Educational Technology

by Steve Song,  Forbes

As an app developer, I’m going to interpret this as “Why are there cool apps for high school and higher, but not for elementary school?” The four reasons I see as the cause for this situation can be summarized as money, demographics, mix of skills, and legal.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/03/23/why-is-there-a-lack-of-innovation-in-educational-technology-for-children/

by Here & Now

Apple reports schools in more than 600 districts have bought iPads for all of their students. And it’s not happening just in wealthy suburbs. Schools in urban districts like New York City and Chicago are also handing out iPads. In the Boston area, Burlington High School launched a one-to-one iPad program in the fall, providing a tablet for each student. It cost the school about $500,000 for the devices, and the principal, Patrick Larkin, said the school paid for them within its existing budget.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/03/23/schools-textbooks-ipad

by David Castillo and Peter McIntosh, Getting Smart

Through close observation and student interviews, we found that students failed to engage in the coursework and spent little to no time studying. Students were disengaged from their learning responsibilities and the derailing of their studying began as early as elementary school. Early on, students struggled and faced constant frustration on a series of topics: long division, fractions, negative numbers, and word problems. This discouraged students and led to a decreased interest in engaging in the classroom or completing homework. Yet the bar of expectation and demonstration of competency was low. Students still continued on to the next grade in a one-size-fits-all educational approach despite their lack of knowledge and understanding around basic algebraic concepts. We concluded that the real problem was making those poor habits an excuse for the wrong initiatives. Instead, we should make those bad habits the target of better initiatives. We then looked to Khan Academy as a popular solution worth testing.

http://gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/03/khan-academy-learning-habits-vs-content-delivery-in-stem-education/

by VERN SEWARD, Mac Observer

This is truly a remarkable app and endeavor. The idea of providing knowledge and, to a large extent, an education to anyone for free can actually be realized through Khan Academy. If you have kids or are looking to extend or complete your own education, this is a must-have. But even if your educational desires are not so involved and all you want is to brush up on a subject or two, it’s all there.vCheck out Khan Academy for iPad. This is what makes smart devices like the iPad worth whatever amount you pay for them.

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/a_free_app_for_ipad_that_shows_knowledge_is_power/

By Rocco Staino, School Library Journal

First, Bill Gates gave him a call, then 60 Minutes did a feature on him, and more recently, teachers were elbowing one another aside at the two-day Celebration of Teaching and Learning conference, March 16 and 17 in New York City to snag an autograph or snap a photo of the former hedge fund analyst and digital education rock star, Sal Khan. The MIT grad now oversees his namesake online video instructional collection, Khan Academy, which is available to students worldwide.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/894005-312/digital_ed_rock_star_sal.html.csp

by Lori Kozlowski, Forbes

It’s not a secret: There are fewer women in tech than there are men. Women take up only a quarter of the nation’s tech jobs, though they make up half the American workforce. So, let’s run some numbers. Based on estimates from Q, an IT and Digital talent firm based in Los Angeles that specializes in tech talent in Southern California: Out of every 100 software developers/engineers in Los Angeles, approximately 10-12 are female. In 2011, only 17% of job placements (all for positions in technology in L.A.) were women. Only 7% of developers hired through Q were women.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorikozlowski/2012/03/22/women-in-tech-female-developers-by-the-numbers/

by Benjamin Jackson, Mashable

As the post-PC era moves from interesting theory to cold, hard reality, one of the most pressing questions is: How can we use tablets, and especially the iPad, to help people learn? Most of the focus has been on ebooks replacing textbooks, a trend fueled by Apple’s recent updates to iBooks. Specifically, the company released iBooks Author, a tool for creating immersive ebooks on the desktop. Plus, the new iPad is now the first tablet with a retina screen, making reading and watching multimedia on the device even more enjoyable. But technology is only as good as the system it’s applied to. Much like a fresh coat of paint will not improve the fuel efficiency of a ’69 Mustang, the application of technology to a broken system masks deeper problems with short-term gains.

http://mashable.com/2012/03/22/tech-traditional-education/