Educational Technology

October 10, 2011

Can technology fix education?

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

By Allison Bailey and J. Puckett, The Republic

As U.S. educators and policymakers seek ways to boost student achievement, perhaps it’s time to consider a new model, harnessing the power and popularity of technology. In most classrooms today, cell phones, iPads and other electronic devices are considered distractions. Their use is discouraged, if not forbidden. That’s too bad, because technology may be the best way to reach and teach our kids, rather than the textbooks, chalkboards and projection screens previous generations preferred. Technology has succeeded in reshaping other industries, including banking and travel. Even the book-publishing industry is being transformed, as devices such as Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes&Noble’s Nook drive sales of e-books. Technology can transform education as well. But it can’t be used willy-nilly. If we want to realize technology’s full potential it needs to be used in a “closed-loop” system that uses technology at every level to provide continuous improvement in instruction and outcomes, with real-time feedback and one-on-one intervention, where necessary. So why has education been left out of the technology revolution?

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/CPT-TECHNOLOGY-COMMENTARY_6211511/CPT-TECHNOLOGY-COMMENTARY_6211511/

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IBM and Microsoft: The Tortoise Defeats The Hare

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

By Palash R. Ghosh, International Business Times

International Business Machines Corp. has made a stunning comeback 30 years after the computer was left for dead by scads of younger, more nimble companies that flourished during the tech-happy days of the 1980s and 1990s. Once the dominant computer company on the planet and the very symbol of technological power and excellence, Big Blue slipped dangerously close to irrelevance. However, last week something astonishing occurred – IBM leapfrogged over Microsoft Corp. to become the second-largest technology company in the world, second only to Apple Inc. As of Tuesday’s close, IBM’s market cap was $206.96 billion, slightly higher than Microsoft’s $205.52 billion. (Apple is far ahead at $347.29 billion).

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/224580/20111004/ibm-palmisano-market-cap-pc-microsoft-tech-apple.htm

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Technology Education and Literacy in Schools Program (TEALS) Grows by Leaps and Bounds

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

by Akhtar Badshah, Huffington Post

The program is called Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS). In the Puget Sound region, where the salary for a first-year teacher with a computer science background is approximately $42,000 and a first-year technology industry job is $79,500, the TEALS program connects high-tech professionals who possess deep computer science knowledge and expertise with high school classrooms that do not. And many do not. Even though Washington is Microsoft’s home state, only 275 AP computer science tests were taken by Washington students in 2010. Among these, only seven were Hispanic, and five were African American. The University of Washington graduated just 160 students with computer sciences degrees last year. Wang, who holds a B.S. in computer science and electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s in education from Harvard University, takes these numbers as a personal challenge.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/akhtar-badshah/computer-science-education_b_983998.html

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October 9, 2011

Back to the Future of Modular Computing

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

By Tim Bajarin, PC Magazine

But what if we could have that same kind of modular functionality in a “brick” that fits in your pocket? A very small device could house a powerful CPU, OS/custom UI, and data files and could be docked with a multitude of screens accessible around the office, school, home, or shopping malls. I believe this is exactly what Apple envisions as the future of the iPhone. If you’ve used an iPhone in an audio docking system, maybe this already occurred to you. I was recently in a house where the entire home audio system was hooked up to an iPod and iPad audio/out dock. Again, if you have ever used Apple’s Air Play, you have a glimpse of how the iPhone and the iPad can use wireless technology to share images and video. Apple’s 28 pin connector technology could be key to this concept. While it has 28 pins, only about half of them are actually used for doc syncing and audio/video out. In essence, Apple has future-proofed this connector so it can be used for a lot of other high-intensity future functions. For example, someday an iPhone or iPad may be able to drive very high-resolution video monitors.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393943,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03079TX1K0000585

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Homework program catches on in MetroWest

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

By Scott O’Connell, The MetroWest Daily News

A young math teacher fresh out of college in Baltimore in the 1990s, Heffernan became frustrated trying to get his students to catch up with the basics. “I was like, ‘I have a computer science degree – I think I could do this better,”‘ Heffernan recalled. The hundreds of teachers that now use the software program he developed as a result of that revelation – ASSISTments – tend to agree. “It’s something I’ve been waiting for in 38 years of teaching,” said Natick math teacher Jeanne Watts, who has been using the program with her students at Wilson Middle School. “It’s really pretty amazing … and I don’t get excited about many things.” The multifaceted software program helps students master their homework in math, science, English and other subjects by giving hints on questions they initially get wrong. The system also aids teachers by keeping track of those trouble questions, so they’ll know what to work on the next day in class.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/business/technology/x609833151/Homework-program-catches-on-in-MetroWest

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Schools can train, but for what?

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

by Tim Engstrom, News-Press

“Not only are we trying to prepare students for jobs that we don’t know will exist, but we are trying to teach them how to solve problems we don’t even know exist yet,” said Pat Riley, executive director of the Alliance of Educational Leaders, which includes Southwest Florida’s school superintendents and college and university executives. That uncertainty presents a special challenge to the Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board, charged with helping adult workers match their skills to the demands of employers. The board’s $14.8 million budget for the most recent year is funded largely with federal tax dollars passed down from the state. With that money, the board operates the Southwest Florida Works One-Stop Centers and offers training programs that range from courses in Microsoft products to workplace training and tuition for approved education programs.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20111003/NEWS0104/111002031/Schools-can-train-what

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October 8, 2011

National Federation of the Blind Condemns Lack of Access to New Kindle Fire

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

by National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind commented today on the release of Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, which cannot be used by people who are blind. Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Blind Americans have repeatedly asked Amazon to include accessibility for the blind in its Kindle product line. The feasibility of including accessibility in similar products has been demonstrated. The Department of Education and the Department of Justice have made it clear that Kindle devices cannot be purchased by educational institutions, libraries, and other entities covered by this country’s disability laws unless they are fully accessible. Despite all this, Amazon has released a brand new Kindle device, the Kindle Fire, which cannot be used by people who are blind. Enough! We condemn this latest action by Amazon and reiterate that we will not tolerate technological discrimination. The National Federation of the Blind seeks nothing less than equal access to all technology for blind people. It is one of the most critical civil rights issues facing blind Americans in the twenty-first century, and we will do everything in our power to see that this right is secured.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/national-federation-of-the-blind-condemns-lack-of-access-to-new-kindle-fire-2011-09-29

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Amazon Kindle Fire Supply Called Into Question

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

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Now that the details and specifications of the Amazon Kindle Fire have been reported to death, the question turns to one of supply: Can Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and its hardware supplier Quanta make enough Kindle Fires to satisfy consumer demand? It’s a fair question. When the first Amazon Kindle debuted in 2007, the e-commerce giant didn’t make enough and the existing e-readers were snapped up in one week. The specter of that supply shortage cast a pall over some analysts’ estimates for Kindle Fire sales this holiday season.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-Supply-Called-Into-Question-816663/?kc=rss

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Amazon Kindle Fire Costs $209.63 to Build: Analysts

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

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet costs $209.63 to build, according to an analysis by IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Service. That figure includes $191.65 in materials in addition to manufacturing expenses. Amazon plans on retailing the 7-inch tablet for $199. “The real benefit of the Kindle Fire to Amazon will not be in selling hardware or digital content,” read a Sept. 30 research note accompanying the analysis. “Rather, the Kindle Fire, and the content demand it stimulates, will serve to promote sales of the kinds of physical goods that comprise the majority of Amazon’s business.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-Costs-20963-to-Build-Analysts-226740/?kc=rss

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October 7, 2011

Earn national recognition through one of eSchool News many ed-tech awards programs

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

by eSchool News

We’re looking for nominations for our eSchool of the Month, Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards, and Readers’ Choice Awards programs. To help educators, schools, and even ed-tech companies receive the credit they deserve when they bring these elements together to improve instruction, we’ve created a number of awards programs. These programs aim to highlight the innovative work of school and campus leaders, schools, districts, colleges, and education industry professionals, while holding it up as an example for others to follow.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/09/30/earn-national-recognition-through-one-of-our-many-ed-tech-awards-programs/

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Predictive Analytics: Better Than Bubble Tests

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:36 am

By Ellen Ullman, SchoolCIO

Predictive assessment gives teachers a prediction of how students are likely to perform on state summative exams three, six, or nine months before taking them. The purpose is to allow teachers to use the information to understand each child’s strengths and weaknesses to improve results on those summative tests.

http://www.schoolcio.com/article/better-than-bubble-tests/50790

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Planning for One-to-One laptops and BYOD

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

By Nancy Caramanico, CIO Advisor

If you were taking a long-awaited trip, how far in advance would you begin planning? A year, three months, one month? You’d surely want to make sure that it is enjoyable, worthwhile and that your trip is just what you had envisioned. You would plan well in advance. What if you are implementing new technologies in the classroom? How far in advance would you begin planning? Two years, one year, one month? If you are going to implement an innovation such as a one-to-one or bring your own device (BYOD). it must be done on purpose and with purpose. Indeed, some say that if you don’t plan for one to one or mobile access in your schools, it will simply happen to you. Increasing requests and student needs many necessitate it in some cases and the planning won’t have been done. This scenario is the one most would want to avoid.

http://www.schoolcio.com/article/daily-insight-planning-for-one-to-one-laptops-and-byod/50809

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October 6, 2011

White House school-technology effort aims to boost learning

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

By Juliann Francis, Bloomberg News

The Obama administration will create a national center to advance technologies that may improve teaching and learning in US schools, the White House announced. The Digital Promise is part of Obama’s jobs plan. In a Sept. 8. speech to a joint session of Congress, Obama said part of the initiative involves modernizing 35,000 schools, including installing high-speed Internet connections in classrooms. “Digital Promise is a unique partnership that will bring everyone together — educators, entrepreneurs and researchers — to use technology to help students learn and teachers teach,” Obama said in a statement. “There’s no silver bullet when it comes to education, but technology can be a powerful tool, and Digital Promise will help us make the most of it.”

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/09/16/white_house_school_technology_effort_aims_to_boost_learning/

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We Have Lost a Leader

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:38 am

 

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

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Kinect Project Merges Real and Virtual Worlds

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

by Nic Fleming, Technology Review

Microsoft’s Kinect Xbox controller, which lets gamers control on-screen action with their body movements, has been adapted in hundreds of interesting, useful, and occasionally bizarre ways since its release in November 2010. It’s been used for robotic vision and automated home lighting. It’s helped wheelchair users with their shopping. Yet these uses could look like child’s play compared to the new 3-D modeling capabilities Microsoft has developed for the Kinect. KinectFusion, a research project that lets users generate high-quality 3-D models in real time using a standard $100 Kinect, was the star of the show at Microsoft Research’s 20th anniversary event held this week at its European headquarters in Cambridge, U.K. KinectFusion also includes a realistic physics engine that allows scanned objects to be manipulated in realistic ways.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38731/?p1=A3

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Amazon’s ‘Silk’ Browser Probably Coming to a PC Near You

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

by Christopher Mims, Technology Review

The powered-by-the-cloud Silk browser Amazon surprised users with yesterday, which will initially only be available on its Fire 7-inch tablet, will probably be coming to other platforms, though the evidence is still circumstantial. The Silk browser is notable because it offloads much of the processing of web pages to Amazon’s vast cloud infrastructure, to speed up the browsing experience. (The Opera browser has been doing this for years, but unfortunately for Opera, no one seems have noticed.)

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27210/?p1=blogs

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October 5, 2011

The Kindle Fire will enable the next generation of 1:1 education apps

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

By Christopher Dawson, ZD Net Education

This isn’t about hardware. It’s about price, ecosystem, and some very exciting new web tech built into the Fire’s browser. The much-anticipated, Android-based Kindle Fire, however, is finally the tablet for 1:1 use in schools. The price is clearly spot on. $199 is far easier to stomach for schools than anything else on the market, it’s a full Android tablet (there’s that convergence I was talking about), its 7″ form factor means that it fits in any bag easily and small hands can hold it just as easily as high school- and college-sized hands, and, most importantly, the new Silk browser that Amazon introduced today has the potential to deliver an entirely new generation of web-based tablet applications.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/the-kindle-fire-will-enable-the-next-generation-of-11-education-apps/4699?tag=nl.e623

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Adobe Premiere – When the tool is the skill

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

by Christopher Dawson, ZD Net Education

An increasing number of schools (particular trade schools at the secondary level and communications-oriented schools in higher ed) are adopting Premiere and effectively using it to teach those concepts I was talking about at the beginning of this post. Premiere is a bit different. It’s not only ubiquitous in TV and video production but contains a rich enough feature set that I’d be pretty happy to see “Filmmaking with Adobe Premiere” or “Introduction to Marketing with Adobe Premiere” in a course catalog. There aren’t many concepts that you couldn’t effectively teach by just starting at the top with the application. Of course, you could teach filmmaking or whatever else with Kino, Avidemux, or iMovie. But you could teach it a lot better with Premiere. All it took was an afternoon with the product for me to understand many aspects of video production than I ever did with iMovie, which, understandably, shields users from a lot of the nitty gritty. That nitty gritty, though, encourages creativity and experimentation which, quite frankly, are some of the most valuable 21st Century Skills we could impart to our students. And Premiere CS5.5 exposes the nitty in all its gritty glory without being overly complicated or clunky.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/adobe-premiere-when-the-tool-is-the-skill/4686?tag=nl.e623

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What happens when you don’t have a computer?

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

By Christopher Dawson, ZD Net Education

Intel and Microsoft take 2 different approaches to addressing the digital divide. It’s hard for my kids to imagine not having a computer. Every person in my family has one (except the almost 2-year old; she just steals her brothers’ machines). I get enough demo units and upgrade frequently enough that there are, in fact, computers to spare. There are, however, countless students and families who don’t share that luxury. Microsoft announced Wednesday as part of the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting that it was launching “a three-year program to ensure that one million students from low-income families in the United States receive reduced-cost software and hardware and discounted broadband internet service.”

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/what-happens-when-you-dont-have-a-computer/4694?tag=nl.e623

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October 4, 2011

Getting close and personal with your computer ecosystem

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

BY ALEXIA SEVERSON, Northwestern University

A new convergence of physical, personal and virtual worlds is on the horizon as computers tap 3D imaging and information filters to help us grab what’s most important to us. Touch screens, sensors, social networks and other devices already are making the computer something we interact with in a personal way. And that’s just the start as technology advances. Microsoft’s Chief Research Officer Craig Mundie, will present at Northwestern University on just how the computer interface is evolving to become “more like us.” Mundie, who joined Microsoft in 1992, oversees the company’s long-term technology strategy. Mundie previewed his upcoming lecture with Medill and what changes we can expect from computers in the near future.

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=189425

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Getting an e-Ducation: The ups and downs of earning a degree online

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

by Christianna McCausland, Urbanite Baltimore

“Online courses are in some ways an electronic version of correspondence courses that have been around a long time,” says Terry Cooney, interim provost at Towson University, who still has the lesson plans from the nursing correspondence course his grandmother took almost 100 years ago. “It’s not that the idea of distance education is brand new … We’re all looking at what the best uses are of [online education] as it evolves.” University of Maryland University College, based in Adelphi, near Silver Spring, got its start in 1947 offering evening classes to military personnel returning from the war, then broadened its reach with courses on bases in Europe and Asia. Under that model, most of UMUC’s enrollment was overseas—until the 1990s, when the university became an early adopter of online learning. “We grew dramatically,” says Marie Cini, vice president and dean for the School of Undergraduate Studies. “We now have far more online students than face-to-face students, and our stateside enrollments are far greater than Europe and Asia.” Today, UMUC offers 107 degree and certificate programs entirely online. Eighty-five percent of undergrads are taking online courses or fully online degrees. The majority of the graduate classes are mostly or entirely online.

http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/getting-an-e-ducation/Content?oid=1462777

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