Interesting Articles and Slide Shows: Education and Technology

Education Inventors Get Boost Under New Programs
This article addresses the difficulty that comes along with trying to introduce a new, innovative product in the K-12 education market and the push to make it easier.

SMART vs. Promethean
Christopher Dawson, NDNet Education Blogger, states the pros and cons associated with each whiteboard and gives education leaders tips for choosing the best whiteboards for their districts.

The Brad Ovenell-Carter – The Myth of the Digital Native: Web IS the Platform
Brad explains how students need to be taught how to use the Web as a tool just as they were taught how to use a pencil.

Students at India’s Top Technical Universities Invent $35 Tablet Computer

QUICK NOTES on tablet:

-Designed specifically for students, the touch-screen tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing, and video conferencing.

-India's Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal hopes the tablet will eventually cost $10.

-Christopher Dawson, an education blogger for ZDNet, says schools are struggling with connectivity and might not be ready for devices such as this.

-India’s leaders hope to bring the tablet into production by 2011.

Education Summit

During the week of September 27th, NBC News will bring together education and political leaders to discuss how to improve schools in light of statistics showing the U.S. lagging in student achievement. Hopefully, this summit will truly concentrate on ways to strengthen our system rather than simply bash the obvious gaps.

Here is a list of a couple other plans NBC has for involving itself in the future of education:
1. nbclearn.com
2. NBC News Archives on Demand (K-12): A collection of NBC news videos, primary source documents, images, and resources specifically designed for teachers to use in their classrooms to introduce or teach a concept.

Learning Between Grown-Ups and Kids Should be Reciprocal, says Adora Svitak

Many of you may have heard of Adora Svitak because the more I read about her, the more popular I realize she is. Svitak is the author of Flying Fingers, a book on learning. At the age of 12, she is also a public speaker and serves as an advocate for literacy.

This video was filmed at TED2010 convention. Watch Adora Svitak teach us how the world could use more “childish” thinking.