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Bonnie Sutton

The Years Worst Tech Trends.. - 1 views

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/12/the_year_s_worst_tech_trend_complexity_.html 011 Was a Terrible Year for Tech All our devices got more complicated. And they won't get si...

complexity Terrible year for tech ecosystem devices and services transitional

started by Bonnie Sutton on 01 Jan 12 no follow-up yet
Jim Shimabukuro

Rupert Murdoch uses eG8 to talk up net's power to transform education | Media | guardia... - 6 views

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    "Rupert Murdoch uses eG8 to talk up net's power to transform education News Corp chairman claims 'Victorian' schools are 'last holdout from digital revolution' Kim Willsher in Paris guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 May 2011 18.10 BST Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation founder and chairman, used his address to the eG8 Forum in Paris on Tuesday to call for more investment in education and "unlocking the potential" of the world's children. Murdoch said it was not a question of putting a computer in every school, but concentrating on opening up opportunities for youngsters to flourish by using targeted and tailored software. News Corp moved into the $500bn (£310bn) US education sector in late 2010, paying about $360m in cash for 90% of technology company Wireless Generation, which provides mobile and web software to enable teachers to use data to assess student progress and deliver personalised learning."
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    From Harry Keller
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    Interesting contrast with Murdoch's attitude in 2009 - see http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/09/murdoch-google - but is it really a contrast?
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    We've had Ely Broad, Bill Gates, and a host of other billionaires (even George Lucas) attempting to "fix" our education system. They're not doing so well. What is so interesting to me about Murdoch, despite his pirate-like business practices, is that he sees what I think is the real direction for the future of education. Oddly unlike his right-wing colleagues, he's not pushing for vouchers or more school privatization. Unlike the technocrats, he's not pushing for more and more computers in schools. He sees the solution to our schooling problems as "targeted and tailored software." Many (maybe most) countries, including the U.S., lack the political will as societies to fix education the way that Finland did. Software is the other path. Much discussion today centers around the platform. Will we use smart phones or e-tablets or netbooks? Will we see $1 apiece apps as the learning modules or cloud-based solutions? Will our new learning software run on iOS or Android? All of that is window dressing and barely worthy of discussion. For me, Murdoch hit the nail on the head. We have too little software "targeted and tailored" to education or, at least, too little highly professional quality software.
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    Errh yes about Murdoch pushing "targeted and tailored software" , Harry. But see also: "News Corp moved into the $500bn (£310bn) US education sector in late 2010, paying about $360m in cash for 90% of technology company Wireless Generation, which provides mobile and web software to enable teachers to use data to assess student progress and deliver personalised learning." So he is doing at software level what Microsoft etc were doing at hardware - and at times software - level: promoting his wares in a very juicy market. We've had "targeted and tailored to education" software for decades, now: LMSs, addons to office suites, etc. Some good, some bad. The problem with software that is targeted and tailored to education is that it is a) often boring; b) perforce based on an abstract general idea of education; c) often remote from what gets used outside school. Would it not be better to train teachers in adapting whatever software is generally available, be it desktop or on the cloud, to fit their and their specific students' needs?
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    My point is simply that Murdoch gets it. His motives don't have to be pure for us all to benefit from the light he's shining on educational technology. Regarding the software, your points are well-taken. However, one extra qualification must be added. The software must be "good." That means it must avoid the problems you list.
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    "Would it not be better to train teachers in adapting whatever software is generally available, be it desktop or on the cloud, to fit their and their specific students' needs?' I disagree with this analysis. Software not created for educational purposes will only adapt so far. It is, for example, word processing substituting for paper and pencil. That's worthy of doing but really makes no difference in instruction. When software is created specifically for learning, it can reach much more deeply into the learning processes. It's not just peripheral but central to learning. You can adapt lots of software to education in lots of ways, and I've read of many very clever adaptations. Almost all could be done without the use of a computer, albeit somewhat less efficiently but nonetheless effectively. I read Murdoch's call, which echoes something I've been saying for many years, as meaning that we have to build software that answers the necessities of learning. We don't have much today.
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    Taking up your example of word processing as substitute for pen and pencil , Harry: true, and that's what I retorted in the late 1990's to a digitalophobe academic, when we met about the Italian translation of one of his books, and he boasted of having got a letter from a publisher saying he was their last author to deliver typescripts on paper and not as a digital file. I pointed out that cut and paste, copy and paste (the things he particularly hated the ease of in digital media) existed in the real world looooooong before computers, let alone PCs, let alone the Web. And yet... in 2007 I was asked to set up at very short notice an intensive preliminary French workshop for participants in a master course in intercultural studies: though in Lugano, the course was to be in French and English. I asked for access to the Moodle for the course, to store course materials there etc. The organizers refused: "The Moodle will only be explained to the students in the first week of the course proper". The idea that graduate students needed to have a Moodle explained to them in 2007 seemed peregrine, but rather than arguing, I set up a for-free wiki instead. At our first meeting, the students asked why we weren't using the Moodle, I repeated the official explanation, they laughed and got the hang of the wiki immediately. Then, for reading comprehension, they chose one of the assigned texts for the course: a longish book chapter they had received by e-mail as a grayish PDF based on a low-resolution scan, based on a reduced photocopy to make 2 pages fit on an A4 sheet: i.e. with no margin to take notes on. So we printed the PDF, separated the pages with scissors, pasted the separate pages with glue sticks on new A4 sheets, to get wider margins to write in. And then we made a wiki page for it, copied in it the subheadings, between which the students, added the notes they were taking, working in groups on the new paper version. Result: http://micusif.wikispaces.com/Vinsonneau
Bonnie Sutton

Feds ,Companies work to close the Digital Divide - 1 views

Feds, companies work to close digital divide New survey reveals 17 million American children still don't have broadband access at home From staff and wire reports Read more by staff and wire servic...

lack of Broadband internet service

started by Bonnie Sutton on 20 Oct 11 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Content is the New Currency - 1 views

Home Headlines http://benton.org/node/94354 Content Is The New Currency Submitted: October 20, 2011 - 7:37pm Originally published: October 20, 2011 Last updated: October 20, 2011 - 7:40pm ...

content digital world rules

started by Bonnie Sutton on 21 Oct 11 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Misunderstanding Race and the Digital Divide - 2 views

Misunderstanding Race and the Digital Divide by Joseph Miller Guest Contributor on December 16, 2011 "One of the surest signs of the Philistine is his reverence for the superior tastes of those w...

started by Bonnie Sutton on 20 Dec 11 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

U.S. Report Sees Perils to America's Tech Future - 1 views

U.S. Report Sees Perils to America's Tech Future In report, Commerce Department looks at competitive threats and internal weaknesses in new report http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/92231...

America's tech future innovation advanced technology produces STEM

started by Bonnie Sutton on 09 Jan 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Digital Divide, Mobile Divide, Knoeledge Divide, Access Divide, are we a nation of oppo... - 1 views

http://thepowerofus.org/2012/01/06/digital-divide-mobile-divide-knowledge-divide-access-divide-are-we-a-nation-of-opportunity/ We Still Have a Digital Divide and it is growing!!'We Still Have a Di...

digital divide access knowledge vint cerf Bob Kahn nation of opportunity

started by Bonnie Sutton on 06 Jan 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

12 Education Tech Trends to Watch in 2012 - 2 views

12 Education Tech Trends to Watch in 2012 FILED UNDER: Culture, Learning Methods, Tech Tools http://mindshift.kqed.org/2012/01/12-education-tech-trends-to-watch-in-2012/ Looking ahead a...

Education Tech Trends educational ideas for the future

started by Bonnie Sutton on 05 Jan 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Phone Hacking, Regulation of Social Networking Services - 1 views

What the Hacking Scandal Means for Regulation of Social Networking Services http://www.cdt.org/blogs/287what-hacking-scandal-means-regulation-social-networking-services ret by Omer Tene July 28, ...

Regulations for Social networking Hacking scandal Rupert Murdoch Myspace

started by Bonnie Sutton on 09 Aug 11 no follow-up yet
Claude Almansi

Murdoch-Owned Wireless Generation's Contract Should Be Scratched, Teachers' Union Leade... - 0 views

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    Joy Resmovits Aug. 5, 2011 ""We have become increasingly concerned with the proposed contract," Michael Mulgrew and Richard Iannuzzi, who respectively head New York City's and the state's teachers' unions, wrote in the note. The letter is addressed to New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, state Commissioner of Education John King, Jr., and copied to State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. "It is especially troubling that Wireless Generation will be tasked with creating a centralized student database for personal information even as its parent company, News Corporation, stands accused of engaging in illegal news gathering tactics, including the hacking of private voicemail accounts," the letter reads. Murdoch acquired 90 percent of Wireless Generation for about $360 million last November. At the time of the acquisition, Murdoch said he saw K-12 education as a "$500 billion sector." Murdoch's first general move in the education sector had come just a few weeks earlier, when he tapped Joel Klein, then the chancellor of New York City's schools, to lead his education ventures. The Wireless Generation contracts were approved while Klein still ran the district, leading to speculation about the chancellor's intentions."
Claude Almansi

Retreat of Reno's Commnand - C. Szwedzicki: The North American Indian Works - 1 views

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    "Collection: C. Szwedzicki: The North American Indian Works Work Record ID: 219 Reproduction Record ID: 219 Work Class: depictions Work Type: print Title: Retreat of Reno's Commnand Title Type: constructed title Title: Sioux Indian painting Title Type: collective title Measurements: 11.40 x 19.05 in (28.96 x 48.39 cm) on sheet 15.30 x 19.50 in (38.86 x 49.53 cm) Measurement Type: dimensions Material: paper (fiber product) Material Type: support Inscription: Image Top Center: Custer Battle Field / June 25 and 26 1876 / Crazy Horse Inscription: Above Image Right: 8 [Plate Number] Creator: Bad Heart Bull, Amos, 1869-1913 Creator Dates: 1869-1913 Creator Nationality: Oglala Lakota Creator Name Variant: Bad Heart Buffalo (Tatanka Cante Sice) Creator Type: personal name Creator Role: painter Date: 1938 Location: Little Bighorn Battlefield (Mont.) Repository: Archives and Rare Books Library, University Libraries, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio Repository Type: current repository ID Number: 8 ID Number Type: plate number ID Number: ARB RB Oversize E98.A7 S568 1938 Vol. 2 ID Number Type: call number Style Period: Plains Indian Style Period: Indian art--North America Culture: Native American Culture: Oglala Lakota Subject: Belts (Clothing) Subject: Breechcloths Subject: Face painting Subject: Feathers Subject: Fringe Subject: Leggings Subject: Moccasins Subject: Beadwork Subject: Body painting Subject: Shirts, Men's Subject: Breastplates Subject: Hair pipes Subject: Bridles Subject: Horseback riding Subject: Horses Subject: Chokers Subject: Arrows Subject: Metalwork Subject: Picture-writing Subject: Saddle blankets Subject: Indian warfare Subject: Rifles Subject: Military uniforms Subject: Sabers Subject: Bow lances Subject: Crazy Horse (Tashunca-Uitco), ca. 1842-1877 Subject: Fixed-stone-head clubs Subject: Hats Subject: Saddles Subject: Saddlebags Subject: War shirts Subject: Reno, Marcus A. (Marcus Albert), 1835-1889 Subject: Indians of North America--Wars Subj
Claude Almansi

Make: Online | Moral Suasion | Cory Doctorow | June 2011 - 0 views

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    "One thing is clear: those of us who don't supply our own digital infrastructure depend on intermediaries who are increasingly willing to roll over at the slightest pressure. It's time to start devoting some of our creative attention to ways of clearing away the choke-points and leaning back on those companies that are getting leaned upon by powerful, established forces."
Bonnie Sutton

STEM http://usnewsstemsummit.com/ - 2 views

WASHINGTON, DC-October 18, 2011-U.S. News & World Report together with Innovate + Educate, STEMconnector™, and over 40 key organizations representing industry and education, will hold a major natio...

education jobs for the future Broadening engagement stem shortage skilss

started by Bonnie Sutton on 23 Oct 11 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Jamming the System: Standardized Tests, Automated Grading and the Future of Writing - 2 views

View slide show on original site. | View on Flickr on original site. Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning http://spotlight.macfound.org/blog/entry/jamming-the-system-standardized-t...

Ja the System: Standardized Tests Automated Grading Future of Writing robotic evaluation

started by Bonnie Sutton on 29 Apr 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

The Pattern on the Rug By Diane Ravitch - 1 views

******************************** From Education Week [American Education's Newspaper of Record], Tuesday, March 27, 2012. See http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/ ------------------...

nation at risk diane ravitch race to the top Phillip Anschutz

started by Bonnie Sutton on 07 Apr 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

GOOGLE PRIVACY CHANGES - 0 views

Written by Stephen K. Peeples Thursday, 01 March 2012 13:30 KHTS News Brought To You By: After warning users for weeks that changes to its privacy policy were coming, today is the day Google ...

GOOGLE PRIVACY INTUITIVE LINKING OF RESOURCES

started by Bonnie Sutton on 12 Mar 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Best part of 'schools-threaten-national-security' report - 1 views

Best part of 'schools-threaten-national-security' report: The dissents By Valerie Strauss Best part of 'schools-threaten-national-security' report The most interesting part of the new Condoleezza...

Schools threaten national Security report

started by Bonnie Sutton on 22 Mar 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

Why Tablets in the Classroom Could Save Schools $3 Billion a Year - 1 views

Why Tablets in the Classroom Could Save Schools $3 Billion a Year Submitted: March 29, 2012 - 4:08pm Originally published: March 29, 2012 Last updated: March 29, 2012 - 5:58pm Source: Wall Street J...

in the classroom saving money with tablets mobile data plan Publishers meeting on

started by Bonnie Sutton on 03 Apr 12 no follow-up yet
Bonnie Sutton

What teachers don't need (but are getting anyway) - 1 views

What teachers don't need (but are getting anyway) By Valerie Strauss This was written by Paul Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in South Carolina. A version of th...

answer sheet teachers common core teaching and learning Michelle Rhee collaborative thinking indoctrination

started by Bonnie Sutton on 18 May 12 no follow-up yet
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