The launch of a formal, deliberate, across the board attempt to produce digital textbooks has arrived. Not just digital version of paper texts. Not just .pdf pages mimicking textbooks. Not just webpages trying to walk like a textbook. No, this is a sincere attempt to redefine the concept and use of a textbook firmly planted [...]
One year ago, this blog highlighted the unique opportunity of the Google’s Global Online Science Fair. Well, the fair was a success and the winners have been announced. According to a Google website, Over 10,000 students from 91 countries submitted amazing science experiments. With project topics ranging from “Can I program a robot in English?” to “Can [...]
It seems with each passing week, another tablet (computer?) is announced, reviewed, and sits on the store shelf. At last count, there are 54 options of the device occupying the “space” called a tablet. But how many of us have ever seen more than one or two or perhaps three different species of tables out in [...]
Between now and December 7, 2011, entries are being accepted for the YouTube Space Lab contest. Individuals or teams up to three students aged 14–18 can submit up to three experiments that could be accomplished in a microgravity flight. As expected, the entries are in the form of a YouTube video such as in these [...]
The computer mouse has been a stable since 1984 when it was popularized on the Macintosh computer. And has gone relatively unquestioned since. However, the mouse also prevents us from doing many things. Like what, you might ask? Well, doing those things that we now commonly do with touch-screen tablets and phones. A computer mouse, regardless [...]
Do cell phones cause cancer? Those five words have been floating around for over a decade, but only recently has it caught the attention of mainstream cell phone users, some of whom out of fear have changed their usage habits. My take on this, and I’ll get it out of the way up front so [...]
CNN video: Kindergartners getting iPads Years ago, I followed closely the Maine schools 1-to-1 laptop project. I found it interesting on multiple levels, but also I was skeptical for several reasons. Not that I wasn’t in favor of laptops in the classroom or one-to-one initiatives, but for more because of ratios. Concerns of cost/benefit and training/outcomes [...]
Astoria High School in Astoria, Oregon just became an experiment in the future of student computing. The tech company Google just put an experimental laptop into the hands every one of the school’s 700 students. Beyond the usual one-to-one initiative is the fact that the particular laptop, named the Cr-48, is not a regular laptop, but more a cross between a laptop and a mobile internet device.
In the video above, a third grader gets to use a rather striking example of 21st century technology to talk about some common topics in science, namely earthquakes and volcanoes. As was mentioned in this blog before, back at the 2009 National Science Teachers Association’s national conference, Arne Duncan mentioned in his keynote that, “You [...]
Here’s a taste of NSTA San Fran. More on this later, but many of the tech tools are open-ended allowing for student/teacher defined uses. Overall, the future looks like a fun place to teach!
