Update from Industry: Google Apps for Education hits 10 million user milestone

Google Apps for Education hits 10 million user milestone. ZDNet Education blog by Christopher Dawson. Online October 2010.  “In the last four years we’ve seen a lot of changes, both to our tools and the general landscape of cloud computing in higher education. According to the 2010 Campus Computing survey, nearly 85% of four-year colleges and universities are already using or considering the move to the cloud by offering hosted email to their students. Of the schools that have already made the move, more than 56% of them have gone Google.”

(GW Note: I have always been a huge fan of Google's Apps for Education, available in many languages with high usefulness to teachers and students. They keep enriching it, almost daily.)

Informative Reading: ICT in Non Formal Education

ICT in Non Formal Education. InfoDev. Price, Waterhouse & Coopers. Online August 2010. ...investigates and analyzes examples of how governments and individuals leverage ICTs when planning for and providing Non Formal Education (NFE). This style of learning offers previously excluded adults and children the opportunity to reach educational goals outside of a traditional classroom setting. ...

Informative Reading: The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010

The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010. World Economic Forum. Online June 2010.  Highlights the key role of ICT as an enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world. 

Tops and Bests: 2010 CODiE Awards

2010 CODiE Awards.  Since 1986, the CODiE Awards have been the leading honor in recognizing the software and information industry's most newsworthy products and services. The education awards include winners in a number of different categories. (GW Note: CODiE awards recognize the most effective uses of ICT in teaching and learning and are seen as the models to follow in future software development. If you are seeing these for the first time, also look at “Past Winners”.)

Informative Reading: Rethinking Education Management Information Systems: Lessons from and Options for Less Developed Countries

Rethinking Education Management Information Systems: Lessons from and Options for Less Developed Countries. Infodev. Online February 2010. Donors have often tended to assume that EMIS outputs would play an important role in helping managers to administer their education system in a more efficient and effective manner, while, governments have assumed that EMIS output would help them identify priority areas for targeting resources and helping them monitoring progress of strategies towards defined objectives. A review of four country cases reveals that this does not always occur and significant problems are often experienced with the operation of EMIS at all levels of the education system, and in the vast majority of instances systems are unsustainable without a considerable amount of donor support. ...

(Ginny notes: Although this report was published in 2006 and thus is a bit dated, it continues to be informative and contain wise advice for anyone working in projects that include creating or supporting educational MIS systems.)

URL for BBC Report

 Technology impacts on education. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8508040.stm

Informative Video:Technology impacts on education

Technology impacts on education. BBC. Online February 2010.  BBC World Service programme Digital Planet, explored three of the many unique initiatives in education technology. 

Non-ICT Reading:Community Schools: Reform's Lesser-Known Frontier

Community Schools: Reform's Lesser-Known Frontier. Sarah M. Fine. Edweek.com. Online February 2010. ... The Obama administration has taken up the task of settling the debate over whether America’s schools should be reformed by raising standards or by expanding community-based supports. The verdict? A resounding yes to both sides. …

Informative Reading:Consumer Password Worst Practices

Consumer Password Worst Practices. Imperva.com. Online February 2010. In December 2009, a major password breach occurred that led to the release of 32 million passwords in the Internet. The Imperva Application Defense Center (ADC) analyzed the strength of the passwords. The data provides a unique glimpse into the way that users select passwords and an opportunity to evaluate the true strength of these as a security mechanism. …

Informative Reading: Technology and Education Reform.

Technology and Education Reform. U.S. Department of Education. Online January 2010. A Research Project Sponsored by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, Conducted by SRI International. …looked at nine school sites where school staff were active participants in incorporating technology in ways that support education reform. These pages report on the experiences of the teachers and students at these schools. …

Tops, Bests and Trends: Top EduTech posts for 2009 and 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education

Continuing the Tops, Bests and Trends postings:

Top EduTech posts for 2009. Michael Turcano. World Bank Blogs. Online January 2010.  (These are the top posts of the EduTech blog from 2009 in Michael's opinion.)… initially conceived as a year-long experiment to share information and perspectives on a topic of increasing relevance -- and hype -- to many countries around the world.   … to explore issues related to the use of information and communication technologies to benefit education in developing countries. …

10 Global Trends in ICT and Education. Robert Hawkins. World Bank Blogs. Online January 2010. ... a discussion of 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education for 2010 and beyond. The list is an aggregation of projections from leading forecasters such as the Horizon Report, personal observations and a good dose of guesswork. … 

Informative Reading--Playing games in class

Playing games in class. BBC News Rory Cellan-Jones. Online January 2010.  … in a school classroom a group of teenagers are gathered around an electronic whiteboard, not learning algebra, but playing a game on a Wii console. And they call that education? … pupils are running around with GPS devices to co-ordinate a treasure hunt, they're playing with the Nintendo DS and they're even shooting videos on mobile phones and then uploading them to YouTube. …

Tops and Bests: ISTE Announces Its "Top Ten in '10" Education Technology Priorities. ISTE

ISTE Announces Its "Top Ten in '10" Education Technology Priorities. ISTE. Online January 2010. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has announced its "Top Ten in '10" education technology priorities for the New Year. These priorities offer policy makers and educators a prospective framework for consideration as legislative and funding decisions are made. …

Online Event: Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age

Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age. Google. Online October 2009. ...a new forum has been designed to advance a new paradigm for learning by harnessing the largely untapped potential of digital media. ...will bring together 200 of the nation’s (US) top thought leaders in science and technology, informal and formal education, entertainment media, research, philanthropy, and policy to create and act upon a breakthrough strategy for scaling-up effective models of teaching and learning for children. The forum will showcase cutting edge research, proven and promising models to challenge decision-makers in key sectors to help "refresh and reboot" American global leadership in education.

... watch the live broadcasts on October 27th and October 28th.

Online Event: Free Live Webinar: Cellphones as Instructional Tools

Free Live Webinar: Cellphones as Instructional Tools. Thursday, July 23, 4-5 p.m., Eastern time. Edweek webinar. Free registration is now open. Cellphones have been called "the new paper and pencil" or "the new laptop," and they could be in the hands of as many as 10 million to 15 million schoolchildren in the next few years. For their instructional potential and ability to connect students to the Internet, mobile devices are quietly making their way into schools in the United States and abroad. What does your district, school, or classroom need to make this technology leap? Guests will discuss policy and implementation issues and offer practical curriculum ideas for every subject. … Guests: Elliot Soloway, professor, School of Information, School of Education, and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan; Liz Kolb, education technology instructor, University of Michigan and Madonna University; author, Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education; Ron Myers, principal, Trinity Meadows Intermediate School, Keller, Texas

Informative Reading: Gates Foundation: Teachers trump class size.

Gates Foundation: Teachers trump class size. Eschoolnews.com. Online May 2009. … After investing billions in U.S. education, the foundation's new CEO says better teachers, not smaller class sizes, are key. …the foundation must take a different direction with its education grants, and the best path is to support good, effective teachers. …

ICT Support for Learning: Google Translator Toolkit

Google Translator Toolkit. Tony Ruscoe. GoogleBlogoscoped. Online June 2009. ... new tool … to help translators organize their work and benefit from shared translations, glossaries and translation memories … A machine translation of the Google China Blog explains, "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Translation of information, in our view is the key to access to information." …

ICT Support for Learning:Say Yes to GPS: The government (of Egypt) has lifted the ban on the popular navigation technology

Say Yes to GPS: The government (of Egypt) has lifted the ban on the popular navigation technology. Business Today Egypt. Online June 2009. In a surprise announcement last month, the Egyptian government removed its long-standing ban on the use and import of Global Positioning System (GPS). … The technology, which allows users to determine their latitude, longitude and altitude, had been banned for commercial use in Egypt since 2003. …
(Note from Ginny: Now teachers and students can learn more about geography by finding the coordinates of their schools, homes and communities in Google Earth, and we can locate our client schools on a map in Google Earth.)

Informative Reading: From Structuralists to Instrumentalists: Literature Review of Digital Literacy and Digital Divide

From Structuralists to Instrumentalists: Literature Review of Digital Literacy and Digital Divide. Aywe Kok, Digital Learning. Online May 2009. … to provide information about several ICT initiatives undertaken in education on a global basis in order to overcome the digital divide and summarise the findings of these initiatives.  

Online Debate:Summary: ICT’s Can be a Good Educational Investment

Summary: ICT’s Can be a Good Educational Investment. Edutechdebate.org. Online May 2009. At the beginning of this month, we initiated a discussion around ICTs in education with the open question: Are ICTs the best investment for scarce educational funding, or should investments be made first in the familiar tools and methodologies that are already being used? … a number of key points put forward,  …four key points … can be at least a partial answer to the original question. …

ICT Support for Learning: Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners

Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners.   Chris Riedel, T.H.E. Journal, 2/2/2009. Online May 2009. ... "Web 2.0 is about trust,… It's about sharing and collaborating." And, she (Gail Lovey) insisted, it's about putting the power to learn and create in the hands of the students. …  Technology needs to trickle up …  not down. …  

Informative Reading: Technology's Impact on Learning Outcomes: Can It Be Measured?

Technology's Impact on Learning Outcomes: Can It Be Measured?  Ruth Reynard, Ph.D. THE Journal. Online May 2009. The ongoing debate on the effectiveness of technology use for student learning outcomes still seems to have no clear answers. … Some say it has been highly effective for students, and others say that it has not had any significant impact in how students learn. …there is also no real agreement as to what should be measured or even whether it can be measured in order to quantify success in this regard. …

Online Event: Educational Technology Debate

Educational Technology Debate. Edtechdebate.org. Online May 2009.  The Educational Technology Debate (ETD) seeks to promote a substantive discussion of how low-cost information and communication technology (ICT) device initiatives for educational systems in developing countries are relevant to the very groups they purport to serve – the students, teachers, and their surrounding communities. … It has begun with three topics for discussion
1. Are ICTs the Best Educational Investment?
2. Not Quite the Best Investment, but Pretty Good
3. If & When Schools Invest in ICT, Teachers First
…

Update from Industry: Optical disc offers 500GB storage

Optical disc offers 500GB storage. BBC. Online April 2009. A disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data, equivalent to 100 DVDs, has been unveiled by General Electric. The micro-holographic disc, which is the same size as existing DVD discs, is aimed at the archive industry. But the company believes it can eventually be used in the consumer market place and home players. … 

Informative Reading: Study Ties Student Achievement to Technology Integration

Study Ties Student Achievement to Technology Integration.  Dave Nagel. THE Journal. Online April 2009.Technology adoption … in America's K-12 schools … having a positive impact on learning outcomes. … in high-need schools, there's been a 31 percent increase in the "innovative use of technology by teachers in core subject areas." … significant increases in reading and math achievement (17 percent to 33 percent in reading and 18 percent to 36 percent in math). …

Update from Countries and Project: World Digital Library to launch at UNESCO

World Digital Library to launch at UNESCO. ikuwaderno.com. Online April 2009.. The World Digital Library, a website offering free access to rare books, maps, manuscripts, films and photographs from across the globe, launches Tuesday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. …  The world library will be available in seven core languages –Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish — with additional material in other languages. …

Update from Countries and Projects: Technology counts 2009

Technology Counts 2009. EdWeek. Online March 2009. (A report on the status of educational technology in the USA, state by state.) ... This year’s Technology Counts report, titled Breaking Away From Tradition: E-Education Expands Opportunities for Raising Achievement, examines why e-learning is critical to reshaping the way K-12 education is delivered. Feature stories and analyses you'll want to check out in this issue include: Research Shows Evolving Picture of E-Education, Advanced Placement Secures Online Niche, Hunting the Internet for Quality Content, Teacher Training Goes in Virtual Directions, Lessons from the Ivory Tower and much more! …

Infromative Reading: For teens, a friend online is usually a friend offline, too

For teens, a friend online is usually a friend offline, too. USA Today. Online April 2009. New research about online and offline friends shows that most teens use the Internet to interact with people they already know rather than strangers who might turn out to be predators. … being on a social networking site doesn't create risk for sexual victimization. … found no evidence online predators were stalking or abducting victims based on information posted on social networking sites. …

Informative Reading: Measuring the Information Society - The ICT Development Index

Measuring the Information Society - The ICT Development Index. International Telecommunication Union. Online March 2009. ...The latest edition of Measuring the Information Society features the new ITU ICT Development Index. The Index captures the level of advancement of ICTs in more than 150 countries worldwide and compares progress made between 2002 and 2007. It also measures the global digital divide and examines how it has developed in recent years. The report also features a new ICT Price Basket, which combines fixed, mobile and broadband tariffs for 2008 into one measure and compares it across countries. The analytical report is complemented by a series of statistical tables providing country-level data for all indicators included in the Index. … 

ICT Support for Learning: Map of Future Forces Affecting Education

Map of Future Forces Affecting Education. KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Institute for the Future (IFTF). Online March 2009.  Created by a range of experts and analysts, the map is a forecast of the future, and each element on the map represents forces that could affect learning in the next decade. Many of these forces can work in tandem, and they could also appear seemingly unconnected. Nothing is definite. We don’t encourage debating with the forecast, but rather encourage you to explore the map, think about what you’ve seen, and use the map and its interactive features for group and online discussion. Think of the map as a catalyst for conversation. … (Note: Perhaps the best place to start is by viewing the Map Demo.)

ICT Support for Learning:Industry Makes Pitch That Smartphones Belong in Classroom

Industry Makes Pitch That Smartphones Belong in Classroom.  Matt Richtel and Brad Stone. NY Times. Online Feb 2009. ... The cellphone industry has a suggestion for improving the math skills of American students: spend more time on cellphones in the classroom. … CTIA, a wireless industry trade group, plans to start making its case for the educational value of cellphones. … Proponents of selling cellphones to schools have said that they are simply making the same kind of pitch that the computer industry has been profitably making to educators since the 1980s. …

Informative Reading: Texting 'improves language skill'

Texting 'improves language skill'. BBC Online. Feb 26, 2009.... Text speak, rather than harming literacy, could have a positive effect on the way children interact with language, says a study. … the use of so-called "textisms" could be having a positive impact on reading development. …

Informative Reading: Free computer-access project inspired 'Slumdog'

Free computer-access project inspired 'Slumdog'. CNNOnline March 2009.  ...The book "Q & A" inspired the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," but what inspired Indian author Vikas Swarup to write the book?... Swarup says he took his cue from an experimental program giving impoverished children in India's capital Delhi unsupervised access to computers loaded with educational software. The "Hole in the Wall" project discovered that youngsters were able to teach themselves to use the machines embedded in a wall in a poor neighborhood, offering new insights into the abilities of children's minds. 

Infromative Reading: Learning with Blogs and Wikis

Learning with Blogs and Wikis. Bill Ferriter. ASCD Educational Leadership. Online February 2009.Technology has made it easy for educators to embrace continual professional development. … Times have changed in two significant ways, … First, there's a new emphasis on the importance of collaborative learning among members of close-knit teams in schools. … Second, digital tools now help fulfill Elmore's desire for fresh "portals through which new knowledge about teaching and learning can enter schools." Specifically, thousands of accomplished educators are now writing blogs about teaching and learning, bringing transparency to both the art and the science of their practice. In every content area and grade level and in schools of varying sizes and from different geographic locations, educators are actively reflecting on instruction, challenging assumptions, questioning policies, offering advice, designing solutions, and learning together. And all this collective knowledge is readily available for free. …

Informative Reading: Internet Safety Education for Teens: Getting It Right

Internet Safety Education for Teens: Getting It Right. Crimes Against Children Research Center. Online February 2009. A growing number of people are promoting Internet safety education in an effort to help keep youngsters safe from Internet sex offenders. But some of the information in their lectures, pamphlets, videos, and web sites does not reflect what researchers have learned about the important features of these crimes.
Here are suggestions of how to make Internet safety education materials more consistent with current research. …

Informative Video:Did You Know

Did You Know? Video by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman. Posted on YouTube. Online February 2009.Video on the progression of information technology, an update to past versions by the same title. 

(GW Note: Thanks to Stephen Brand, President and Chief Imagination Officer, The New Enterprise Factory, Inc. for sending a note about this update to an older video. sbrand@enterprisefactory.com)

Informative Reading: New Google Earth features host of educational tools

New Google Earth features host of educational tools. Christopher Dawson. Zdnet. Online February 2009. Google Earth 5 was just released and includes a host of new tools that educators can tap in the classroom. Google Ocean is being touted in particular, allowing users to interact with 3D maps of the ocean floor, courtesy largely of US Navy data. However, I found the databases and interactive features associated with the ocean views to be a lot more useful educationally than floating around the ocean floor. …  this is really a must-download for teachers and students. …

Informative Reading:Tech Literacy Confusion: What Should You Measure

Tech Literacy Confusion: What Should You Measure? Andrew Trotter. Digital Directions. Edweek. Online February 2009.  http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/01/21/03techlit.h02.html.Teaching literacy—reading and writing—is a core mission for schools, but today's young people increasingly "read" 3-D computer simulations and "write" via social networks such as Facebook. A growing chorus of experts says schools should add these forms of communication to their literacy mission as "technology literacy."… Many educators, even those who agree technology literacy is important, are confused by the phrase's competing meanings and the diverse ways of measuring it. …

It's Baaaack!

Hi, folks--Once more, I find it difficult to keep track of the interesting news bits and readings about education technology that I come across every day, so I am resurrecting my blog "ICT in Education around the Globe". I hope you have missed the notice of posts and welcome this return. If so, let me know. If not, let me know that, too, and I will remove your name from the Yahoo group receiving notice of posts. 

I hope you have been busy and productive in your efforts to support the use of technology in teaching and learning. Let me know what you are doing, and please send your papers and other suggestions for blog entries. 

Informative Reading:The Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008

The Global Information Technology Report 2007-2008. INSEAD. Online May 2008. … Under the theme Fostering Innovation through Networked Readiness, this year’s Report places a particular focus on the role of networked readiness in spurring innovation. The Report is produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with INSEAD, the leading international business school, and is sponsored this year by Cisco Systems.

Informative Reading: Web in infancy, says Berners-Lee

Web in infancy, says Berners-Lee. Darren Waters. BBC. Online April 2007. (Tim Berners-Lee developed the web while working at Cern) … There are now 165 million different websites around the world … Making the web free to use had a vital role in spreading its use worldwide. … "What's exciting is that people are building new social systems, new systems of review, new systems of governance. My hope is that those will produce... new ways of working together effectively and fairly which we can use globally to manage ourselves as a planet." …

ICT Support: Gaming helps students hone 21st-century skills.

Gaming helps students hone 21st-century skills. Laura Devaney. eSchool News. Online April 2008. Environments such as Second Life can both stimulate and educate, experts say. …Online gaming can help students develop many of the skills they'll be required to use upon leaving school, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity… Studies of the brain have pointed to data suggesting that repeated exposure to video games reinforces the ability to create mental maps, inductive discovery such as formulating hypotheses, and the ability to focus on several things at once and respond faster to unexpected stimuli. …