How Is Technology Affecting Kids?

By Katie Lepi, Edudemic

Technology brings so many awesome things into our lives. A world of information is at our fingertips, not much is out of reach, and there is seemingly a new, awesome, must-have device released every week. We all hear stories of parents who park their kids in front of a TV or computer so they can get things done, and while the kids generally love it, it has taken us awhile to ask important questions about what effect media and devices are having on our kids. The handy infographic linked below takes a look at the effect of media and technology on kids in the US.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/23/summer_school_is_for_chumps_take_an_online_class_instead.html

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/gEESwQA6MLY/

The Future of Libraries: 7 Questions Librarians Need to Answer

BY LEE RAINIE, Internet and American Life Project

Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, runs through the seven questions libraries need to address as they consider future services and their role for their patrons and communities, at the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference. He describes how project research about the changing role of technology in people’s lives affects the kinds of issues librarians need to address as they experience the disruptions of technology change.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/10/the-future-of-libraries/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/VE7alD3TvoM/

The Student Becomes the Teacher

By Jeffrey R. Young, Slate

Over the past year, a boy genius from Mongolia has been schooling MIT on how to improve the elite institution’s free online courses. When he was just 15, the Mongolian wunderkind Battushig Myanganbayar earned a perfect score in MIT’s first massive open online course, or MOOC. Designers of the course touted him as a poster boy for the power of free courses to spread high-quality education to the farthest reaches of the globe, and the New York Times hailed his story. But leaders of edX, the consortium started by MIT and Harvard University to develop free online courses, also did something else: They offered the star student a job, hoping he could make their MOOCs work better for other high schoolers.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/04/battushig_myanganbayar_aced_an_edx_mooc_then_gave_lessons_to_mit.html

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/bfd1N5MmggI/

Watch Live: NASA on Why 3-D Printing Is the Next Step in the Final Frontier

Join NASA and 3-D printer company Made in Space for a discussion of how 3-D printing technology will enable astronauts to live and work better off planet, starting at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET.

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39ed2efa/sc/4/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Cnasa0E3d0Eprinting0Espace0C/story01.htm

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How Thoroughbreds Convert Air Into Blazing Speed

There are sprinters and there are distance runners, but the thoroughbreds charging down the track this month at the Kentucky Derby (sometimes called the fastest two minutes in sport) need to be both. The race stretches a grueling mile and a quarter, so those horses have to be machines that convert air into speed.

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39eac428/sc/8/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Cracehorse0Eanatomy0C/story01.htm

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Fantastically Wrong: When People Thought Lambs Grew Right Out of the Ground

This is the story of the bizarre Vegetable Lamb of Tartary. Also known as the barometz, derived from the Tartar word for lamb, this was a useful little creature that Europeans in the Middle Ages--aware that cotton was a thing that arrived from India, yet unaware exactly how it grew--decided was the source of their newfangled threads.

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39eac42e/sc/7/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Cfantastically0Ewrong0Evegetable0Elamb0Etartary0C/story01.htm

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Google for Education is a technology trend to watch!

By Kelly Grillo, eSchool News

Developers at Google are not only giving Google Apps to K-12 schools, they are supporting schools with the new Google Console, through which anyone can serve as the IT Director. Google for Education has just partnered with Synnex Global, a super-giant Fortune 500 Company that supports IT procurement through valued-added resellers. Google is making IT deployment easy and affordable in schools so that all education professionals can focus on what matters most–student learning. Google and Synnex are positioned to deliver. Here are three reasons to move to Google Apps.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/04/23/google-education-technology-234/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/PT_IiXg_71c/

College Major Return on Investment

By Jaccii Barmer, eCampus News

STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects lead the majors with the highest earning potential. Eight out of ten top earning majors are engineering-based, with starting salaries ranging from about $103,00 for #1, Petroleum Engineering, to $61,000 for #10, Mechanical Engineering. According to the 2013-2014 Pay Scale College Salary Report, the top STEM majors earn about three times more than the average for non-STEM graduates. Another PayScale report ranks schools in terms of overall return on investment. Institutions with more STEM degrees were calculated to have higher return on invests in general. 46 schools are listed as having a negative return on investment, including 23 public state schools and 23 private, for-profit colleges.

http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/colleges-return-on-investment-169/2/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/OE6EoQoCLpE/

25 Highly Rated (And Free!) Mac Apps For The Classroom

by Jeff Dunn, Edudemic

Wherever you look in education, there is talk about iPads, iPhones, and other Apple devices. Apple TVs and the iPod Touch are popping up in classrooms all around the globe. But what about all those people using the iMac or MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and other Macs? That’s why we’ve assembled this list of 25 top-rated education apps that are both free (woo!) and for the Mac (finally!). They range in purpose but are altogether a solid bunch of characters you should consider trying out and perhaps adding to your personal or classroom computer. Best of all, they’re free and all are pretty popular so they’re well maintained (fewer bugs) and well documented (easy to get started).

http://www.edudemic.com/mac-apps-for-the-classroom/

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/WRKfgkc1Spc/

No, Scientists Can’t Read Your Mind With Brain Scans (Yet)

As a journalist who writes about neuroscience, I've gotten a lot of super enthusiastic press releases touting a new breakthrough in using brain scans to read people's minds. They make it sound like a brave new future has arrived. But whenever I read these papers and talk to the scientists, I end up feeling conflicted. What they've done--so far, anyway--really doesn't live up to what most people have in mind when we think about mind reading. Then again, the stuff they actually can do is pretty amazing. And they're getting better at it, little by little.

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39e34132/sc/38/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Cbrain0Escan0Emind0Ereading0C/story01.htm

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Yes, Tornadoes Are Getting Stronger

A Northfield, Minnesota, tornado clocked in at 459 megajoules. Mitch Dobrowner On May 20, 2013, a mass of swirling wind gouged a path of destruction across Oklahoma, killing 24 people and causing $2 billion in damage. And earlier this week a deadly cluster of tornadoes ripped through the midwest and the south, killing more than […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39e2ac4e/sc/31/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Ctornado0Estrength0C/story01.htm

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Boston Public Schools Turns to Online Courses to Help Boost Graduation Rates

By Stephen Noonoo, THE Journal

To help improve its four- and five-year high school graduation rates, Boston Public Schools is expanding its partnership with online course provider Apex Learning. The partnership, which began in 2007, focused on the district’s credit recovery program targeting students most at risk of dropping out. The courses are self-paced and include integrated formative and summative assessment throughout. Boston Public Schools is now offering online courses aimed at advanced placement, skill development, and dropout prevention as well. According to a series of reports by the district, a total of 396 students completed at least one credit recovery course via the online program during the 2011-12 school year and following summer, and 72 percent of them had earned a diploma and graduated by the end of the year.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/04/22/boston-public-schools-turns-to-online-courses-to-help-boost-graduation-rates.aspx

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/fPYuejkj_CU/

Online learning offered anywhere, anytime, any subject

BY ALYSSA SELLORS, Digital Journal

Learning a new skill, or honing current one, is a goal many of us share, and a new business model is bringing students and teachers together online, creating an innovative global approach to how we learn. Traditionally, if you want to learn the piano or need help with Algebra, you may either seek an individual through an online listing or go through a professional service with a list of tutors who they have approved. But there are cons to both of these options.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/life/lifestyle/op-ed-online-learning-offered-anywhere-anytime-any-subject/article/381719

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from Educational Technology http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uis/edtech/~3/r_EZosCACY4/

The good and the bad of taking online classes from home

by Karissa Wang, Standard Examiner

Pajamas, snacks, nap time, full-on music blasting in the background … It’s not exactly the scene that comes to mind when one mentions school, but for many kids, it is a reality. Online classes provide the opportunity to take classes from home, on a student’s own time and schedule. Online classes through Electronic High School are a common way among students to make up or earn credits. Some Utah kids balance these online classes with traditional schooling, while others elect to take only electronic courses.

http://www.standard.net/stories/2014/04/21/good-and-bad-taking-online-classes-home

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Watch a Live Partial Solar Eclipse That Only Penguins Will Enjoy

Attention all night owls and Antarctic penguins: A annular solar eclipse will be turning the sun into a glowing ring of fire, the full extent of which will only be visible from a remote spot of Antarctica. Viewers in the U.S. can catch part of the action with this live show from the Slooh Space Camera, beginning at 11 p.m PT/2 a.m ET.

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39da772c/sc/11/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Clive0Epenguin0Eeclipse0C/story01.htm

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Watch an Adorable Baby Red-Tailed Hawk Hatch Live on Nestcam

[HTML1] If you’ve never lost hours of your life to a mesmerizing nest cam, now is a good time to start. As of yesterday, Big Red and Ezra have two brand new, super fuzzy red-tailed hawk chicks in their nest with one more still to hatch. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a livestreaming camera […]

















from WIRED » Science http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661470/s/39d96956/sc/10/l/0L0Swired0N0C20A140C0A40Cred0Etailed0Ehawk0Enest0Ecam0C/story01.htm

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