Quick Hits (4.23.12)

Where a red solo cup proves useful inside a college classroom. The 24-hour Math Emporium, in a former discount department store, now houses computers equipped to teach introductory math to 8,000 students per year. Students come and go as they please, move at their own pace, and when they have a question, they place the red cup on top of their monitor. Education Sector’s Kevin Carey took a look at this computer-driven math program back in 2008. (Washington Post)

Oh, the irony. University of Florida’s announcement last week that it will cut its computer science program entirely, saving $1.7 million, combined with the news that the athletic budget will increase by $2 million, turned some heads. But as Steven Salzberg points out, the “real villains” are state lawmakers, who have cut funding for the university by 30 percent during the last six years. (Forbes)

Smile; you’re on candid camera. A teacher preparation program in New Hampshire will install video cameras and audio equipment in its pre-K classroom, so teachers-in-training can watch, and perhaps critique, themselves on tape. (Concord Monitor)

Early exposure. A Mississippi high school will start a vocational program for students who aspire to be teachers. High-schoolers in the two-year program will mostly shadow others teachers and assist. (h/t ASCD SmartBrief)(WLOX 13)