Educational Technology

By Carolyn Crist, Gainesville Times

A new kind of technology is invading Hall County schools. GIS, or geographic information systems, is a whole new way to bring mapping, cartography, demographics and GPS navigation into the classroom. But the teachers have to learn about it first. Professors in Gainesville State College’s Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis are teaching local elementary, middle and high school teachers about the software and equipment they can use to help students in environmental science, technology and business classes.

http://beta.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/35620/

by Canada NewsWire

Survey finds that 60 per cent of high school, college and university students experience stress related to computer speed. The majority of Canadian high school, college and university students experience frustration and stress as a result of computer delays and slowness, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Canadian students conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion and released today by Intel Canada. The survey findings show that upwards of 60 per cent of post-secondary students and more than half (55 per cent) of high school students experience this anxiety, which Intel coined the “hourglass syndrome”, in reference to the waiting associated with the spinning hourglass that appears on the computer screen while a computer sluggishly processes information.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/78221

By Daniel Paul O’Donnell, Edmonton Journal

A local high school asks you to speak to a graduating class about careers in the new digital economy. What would you urge them to study? Computer science? Engineering? Philosophy? Classics? Celtic studies? You might be surprised at how useful those last three could prove to be. Engineers and computer scientists are not the only ones who have played important roles in building our new digital economy; students of the humanities and social sciences have played an equally significant role.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Humanities+science+frontier/3303742/story.html

By Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Every semester a lot of professors’ lectures are essentially reruns because many instructors are too busy to upgrade their classroom methods. That frustrates Chris Dede, a professor of learning technologies at Harvard University, who argues that clinging to outdated teaching practices amounts to educational malpractice. “If you were going to see a doctor and the doctor said, ‘I’ve been really busy since I got out of medical school, and so I’m going to treat you with the techniques I learned back then,’ you’d be rightly incensed,” he told me recently. “Yet there are a lot of faculty who say with a straight face, ‘I don’t need to change my teaching,’ as if nothing has been learned about teaching since they had been prepared to do it—if they’ve ever been prepared to.”

http://chronicle.com/article/Reaching-the-Last-Technology/123659/

By Janese Silvey, Columbia Daily Tribune

Traditional freshmen entering college this fall were born in the early 1990s. They’ve grown up in a technical world where digital devices are as familiar to them as Dick and Jane readers are to baby boomers. When they get to campus this fall, those students will be required to buy bulky textbooks, even though most will read more Facebook statuses than pages over the course of the semester. Some will sit in lecture halls and be asked to follow along as a professor writes on a chalkboard. That should work out — with his back turned, the instructor won’t see them texting. Even if they land in a course where a professor uses computer presentations, most students will simply learn skills from yesterday’s marketplace for jobs tomorrow that don’t exist today. The University of Missouri System wants to close that gap between technological advances and traditional academia.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jul/18/um-system-aims-close-gaps/

By Maya T. Prabhu, eClassroom News

Teachers are using software such as Vantage Learning’s MY Access! to help their students improve their writing. While there are still many obstacles facing teachers in implementing technology, teachers play a critical role in driving the use of technology to teach writing, says a recent report by the National Writing Project (NWP) and the College Board. In the report, “Writing, Learning, and Leading in the Digital Age,” nine teachers—selected for their commitment to excellence and for a diverse set of disciplines, locations, kinds of schools, and student populations they represent—were observed by a writer for one day and then interviewed.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/07/18/technology-a-key-tool-in-writing-instruction/

By Laurel L. Scott, San Angelo Standard-Times

The speaker, Barbara-Jane Paris, the principal of Canyon Vista Middle School in Round Rock, said there are several reasons children won’t report abusive or threatening e-mails or other electronic bullying. They are afraid the abuse will get worse if they report it. They are afraid adults won’t take it seriously. They are afraid people will believe the lies or find out about truths they are hiding. They are afraid adults will make light of the situation: “Everybody gets bullied, just ignore it.” They are afraid adults will take away their cell phones or computer access to protect them.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/jul/16/cyberbully-forum-speak-up/

By Gracie Bonds Staples, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Helaine Becker, a fifth-grade teacher at Creek View Elementary in Alpharetta, described Camp TEACH as “a great collaboration of minds.” “Really, what I’m taking from this is ideas to get kids actively engaged in the classroom using technology to really enhance and deepen understanding rather than technology for technology’s sake,” Becker said. Studies, including one by the U.S. Department of Education, show that technology-rich schools generate impressive results for students, regardless of age, race and parental income. Those results include higher test scores, richer classroom content and improved student achievement, attitude and enthusiasm.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/students-teachers-attend-high-571352.html

By Jonathan Fildes, BBC

The original experiment let children interact with a PC via a hole in a wall A 10-year experiment that started with Indian slum children being given access to computers has produced a new concept for education, a conference has heard. Professor Sugata Mitra first introduced children in a Delhi slum to computers in 1999. He has watched the children teach themselves – and others – how to use the machines and gather information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10663353

by Gil Laroya, Huffington Post

In the 60’s, the technological revolution began to take shape in Silicon Valley. In the 70’s, technology became mainstream business. In the 80’s, technology became household and worldwide. In the 90’s, technology became evolutionary. And what we are witness to now, is technology becoming social. It was only a matter of time.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gil-laroya/the-redefining-of-social_b_648068.html

By Chris Jablonski, ZDNet.com

With the help of a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Stony Brook University will build what they call a “Reality Deck” capable of providing visitors with 1.25 billion pixels of information, approaching the visual acuity of the human eye, according to researchers.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/school-to-build-worlds-highest-res-holodeck-facility/2325