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. 

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.)

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. …

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. …

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. …

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.  

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. …

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). …

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. … 

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 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. …

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." …