Educational Technology

by the Sterling, IL Daily Gazette

The high school’s science department budget dropped 41 percent, from $11,900 to $7,000. That led science teacher Julie Gonzalez to resort to alternate methods to fulfill what she sees as classroom necessities. Gonzalez discovered an online website called Donorschoose.org that allows anyone to donate to public schools. She wanted to provide her incoming freshmen Accelerated Biology students with mini laptops to help complete assignments and papers. “These mini laptops will give students that don’t have computers at home the opportunity to type papers when needed,” she wrote in her online proposal, the only one from Whiteside County on the site. She is asking for about $740 to cover the cost of the computers, which also will arm her students with the skills they need to successfully complete assignments in college.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/10/09/5057960.htm

by Paul Takahashi, Las Vegas Sun

Community leaders gathered Friday to celebrate the grand opening of the latest public computer center at Doolittle Community Center, 1950 North J St. As children played games and surfed the Web in the new computer lab, Jeff Drothler posed a question to the dozens of supporters gathered for the opening. “Can you just imagine what your life would be like without technology?” the NPCC program manager asked. “If you didn’t have a job, how will you find one without a computer?” The new computer center at Doolittle was made possible by a three-year, $4.68 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/08/community-computer-centers-helping-change-lives/

by the Cypress Times

The City of Houston is pleased to announce the receipt of a major federal grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to upgrade and expand computing and Internet capabilities in high-need neighborhoods throughout Houston. The $3.7 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant, matched by $2.2 million in funds from respective partnering entities will allow the Houston Public Library (HPL) to provide Houstonians with greater access to broadband internet access and much-needed learning and economic opportunities through the City’s Digital Inclusion Initiative Wireless Empowered Community Access Network (WeCAN), which is managed by HPL. “In the fast-paced environment of email, online banking and bill pay, and electronic job applications, we tend to forget that many of our residents cannot afford Internet access.” said Mayor Annise Parker.

http://goo.gl/MqOx

By Mary Ellen Marnholtz, Wausau Daily Herald

It’s an opportunity for these young people to create an online journal with the expressed directive that every entry must answer the question, “What is it that I really learned that I didn’t know before?” Today’s e-portfolios include podcasts, video clips and voice recordings — all taken, downloaded and placed in the presentation by the students. When it’s time for the final parent-teacher conference of the year, parents and students head for the computer lab where students lead their parents through their portfolios.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20101005/WDH04/10050310/Column-Students-e-portfolios-chronicle-school-year

by Sean Dodson, the Guardian

Half past five on Friday afternoon has to be the deadest time of the school week. The gates remain open, but the classrooms seem as still as a chapel. Not the best of times, you would think, for any teacher to drum up a bit excitement for a student survey. But for one school in Leatherhead, Surrey, a lesson in pupil engagement was just around the corner. Keith Halsey, a physics teacher and co-ordinator of the Howard of Effingham school new virtual learning environment (VLE), was tasked with surveying student pinions about language lessons. Rather than go down the traditional route – sending out loads of letters, most of which were ignored – he decided to instigate a discussion thread on Frog, the school’s new learning platform. He hit “send” at a stroke past 5.30pm, and assumed that was that. “Within quarter of an hour we had 30 replies back,” says Halsey, “by Monday morning there were 300, and by the following Wednesday we’d had 600!”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/classroom-innovation/classroom-technology-learning-platforms-social-networks

by Brooke Crothers, CNet news.com

How fast will PCs boot up in the future? I asked industry experts to explain what’s involved and what could lead to PCs that boot up in seconds. One of the key components in getting a PC to start quickly is the BIOS, or basic input/output system. The BIOS, which is present in every Windows PC and Apple computer, is the first piece of code run when the computer starts up, also referred to as firmware. The BIOS serves to initialize and identify system devices such as the hard-disk drive, DVD/CD drive, networking components, USB ports, the video card, keyboard, and mouse.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20018475-64.html#ixzz12QuJKSGshttp://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20018475-64.html

By Jane McEntegart, Tom’s Guide US

Schools in Britain are currently testing facial recognition software as a way to curb lateness and absenteeism. Facial recognition technology is being tested in 10 schools in Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom and may be rolled out in more schools if the trials prove successful. The system costs £9,000 (just over $14,300) and uses a camera to take 3D photos of students. Pupils must then confirm their identity by entering in a four-digit PIN code. Though it’s aimed at reducing lateness and recording absences, the faceREGISTER system from Aurora Computer Services can also deliver messages to students when they sign in and can be used to track who is in the building during emergencies.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Facial-Recognition-Schools-UK-Britain-United-Kingdom,news-8204.html

by Prothon.org

Vermont’s Champlain College is hoping to generate more interest in computer programming by offering a free course to middle school students. The course, called “Alice Computing,” will be offered in the fall and run once a week for six weeks, giving middle school students an introduction to computer programming language and technique. The classes will be taught by professors in the Information Technology and Sciences department. Area middle school teachers and administrators are encouraged to submit the names of students they feel would benefit from the program, which is by invitation only. Interested students can not enroll without the nomination of a teacher or administrator from their school in an attempt to keep the class size small and focusing on only the best and brightest from each middle school. If enough schools respond, the college will create a waiting list in order to accommodate more students.

http://www.prothon.org/champlain-college-offers-computer-programming-for-middle-school-students.htm

by Latest and Greatest Technology

The idea of our brainwaves being able to control a computer for simple things like typing on a computer or browsing the Internet or even controlling a prosthetic limb seems far away or something out of fiction. However, experiments are already being done to see if this will be at all possible in the future. The current idea of how this will be done is controlling waves through Brain Computer Interfaces(BCI). Scientists have spent many long days for many years doing tests on monkeys and even moths to see if the tiniest brainwave is able to control a computer. This technology is commonly in chip form. A BCI chip decodes brainwaves and uses the translation to do whatever your brain wants.

http://bftc-cnp.org/technology-may-be-able-to-use-brainwaves-to-control-computers.html

By Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun

For those interested in the discussion here and abroad about this so-called 21st century learning, reader John Puddifoot has kindly gathered some links. Here is what he sent me: This is a world-wide movement in education that has been around for some time now. It has not been developed in isolation, nor is it purely from the BC MoE. The key to the concept is not technology, but because 21st Century students are Digital learners, the use of technology is the one of the best ways to engage them Here is a video on why the technology is important, from the UK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AWYIit1uNk&feature=fvw

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/reportcard/archive/2010/10/07/more-about-quot-21st-century-learning-quot.aspx

By Alice Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week

President Barack Obama set a goal of making the United States first in the world in post-secondary academic degrees by 2020, and Jim Shelton says technology is what will get us there. Named assistant deputy secretary for technology at the Education Department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement in April 2009, Shelton is in charge of grant-making and educational technology strategy at the department. He also coordinates Education’s technology efforts with other federal and state agencies.

http://fcw.com/articles/2010/10/11/feat-jim-shelton-education-qanda.aspx

by Brad McCarty, the Next Web

Remote Palette, from Dare, is an interesting concept. I’m not so sure who would use it, exactly, but it’s truly interesting. Remote Palette is a dual-device application. You use the iPhone or iPod Touch as your palette, then “paint” with your finger on your iPad. The app, which is available for $.99 from the App Store. (check out the video at the URL below)

http://goo.gl/oAaD

by Richard Hutton, Niagra Today

The kids’ in early learning programs at a pair of elementary schools in town are less likely to be caught in the “digital divide,” thanks to the Niagara Education Foundation and IBM Canada. Fort Erie Elementary School and Crystal Beach Public School are two of 16 schools across Niagara which received or will be receiving one of the devices, valued at $2,600. The package includes a Lenovo desktop computer paired with a child-friendly desk made by Little Tykes. The computer also features an oversized keyboard, mouse and educational software supplied by Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt. The software is geared to help the children improve reading, spelling and basic math skills. In all, IBM’s donation totalled $40,000.

http://www.niagarathisweek.com/community/education/article/881861–kindergarten-computers-welcomed

by AAP

Two blind computer programmers have developed a free software program so other visually impaired people can join the online world. The free program generates a synthetic voice to read the words on a computer screen as the cursor passes over them. Queensland University of Technology graduate James Teh and business partner Michael Curran developed the program because existing screen reader software was prohibitively expensive at upwards of $US1000.

http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/blind-help-get-online-3817488

By Larry Kilham, Exchange

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.” – John F. Kennedy It is time to turn America into a nation of inventors again and for the whole world to work together to deal with the many challenges and opportunities that are upon us. From garage inventors to multinational corporations everyone must make a fresh effort at creativity and innovation including using the vast new resources of the Internet and the computer clouds.

http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2010/week40/Monday/100412.htm

By Selena Chavis, Psych Central

Developers of a new computer tool hope to improve provider-patient communications as well as self-management of mental health issues in young adults. Thanks to a grant from the American Nurses Foundation and Midwest Nursing Research Society, Melissa Pinto-Foltz, a postdoctoral scholar and instructor at Case Western Reserve University, is working with a group to develop and construct the e-SMART-MH program to reach young adults already tied to their technology devices.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/02/can-a-virtual-world-help-young-adults-with-mental-health-issues/19084.html

BY MEGAN ROLLAND, Oklahoman

Bottle rockets exploded, mouse trap cars raced, balsa wood planes glided and bridges collapsed at the third annual engineering competition for middle-school students Friday at the Francis Tuttle Technology Center. The bottle rocket, crudely constructed with duct-taped fins and a pointed nose filled with stuffing and an egg, spiraled into the sky and then came smashing back to Earth. This is the third year Sullins has brought students from Summit Middle School to the Francis Tuttle Engineering Challenge. Her students competed against about 200 others from Edmond and Putnam City middle schools in a series of math, engineering and science competitions during an all-day event Friday at the Francis Tuttle Technology Center, 3500 NW 150.

http://www.newsok.com/middle-school-students-get-engineering-preview-from-upperclassmen/article/3500682?custom_click=headlines_widget

BY Ariel Schwartz, Fast Company

Earlier this week, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the City University of New York and IBM are creating a computer science-focused school in the city that spans from grade 9 to 14 (students leave with an associate’s degree). The high school, which will be the first to go through grade 14, has a valuable guarantee for students: graduates will be first in line for jobs at IBM. But graduating students will be equipped to do far more than work at Big Blue, says Stanley Litow, IBM’s Vice President of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs. “The idea is to create a new [educational] model for science, technology, engineering, and math–areas where companies are aggressively hiring. If you look at hiring requirements, you won’t see a huge amount of difference in a lot of entry-level IT jobs.” So students will, theoretically, have the skills to work any entry-level IT position.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1692372/ibm-reveals-details-about-its-nyc-high-school

By Wendy M. Grossman, the Inquirer

“I still do hate computers” says Wendy Hall. Ironic, since she is one of the most distinguished computer scientists in the country. She is the current president of the Association for Computing Machinery, past president of the British Computer Society, former head of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science, the first dean of Southampton’s new Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, and only the second female computer scientist, after Steve Shirley, to be made a Dame. “I loathed Fortran,” she adds. “I never dreamt I would end up with the career I ended up with.”

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/1735712/professor-wendy-hall-speaks

By Chris Faulkner, Fort Madison Daily Democrat

Seven days without a computer. Maybe longer. That might sound like capital punishment to today’s 21st-century youngsters, but it has been a reality for the Fort Madison Community School District buildings since last Friday. Central Office, Denmark and Richardson Elementary are up and running, but Lincoln, the middle school and high school are still without the technology that everyone takes for granted these days. Technology Director Brenda Wamsley was busy trying to rectify the situation, “It quickly began to spread and infect other programs and users’ home folders that contain .exe files,” Wamsley reported.

http://www.dailydem.com/articles/2010/09/30/news/news1.txt

by Baijin Wang and Yuhui Gong, 201O International Conference on E-Health Networking, Digital Ecosystems and Technologies

This paper analyzed the current status of college physical education, focusing on the applications of computer technology from three aspects of multi-media teaching, online teaching and the computer management of physical teaching materials. Finally, the precautions in physical education teaching were proposed. The intervention of computer technology in college physical education brought a great number of changes and vitalities, reflecting enormous advantages that can not be replaced by other teaching tools.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=05496443