Educational Technology

By Gregg MacDonald, Fairfax County Times

The advent of social networking sites and text messaging has allowed young girls the opportunity to take on a role traditionally reserved for boys, experts say. The girls have become bullies — or, more specifically, cyber-bullies. The Virginia Department of Education defines cyber-bullying as “using information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cellphones, text messaging, instant messaging and Web sites to support deliberate, hostile behavior intended to harm others.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090102648.html

By Kaitlynn Riely, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

He showed a periodic table he had downloaded, with features that allowed him to click on each element for further information. He showed the texts of the Gettysburg Address and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” played a video presentation of the planets’ movements around the sun, described the graphing calculator he had downloaded for $1.99, and ran a clip from a Ken Burns documentary.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10245/1084330-55.stm

by Michael Rich, NCEN

Dr. Michael Rich, Director of Media and Child Health at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, says to put the computer in a public place so it’s easier to monitor what your child is doing. He says that fun internet activities, television, and movies should be things to enjoy after all of the day’s necessities are finished. Rich says it’s important to stress the usefulness of computers, and that the internet can be treated like a tool to get, complete, and connect with peers for homework.

http://www.necn.com/09/01/10/Kids-and-technology-how-much-is-too-much/landing_health.html?blockID=301990&feedID=4210

By Shruti Goutham, Daily News and Analysis

“It’s been years since I opened a real dictionary. I guess my vote goes to saving the trees.” This was one of many reactions on Facebook to the Oxford University Press’s purported decision not to publish the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as the print dictionary market is shrinking.

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_online-dictionaries-are-just-more-convenient_1434115

by Janet Murray, the Guardian

What does the next decade hold for learning and development? Undoubtedly, technology will have a crucial role to play, but with innovations being rolled out all the time, trying to predict what learning and development might look like in 2020 is a big challenge. One fascinating area of research is the development of implants that sit on the surface of the brain and connect directly to it. The idea that organisations could disseminate information via these neural implants might seem like the plot of a cheesy sci-fi movie, but, as Paul Fairhurst, principal consultant at the Institute for Employment Studies, points out, it is not as bonkers as it sounds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world-of-learning/future-learning

by Troy Krause, Redwood Falls Gazette

Mike Tromblee is on a mission. The new Redwood Area School District cybrarian and media center specialist wants to take technology education to the next level in the classroom. Technology, said Tromblee, is a significant part of education and always has been – whether one is talking about the advent of the chalkboard, the white board or the smart board. Being a school with all of the bells and whistles is not enough, he said. When it comes to technology, the value comes in helping teachers and students utilize it effectively.

http://www.redwoodfallsgazette.com/news/x1659463155/Meet-the-school-cybrarian

By Emily Anderson, GJ Sentinel

Textbooks can’t keep up when information changes as fast as technology allows. That’s why Shawn Gregg, a ninth-grade science teacher at Fruita 8–9 School, adapted his teaching techniques to keep up. Last year, his students viewed real-time geological data online and screened minutes-old footage of the Haiti earthquake to study plate tectonics. He regularly looks up information on the Internet to stay more current than many printed materials now can and, when possible, he incorporates into the learning experience the devices students have grown up with, such as cell phones. “I try to keep things as current and up-to-speed as possible,” Gregg said.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/technology_keeps_teachers_upto/

by ELLEN CIURCZAK, the Hattiesburg American

Two retired educators who never dreamed of computers in the classroom when they started out, are now helping Forrest County teachers to incorporate the latest technology tools into their lesson plans. “Paper and pencil are outdated,” said Debbie Rigby, 56, a 30-year teacher, who retired three years ago. “Technology is the way the world is,” said Yvonne Green, 54, a teacher of 27 years, who also retired three years ago. “Every student has a laptop in Japan.” Now Rigby and Green are working again, 20 hours a week, with Forrest County School District teachers at Earl Travillon Attendance Center and North Forrest High School.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100831/NEWS01/8310331

by Bill Graves, The Oregonian

Universities have in the last year been exploring electronic readers like Amazon’s Kindle for textbooks and other materials But the iPad has expanded the possibilities for more powerful and dazzling interactive textbooks with its color display, video, touch screen, Internet access and capacity to accommodate thousands of applications. Textbooks designed specifically for the iPad with 3-D illustrations, video lectures, interactive tests and links to the Internet already are beginning to emerge. The iPad and other electronic tablets like it coming down the pike may in a few short years start pushing paper textbooks into the academic backwaters of the slide rule and typewriter, college technology experts say.

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/08/george_fox_university_tries_ou.html

By Bridget Jones, Journal Staff Writer

A new program at Maidu High School in Auburn offers students an option to go to class without coming to school. This year the school, which gives high schoolers a variety of independent study options, is offering completely online courses through the Placer Union High School District’s Online Learning Program. Maidu High School offers several learning options to students. They include 100-percent-virtual learning, which means students have an on-campus adviser, but are taking all of their classes online from home. There is also blended learning, which involves students taking online classes in some subjects and then attending either full or small group classes with an instructor in other subjects.

http://bit.ly/arYJRT

by Tim Driver, Helium

Online Education is the single biggest paradigm shift facing education in the last 100 years. Those who ignore it will be left behind. Those who embrace it will reap the benefits. For this reason, it is important to look at the advantages and disadvantages of this delivery medium, so that collectively more and more refining will lead to better overall education for every student. Here are some of the pros and cons where distance learning is concerned.

http://www.helium.com/items/1941302-advanatages-and-disadvantages-of-online-education

by Howard Buck, the Columbian

A generation of tech-savvy adults and teens, a shortage of classroom seats and increased demand to accommodate varied individual learning styles has led public schools at all levels to embrace a mass movement, following the path blazed by private competitors such as City College, the University of Phoenix and others. “Literally, there is a cultural shift. Our audience is going to demand we go there,” said Rassoul Dastmozd, vice president of instruction at Clark College.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/aug/29/public-schools-catch-online-fever/

By ERIC S. SMITH, the Daily Local

Technology allows students to connect with each other across borders, research information in ways never before possible and tackle real-world problems from inside a classroom. But technology is also allowing some students to speak, read and write when those tasks were previously considered an impossibility. “In the last 15 years, the idea of the Internet and digital content has grown so vast, and for people with physical and learning disabilities, it has been transformative,” said David Cattell, the head of assistive technology for the Chester County Intermediate Unit.

http://dailylocal.com/articles/2010/08/29/news/srv0000009210575.txt

By Sara Brown, Boston Globe

Patrick Larkin envisions a day when all students bring to school is a laptop, iPad, or cellphone. To the dismay of schoolchildren everywhere, snow days would be a thing of the past since students could complete their class work even when snowbound.  The Burlington High School principal may be looking ahead when he talks about leaving behind “the idea that people can only be educated between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.’’ But Larkin is already a pioneer in bringing technology into his school, using social media tools to connect with students and educators.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/08/29/burlington_high_principal_plans_to_incorporate_more_technology_in_learning/

By DEVON LASH, The Allentown Morning Call

In the decade since cyber charter schools first opened to Pennsylvania students, turning on a computer instead of hopping on the bus has just … clicked. The Internet became the classroom, partly or wholly, for more than a million students across the country last year. And in few places has it been more popular than in Pennsylvania, where the cyber charter school experiment has morphed into a movement, serving one of the highest registrations in the country, more than 23,000 full-time students.

http://www.ldnews.com/news/ci_15919278

Jonathan Atwood, Southeast Missouri State Arrow

Let’s be honest, freshmen have it rough. Moving away to college entails many adjustments. Getting books, starting classes, finding friends, and dealing with the social labyrinth of college life is a lot to deal with. On top of it all, no matter how many reminders and tips Resident Assistants and professors dump on you, there’s always some crucial bit of information that gets forgotten or overlooked. Never fear, the Arrow is here! Although we can’t make up for everything, we can provide some cheap, easy bits of technology you can use to help make the transition a little easier.

http://media.www.capahaarrow.com/media/storage/paper768/news/2010/08/26/ArtsEntertainment/Geek-Beat-3925559.shtml

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, Associated Press

If you’re looking for bargains on personal computers, bad news from the industry could be good for your pocketbook. Computer makers are scrambling for ways to goose faltering consumer demand after a weak start to the back-to-school shopping season. That could mean deeper price cuts and other promotions beyond the incentives that the industry dangled in front of shoppers to lure them into stores during the worst of the recession. The latest sign of trouble came Friday when Intel Corp. lowered its forecast for the third quarter, saying demand for consumer PCs has been weaker than expected.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hlObxA2F0_TSYtDGjBXBQAHrtYNwD9HS4D7G0

By David Rapp, Library Journal

At Harvard University, two different “library labs” aim to produce new information-technology projects benefiting libraries on and off the Harvard campus, with a clear focus on openness.  Such projects could lead to new and practical library applications—one of the labs, for example, is currently working on an web-based research tool with social-networking aspects—and could include collaborations with other libraries, such as that at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/886534-264/harvard_library_labs_foster_new.html.csp

By Harrison Keely, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Jim David and Sandra Farlow are completely different teachers, both thrust into the classroom of the future. A relatively young teacher, David said he lives for technology. Farlow, on the other hand, calls herself a “digital immigrant,” not having taught on computers since the late 1970s. Nevertheless, this fall the two are spearheading Cleveland Middle School’s Virtual Learning Academy, a technology-driven effort to achieve a “paperless classroom,” principal Jeff Elliott said. The school is beta-testing two Virtual Learning Academy classrooms with 20 students each, 15 fewer pupils than normal, David said. Students selected for the project use the same classroom and keep the same teacher all day long, he said.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/aug/27/middle-school-tries-paperless-classroom/

by Douglas Clark, Fox 23 News

One middle school in Catoosa is on the cutting edge when it comes to using technology in the classroom. As Fox 23’s Douglas Clark explains, a new program is changing the way kids learn and teachers teach. With the help of a federal grant, Catoosa Public Schools bought every 7th and 8th grader a laptop computer. It means a new approach to learning geared toward the internet generation. They’re the relics of yesterday’s classroom – a dusty overhead projector, a lonely chalkboard, and a pencil sharpener that looks like an antique. Talk about old school. This is 2010, after all. For kids today it’s all about technology.

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Catoosa-Students-on-Cutting-Edge-of-Technology/Ob44N86djkOvumLmFpQxKg.cspx

by Altruist, Rant and Rave

I predict that in the next ten years there will be a revolution in education and that at the end of this revolution the school system will be nearly unrecognizable. I predict that within ten years education will cost less, will produce smarter better adjusted happier students, and will extend to include life long learning.  I’ll begin with how technology can reduce the cost of education and make it more effective. Bill Gates recently said, “In Five Years The Best Education Will Come From The Web”. There are already several colleges that are entirely online. This is good news for people who are working, have families, or who just need more flexible hours. You can do your course work and study whenever it is convenient.

http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/Technology-in-Education.aspx