Posted 10/28/09 at 09:22:48 PM by Ryan Whitwam

In recent years, Google has been taking a larger role in promoting the use of technology in education. It is now fairly common for the search giant to provide free access to premium Google Apps to schools, allowing them to more effectively conduct their business. Now co-founder Sergey Brin has made some sweeping statements that may outline Google’s future plans in the area of education.

Brin himself was a high school dropout for a time. He chalks this event up to the use of dated, uninteresting curriculums in his school. In a speech at the Google campus recently, Brin said, “The curriculum should include computer science. Mathematics should include statistics. The curriculums should really adjust.”

Brin held that schools need to take advantage of increasingly inexpensive technology, and more prevalent broadband availability to further education. He also suggests that students could learn more effectively by teaching computer use to younger students and senior citizens. The Google co-founder went on to discuss what he feels is the deplorable state of teacher pay saying, “They're not really paid a living wage.”

Google may be helping schools at little or no charge, but it’s not like they get nothing out of it. By introducing children to Google products early, the brand leaves an indelible mark on their ideas about technology. As a Google spokesperson said, “If they like Google Apps now, they'll ask for it by name. There is a value there."

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Posted 10/18/09 at 04:14:36 PM by Justin Kerr

Amazon is betting the future of textbooks lies in e-ink, not paper, but even more evidence is mounting to suggest that they still have some work to do before the device is accepted universally. The Kindle DX which comes with a slightly larger screen than most eBook readers, along with a $489 price tag aims to reduce the burden of carrying dozens of books from class to class, but its shortcomings have some students ready to trade back down to the dead tree edition according to the Associated Press. "I like the aspect of writing something down on paper and having it be so easy and just kind of writing whatever comes to my mind," says Claire Becerra, a freshman at Arizona State University. Becerra further complained that notes made on the device often didn’t make sense because they were laced with typos and she relies more heavily on the highlighter tool as a result.

When asked how the device could be improved Madeline Kraizel, a freshman at Case Western Reserve University said a better system for managing bookmarks was needed, and a way that page numbers could remain consistent, so both teacher and student could reference material properly. Other students suggested that reading PDF files was often difficult, and if they weren’t formatted properly, zooming in to make the text readable didn’t always work. John Sherman, a first-year MBA student at the University of Virginia, claims that he still finds himself printing off case studies delivered in PDF format about half the time. "For the cases that require a lot of calculations, I find paper cases to be better," says Sherman, 31. "For me, it helps to scribble my thoughts in the margins."

It wasn’t all bad news for Amazon mind you. Students generally liked the concept behind the initiative, and many made use of some of the more unique features such as text to speech, allowing them to study more often. So, do you think the future of textbooks lies in e-Ink?

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Posted 08/20/09 at 08:38:27 AM by Paul Lilly

It's time to take that online degree out of the basement and tack it prominently on your living room or home office wall. Then when the topic inevitably comes up, you can tell the visiting in-laws that not only was your decision to take online classes better than skipping college altogether, but it might even have traditional colleges and universities beat.

Say what? That's the conclusion SRI International reached in a study for the Department of Education. The 93-page report ultimately concludes that "on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instructions."

A lot of research appears to have gone into the study, which examined comparative research on online versus traditional classroom teaching during a 12 year span (1996-2008). Some of those comparisons zoned in on K-12 education, but the bulk of it focused on colleges and adult continuing-education with a wide range of programs.

"The study's major significant lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing -- it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction," said Barbara Means, the study's lead author.

Full story here

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Posted 12/22/08 at 10:04:00 PM by Mark Edward Soper

If you're of "a certain age," you might remember when "computer literacy" equaled "everyone will be a programmer." Unfortunately, the limitations of BASIC (line numbers leading to incomprehensible "spaghetti code," primitive graphics, and no syntax checking) made most would-be programmers dropouts.

I haven't written a computer program in over 20 years, but Microsoft has introduced a modern, easy-to-use language designed for the masses (and for dropouts like me): Small Basic.

Small Basic, available in pre-release version 0.2, runs on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Vista 64-bit Editions Service Pack 1, Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit. It relies on .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, which you will need to install if you don't have it already.

This Ain't Your Daddy's BASIC

Microsoft says that Small Basic "is a project that is aimed at making computer programming accessible to beginners. The project comprises a simple programming language that gathers inspiration from the original BASIC programming language; a modern and attractive programming environment; and rich, extensible libraries. Together they make programming fun for kids and adults alike."

So, what's special about Small Basic, and how can you learn more about it? Join us after the jump for all the details.

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Posted 11/15/07 at 01:39:28 PM by Erin Simon

A new federal financial aid bill includes unprecedented copyright provisions calling on universities to curb students' filesharing.

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Posted 07/13/07 at 01:41:15 PM by Thomas McDonald

Properly used, games can educate and entertain your young 'uns, and not turn them into soulless killers.

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