Educational Technology

BY EVELYN NJOROGE, Capital FM Kenya

Information Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo has pledged to champion the formulation of ICT policies that empower people living with disabilities through technology. Speaking after participating in a 30-minute workshop held in total darkness, the PS said the government should be proactive in taking measures that ensure a better future for the physically and mentally challenged. “It is a very humbling experience where you become 100 percent dependent on those you are interacting with,” he said of his experience. “But it is a good lesson for us in government because it would help us to shape policy for our people who are visually impaired,” he added. He pointed out that this was particularly vital because reading materials for such people were still very expensive. He said the government lauds and welcomes the private sector such as an operator who will soon launch software that will enable the blind to access the Internet.

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/Kenyabusiness/ICT-to-focus-on-persons-with-disability-4732.html

by Cherry Rushin, teh Graham Leader

Most Graham High School students are not abusing their laptop privileges. That’s according to an update of how the technology initiative is faring presented to the Graham ISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday. Christian Sanders, technology coordinator for Graham High School, said almost every class he visited that day was using the laptops in one way or another. The only exceptions were classes he visited that were giving tests that weren’t on the computer. “Students have already begun to see assignments as challenges to use the laptop computer fully,” said Sanders.

http://www.grahamleader.com/index.asp?Story=20277

By Student 1, the India Mite

Laptops are prevalent in many classrooms. – Google ImagesAs students, we all love technology. We love that we can write an essay on the computer and we don’t technically have to know how to spell. We enjoy being able to do all of our research for a paper without having to go to a library, or even open a book. We can watch a teacher giving a lecture and be completely understanding because of the aide of the technological advancements behind them. If asked if technology should be advanced the answer is always “yes” and students should be one of the major recipients of this technology. Students are the ones who will be leading the world of tomorrow and they are the ones who need to keep up with the technology of today. What would be a better way of helping students than giving them the access to a laptop at every moment of teaching?

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/372505/newspaperid/4020/Laptops_Become_Wave_of_The_Future.aspx

by Zee, the Next Web

So it’s happening. IE’s reign truly appears to be coming to an end.According to Stat Counter, Microsoft’s browser has officially fallen below the 50 percent market share mark to 49.87 percent. Firefox holds relatively strong at 31.5 percent and Chrome is soaring with 11.54 percent having only launched just over 2 years ago.In Europe, IE market share has fallen to 40.26% in September this year from 46.44% in September last year. While in North America IE is still above 50% at 52.3% followed by Firefox at 27.21% and Chrome at 9.87%. The rise of Google Chrome in North America has also been impressive and in June it overtook Safari for the first time.

http://goo.gl/aqMr

By Gwyn Morgan, Troy Media

In 1991, the Smith Commission on Canadian University Education determined that: “In general . . . while a truly terrible teacher with average research ability will not be promoted, the same terrible teacher with excellent . . . research to his or her credit, will be. Many students graduate having accumulated whatever number of courses is required, but lacking a coherent body of knowledge or any inkling as to how one sort of information might relate to others.” Nineteen years later, little has changed. Monopolies don’t change until a competitive alternative comes along. Online learning offers a far superior formal teaching product. What it can’t deliver is teacher-student interaction. This is the competitive response that will make university life better for both faculty and students. Given that the education system is vital to Canada’s future, the payoff would be enormous.

http://www.troymedia.com/?p=15352

By Ben Beagle, Batavia News

Bobby Guzik has been blind since birth. But that hasn’t stopped the Medina man from pursuing multiple degrees in computer technology. Since high school the 20-year-old has used technology to give him an assist in learning. Guzik use a screen reader for most computing activities. A screen reader is a software program that “reads” what a sighted person would see on screen and then conveys it through a different context, often “speaking” through an integrated voice synthesizer for the visually-impaired user. The reader allows Guzik to navigate the Internet, computer operating systems and programs and for school work.

http://thedailynewsonline.com/lifestyles/article_0a925e70-3a4b-5155-9424-d3969d101673.html

by Chad Catacchio, the Next Web

Olympus and NTT DoCoMo (Japan’s largest carrier) have are demoing a prototype of a pair of augmented reality eyeglasses with a head-mounted display that weigh as much as a normal pair of eyeglasses. The head-mounted display, called “AR Walker”, which is equipped with sensors (including an accelerometer and compass), displays the augmented reality view of what the wearer is looking at in the lower half of the right eye’s lens. When connected to a phone (we’re not sure if it is through Bluetooth or not) basically wherever the wearer looks, the heads up display will give info (assuming of course there is any info to give).

http://goo.gl/2hzQ

By Rachel Ensign, Chronicle of Higher Ed

A new survey of 4,000 historians found that most are willing to try digital scholarship—such as interactive maps or online databases—but that the number of journals interested in publishing such online scholarship is tiny. Enter the Sustaining Digital History project, which is trying to make it easier for history scholars to publish digitally in well-established forums. The group held a daylong meeting last week at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where about 30 attendees tried to figure out how to translate this burgeoning interest in digital publishing into a new breed of scholarly work. Among the attendees were editors from eight historical journals (including the editor of the discipline’s flagship journal, The American Historical Review)—and by the end of the afternoon, each had committed to experimenting with digital scholarship.

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Historians-Are-Interested-in/27457/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

By Paige Chapman, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Colleges will soon have to pay full price when setting up virtual campuses in Second Life. Linden Lab, the company that runs Second Life, announced that they will end their generous educational discount as of January 1, 2011. Aaron Walsh, director for the Immersive Education Initiative, which provides more than 3,000 educators with open access to virtual worlds, says the announcement is consistent with other recent changes by the company. Though Mr. Walsh says there are other virtual world technologies that institutions of learning can utilize, some colleges have made heavy investments in Second Life and may have difficulties switching services. He says he is consulting with members of the initiative to move virtual campuses elsewhere.

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Second-Life-To-Drop/27458/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

By Alec Liu, Fox News

Sales of the gizmo may have soared to more than 3.2 million units so far, according to Apple, and analysts predict sales of 30 million by next year. But in education, it’s a different story. “Some initially hoped the devices would function as mini tablet computers — and are disappointed that they don’t,” O’Donnell told FoxNews.com. For now, the school’s pilot program remain in an early experimental phase, and feedback has been mixed. Professor Satti Khanna at Duke teaches Advanced Hindi; he told FoxNews.com that the “very exploring of iPad use in the classroom makes a teacher rethink the goals of his or her class. The iPad makes me break away from text-dominated lectures to more media-sensitive teaching.” The tablet gets mixed reviews from students, according to Khanna. “[They] are pleased but less amazed than I am,” he said, looking forward to updates in the next generation. “I would like it to include a recording microphone and camera.”

Apple declined to comment for this article.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/23/ipads-college-campuses-maybe-year/

By SETH SLABAUGH, the Star Press

Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora has been talking for at least a year about how the Internet is changing higher education. Now the university is doing something about it: Creating a task force tentatively called “Ball State Education of the Future.” In her annual State of the University speech a year ago, Gora said BSU was facing increased competition from community colleges and for-profit colleges offering online education like the University of Phoenix. “It is no longer good enough for us to say that our model is tried and true,” she said then. “Employees of Lehman Brothers and General Motors and Gateway computers used to make that point too.” During this year’s annual speech, Gora noted that the state commission on higher education had called for more online course offerings and for more programs that can grant associate degrees in one year and bachelor’s degrees in three years.

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20101001/NEWS01/10030329/Ball-State-task-force-to-look-at-its-online-competition

by TJ Philpott, Promotion World

Learning how to twitter involves being able to inject yourself into ongoing conversations and contribute in a useful and productive manner. By doing so you will quickly gain more of an online presence on the site leading to more followers and a greater influence. This is a noteworthy advantage to those who use twitter for business. Like most online communities if other twitter users do not accept your presence your ability to conduct any type of business will not be effective. Here are 5 ways in which your behavior with other twitter users will have a positive impact on how you are perceived and how quickly you are accepted.

http://www.promotionworld.com/articles/se/articles/Internet_Marketing_Strategy/101001-How-Twitter-Gain-Friends-Influence-People

by Jenna Pitcher, Delimiter (Australia)

Schools and universities right around Australia had jumped headfirst into trials of Apple’s hyped iPad tablet as they rush to discover exactly what the device’s use will be in the educational field — sometimes with the support of their overarching education departments, and sometimes without. Western Australia’s Department of Education and Training revealed this week that some schools in the state were displaying an increased interest in iPads and tablet devices, purchasing the handheld computers independently to trial in various education programs. “The department does not have a policy on the use of iPads or Android-based technology at this stage, however some schools have bought tablet devices to trial in various settings,” said departmental chief information officer Bevan Doyle. “There appears to be a level of interest in this technology for educational use.”

http://delimiter.com.au/2010/09/22/education-departments-go-wild-for-the-ipad/

by Kevin YEE and Jace HARGIS, TOJDE

Taking a completely different approach to the entire concept of software for presentations, Prezi stands alone as a unique and wholly viable competitor to PowerPoint. With a “prezi”, users display words, images, and videos without using “slides” at all. Instead, individual pieces of the presentation are digitally deposited on a single oversized canvas, and the creator has the option to zoom in (or out) surprisingly far, so that elements of the presentation remain hidden until it becomes time for them to come into focus on screen. After all elements are in place, the creator establishes a click-path, so that when the presentation is finally run for an audience, the “camera” whisks around the canvas, panning as needed, zooming in and out, and even swirling around in spirals when moving from one waypoint to the next. The transitions are smooth, mesmerizing, and infinitely more interesting than the transitions and animations available in PowerPoint and similar products.

http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde40/notes_for_editor/notes_for_editor_1.htm

by Brad McCarty, the Next Web

The first thing to understand about ScribbleLive is that it’s not a feature set. It truly is a ground-up platform that has the intent of changing the way that you report news. For years, the fastest thing we’ve been able to do is simply type in information as it happened and then push a publish button. While that is quick, it holds no candle to ScribbleLive. ScribbleLive is a Toronto-based company that is helping reporters and news agencies to leverage the tools that are available to them. Cell phones, text messaging and even email have become viable options for reporting and are given the utmost protection via SSL within ScribbleLive.

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/09/30/16087/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29

by Chad Catacchio, the Next Web

Microsoft today has released Windows Live Essentials 2011 for download. The updated suite includes Messenger, Photo Galley, Movie Maker, Mail, Writer, Family Safety, Live Mesh, Messenger Companion, Bing Bar, Outlook Connector Pack and Silverlight. The new Live Essentials suite will work on Vista and Windows 7 but not on XP, with Dell being the first PC manufacturer to ship with the software preloaded, according to CNET.

http://goo.gl/J4tF

By: Ellis Smith, Chattanooga Times Free Press

UTC has been a leader in distance learning since deploying a distance learning lab in 1995, according to a UTC professor, and has been pushing the envelope by delivering courses to former Soviet republics where students can conduct lab experiments from the other side of the globe. EPB, AT&T and Comcast recently have expanded the bandwidth and speed of their Internet offerings for Chattanooga area residents, and local educators have responded by offering classes at the speed of light. Dr. Will Sutton, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, said much of the framework to use up the additional bandwidth is already in place at UTC. UTC’s distance learning classroom, where classes are streamed over the Internet, is already “completely booked up the whole day,” Sutton said, so he’s installing four more of the high-tech classrooms.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/oct/17/fiber-education-already-under-way/?business

by Jeff Cormier, The Next Web

Google, in December, unveiled what they referred to as an “immersive Google Earth environment, Liquid Galaxy.” Liquid Galaxy is comprised of eight 55-inch LCD screens showing Google Earth in a unified, surround view. Today Google has made Liquid Galaxy available to all because, as they put it: “Not everyone will have the know-how to network computers together and get view synchronization working, but we tried to make it as easy as possible. If you think you’re up to the challenge, check out our Quick Start page. You can also contact our supplier End Point if you’d rather buy than build (or just need some professional assistance).”

http://goo.gl/jb49

by Zee, The Next Web

Google’s URL shortener has been available for some time but frustratingly only as a feature of specific products like Google Toolbar, Blogger, Maps, Picasa and Feedburner. Google now reveals a website, http://goo.gl/, that lets you simply copy and paste the long URL and instantaneously produce a short one – pretty standard stuff. While there isn’t an official extension or bookmarklet out there, they are in fact already all over the place – despite no official API. My personal favorites; the bookmarklet, Chrome extension, Firefox addon and if you’re on Safari, this is an absolute must.

http://thenextweb.com/google/2010/09/30/googles-url-shortener-goes-public/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29

BY MATT KAKLEY, SUN CHRONICLE

Keeping up with ever-evolving technology is a constant struggle for school officials. As new and better technology develops, administrators must decide what to buy and when to buy it as they try to maximize learning and prepare students for the modern world. Later this fall, Foxboro High School will take a major step toward that end when administrators start allowing students to bring in their personal laptops and use them during class. The move comes as part of an overall technology upgrade at the school, which included the installation of several computer labs as part of a sweeping renovation project.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2010/09/21/news/7963802.txt

By KAREL HOLLOWAY, The Dallas Morning News

Classrooms are becoming a lot like game shows. There are no strobe lights or studio audiences, but more and more students are using hand-held devices to “click in” with their answers to questions flashing on big screens. Students seem to love the clickers, formally called “student response devices,” because using them is a lot like playing a video game. Teachers say they like them because they give instant information about what students are learning.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-gartech_21met.ART.State.Edition1.3334fe5.html