Students want more use of gaming technology
Project Tomorrow’s fifth annual Speak Up Survey, the largest annual survey addressing the attitudes and opinions of K-12 students, teachers, parents, and school administrators toward the use of technology in education, reveals that online or electronic gaming is one of the technologies that students use most frequently—and that educational gaming is one of the emerging technologies that students would most like to see implemented in their schools. Yet, only one in 10 teachers has adopted gaming as an instructional tool. — eSchool News
Archive for April, 2008
Students Want the 21st Century Classroom, but Schools Not Meeting Student Expectations, According to Latest National Study
Project Tomorrow released results from the 5th Annual Speak Up survey, the largest annual national survey of K-12 students, teachers, parents, and school administrators, about the use of technology and science resources to prepare students for the 21st century. The 2007 online survey collected authentic, unfiltered views and ideas from over 367,000 education stakeholders representing schools in all 50 states, bringing the total of survey participants to over 1.2 million over the past 5 years. — PR Web
California Small Business Education Foundation Launches ‘Tech for SMBs’ Website
Almost three in ten small businesses today in California still do not use cell phones. Nearly 70 percent of small businesspeople have not utilized conference calling in their business. And nearly 50 percent use the Internet for business only 10 to 60 minutes per day. These are just a few of the extraordinary findings in an intensive survey that the California Small Business Education Foundation (CSBEF) conducted among 2,000+ small business owners. — Trading Markets
University of Houston Study: Hybrid Courses More Effective for Students
A technical report from a University of Houston Department of Health and Human Performance researcher finds that students in a hybrid class that incorporated instructional technology with in-class lectures scored a letter grade higher on average than their counterparts who took the same class in a more traditional format. — Campus Technology
Advance of e-learning continues to be overstated
Over half of learning and development managers (57 per cent) now offer e-learning as part of their training provision. There remain continuing doubts about its effectiveness, however, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual learning and development survey. — SMEweb, UK
Gartner Says Mobile Technology Vendors Must Better Address Gender Diversity and Demographics in their Products
Sixty-eight percent of the world’s population is women and children who could benefit much from mobile technology, but the majority of mobile devices are designed by men, for men, according to Gartner, Inc. The user profile to which most mobile products are targeted is a western adult male (age 20 to 64), but this represents just 32 percent of the global population. — FOXBusiness
Online Used Bookseller Better World Books Gets $4.5 Million
Better World Books, an online bookseller that collects donated books and sells them online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide, has raised $4.5 million in its first round of funding, led by Good Capital, whose Social Enterprise Expansion Fund provides funds to businesses that deploy market-based solutions focused on poverty alleviation, healthcare and education. — PR-Inside
SchoolPulse Launch Brings Local School Communities Online
SchoolPulse announced the launch of SchoolPulse.com, a one-stop resource for strengthening school communities. SchoolPulse provides parents, teachers, administrators and students a simple online solution for organizing everything from school lunch menus, newsletters and sports schedules to local resources and discussions. A pilot is currently running in New England before a national roll-out planned for back-to-school 2008. — PR Inside
College support Ohio’s new education plan
College administrators generally support Ohio’s new goals of making higher education more affordable through lower tuition and more accountable by setting up a system of benchmarks.Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut released his 10-year plan last week, urging public colleges to improve quality. The crux of the plan is to revive Ohio’s economy in an era that is demanding more and more skilled workers. — Bowling Green News
End of School Year Prompts Families to Evaluate Education Choices
As the school year draws to a close, many families are already exploring and evaluating education options for the upcoming school year. The growing popularity of online education in particular is opening up a whole new horizon of educational choices for Arizona students. Schools such as iQ Academy Arizona offer a high-quality, tuition-free, high school education that provides small group instruction and one-on-one feedback from certified teachers — all conducted online using a laptop provided by the school. — PR Newswire
Art education activities available online
The city of Tempe Cultural Division announced today the addition of two new, free art education programs for teachers and students. “Public Art” and “Projecting Persona” provide activities that teachers or parents of elementary and secondary students can use.
These lesson plans are available online at www.tempe.gov/tca/gallery/education. — EV Living
New South Wales education downgrades Microsoft deal
The NSW Department of Education (Australia) has put Microsoft on notice after it agreed to extend its software licensing agreement with the company for just one year instead of renegotiating a new three-year contract. Technology chief Stephen Wilson announced the department will install a free alternative to Microsoft’s Office suite, referred to in industry circles as OpenOffice, on 41,000 computers due to be distributed to schools across the state by the end of 2008. — Computer World
MAXON’s Online Education and Training Resource, Cineversity, Hits 1,000 Tutorial Milestone
MAXON Computer, a leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, announced that there are now over 1,000 tutorials available on its online education and training resource, Cineversity. This major milestone underscores MAXON’s commitment to helping artists maximize their creative potential by providing instruction on some of the world’s most advanced visual effects techniques and methods. — eMedia Wire
U Wisconsin Expands Collaboration with Office Live Workspace
Students at the University of Wisconsin at Parkside can now enjoy file collaboration capabilities via a free software-and-service product from Microsoft called Office Live Workspace. The university, which last year outsourced its student e-mail accounts to Microsoft Live@edu, now offers students, faculty, and staff the ability to store, share, edit, and collaborate on documents in common Microsoft file formats including Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Students can use Office Live Workspace to organize study groups, work together on assignments, share class notes, and keep shared schedules and group task lists. — Campus Technology
Western Governors University Offers First Online Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education
If you want to become a certified special education teacher, Western Governors University (www.wgu.edu) now offers a new online degree program in the field. Several scholarships are also available. The Bachelor of Arts in Special Education is suited for individuals such as school paraprofessionals, unlicensed substitutes, parents, and career changers who seek a special education teaching certification that also meets the more stringent “highly-qualified” requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. — Market Wire
Kaplan Virtual Education Renames Private Online High School Kaplan College Preparatory School
Kaplan Virtual Education announced that it has changed the name of its private online high school to Kaplan College Preparatory School. Previously called the University of Miami Online High School, the renaming serves to align the college preparatory high school with the Kaplan family of companies. — Business Wire
Merger to form non-traditional high school
Students having trouble with regular high school classes and schedules now have another choice. Fayette County’s Board of Education gave the go-ahead March 31 to have the Voluntary Alternative School and Evening High School merge to form the Open Campus High School program. The new combined school will be located at Lafayette Educational Center in Fayetteville, the buildings that once housed the old Fayette County High School. — The Citizen
2008 eLearning Symposium Adds Sponsors and Speakers
The 2008 eLearning Symposium is pleased to announce the participation of Jim (Dr. Mo) Moshinskie, PhD, CPT and an impressive array of sponsors at the upcoming 2008 eLearning Symposium taking place April 23rd at the Doubletree Hotel Austin. — PR Web
Education Software Vendor Jenzabar Addresses Future of Technology
Jenzabar, a vendor of software for higher education, has announced that the futurist speaker known as “the Dean of Futurists” will discuss — what else?–the future of technology at the Jenzabar Annual Meeting, May 28-31, 2008, in Nashville. Thomas Frey, author, IBM engineer, and executive director of the DaVinci Institute, will address Jenzabar users on the topic of using innovative technology. — TMCnet
eLearning DevCon 2008 Planned for Salt Lake City, Utah, July 14-16
Organizers for the e-learning developers conference, eLearning DevCon announced today that the 2008 event will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the University of Utah Campus on July 14-16. — PR Web
Ghana to host 2008 Africa eLearning conference
Ghana has been tipped to host Africa’s most comprehensive and biggest annual conference on technology enhanced education and learning dubbed “eLearning Africa” in Accra from May 28 to 30, this year. — The Statesman Online, Ghana
Cengage Learning in association with MeritTrac launches a unique English learning product combining learning with eAssessment.
Cengage Learning, formerly Thomson Learning, in collaboration with - India’s Largest Skills Assessment Company, launched ‘eEnglish’- a unique product that promises an enhanced learning experience by combining real-time interactivity with eAssessments. — India PRwire
Thompson’s GrantsWire Experiences Phenomenal Growth During First Year
Thompson Publishing Group, a leading publisher of Grants and Education compliance resources, announced that its first foray into the e-mail distribution of publications has been a phenomenal success with its GrantsWire leading all other company publications in subscriber growth during its first year. — Biloxi Sun Herald
Rigby to Launch Rigby Focus Forward, an Intensive Reading Intervention Program for Grades 3-8
Rigby, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Supplemental Publishers, one of the leading educational publishers, announced plans to launch Rigby Focus Forward, a groundbreaking intensive reading intervention program for grades 3–8. Rigby Focus Forward addresses two major challenges facing upper elementary and middle-school students: how to acquire the critical reading and writing skills that they have struggled to grasp, and how to gain the confidence and motivation they need to be successful. — Earth Times
HotChalk Named Codie Award Finalist
HotChalk, the first collaborative online education resource to connect K-12 teachers, students and parents, has been named a finalist for the “Best Education Solution” Codie Award. The award, presented by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), recognizes outstanding achievement and vision in the software, digital information and education technology industries. — Earth Times
Radialpoint and Videotron Win Two Interactive Media Awards for Online Family Safety Sites
Radialpoint, leading provider of managed Internet security services for the world’s largest Internet service providers (ISPs), is pleased to announce that Videotron and its Vigilance sur le net (http://www.vigilancesurlenet.com/fr/accueil/index.php) and Vigilance sur le net Tournee (http://www.vigilancesurlenet.com/tournee/) online family safety awareness sites have won top honours in this year’s Interactive Media Awards. — Market Wire
ISTE CEO and NETS Project Director Named Top Influencers
Don Knezek, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE(r)) and Lajeane Thomas, ED.D., have been named among “Ten Who’ve Made a Difference” in educational technology over the past decade by the editors of eSchool News. — NewsReleaseWire.com
ABLENET ANNOUNCES FIVE INTERNATIONAL ASSISTIVE
AbleNet Inc., a world leader in assistive technology products for persons with disabilities, announced the recipients of five AbleNet International Assistive Technology Grants. The grants, awarded to non-profit organizations that provide assistive technology implementation or education programs in, Russia and post-Soviet States, India, and Africa, include communication and access equipment valued at $2,000, along with training and AbleNet’s commitment to effecting change within the geographic reach of each chosen organizations. — PR-USA
Dr. Tanya Byron, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, recently released an important set of E-safety recommendations, “Safer Children in a Digital World,” for children in the UK. Today we turn to her summary recommendations regarding video gaming.
Here again, the most compelling aspect of her research as well as her recommendations is the fact that she refrains from oversimplifying the matter. When it comes to the issue of video games, Byron calls upon the video game industry and parents to work collaboratively to ensure that children are provided access to games that are age-appropriate.
Risk-Reward Nature of Technology
As was her methodology with Internet safety, Byron seeks a collaborative approach to children and the video game industry. In addition, she seeks to have assistance from the gaming industry to help restrict the access of games that are inappropriate for children. At the same time, she also calls on parents to do their part in the process.
In speaking about empowering children and keeping them safe, Byron turns to the following analogy. Noting that “children will be children – pushing boundaries and taking risks,” Byron offers, “at a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.”
Byron notes that technology offers extraordinary opportunities for children and young people as well as adults. As for video games, the researcher indicates that such games offer “a range of exciting interactive experiences for children.” At the same time, Byron specifies that some video games are in fact designed for adults.
Byron recognizes that the debate on ‘media effects’ and violent content in video games is divided. She also confirms the obvious, that Internet and gaming technology is moving so rapidly that it is not possible for research to keep up with the developments.
What is noteworthy about Byron’s work is she does head directly to the gray areas, the risks of potentially harmful or inappropriate content, that could have negative impacts on children. As we noted in our post about Drs. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson and their research for Grand Theft Childhood, Byron is not ready to take a cause and effect position regarding video game play and antisocial behaviors in children. Byron states, “Overall, I have found that a search for direct cause and effect in this area is often too simplistic.”
At the same time the researcher does not give a free pass on the topic, stating that it does “not mean that the risks do not exist.” Byron then moves correctly to another key element, that we must use our understanding of child development to “inform an approach that is based on the ‘probability of risk’ in different circumstances.”
What is so remarkable about Byron’s review is that she recognizes the sheer complexity of this issue. “We need to take into account children’s individual strengths and vulnerabilities, because the factors that can discriminate a ‘beneficial’ from a ‘harmful’ experience online and in video games will often be individual factors in the child. The very same content can be useful to a child at a certain point in their life and development and may be equally damaging to another child.”
In addition, Byron notes, “Very few people are genuinely addicted to video games but lots of time spent playing can result in missed opportunities for other forms of development and socialization.” In other words, concerns must develop when these gaming technologies negatively impact children at the expense of other activities and family interaction.
Byron does list some of the prevailing concerns regarding video game play. She notes, “There is some evidence of short term aggression from playing violent video games but no studies of whether this leads to long term effects.” She also states, “There is a correlation between playing violent games and aggressive behavior, but this is not evidence that one causes the other.”
Her entire approach centers upon age appropriate gaming and reveals yet another critical element. “Games are more likely to affect perceptions and expectations of the real world amongst younger children because of their less developed ability to distinguish between fact and fiction (due to the immaturity of the frontal cortex).”
As for the interactive nature of games, Byron states the interactive nature may “also have a more profound effect than some other media, again especially amongst younger children (e.g. up to around 12 years old) who tend to use narratives to develop their values and ideas and who learn through ‘doing’.”
At the same time, Byron is not ready to castigate video games or refer to them as the source of all that is not well during adolescence. States Bryon, “These games offer new opportunities for social interaction between children and there are a number of potential benefits for children and young people from playing video games, including cognitive and educational gains and simply having fun. Interestingly the evidence to prove these benefits can be as contested as the evidence of negative effects.”
Ensuring Age Appropriate Gaming Opportunities
Byron calls for targeted efforts from the gaming industry to increase parental understanding of age-ratings and the available controls on gaming consoles. Byron recommends a new, hybrid classification system for games. She seeks to have the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the Pan European Game Information, under the auspices of the UK Council for Child Internet safety, “work together to develop a joint approach to rating online games and driving up safety standards for children and young people.” She proposes that the new combined BBFC and PEGI logo be prominently placed on the front of all games (R18, 18,15,12,PG and U) with industry equivalent logos across all age ranges placed on the back of all boxes (ratings regarding violence, language, sexual activity, drugs activity, etc.).
Byron also seeks to have greater efforts to enforce age ratings at points of sale to ensure that children have access only to age appropriate materials. Byron suggests that games with ‘12′ ratings and up carry legal requirements that such games cannot be sold to someone under the required age. At the same time, Byron calls on both the video game and advertising industries to comply with age-appropriate message targeting that matches the video game age classifications.
In addition, Byron wants to see “console manufacturers work together to raise standards in parental controls on consoles, delivering clear and easy to use prompts and better information for parents on where console controls meet agreed upon standards.”
Parents Must Also Parent
The researcher notes that even concerned parents sometimes still buy adult games for their children. The rationale? “Either for a ‘peaceful life’ or because it is ‘only a game’.”
Byron notes that parents must be aware of the fact that some games are suitable only for adults. She writes of how many children she came across that had been allowed to play age 18+ video games despite the fact that some children were forbidden from watching films with that rating.
She further notes that parents must be educated about the parental controls available on game consoles. If the gaming industry is expected to produce consoles that provide specific controls regarding time of play, game ratings, et al, then parents must learn to engage the technology and enforce the use of that technology.
Lastly, there is no substitute for parental responsibility especially with respect to decision-making. We noted earlier Byron’s prophetic words, the “need to take into account children’s individual strengths and vulnerabilities. The very same content can be useful to a child at a certain point in their life and development and may be equally damaging to another child.”
Recognizing the differences in children is difficult. But ultimately that recognition will have to be the responsibility of parents, not the gaming industry.
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/04/02/the-byron-review-video-gaming-recommendations-for-children/
150 schools to join online education project by 2010
The results of various e-literacy projects initiated by ictQatar will only be visible in few years. The education department’s current e-Education initiatives include Knet, E-school Bag and School of the Future, while the upcoming projects will offer e-Content, cyber safety and assistive technology. — Gulf Times
Interest in Online MBA Programs Grows in Face of a Possible Recession
Although most economists say the United States is not in a recession, the pocketbooks of many Americans would say otherwise. In fact, a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that the majority of people in the U.S. believe we are now in a recession and inflation is their top concern. In the face of economic struggles, eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics that connects prospective students with online colleges, is seeing an increase in requests for information on online MBA degrees. — eMediaWire
Online education initiatives urged
High rate of enrolment, lack of resources and inadequate number of skilled hands are some of the major challenges faced by the Arab education system. Online Education (OE) may help find solutions to some of these problems, said Mona Abdel Fattah Younes, an expert with the Supreme Education Council (SEC). — Peninsula On-line, Qatar
LearnSpeed’s CenterTrac 2.0 Manages Tutoring and Education Centers Online
LearnSpeed LLC today introduced version 2.0 of CenterTrac (www.centertrac.com), an online education and tutoring center management system. The new version adds greater functionality to the existing product which puts every aspect of an education center’s business online. From logging instructional sessions to generating invoice data, CenterTrac dramatically streamlines daily operations and supplies automatic feedback to clients. It provides center managers with realtime reports and data exporting. Data can be exported as Excel spreadsheets, PDF files, and QuickBooks. — Prime Newswire
AT&T Calls on Higher Ed To Develop Mobile Apps
AT&T this week kicked off its first-ever Big Mobile On Campus Challenge, a competition that calls on college and university faculty and students to develop apps for mobile devices (yes, including the iPhone). — Campus Technology
Free Lecture Capture System Gains Widespread Academic Support
Software developer Panopto reported to us this week that hundreds of educational institutions have applied for its Socrates Project, which allows K-12 schools, colleges, and universities to adopt the company’s CourseCast system at no charge. The program, launched late last year, is aimed specifically at academic institutions. — Campus Technology
Tegrity Bolsters Classroom Capture with Campus 2.0
Ed tech developer Tegrity has released an update to Campus 2.0, the company’s enterprise classroom capture and student achievement system. The new version adds a wide range of features, from new recording and editing tools to enhanced administrative and reporting functionality. — Campus Technology
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