Posts Tagged ‘education’

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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.

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Posted in education, information technology, training | No Comments »

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

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Posted in cognitive development, cognitive science, education, learning | No Comments »

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.

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Posted in education, education delivery, information technology | No Comments »

Who Benefits from Online Courses? Friday, March 5th, 2010

Some universities offering online courses have shut down as the venture proved unprofitable. On the other hand, online courses can prove ideal for adults in employment as they can study at their own convenience. At a time when the demand for traditional skills are declining, retraining options through online courses can be a boon.

At the same time, online courses might not be the answer for acquiring certain types of skills. You won’t want to entrust your life to a surgeon who has learnt surgery online, if such a course was available.

Online courses, however, can keep trained professionals up to date in their fields, provided the courses are designed with that objective in mind.

Enrollment at online courses are growing fast, with one in four students reportedly taking at least one online course in 2008. Online courses can help educational institutions to keep down costs and increase their revenues, despite the shutdowns mentioned at the beginning.

Read the discussion about online courses at NY Times Blog.

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Posted in business, education | No Comments »

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