It may be open in April, depending on how much work is completed on the addition, said Marilyn Salley, treasurer for the society.

Contact staff writer Karen Auchterlonie at (248) 745-4643 or karen@oakpress.com .

Not on the Test

Technology Counts 2008 Report (Michigan)

State of Michigan
http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/tc/2008/30MI_STR2008.h27.pdf

MANN the Schoolhouse

The Little Schoolhouse in Ortonville Michigan that could Change YOUR Mind!

Michigan Energy RPS Legislation / Update

MSU Study Disagrees With Cox On Energy Standard

The Michigan State University Land Policy Institute begs to differ with Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox.

Cox has announced his opposition to proposals for a Renewable Portfolio Standard mandating that Michigan utilities must generate a given percentage of their power from renewable sources.

Cox said the proposal would cause electricity prices to rise, and provide few new jobs.

However, a Land Policy Institute study -- available at www.landpolicy.msu.edu/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=60 <http://www.landpolicy.msu.edu/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=60 -- shows that with a Michigan RPS, wind power alone in Michigan would produce 1,100 construction jobs per year for the next two decades, 218 permanent jobs related to the management and maintenance of wind installations by 2010, and 3,010 permanent, continuing jobs related to the management and maintenance of wind installations by 2029.

The study also says the RPS would cause $1.25 billion per year in construction-related new investments and spending in Michigan over the next two decades, $464 million in continuous annual spending in maintenance and management by 2010 and $4.4 billion by 2029, $21 million per year in new construction wages for the next two decades, $7.6 million in permanent annual wages by 2010 and $96 million by 2029 and $4.8 million in lease payments to landowners per year by 2010 and $47 million per year by 2029.

"The Lean GOING GREEN COLLAR Learning Machine!"

Going green can help grow new jobs

BY DOUG ROTHWELL and RICHARD E. BLOUSE • March 23, 2008

The many "green" initiatives that are springing up within the business community and government are more than just a fad or public relations gimmick. For southeast Michigan, the robust emphasis on going green holds a lot of potential for the region to grow jobs and diversify its economy.

In particular, the Detroit region's deep history of research and development as the brain center of the global automotive industry puts it in a prime spot to capitalize on the push to develop cleaner alternative energy sources. This area has a wealth of talent, education institutions and businesses that are ready and willing to create the next generation of clean energy.

Making the Detroit region a major hub of the alternative energy industry will take strong public and private partnerships. Michigan U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow clearly understands this; she recently introduced a $3.5-billion Green Collar Jobs Initiative that, if enacted, will provide federal funding for energy efficiency and conservation, advanced battery production, retooling older manufacturing plants, biofuel production and employment training.

The initiative can be a critical funding source for southeast Michigan to reconstitute existing manufacturing facilities, spur research and development, and commercialize technologies that will produce the next generation of clean fuels. The Detroit region has always been the home of the automobile, and this proposal will make crucial investments in an industry that is racing to create more alternative energy vehicles. Such an investment in the budding green industry will create thousands of local jobs.

Stabenow is taking the right approach by providing incentives for the private sector to develop and utilize cleaner energy sources, rather than imposing mandates on businesses that will result in job losses and put the nation at a competitive disadvantage with other countries. These types of innovative solutions and policies are unfortunately more the exception to the rule than a standard operating procedure for government.

The Green Collar Jobs Initiative is a good example of aligning sound public policy with smart economic development strategies. It will help leverage our assets as the global automotive center so the region can capitalize on the emerging green industry. The result will be more jobs and greater economic diversification for southeast Michigan.

DOUG ROTHWELL is president of Detroit Renaissance and RICHARD E. BLOUSE is president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. Write to them in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com .

WATER WORLD! (Sustainable GREAT LAKES Laboratory)

RON DZWONKOWSKI

With water, state can boost economy and help the world

BY RON DZWONKOWSKI • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • March 23, 2008
Saturday was World Water Day, so designated by no less a body than the United Nations to call attention to the global water crisis. But you probably didn't even notice. And why would you? Hereabouts, we are relatively awash in the stuff that most of the people on the planet scrounge for daily.

While we worry about what low levels in the Great Lakes may mean for boat launching, people in much of the world would die, or kill, for access to a body of water the size of Lake Huron at its shallowest point of the last century.

Almost 10 years ago, I wrote a column about a then-new book called "Tapped Out: The Coming World Crisis in Water," by Paul Simon, the former U.S. senator from Illinois who died in 2003.

Today, Simon's crisis is no longer coming. It's here, mainly because the world has done little about it. The global population keeps growing, but its sources of water for drinking and sanitation do not. Thousands of people die each day from dirty water, most of them children; one in five people around the world has no access to safe water.

And yet we invest far more resources looking for new pools of oil while continuing to waste or misuse unfathomable amounts of freshwater, which is much more essential to life. If you don't have oil, you walk. If you don't have water, you die.

And water tensions are building.

"Too often, where we need water we find guns instead," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the World Economic Forum. "Population growth will make the problem worse. So will climate change. As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. Many more conflicts lie just over the horizon."

Now, the higher the profile of world water issues, the more interesting the world becomes for Michigan, since we are, after all, a pair of peninsulas jutting into the world's largest supply of freshwater. But short of selling it like oil, which we are not going to do, how do we turn all this water into economic growth?

By developing here the world's best methods for saving it. Water technology has become a $400-billion global industry. And in addition to that economic potential, the more Michigan can lead the way on conservation techniques, the less pressure there is likely to be to tap the Great Lakes. Saving water shows how we value it. The best way to keep unwelcome hands off your best resource is to be a good steward of it.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York -- the one in Ben Stiller's "Night at the Museum" movie out last summer -- has a special exhibit on the world water crisis running through May. A visit reinforced my view that the most effective water strategy is conservation -- saving every ounce, using every drop, reusing as much as possible.

Desalinization of sea water, which seems so logical given the expanse of the oceans, is expensive, uses lots of energy, and leaves piles of salt. There's a desalinization plant in Australia that's powered by 98 wind turbines, which answers the power problem but takes up lots of space and still leaves all that salt -- in a place that doesn't need it for the roads.

Water conservation is not rocket science.

Steve Safferman, for example, is a bio-systems and agricultural engineer at Michigan State University who's working on projects to show how water can be recycled on farms after the dairy barns have been washed down.

"We're doing water use assessments at food processing plants, too," he said in a conversation last month. "They don't think about water use because it's from a well, but pumping it up takes electricity, so there's a saving there, too."

And if agriculture officials from around the world are coming to Michigan to learn how to save and rescue water, that can only be a good thing.

The Brookings Institution think tank, in a recent report, describes the Great Lakes region as "the largest freshwater laboratory on Earth."

"The region has the opportunity to be the global center point for developing the new and needed ideas, tools and technologies and practices around freshwater use and management that can be shared and exported to the world," according to the Brookings experts.

This could be not only lucrative, but a flat-out good thing to do, too. Can the state that put the world on wheels now help it stay afloat, hydrologically speaking? That would be tapping both the natural and human resources here.

And next year, what better place to invite the planet in to observe World Water Day?

RON DZWONKOWSKI is editor of the Free Press editorial page. Contact him at dzwonk@freepress.com or 313-222-6635.

One School House at a Time!

John Seely Brown - 2on Fòrum d'Innovació

Did You Know III-Updated June 2007

The various "Did YOU Know" videos have been "posted" here before BUT THIS MESSAGE is well worth repeating!

Behold Students 2.0 (In their OWN Words)

Students 2.0

Mini-Term: Dropping the Schedule

Posted: 05 Mar 2008 02:10 PM CST

A few weeks ago, my school embarked on a grand experiment entitled mini-term. Rather than have 6 classes per day, rather than divide learning into 45 minute blocks, we opened the schedule and challenged teachers to engage students in their passion. The experiment was, for most, a success and provided students wonderful opportunities to learn about and explore topics off the path of the normal curriculum as well as complete projects that could not be handled in a traditional classroom setting.

The Hard Details

Mini-terms were taught by teams of two or three teachers. These teachers were encouraged to teach their passion and were free to design their courses around topics of their choosing, with an emphasis on cross-departmental work. The only guidelines for teachers were broad such as a required reading and writing component. The classes ranged from 18 to 25 students each from all four grade levels and met all day, every day for a four-day week. Students selected their top 6 choices, and were sorted into classes accordingly. Teachers were encouraged to take field trips, and engage in hands on projects.

My Experience

The class I participated in was called “Zen and the Art of Furniture Design”, it was taught my a science teacher (Mr. Skinner) with an independent passion for carpentry and an art teacher (Mr. Huber) with years of experience in scenic design and construction. Our class was one big project: design, build, and paint an Adirondack chair, bench and table. Our class was split into two groups of nine to each build one set of furniture.

The first day was spent on the design phase: modifying the stock chair design and planning paint schemes. For the design of the chair, the two groups took different approaches. The other group drew their modifications on the teacher provided plans and then built a scale model of their design. My group took advantage of my CAD skills to modify the original design and produce new drawings and renderings. For paint, each group was required to choose an artist and paint the furniture to resemble that artist. Part of my group spent the day researching and picking an artist, finding work by that artist, and finally tracing that work onto a scale plan.

As we were working through the process, we found many opportunities for incidental learning. One student taught another student drafting skills that were learned in our architecture course so that the original plans could be annotated. Another student experimented on the Wacom tablets in the art computer lab, learning how to control pen size in Photoshop using pressure, then tracing printed artwork into the computer. This learning was spontaneous, not assessed and in some cases not even visible in the final project, but it was learning through doing and the students left with a new skill.

The next day we moved into the shop and began the actual construction. This included ripping lumber, cutting boards to the correct length (and determining those lengths from the plans our group produced), sanding the boards, and assembling them into actual furniture. Due to my technical theatre background, I was right at home in the shop, but still I saw something that surprised me: 18 students all working — no breaks, no “we don’t have anything to do”, no “watch and criticize”, but 18 students all working towards common goals, and enjoying themselves at the same time. It was a truly breathtaking sight, students who had never touched a power tool in their lives were ripping lumber on a table saw and screwing boards together.

Finally, we were able to get dirty and begin painting. The artists in the group went to work tracing the outlines onto the furniture so that we could paint them in. With three students to a piece, we were all busy turning bare wood into a tribute to our artists, and learning about those artists at the same time by both reproducing their work and studying it to produce our color pallet.

We finished with about an hour left in the day. Just enough time to admire our work. After three days of hard work in the shop, we were all tired. But, I have never seen a prouder group of students. We moved the product of our hard work into the chosen spots on campus, and patted ourselves on the back for a job well done.

Why Mini-Term Was Powerful

I can honestly say that I have never had a more immersive learning experience in school. By allowing students to only focus on this one project they weren’t distracted and were well rested. The students were able to enjoy the Zen of the project - the beautiful, in the moment, experience of hard, dedicated work.

By giving students one overarching project, learning was able to happen through experience. Some of us learned about different artists while researching our paint scheme. Some of us learned about paint mixing and color pallets. We all learned how to solve the problems the project presented and the skills to face those problems in the future.

There was no grade, there was no homework, there was no test — the assessments were thrown out of the window. But, it was a stronger experience because of that. Students didn’t fear failure, they weren’t scared to learn something for the experience of learning. There was however a final product, and one that the students could be proud of. Every day, I experience the immense pleasure of seeing students sitting on the chair and bench that I helped build. And, that is something that I can be proud of. How often do our students get to be proud of their school work?

What I Would Change

I was fortunate to be in of the most successful mini-terms. The less successful classes seemed to be those that didn’t embrace the new format and attempted to fill the time with traditional classroom instruction. Students simply can’t sit at a desk for 6 hours a day learning about the same subject matter. Those mini-terms that realized this and used project-based learning to keep students involved provided the best learning experiences. I would work to ensure that this was the case across the board.

I would also include students in the planning and teaching of the mini-terms. One of the best things about my mini-term was that once the initial instructions were given, a large portion of the learning was student-to-student. Each student was able to bring their own skill set to the table — whether it be in design, drawing, CAD, painting, or construction — and students taught these skills to each other. I would work to encourage student involvement in instruction earlier in the process. Students with an interest in teaching and passion for a topic could be provided the opportunity to work with their teachers on the design and execution of a mini-term.

Finally, and this is the smallest issue by far, I would work with teachers to eliminate the pre-break crunch that occurred before mini-term. With students over-burdened the week prior, they entered mini-term tired and resentful. While no other homework was assigned that week, fear over losing their students for a week caused many teachers to assign stealth homework in the form of overdue assignments created by the crunch.

Mini-term was a powerful experience for students and while many of them may not realize it yet, they will be able to build off of their experiences for the rest of their lives. The project truly embraced the kind of experiential and project-based learning we need to produce 21^st century students who can think creatively.

Society of Organizational Learning (SOL) Theory of U

Reflections from a One Room Schoolhouse

The end game for this vision is to create a short video that points up the importance of teaching and learning in the oldest objective learning environment in America "The One Room Schoolhouse."

Standing outside on a cold winters day looking through the window of a one room schoolhouse with the bright morning sun behind me, I saw my reflection in the schoolhouse windows and in that reflection I witnessed my soul’s ambition.

While simultaneously observing my reflection I began to see through it into the schoolhouse beyond. It was only then that I began to imagine a scene that had taken place countless times previously inside that schoolhouse.

This time school was in session circa the early 1900’s. There the older children were busy helping the younger children work through their math and reading problems, while the teacher tended to the fire in the potbellied wood stove. They’d been doing this since the school was started in 1849.

I closed my eyes and shook my head as though to clear any misconceptions of what I was seeing. Continuing my imagined gaze through the windows: what I saw really made my heart leap, although it shouldn't’t have come as any great surprise. For in it’s linear progression, as the natural course of learning is wont to do, the same group of students were again inside busy and animated, except this time it was present-day and they were taking part in their creative endeavors, connected with their peer’s all over the world.

They were utilizing real-time video conferencing and having lively discussions regarding a variety of subjects. Taken by what was a very captivating scene I journeyed inside and sat down. Observing that here were students from at least a dozen countries working together using advanced digital communications tools to attempt to solve some of the most complex societal problems and globalized economic challenges. These young student-scientists being not constrained by previous agreements and conventions, were free to convene all the empirical knowledge previously gathered and then to set about to freely interact with their peers from all corners of the globe solving a variety of natural and man made problems.

Sitting there mesmerized by what my eyes and heart had found I was brought from my reverie by what appeared to be a 5 year old child that handed me a virtual head-tracking helmet. She then explained the helmet would allow me to interact in virtual-reality with a student-designed Virtual Studio Laboratory taking place at the Michigan International STEM Center.

Additionally, if I selected the GREEN-STEM Center there were also a number of outdoor interactive real-world Alternative Energy projects (Wind, Water, Solar) that I could participate in. Whenever it was appropriate and applicable I could project my virtual-self so that unfettered communications and interactions could take place in real-time on scene. I was to the point of overwhelmed when the announcement came, that it was lunchtime. So bidding adieu to my virtual classmates we broke for lunch.

After partaking of a great lunch harvested from the schools greenhouse and fish ponds that the students designed and maintained, we then reconvened and the children felt it was time to have History class (probably for my benefit).

This class was a clarification of what they found had been missing from society from about the 1950’s thru 2008 when education in the United States had finally caught up with the 21st century. The open, honest and yet deep journey of discovery the lesson purveyed was one of great soul searching during and after the realization that America was no longer number one on the hit parade in the world order.

We discovered that the greatest vision the people world-over attributed to America was that it was founded on the belief that god created all men equal and America existed in people’s minds with the belief that the intent was to hold these truths to be self evident.

Somewhere along the way as an outcome of the industrial revolution, people became cogs to benefit a machine mentality and America foundered for some time. She foundered until enough people began to place an emphasis on creating real and relevant learning environments that transformed all of the pent up creative-drive of the populace and through a new agreement placed an emphasis on working collaboratively to identify and support the "Natural Capital" resources we have left on the planet.

This of course started with our children and their livelihoods, hence the need for improvement of educational opportunities that benefit all mankind and not just the bottom-line of a few disconnected stakeholders. The planet found out through these children that we are all stakeholders and it is in our best interest to work together or perish.

Roy Gould: WorldWide Telescope

Howard Rheingold: Way-new collaboration

Wind Powered (Robotics) "BLOWS" My Mind!