Educational Technology

by Sylvan Lane, Yorktown Patch

The technological advantages of using SmartBoards are vast. SmartBoards consist of an interactive “board” mounted on a wall or movable frame and a projector, which is connected to the teacher’s computer. The projector displays exactly what the teacher’s computer is showing. Teachers can use the boards as they would a typical blackboard or dry erase board and save the notes they have recorded on their computers.SmartBoards allow for more creativity with lessons, Hoffman added. Using the software, teachers can create games such as “Jeopardy” to help students learn in a fun and creative way. History teachers can display a large interactive disassembled map and call students up to move countries to their proper locations. Math teachers can use the board to display a giant graphing calculator to help students learn how to successfully use complicated applications without wasting time to go desk by desk. Science teachers can have students interactively label parts of a cell or demonstrate chemical bonding using the boards.

http://yorktown.patch.com/articles/student-perspective-smart-new-technology-finds-place-at-lakeland

By Casey Selix, Minnesota Post

Kristi LaFollette felt restless in her sophomore year of high school. Sheena Thao, daughter of Hmong immigrants, wanted to prepare for the rigors of college and save money. Eben Danielson longed for challenging classes and more control over his schedule. Ashley Ford felt bored. And Kendra Johnson dropped out of high school after becoming pregnant at age 15.

http://www.minnpost.com/nextdegree/2010/06/19/18948/meet_five_students_who_got_a_jump_on_college

What ever happened to the good old student study group of years gone by? You know, the group of students who met in the dorm lounge with pizza and soda to study all night prior to the midterm and final exams. With online learning and new technologies, you might think that group has disappeared. But, no, it has just evolved with social networking and online rewards.

http://www.gradeguru.com/sps/homePagenlu.do

By Lisa M. Krieger, Mercury News

From a tiny closet in Mountain View, Sal Khan is educating the globe for free. His 1,516 videotaped mini-lectures — on topics ranging from simple addition to vector calculus and Napoleonic campaigns — are transforming the former hedge fund analyst into a YouTube sensation, reaping praise from even reluctant students across the world. “I’m starting a virtual school for the world, teaching things the way I wanted to be taught,” explains Khan, 33, the exuberant founder and sole faculty member of the nonprofit Khan Academy, run out of his small ranch house, which he shares with his wife and infant son.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15339889?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1

by Dr. Mary Rosen, the Stir

Our kids are growing up in an exciting time, where paper and pencil can be supplemented, or sometimes replaced, with the use of computer technology to learn and maintain academic skills. While the use of computers varies from school to school, computers have the potential of making learning more interesting and more understandable for some students, especially those that are more visual learners. Some kids are simply more engaged when viewing a computer screen, when otherwise they’d be unmotivated and unfocused while learning, and children with learning challenges often make significant gains through the use of computers. Just like traditional teaching, computer “lessons” should be individualized to meet the needs of each unique learner.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/105218/5_ways_computers_can_reinforce

by Molly Walsh, Burlington Free Press

When ninth grade came to a close at Milton High School, students turned in their textbooks and something else, too: their netbooks. The small, lightweight, school-issued portable computers will be re-imaged during the summer and returned to the students as they begin their sophomore year. Meanwhile, a new batch of machines will be distributed to each incoming freshman, so that by September half of the high school’s student body will have an assigned netbook.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100621/NEWS02/100620021/Free-netbook-program-a-success-at-Milton-High-School

By Dennis Carter, eSchool News

Funding topped the list of IT officials’ concerns as college budgets stagnate. Technology funding in higher education will remain flat or decrease for the “foreseeable future,” according to an annual education technology report released June 10, as campus IT officials said funding was their top concern over the past year. The survey of 424 campus technology decision makers showed that administrative systems, computer security, teaching and learning with technology, identity and access management, and disaster recovery also were among the top 10 most pressing issues in campus IT.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/06/18/college-it-officials-show-us-the-money-%e2%80%a6-please/

by eSchool News

Federal regulators are reconsidering the rules that govern high-speed internet connections, wading into a bitter policy dispute that could be tied up in Congress and the courts for years. The dispute has important implications for schools and colleges, many of which are hoping for clear rules that prevent service providers from discriminating against certain types of internet traffic.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/06/18/fcc-votes-to-reconsider-broadband-regulations/

by the University of Colorado at Boulder

More than 50 K-12 educators and 15 community college students from Colorado and two other states are participating in teaching programs at the University of Colorado at Boulder this summer in order to take video game programming back to the classroom. The Scalable Game Design curriculum aims to stimulate student interest in computer science — a field waning in popularity among youth, according to program organizers.

http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/4e0193627252a9678e4ca519d5f8bebe.html

By Mark Hachman, PC Magazine

YouTube has quietly added a basic video editor to its site, allowing users to just stitch together existing videos and overlay a music soundtrack. All told, it’s not much, which may be why Google/YouTube hadn’t formally announced the technology on Wednesday. On Thursday, however, the company added a blog post announcing the new technology.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365188,00.asp

by the University of Arizona

Educators are participating in “Teach-Tec,” a certificate program that will show how technologies such as flip video cameras, Poll Everywhere, SurveyMonkey, Wordle and YouTube can serve as high-impact tools to enhance the learning experience. A certificate program teaches seventh, eighth and ninth-grade instructors innovative ways to use technology such as flip video cameras and YouTube to better teach and inspire students.

http://uanews.org/node/32376

by Darlene Casten, Western Wheel

Students in Holy Trinity Academy’s New Media class are now working in 3D from here to eternity. The school acquired three new machines that have modernized the New Media program. Teacher Kevin Crawford received a $313,000 grant from the Provincial government in 2007. Over the next two years Crawford purchased three machines that have changed how students do work in the classroom. Holy Trinity Academy new media teacher Kevin Crawford with a 3D model created by a student and built in a 3D model created by a student and built in a 3D printer purchased last year by the school. A 3D printer was Crawford’s biggest purchase. It allows students to print 3D models they create on computer software. The machine builds the model using a fine dust and binding agent. The sculpture is created layer-by-layer and can take hours to build. It is also costly to operate. The school charges $3.50 per cubic inch to students who want to print their model.

http://www.westernwheel.com/2010/news/technology-taking-high-schools-to-new-heights-5712

BY Austin Carr, Fast Company

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg sparked a firestorm this week with her bold assertion that email “is probably going away.” But she’s not the first to make this claim. Just do a quick Google search, and you’ll find plenty of bloggers warning of email’s demise. (You’ll also find loads of puns saying we should “Google Wave” goodbye to email–so much for that.) Even the Wall Street Journal published an article last year arguing that Facebook and Twitter were now king among online communication tools (“Email has had a good run…but it’s reign is over”), echoing Sandberg’s beliefs. Is email really finished?

http://www.fastcompany.com/1661288/the-end-of-email

By Ashley Boyd, Tuscaloosa News

A team of University of Alabama faculty and high school teachers is developing science experiments that will be used as teaching tools in high school classrooms. The group VISTA, Virtual Integration of Science and Technology in Alabama, hopes to increase students’ knowledge and understanding of new scientific concepts. “This is novel science that’s not in the curriculum,” said Sherry Nichols, a science education professor at the University of Alabama. “How do you put novel science into an already overloaded curriculum? The hook is, this is new science that’s exciting.” The idea first started as an experimental workshop at UA. Now it’s a three-week project in which UA science professors and area high school teachers work together on experiments.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20100618/NEWS/100619660/1007

By Maggie Shiels, BBC

The FCC wants all data to be treated equally. The stage has been set for what many predict will be an ugly fight over broadband plans for US citizens. The Federal Communications Commission has taken the first formal steps towards tougher rules for broadband. It asked for public comment on three different plans, igniting an expensive lobbying campaign by all sides. The looming battle follows a court ruling questioning the FCC’s right to regulate internet service providers after one throttled traffic to users.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8745078.stm

By AMANDA REAVY, THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

The girls are among 24 middle school students participating in UIS’ Girl Tech 2010. The two-day camp, in its second year, aims to get girls interested in computer science and strengthen their technology skills. “The idea is to start with the things that are fun,” UIS computer science instructor Mary Sheila Tracy said. For example, this year’s sessions include “Explore the Robo-Jungle,” where girls can program a robot animal to hop and crawl, and “Spooky Alice!” which allows girls to use programming design software to create their own ghost story using 3D objects and characters. The camp, which is for girls starting seventh through ninth grades in the fall, concludes today. “We have no illusions that we’re going to be able to teach them everything, but this is to light that spark of inspiration so that they want to know more,” Tracy said.

http://www.sj-r.com/education/x1224667924/Camp-designed-to-win-girls-over-to-technology

By Michael Hildebrandt, eSchool News

Knowing how to use technology tools is essential as technology is more integrated into education. Technology is changing the face of education. Typing on a keyboard can make learning proper handwriting unimportant. Using a calculator can make simple math functions technology-assisted processes. And having a computer read aloud might someday allow non-readers to access the printed word. I am not convinced that it is all bad. I do see eReaders as a possible instructional technology, not assistive technology. The term is no longer about a technology that takes the place of a particular academic skill, but instead makes independent learning easier.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/06/17/educators-students-can-benefit-from-technology-training/

By Christopher Dawson, ZD New Education

The base model, with academic discount, is $649. A keyboard and mouse will run you another $98 (no, that’s not a misprint). You can, of course, use any USB keyboard and mouse instead and this always struck me as a fine idea. After all, how many keyboards and mice do you have sitting in a closet somewhere? However, it would seem that $650 should buy me a keyboard. I could envision some educational applications for this, though, despite the price. The first comes at an even higher price. For around $1000, you can get a Mac Mini configured with Snow Leopard Server and 1TB of storage. In smaller settings, all of the podcast-creating, wiki-hosting, workgroup-managing goodness of OS Server can sit on a small corner of your desk for the low, low price of $949 academic. It’s not as scalable as their XServe solutions, but the XServes are complete overkill for many smaller applications.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/new-mac-minis-apple-tv-or-new-classroom-tool/4041

 By KFBB News Team

School may be out for the summer, but for one group of non-traditional students, class is very much in session. The tables are turned this week at MSU-Great Falls, with teachers playing the role of students. It’s all in an effort to equip instructors with the latest in technology, to make their teaching more relevant in classrooms across the state.

http://www.kfbb.com/news/local/96519639.html

By Stacie N. Galang, the Salem News

Clickers in hand, the students look more like game show contestants than seventh-graders. But the new audience response technology at Higgins Middle School is helping both students and teachers improve, according to teachers and kids alike. The audience response system consists of a radio frequency device that works between handheld remote clickers for students and their teacher’s computer. Higgins purchased five of them this year.

http://www.salemnews.com/local/x657334638/Middle-schoolers-clicking-their-way-to-knowledge

By Bridget McCrea, THE Journal

An Arizona elementary school is beefing up its technology toolbox with a new multimedia curriculum in an effort to engage students, teach 21st century skills, and, hopefully, help boost academic achievement. Valerie Gresser wasn’t satisfied with the way her students were learning. A first-grade teacher at Superstition Springs Elementary in Mesa, AZ., Gresser wanted more for this new generation of learners, many of whom were already being exposed to technology on several fronts, and in various venues outside of school. Like many teachers who see new technology available on the market but who can’t capture it owing to limited resources, Gresser said she knew there were better tools available but faced the challenge of having just one computer in her classroom.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/06/17/embracing-classroom-technology.aspx