Educational Technology

By Laura Devaney, eSchool News

As part of the Obama administration’s emphasis on bringing education into the 21st century, it comes as no surprise that policy makers have trained their focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education as a way to give more students, especially girls and minorities, stronger global skills. And with this increased focus, some education experts say momentum is building for more recognition of the “T” and “E” in STEM–technology and engineering, two subjects often overlooked. In fact, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), part of the National Research Council, recently completed a report that surveys the extent and nature of efforts to teach engineering to K-12 students in the United States. The report is set to be released Sept. 8.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2009/08/14/momentum-building-on-stem-education/?ast=17

by eSchool News

For the first time ever, technological literacy will become part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, the test’s governing board has announced. Beginning in 2012, the test will measure students’ proficiency with technology in addition to reading, math, science, history, writing, and other subjects. The new test will mark the first time students’ technology literacy has been assessed on a national level.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/10/07/on-the-way-nations-first-tech-literacy-exam/?ast=18

by Literacy News

The classic picture of the ELT (English Language Teaching) classroom is one in which there are rows of desks, a blackboard, students, a teacher, paper and pencils. Even with the advent of instantaneous information via the World Wide Web, the ELT classroom remains relatively unchanged. However, the winds of change are upon the ELT profession. Many educators are now taking advantage of the vastness of the Internet. Moreover, most teachers are using the Internet for planning, research and the exchange of ideas. There is so much more to be found and used. If harnessed correctly and constructively, the Internet can be a priceless tool for the ELT classroom.

http://www.literacynews.com/2010/06/theoretical-and-practical-applications-of-emergent-technology-in-elt-classrooms-how-the-blog-can-change-english-language-teaching/

By Melissa Griffy Seeton, CantonRep

“Online learning is an education option that more and more students are using,” said Scott Blake, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education. At 16, Ritz graduated a year early — as a junior — thanks to accelerated online coursework. She could stay in bed on the days she wasn’t feeling well, and log onto her classes via computer when she was up to it. “It was a godsend,” said Lori Ritz, Danielle’s mom. “She stayed so much healthier because she was not around all of the kids that were sick (Danielle’s medications affect her immune system). And she could get caught up with her rest and do her school work at her own pace.”

http://www.cantonrep.com/carousel/x1980744292/Online-schools-growing-in-popularity

by Amy Hatch, Parent Dish

Alexander Lin is more than just a teenager interested in computers — he transformed his passion for technology into a cause that helps provide kids in his community and around the world access to computers, while at the same time creating a sustainable way to manage the disposal of electronic waste. Lin, 16, designed a computer donation and refurbishment program in his hometown of Westerly, R.I., and has established computer centers around the world. Under his guidance, more than 300 computers have been refurbished and donated to local students, and seven media centers have been established in the United States, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Cameroon, Kenya and the Philippines.

http://www.parentdish.com/2010/06/14/amazing-kid-teen-gives-kids-access-to-technology-with-computer/

By Garett Rogers, ZDNet

If you thought iTunes was convenient, wait until Google unveils their Google Music service. This service will likely work great without an Android device, but it really shines with one. If you own an iPhone, or an iPod Touch, you will know the drill. Download music on your home computer, then when you have some time, connect your phone and sync it up. Or, if you are on the go, you can browse the iTunes store directly from your phone and sync it up later. Google’s taking a bit of a different approach though. They don’t believe in wires — they think your phone should always be in sync with your Google account, over the air. When you visit the Google music store, you will be presented with a giant catalog of music that can be sent to your phone with a click of a button. No more wires needed, the songs you buy will begin downloading immediately on your phone.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/google-music-is-finally-on-the-way/2193

By Libby A. Nelson, Times-Tribune

“Cyberbullying didn’t exist a decade ago,” said Lynn Cromley, director of the Center for Safe Schools, an office within the state Department of Education charged with helping solve school violence. “Now it’s growing exponentially.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 35 percent of teens have experienced some kind of “electronic aggression,” threats, rumors or other bullying behavior expressed through cell phones or the Internet. Kids become less inhibited when using technology, Ms. Cromley said. They use harsher words than they might in person, and the insults can become sexual – “things they would never say face-to-face to each other,” she said.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/schools-grapple-with-growth-of-cyberbullying-1.844944

By Ruby Kagaoan, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Each student at Tagbilaran High School for the Hearing-Impaired has a Facebook account, according to Ramos. “They communicate with other students in other countries and their former schoolmates using the cam frog.” The school’s alumni now include three scholars at De La Salle College of St. Benilde, and two who are in California and one in Australia. Being connected online has enabled them to keep in touch and continue learning from each other. Darunday has now set higher goals for herself. “I want to learn more about computers. There are many things to learn through the computer. I want to enroll in Computer Technology at Cebu Technological University,” she signed when asked what she wanted to do next.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100614-275499/Web-makes-learning-easy-for-deaf-students

By Frank Konkel, DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

The New Technology High School at Pinckney Community Schools will open its doors to incoming students in the fall, but the district has already opened the school’s sophomore class to students outside the district through the Schools of Choice program. The school, one of six across the Michigan set to implement the modern, project-based curriculum for the first time in state history, has room to accept as many as 36 sophomore students to reach the maximum capacity of 120 students for that grade level. New Technology High School will provide each student with a MacBook laptop computer he or she will be free to use at school or home for the duration of the school year.

http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20100614/NEWS01/6140302/Tech+high+school+extends+reach

By DENISE M. BARAN-UNLAND For Sun-Times Media

Say “avatar” to 14-year-old Dirksen Junior High School students Ericka Jones and Ronald Love and they won’t mention the movie. Instead, they’ll talk about carnivals and wizards. They and the 48 other seventh- and eighth-grade Dirksen students learned how to manipulate Alice — a user-friendly, 3D graphics programming language — to create avatars. This program is part of the University of St. Francis’s partnership with this Joliet school. Other Dirksen scheduled field trips to USF this year included nursing; campus tours, art and design, TV and radio design lab; forensic studies; and music rehearsal. The trips were made available to a wide cross section of students.

http://tinyurl.com/2d4xw2v

by the Bend Bulletin

Bend-La Pine principals and district officials have puzzled over recent preliminary writing test scores showing students who took the online version of a state writing test scoring lower than students who completed a paper version. Some administrators have suggested various culprits, from a lack of spell-check on the test’s word processing program to students writing fewer drafts before turning in the test. But the preliminary test scores raise an issue about teaching writing, spelling and grammar in an age when students spend so much time on a computer.

http://www.mycentraloregon.com/news/state/ap/1217613/Students-writing-scores-lower-on-computer-tests.html

By Dan Hardy, Philadelphia Inquirer

This week, hundreds of seventh graders at Arcola have been learning to use digital microscopes, taking pictures of tiny organisms and printing them out at the end of class. Having students get their hands on the same kind of equipment used in college labs and industry is “unbelievable,” Arcola seventh-grade science teacher Peggy Greene said. “It definitely encourages the students to see that the microscope is a tool that can be exciting in learning science. . . . It makes them consider science as a real career opportunity or a real passion.” Students agreed. “It’s a good learning experience,” seventh grader Hannah O’Neill said. “It’s really great to use this cool piece of technology.” The Science in Motion premise is simple: Schools often can’t afford state-of-the-art scientific gear, costing thousands of dollars, that might be used only sporadically. Science in Motion buys the equipment and supplies, and lends them to schools that request them. Highly trained staffers often come along, introducing the technology and teaching students.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100612_Mobile_science_program_brings_high-tech_gear_to_schools.html#axzz0r3OmYoJq

by Eileen Curran, WBZ

It’s common for college students to have to have a laptop computer for school, but now some local high school students will be required to have one. Beverly High School will require all 1,200 students have an Apple MacBook starting in 2011. The town is building a brand new high-tech high school to open next year and school officials want every student to have the latest technology. “That’s the way their world is going,” said school superintendent Jim Hayes.

http://wbztv.com/local/laptops.for.school.2.1744890.html

by TMC net

The University of Alabama at Birmingham issued the following news release: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Sociology and Social Work will sponsor free XO laptop computer workshops for elementary school students and teachers from selected Birmingham City schools this summer.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/06/11/4841069.htm

By Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post

Under enormous pressure to reform, the nation’s public schools are spending millions of dollars each year on gadgets from text-messaging devices to interactive whiteboards that technology companies promise can raise student performance

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/10/AR2010061005522.html

By Dennis Wyatt, Manteca Bulletin

Manteca’s “Magic Bus” is not a salute to the rock-n-roll band The Who that popularized the song with that name. Instead, it is the Give Every Child a Chance’s Technology Outreach Bus that opens the world of the Internet and computers to the young – and this summer – the old alike. The bus is equipped with 10 laptop computers. Those computers – as well as the air conditioning – are run by solar power.

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/15074/

By Doug Gross, CNN

Worried whether your kids are being safe when they’re on the internet? So, apparently, are Facebook and the PTA. The national education group and the social-media giant announced a long-term partnership Thursday aimed at teaching children, parents and teachers about responsible internet use. The collaboration, set to be announced at the Parent Teacher Association’s national convention in Memphis, Tennessee, will establish a comprehensive program, on both Facebook and the PTA’s website.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/06/10/facebook.pta/

By David Talbot, Technology Review

OLPC may drop “$100 laptop” in an attempt to develop an innovative $75 tablet computer. The philanthropic organization One Laptop per Child (OLPC) never quite managed to hit its price point for its “$100 laptop,” but now the organization is sketching a concept for a $75 tablet computer that it hopes will further decrease power consumption and pioneer the first flexible LCD display. “A tablet is simpler than a laptop, so it’s easier to make a tablet cheaper,” says Ed McNierney, OLPC’s chief technology officer. But beyond that basic advantage, he says, the key to achieving super-low cost while also innovating is by working to establish common designs that can be broadly adopted and customized by other companies.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25482/

by the Green Bay Press

The Green Bay-De Pere YWCA will host TechGYRLS summer camp — a program aimed at keeping middle school-aged girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math — this summer. The two-week camp is open to girls entering sixth to eighth grades. Participants will explore robotics and computer animation and will complete science projects.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100610/GPG0101/6100511/TechGYRLS-camp-hosted-by-YWCA

by the BBC

In 1968, pop artist Andy Warhol declared that in the future everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes. As with many other predictions, it has not quite turned out like that. Some fear that given what technology is about to do to us, 15 minutes might feel like a blessed relief. Social networks such as Facebook and micro-blogging services such as Twitter have begun a trend which could see more and more of the information about us viewable more of the time. Add to that wider use of video cameras, sensors, RFID tags, geotags and other smart systems and we face a future in which we are under scrutiny all the time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10258636.stm

Republic of Macedonia leads the world in education transformation. NComputing, the world’s largest and fastest growing desktop virtualization company, today announced it has strengthened its partnership with the Macedonian Ministry for the Information Society. NComputing is to provide an additional 60,000 virtual desktops for deployment in Macedonian schools. This brings the total number of NComputing virtual desktops in Macedonian schools to 200,000. The move further delivers against Macedonia’s vision of providing One Computer for Every Student. As a result of the partnership between the Government of Macedonia and NComputing, virtually every elementary and secondary school student in the nation now has access to his or her own classroom computing device.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-computer-for-every-student-vision-nears-completion-after-three-year-partnership-between-macedonia-ministry-for-the-information-society-and-ncomputing-95750794.html