Philadelphia Metropolis

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A Cyber Future for Education

The John Paul II High School in suburban Montgomery County has all the bells and whistles of a brand-new school--including two cyber learning labs. Advanced Placement courses, once the bragging right of the highest functioning, best funded schools in the region, are becoming commonplace - thanks to the Internet. Students who once were on the verge of dropping out in the Octorara Area School District in Chester County are now making up lost ground - taking so-called credit recovery courses using school computers. (Comments)

Confessions of a Techno Dolt

By Tamara Kells» As a mom of three teens, I've relied upon them for most of my computer explaining needs.  I often call them my personal "Video Professors".  However, they are no longer amused, and have decided to throw me to the proverbial... (Comments)

Greening Philadelphia Tree by Tree

By Morgan Zalot William Penn's vision of a "Greene Country Towne" faded to black and grey long ago. Viewed from above, Philadelphia today has huge swaths of hot spots - where asphalt and concrete predominate and the color green is... (Comments)

Campaign 2010: The Race for Governor

By Craig Dimitri It appears increasingly likely that Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato will win  the Democratic gubernatorial primary on May 18.  With only a week to go, the most recent Rasmussen tracking poll shows Onorato with 34 percent in... (Comments)

My Life as a Telemarketer

By Joseph L. Covell It's your average grey January day in your average Philadelphia area neighborhood.  Going about your daily business, you are interrupted by the phone ringing off the hook. Stumbling to answer it, your eye notices the I.D.... (Comments)

Recent Entries

  • Why I Am 'Going Bamboo': I'm not sure which aspect of corporate America can be credited as the straw that broke the camel's back and made me decide to "go bamboo." Maybe it was the chorus of co-workers wishing me things like "Happy Friday" or chirping "Somebody could use another cup of coffee!" Maybe it was time I spent studying the walls of my cubical, attempting to conjure up ideas of how any postcard or picture could camouflage the plastic box I worked in. Most likely, however, it was the unenthusiastic chatter of my fellow 20-somethings every morning on the R5. IPod in ears, the front page of The Metro shielding their faces, they are daily ushered from the suburbs like unwilling passengers on the River Styx.
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  • The New Home Schooling: Like many Pennsylvania children, eight-year-old Venus Kennedy has just begun third grade, but not in a new and unfamiliar classroom. She is doing all of her schooling from the comfort of her family home near Temple University. Kennedy is among the thousands of youngsters in the Philadelphia region for whom the start of school this year means pulling up a chair in their living room, dining room or bedroom and logging on to a computer. They are attending virtual schools - a fast-growing trend in K-12 education, enrolling about 175,000 students nationwide and estimated 23,000 in Pennsylvania.
  • Finding the Right Cyber Charter: In the new world of public education - where choices abound - parents have to do their homework before picking a school for their child. That's doubly true for cyber charters, which promise a lot but sometimes don't deliver the goods when it comes to quality education. In this installment of The New Home Schooling, reporter Connie Langland offers tips and a list of sources on how to find the cyber charter that best fits your child's needs...
  • A Cyber Future for Education: The John Paul II High School in suburban Montgomery County has all the bells and whistles of a brand-new school--including two cyber learning labs. Advanced Placement courses, once the bragging right of the highest functioning, best funded schools in the region, are becoming commonplace - thanks to the Internet. Students who once were on the verge of dropping out in the Octorara Area School District in Chester County are now making up lost ground - taking so-called credit recovery courses using school computers.
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  • Confessions of a Techno Dolt: As a mom of three teens, I've relied upon them...
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