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.

School of the Future

"We've had this saying from the very beginning: Money and technology are great, but people are better."
-- Mary Cullinane, director of innovation for Microsoft Education and liason to School of the Future

In 2006, less than 8% of the juniors scored proficient or higher in math and only 23 % scored proficient or higher in reading. Four years later and the ENTIRE senior class graduates!

The first video was filmed in 2006/2007, the School of the Future’s first school year. It shows the teachers, the learners, and the school and its original objectives in greater depth than the second video.


The second video shows the students on their graduation day. Congratulations!

Real-Life Lessons

It’s been awhile since I’ve last posted. June has been a busy and fun month. My summer MBA course started 2 weeks ago, and I went on a recent vacation to our nation’s capital. While in D.C., I visited my cousin, Laura, and Clara, the host mom I lived with while I was in Ghana. Clara moved to the states a little over a year ago with the goal of giving her daughters an American education. My D.C. experience was eye-opening and reminded me to be grateful of my American life and education.

Clara has an interesting story. She grew up in Ghana, and married her husband, Stephen Bediako Sayki. Together, they had two beautiful daughters, Eduwa and Fritsiwa. The girls were 4 and 6 years old when I lived in Ghana, but Eduwa is now 12 and Fritsiwa is 10. Clara was able to get a U.S. visa and legally made her way to America, but her husband has not been able to get a visa and Clara cannot afford to have the girls here at the moment. The only reason why Clara is here is to give her daughters the opportunity to get an American education. The main goal is for Eduwa and Fritsiwa to go to college here. They all love Ghana, but they want the American opportunities ….and who can blame them? America isn’t perfect, but it is beautiful and full of endless possibilities. I consider Clara and her family to be a part of my family, and I’ll be giving updates on their brave endeavors. With tears in her eyes, Clara said, “I can struggle and sacrifice for 10 years if I can give my daughters a better future. I can do it. But, it is so difficult and so stressful.”

Winners and Losers

Other than ‘leading by example’, I am not sure of the best way to promote healthy eating to our nation’s kids. But, I give props to anyone fighting to keep kids physically and mentally healthy. I also feel the need to draw attention to those that will put a kid’s self-esteem in danger when there is money to be made.

Winners
Ways to Advocate for Healthy School Lunches

Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates





Losers
Game for kids’ benefit? Or, sugar cereal advertisement for company’s benefit?

Advergames