Clipmarks | edtechnnorris's 'education' clips

The Mac in the Gray Flannel Suit

Fri, 02 May 2008 15:58:14 GMT

clipped by: edtechnnorris
clipper's remarks: More corporate America turning to Macs

While thousands of other companies scratch and claw for the tiniest sliver of the corporate computing market, Apple treats this vast market with utter indifference. After a series of failed offensives by the company in the 1980s and 1990s, Chief Executive Steve Jobs decided to focus squarely on consumers and education customers when he returned to Apple in 1997. As a result, the company doesn't have ranks of corporate salespeople or armies of repairmen waiting to respond every time a hard drive fails. Nothing that could divert his minions from staying focused on Apple's core calling: creating the next cool thing for the world's consumers.

Millions of consumers are seeing the Mac in a new light. Once an object of devotion for students and artists, the Mac is becoming the first choice of many. Surging demand for the machines led Apple to predict revenues will rise 33% in the second quarter, to $7.2 billion, even in the face of an economic slowdown.

Clueless in America

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:42:02 GMT

clipped by: edtechnnorris
clipper's remarks: drop out rates and sub standard education a real issue in this country

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The nation’s future may depend on how well we educate the current and future generations, but (like the renovation of the nation’s infrastructure, or a serious search for better sources of energy) that can wait. At the moment, no one seems to have the will to engage any of the most serious challenges facing the U.S.

An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. That’s more than a million every year, a sign of big trouble for these largely clueless youngsters in an era in which a college education is crucial to maintaining a middle-class quality of life — and for the country as a whole in a world that is becoming more hotly competitive every day.

Ignorance in the United States is not just bliss, it’s widespread.

We have one of the highest dropout rates in the industrialized world,

When two-thirds of all teenagers old enough to graduate from high school are incapable of mastering college-level work, the nation is doing something awfully wrong.

Are Wired Kids Well Served by Schools?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:25:59 GMT

clipped by: edtechnnorris
clipper's remarks: Probably not.

Clip Source: www.news.com

"Kids associate one word with school--'boring,'" said Deborah Stipek, dean and professor of education at Stanford, who was part of a panel discussion with the group of researchers. But kids' levels of engagement with the Internet and games could give educators new ideas for upping school's status.

The Stanford event, which was sponsored by MacArthur and Common Sense Media, raised more questions than it answered. But one of the more interesting findings in the research showed that many kids are drawn to create media online because their work can be immediately recognized or judged among their peer group or a larger audience, according to Mimi Ito, a cultural anthropologist of technology use and a principal investigator on MacArthur's project. That, she said, can be immediately gratifying.

Among the generation of kids growing up wired, many teens are hyper-motivated to learn a special skill like how to create a podcast, direct a YouTube video, publish an anime site, or hack an iPhone.

Tech encourages students' social skills

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:40:53 GMT

clipped by: edtechnnorris

Clip Source: www.eschoolnews.com

Well-integrated technology opens social networks for students and allows children to develop key social skills, according to two recent studies conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Researchers X. Christine Wang and Cynthia Carter Ching have based both of their reports, titled "Social Construction of Computer Experience in a First Grade Classroom: Social Processes and Mediating Artifacts," and "Digital Photography and Journals in a Kindergarten-First-Grade Classroom: Toward Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Childhood Education," on the theoretical framework introduced by Lev Vygotsky.

How Can the Achievment Gap Be Closed?

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:11:19 GMT

clipped by: edtechnnorris
clipper's remarks: Recommendations from a set of experts.

Clip Source: freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

How can the U.S. black-white achievement gap be closed?

The first suggestion may seem pointy-headed but it’s the most important: All major interventions in education should be evaluated using scientific methods — experimental methods, if at all possible.

Entry into postsecondary education needs to be a natural extension from high school graduation. Given the unexceptional retention rates of college students, it’s evident that college readiness needs to be improved.

A primary reason students withdraw from high school is not for a lack of ability, but a lack of engagement, challenge, and low expectations that have been set.

The low quality of the schools black and brown children attend is another critical piece of the problem.

invest intensively in high quality, full-day preschool.

strengthen low income families by reducing disincentives to marry, and by increasing resources available to support children.

Tags: education

Despite the Internet, Google Generation Lacks Analytical Skills - Google Generation

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:10:41 GMT

clipped by: iteachcomputers
clipper's remarks: This is important information for all teachers and librarians.

Clip Source: www.informationweek.com

Young people born after 1993 are certainly familiar with computers and the Web and use both with ease, but a study conducted by the University College London found that they lacked the critical and analytical skills necessary to assess the information they found mostly through search engines.

Along with young people, older generations -- including professors, lecturers, and practitioners -- have been affected by having so much information so easily available. "Everyone exhibits a bouncing, flicking behavior, which sees them searching horizontally rather than vertically," said the study, which was released this week and commissioned by the British Library. "Power browsing and viewing is the norm for all."

training is needed to teach young people how to become better information seekers, so they can meet the demands of higher education and research.

Questioning the Student Use of and Desire for Lecture Podcasts

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:33:08 GMT

clipped by: iteachcomputers
clipper's remarks: Study done showed that about half the students used the podcasts created by their professors.

Clip Source: jolt.merlot.org

Although iPods and other MP3 players are common with students, the use of audio files as an educational device is still debated and has not undergone rigorous pedagogical research. University of Dayton’s CIO Thomas Skills comments that, “podcasting has a very relevant application in higher education, but it needs to be carefully integrated into the curriculum in a thoughtful way” (Blaisdell, 2006b). Faculty need to clearly define and identify their objectives for using podcasts while instructing students how to make the most effective use of this technological tool.

MySpace Photo Costs Teacher Education Degree

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:09:22 GMT

clipped by: iteachcomputers
clipper's remarks: Two year old picture of teacher drinking out of a cup (who knows what) causes a ruin of career because of the caption.

Clip Source: blog.washingtonpost.com

Teacher in training Stacy Snyder was denied her education degree on the eve of graduation when Millersville University apparently found pictures on her MySpace page "promoting underage drinking." As a result, the 27-year-old mother of two had her teaching certificate withheld and was granted an English degree instead. In response, Snyder has filed a Federal lawsuit against the Pennsylvania university asking for her education diploma and certificate along with $75,000 in damages.

The picture in question turned out to be of her at a Halloween party in 2005 dressed as a pirate and drinking an indeterminate liquid "from a plastic 'Mr. Goodbar' cup." But underneath was a caption which read "Drunken Pirate" and that caption apparently lead faculty to assume she was too "unprofessional" to educate young minds.

extreme example and there are limits and lines that must be drawn between acceptable and unacceptable

Tags: interesting, web2.0

Web 2.0: Big apps on campus

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:11:32 GMT

clipped by: iteachcomputers
clipper's remarks: Higher education are adopting web2.0 tools.

Clip Source: news.com.com

universities are hoping to tap into that urge with new technologies to recruit prospective students and entice current students to stretch their intellect.

A social-networking environment gets students comfortable with a school well before freshman orientation, said Day. Prospective students can e-mail roommates, make friends and find out the best campus hangouts even before they accept admission.

Once students get to universities, the tools continue. Classes in which content is pushed out one way to students are becoming passe. Instead, instructors are beginning to distribute lecture content to encourage intellectual debate and research online--away from the classroom--and are using class time for more in-depth discussion.

The bottom line: traditional lecturing may be on its way out

Clip Source: news.com.com

"The theory is that lecturing is not an effective way for everyone to learn, but if you make a student create, they learn an incredible amount. That's the whole idea with changing this paradigm," said Knauff.

Tags: edu, integration, teaching, technology, web2.0

What is the real crisis in American Education?

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:06:22 GMT

clipped by: iteachcomputers
clipper's remarks: Writer recommends that teachers will never get to be better teachers unless they are video taped - calls for reflective teaching practices

Clip Source: blogs.jsonline.com

What is the "crisis" in American public education today?

In Wagner's opinion, one problem is that nobody agrees on what constitutes "effective education." Teachers are sent to professional development seminars that discuss theories, he said, but they are not frequently evaluated, videotaped and given constant feedback on their performances in the classroom.

But the session brought up another issue: How many parents actually know, or could ever see, how their child's teacher is performing in the classroom? What options exist for them if they suspect the course content that their child is learning is less than rigorous?

Tags: teaching

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:29:10 GMT

clipped by: iteachcomputers

Clip Source: www.danah.org

When MySpace launched in 2003, it was primarily used by 20/30-somethings

The bands began populating the site by early 2004 and throughout 2004, the average age slowly declined. It wasn't until late 2004 that teens really started appearing en masse on MySpace and 2005 was the year that MySpace became the "in thing" for teens.

Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvard-only site. It slowly expanded to welcome people with .edu accounts from a variety of different universities. In mid-2005, Facebook opened its doors to high school students,

The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society.

MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.

The division around MySpace and Facebook is just another way in which technology is mirroring societal values.

Tags: teens, internetsafety, technology