Educational Technology

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN, New York Times

There were 144 comments from readers on Trip Gabriel’s recent front-page article “Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using the Tools of Social Media.” Though some were supportive of the idea of using microblogging in classes, many wrote some variation on what this reader posted: “[This] means you never have to learn to open your mouth. Surely more Twitter is exactly the opposite of what kids desperately need to turn into functioning adults.” We asked the three K-12 teachers interviewed in the article to answer questions, and address misconceptions, about their classroom use of these tools.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/three-teachers-answer-your-questions-on-classroom-microblogging/?partner=rss&emc=rss

By Audrey Watters, Mind/Shift

Learning about cyber safety and ethics. Earlier this week we looked at proposed legislation in California that would change how social networking websites handle privacy and security — not just for minors online but for all Internet users. Several commenters responded that, when it comes to children online, it should be up to parents, not legislators, to handle these sorts of matters. But arguably, teachers can also help children learn responsible behavior online. A recent survey undertaken by the National Cyber Security Alliance, Microsoft, and Zogby/463, showed that 91% of teachers, 92% of tech coordinators, and 99% of administrators believed this should be taught. The survey examined administrators, teachers, and technology coordinators at the K-12 level about their thoughts on the cybersafety practices and curriculum in schools.

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/05/how-well-are-schools-teaching-cyber-safety-and-ethics/

by Kathleen Ramunni, Hamden Patch

Technology and social responsibility are merging at Quinnipiac University, where a new initiative is encouraging students to contribute to the greater good. The Department of Computer Information Systems (CIS) in Quinnipiac’s School of Business has adopted the Information Technology for Good (IT4G) initiative, a growing movement that emphasizes applying information technology to aid social causes. “This is an emerging value system,” said Bruce Saulnier, professor and chair of computer information systems. “We would like all faculty and students to consider the power they have to make changes in the lives of people struggling to help themselves.”

http://hamden.patch.com/articles/university-using-computers-for-the-greater-good

By Lauren Rosenblum, Encino Patch

Tell Your Neighbors About Patch Walk into the third grade classroom at Westmark School and you’ll see every student sliding their little fingers across an iPad, Apple’s popular tablet computer. They learn fractions through brightly colored, jungle themed pie charts. They study the periodic table of elements in an interactive, visually rich interface. They ask their iPads how to spell and define words. They practice cursive writing through a tracing app and follow along in their Mr. Popper’s Penguins books as their iPads read the text aloud. It’s all part of Westmark’s iPad pilot program. The private 3rd- through 12th-grade school in Encino, which serves students with “learning differences” such as dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and comprehension difficulties, is using the new technology to cater to students’ educational needs.

http://encino.patch.com/articles/change-the-future-of-special-education-theres-an-app-for-that

by Greg LaRose, New Orleans City Business

Southern University at New Orleans will provide a new laptop computer to every incoming freshman who needs one starting this fall. The U.S. Department of Education is picking up the tab for the computers through its program that targets learning institutions impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Eddie Francis, a SUNO spokesman, said the university’s information technology program estimates about 225 laptops will be available for the upcoming fall semester. The computers will be linked to a new cloud computing system SUNO plans to have in place this summer. Students and faculty will be able to access the system through a wireless Internet connection that will cover 100 percent of the Gentilly campus, according to a statement from the university.

http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/thenewsroom/2011/05/23/suno-to-provide-incoming-freshmen-with-laptops/

BY RICK FOSTER, SUN CHRONICLE

Beginning next year, some Attleboro students could be turning in their school work electronically. The upgrade is part of the school system’s new X2 software suite, which is designed to consolidate many functions into one, school committee Chairman Ray DiCiaccio said. The program ultimately could reduce the need for paper and allow teachers to grade and return work electronically, as well.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2011/05/24/news/9598987.txt

By DAVID POGUE, New York Times

Every time a reader asks me a basic question, struggles with a computer or lets a cellphone keep ringing at a performance, I have the same thought: There ought to be a license to use technology. I’m not trying to insult America’s clueless; exactly the opposite, in fact. How is the average person supposed to know the essentials of their phones, cameras and computers? There’s no government leaflet, no mandatory middle-school class, no state agency that teaches you some core curriculum. Instead, we muddle along, picking up scattershot techniques as we go. We wind up with enormous holes in our knowledge. (check out a Pogue list of tips and tricks at the URL)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/technology/personaltech/19pogue.html?_r=1

By Maureen Magee, San Diego Union-Tribune

Fallbrook High student Jessica Cruz, 18, carries the computer she just received for free as part of the Computers 4SD Kids distribution Wednesday on Miramar Road. San Marcos Elementary School fourth-grader Josue Lopez admits he is a little jealous of kids who can play computer games and work on digital classroom assignments from their homes. All that changed on Wednesday, when Josue and his father picked up the family’s first computer — along with free Internet access — under a program designed to bridge the so-called digital divide among schoolchildren.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/18/educators-business-team-up-to-bridge-student/

by Stanford University

The Stanford University School of Engineering today announced the launch of MobiSocial Computing Laboratory, a collaboration between the researchers in the Stanford Computer Science Department along with scientists from leading industry corporations such as Google, Nokia, AVG Technologies and Sony Ericsson (News – Alert) Mobile Communications. MobiSocial will explore fundamental questions at the intersection of mobile communications and social networking. At a recent kickoff event, MobiSocial’s group of eminent computer scientists, graduate students, technology experts and industry representatives gathered to ask the most fundamental questions about social media and mobility: Can social be done better? Can it be even more social and more fun? Can it be more open? Can it be more secure? And, if so, how?

http://ar-management.tmcnet.com/news/2011/05/19/5521845.htm

There’s an app for that By Edward B. Colby, Wicked Local Dedham

For this prom season, Dedham High School families were able to try out a new smartphone app to ensure their kids drive safely – Speedbump. Its creator, Jon Fischer of Lunenburg, spoke with the Dedham Transcript via email about his application, which gives parents instant alerts whenever a teen driver breaks agreed-upon rules for speeding or distracted driving. Speedbump is the premiere product of WirelessESP, the company that Jon and his father Richard founded.

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/news/x941155214/Want-to-keep-teen-drivers-safe-There-s-an-app-for-that

by JESSIE L. BONNER Associated Press

A private foundation is giving the state $25 million to better track student achievement and fulfill a cash commitment toward Idaho’s education broadband system. The investment from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation was announced Wednesday and includes $21 million for the Idaho Department of Education to pay for software designed to improve the performance of students and teachers. The software is designed and distributed by SchoolNet Inc., a private New York company. The SchoolNet tool will improve the way schools monitor real-time student progress and teacher effectiveness, said Albertson Foundation Executive Director Jamie MacMillan.

http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/3ea18d6cc5b04a81b09ddf91e4319d90/ID–Education-Grant/

by Vineet Madan, Mashable

Though tablets have caught on with consumers, the higher education market has been slower to adopt, and understandably so. From grades to degrees to job placement after graduation, the devices that are used in classrooms are tied to important outcomes. As a result, colleges and universities must proceed carefully when considering whether to adopt a new technology on a large scale. However, reports from recent iPad pilot programs at schools across the country have been positive, and some colleges have even begun distributing tablets to all of their students. As we wrap up the first post-iPad school year, do we know enough to make the “fad, fail, magical” call? I think so. By looking at all that tablets offer in the context of student behavior and some of the recent trends in education, it’s clear that tablets are ready for the classroom. Here’s a look at the top reasons why.

http://mashable.com/2011/05/16/tablets-education/

By Moira MacDonald ,Toronto Sun

Jenny Williams carries a school board-issued cellphone as part of her student trustee job at the Toronto District School Board. But when I call her on it, she can’t call back until the school day is over, at 3:15 p.m. preferably when she’s off school property. Not that I’d want her to be interrupting class to chat on her phone with me. Still, what about at lunchtime? No can do, says the board’s conduct policy. The same goes for Williams’ laptop computer. She likes an electronic copy of her class notes. So she first takes notes with paper and pen in class, then retypes them on her laptop outside school. It would be nice to be able to type her notes in class directly on the laptop, where she also creates her PowerPoint presentations for class assignments. But that’s not allowed either.

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/17/macdonald-techonology-ban-must-end

by JACQUELINE REIS, Associate Press

Bill Gates himself couldn’t persuade Scott R. Reisinger to assign a laptop to every student, but that same resister will soon require students to use iPads. Mr. Reisinger, headmaster of Bancroft School, is thrilled with the multitalented tablet that will soon populate the book bags and desks around him. “I’ve never been as excited about a piece of technology,” he said. It boots up immediately, helps students organize their work and thoughts, allows students to write with a stylus on the screen, doesn’t put up a barrier between students and their peers and teachers, and allows for auditory or visual learning. But the clincher, he said, was when he sat down with one about six months ago to see how it might help him create a U.S. history lesson. He found primary sources, textbooks to download and, through iTunes U, a lecture from a friend at Yale University.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110518/GJLIFESTYLES/110519649/-1/FOSLIFESTYLES

By Ned Madden, TechNewsWorld

Over 100 colleges and universities in North America now offer some form of video game studies. That’s up from fewer than a dozen four years ago. The craft of video game creation goes well beyond the computer science needed to write code and make it run. Many programs touch on disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology, arts and literature, media studies and communications.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/72474.html?wlc=1306099456

by Courtney Boyd Myers, the Next Web

As connection speeds increase and the ubiquity of the Internet pervades, digital content reigns. And in this era, free education has never been so accessible. The Web gives lifelong learners the tools to become autodidacts, eschewing exorbitant tuition and joining the ranks of other self-taught great thinkers in history such as Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Paul Allen and Ernest Hemingway.

http://thenextweb.com/industry/2011/05/14/how-the-internet-is-revolutionizing-education/

by Stanford University

The work of MobiSocial Computing Laboratory is part of the National Science Foundation’s Programmable Open Mobile (News – Alert) Internet (POMI) 2020 Expedition, which works to remove barriers to innovation through creation of open standards and systems. The MobiSocial Computing Laboratory is a collaboration between the Stanford Computer Science Department along with scientists from leading industry corporations such as AVG Technologies, Google, Nokia (News – Alert) and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2011/05/19/5521845.htm

By Mark W. Smith, Detroit Free Press

And the price of admission is dropping — you probably don’t need a separate webcam, because they’re now being built directly into most new computers and smartphones. Software giant Microsoft made a monster bet last week that video chats would soon become more central to our everyday Web tasks. It snatched up video call leader Skype for an astounding $8.5 billion. Video calling has allowed many business executives to compete globally.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2011-05-21-video-calls_n.htm

by Eliza Chan, Western Front

Teachers and educational administrators are deciding cursive is a less important part of the curriculum than learning to read and use 21st century digital tools to communicate, said Joanne Carney, associate professor of elementary education at Western. She said students must learn computer skills to communicate effectively. In one of Carney’s graduate courses on literacy, she discovered that her students felt the same way about how cursive is presently taught. “Cursive is taught for limited time periods in one or two grades,” Carney said. “Most students don’t practice it enough to develop good handwriting.”

http://westernfrontonline.net/features/15-features/13493-fading-into-a-memory-cursive-becomes-lost-art-with-increases-in-new-technology

by Ed Lazowska, Xconomy

It’s no secret that there’s extraordinary competition right now for computer scientists. Both nationally and regionally, new graduates from strong programs at all degree levels are receiving extraordinary offers. This year’s UW Computer Science & Engineering seniors have reported starting salaries as high as $105,000 (that’s the highest I’ve heard – there may be higher) and signing bonuses as high as $30,000 (ditto).

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2011/05/17/red-hot-the-computer-science-job-market/

By John Breeden, Government Computer News

A key-drive sized PC could help in poor areas and school districts, as long as they have monitors. Unless you’re a hardcore gamer like me, you’ve probably never heard of David John Braben. Today however, he is doing something a little more serious, such as creating a fully working computer for $25. This amazing little device is the size of a key drive, runs a full version of Ubuntu Linux and has a USB port for attaching a keyboard. It’s part of his Raspberry Pi Foundation that is trying to educate more kids about the hardware of computers, and put the fun back in computer science. At just $25 a pop, each kid in a class could probably be issued one to take home.

http://gcn.com/articles/2011/05/16/25-dollar-computer-can-help-poor-countries-school-districts.aspx