Educational Technology

September 17, 2011

The Kindle Tablet Drum Roll

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by David Zax, Technology Review

It’s coming! It’s coming! Tablet watchers everywhere are waiting for the Amazon Kindle tablet with bated breath. And this past week brought real news on the device, whose launch is likely for November. Most exciting is MG Siegler’s recent hands-on with the device, over at TechCrunch. He says he spent about an hour with a Design Verification Testing unit–an almost-finished version of the tablet floating around the company now. He was given time with the device, which he says roughly resembles the BlackBerry PlayBook at a first glance (also black, also with a rubbery back), on the condition that he not share any photos.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27141/?p1=blogs

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September 16, 2011

District classes ‘flip’ out

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

By HANNAH JOHNSON, Stillwater Gazette

Some classrooms in Independent School District 834 are flipping out. Six to be exact. Six fifth-grade classrooms in five elementary schools across the district are piloting a “flipped classroom”. From now until January, Lily Lake, Lake Elmo, Oak Park, Withrow and Stonebridge elementary schools will be reversing how fifth grade students learn mathematics. Instead of a teacher standing at the front of the classroom presenting math principles for an hour – as is traditional – the math content will now be delivered at home. Teachers have created seven- to 12-minute online videos that explain a daily math lesson. Students watch the videos at home on their computers and return to class the next day to do their “homework” in the classroom while the teacher is there to assist.

http://www.stillwatergazette.com/articles/2011/09/09/headlines/724sv_090911_school.txt

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GeekWire Radio: Educating the next generation of geeks

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by Todd Bishop, WeekWire Radio

In honor of back-to-school season, this week’s GeekWire radio show and podcast comes with an educational theme — featuring excerpts from past interviews with technology educators and one very impressive high school student.Our guests are Ed Lazowska (Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science at the University of Washington), Daniil Kulchenko (the 15 year-old entrepreneur who sold his cloud-computing startup earlier this year), and Hanson Hosein (Director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media program at UW).

http://www.geekwire.com/2011/geekwire-radio-educating-generation-geeks

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7 Ways to Work From Anywhere

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

By John Warrillow, Inc

My last company was old school when it came to technology. We had an e-newsletter instead of a blog; we had accounting software that we bought in a box; and we used an old voice mail system that hung on the wall in our server room. That business was acquired in 2008, after which a friend of mine suggested I read Timothy Ferriss’ book, The Four Hour Work Week, to figure out what to do next. Tim’s book inspired me to build my next business into something that I could operate while travelling. If you haven’t read it, the main premise of the book is to use automation and technology to set up a business that allows you the time and mobility to see the world. It’s a thought-provoking read.

http://www.inc.com/articles/201109/7-ways-to-work-from-anywhere-using-cloud-computing.html

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September 15, 2011

Gates’s Own Brain Drain

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by Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

The postsecondary education team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is losing more than its leader. Hilary Pennington, director of education, postsecondary success, and special initiatives in the foundation’s United States program since 2007, told grantees in an e-mail last month that she would leave her position by spring 2012 to “get closer to work on the ground.” But it looks as if some key members of Pennington’s team are preceding her out the door. Tom Dawson, a senior policy officer at Gates who has been in the thick of much of its discussion and grant making around higher education policy, left quietly this summer. And now Pennington’s deputy since early 2010, Mark David Milliron, is planning to leave Gates, as well. Milliron, a former head of the League for Innovation in the Community College whose high-impact presentations have made him a frequent speaker about the future of higher education, did not return an e-mail message seeking comment, but a Gates spokesman confirmed that he is leaving.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/09/07/several_top_officials_leave_gates_foundation_s_higher_education_team

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With Cheating Only a Click Away, Professors Reduce the Incentive

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:34 am

By Jie Jenny Zou, Chronicle of Higher Ed

As soon as the handheld gadgets called “clickers” hit the University of Colorado at Boulder, Douglas Duncan saw cheating. The astronomy instructor and director of the Fiske Planetarium was observing a colleague’s physics class in 2002, when the university introduced the electronic devices that students use to respond to in-class questions. He glanced at the first row and saw a student with four clickers spread out before him. It turned out that only one was his—the rest belonged to his sleeping roommates. The student was planning to help his absentee classmates by “clicking in” for the sleepers to mark them present. The physics professor had to tell the student that what he was doing was cheating.

http://chronicle.com/article/Cheating-Is-Now-Only-a-Click/128879/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

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University bids for students on Groupon

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by the Chicago Tribune

National Louis University on Tuesday will offer a Groupon for a graduate-level introduction to teaching course, officials said. Regular tuition for the course is $2,232. Groupon will offer it for $950, officials said. The Groupon will go live Tuesday and will be available until Wednesday or until it sells out. Only 25 slots will be available, and the deal will tip at 15, Zivin said. The class will meet for three hours on Monday evenings, from late September to December. Although the course will count toward a graduate degree, it’s only worth three of the 36 credits students need to graduate, Zivin said. Prospective students will need to go through the school’s regular admissions process to take further courses. “Part of our mission at National Louis, since the university’s founding 125 years ago, is to identify people of talent who want to be teachers,” she said. “This is an innovative way to deliver on that mission and reach those folks.”

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-05/news/ct-talk-tuition-groupon-0905-20110905_1_julie-mossler-groupon-teaching-degrees

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September 14, 2011

Apps for teachers, students and parents

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

By PHIL ATTINGER, News Chief

Lake Wales Charter Schools Inc. has built apps for two of its schools, with plans for more. Bok Academy Principal Damien Moses announced at the last Lake Wales Charter Schools Board of Trustees meeting that his school’s app was ready, along with one for Hillcrest Elementary School. Moses said his first work on a mobile app for a Lake Wales school started last school year, while he was still principal at Hillcrest Elementary.

His teachers already had iPads and other digital devices in the classroom to help involve students in their subjects and keep them engaged, but they saw a use for an app to help keep teachers, parents and students informed and connected.

http://www.newschief.com/article/20110906/NEWS/109065001/1021/news01?Title=Apps-for-teachers-students-and-parents

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Students should be reminded about troubles lurking online

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by Tamara Slobogean, Vancouver News 1130

From plagiarism to sexting, students headed back to school should be reminded of technology’s potential dark side. In his book Cybertraps for the Young, author and computer forensics expert Frederick Lane has some advice for parents and their kids. “I start with academic dishonesty, cheating in school and so forth. The penalties there are largely limited to whatever the school’s rules are.” Lane says plagiarism is bad, but cyberspace can lead to much worse. “Then you get into the more serious criminal activities – cyberbullying and cyberharrassment, or potentially getting into the sexting issue which can cause significant legal problems for a child.”

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/273899–students-should-be-reminded-about-troubles-lurking-online

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Tablet computers help treat Asperger’s

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Tablet computers help treat Asperger’s

by Emily Schettler, Iowa City Press-Citizen

“For many people, the ability to interact with one another is innate, but it’s not simple for these kids. It’s very complicated,” said Monica Ryan-Rausch, a success manager at Four Oaks who helped develop the Asperger’s program for middle and high school students. Playing games and participating in activities with other students using tablet computers helps teach children to adapt to the behavior of others and compromise in certain situations, said Juan Pable Hourcade, an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Iowa. Hourcade and his students began developing tablet applications for children with autism spectrum disorders about four years ago, just before the iPad and tablet computer craze hit. The program now is being used at Four Oaks and at an after-school program for elementary school students at Hoover Elementary in Iowa City.

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20110906/NEWS01/109060309/Tablet-computers-help-treat-Asperger-s

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September 13, 2011

Moves by HP, Google further marginalize the traditional PC

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:39 am

By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

Steve Jobs’ bombshell resignation as CEO. Hewlett-Packard’s abdication of its multibillion-dollar PC group. Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility. Dell’s wobbly sales forecast. The whipsaw sequence of recent events in the technology industry highlighted what many are calling the rise of mobility and the marginalization of the PC. Meteoric spikes in the sale of smartphones and tablets are merely hastening the diminished status of the traditional desktop PC, whose sales have flattened the past few years with little relief in sight. The shift from PCs to mobile devices and so-called cloud-based computing has sent ripples throughout the high-tech industry, uprooting HP’s business strategy and propelling a Google wireless partnership that seemed unthinkable weeks ago.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/story/2011-09-05/Moves-by-HP-Google-further-marginalize-the-traditional-PC/50266334/1

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Measuring the success of Ed Tech: Not all about test scores

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By Christopher Dawson, ZDNet

Sometimes, technology gets thrown at struggling schools as a panacea for a variety of ills with predictably bad results. How should we be measuring those results, though, in the schools that are doing it right? The New York Times ran a feature on Saturday called “In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores”. The article is part of a series called “Grading the Digital School” and asked some tough questions about whether technology in schools can actually improve student achievement. Most significantly, it pointed to the lack of hard data around the quantifiable success of investing in technology-rich schools. While we have a responsibility to ensure that technology is adding value in schools, I’m inclined to believe that the lack of supporting data is the result of poor measures rather than poor results.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/measuring-the-success-of-ed-tech-not-all-about-test-scores/4684

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Technical schools shaping students for job market

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:30 am

by Michelle Edmonds, WTHV

Unemployment rates are up and job-seekers are still searching. Finding a job opening is difficult in a tough economy. But there is promise for those crafting their technical skills. Students at Pulaski Technical College are hoping the right combination of chemicals make their science project successful. They also hope the right combination of training and opportunity insures that they are working toward a job that is in high demand when they graduate. It’s a high-tech world out there,” says Tim Jones. “We’ve got to have people who are qualified for jobs that require advanced degrees.” Jones is with Pulaski Tech and says STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs are what’s hot now.

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/171841/2/Technical-schools-shaping-students-for-job-market

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September 12, 2011

Using the Technology of Today in the Classroom Today

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, Jennifer Groff, Jason Haas; the Education Arcade, MIT

Technology can have a reciprocal relationship with teaching. The emergence of new technologies pushes educators to understanding and leveraging these technologies for classroom use; at the same time, the on-the-ground implementation of these technologies in the classroom can (and does) directly impact how these technologies continue to take shape.  While many new technologies have emerged throughout history, so has the cry for educators to find meaningful ways to incorporate these technologies into the classroom – be it the typewriter, the television, the calculator, or the computer. And while some professional educators may have become numb to this unwavering ‘call’ – and for good reason – it is crucial to consider that the excitement over games and social networking isn’t just business and industry “crying wolf.” Indeed, those previous technologies have a powerful place in instruction and the classroom; but without them, strong lessons and learning objectives can still be achieved. With these more recent technologies, we think educators should take the call, even if only on a trial basis.

http://education.mit.edu/papers/GamesSimsSocNets_EdArcade.pdf

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Online Ed Passes Grade For Many K-12 Students

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:35 am

By SHEILA RILEY, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

LRN K12 Inc * Top-Rated Company For kids who can’t or don’t want to be in traditional public school classrooms, cyberspace is an alternative — and it’s free. Online public K-12 programs are increasing, says Bill Tucker, managing director of Education Sector, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit education policy think tank. “It’s definitely growing very quickly,” Tucker said. “We’re seeing more students accessing online courses, and more school districts and states offering them.” Programs can be part time or full time. They can be fully online or “blended,” a combination of online and face-to-face. And there’s everything in-between, Tucker says.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/583530/201109011521/Online-K-12-Public-Ed-Advances.htm

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College Plagiarism Reaches All Time High: Pew Study

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by Tara Kelly, The Huffington

Cyber-plagiarism is at an all time high among college students, according to a survey of college presidents from the Pew Research Center. It appears college students are finding it more tempting than ever to cheat from the web. A majority of college presidents (55%) said that plagiarism in students’ papers has increased over the past ten years. Among those who have seen an increase in plagiarism, 89% said computers and the internet have played a major role.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/college-plagiarism-all-ti_n_944252.html

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September 11, 2011

Facebook rewards hackers

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:40 am

by the BBC

Facebook has paid more than $40,000 to hackers three weeks after launching a bug bounty program. The system rewards hackers who are able to identify flaws and security threats in the world’s biggest social network.  Also in the report is the drop in sales of desktop computers. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14732592

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Program Offers Low-Cost Internet to Low-Income Families

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By Teri Williams, RoyalOak Patch

Internet Essential’s digital/Internet plan offers qualifying families an affordable service, $150 notebook computers and training. More than one-third of all Americans are not connected to the Internet, according to a 2010 report from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Of those not connected, many are low-income families that do not have a computer and/or cannot afford Internet costs. Comcast and its partners are offering an opportunity for those families to get hooked up through its new Internet Essentials Home Internet Service.

http://royaloak.patch.com/articles/program-offers-low-cost-internet-to-low-income-families

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UK Mobile internet use nearing 50%

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by the BBC

Almost half of UK internet users are going online via mobile phone data connections, according to the Office for National Statistics. Some 45% of people surveyed said they made use of the net while out and about, compared with 31% in 2010. The most rapid growth was among younger people, where 71% of internet-connected 16 to 24-year-olds used mobiles. Domestic internet use also rose. According to the ONS, 77% of households now have access to a net connection.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14731757

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September 10, 2011

Google Chrome Browser Hikes to 15.5%

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By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google’s Chrome browser cracks the 15 percent market for its third birthday. Net Applications is now counting mobile device browser share separately, with Apple Safari leading. Google’s Chrome browser hit 15.5 percent market share through August, jumping more than a whole percentage point from the 14.3 percent the Web surfing software hit in July. Chrome just turned three years old Sept. 1 and it’s been a remarkable rise to this point, with the browser gaining share nearly every month for the last two years. What’s responsible for the latest share gains? It’s tough to pinpoint, but it could be an uptick of Chromebook sales from Samsung and Acer. It could also be the rapid, six-week release cycles that pump out new features, such as voice recognition capabilities.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Google-Chrome-Browser-Hikes-to-155-546552/?kc=rss

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Gadgets for Back to School

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By Nathan Eddy, eWeek

It’s that time of year again, when the lazy days of summer recede into memory and it becomes time to crack the books back open and settle down into the school year. Just how many books you’ll actually physically be carrying is up for debate, though, as e-readers and tablets start to enter more prominently onto college campuses and into lesson plan formats. Now more than ever, college students have an abundance of gadgets to suit their studies—or distract them from what they should be doing. In an increasingly digital world, connectivity to the Internet is a must-have capability for many students, as well as the ability to easily pick up their devices and carry them around without taking up lots of space. And of course, no college student wants to lug around something that isn’t hip. Whether it’s a notebook, smartphone or even an external hard drive, the “cool factor” is never far from their minds. With that in mind, take a look at this list of must-have gadgets for anyone heading back to school this fall.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/10-MustHave-Gadgets-for-Back-to-School-436825/?kc=rss

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