Group items tagged

Students there and in four other New Jersey school districts will take a leap in classroom technology this year, using Apple's iTunes store to post and share educational material.

Lectures, student projects, orientation videos and other media can be posted on iTunes, available free to students and parents in the five districts, or anyone else.

K-12 on iTunes U

Almost every day brings another technology that connects us to the Internet and to each other faster and easier than ever before," said Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler.  "As a member of the law enforcement community, we are focused on public safety and making sure that kids and their parents have the tools they need to be safe on the Internet."   “Wireless technology is an invaluable tool for millions of Americans to stay connected to friends and family,” said Steve Largent, President of The Wireless Foundation and President and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association.  “As more and more of our nation’s youth are using wireless devices, it’s important to make the mobile environment as safe as possible.  I’m pleased that the wireless industry has voluntarily provided parents with the tools and information needed to encourage responsible and safe use of cell phones.”

The research indicates that the movement toward Web 2.0 use to engage students and address individual learning needs is largely being driven in districts from the bottom up – starting with teachers and students

Overall, the research confirms school districts are using or planning to use several types of Web 2.0 technologies, but reveals there is still resistance to using online social networking for instructional purposes.

ther key results of the survey include: The three most frequently cited reasons for adopting Web 2.0 technologies are: addressing students’ individual learning needs, engaging student interest, and increasing students’ options for access to teaching and learning. Online communications with parents and students (e.g., teacher blogs) and digital multimedia resources are the Internet technologies most widely used by teachers, and a majority of districts have plans for adopting these technologies or promoting their use. Teacher-generated online content (e.g., multimedia lessons, wiki-based resources) is likely to be the next area of growth in the use of Web 2.0 technologies. Almost half of districts have plans for adopting or promoting the creation and sharing of this content through Web 2.0 tools.

One study even looked at whether playing "World of Warcraft," the world's biggest multiplayer online game, can improve scientific thinking. The conclusion? Certain types of video games can have benefits beyond the virtual thrills of blowing up demons or shooting aliens.

In one study, 122 fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade students were asked to think out loud for 20 minutes while playing a game they had never seen before. Researchers studied the statements the children made to see if playing the game improved cognitive and perceptual skills. While older children seemed more interested in just playing the game, younger children showed more of an interest in setting up a series of short-term goals needed to help them learn the game.

"The younger kids are focusing more on their planning and problem solving while they are actually playing the game, while adolescents are focusing less on their planning and strategizing and more on the here and now," said researcher and Fordham University psychologist Fran Blumberg. "They're thinking less strategically than the younger kids."

the same filters can stop teachers from accessing cutting-edge widgets and digital materials that have enormous potential for expanding learning.

"Our kids are going to be using these tools and sites anyway," she argues. "Don't we want to educate students about them at school?"

Antero Garcia trouble. He wanted to use Twitter, a popular microblogging tool, to have students ask homework questions or collaborate with classmates via their cell phones (the one technology all his students have). Twitter was blocked, but the barrier wasn't where Garcia thought it was.