Educational Technology

By Rebecca Hyman, GateHouse News Service

The students in Dave Patrick’s engineering class have acquired the power to transform the designs in their heads into objects they can hold in the palms of their hands. Patrick said Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School’s new 3D printer is state of the art technology that gives B-R engineering students a big advantage in applying to college and excelling once they get there. “It allows them to do rapid prototyping. When they design something on the computer it allows them to actually make it within hours and look at it and feel it and most importantly answer the question, ‘Does it work?’” Patrick said.

http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x1059073553/MOLDING-YOUNG-MINDS-3D-printer-makes-an-impression-at-Bridgewater-Raynham-High-School

By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE, NY Times

During a one-week welcoming event here for the General Management Program at the business school Essec, incoming students are introduced to the school, the curriculum and the staff. At the end, they are handed what educators there see as one of their most important learning tools: an iPad. While specialized education tools have long played an important role in the classroom, some of the most commonly used gadgets and Web sites have become teaching tools of choice at business schools like Essec and elsewhere. Facebook is increasingly used to foster a sense of community for business school classes that meet just a few times a semester; Twitter is used as a way for students to be heard in big halls, letting them ask questions during lectures without having to raise their hand or voice; and videoconferencing software is used at many business schools as a tool for communication between far-flung networks of professors and experts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/world/europe/a-scholarly-role-for-consumer-technology.html?_r=1

by Mariella Moon, Tecca

In this day and age when kids use iPads and smartphones in school and parents have a hard time keeping up, it’s difficult to imagine that there are institutions that completely eschew the use of technology in the classroom. But these types of schools really do exist, as evidenced by the Waldorf schools of Ohio. No computers, TVs, tablets, or any gadget reside within the schools’ premises, and their use is discouraged even at home. It’s not because the people behind Waldorf are anti-technology — they just believe learning computers in the first 12 or 13 years of a child’s life is “not what’s best for them.” They also believe that kids don’t need to be taught how to use computers as they’re intuitive machines anyway. By the time the students reach eighth grade (which is the last possible year in the Waldorf system), though, teachers begin allowing them to use computers for basic purposes like research.

http://www.tecca.com/news/2011/11/23/waldorf-school-ohio/

by D.C. Denison, Boston Globe

Earlier this fall, a group of students, parents, and teachers from Boston’s public schools played an interactive computer game designed to reinvent the way schools are evaluated. Meanwhile, a team of Somerville students was turning digital cameras into infrared scanners, perfect for measuring the health of vegetation in city neighborhoods. A few miles away, in Harvard Square, 14 technologists were working to create ways for public radio shows to find listeners. Those three efforts were examples of local media and technology projects funded entirely or in part by the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, one of the largest US philanthropies. With a mission to promote journalism and foster community engagement, the foundation has invested more than $100 million in experimental media technologies and techniques in the past five years.

http://bostonglobe.com/business/2011/11/22/knight-foundation-merging-media-minds-and-money/WK8Vi8kbDQIBFapFxZm7JM/story.html

by Janet Murray, the Guardian (UK)

Rob Appelby, art teacher, Herne Bay high school, Kent

It’s not necessarily that teachers know less about IT – it’s just that they don’t know how to teach it. The curriculum always seems to be lagging behind. My students don’t want to learn how to make Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations – they want something far more eclectic that really taps into their individual interests.

Karen Davies, head of learning resources, Science Museum

Kids are very experimental and really push boundaries, but adults tend to be more cautious. That’s why students often seem to know more than their teachers – it’s a confidence thing. Yes, there are lots of things we can learn from young people, but children need frameworks and structures to help them learn – and that’s what teachers provide.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/nov/21/multiple-choice-students-teachers-technology?newsfeed=true

By Anastasia Salter, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Amazon’s newly released Kindle Fire, a 7-inch full color tablet built for Amazon’s content, is the first in its popular Kindle hardware line to step out into the widening market of convergent devices. Ebook readers, once of the remaining single-purpose gadgets with a clear purpose in a tech-heavy briefcase, are now forced to compete for that space with the more nimble tablets. The first-generation Kindle Fire is a strange combination of both worlds, and while it fails to fully satisfy as either it does promise to leave its mark on our media consumption devices and perhaps even make an appearance in our classrooms or our own toolkits for travel and meetings.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/kindle-fire/37397?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

by MediaCaster

The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) will present its Innovator of the Year Award to Dr. Geordie Rose, founder and Chief Technology Officer of D-Wave Systems Inc. of Burnaby, British Columbia. The award honours an individual Canadian who has demonstrated the most compelling technology or business innovation within the sectors of ICT and digital media. Nominations are put forth by the CIX Advisory Board members and are considered and evaluated by the CIX Co-Chairs. Rose will be recognized for his ambitious approach to building quantum computing technology. The development of a quantum computer processor has been a longstanding goal of physicists and computer scientists who, until recently, focused primarily on academic research. This transformative technology is comparable in scope to the shift from vacuum tubes to transistors to silicon chips, with vastly more processing power and the ability to solve complex problems that are simply not possible through today’s advanced supercomputers based on conventional processors. Applications currently under development include machine learning, protein folding, image recognition, and search as well as powerful analytics for “big data” sectors like energy usage, consumer behavior or stock market trading.

http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/news/quantum-computing-an-award-winner-as-cix-announces-canadian-innovator-of-the-year/1000711140/

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

While vendors make plenty of technology platforms and services that serve students, most of them don’t meet professors’ needs, according to the experience of Jim Luke, an economics professor from Lansing College. They require a major time investment and make professors’ jobs harder, he said. “Just in 10 years the amount of time and work it takes to be a good teacher has just really skyrocketed, and a good bit of it is because of the software and the systems. They are not friendly and easy to use.” While billions of dollars pour into campus enterprise technology and services for students, few people look at the teacher’s job. And few people create tools for teachers that they need. For these reasons, Luke decided to start a nonprofit called Malartu Inc. While projects exist in the early stages, he hopes that the tools he envisions will help professors be more productive and effective.

http://www.convergemag.com/policy/Economics-Professor-Starts-Designing-Tools-for-Faculty-That-Meet-Their-Needs.html

By Tanya Roscorla, Converge

Montclair State helps teachers connect technology, curriculum and instruction. On the East Coast, budget cuts force many school districts to eliminate technology facilitators that teachers rely on. Now teachers take on that role for their classroom. And they’re not always prepared for it, said Gregg Festa, the director of the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies under the Center of Pedagogy at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Through four education technology projects, the university equips educators to overcome challenges as they coordinate technology and learning in their classrooms.

http://www.convergemag.com/training/4-Ways-to-Prepare-Teachers-for-Technology-Integration.html

by Harry Tuttle, School CIO

Administrators have a fantastic opportunity to help improve the quality of teaching in their schools through using web tools. As administrators walk around and see examples of higher-level learning, they can capture the learning through pictures or videos. They will make sure that the pictures or videos clearly show the specific learning goal and the higher level-learning as opposed to some “cute” picture of students. For example, an administrator could take a picture of a student-made social studies concept map that contrasts the causes of the American Revolution and the American Civil War. The administrator could post it to the school website, Facebook page, or a Flickr school page. Likewise, the administrator could tweet, “English 8 students work in groups of three to help each other have more evidence and detail in their essay paragraphs.”

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=3420

By Steven M. Baule, CIO Advisor

Lately, there’s been a fair amount of concern about how technology is or isn’t impacting student achievement, i.e., standardized test scores. Some districts are deciding what to cut: staffing, technology, chess club, sport programs, library books or someone else’s sacred cow(s). I find this interesting, since technology has never shown an ability to improve student test scores on its own. Technology has been able to do two things fairly well for instruction:

1. engage learners more decisively than traditional methods (thus more time on task); and

2. allow staff to more easily and effectively differentiate instruction to accommodate a variety of learning styles.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=3343

By Matt Townsley, CIO Advisor

Creating surveys using Google Forms is a fairly straightforward task. In my school district, we often use Google Forms rather than other survey tools, because all students in grades 4-12 and staff members already have Google Apps for Education accounts. It doesn’t require setting up another account!

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&EntryId=3419

by Mealand Ragland-Hudgins, Daily News Journal

Students in Jackie Gilbert’s Principles of Marketing class at MTSU have spent the semester studying five forms of bullying in an effort to share them with students at Oakland High. Dan Olweus, creator of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, defines bullying as a person being “exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself.” Cyberbullying is when those actions take place electronically, either through a cell phone or computer. Gilbert and Oakland High Principal Bill Spurlock agreed to partner on the project, which covers five sessions over a two-week period. The program could eventually expand to other high schools.

http://www.dnj.com/article/20111120/NEWS07/111200311/Social-media-easy-tool-cyberbullies

By ANDREW POTTER, Times Republican

They each chipped in $20 and their new business was formed. Several months later and Tyler Richard and Josh Weuve have had more than $100,000 in sales for their Marshalltown-based company, Cryogen Computer Design, which sets up virtual reality systems for school districts. Even more surprising might be that Richard is just 21 years old and Weuve is only 18 and a senior at East Marshall High School. “We want to put brand new technology in the hands of the students because they know what to do with it,” Richard said. “It’s a blast.” The two order parts, set up the systems and do troubleshooting for schools on the technology. Virtual reality allows students to learn to do design and other work in 3-D using a program called Blender. Many of their customers are surprised when a high school senior and an Iowa State student show up to do the work.

http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/544580/Virtuosos-of-virtual-reality.html?nav=5005

By Victoria Grabner, the Gleaner

The students become more comfortable using a computer mouse and knowing how to log in, open a program and read instructions for how to use other computer programs — skills that are very relevant today. Starting students on the program in kindergarten has made it easier for them to keep up with their peers, too. In fact, in the past five years since Headsprout was implemented districtwide, 90 percent of Niagara’s students read on or above their grade level. With 300 students in grades kindergarten through five at Niagara, that means only 30 students in the whole school are below their grade level — and those students are getting other targeted reading assistance to help them improve. Across all elementary schools in the district, 80 percent of students in kindergarten through fifth grades were at or above grade level on the spring 2011 Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. This is a test that tracks individual student progress three times per year in the fall, winter and spring.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/nov/20/teaching-with-technology/

By Kris Kilgore, Milford Patch

Creations such as iPhones, iPads, Kindles and Droids have been presented to consumers in such a flaunting manor that many can’t resist acquainting themselves with these innovations. School districts are no exception. Already, relatively recent technological advances in the classroom like overhead projectors and SMART Boards are becoming a thing of the past. There is an up and coming generation of technologically filled classrooms called “paperless classrooms.” Now that doesn’t mean there is absolutely no use for paper, but pretty close to it. Students use new tools such as laptops and iPads, blogs, podcasts, audio-video software, and visit websites like Teacher Tube, Facebook and Twitter.

http://milford.patch.com/articles/less-paper-more-learning-the-future-of-education

By JAMES CHILTON, The Daily News

As Mohave Community College redoubles its efforts to combat a rising student default rate, one of the initiatives it has planned involves reintroducing certain remedial courses online, but with a twist. According to MCC president Dr. Michael Kearns, the college is preparing to begin implementing some new class models this spring using what’s called an “embedded advisor.” The idea, he said, is to pair a group of students in one class with a faculty member whose job will be to consistently monitor each student’s progress and make regular contact with them to ensure they’re getting all the help they need. Kearns said the idea was based around reintroducing the online version of TRM, MCC’s transitional math course, which is a remedial course many adult students often have to take to regain some of the math skills they’ve forgotten since high school. Since virtually all college degree programs require students to pass at least one college-level math course, Kearns said TRM is an essential stepping stone to prepare those students for college algebra.

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2011/11/18/news/local/doc4ec6097f79829786978872.txt

By Audrey Watters, Inside Higher Ed

The Kindle Fire, unlike the iPad however, really doesn’t seem to be targeting any aspect of the educational market. There’s no educational app category, for starters, and I really doubt we’ll see the sort of edu-focused advertising campaign for the Kindle Fire like we did with Apple’s “Learn” ad. There’s no Inkling app, no Kno app, no Coursesmart app — not really a surprise as these are all e-textbook apps as well as e-bookstores.  These apps have all tried hard to address some of the problems that college students identify with digital textbooks, particularly in terms of note-taking and sharing. Without these sorts of apps or features available, the complaints that students have about e-textbooks just seem exacerbated, then, on the Fire.  It’s definitely a device to consume content, not to create content, and while I realize that was a charge against the iPad that was demonstrated to be quite wrong in the end, the Kindle Fire really does feel like the Amazon store on a piece of hardware. Of course, students do consume plenty of media, and they do a lot more than read textbooks (You can insert your own joke here about their reading any textbooks).

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/hack-higher-education/kindle-fire-educational-tablet

by the Associated Press

From videotaped lectures to podcasts, universities are rushing to embrace the digital revolution. Yet even as some schools invite the public to view course material online, they’re starting to grapple with how to keep classroom discussions out of the wrong hands. At the University of Missouri, a leaked classroom video that went viral in the spring and triggered an uproar on conservative media has prompted what may be the first restrictions on students recording lectures since the advent of portable tape recorders more than 50 years ago. Under the new policy, students must first obtain written permission from their professors and classmates.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/11/17/university_of_missouri_to_limit_lecture_recording/

By Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Ed

Anyone can now track his or her citations via Google Scholar. The free citation service is “a simple way for authors to compute their citation metrics and track them over time,” the company said in an announcement yesterday on the Google Scholar blog. Google announced a limited-release test of the service in July. Google Scholar automatically sorts articles into groups. Authors can go through those, identify which articles are indeed theirs, and edit the list. Google Scholars collects citations for each author and graphs them over time to calculate different metrics: “the widely used h-index; the i-10 index, which is simply the number of articles with at least ten citations; and, of course, the total number of citations to your articles,” the blog post says. “Each metric is computed over all citations and also over citations in articles published in the last five years.”

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/google-scholar-opens-up-its-citations/34385?

Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed

My ability to make strong arguments about how our academic libraries should navigate the new ecosystem of digital books (e-books & audiobooks) seems to be inversely related to the amount of time I spend engaging the library community on these issues. The more I learn, the more complex and difficult I realize this issue to be. Simple declarations about the desirability of our libraries mimicking Amazon and providing every book in paper, e-paper and audio (when available …. audiobooks are unfortunately less likely to be produced) might be appealing, but may ultimately be unproductive. 

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/digital-content-and-smart-librarians