Group items tagged

"The $0 [Mavericks] price is linked to the trend towards vertical integration," says programmer and longtime OS X watcher John Siracusa. "A company that makes both the hardware and the software for a device can choose where to put its profit margins. Given the proven magic of 'free' in the minds of consumers, it's better to put all the profit in a single basket. Free hardware is difficult to pull off, so software gets the nod: buy our hardware, get our software for free."

"Some districts have started implementing responsible digital use guidelines or empowered digital use policies. Regardless of the title you choose, it should provide a sense of purpose for using technology beyond the idea that "said devices may get me in trouble.""

"Assumptions about young people's familiarity with technologies risk exacerbating inequality. Access to devices and connectivity isn't equal across all young people, and neither is support in developing skills - from peers, parent/carers, or schools, equally distributed. Socioeconomic status remains a key issue in relation to access, with a small but significant number of young people having very limited access."

"Lack of price transparency makes it difficult for school districts to negotiate with vendors, Friedlander said. In the case of Apple's iPads, for instance, the Technology for Education Consortium said it had found that prices ranged from $367 to $499 for identical devices. "This is just wrong," Levy said. "This is taxpayer money. And these are school kids.""

"Narrative podcasts are story-driven audio recordings. As opposed to more traditional interview-style podcasts, where a single person or group is interviewed, narrative podcasts splice together a number of interviews, recordings, and sounds to present a more complete listening experience. They tend to lean more heavily on production effects, such as the use of music and sound effects, as well as narrative storytelling techniques such as multiple characters, scene setting, backstory, hooks, framing devices, and cliffhangers. Narrative podcasts can be either fictional or non-fictional, but at their core both teach learners by presenting concepts as an immersive experience, allowing listeners to become a part of what they are learning."

Trends on college campuses with BYOD...

"the report also says that students prefer that faculty themselves provide instruction in how to use technology, rather than rely on the help desk or online-only documentation, which suggests that for the foreseeable future, faculty who incorporate technology in interesting or significant ways will need to continue to budget class time to cover how to use the tech."

"What is it about screens that keeps our eyes transfixed and fingers a-tappin'? Psychologist Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of "Alone, Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other," explains what keeps us tangled up in tech."