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Friedman declares American educational system is dead unless we do what we do best - recombine and invent

Apparently even robots are hard up for work.

Light-hearted tech article on some 2.0 tools for the elderly. Reminds us "While imagining your elderly uncle using high-tech devices to keep in touch might at first seem far-fetched, it's only a matter of time before it is second nature."

AI seems like a distant dream. Mind holds too many secrets...at least mine!

The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard. But the school's chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud.

Speaking of being wary of marketers pitching 'magical digital products'...this study found "no discernible effects" on high school students standardized test scores - of course, we must ask how the effects were measured (what the test actually tests) and measure in what ways software has a meaningful effect on student's learning...

I think Karen Cator makes a good point in the article when she talks about standardized tests being the sole gauge for assessing the effectiveness of the programs. While the programs may be used with the intent to improve test scores, I'd also argue it's important for digital literacy to be valued as a skill in its own right. Thus while test scores may not reflect the sought-after results, other important skills may still have been developed by using the programs.

Technology is a double-edged sword. Young children cannot be exposed to the screen all day long, but there is no need to make a fuss about it. They can still learn a lot if they are properly guided.

Interesting study for how students use facebook, and how that might affect academic performance. Those who used facebook to post statuses did worse academically then those who used it to share links/comment on others' links etc. Obviously, self-reporting of facebook use is limiting, as well as the myriad of other factors that influence academic performance. Still, something to look for when it gets published in the journal of Computers in Human Behavior. "How does Facebook activity affect a student's grades? Reynol Junco, a professor at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, recently set out to determine exactly that. Mr. Junco assembled a sample of nearly 2,000 college students who self-reported details of their Facebook use: not just total time spent on the social networking site, but specific actions taken such as commenting, chatting, uploading photos or seeing what others are doing - "lurking," as Mr. Junco calls it."

An article about educational software that apparently doesn't get the results that manufacturers say it does.

Another example of a one-to-one laptop program in schools. Interesting to think of this from the standpoints of the various stakeholders, and how awesome is it that we have so many representatives in our classroom alone - teachers, parents, siblings, caregivers, researchers, and of course, publishers :-) Sally Ryan for The New York Times MUNSTER, Ind. - Laura Norman used to ask her seventh-grade scientists to take out their and flip to Page Such-and-Such. Now, she tells them to take out their laptops.

The New York TImes continues their efforts to get an explanation from the Department of Education of NY on their reasons behind the cell phone ban. It seems that the district is not budging on their policy and is so far unwilling to listen to educators vouching for phones as useful learning tools. 

There's an emerging "app gap" in which affluent children are likely to use mobile educational games while those in low-income families are the most likely to have televisions in their bedrooms. Parents are increasingly allowing their young children to use IPads and IPhones apps for learning and entertaining.

Cell phones are banned in NYC public schools, but it is the norm for students who attend schools without metal detectors to bring their phones anyway. If caught teachers are confiscating phones for up to a week, or longer, at their discretion. At schools with metal detectors small businesses have popped up around schools, storing students' phones for the school day for a small fee, similar to a coat check system. Instead of harnessing the power of mobile phones that almost every student already has, they are punishing them and/or causing them to pay money to keep them stored for the school day so that they can have them before and after school. I think this is a missed opportunity for the NYC school system not only because they are missing out on mobile learning opportunities with technology the district doesn't have to buy, but they could also be teaching the students responsible and appropriate use of mobile phones in public spaces.