Educational Technology

January 31, 2013

Ray Kurzweil Plans to Create a Mind at Google—and Have it Serve You

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

by Will Knight, Technology Review

The technologist speaks about an ambitious plan to build a powerful artificial intelligence. Famed AI researcher and incorrigable singularity forecaster Ray Kurzweil recently shed some more light on what his new job at Google will entail. It seems that he does, indeed, plan to build a prodigious artificial intelligence, which he hopes will understand the world to a much more sophisticated degree than anything built before–or at least that will act as if it does. Kurzweil’s AI will be designed to analyze the vast quantities of information Google collects and to then serve as a super-intelligent personal assistant. He suggests it could eavesdrop on your every phone conversation and email exchange and then provide interesting and important information before you ever knew you wanted it. It sounds like a scary-smart version of Google Now

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/510121/ray-kurzweil-plans-to-create-a-mind-at-google-and-have-it-serve-you/

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Help! I’ve got Windows 8 and I miss my Start menu!

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

by Peter Bright, Ars Technica

With Christmas now long behind us, one or two of you may well have been lucky enough to find a shiny new Windows 8 PC under the tree. After cleaning off the crapware, it’s time to use the thing, and that means digging into the new user interface. The Windows 8 user interface has many Windows users divided. The chief complaints are that Windows 8 has no Start button and that it has no Start menu, only the (full-screen, Metro-styled) Start screen. Secondary to these is the complaint that Windows 8 shows the Start screen immediately after logging in, rather than showing the desktop as prior versions of Windows have done. Getting to the desktop takes an extra click.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/01/help-ive-got-windows-8-and-i-miss-my-start-menu/

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Is Dell looking to kill PCs with “Project Ophelia”?

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:28 am

by Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica

Dell’s Project Ophelia: an Android-based thin client that you can put in your pocket for around $50, eventually. ell announced its pocket client PC, called “project Ophelia,” on January 8, and demonstrated it at CES. Developed by Dell’s Wyse unit, Ophelia uses a Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) to draw power to boot from an HDTV display, or it can be powered off a USB port. It has integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capability for connecting to a keyboard, a mouse, and the network, and it runs the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system with all of the functionality of a tablet. It can also be used to power virtual instances of other desktop operating systems on a remote server or in the cloud. n other words, it’s a fusion of Wyse’s thin client technology modeled after the capabilities of a Google Chromebook—except it can be carried in a pocket. The main drawbacks are that few HDTVs currently support MHL—though such support can be found in a number of Dell flat-panel displays.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/01/is-dell-looking-to-kill-pcs-with-project-ophelia/

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January 30, 2013

Nine Characteristics of a Great Teacher

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

By: Maria Orlando, Faculty Focus

Teaching is hard work and some teachers never grow to be anything better than mediocre. They do the bare minimum required and very little more. The great teachers, however, work tirelessly to create a challenging, nurturing environment for their students. Great teaching seems to have less to do with our knowledge and skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject, and our work. Although this list is certainly not all-inclusive, I have narrowed down the many characteristics of a great teacher to those I have found to be the most essential, regardless of the age of the learner.

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/nine-characteristics-of-a-great-teacher/

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Get Ready for Online Group Assignments

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

by Melissa Venable, Online College

All students should expect to interact with their classmates and work together on collaborative assignments in their online courses. This was my response when a staff member, working in an ombudsman role to advocate for students, called me with student complaints. At the time, I was working as an instructional designer and responsible for updating and maintaining a set of online courses. The advocate added something similar to the following: “but these students enrolled in these classes so they wouldn’t have to work in groups.” It’s a common myth that online courses don’t have group projects. While this may be the case in some classes, when you enter a new online program you should do so with the expectation that you will work with your classmates. You may even find the level of interaction required in an online course to be more intense than what you remember of traditional classrooms.

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2013/01/18/get-ready-group-assignments/

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Understanding Your Student’s Learning Style: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:29 am

By: Tracy Ostwald-Kowald, Connections Academy

All children have unique learning styles. Students gain strong benefits when their teachers and Learning Coaches recognize their strengths and weaknesses as learners. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor of neuroscience at Harvard, developed one theory in 1983. Gardner defines “intelligence” not as an IQ but, rather, as the skills that enable anyone to gain new knowledge and solve problems.

http://www.connectionsacademy.com/blog/posts/2013-01-18/Understanding-Your-Student-s-Learning-Style-The-Theory-of-Multiple-Intelligences.aspx

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January 29, 2013

8 Questions Worth Asking about Coming Common Core Assessments

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

by Jonathan Martin, 21k12blog

This post continue a small project here at 21k12 of viewing the coming Common Core Standards through a backwards prism: the testing assessments that will evaluate student and school success at learning and teaching Common Core standards. These new assessments sit at a junction of topics I’m interested in and working on regularly: integrating technology, next generation and digitally enhanced assessment, computer adaptive assessment, and performance task assessment. These new Common Core (CCSS) assessments are the product in part of Secretary Arne Duncan’s call for a new generation of Assessments, Assessment 2.0 he calls it, about which I have written before. To advance this vision of moving “beyond the bubble,” the US DOE is spending, via Race to the Top funding, more than $300 M in developing new kinds of tests and testing systems, split between two major programs, PARCC and Smarter Balanced.

http://21k12blog.net/2013/01/18/8-questions-worth-asking-about-coming-common-core-assessments/

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9 trends to watch for in wearable tech

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

by Christian Lindholm, Koru

With advances in sensors and wireless, the age of wearable tech is swiftly approaching. Christian Lindholm, of design firm Koru, explains the trends his firm is tracking. The wearables business is gaining momentum and is one of the most exciting markets of the digital age. We at Koru decided to share some of the key trends we believe will emerge this year. To quote Gary Hamel, a hero of mine: today’s niche markets are tomorrow’s mass markets.

http://gigaom.com/2013/01/19/9-trends-to-watch-for-in-wearable-tech/

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How do I cite a tweet?

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:29 am

by MLA

Begin the entry in the works-cited list with the author’s real name and, in parentheses, user name, if both are known and they differ. If only the user name is known, give it alone. Next provide the entire text of the tweet in quotation marks, without changing the capitalization. Conclude the entry with the date and time of the message and the medium of publication (Tweet).

http://www.mla.org/style/handbook_faq/cite_a_tweet

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January 28, 2013

Bill Gates, Ken Robinson, and TED Are Coming To PBS

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

by Katie Lepi, edudemic

TED Talks is expanding. No longer relegated to your computer or mobile device, it’s making the jump into the more mainstream media. It’s headed to PBS. On April 16th, PBS is going to air the first televised TED event, dubbed TED Talks Education. It’ll be filmed a bit before the airing on April 4th in New York City. The first three speakers include Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Bill Gates, and Sir Ken Robinson. TED says there will be more speakers (including “dynamic teachers, speakers, and performers”) announced soon.

http://edudemic.com/2013/01/ted-talks-education-pbs/

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The 15 Education Technologies To Know About This Year

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

by Julie DeNeen, Edudemic

25What latest gadgets and gizmos are going to change your classroom in 2013? It’s hard to know exactly what will catch on and what won’t, but the following list showcases some of the emerging new technologies, software, and platforms available. With their innovation and practicality, many of these are poised to enter the classroom and change the way students and teachers learn permanently.

http://edudemic.com/2013/01/the-15-education-technologies-to-know-about-this-year/

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Web learning improves nurses’ triage skills

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

by Medical Xpress

James A. Rankin, R.N., Ph.D., from the University of Calgary in Canada, and colleagues randomized 132 RNs to an intervention group or control group. All RNs received the same content and learning activities, but the experimental group had a mandatory tutorial, received marks for online discussion, and completed a workplace project. Chart audits and interviews were used to assess data. The researchers found that the Web course provided a standardized and effective educational experience that enhanced emergency nurses’ triage accuracy. The experimental group’s mandatory online tutorial, online discussion, and workplace project increased the RNs’ preparation for online learning, and these interventions were successful in transferring triage learning to practice. “Web learning can help professionals maintain competency and support professional practice,” the authors write.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-web-nurses-triage-skills.html

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January 27, 2013

SJSU Partners With Udacity to Offer for Credit Online Courses

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:37 am

by Heidi M. Agustin, CityTownInfo

San Jose State University announced that it has partnered with online education startup Udacity to launch a pilot program that would offer college courses for credit to SJSU students as well as non-university students. According to SJSU Today, the pilot program between the university and Udacity, called San Jose State University Plus, will offer three courses that almost every college student must successfully complete—Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra and Introductory Statistics. In addition to being critical classes for most, if not all, students, they are also entry-level classes with high failure rates. The experimental pilot program will offer the three mathematics courses for university credit at $150 per course, which is far less than the usual cost for a credit-bearing university course. Registration began January 15 and classes will start later this month.

http://www.citytowninfo.com/career-and-education-news/articles/sjsu-partners-with-udacity-to-offer-for-credit-online-courses-13011701

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Three Myths of Online Learning

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

by IEDP

Organizational adoption of e-learning has been confined to lower level staff, with a focus on technical training, compliance, and frontline skills. But this is all about to change. Three forces are enabling a whole new experience for executives as online learning comes of age.

• The “anytime, anywhere” revolution in technology is putting high-speed access to videos and the internet in the hands of anyone carrying a smartphone.

• Social media tools are letting people interact online – sharing content, providing feedback, and building connections – in ways that are sometimes even richer than what they can do in the physical world.

• Open-source and cloud-based computing are making educators gain access to sophisticated platforms on which to build compelling online learning experiences.

Innovators in executive education are starting to take notice. Hitendra Wadhwa, a professor at Columbia Business School who also directs the Institute for Personal Leadership and is at the forefront of Columbia’s development of online executive education programs, is getting executives and their organizations to finally give a nod to online learning.

http://www.iedp.com/Blog/Three_Myths_of_Online_Learning

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Staff Editorial: Online classes deserve your full attention

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

by the Daily Eastern

Sometimes students prefer working smarter rather than harder. That’s fine as long as they’re still challenging themselves and learning while they do so. On the surface, online classes seem like an excellent way to do this. Students are able to obtain many of the credits they need to graduate without having to schedule time for that pesky thing called class. With those extra couple of hours each week students will have time to easily keep up with their course work while handling extra activities they may not normally have had time for. At least that’s the idea. What seems to happen more often, however, is that students lose focus of their online classes. Some students may have signed up for an online class with the intention of putting in as little work as possible. Of course these students are being ridiculous. Why pay so much for something to intentionally get very little out of it?

http://www.dennews.com/opinion/staff-editorial-online-classes-deserve-your-full-attention/article_8070f22e-613a-11e2-8ada-0019bb30f31a.html

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January 26, 2013

Here’s why Surface Pro is less portable than an Ultrabook

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

By Matt Baxter-Reynolds, ZDNet

Surface Pro might seem like the ultimate portable PC, but is it? And might you be better off with any other touch-capable Ultrabook? A lot of people I’ve spoken to about their intention to buy a Surface Pro have cited that they want something “more portable” than an Ultrabook. What I’ve been saying to them is that I believe the Surface Pro will be much less portable than an Ultrabook. They asked me to prove it. I’m going to prove it to you too.

http://www.zdnet.com/heres-why-surface-pro-is-less-portable-than-an-ultrabook-7000009890/

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‘We thought we’d sell 1,000’: The inside story of the Raspberry Pi

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

By Nick Heath, ZDNet

The $35 Linux Raspberry Pi computer has sparked a coding revolution. Here’s the inside story of the Pi, from its inspiration and development to plans for its future. Today more than 700,000 Raspberry Pi computers have been shipped to modders who are fitting them to robotic drones in the sky and underwater, to hobbyists designing home automation systems, and to wannabe coders looking to build their first programs. So what, exactly, is the Raspberry Pi? The Pi is a credit card-sized device and one of the lowest-cost computers available. At first glance it looks nothing like what is generally considered a computer, nothing more than a bare board and ports, but it is perfectly capable. The board is powerful enough to stream 1080p video, browse the web or write documents, and it was designed to be portable enough to carry around without breaking. A number of distros of Linux run on the Raspberry Pi, including ArchLinux, Debian “wheezy” and Raspbian — a Pi-optimised version of Debian.

http://www.zdnet.com/we-thought-wed-sell-1000-the-inside-story-of-the-raspberry-pi-7000009718/

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The Chromebook — it’s like an iPad, but with a keyboard

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

By Matt Baxter-Reynolds, ZDNet

I rarely write reviews of products that I am really, really smitten by. So stand by, because the Chromebook is fantastic. Um… it’s amazing! I really wasn’t expecting it to be any good. A couple of years ago I had one of the first ones on order, but cancelled it as I although I was keen to know what it was like the whole premise seemed stupid. Who would want a laptop computer that only ran a web browser and that always needs an internet connection? This then is the entire Chromebook proposition. It’s just a web browser. The Acer I bought has 16GB of storage (which is a lot, considering in principle you never store anything locally), and 2GB of RAM. When you boot it up for the first time it takes you through getting a network connection going and it then asks you to log into your Google account.

http://www.zdnet.com/the-chromebook-its-like-an-ipad-but-with-a-keyboard-7000009905/

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January 25, 2013

Smartphones for BYO

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

By Steven M. Baule, CIO Advisor

Effectively, outside of our classrooms, smartphones have already replaced almanacs and atlases for most simple ready reference questions. Why don’t we let students do so in classrooms? We let our high school students use their cell phones during lunch as an incentive to reduce tardies. The world didn’t end and, in fact, the lunchroom was calmer for some time. Unfortunately, some students just like to be late so that privilege was lost for a time last quarter. As smartphones seem to increase screen size and memory, we need to take another look at them as the de facto BYO device of choice in schools.

http://www.schoolcio.com/Default.aspx?tabid=136&entryid=5274

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Mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn proposes tablet computers for every New York City school kid

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

BY ERIN DURKIN, NY Daily News

City schools should ditch textbooks and replace them with tablets, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proposed Tuesday. “Technology has changed what we need to teach, and it’s also changed how we need to teach,” the mayoral contender said in outlining a $300 million education agenda that she would implement as mayor. Quinn said the $100 million spent on textbooks every year by the school system would be enough to buy tablets for every student. She acknowledged that to stay within budget, administrators would have to find open-source texts and interactive programs for free online.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/tablet-kid-quinn-article-1.1240788

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Dell’s ‘Project Ophelia’ might be my favorite gadget at CES

Filed under: Educational Technology — admin @ 12:29 am

By Andrew Nusca, ZDNet

Ophelia allows you to convert almost any TV or computer monitor into a full-on computer. Simply plug it in, ensure you have a reliable Internet connection and watch as Google Android (version 4.1 “Jellybean”) boots up and gives you everything from web browsing to apps to keyboard and mouse support. All that computing muscle? It’s in the cloud. Ophelia is a pocketable gateway to your personal datacenter. With the pocketable, self-powered Ophelia, the cloud benefits remain the same: nothing of import is stored on the local device; it can be locked down by IT with a click, using software-as-a-service management; it’s cheap enough that leaving it in a hotel room wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. (Face it, you’ve spent more at the bar.) Plug it into an available display, and access everything you were working on back at the office, wherever you are.

http://www.zdnet.com/dells-project-ophelia-might-be-my-favorite-gadget-at-ces-7000009542/

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