If you’re reading this, odds are you are not one of the 570,000 people in the U.S. infected with the DNS Malware Virus. Congratulations. Yet, while you can still surf around to your heart’s content, ISPs are working overtime to help those less fortunate users find their way back to the information superhighway.
This morning at 12:01 the FBI shut down its DNS servers, which were acting as the only path to the Internet for hundreds of thousands of computers. s reported by CNet, the whole problem goes back to an online criminal ring from 2007 that was tinkering with computers' settings and then directing users to rogue servers that the criminals had set up. These servers then re-directed users to malicious Web sites. Late last year, the FBI arrested the ring and seized the rogue servers. But since so many infected computers relied on the servers to reach the Internet, the agency opted not to shut them down and instead converted them to legitimate DNS machines. Due to the high cost associated with operating these servers, the FBI has decided to shut them down.
ISP are taking a proactive approach to the problem with Comcast has contacting users with infected computers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Verizon has lined up technicians who can help customers remove the virus and AT&T plans to redirect infected PCs to the correct Web sites.
People who are unable to get online should call their ISP to see if their computers are infected. CNET has also posted a how-to guide to help people detect whether their PCs are pointing to the DNSChanger network.
"The most outdated and destructive vestigial feature in the modern K-12 space is the emphasis on standardized testing along with the college admissions and enrollment processes which rely on these testing conventions. With the digital tools we have on hand, we could liberate children to experience and demonstrate their learning in far more compelling ways via live documentation of community-based or real-world endeavors." -- Lisa Goochee...
As a teacher of the gifted for many years, I’ve seen gifted kids stress out.
I remember the time a student began crying and screaming, saying her “parents were going to kill her” because she didn’t get all A's on her report card. One child would crawl under the desk and shake whenever he got less than a 90 percent on a test. Others would just break down, telling me...

Dr. Tracey C. Burns is a Project Leader at the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation,...
Enjoy Part II of A Facebook Fictional Writing Caper Lesson Plan posted last month here on Education World. Now you can build a complete Facebook lesson plan that suits your class and grade level.
Character Brainstorming (45...

Gifted children have been compared to cheetahs—a unique member of the cat family, that loses its ability to run fast if not used regularly. While I personally love Stephanie Tolan’s analogy (read it here), I would like to offer up a slightly different analogy, one that addresses a particular kind of gifted child.
Warning: this is not...

Born Siddhartha Guatama, the “Buddha”as he would later be known, was born a warrior prince in what is present day Nepal. Not wanting his son to see the outside world (which according to the story would cause him to transform into this enlightened being and leave the monarchy), the king built several walls around the kingdom and sheltered his son during the early years. But the...