Items tagged with education
The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected our education system in ways many are still trying to fully understand and cope with. Both lessons and exams must now be delivered and regulated online. This includes Advancement Placement (AP) exams which have traditionally been administered in-person to high school students. Unfortunately, Google search trends and reports by the College Board indicate that some students may have resorted to cheating on their AP exams. AP exams are standardized tests that are used to determine whether a student has “mastered the content and skills of a specific AP course.” If a student receives a high score on the exam, they may be able to skip certain freshman-level...
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It seems everyone is turning to Zoom these days, whether it because they are working from home and video conferencing with colleagues, or chatting with friends while practicing social distancing. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Dallas Mavericks owner turned Shark Tank star Mark Cuban hopped on for another reason—to share their insights with students. They were part of two different "Code Break" sessions, which is the title of Code.org's live interactive classroom. It is the world's largest of its kind, and is hosted by the organization's co-founder Hadi Partovi and his daughter Sofia. These sessions are neat ways to keep students engaged while stuck at home during the Coronavirus pandemic,...
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How do you get to Sesame Street? Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg may hold the key. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Primary School is working alongside the Sesame Workshop to offer a new education curriculum. The Primary School and Sesame Workshop have been working together on this new curriculum over the last two years. They have tested the curriculum at The Primary School’s site in East Palo Alto, California. The program is centered on the “whole child” approach, which concentrates on a student’s academic, cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and mental needs. The new curriculum is particularly focused on integrating “social emotional learning...
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From security officers to guest sign-ins, schools employ several tools to keep their physical campuses safe. However, is student data also secure? A teen hacker recently uncovered vulnerabilities in two education software programs that could have affected over five million students. Bill Demirkapi is a high school senior in Lexington, Massachusetts and began hacking when he was a freshman. He soon discovered that the education software used by his school, Aspen and Blackboard, contained major security vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, the flaws in the two programs could have affected over 5,000 schools and 5 million students. This would have been more severe than the recent San Diego Unified School...
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Nintendo unveiled its Labo Kits in January as a way for gamers of all ages to build cardboard devices that will work with the Switch console. The Labo concoctions are made to be used as controller accessories that work with software that runs on the Switch. Nintendo has announced that it would be integrating Labo kits into classroom courses in cooperation with Institute of Play. The Institute of Play website says that this program is open to schools around the nation if teachers apply and are using STEM, STEAM, or Maker courses in their curriculum. The program is reportedly starting with schools in the New York area since that is where the Institute of Play is based. Classrooms that qualify to...
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We have seen some truly amazing things in the field of robotics, like a dog that can walk itself and a stickman robot that can perform acrobatics. Those are nifty, though not exactly practical for home consumers. What is practical, however, is a new app-enabled robotic ball by Sphero that is designed to help teach programming. It's called the Sphere Bolt, and it's a modern take on the original Sphero, back when the company was called Orbotix. The aim is to "foster creativity through discovery and play, all while laying the foundation for computer science." Or put another way, the Sphero Bolt is supposed to make programming fun for kids and adults alike. "Sphero BOLT is an app-enabled robotic...
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Organization and management are key elements in any classroom. Google just announced several new updates that speak to the wishes of users of Google Classroom. The updates range from the ability to add and lock quizzes to better organizing classwork assignments. Google plans to release three new pages for their Classroom. The goal was to help teachers work more efficiently and allow them more time with their students. First, teachers can now organize assignments by units, themes, or dates on the “Classwork” page. Before these changes, educators and students would need to scroll through the whole page to find the relevant assignment. They also no longer need to re-post repeating assignments....
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Apple has an event set to take place this week at Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago, and the company is tipped to unveil a new lower-cost iPad. This iPad is said to have been developed specifically for the education market, which is known to be very price sensitive. A new rumor about the education iPad has been floating around that hails from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to an investor note that Kuo penned, the new iPad may support the Apple Pencil. Kuo wrote, "Strong demand for low-price 9.7-inch iPad in 2017. iPad shipments hit 43.8 million units in 2017, well above the 35 million units forecast by the market at the beginning of the year. The primary driver...
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Acer has students and educators in its sights with the introduction of two new Chromebook models, including the Chromebook 11 and Chromebook 11 Spin, and a Chromebox mini PC. All three are primarily aimed at the education segment, a place where Chrome OS and, by extension, Chromebooks have thrived due to their relatively low cost and cloud capabilities. The Chromebook Spin 11 leads the pack. It is a 2-in-1 device that is similar to Google's PixelBook, in that it offers USB-C connectivity by way of two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, and comes with a stylus. However, it has a much lower starting price at $349 (PixelBooks start at $999) to reflect the lower end hardware inside—like other recent Chromebooks...
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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 tests that "exceed" industry standards. Weighing in at just 2.7 lbs, this laptop is small...
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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 a tough and tumble construction that exceeds military standards of durability, because things happen...
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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 working to integrate 3D and mixed reality into high school and college curriculum. Pearson is making...
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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 be a couple of caveats, with two rather big ones surrounding this device. First, it's not a powerhouse...
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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 run for their money. Chromebooks never did become all that popular among mainstream buyers, but in...
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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 its students and teachers to see if the district should continue using the iPads or opt for more traditional...
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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 profile, which they'll use to hop on iPad devices in different classrooms and other scenarios."When...
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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 games. They're also cheap devices for taking tests, and as states move away from bubble sheets to computerized...
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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 Games. "I've personally seen the fruits of their efforts and generosity of spirit make significant differences...
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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 programmable LED lights clustered around the center of the board (you can see more of the device’s...
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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 and the need to provide opportunities for kids who come from low-income families.Image Source: Flickr...
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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, over 2,400 higher education organizations, including 24 of the 30 largest in the U.S., also use...
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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 of Pearson's curriculum on iPad devices. As part of the contract, Pearson would provide English and...
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