Items tagged with education
Gearing up for education shouldn't have to be expensive, and that's something ASUS has proven to be the case with its brand-new VivoBook W202NA. This 11.6-inch laptop is designed to take a bit of a punch, and help students and teachers alike get their work done in an efficient manner. At $279, we wouldn't blame you if you figured that the W202NA's durability was standard fare, more of a tacked-on feature just to increase its allure. But in actuality, ASUS says this notebook is one of the most durable out there, using MIL-STD810G testing methods, having passed twist tests, 3.9' drop tests, and high-pressure...
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Have you ever seen a child handle an electronic device? The more expensive the gadget, the more nerve-wracking it can be to see a kid clumsily fumble around with it, only to inevitably drop it on the ground at some point. When you toss in the rigors of school life, it seems like the odds are stacked against things like notebooks and smartphones. Well, ASUS took all that into consideration when building its latest Chromebook and made it rugged, something the company is used to doing.The new Chromebook Flip C213 from ASUS is purpose built for use in educational environments. Part of that entails...
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We are on the precipice of some exciting things thanks to the introduction of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality into the mainstream. Much of the attention early on has been focused on gaming, with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive stealing the limelight, along with breakout hits such as Pokemon Go. But gaming is not the only segment that stands to benefit. There is a big opportunity in education, one that Microsoft hopes to pioneer. To that end, Microsoft announced a new strategic partnership with Pearson, one of the biggest education companies in the world that also happens to be...
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Remember when convertible notebooks were considered a luxury? That's especially true for convertibles that have four different modes: laptop, stand, tent, and tablet. It was also considered a luxury to have a notebook that could last more than 10 hours on a single battery charge. Acer's TravelMate Spin B1 has all of those features, so it must fetch quite the premium, right? Nope - this laptop starts out at a meager $299 USD. Acer unveiled this laptop at a Microsoft education event, so its target audience is going to be obvious from the get-go. That also inherently means that there are going to...
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Microsoft has begun inviting members of the press to a media event scheduled for May 2, 2017, in New York City. Details on the event are light other than Microsoft saying it will be focused on education. Several sites are speculating that it will involve Microsoft's Surface products, though do not expect a new generation Surface Book or Surface Pro 5 announcement, neither of which are on tap for this event. Instead, rumor has it Microsoft will focus on a cloud-based version of Windows 10. If that is the case, it could tie in with a Surface product designed to give Google's Chromebook products a...
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It seems as though officials at the Maine Department of Education are finally coming to terms with something that many in the tech community have been saying for years: tablets can often be a poor substitute for full-fledged computers in the classroom, especially in higher grades. Instead of being used as educational tools to help supplement traditional classroom lessons and aide in completing assignments, iPads in the classroom are being used for gaming while at the same time serving as a poor replacement for laptops when it comes to productivity. The Auburn School Department decided to survey...
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Apple released the first beta for its upcoming iOS 9.3 update and with it is a new website that lays out the new features and functionality. One of the more intriguing ones is "Shared iPad," which like it sounds allows for multiple users to log in to an iPad tablet, much in the same way that Mac OS X and Windows allows for more than one account to share a single device.It's a long overdue feature for the iPad, though unfortunately it appears this will only be a feature for students and teachers, not home consumers. The way it's worded on Apple's new preview website, students will have their own...
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When I was in grade school, one of the things I looked forward to was playing Oregon Trail on an Apple II machine. I also remember printing out "Do not enter" signs with skull and crossbones on an attached dot matrix printer. But that was a lifetime ago and these days Chromebooks have become the go-to computing device for many schools. Surprise, surprise, Apple CEO Tim Cook is dismissive of the trend.One of the biggest appeals of Chromebooks is pricing. They're low cost PCs that connect to the Internet and allow kids to run a variety of programs, everything from productivity apps to lightweight...
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Epic Games has selected 10 individuals in the education sector to receive $75,000 each in Unreal Dev Grants. It's the first round of funding to academic and educational recipients, with the grants intended for developers working on "promising early-stage projects." Those who receive funding can use the money however they wish -- there are no strings attached, Epic Games says. "The talented educators and developers recognized today are receiving the first Unreal Dev Grants for education thanks to their tireless contributions to the UE4 community," said Luis Cataldi, education evangelist at Epic...
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Move over Raspberry Pi, there’s a new micro computer in town, and it’s geared [for now] primarily at British schoolchildren. We first brought you news about the Micro:bit in early March as a part of the BBC’s “Make it Digital” campaign. At the time the device was still in the prototype stage, but the device is now being shown to the public in its final production form. The Micro:bit measures just 2-inches by 1.6-inches and is powered by a 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 processor. You’ll also find two push buttons for input, a microUSB connector, Bluetooth connectivity, an accelerometer, a compass, and 25...
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The White House is putting into motion a plan to increase educational opportunities for low-income children. During a visit to a public library in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington, President Barack Obama talked about the plan, which involves working with publishers and libraries to give low-income children access to 10,000 e-books.President Obama's plan is part of a broader strategy to tackle inner city problems through educational opportunities for children. It's also a well timed one, with the recent riots and protesting in Baltimore bringing attention to poverty stricken areas...
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Amazon on Tuesday announced a version update to Whispercast, the company's free and fast growing content delivery platform that allows organizations to discover, procure, manage, and distribute digital bits like electronic books and textbooks to nearly any device. It's an especially appealing platform for schools, where hundreds of thousands of devices are already deployed -- what student doesn't own a smartphone or tablet these days? The platform is gaining steam. Since launching, Whispercast has been picked up by more than 130 of the 250 largest school districts in the United States. In addition,...
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In June of 2013, the Los Angeles Unified School District approved a deal with Apple and Pearson that would see curriculum filled iPad tablets in the hands of every student regardless of income level, along with every teacher and administrator. However, the $1.3 billion effort (around $500 million for the iPads with curriculum and $800 million to improve Internet access at schools) hasn't come close to expectations, and now the school district is threatening legal action.Let's backtrack a moment. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Unified was sold on the idea after seeing samples...
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At long last, Pixar has finally made good on a promise they made last year to release Free Non-Commercial RenderMan. The software is a full-feature version of the company's RenderMan software that anyone can install and use for purposes of research, education, evaluation, plug-in development, and personal projects that do not generate a commercial profit. And Free Non-Commercial RenderMan is without limitations, too, such as watermarking, time limits, data volume, or any other such restrictions. Pixar's RenderMan software release features the company's new RIS rendering paradigm,...
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