ICT SupportIBM Adds Patents To Open Source Pool

IBM Adds Patents To Open Source Pool. K.C. Jones. Information Week. Online October 2005. The company is providing royalty-free access to its patent portfolio for some healthcare and education software specifications built around Web services, electronic forms, and open document formats. …Open access to IBM's education technology could improve effectiveness and productivity in the delivery and management of education by providing students in remote areas with new resources. IBM has patents that use web services to link students and teachers anywhere in the world based on the compatibility of their teaching and learning styles. …

ICT SupportCisco Offers to Aid Gulf Coast Schools

Cisco Offers to Aid Gulf Coast Schools. New York Times. Online October 2005. Cisco Systems and some of its executives plan to donate $40 million in cash, equipment and services to install wireless Internet access and other high-tech services in Gulf Coast schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the chief executive, John T. Chambers, said yesterday. Cisco Systems said it will help schools in the Gulf Coast region install wireless Internet and other technologies via a $40 million package backed in part by personal donations from Chief Executive Officer John Chambers and Chairman John Morgridge. Mr. Chambers, speaking at a presentation in Jackson, Miss., said the devastation left by the storm presented an opportunity to upgrade the schools and to provide a model for other districts around the country. The program might also increase the market for Cisco products, company executives said.

ICT SupportMicrosoft to Offer Online Book-Content Searches.

Microsoft to Offer Online Book-Content Searches. Katie Hafner. NY Times. Online October 2005. Microsoft plans to join the Open Content Alliance, a group that will make the contents of millions of books available for online search. Unlike Google, which has been engaged in a similar indexing project over the past year, the Open Alliance will ask copyright-holders for their permission before digitizing material. … The group is working to digitize the contents of millions of books and put them on the Internet, with full text accessible to anyone, while respecting the rights of copyright holders. … In aligning with the Open Content Alliance, MSN is joining forces with its archrival Yahoo, which announced its support of the project this month.

Informative ReadingsHuman Technology: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Humans in ICT Environments

Human Technology: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Humans in ICT Environments. Volume 1, Number 2. Agora Center, University of Jyväskylä. Online October 2005. This special issue focuses on the various findings from an international study of ICT in education. Contents: National Policies that Connect ICT-Based Education Reform to Economic and Social Development, Robert B. Kozma. ICT and Curriculum Change, Joke Voogt and Hans Pelgrum. Technology-Supported Educational Innovations in Finland and Hong Kong: A Tale of Two Systems, Nancy Law, Marja Kankaanranta, and Angela Chow. “Islands of Innovation” and “School-Wide implementations”: Two Patterns of ICT-Based Pedagogical Innovations in Schools, Alona Forkosh-Baruch, David Mioduser, Rafi Nachmias, and Dorit Tubin. Expanding Possibilities: Project Work Using ICT, Ola Erstad. ICT in Chilean Schools: Students’ and Teachers’ Access and Use of ICT, Enrique Hinostroza, Christian Labbé, and Magdalena Claro.

Informative ReadingsTen Lessons for ICT and Education in the Developing World

Ten Lessons for ICT and Education in the Developing World. Robert J. Hawkins. World Links for Development Program. The World Bank Institute. Published in 2002. Online October 2005. …While the world has fundamentally changed over the past hundred years and will continue to do so at an accelerating pace, the classroom has not. But it will, soon. The issues outlined in this paper are not unique to developing countries. Schools around the world face the same challenges and by and large the same lessons apply. It is time to collectively change our approach to the learning process, and particularly, take advantage of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes, enhance economic opportunities, foster greater creativity, and realize the dreams of disadvantaged youth in developing countries. …

ICT SupportBlog Revolution: Expanding classroom horizons with Web logs

Blog Revolution: Expanding classroom horizons with Web logs. Will Richardson. TechLearning. Online October 2005. Think blogs are a passing fad? Then consider this: A new blog is created every second. There are more than 900,000 blog posts a day. Some two million blogs are updated every week. … a world inhabited by content-producing ordinary people—also known as bloggers—means big changes. That's soon to be true for educators, as well. …Blogs are one of many new disruptive technologies that are transforming the world. They are creating a richer, more dynamic, more interactive Web where participation is the rule rather than the exception. Like it or not, our classrooms and schools are about to be enveloped by these changes as well.

Informative ReadingsUsing Learner-Centred Methodology to teach Learner-Centred Methodology: Duh

Using Learner-Centred Methodology to teach Learner-Centred Methodology: Duh (An IECT Learning Process). Todd Malone (LearnLink Instructional Design Specialist). Originally published 2002. Online October 2005. ... I only want to tell you this: adults and children learn how to use IECTs by using IECTs. Furthermore, the best way to get people to use technology is to provide them with both time and access. These two factors are the most important in the IECT learning process. The guidance a leader or teacher or facilitator gives should be simplified as much as possible to allow users a chance to explore what the technology can do and how the technology is most useful to them. ... We must admit that we have become largely anti-training when it comes to IECTs. We have sought only to encourage educators in the regions to explore technology and reflect on its uses to decide for themselves how and what to implement in their regions. ...

ICT SupportStarting Your PC in a Flash

Starting Your PC in a Flash. Eric Hellweg. Technology Review.com. Since the early 1990s, Bill Gates has had a consistent lament: the standard PC or notebook takes far too long to boot up. ...In the world of technology, of course, a general lament is also a golden opportunity. ...The most recent advance came on October 17, when Intel engineers at the Intel Developer Forum in Taipei, Taiwan, unveiled a prototype technology, codenamed "Robson," that reduces startup time in notebooks from "several seconds" to "almost immediate," according to a report on the demonstration at PCWorld.com. … According to research firm Semico, in 2000, a gigabyte of NAND RAM cost around $1,900. Five years later, it's a mere $50. And the firm expects that price to slide to around $9 by 2009. …

ICT SupportLaptops to cost below $550.

Laptops to cost below $550. AMEInfo. Online October 2005. Non-branded laptop prices in the UAE are likely to fall below $550, industry experts told Gulf News. They noted that most US laptop brands are now made in China from parts sourced in Taiwan, and that these same laptops can be sold for 20-25% cheaper without branding. However, many buyers still prefer the back-up support of a large branded company, said industry sources.

Update from Countries (Argentina) Computers Alone Can't Bridge Digital Gap.

(Argentina) Computers Alone Can't Bridge Digital Gap. Marcela Valente. IPS News Agency. Online October 2005. "With these three computers and Internet access, it's as if we could reach up and touch the sky," exclaimed Analía Bonesso, the principal and teacher of all eight grades in a rural primary school in Argentina with no telephone, no radio, and only 14 students. …The unbridged distance between the provision of equipment and genuine assimilation of these new technologies on the part of the programme's beneficiaries is regularly stressed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to close the digital gap by familiarising the poor, excluded sectors of society with the latest information and communications tools. … In the city of Buenos Aires, there are primary schools that are well equipped with computers, but the teachers do not know how to use them. "The parents decided to put up the money to hire a computer teacher who goes to the school twice a week," Silvina Márquez, the mother of a student at one of these schools, told IPS. This is what happens when the equipment "comes as manna", without the needed preliminary groundwork. "The state and private sector work hard to provide computers and Internet access, but the challenge that remains unfulfilled is for the community to feel a sense of 'ownership' of the equipment and to use it to meet their needs," Angélica Abdallah, director of the Argentine Telework Association, commented to IPS. …

ICT SupportStudy: Overzealous filters hinder research.

Study: Overzealous filters hinder research. Corey Murray. eSchool News Online October 2005. The internet-content filters most commonly used by schools block needed, legitimate content more often than not, according to a study by a university librarian. … the study's author, Lynn Sutton, director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, finds that internet filters are apt to block legitimate educational content. Tech-savvy students, meanwhile, argue that administrators should have more faith in their judgment and ability to deal with inappropriate content, and they blame the school--not their teachers--for prohibiting them from conducting sound, unbiased research, the report said. …

ICT SupportIs 'Wi-Fi on steroids' really the next big thing?

Is 'Wi-Fi on steroids' really the next big thing? Some see WiMAX growing quickly; others say use years away. Marsha Walton. Cnn.com. Online October 2005. Computer users in many urban and university areas have come to expect connectivity 24/7. There's a cable modem or DSL at home, a high-speed connection in the office and Wi-Fi for the places in between, from the commute to the coffeehouse. … WiMAX technology may make a huge difference in less developed areas of the world -- providing a cheaper alternative to costly and bulky infrastructure for hard-to-reach places. "Certainly in markets like Indonesia, India, Africa and some parts of Latin America, where wired infrastructure is poor, WiMAX provides a huge opportunity. There already is demand," said Charles Golvin, principal analyst with Forrester Research Inc. …

ICT SupportiPod Shuffles boost middle-schoolers' reading

iPod Shuffles boost middle-schoolers' reading. San Bernardino County Sun (Calif.). Online from ASCD Update October 2005. Youngsters at Clement Middle School in Redlands, Calif., are using iPod Shuffle digital audio players to listen to recorded books, master the pronunciation of difficult words and play back their own audio stories. The school's library can load between three to five books from audible.com on to the devices, which students may check out for a day. … "The data we have shows that 30 percent of people are auditory learners they learn more from hearing than learning," said Stevan Allen, a spokesman for publisher Pearson Education. "This provides a new way for people to learn and study. It is an exciting approach to learning and teaching."

ICT SupportCell phones reshaping Africa

Cell phones reshaping Africa. CNN.com. Online October 2005. Amina Harun, a 45-year-old farmer, used to traipse around for hours looking for a working pay phone on which to call the markets and find the best prices for her fruit. Then cell phones changed her life. "We can easily link up with customers, brokers and the market," she says, sitting between two piles of watermelons at Wakulima Market in Kenya's capital. … As cell-phone relay towers sprout on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti plain, providers are racing to keep up with their exploding market. The numbers are staggering. Cell phones made up 74.6 percent of all African phone subscriptions last year, says the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union. Cell phone subscriptions jumped 67 percent south of the Sahara in 2004, compared with 10 percent in cell-phone-saturated Western Europe, according to Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese who chairs Celtel, a leading African provider. … Air minutes have even become a form of currency, transactable from phone to phone by text message, he says. …

Update from Countries Innovative Pedagogical Practices in Technology-Enhanced Education – Finnish Perspective.

(Finland) Innovative Pedagogical Practices in Technology-Enhanced Education – Finnish Perspective. eFinland. Online October 2005. Finnish schools have performed well in recent international comparisons on educational achievements. … Finland has a rather long history of ICT use across the curriculum. The education policy in coordinated with the national vision of an information society. During the 1990s the Finnish strategy was to develop ICT in education as part of its policy of building a Finnish information society. This meant a nationwide effort to create possibilities for ICT to meet the diverse needs of people at different ages. In 1995, the government produced a position paper outlining its Information Society strategy of providing every citizen with opportunities to acquire the skills they will need to access the information mediated by new technology. It is thus clear that one of the priorities for using ICT is to improve the equity of access to information and to education that is essential to that access. …

Informative ReadingEconomic Freedom of the World 2005 Annual Report

Economic Freedom of the World 2005 Annual Report. The Fraser Foundation. Online October 2005. Economic freedom is almost 50 times more effective than democracy in diminishing violent conflict between nations, according to the Economic Freedom of the World: 2005 Annual Report, released today by The Fraser Institute. In new research published in this year’s report, Erik Gartzke, a political scientist from Columbia University, compares the impact of economic freedom on peace to that of democracy on peace. “Researchers have long known democracies go to war about as often as other nations but tend not to go to war with each other. However, stable democracies typically have strong levels of economic freedom, leading to the question of whether it is democracy or economic freedom that affects the probability of violent conflict,” says co-author of the report, James Gwartney, Professor of Economics at Florida State University. ...

Updates from Countries(England) English 'must reflect technology'

(England) English 'must reflect technology'. BBC News. Online October 2005. English in schools must adapt to reflect the use of text messaging and communication via new technologies, a report says. Research by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority says new skills are needed to keep pace with change. It says schools should take advantage of the range of texts now available to teach the language, including online. The recommendations come in a report which examined the future of the major curriculum subjects. … The document looked at art and design, business education, citizenship, design and technology, English, geography, history, information and communication technology, maths, modern foreign languages, music, personal, social and health education, physical education, religious education and science. … The QCA document sets out the views of experts on the future of all the subjects studied in schools in England. QCA Futures: Meeting the Challenge downloadable in PDF format.

ICT SupportOpen source agreed in WSIS

Open source agreed in WSIS. Digital Opportunity Channel. Online October 2005. Encouragement for the use of free and open source software and open standards for science and technology has quietly worked its way into the draft texts being prepared for the November second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). … The draft WSIS texts are lengthy and detailed, and intellectual property (IP) issues play a comparatively small role overall, but the stakes are high enough to draw top government IP officials and industry lobbyists to the meetings. Agreement on the issue was reached at the 19-30 September WSIS preparatory committee meeting held in Geneva. …

3-Minute BreakYo-Yo Ma: Bach's First Cello Movement Video

Yo-Yo Ma: Bach's First Cello Movement. (Video). From An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma. Fellows of Harvard College. Harvard AtHome.edu. Online October 2005. ... Before launching into his long-awaited performance of the entire First Suite for Solo Cello, Mr. Ma plays the Prelude on a Baroque cello. …. (Ginny’s Note:There is much more on the site, including an inspiring interview with Yo-Yo Ma by John Lithgow, but that will take more than 3 minutes.)

News from Funders and IndustryOracle, HP-ZTE and Microsoft kick-off NEPAD's e-school project

(Africa) Oracle, HP-ZTE and Microsoft kick-off NEPAD's e-school project. Godfrey Ikhemuemhe. Vanguard Online. Online October 2005. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)’s e-school initiative has kicked off with the implementation of pilots under the first phase of the project in Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana. The objectives of the NEPAD e-Schools Initiative are to provide Information, Communication Technology (ICT) skills to primary and secondary school pupils to enable them function in the emerging Information Society and Knowledge Economy and to provide teachers with skills to enable them to use ICT as tools to enhance teaching and learning. It is an ambitious project which aims to provide computers and Internet access to all schools in Africa within 10 years, and also to set up health points to tie in with Nepad’s E-Health program. … Mr Osafo-Maafo (Ghana) underscored the need for teachers to brace themselves up for ICT to transform their classrooms from a static one-way flow of information from teacher to student to a dynamic student centred learning environment doing collaborative learning, both in their own classroom as well as virtual classes around the world through the Internet. ...

News from Funders (US Economic Aid for Egypt) House Passes Money, U.N. Reform Bills With Unhelpful Provisions

(US Economic Aid for Egypt) House Passes Money, U.N. Reform Bills With Unhelpful Provisions. Shirl McArthur. Washington Report, September/October 2005, pages 28, 30. Congress Watch. Online October 2005. ... The House bill includes provisos—offered in the Appropriations Committee by Obey to head off even tougher provisions—that, of Egypt’s economic aid, “not less than $50 million shall be used for programs to improve and promote democracy, governance, and human rights and not less than $50 million shall be used for education programs.” The Senate bill provides $35 million for democracy and governance programs and $5 million for scholarships for the American University in Cairo, plus, as a floor amendment by Brownback, $50 million for education programs. Both bills also say that, with respect to the aid for governance and democracy activities, “the organizations implementing such assistance and the specific nature of that assistance shall not be subject to the prior approval of the Government of Egypt.” In addition, the Senate bill would withhold $227.6 million of economic aid until the secretary of state reports that Egypt has met the 2005 benchmarks for reform specified in the March 20, 2005 U.S.-Egypt Memorandum of Understanding and that Egypt has agreed to the installation of a radio transmitter for Radio SAWA in Egypt. …

Updates from Countries(Thailand) At UNESCO, the President of Portugal and the Prime Minister of Thailand plead for quality education

(Thailand) At UNESCO, the President of Portugal and the Prime Minister of Thailand plead for quality education. UNESCO. Online October 2005. … The Prime Minister announced that Thailand had set a target to provide 250,000 computers to schools throughout the country by June 2006, “This initiative would ultimately provide a laptop for every elementary school student, which he or she can take home to use for studying, doing homework and researching.” He continued: “It is our conviction that educated children today make for empowered citizens tomorrow. […] This is the essence of what the Thai government is pursuing: people-centred governance and people-centred development.” …

ICT Support'Web 2.0' Has Arrived

'Web 2.0' Has Arrived. Wade Roush. Technology Review.com. Online October 2005. … “Web 2.0” stands for the idea that the Internet is evolving from a collection of static pages into a vehicle for software services, especially those that foster self-publishing, participation, and collaboration. (See O'Reilly's recent essay, 'What is Web 2.0?'). … With almost half a million Wikipedians contributing and editing articles, 90 million people running the open-source Mozilla Firefox browser, and 18.9 million people now publishing blogs (according to blog search engine Technorati), the case goes, it's hard to dispute that users' attention is gradually shifting away from the products of traditional publishers, media companies, and software makers. …

Informative ReadingU.N. report finds many of today's youth illiterate.

U.N. report finds many of today's youth illiterate. The Hartford Courant (Conn.)/Associated Press. Online October 2005. The world's 15- through 24-year-olds are the most educated generation to date, although 130 million members of that 1.2 billion cohort are illiterate and 88 million are unemployed, finds the U.N. World Youth Report 2005 . The report also notes that 113 million youth are not in school and that 10 million young people, mostly in Africa and Asia, have HIV or AIDS. United Nations World Youth Report 2005. …

Country updates (Malaysia) Education system reform to encourage creativity, risk-taking

(Malaysia) Education system reform to encourage creativity, risk-taking. Malaysia Star. Online October 2005. ... Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said changing the education system was part of the 12 recommendations made by the Ninth MSC International Advisory Panel (IAP) meeting here which ended yesterday. Abdullah, who is also IAP chairman, said a revolution in teaching and learning methods was necessary to change the mindset of students and those involved in the education system. He said the revised system would encourage students to think creatively, take risks and adopt a discovery-oriented outlook. ...

Project UpdatesEDC trains Yemeni high school teachers on classroom uses of the Internet.

EDC trains Yemeni high school teachers on classroom uses of the Internet. dot-EDU web site. Online October 2005. Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the Arab world, a society where literacy rates for girls and women run as low as 30%, while poverty rates are correspondingly high. In a bold pilot project that began in September 2004 Yemeni high schools are being wired to the Internet for the first time. Through support from USAID, EDC and its partners iEARN and World Links are training teachers to use the new technology as well as conduct research on the impact of the initiative, notably on the experience of girls. …

News from Funders and IndustryIntel tests community computer in India

(India) Intel tests community computer in India. Siffy.com. Online October 2005. Leading chip maker Intel will in the next two months announce its strategy on low cost computers that will flood rural India. Caught in the bug of sub-Rs 10,000 computers, Intel was currently undertaking pilot studies in ten different regions in the country on community computers that were rugged in nature and use wireless technology. …

Project Updates Global Learning Portal Connects Teachers Worldwide

Global Learning Portal Connects Teachers Worldwide. AED web. Online October 2005. The great promise of technology is its ability to open new channels of communication that spread information and bring people together. The Global Learning Portal (GLP) is doing just that. The portal is a powerful tool for thousands of teachers, administrators, and education policymakers around the world. It offers educators—particularly those in developing countries—online discussions, professional development, and a library full of materials on teaching, learning, and research. Teachers around the world are using the portal to improve classroom instruction. … Materials on the site are offered in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and will soon be available in Arabic as well.

News from Funders and IndustrySchool Trip: Oracle preps Egyptian Teachers

(Egypt) School trip. Simon Duddy. ITP Technology. Online October 2005. Oracle preps Egyptian teachers on the curriculum for its Oracle Academy by flying them to the USA for a one week long professional development forum. Teachers from 12 secondary schools across Egypt have attended the sixth annual Oracle Academy Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). ...

ICT SupportBottom-of-the Pyramid Markets - the Sub-USD100 Laptop And the Search for the Holy Grail

Bottom-of-the Pyramid Markets - the Sub-USD100 Laptop And the Search for the Holy Grail. Russell Southwood. AllAfrica.com from Balancing Act News Update Issue 275. (Online October 2005). The idea is a simple one. Lower the price of a device and you will get more people to buy. … Negroponte is in discussion with Governments of five countries - Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa - who will buy and distribute a projected (staggering) 15 million machines. On the basis of the math, this means that between them these governments will come up with USD1,500,000,000 and this is really only a sum that can in the main come from international donors. ... So will Negroponte pull it off or will it join the previous car-crashes that have been "the graveyard of all our hopes"? …

Informative ReadingJames Urges Tech Infusion

(USA) James urges tech infusion. Corey Murray. ESNews. (Publ. April 2005. Online October 2005) A "cultural shift" brought about by an ongoing technological revolution is underway in the nation's classrooms, according to social scientist and author Jennifer James, who spoke at a national education conference on April 3. If students are to succeed in the information economy, James said, teachers must lead the way by embracing new approaches to learning, including the effective integration of classroom technologies, and leaving behind processes designed for a different era. … Rather then teach the kinds of skills that schools relied on in the past, James encouraged educators to begin stressing such higher-order thinking skills as problem-solving and critical analysis. … "One of the reasons we have NCLB in the United States is because the group that cooked it up has no idea what they are doing," she said to applause from the crowd. "When you don't understand something, the first thing you try and do is measure it." …

Informative ReadingClassroom Revolution

(USA) Classroom Revolution. Mortimer B. Zuckerman. USNews.com. Online October 2005. Students of almost every age are far ahead of their teachers in computer literacy. This is especially true of younger kids with younger parents. So how is this digital revolution affecting education? A binary answer: Not enough. According to a federal study, most schools are essentially unchanged today despite reforms and increased investment in computers. ...

Informative ReadingInternational Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology

International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology Online September 2005. IJEDICT is an e-journal that provides free and open access to all of its content. IJEDICT aims to strengthen links between research and practice in ICT in education and development in hitherto less developed parts of the world, e.g., developing countries (especially small states), and rural and remote regions of developed countries. The emphasis is on providing a space for researchers, practitioners and theoreticians to jointly explore ideas using an eclectic mix of research methods and disciplines. It brings together research, action research and case studies in order to assist in the transfer of best practice, the development of policy and the creation of theory. Thus, IJEDICT is of interest to a wide-ranging audience of researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, government officers and other professionals involved in education or development in communities throughout the world. ... Volume 1, Issue 1. Volume 1, Issue 2. Volume 1, Issue 1 PDF:Complete Issue (3.41 Mb)