OM Director's Update from Lawrence Tong, International Director

OM Director's Update from Lawrence Tong, International director

Many teachers who will be leading classes remotely are building colorful virtual environments for their students featuring avatar versions of themselves. Some districts are even mandating trainings on how to create them.

Penn State Shenango hosts the 13th annual Dr. Jane A. Williams Memorial 5K run/1 mile walk on campus on Saturday, Oct. 12.

A pair of multidisciplinary faculty members at Penn State Shenango received an Advancing Equity and Inclusion Grant from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence to help fund a series of four online workshops focused on project-based learning. 

Education Week sat down with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten for a conversation about the recent wave of teacher activism and how the unions are preparing for the Janus decision.

In the wake of the 'Janus' Supreme Court case, teachers' unions are facing more than a dozen legal challenges backed by right-leaning groups that could further dampen their membership numbers and finances.

"This lawsuit will enable teachers like me to recover the agency fees that we were wrongly forced to pay against our will," said one of the plaintiffs.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case that held the potential to deal a further blow to public-employee unions after last year's "Janus" decision.

Veteran reporter Debra Viadero invites researchers to scrutinize her decades of reporting for racial bias.

The National Labor Relations Board unanimously declined jurisdiction Monday in the case involving Northwestern University football players attempting to unionize.

An Illinois judge has dismissed the nation's first class-action lawsuit against a state high school association over its handling of concussions, ruling that it had made strides in that regard since the filing of the lawsuit.

A Los Angeles judge ruled that a teenage football player may proceed to trial against the national Pop Warner organization, four years after he suffered an on-field injury that left him a quadriplegic.

OM Japan Tsunami April Update

Since it was announced publicly that OM Japan were ready to receive volunteers, many people wrote to express interest and requested for more information. This past week (23 - 27 May), OM Japan took their first volunteer group, consisting of 3 foreigners and 4 Japanese to Miyagi prefecture to help with clearing up rubble and bringing encouragement.

OM Japan feels honoured to have played a small part in helping bring hope and relief to tsunami survivors.

Seeing an opportunity to talk about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, the staff at SonRise Café in Tokyo sells Easter eggs before Easter.

At a recent event to build relationships, OMer Chris guides participants through the process of making juggling balls before teaching them how to juggle.

OMer Chris Griffioen was asked to perform a juggling show at an elderly care facility, and has since been invited to visit regularly.

Responding to God’s call to reach out to survivors of the 2011 tsunami in the Tohoko region, OM Japan starts a ministry called 4 Friends Network.

No studies sufficiently answer the question, finds the GAO, which means debates over whether newer restorative-justice approaches help or harm safety are likely to continue.

At present we reward quantity, not quality. The door could be opening for that to change, argues Johan Fourie.

It's unrealistic to expect anyone to invest totally dispassionately. But there are ways to transform risk, writes Hannes Viljoen.

The combined efforts of trade unions, activists and other heroes over decades paved the way for the glory of the latest Bok win, writes Terry Bell.

Scholars have identified several reasons why cities want to host the Games, and there's little evidence to support some of the claims. But that doesn't mean it's not worth doing, says Johan Fourie.

The two-day event, now in its third year, offers workshops on mental health and burnout, time-management and goal-setting, and strategies for navigating toxic workplace environments.

Education groups filed a brief expressing concern that excluding undocumented immigrants would affect census numbers used in several federal education funding programs.

The 2016 National Teacher of the Year will represent Connecticut’s 5th district, becoming the first African-American woman from the state to serve in Congress.

Kacey Harper, a third-year corporate communication major at Penn State Schuylkill, discovered her passion for the field after initially considering marketing. She honed her skills through various leadership roles on campus and a hands-on internship with Schuylkill United Way. Harper is eager to pursue a career that allows her to make meaningful contributions, and she encourages others to gain as much professional experience as possible through Schuylkill’s Co-Op program.

D.J. Higgins, a filmmaker and assistant teaching professor of film/video and music at Penn State Schuylkill, has directed and produced award-winning films, including his feature film "The Documentary," which won The Mike Vezza Experimental Award. Additionally, he is leading a community course on mental health in cinema, fostering dialogue on social issues. Higgins’ work in teaching, filmmaking, and local arts underscores his influence in both education and the arts.

Two Penn State Great Valley graduate students are collaborating with faculty — who received a University Presidential Public Impact Research Award — to conduct a research project that will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze demographic data to help predict and prevent opioid deaths. 

Medical imaging is no longer in Kansas, Toto, as a team led by Penn State researchers brings traditional black and white diagnostic images of X-rays and traditional CT scans into technicolor. The researchers developed novel contrast agents that target two proteins implicated in osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease commonly characterized as wear-and-tear arthritis.

When the brain experiences an injury, it can be difficult to definitively diagnose a concussion as the trauma is often limited to inside the skull and cannot be accurately assessed, according Reuben Kraft, a professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State. Kraft's research team is using computational methods and tools — such as custom mouthguard sensors — to model and predict injury in the human brain. 

Stefano Terlizzi joined the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering as the John and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor on July 22. In this Q&A, Terlizzi talks about his research background and interests, why he chose Penn State and more.

Richard Wilson has been named the fall 2024 student marshal for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at Penn State. He will receive a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Penn State College of Engineering with a minor in military studies.

The hiring pool improved for schools when the recession squeezed teachers, study finds.

Students are learning how to research and write scripts, hone interviewing techniques, and edit video footage, and some teenagers are even earning certifications in media technology.

U.S. Department of Education money will help public television develop projects promoting math and literacy for children ages 2 to 8.

Alaina G. Levine, president of Quantum Success Solutions LLC, professional speaker, STEM career coach, and author, will give the fall 2024 A. Dixon and Betty F. Johnson Lecture in Scientific Communication at 7 p.m. on Nov. 21 in 100 Thomas Building on the Penn State University Park campus. The free public lecture is open to the Penn State community.

The Penn State Climate Consortium has awarded funding to four research projects that look to put promising climate solutions into action through interdisciplinary partnerships. 

In 2014, Jane Cook joined the second-ever training class of Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward volunteers. She was already active in the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association, but since then, she has logged more than 1,000 volunteer hours educating the public and restoring local watersheds.

Joyce Henri Robinson has been named interim director of the Palmer Museum of Art, effective Dec. 1. She has been a curator at the Palmer since 1997 and has served as assistant director since 2018. Erin M. Coe, director since 2017, is stepping down to become the executive director of the Rockwell Museum (a Smithsonian Affiliate) in Corning, New York. A national search will be launched for a new permanent director.

Michael Pittaro, director of corrections for Northampton County and associate professor of criminal justice at American Military University, shared stories about his experiences over his 35-year career in the field of corrections with Penn State Lehigh Valley criminal justice students recently.

Penn State Lehigh Valley criminal justice program adjunct instructor Corallys Fernandez's work in the juvenile probation field was recently recognized on a state level.

Three artists whose work examines the ideas of social justice, civic engagement and democracy will be featured in an exhibition at the Ronald K. DeLong Gallery at Penn State Lehigh Valley from Nov. 18, 2024, to Jan. 23, 2025.

The pound stabilised on Friday after a volatile few sessions, but still headed for its longest stretch of weekly losses in nearly six years, as political and monetary uncertainty has prompted investors to favour the dollar lately.

The latest investment insights and market developments.

The Richard King Mellon Foundation recently awarded $392,000 to Penn State to build a strong science- and technology-focused workforce in the state’s Mon Valley region through collaboration and virtual, augmented and mixed reality trainings and tools.