Group items tagged

""We'll work to produce a technology that is good for humanity, which will be good for democracy, which will be good for science.""

A group called the World Wide Web Foundation started to make sure the Internet is meeting society's needs.

"Under the plan, called the Bandwidth Initiative, institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda joined together to buy broadband Internet access, offered by satellite, at discounted rates."

This article touches on some of the problems that African countries are having getting needed high-speed Internet. Companies have a monopoly and grossly overcharge, resulting in prices that are many times that of U.S. or European high speed Internet. This sort of parallels the lack of democracy and highlights problems with corruption that cause many nations in Africa to get stuck behind in matters of development and innovation.

Working Paper June 2010

This one might be a good resource for II. Gaps in student achievement and technology use. The headline that lead me to it said, "Logged on, Dumbed Down: Duke researchers find that students in grades five through eight tend to post lower scores once computers and high-speed Internet arrive in their homes."

Melanie/ Mary (filtering) "China has delayed a plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with internet filtering software. The Green Dam software has become a major topic of discussion in the blogosphere."

The Green Dam ? a software proposed in June 2009 to be installed on all Chinese computers - plan has stalled. people can get through it. Intention was to block pornographic content and allow "comprehensive net surveillance"

This research brief addresses the role of technology in the classroom. It's short, but raises some good points.

Finding the right balance between acceptable use and what is unacceptable use in schools can be a difficult task for school administrators. That said, technologies designed for network security can help schools take advantage of these technologies while ensuring students aren't districted while in class.

Part of a series on NPR about China. Radio blurb on Talk of the Nation

Keeping the Internet Open Innovative Free

Tracy found this link and shared it with us via the Google group. It's pretty neat!

Tracy- Introduction video. I found it referenced on teachertube. Cool video, students are holding up signs referencing the uses of technology today compared to the past. Please take a look at it and let me know what you think. I would like to use it.

Melanie-Mary "Of central concern to this project is the use of technology as a catalyst for changing schools in ways that better support the acquisition of higher-order skills by all students."

Report published by the U.S. government's Online Safety and Technology Working Group (June 4, 2010). Addresses issues of online safety through educational efforts (by NGOs, schools, etc).

"It is the responsibility of the school district to provide its students with opportunities to continue their lessons outside of the classroom," says Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho. "Our children will need to be technologically savvy to thrive in the third millennium. Links to Learning emphasizes the principles that will propel our children to academic success."

This is a reserach brief focusing on a district-sponsored professional development program for teachers to provide progressive steps towards the full implementation of technology in the classroom.

Part III - The U.S. government and social media.

Part III - As digital natives--those who have grown up with the Internet--flood the workplace, your employees will expect to be part of the social Web and they'll have a lot to contribute.

Social media and social networking sites are here to stay, and with or without rules, kids are going to use them. These are four tips for educators on how to develop a technology policy that seizes on social networking as a learning tool and teaches children how to use it responsibly.

Conclusion: Distance education has been described as a disruptive technology�an innovation that, while initially posing no threat to established institutions, over time challenges conventional practices and contributes to new ways of thinking

The purpose of this article is to describe and critique emerging issues about Internet access in schools and school libraries. ... Or are they merely the latest technologies for censorship? ... To a certain degree, therefore, readers participate in creating the meaning of a text based on their own reading history,

Looking at the negatives of social media: A few states say that school conduct codes must explicitly prohibit off-campus cyberbullying; others imply it; still others explicitly exclude it. Some states say that local districts should develop cyberbullying prevention programs but the states did not address the question of discipline. Judges are flummoxed, too, as they wrestle with new questions about protections on student speech and school searches. Can a student be suspended for posting a video on YouTube that cruelly demeans another student? Can a principal search a cellphone, much like a locker or a backpack?

"Above all, it is important to see that, in well-functioning democracies, public forums of various stripes -- from streets and parks to daily newspapers -- expose people to a variety of (sometimes unexpected) ideas and topics. Unanticipated, chance encounters -- with people and ideas -- are fundamental to democracy. "

This article talks about why "personalized news" may be a threat to a well-functioning democracy. It says that we need the unexpected view point.