Technology

2008 state technology grades released

4/28/2008

A “C” average nation. From Angela Maiers’ blog: The 2008 State Technology Grades have been released. This State Technology Report is a joint project of Education Week and the EPE Research Center. Each state was surveyed to assess the status of K-12 educational technology across the nation in the areas of access, use, and capacity. [...]


A new hope for e-learning

4/14/2008

Desire2Learn‘s challenge of Blackboard‘s e-learning patents have resulted in an initial action by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that invalidated all 44 of the Blackboard patents questioned. The action is not final, yet, and both parties have 60 days to respond. But, as eSchool News points out, the ruling raises questions about the validity [...]


Fifth grade for the 21st century

4/10/2008

You are invited to join us for the final Horizon Forum meeting for this school year! Fifth Grade for the 21st Century Hosted by Dr. Tom Tapper, Superintendent, Owatonna Public Schools Thursday, April 24 11:15am – 1:00pm Conference Room 325, Education Sciences Building (University of Minnesota East Bank) Dr. Tom Tapper (Superintendent, Owatonna Public Schools), [...]


Another m-learning hopeful comes to the U.S.

4/9/2008

Another OLPC competitor has entered the U.S. market. This time, Hewlett Packard Co. is releasing a lightweight “Mini-Note” line of notebook computers. Each unit weighs less than 3 pounds with a screen that measures 8.9 inches diagonally. A Linux-based model is available for under $500. According to an AP article, the devices are not being [...]


m-Learning comes to the U.S.

4/2/2008

NPR reports that the One Laptop Per Child project will provide computers for kids in Birmingham, Alabama. The report highlights a key challenge of the project: Can a slow computer have an impact in a high-speed society? Maybe not. Meanwhile, Nokia quietly announced the WiMAX edition of the N810 Internet Tablet. As noted here previously, [...]


ARVEL launch party on Second Life

3/18/2008

For those of us who will not be at the AERA conference in New York City, we can join the Applied Research in Virtual Environments for Learning (ARVEL) special interest group’s launch party via Second Life: Monday, March 24, 7:00 to 9:00 pm slurl.com/secondlife/EDTECH105/132/24 Or, in person: Hilton New York – Petit Trianon, 3rd Floor [...]


The exploding digital universe

3/12/2008

IDC has updated their forecast of expansion the digital universe to accommodate bigger and faster growth. Some highlights: The digital universe in 2007 — at 2.25 x 1021 bits (281 exabytes or 281 billion gigabytes) — was 10% bigger than we thought. The resizing comes as a result of faster growth in cameras, digital TV [...]


The Cape Town Open Education Declaration

3/3/2008

Calú twittered this yesterday evening: Declaración de Ciudad del Cabo para la Educación Abierta http://tinyurl.com/2uob4w The English version of the document can be found here. In short, Mark Shuttleworth’s foundation and the Open Society Institute are launching a campaign to “transform education” by calling for open, free educational resources to be placed online: According to [...]


Slides and a picture from Friday’s Horizon Forum meeting

2/26/2008

A full report from last Friday’s Horizon Forum meeting (see announcement) will be posted at Education Futures by Jeffrey Schulz soon. In the meantime, here’s the slides from North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) vice president Allison Powell: And, a picture from the event:


China hearts m-learning

2/25/2008

You don’t need to understand Mandarin to know what’s going on in these commercials. The videos seem to stream slowly from these Chinese YouTube equivalents, so you may want to brew a pot of coffee as they load. Believe me, it’s worth the wait. First, a collection of Ozing (好记星) commercials: Then, the infomercial: The [...]


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Review: Chinese m-learning devices

I traveled to Shanghai with Arthur Harkins in April to investigate the use of handheld learning devices in Chinese schools. The Chinese are beginning to use these devices to learn English, take tests, and have fun. With grant assistance from Target, we were able to bring two of the devices back with us: The Noah [...]


Legalizing “cheating”

Some troubling news has appeared in media over the past 24 hours. Many news sites and blogs have been citing an Associated Press article that claims that teachers and administrators are dismayed by students’ use of mobile devices to cheat in the classroom. The question is, why not “cheat?” If students will use similar or [...]


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