March 2, 2009
by jnxyz
9 Comments
Came across this today and had to share. Its an overview of what a 21st century school should look like, and I like it because rather than just being theory or ideas, its very grounded in the practicalities. Something else you might notice – it doesn’t even directly mention ‘technology’ … hmmm… This is because integrating digital tools for learning = good teaching anyway. Head over to HERE (info via Apple) to read the WHY’s behind each of the categories.
February 26, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
I just recieved my email newsletter from Internet World stats today. It provides a fascinating summary of internet use and penetration across nine geographic regions (it strangely has the Carribbean as its own region) as well as the world as a whole. These are vitally important pieces of information for those wanting to track how much internet training to provide their students based on the trends for how important its becoming in their region of the world.
The stats this time (from end of 2008) are fascinating in that they show that while North America has an internet penetration of 73.1%, Australia/Oceania was second with 59.9%, and Europe was at 48.5%. Asia as a whole was at 17.2% (but off a much larger population base). Whats even more interesting/ shocking to me was that as a whole, internet use/ availability was 23.5%. Less than a quarter of the world use/access the world wide web. Maybe we should change the name for a while? It made me stop and think that even though I live in an entirely connected/ internet based reality, on a global scale I’m in the minority and should cherish the benefits I am able to gain from living where I do. Just sayin.
|
Internet World Statistics Report |
||||
|
Region |
Population |
Internet Users |
P. R. (%) |
% Table |
| Africa |
975,330,899 |
54,171,500 |
5.6 % |
3.4 % |
| America, North |
337,572,949 |
246,822,936 |
73.1 % |
15.7 % |
| America, Central |
151,256,045 |
28,814,000 |
19.0 % |
1.8 % |
| America, South |
389,621,930 |
128,652,435 |
33.0 % |
8.2 % |
| Caribbean, the |
40,371,917 |
8,894,300 |
22.0 % |
0.6 % |
| Asia |
3,780,819,792 |
650,361,843 |
17.2 % |
41.3 % |
| Europe |
803,903,540 |
390,141,073 |
48.5 % |
24.8 % |
| Middle East |
196,767,614 |
45,861,346 |
23.3 % |
2.9 % |
| Oceania, Australia |
34,384,384 |
20,593,751 |
59.9 % |
1.3 % |
| Total World |
6,710,029,070 |
1,574,313,184 |
23.5 % |
100.0 % |
| Source: Internet World Stats, estimates for December 31, 2008. Notes: a) Population data comes from the US Census Bureau; b) Internet estimates come from ITU, Nielsen Online, GfK, official telecommunications regulating agencies and other trustworthy surveys; c) Mexico is included in Central America and Turkey is included in Europe, according to the United Nations grouping; d) P.R. means the Penetration Rate. Copyright © 2009, Miniwatts Marketing Group. |
||||
In December 2008 the number of Internet users reached 1,574,313,184 persons. This represents a 23.5% Internet penetration rate for the world.
February 24, 2009
by jnxyz
4 Comments
Kudo’s to Tony Vincent at learninginhand.com for finding this article reporting that students accessing podcasts rather than live lectures performed 9% better on the closing test. Lets be clear, this is only one study, but can it be believed? Perhaps these tools allowing learning to occur anywhere anytime do have a future…
February 15, 2009
by jnxyz
6 Comments
February 14, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
Courtesy of eSchool News comes this fantastic collection of resources compiled ahead of the USA’s adding of ‘tech literacy’ to report cards from 2012.
Beginning in 2012, “tech literacy” will be added to our Nation’s Report Card. This means student proficiency in the application of technology will be measured for the first time. It isn’t just layering technology over traditional core competencies, though. It’s about totally integrating the two for success in an increasingly competitive world.
In preparation for the coming technology assessment, educational leaders are seeing heightened pressure to provide hard data on how well their students are progressing, how effective their teachers are, and how technology instruction is helping students solve real-world problems.
To help you prepare, eSchool News has compiled an extensive resource library that addresses all these issues and provides first-hand experience from educators who have successfully met the challenges. We invite you to access this free Educator Resource Center right now to find out how your students and teachers can pass the test on “21st Century Skills.”
– The eSchool News Editors
February 12, 2009
by jnxyz
1 Comment
via Engadget by Darren Murph on 2/11/09
We heard that the SMART Table would be ready for playtime in Spring of 2009, and here she is, a few months early. The kid-friendly multitouch table is now available for purchase in North America and the United Kingdom, and as expected, it’s being marketed towards educational institutions looking for new and exciting ways to help kids learn. The 230i (the only model currently offered) weighs in at 150 pounds and features an XGA DLP projector, integrated speakers, an inbuilt digital camera to track touches and multitouch capabilities courtesy of DViT (Digital Vision Touch) technology. We’re still not told just how much resellers will be charging, but we’ll stick to the “at least seven or eight grand” figure we heard when toying with one last October. Demo vid is after the break.
Continue reading SMART Table now available in North America and UK
February 6, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
Via TUAW.com
February 2, 2009
by jnxyz
1 Comment
While it has often proved inadequate when pushed too far, Marc Prensky’s 2001 positing of Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives has given the world the terms needed to start many a technology in education debate. Now almost a decade later, Prensky has written a new article on where citizenship of a digital society now places us.
I’ll be honest, his talk of implants and controlling games with our minds does seem a little sci-fi – not even the characters in Battlestar Galactica can do that! As he states however, these technologies are not way off in the future, but are currently being trialled and deployed. So what will this mean for life as homo sapiens? What effect will all the automation available to us even now on a day to day basis have on our cognition? And where will those without access to such enhancements be left?
This is a significant article from one of Educational technology’s leading thinkers. Read the article at Innovate HERE (requires a simple registration).
January 30, 2009
by jnxyz
1 Comment
Sponsored by Cisco Systems, the paper–titled “21st Century Learning Environments”–describes the kinds of school structures that have been shown to facilitate successful 21st-century teaching and learning: from flexible learning spaces that can be rearranged to fit different class sizes and subjects, to more malleable units of time than the typical 50-minute class period.”
January 26, 2009
by jnxyz
1 Comment
Not to start any disputes as to which Smartphone is better because several modern platforms are now capable of the feat I’m about to report, but can your phone do this?
January 26, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
January 26, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
January 24, 2009
by jnxyz
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January 23, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
Twitter, twitter, twitter. Like the chattering that its name implies, micro-blogging turned mass communication tool Twitter now seems to be heard everywhere. So overwhelming has it been that while I joined some time ago, I’ve got serious in the last month and now consider it the fourth leg of my personal learning network after Google Reader, Facebook, and Email discussion lists. In one day I came across a three great articles blogged by others, a wiki, and even a story in my Brisbane paper (a sure sign that its now going mainstream if they know about it). So For all my friends and fellow Educators who are still asking what is Twitter and why does it matter, have a look at these:
Overview and introduction from the NY Times: Twittering Tips for Beginners
Wiki just for teachers using twitter: twitter4teachers
Twitter as a community of practice for eduators: MICROBLOGGING EXPLORED
And ‘follow’ me at www.twitter.com/jnxyz. Read you there.
January 21, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
If anything besides the rise of mobile phones illustrates the ubiquitous, everywhere direction that digital technology is taking, its the recent development of netbooks – small but generally-capable laptops that sell for between $300-600. The NSW department of Education obviously has detected this trend, and has announced a tender process for the purchase of 200,000 such devices. Even better, rather than just buy consumer hardware off the shelf, they have specified education-focused conditions – a wonderful but sadly rare example of this happening. You can go here to read more:
> http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,24934750-5013040,00.html
January 18, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/01/15/hudson-plane-crash-obama-show-social-media-legitimacy
So while social media may not yet be required tools, their widespread use for modern two-way communication should get Educators thinking ‘How can we use them to enrich learning and connect learners?’
January 14, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
Who would have thought that one of the coolest things we’ve seen at CES would be hidden in a 10×10 booth at the very back of the South Hall? Like a diamond in the rough, there sat the PQ Labs iTablet.
They’ve essentially taken the idea behind the Microsoft Surface and have done it better in every way. It’s cheaper, it’s gorgeous, and perhaps most notably, it’s not a hulking monster.
Two of the most notable features of the Surface are its multitouch capabilities and the availability of a development SDK, both of which PQ Labs has matched (or, in the case of the SDK, plan to match soon). The number of fingers detected by the multitouch sensor is limited only by the individual software designer’s desire – the hardware itself supports as many simultaneous prods as you can throw at it.
January 14, 2009
by jnxyz
0 comments
Justine Ferrari | January 14, 2009
NATIONAL Curriculum Board head Barry McGaw will spearhead an international project to devise a new method for assessing school students, measuring the skills they possess rather than their ability to memorise facts.
The multi-million-dollar project was launched in London yesterday by three of the world’s leading technology companies — Cisco, Intel and Microsoft. They said the aim was to resolve the gap between what was taught in schools and the skills required in the workplace.
The project aims to develop a computer-based assessment system that could be adopted around the world and would test students’ knowledge in cross-disciplinary problems, spelling the end of closed-book exams testing students’ memory.
In a policy paper released at the Learning and Technology World Forum in London, the companies argue that reforming student assessment is the key to transforming education to bring it into the 21st century.
“Businesses, entire economies and society generally have made dramatic changes over the past decades, much of it enabled by the widespread use of ICT (information and communications technology),” the paper says.
“Yet most educational systems operate much as they did at the beginning of the 20th century.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,24911114-5013040,00.html
January 14, 2009
by jnxyz
1 Comment
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,24905688-5013040,00.html
