Educational Technology

By Alex Wilhelm, the Next Web

Amazon is sticking to its ereading guns and pushing the envelope with devices that some call out of date. In the face of the iPad, Amazon’s newest Kindles were more of the same, matching their predecessors ideas but adding in upgrades to the mix with lower prices. As it turns out, most of the pundits were wrong to say that Amazon needed to shake up their hardware, the newest Kindles with their black and white e-ink displays are a huge hit (yet again) with consumers around the world. According to Amazon “the new Kindles [are] the fastest-selling ever.” In other words, Amazon is not falling behind by pushing e-ink, they are accelerating.

http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2010/08/25/amazons-new-kindle-is-a-smashing-success/

By Alex Wilhelm, the Next Web

If this is true, we may be looking at a real resurgence by Microsoft in the browser wars. It could be that the much beleaguered Internet Explorer is on the route to becoming usable, if you can believe it. ZDnet managed to snipe a screenshot and the text from a Microsoft Russia post about the upcoming Internet Explorer 9 before it was pulled from the website.

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2010/08/25/is-this-what-internet-explorer-9-will-look-like/

by Apple

In just over three years, iTunes® U downloads have topped 300 million and it has become one of the world’s most popular online educational catalogs. Over 800 universities throughout the world have active iTunes U sites, and nearly half of these institutions distribute their content publicly on the iTunes Store®. New content has just been added from universities in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and Singapore, and iTunes users now have access to over 350,000 audio and video files from educational institutions around the globe.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/08/24itunes.html

by Carly Weeks, Globe and Mail

We’ve come a long way since the days when a child standing in front of a microwave oven was a parent’s biggest worry over potential radiation exposure. The massive growth in cell phones, computers and other electronic devices has prompted a new wave of concerns that children are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. While most of those concerns have centred on cell phones, now a growing number of parents and other citizens are raising the alarm about wireless networks. The issue taps into common fears that technological innovations come with serious drawbacks. But many leading health organizations and experts say there’s no solid science to back up the concerns. It’s a major debate that doesn’t seem to have a resolution on the horizon.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/wi-fi-in-schools-spark-parental-fears/article1675037/

By NATALIE HAYES, Skokie Review

When freshmen students enter through the doors of Niles West and Niles North High Schools for the first day of school Tuesday, they’ll be equipped with a new piece of technology that will forever change the way District 219 students learn in the classroom. As part of District 219’s Anywhere/Anytime Learning Initiative, which aims to integrate a higher level of technology-based learning into the classroom, each student will receive a brand-new Dell Mini Netbook computer that they can use at any time.

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/skokie/news/2605486,skokie-d219laptops-081910-s1.article

By Caryl Davis, Journal-Sentinel Online

During my time as an educator, I found that computer technology heightened students’ engagement in learning tasks. When interacting with the computer, students appear to blend into and take complete ownership of their learning. It was incredible to watch. Many school districts have found value in mobile technology. In the 1990s, when personal digital assistants were making their appearance, some schools used school-specific PDAs so that students could keep track of school schedules, assignments and extracurricular activities. Technology has grown tremendously, and mobile devices literally offer the world at our students’ fingertips. But do our children and adolescents need that much unsupervised power during the school day? Are we prepared for the YouTube backlash?

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/100805274.html

By Jennifer R. Lloyd, Express-News

Drivers may not be allowed to hold a cell phone and chatter while wheeling through a school zone, but at least two area districts have decided to welcome the mobile devices indoors for students to use for educational purposes. While most area school districts maintain policies that ban students from using cell phones on campus, a few districts are breaking the mold and beginning to admit smart phones into the classroom as an educational tool on a par with a classroom computer. Though some may think the change will invite distraction, inappropriate texting or cyber bullying into study sessions, others see the move as a way to teach technological skills while addressing those negative issues head-on.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/cell_phones_head_to_class_100739394.html

By ALYSSA DIZON, AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Area schools like Hale Center High School are working to transition from physical textbooks to electronic books for the upcoming school year, but none will be completely bookless just yet. As HCHS students begin this school year, they will not only step into a brand-new building, but they will also step into a new one-to-one laptop program. “What a great thing for our kids today because every child is into technology,” said Rick Teran, Hale Center ISD superintendent. “Technology is what these kids enjoy so bringing that product to the classroom and giving it to the kids — it should just enhance their education.”

http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2010-08-16/e-books-may-be-future-schools

By Matthew Miller, ZD Net

This summer’s Back to School Guide for portable media players (music and video) is virtually the same as my last fall Holiday Guide, with one major addition that has taken over as my personal video player and web browsing device. There have not been many new products released in the portable media space and the Apple iPad has not yet been challenged by any other tablet device, but may see some challenges this coming holiday season from Android with the promise of a Palm webOS tablet coming in 2011 from HP.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-gadgeteer/back-to-school-guide-2010-digital-media-players/3743

Kathryn Roethel, San Francisco Chronicle

The 91 students entering Stanford University’s medical school this fall will receive free iPads instead of reams of coursework, a move that administrators hope will improve the learning experience and also cut the school’s paper use.  “Students in the classroom and the clinic will be able to search for information in real time and use it to solve problems they encounter,” said Dr. Charles Prober, the senior associate dean for medical education.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/15/BAD81EQI50.DTL

By Jessica B. Mulholland, Converge

The iPad is the hottest tablet to be carrying around. And soon, first and second graders at Burley Elementary School in Chicago will be carrying them around the classroom. Burley, a literature and technology magnet within Chicago Public Schools (CPS), will use the iPads to differentiate instruction according to individual need, and encourage critical thinking through multimedia apps and collaborative tools. This could include using apps such as Question Builder, which helps elementary-aged children learn to answer abstract questions and create responses based on inference, and iWriteWords, which teaches handwriting.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/CPS-iPad-trial.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

With a $400,000 U.S. Education Department grant, several universities will design interactive software to help children with different learning abilities and needs learn about science. The Interactive Field Investigation Guide (iFIG) software will meet the needs of all learners, particularly urban students who struggle to learn with traditional text-based instruction. And those children will access digital content and analyze real-world data with mobile devices that run on Apple’s iOS platform.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/Interactive-Software.html

By Dan Benson, Sheboygan Press

Many students at Plymouth High School will be ditching some of their books this fall to spend more time on the Internet, and school officials are perfectly fine with that. It’s part of a new program in which all Plymouth High School students by next year will be equipped with a mini-laptop computer, known as a Netbook, at the school district’s expense. Doing so will help prepare students for the 21st century and save the cash-strapped school district some money, officials say. “We think we can meaningfully engage young people in learning with tools that will be a major part of their life and tools they are familiar with,” Plymouth Superintendent Clark Reinke said.

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100815/SHE0101/100814076/-Cloud-computing-not-page-turning-the-assignment-for-Plymouth-High

By Craig S. Semon, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

If an army of robots comes knocking on your door someday in the not-too-distant future, they might be powered by the brainwaves of Michael D. Willard. Mr. Willard, 23, of Sturbridge, was part of a four-member Northeastern University undergrad team that created a “Steady State Visually Evoked Potentials — brain-computer interface” that can control the movement of a robot using signals produced by his visual cortex (in other words, brainpower). This cutting-edge technology went on to win first prize in the university’s electrical and computer engineering capstone project competition last semester.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100815/NEWS/8150384/1101

By Adam Duvernay, Shreveport Times

Today, Louisiana House Bill 1259, becomes law, putting the state among 30 with some form of legislation targeting those engaging in cyberbullying in all its forms. Separated from an existing law covering cyber stalking, the cyberbullying law focuses on addressing children using the Internet to taunt and harass other children. “Cyberbullying is the transmission of any electronic textual, visual, written or oral communication with the malicious and willful intent to coerce, abuse, torment or intimidate a person under the age of eighteen,” according HB 1259, penned by state Rep. Roy Burrell, who is running for mayor of Shreveport.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100815/NEWS01/8150327/La-cyberbullying-law-takes-effect

by Casey Ferrand, KTBS

Students and teachers at Plain Dealing’s high school are experiencing a new way of learning that incorporates technology in an exciting way. The north Bossier Parish school — now called Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing — is among nine public schools in Louisiana to incorporate the new technology, school administrators said. New Tech’s major focus is on project-based learning, which uses technology to engage students with issues and questions that are relevant to their lives. It provides one-on-one student-to-computer ratio, and students work in teams to create things like presentations, designs, plays and short stories.

http://www.ktbs.com/news/24621723/detail.html

by Michelle Hather, the Guardian

What has happened to my family? We’re in danger of never speaking to one another again … I’m not kidding myself that we’d normally be gathered round the dining table discussing anything meaningful – with teenage hormones raging and parental resentment kicking in, I’ve become adept at translating grunts. But I’ve suddenly realised these kids have sucked me into their hi-tech way of doing things. Now I’m communicating with them via message boards, phones and computers – just like their friends. Gone are the days when we tripped over each other in the kitchen or slumped happily against each other on the sofa to watch a family film. I should thank my lucky stars we had our children before the age of cheap laptops and mobile phones for primary school children, otherwise we might never have known those times.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/14/texts-twitter-email-children

by Katie Linendoll, CBS

No doubt your college-bound or college-returnee kid is on the cutting edge of technology, so why not send him or her to school in style, with the latest gizmos that’ll make his or her dorm room the best on the floor? On “The Early Show on Saturday Morning,” tech expert Katie Linendoll spotlighted some great gadgets that are perfect for the occasion – the newest and wackiest you never thought they’d need but that they’ll absolutely want — everything from pens that can record lectures to backpacks that can charge phones with solar power!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/14/earlyshow/saturday/main6772064.shtml

by Daniel Vasquez, Sun Sentinel Columnist

Smart phones, netbook and iPods are the new must-have school supplies Ask Brittany Phillips what back-to-school supplies she needs most, and the South Florida law school freshman quickly names three tech devices: a Dell netbook, an Apple iPod Touch and an iPhone. That’s not to say that course-related books, pencils and notebooks aren’t on her list, too. But tech items are becoming must-have supplies for students heading back to class this month.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-student-tech-vasquez-09156-20100813,0,4682876.column

By Sarah Collerton, Australian Broadcasting Co

The $120 million fund would replace the Australian Government’s Computers in Schools program. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will commit $120 million for the School Technology Fund, which would provide grants to schools to improve technology. Any school around the country would be eligible for the grants, which could pay for items like smart white boards, computers and digital cameras.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/13/2981625.htm?section=justin

by Joe Wolverton, II, New American

Pedagogy is defined as the art or science of teaching. In the age in which we live, there is as much of one as of the other in classrooms around America. Teachers and professors compete with a variety and availability of stimuli that would astound their predecessors of another time. The noble goal of educating the rising generation has come along way from the days of etching words on clay tablets. The tablet itself, however, may just now be coming into its own. Earlier this week, USA Today asked the question: “Can college students learn as well on iPads, e-books?” The iPad and its biggest rivals, Amazon’s Kindle and the Nook by bookseller Barnes & Noble, are being tested in schools and universities across the country and the measure of their success is still sketchy. That is to say, despite their flash, power, and popularity, these newest technological tools are still on academic probation.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/tech-mainmenu-30/computers/4270-ipad-on-academic-probation