In other news...

• eHub points visitors to TutorLinker, a web application that connects local tutors and students for free. (By the way, is it just my machine, or does the eHub site indeed take forever to finish loading!).  Anyway, TutorLinker utilizes Google maps to help tutors and prospective clients connect to each other.  As internet access continues to improve in Africa, we expect to see such linkages becoming commonplace, bringing us closer to the goal of universal access to education.  The NEPAD e-schools initiative and the OLPC program could be great platforms for launching and coordinating TutorLinker type services.
• Critical Math points to a Time Magazine article titled "How to bring our schools out of the 20th Century".  The main thrust of the article is that American schools need to foster the following "21st century skills" in their students: 1) Knowing more about the world; 2) Thinking outside the box; 3) Becoming smarter about new sources of information; and 4) Developing good people skills.  Though presented with an American audience in mind,  these ideas are applicable--with suitable adaptations--to other countries.  Interestingly, it turns out that Singapore, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and others have been practicing these methods for years already, with remarkable results.  Their students routinely outperform American students on science and math tests.  "Classes in these countries dwell on key concepts that are taught in depth and in careful sequence, as opposed to a succession of forgettable details so often served in U.S. classrooms."  A number of organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Asia Society are pouring money and expertise into model programs to follow these good examples.