Blogs on Integrated Studies

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Michelle Hlubinka, the Education Director for Maker Faire and Make magazine.

Maker Faire is a combination DIY festival and project showcase, sponsored by Make magazine, where "makers" of all ages convene to show off a spectacular array of projects that combine science, art, performance, creative reuse, and technology in varying degrees. Not surprisingly, an increasing number of educators are getting involved in these events which are currently held in the Bay Area, Detroit and New York. There are also many independently organized Mini-Maker Faires around the country. Maker Faire Bay Area is this weekend, May 21 - 22nd.

Real World Reality Check

I fell in love with school when I found out about a hidden gem called the Team Program. The Team Program is a rare experiential wilderness education program designed to get juniors in high school out of the four walls they have been accustomed to in the traditional classroom, and into the real world. Twenty-four students from the three major public schools in my county are accepted each year into this public school program. The program is held at a small public high school and the diverse group of juniors spends the year there, before returning to their "home school."

Recently, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for a renewed emphasis on career and technical education (CTE) in America's schools. Not the old "vocational" approach, where some students are tracked to enter a trade upon graduation from high school, while others are prepared to enter degree programs in college.

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Jonathan T Bartels, a PhD student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who writes about education and technology at The Fraudulent Facilitator.