November 30, 2012
by Edudemic
When you’re looking to do something interesting with your class, the internet is the first place that most of us turn for help. Our friend the internet holds the keys to textbooks, web tools, teaching guides, lesson plans, apps, and more. But how do you know what’s free for using vs. free for changing, adapting to your needs, and building upon? That’s a harder question to answer. Thanks to this infographic from the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (at the University of Texas at Austin), your path to finding useful, openly licensed educational resources just got a little easier.
http://edudemic.com/2012/11/infographic-how-to-search-for-openly-licensed-educational-resources/
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by Edudemic
Skype, the free, ubiquitous VOIP downloadable, offers some unique opportunities for tech-savvy teachers to get their students learning in exciting new ways. It might prove a buggy affair depending on the version, but all the same the service still makes for a phenomenal classroom tool. Read at the link below to find out how you can put this cool tool to work in your classroom.
http://edudemic.com/2012/11/online-colleges-50-creative-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/
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by Edudemic
It’s pretty obvious that the internet has had a huge impact in education, but just how has the internet changed education? With each semester, more and more students are taking classes online, teachers are integrating social media into their courses, and everyone is turning to the web to do their research. Teachers, students, and parents are leveraging new technologies for learning a huge variety of topics, and schools are using web tools for all aspects of school life, from admissions to classroom time. Take a gander at the infographic linked below to see just how big an impact the internet has really made in the education world.
http://edudemic.com/2012/11/how-has-the-internet-changed-education/
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November 29, 2012
by Edudemic
For young learners, there are a plethora of apps out there to help learn how to count, and for older learners, often times a graphing calculator or scientific calculator app will do the trick. But what about all of those students in between? You know, the ones who already know how to count, but have to learn a multitude of math concepts that most of their parents have long forgotten? We’re taking a look at 6 apps that are easy to use and teach more than just counting.
http://edudemic.com/2012/11/7-apps-that-teach-math-concepts/
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by the BBC
The multi-touch, multi-user interactive ‘smart’ desks were designed, built and tested by Durham University. The desks help children work together without any one individual dominating, the three-year project involving 400 children aged eight to 10 suggests. Researchers said high costs mean the desks are “some way off” being a regular feature in schools. However, they said they have already found a number of ways of reducing the cost of the technology. They act like multi-touch interactive white boards so that several students can use any desk at once. This makes it is easier for students to collaborate on finding solutions to problems, according to the study, published in the journal Learning and Instruction.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20462117#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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by the BBC
Work on digital glasses that overlay information on top of the user’s view of the world has been carried out by Microsoft. A patent applied for by the US tech firm describes how the eyewear could be used to bring up statistics over a wearer’s view of a baseball game or details of characters in a play. The newly-released document was filed in May 2011 and is highly detailed. If a product comes to market it could challenge Google’s Project Glass. Google is planning to deliver its augmented reality glasses to developers early next year and then follow with a release to consumers in 2014. Smaller firms – such as Vuzix, TTP and Explore Engage – are also working on rival systems.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20462840#
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November 28, 2012
By Kevin Yaley, Pomerado News
In order to prepare students properly for life outside the classroom, it is imperative to include some degree of technological education in any successful college preparatory curriculum. Therefore, the challenge for our teachers is to foster a system that does this while also permitting students to progress at their own pace, and without sacrificing opportunities for collaboration and creativity in the classroom. Such a system requires teachers to be intimately familiar with the computer programs being used in schools, and to understand how those programs can help students expand and develop their thinking – not just at school, but at home and in the world at large.
http://www.pomeradonews.com/2012/11/24/bringing-computers-to-the-classroom-uniting-modalities-for-a-student-centered-education/
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by Tamar Lewin, the Age (Australia)
The spread of MOOCs is likely to have wide fallout. Lower-tier universities, already facing resistance over high tuition, may have trouble persuading students that their courses are worth the price. And some experts voice reservations about how online learning can be assessed, and warn of the potential for cheating. MOOCs first landed in the spotlight last year, when Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford professor, offered a free Artificial Intelligence course, attracting 160,000 students in 190 nations. The resulting storm of publicity galvanised elite research universities across the United States to begin to open higher education to everyone — with the hope of perhaps, eventually, making money doing so. The expansion has been dizzying. Millions of students are now enrolled in hundreds of online courses, including those offered by Udacity,
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/students-warm-to-global-learning-20121121-29p1c.html
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by Magic Valley News
Students at more Idaho schools will soon be using an online resource for math education. The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation will provide funding to support the use of the Khan Academy in classrooms across the state. Jamie MacMillan, executive director of the Albertson Foundation, wrote in a statement that data shows many Idaho students struggle with math. “We think accelerating the use of the Khan Academy in Idaho classrooms will not only bolster student math achievement, (but) it may also redefine what learning can and should look like in our state,” she said.
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/education/grant-will-boost-use-of-khan-academy/article_d9cf1854-3a9a-5826-842f-1d0d53c02728.html
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November 27, 2012
BY GARY NG, iPhone in Canada
The Khan Academy has released its iOS app today for the iPhone and iPod touch. The non-profit organization was founded by MIT and Harvard Business School graduate Salman Khan. Its largest contributors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We’re a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere. Their video library spans over 3500 videos and covers K-12 math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, physics, and touches into the humanities with videos on finance and history. The app allows you to download videos to watch offline at your own pace. This is a must-have app for any lifelong learner.
http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/app-store/khan-academy-ios-app-launches-over-3500-educational-videos-available/
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By Justina Mccandless, The Salt Lake Tribune
David struggled in a half dozen “brick-and-mortar” public schools, where his access to technology and sensory input was too limited and aides didn’t seem to know how to help him, Harms says. She thinks she’s finally found the solution in online learning through the Utah Virtual Academy K-12 program. He has a computer in his room, but can also learn in the living room or in the basement by hooking up the computer to a television. “I don’t force him to sit at a desk for eight hours a day because it’s impossible,” Harms says. Utah Virtual Academy, one of about 15 online Utah public schools, has an enrollment of more than 2,000 students, and about 14 percent are students with disabilities. Stacey Hutchings, head of the school, says it wasn’t designed for special-needs students, but it’s working well for them because of its flexibility.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55149762-78/david-students-says-harms.html.csp
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By Rachel Metz, Technology Review
The excitement among tablet makers is almost as great. Research firm IDC says global shipments of tablets will reach 177 million this year, and 11 million of them were purchased by businesses or government agencies rather than consumers. Of those, IDC analyst Tom Mainelli says, the “vast majority” were sold to schools. Mainelli thinks that within a few years all U.S. students will have some access to a tablet at school. With 55 million students in the country’s elementary and secondary schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, that’s a lot of potential sales. And it’s not just a one-time product push: beyond selling tablets to schools and districts, tablet makers see a chance to set up future sales by establishing brand loyalty with young users. “All these guys see huge opportunities here,” Mainelli says.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506321/tablet-makers-pursue-public-schools/
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November 26, 2012
By Patricia McGlamory, San Antonio College Ranger
Three instructors of Internet classes stressed the need to use technology to create the best classroom experience for online students during a virtual distance learning panel discussion. The event was sponsored by the office of technology services and the Teaching With Technology Committee. “I think that what we’re all trying to do is create the best classroom experience for the online student,” mortuary science Professor Francisco E. Solis said. Psychology Professor Pamela Hill and Librarian Celita DeArmond also spoke. Theater Instructor Ronnie Watson moderated the panel. Solis makes his face-to-face lectures and chapter notes available online for his students, allowing him to “bring my class to the student.” Students may not completely comprehend a skill, but they can go online and review the skill over and over, Solis said. It makes a great tool for them to carry around, just to be able to access your lecture.”
http://www.theranger.org/news/technology-can-enhance-learning-panelists-say-1.2796517
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by BrooklyNews.com
NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott yesterday announced that the Department of Education will offer online courses to students who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Students in grades six through 12 who have been displaced from their homes and/or reassigned to other schools while their buildings undergo repairs for storm damage, are eligible to enroll in online classes for core subject areas and electives, including English, math, economics, calculus, world history and Spanish. The initiative is intended to prevent learning loss for students who have had to move from their homes or schools and whose school attendance has been affected. The courses are made possible through an extension of iZone, the Department of Education’s program that supports innovative models of teaching including online tools for classroom learning, and through the donation of program licenses from partners Apex Learning, Desire2Learn and Powerspeak.
http://www.brooklynews.com/112112-new-online-courses-for-students-impacted-by-hurricane-sandy/
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By Lindsey Christ, NY1
At Scholars Academy Wednesday, most of the students made it to class, even though they were crammed into classrooms in two different buildings in East New York, Brooklyn, a long way from the school’s pre-Hurricane Sandy site in Rockaway Beach, Queens. Scholars Academy has had one of the highest attendance rates among the relocated schools, thanks to Herculean efforts by staff members, parents and students. But with 88 percent of students in class on Wednesday, teachers worry about the 12 percent who aren’t. “We have kids in Pennsylvania right now,” said teacher Steve Kinney. “We had kids in Texas. I’m in New Jersey. I lived in Rockaway.” They decided that for some kids, the best route back to the classroom might start with a computer screen, and so a handful of Scholar Academy students now start their school day with a 9 a.m. email to their teacher.
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/172718/city-to-offer-online-classes-for-displaced-students
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November 25, 2012
By Antonio Regalado, Technology Review
What’s been the single biggest innovation in education? Don’t worry if you come up blank. You’re supposed to. The question is a gambit used by Anant Agarwal, the computer scientist named this year to head edX, a $60 million MIT-Harvard effort to stream a college education over the Web, free, to anyone who wants one. His point: it’s rare to see major technological advances in how people learn. Agarwal believes that education is about to change dramatically. The reason is the power of the Web and its associated data-crunching technologies.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506351/the-most-important-education-technology-in-200-years/
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by the Science Blog
The storage capacity of hard disk drives could increase by a factor of five thanks to processes developed by chemists and engineers at The University of Texas at Austin. The researchers’ technique, which relies on self-organizing substances known as block copolymers, was described this week in an article in Science. It’s also being given a real-world test run in collaboration with HGST, one of the world’s leading innovators in disk drives.
http://scienceblog.com/57757/computer-memory-could-increase-fivefold/
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by Tracy Mayor, Computerworld
Each time a female engineer takes the helm at a prominent technology company, the industry breathes a sigh of relief and pats itself on the back. See? Self-proclaimed “girl geeks” like Mayer really can survive and thrive in IT and research. Add to that the fact that more female CIOs than ever are leading the tech charge at Fortune 500 companies like Exxon Mobil, Boeing, Dell, Walmart, Bank of America, Xerox and GE, and it’s easy to conclude that change really has come to one of the last male-dominated boxes on the corporate org chart. Or maybe not. According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011 women made up 57% of the country’s professional workforce but held just 25% of the jobs in professional computing occupations. And those Fortune 500 female CIOs? They still account for just 12% of the total, according to data from Boardroom Insider.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/442427/women_it_how_deep_bench_/
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November 24, 2012
by Jewel Topsfield, The Age
The Australia report, which was funded by Dell, said interest in the trend known as BYOD – bring-your-own device – had peaked this year as the sustainability of the national secondary school computer fund and digital education revolution came into question. ”Educators … are concerned with schools’ ability to continue providing computing devices to students should, as it seems likely, funding models for one-to-one student programs be withdrawn in 2013-2014,” Joseph Sweeney from Intelligent Business Research Services says in the report. ”Everyone is looking for the ‘one approach’ that alleviates all of the headaches of providing digital education (changing policies, duty of care, maintenance etc), while consuming as little of the scarce ICT budget as possible.”
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/schools-dilemma-on-byo-technology-20121119-29m6s.html
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by Khan Academy
Engineer Joel Burget and designer Kitt Hirasaki have launched the Computer Science “Spin-Offs” view, which allows you to see all of the programs that other users have spun off from the original. Visit the coolest spin-offs to vote on them, ask questions, and leave feedback. And of course, spin off a program yourself!
http://www.khanacademy.org/about/blog/post/35798906477/computer-science-spin-offs
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By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald
Canadian schools are grappling with how best to use technology in the classroom. The results in Alberta, so far, are mixed. One recent study of technology in Alberta high schools found some encouraging examples of really creative and engaging use. But in many other cases, researchers learned, using technology didn’t move much beyond looking things up on the Internet. Researchers also found examples of teachers and students being restricted by school-imposed firewalls or bandwidth limitations. Another project, an Alberta Education initiative called Speak Out, which asks students to share their thoughts on education, found some surprising attitudes. Students may be plugged into their smartphones and tablets, but when they really drill down into what is important to them in the classroom, a lot of things rank well above technology.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Schools+grappling+with+best+technology+classroom/7568017/story.html
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