Educational Technology

By Andy Sedlak, Middletown Journal

Laura Goley, a Spanish teacher, said over the past year her SMARTboard has livened up her room and encouraged more interplay between students. “We use it a lot for story telling,” she said. “I can put some pictures up on the SMARTboard and let the class tell a story in Spanish about them.” She said she embraced the technology right away. “Having grown up with technology, I was looking forward to have something more interactive in the classroom,” said Goley, 26. “It’s just so easy to display these things to your class on the SMARTboard. It’s better than having them crowd around your computer screen.” More than 1.7 million SMARboards have been installed throughout the world in education, business, government and military settings, according to SMART Technology’s website.

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/technology-changing-lesson-plans-in-classrooms-1003687.html

BY TAVIA D. GREEN, THE LEAF-CHRONICLE

Janice Gritz, 65, knew computers would be the wave of the future, and she welcomed that future with open arms, purchasing her first one in the early 1980s. Like Gritz, baby boomers have seen history’s most rapid-fire changes during their lifetimes, including the birth and boom of modern technology. “From my viewpoint, the boomers’ greatest contribution has to be the design and total utilization of the personal computer,” Gritz said. “Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates and others could see beyond government and military use.” As an educator, Gritz jumped on the bandwagon early. While some around her weren’t as enthusiastic, Gritz trained herself on new technologies so she could use them as tools to teach her students. “I was in Germany in 1985. I remember I bought my first Apple computer. I thought this would change everything in education,” she said. “I didn’t know how, but I knew it was going to.”

http://www.tennessean.com/article/DA/20101115/NEWS01/11150324/Boomers+turn+65++Generation+embraces+ever-changing+technology

By Andrew Boydston, the Collegian, CSU Fresno

A change has hit Fresno State with class schedules only being available online. But the shift to the electronic world hasn’t seemed to leave many negative feelings. “The students haven’t complained about the class schedule only being accessible online,” Registrar Tina Beddall said. This year the spring 2011 class schedule was no longer available as a print copy in the Kennel Bookstore. Students have not addressed any complaints to the bookstore or the registrar’s office about the transition. Kennel Bookstore director of 10 years, Ron Durham, says it’s not a problem so far. “No one has come up to us and complained,” Durham said. “There are always going to be people that struggle with change, but so far everything has been running smooth.”

http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2010/11/15/online-schedules-get-good-feedback/

Professor’s ‘yawn’ rant offers a lesson in viral video

By Dennis Carter, eSchool News

Even if lecture capture technology isn’t used in a classroom, a student could record an embarrassing moment on a cell phone. Cornell University Professor Mark Talbert’s search for a student who yawned during class was first seen by about 200 students. The recorded rant had been viewed 218,000 times on YouTube as of press time—and educators say it’s a reminder that anything said in a lecture hall these days can be held against you in the court of viral video.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/11/23/professors-yawn-rant-offers-a-lesson-in-viral-video/

by eSchool News

The new software update includes a printing option and the ability to multitask. Apple Inc. released new software on Nov. 22 that lets users of its iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices print wirelessly over Wi-Fi networks. The software addresses what has been a key complaint about the iPad to date—that users can’t print their documents from the tablet—and ed-tech observers say it could help spur more widespread use of the device in schools.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/11/23/multitasking-wireless-printing-come-to-ipad/

by K. Walsh, Emerging Ed Tech

These technologies can enable educators to improve communications, enhance student learning, controls costs, manage Internet access in the classroom, and more. There are many systems and tools available in today’s marketplace that can help administrators and faculty to succeed with some of the many things they need to do in their roles. Some of the technologies I’ve listed below are “back office” tech (not really visible to the end user), and some directly impact teachers, students, and/or parents, but both administrators and teachers alike will recognize the potential for these technologies to help them be more efficient and more effective in their day to day operations.

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/11/5-internet-technologies-that-school-administrators-need-to-know-about/

By Don Nelson, Online Athens

The trio of seventh-graders huddled around the Clarke Middle School classroom computer, anxiously checking their $100,000-plus stock portfolio to see if their investments still led their other Stock Market Game competitors in the Clarke County School District. Around them, the classroom is a din of voices and activity as about 30 students – eight teams – monitored their investments in the game. The Stock Market Game is a 10-week program designed to teach students how the stock market works.

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/111410/bus_735762580.shtml

by Swati Mahaseth, Infocera

Indian rural children may soon get an access to an electronic notepad that is powered by solar energy. The device called an I-Slate will be developed by Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and Rice University with an effort to replace the hand-held slates used by millions of rural school going children in country. The device consumes very less energy and will allow an estimated 100 million children who attend schools without electricity. The green electronic notepad not only helps in sustaining our planet but helps the world’s poorer communities in improving their

http://infocera.com/I-Slate_electronic_notepad,_replaces_hand_held_slates_by_rural_school_kids_10838.htm

By Jason Gonzales, Muskogee Phoenix

Edgar Award — winning author C.J. Box, author of 11 novels (including the Joe Pickett series), has agreed to do a program at the Muskogee Public Library! In this day and age when various sporting events, concerts, and other formats are being made accessible to people all over the world via remote technology, your library is following suit. C.J. Box will make an appearance at 7 p.m. Dec. 6, via the Internet. Similar to a teleconference the library will use special software to project a live video feed of Mr. Box onto a large screen. Attendees will be able to interact with Mr. Box with the assistance of a moderator.

http://muskogeephoenix.com/features/x1930918113/Technology-help-at-the-library-and-more

By Converge

Top school districts have been announced in the seventh annual Digital School Districts Survey by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education and the National School Boards Association (NSBA). The purpose of the survey is to recognize exemplary school boards and districts’ use of technology to govern the district, communicate with students, parents and the community and to improve district operations. All U.S. public school districts were eligible to participate in the survey, and were placed in three classifications based on size of enrollment. The top ten rankings reflect those school boards/districts with the fullest implementation of technology benchmarks in the evolution of digital education, as represented in the survey questions.

http://www.convergemag.com/awards/digital-districts/2010-Digital-School-Districts-Survey.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

As more school districts try to individualize instruction, they’re looking for ways to give every child a mobile device. But most of them can’t afford to buy a laptop or tablet for every child. That’s where a small yet growing trend comes into play. By allowing students to bring their mobile devices to class, school districts provide the benefits of personalized instruction — without blowing their budgets. And they also pass on their purchasing power to families, who can buy devices from vendors at the district’s discounted rate.

http://www.convergemag.com/infrastructure/Student-Devices-Save-Districts-Money.html

By Lauren Katims, Converge

North Carolina will be the first U.S. state to offer the Microsoft IT Academy Program to all public high schools statewide. The partnership, announced Monday, Nov. 15, is a three-year contract between North Carolina and Microsoft to offer technology training to high school students as an elective in the 115 school districts across the state.

http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/North-Carolina-Technology-Courses.html

by Jerry Strong, Archi-Vision Models

There are methods you can use to be effective at teaching kids in the classroom how to use the computer. The idea with being able to teach computer skills is to keep the kids comfortable. They should be learning what they can as they progress so that they make the most of computer technology. As a teacher, think about your students and what computer skills will help them this year. By approaching the subject this way, you can integrate training in computer skills with the overall curriculum and with your larger learning objectives for the year.

http://archivisionmodels.com/Architectural_Model/?p=72491

by Titus Hoskins, 4th Generation Computer

Finding a high quality cheap notebook computer for a student is not as difficult as it once was. Laptop prices have been dropping so steadily anyone can now find an affordable student laptop. Here are a few places to start your search…

http://www.9sp.net/article/finding-high-quality-cheap-laptops-for-students

By Christopher Dawson, ZD Net

Jason Perlow wrote a great piece this afternoon asking if the digital revolution, particularly as it relates to books and libraries, was creating a “Digital Underclass”. When the printed media on which libraries have traditionally relied and the funding that supports them both go away (and both the money and the media will, without a doubt, go away), where will the technology have-nots go to access literature, reference materials, newspapers, and the wealth of information with which our libraries have provided us since Benjamin Franklin first suggested that a public lending library would be a spiffy idea to create an educated populace?

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/digital-underclass-only-if-we-allow-it/4333

By Katherine Donnelly, the Independent (Ireland)

Laptops are considered old hat and the term ‘app’ is a daily buzzword in Ireland’s most hi-tech school. Not content with having a single computer per classroom — the stated official aim of most schools — teachers at St Aidan’s Primary School in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford went much further. Taking their cue from an experiment in England, they equipped all their pupils with an iPod touch, a wireless, handheld device made by Apple. The same as an iPhone, except for the ability to make conventional phone calls — the mini-computer connects effortlessly to the internet and allows teachers to give pupils learning tasks in everything from maths to visual arts.

http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/hitech-pupils-prove-amazing-ipod-isnt-too-cool-for-school-2415836.html

BY ROBIN DECICCO, Ridgefield Park Patriot

Though the Ridgefield Park Library has offered basic Internet instruction classes for the past four years, the sessions haven’t filled as quickly as they have in 2010. Director Eileen Mackesy-Karpoff said the number of adults who sign up for the classes has increased largely due to the patrons’ needs to apply to online job postings. Karpoff said the class enrollment isn’t merely the older library users — the students range in age from 30 years to senior citizen status, anyone who has never been exposed to computers either in school or in the workforce. Now, most of them have realized that learning how to use the computer and how to navigate the Internet are essential tools in not only looking for jobs, but also in becoming more attractive as candidates for jobs.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/107398083_Guiding_residents_into_Internet_age.html

by KSBI News

Education in the state may become more high-tech through mobile technology. State lawmakers are exploring ways to promote the use of electronic devices like laptops instead of old-fashioned text books. State Rep. Don Armes says traditional textbooks are heavy, expensive and often outdated. He says technology can save schools money.

(video)

http://www.ksbitv.com/news/OK-Education-May-Go-High-Tech-in-Future-107307553.html

by the UK Press Association

More than a quarter of teachers believe textbooks will become obsolete due to the rise of the internet, a poll has revealed. A survey of almost 600 primary and secondary school teachers reveals that many believe more and more learning will be done online. And the majority think that information technology (IT) is now more important than traditional teaching methods. Some 27.4% said that textbooks will become obsolete as increasing amounts of teaching material is posted online, while more than two thirds (67.9%) said IT such as interactive whiteboards and computers were most important to them in the classroom.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5g3mxdIxiJUWHMXHVyKbeyApjjkcA?docId=N0019911289497734004A

by Zee, the Next Web

I’m not sure whether this is common knowledge or not, but I didn’t know so there’s bound to be at least a few of you who don’t too. To check analytics (clicks, browser, location, referrers) on a Goo.gl short URL, simply type the short URL into the address field in your browser and enter .info after it.

http://goo.gl/UWX3n

by Zee, the Next Web

What if twitter removed its character limit from DM’s and we were able to send lengthier messages privately to friends on twitter? I’d argue that Facebook messages would immediately have a solid competitor on its hands and arguably, in the long term, so would email. Twitter already integrates with SMS, chat, email and has a plethora of superb mobile apps. Aside from missing group messaging and file sharing features – both of which are surely just around the corner but can be done now via third party tools – we’ve got a solid alternative to email – yes, social email. What’s more, being Twitter, users would instinctively (hopefully) maintain that “keep it short” Twitter mentality when messaging friends.

http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/11/21/if-twitter-removed-the-140-character-limit-from-dms-would-we-have-an-email-killer/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29