Revenge of the Edupunks
In a recent piece on educational technology, Anya Kamenetz discusses a significant trend that is transforming higher education. According to Kamenetz, Web 2.0 technology is transforming higher education from a centralized and highly organized top down distributive model to a decentralized student-oriented learning model–one that is highly individualized, fairly inexpensive, and accessible just about everywhere. Because of advances in technology– mobile technology, new and exciting social media platforms, iTunes, and YouTube– the way today’s students share information...
Read MoreTwitter Tips for Teachers
As Twitter’s popularity has increased, teachers are frequently asking how to use Twitter. There are several good web tutorials that detail teacher’s experiences and if you are looking for projects these could be just right for you. That is beyond the scope of this post, perhaps in another article. Today, I will keep it simple and share five general tips that I have found very effective. Take time to fill out your profile and add a picture. People like to see who they are communicating with and knowing some information about you will help them identify with you. Share the items...
Read MoreIs Technology Creating “The Dumbest Generation?”
I enjoyed Clive Thompson’s recent piece on the potential effect technology may have on student literacy. Like many campuses across the country, mine is embroiled in an interesting debate about whether or not today’s technology is making kids… well stupid. Enter stage right The Dumbest Generation. According to the author, Mark Bauerlein, Web 2.0 technology is distracting our kids and drawing them into an intellectual state of mindless confusion and half-witted thinking. But, is Bauerlein’s thesis correct? Is today’s technology– Facebook, blogging, Twitter,...
Read MoreMove Over Netbook!
There’s a new laptop on the market, and it might challenge the popularity of netbooks, particularly in public schools. Wal-Mart is selling the new Compaq Presario for only $299. Since July when the retail giant began carrying the new laptop, stores throughout the country have had a difficult time keeping them on the shelf. According to Brook Crothers of cnet, the new Presario includes the following features “a 15.6-inch display, 3GB of memory, a 160GB hard-disk drive, a CD-DVD drive, and Windows Vista pre-loaded. The laptop will use a 2.10 GHz AMD Sempron SI-42 processor and...
Read MoreThe Potential of Mobile Technology
During the TechEd 2009 conference, Hall Davidson delivered an interesting presentation on why cell phones should be utilized by students and teachers in the classroom. According to Davidson, cell phones, and other sorts of mobile technology, will play a significant role in the 21st century classroom because they have become an important part of the lives of today’s students. These “mini” computers are the tools of choice for the so-called digital natives we teach. Davidson believes mobile technology is transforming the way K-12 students learn. As students spend hundreds of...
Read More