India Develops a Computer to be priced $35
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
A low cost access-cum-computing device was unveiled by India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on July 22. The device is expected to cost Indian Rupee 1500 (around US $35) when it becomes available in 2011, and is meant primarily for students and teachers.
The device has a touch-screen and video-conferencing facility, and uses a memory card instead of hard disk to store data. Reports also mention that it will come with an unzip tool, multimedia content and a searchable PDF reader. Development work is now in progress to make the device work on solar power.
The computer has been developed using mostly parts available off-the-shelf though some new technology involved is being considered for patenting. The ultimate aim is to reduce the price to $10 and research will be continued at Indian Institutes of Technology and other technical institutions to achieve the price, and also quality, goals according to the minister.
The issues of distribution and connectivity are being worked out to reach 200 million children across the country. Nearly 8,500 colleges already connected under the National Mission on Education through Information and Technology (NMEICT) program. High quality e-content is being developed at these colleges and this content will become available to children through the low cost computing device.
For fuller details, read the news at The Hindu.
Tags: education delivery, information technology, low cost computing device
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Cognitive Science in Education
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
WestEd’s National Center for Cognition and Mathematics Instruction (NCCMI) is redesigning its existing mathematics curriculum using principles of cognitive science to improve student outcomes. It will use current cognitive science knowledge about how we acquire, retain and transfer knowledge for the redesign project. The project will then evaluate whether the new curriculum has indeed improved students’ mathematics achievement.
The project focus will be on the widely used Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) curriculum for middle schools. The evaluation of the revised project will be done through multiple studies.
The team that will execute the project includes experienced and accomplished experts in cognitive research, mathematics instruction specialists, assessment and measurement experts, curriculum writers, professional developers and national advisers.
WestEd will work on the project along with partners such as CMP, Carnegie Mellon University, Temple University and other universities, and Apple Computer Inc. They will also establish a diverse community of users to learn from and apply the NCCMI research.
WestEd is a research, development and service agency that works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity and improve learning. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences is funding the research.
Read more at WestEd website.
Tags: cognitive science, education, imparting knowledge, student outcomes
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Nanoeducator to Train Students in Nanotechnology
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
The potential of nanotechnology in solving some of the greatest problems we face, including sustainable and non-polluting energy, is becoming increasingly evident. At the same time it is extremely difficult to work with matter at nanoscale (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter). The risks of working with materials at this scale (which can permeate the human skin, for example) is also a major factor.
Education on all these aspects is essential if nanotechnology is to fulfill its promise.
Nanoeducator is a device that was developed by two Russian foundations, Foundation of Assistance to Development of Small Forms of the Enterprises in Scientific and Technical Sphere and Foundation of education and science (Alferov’s foundation).
The device includes a basic scanning microscope (SPM) and other incidentals, including a text book that teaches how to use SPM microscopy and nanolithography fundamentals. It comes with scientific training software that works under Mac OS or Windows XP. The student oriented device can be used for applications in biology, materials science, data storage devices, micro and nano structures and inspection of parts made with MEMS technology.
The device can be used in AFM, AFM lithography and STM modes. The software can be used for STM manipulation and image processing/analysis.
Read more at NT-MDT page.
Tags: education, nanotechnology, training device
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Catching Them Young with Nanotechnology
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
The Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative (ONI) seeks to create statewide awareness about emerging nanotechnology in the state of Oklahoma. It also seeks to explore the potential of nanotechnology industry and what it can do for Oklahoma. In particular, ONI seeks to encourage nanotechnology businesses to select the state as their location.
The ONI website provides information about everything nano. There are sections for nano news, nano products, nano companies in the state, nano t-shirts and a nanotechnology video, among others. There is even a small window for streaming nanotechnology tidbits. One great initiative is a PowerPoint presentation on Nanotechnology for Students.
The presentation starts with the attention catching statement that the ‘Next “Big Thing” is very, very, very small,’ and goes on to quote The National Science and Technology Council, “Nanotechnology is an enabling technology that will change the nature of almost every human-made object in the next century.”
“Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter at nanometer scale to create novel structures, devices and systems,” the next slide begins to elaborate on the applications of the technology. New materials (structures), sensors (devices) and NEMS (nanoelectromechanical systems) are provided as examples, to arouse the curiosity of the curious.
The presentation includes links to several educational resources on nanotechnology such as NanoKids for students and NanoZone for teachers. There are also links to more advanced resources such as the nanotech page of NASA.
ONI seems determined to catch them young with nanotechnology.
Tags: education, nanodevices, nanomaterials, nanosystems, nanotechnology
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Master of Science Program in Computer Science and Journalism
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
The Columbia University School of Journalism is launching a dual masters program in journalism and computer science, in association with the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at the New York university. The proposal is now awaiting the approval of the country’s Department of Education.
The program will involve two semesters of coursework in journalism and three in computer science.
The university spokesperson pointed out that with the unprecedented access to news now possible, the present should be the golden age of journalism. More people have access to news and they have access to more sources.
The spokespeson felt that most news organizations have not fully embraced the digital revolution. The proposed course is intended to train journalists who also have computer-related technical skills such as data mining and computational imaging, for example.
Graduates from the course will have “both the editorial and technological skills to produce new applications and online tools that could help redefine journalism in a fast-changing digital media environment.”
This is believed to be “he first truly integrated program of its kind,” according to a univesity spokesperson. The news report adds that the Columbia University School of Journalism, established in 1912, became the first graduate school of journalism in America in 1935.
Read the news release at redOrbit.
Tags: education, information technology, journalism and computing, masters program in journalism
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Do Arts Training Matter in School?
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Yes, says jensenlearning.com. Arts training changes the brain physically in ways that enhance academic and social performance of students, according to the writer. This might surprise people who believe that arts affect only one’s emotions.
Arts should be considered a stand-alone discipline on its own that can contribute to the goals we seek through teaching, viz. brain functioning in ways that are academically and socially useful. Arts training changes the brain in ways that other disciplines do not do.
As things stand now, teachers are likely to be overwhelmed with the variety of suggested teaching strategies. Choosing among the strategies becomes a hit or miss affair with no certainty of successful results. This situation, together with the pressure to produce better results, can lead to teacher burnout.
The author of the post advocates focusing on fewer things, on things that have demonstrated their effectiveness. Arts have proven their effectiveness in improving attentional and cognitive skills. Dana Foundation had funded a study to discover the effect of arts on the brain and the resultant findings showed that music enhances cognition, for example.
The brain is plastic, a constantly changing thing. And arts training changes in desirable ways. The article titled Musical training shapes structural brain development in The Journal of Neuroscience provides peer-reviewed evidence.
Read the post at jensenlearning.com
Tags: arts training, cognitive functioning, cognitive science, education, learning, social skills
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Workshop on Cognitive Tutor Development
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Cognitive Tutoring reportedly aligns student learning process to “best practices” of learning. It is particularly suitable for education delivery over the Web where the trainer and student will not have face-to-face interactions. A number of cognitive tutor authoring tools are available on the Web.
The workshop on “Hands-on introduction to creating intelligent tutoring systems without programming using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT)” is to be conducted during the 9th International Conference of the Learning Sciences,
at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago and is scheduled for
June 29.
The conference will provide background on cognitive tutors and how Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) work. Participants will get an overview of the process of CTAT development and extensive hands-on use of both basic and advanced CTAT features. These will be supplemented with illustrations and examples that provide specific insights into actual applications.
The course will prove of value to learning science researchers who will learn to create cognitive tutors even if they have no programming skill. The researchers will then be able to decide whether the tool will be of use to them.
Participants are expected to bring laptops with pre-installed CTAT software, which can be downloaded free from Carnegie Mellon.
Read more about the workshop at ICLS 2010 announcement.
Tags: cognitive science, cognitive tutor, education delivery, learning research
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Is Our Pedagogy Scientific?
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Are educational institutions checking that the pedagogical practices they follow are really based on evidence-based research? Or are they just practices handed down from generation to generation or practices that look “practical and sound” as everbody with commonsense can understand?
As in every other area, fads can pop up in the educational field also. These fads, if they do work, might have undesirable “side effects” that we do not want. Or they might be pure fads with no real impact on teaching effectiveness.
According to one author, research indicates that student achievement variations depend primarily on the students themseves (50%). However, 30% of the achievement variance could be attributed to the role of teachers. Unlike conventional wisdom, it seems that the home, school, principal and peers make very little difference to student achievement.
The major factors that influence achievement include Feedback, Student’s cognitive ability, Instructional quality and Direct instruction, according the author. Three of the four fall under the role of the teacher. Even computer assisted education and individualization of teaching are ranked lower for their effect on student achievement.
However, computer-assisted education, for example, has moved much since the time of this view. What effect can modern developments like cognitive tutor can have on student achievement is to be seen. Cognitive tutors supposedly monitor how students go about their learning, and direct them towards “best practices.”
Read a blog post at Pedagogy Science.
Tags: cognitive ability, pedagogy, student achievement, teacher role, teaching
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The Kindle Reader instead of a bulky Schoolbag
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
The Kindle e-Reader is an electronic device that can store 3500 books, articles and documents downloaded from Amazon website. Tim Wilson, director of Student Activities at College of Education, Seattle University is planning to store study materials in e-book format into Kindle Readers for students of his class.
Upto five graduate student volunteers from Wilson’s class will test the device during the entire quarter. The university, faculty and students hope to learn from the trial and determine whether future courses can be offered with electronic readers.
The Kindle readers, available from Amazon, cost $489 each and are not exactly cheap. However, if enough text books are available in e-book format, students can save money in the long term as e-books cost significantly less than paper text books. Then, of course, there is the prospect of replacing the heavy school bag with a compact device.
On the other hand, students will have to learn new skills for using the device. Taking notes, for example, is more complicated than adding them to the margin of a book using a pen.
Seattle U has been trying out modern technology in teaching. Classes are offered both on-line over the Web and in classrooms. Wilson corrects his students’ papers electronically via e-mail and uses podcasts in a project.
Read the story at su-spectator.
Tags: electronic learning, electronic reader, kindle e-reader
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One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) for all of World’s Children
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC)is reportedly a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education. A recent report mentions of their activity in Kandahar, in war-torn Afghanistan.
OLPC delivered 774 XO laptops to students and teachers at the Zarghona Ana middle school in Kandahar. The report adds that this brings the total of XO’s distributed by OLPC to 3,700 in Afghanistan, and 1.4 million worldwide.
The Kandahar project involves in addition OLPC, USAID/Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED); the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology; Roshan, Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications provider; and PAIWASTOON, a local private IT company. The project is led by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education.
The XO laptops will have thousands of pages of digital content in the local languages of Dari and Pashto. Also included are acess to 150 educational mini games and interactive versions of curriculum content. Children can take the laptops home, and this means girl students can learn at home without inviting reprisals for going to school.
Read the news at: OLPC.
Tags: Afghanistan, education, laptops, OLPC
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