RIMS CTAP DPLC

This really takes me back. Slashdot: “Looking Back From the 1980s at Computers In Education”

“As someone who went to high school in the ’80s, this newsletter from 1980 (PDF) is a blast from the past. An interview with Microsoft talks up its BASIC language product and predicts voice control of computers in five years. Advertisements for Compute magazine, which was about to go monthly, and an article about a computer ‘network’ in Minnesota that connects some fax machine-looking terminal to a central computer over telephone lines. Lots of Atari, TI and RadioShack news too. It’s a reminder from 30 years ago that we are still not using technology effectively in education.”

I posted the New Digital Natives blog post on the Calaxy site, K12HSN, on the same day that I posted on the DPLC to get more coverage. I was suprised to find a number of comments from other educators on the Podcast News site, so if you are interested here is a link to those comments - http://www.k12hsn.org/calaxy/blogs.php/johndurham/2010/01/20/the-new-digital-natives/

Remember Keep Up the Tech!!!

A Kaiser Family Foundation survey revealed some new information about 8 to 18 year olds using media throughout the day.  Everyone life has changed with the introduction of "New Media" into the mainstream of cultures worldwide.  The article discusses why publishers may be willing to move to a new delivery system for this media.  Here is the link for more information from the website 9 to 5 Mac -http://tinyurl.com/ycxtuly 

Updated:

Just viewed the Kaiser Family Foundation live broadcast of the discussion of this report.  I managed to capture some of the video with a panel discussion of the findings of this report.  I am including a link from the Kaiser Family Foundation that includes downloads of the report and the PowerPoint presentation from the event. Here is the link: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm

BBC: “Children who use technology are ‘better writers’”

Children who blog, text or use social networking websites have better writing skills than those who do not, according to the National Literacy Trust.

A survey of 3,001 children aged nine to 16 found that 24% had their own blog and 82% sent text messages at least once a month.

In addition 73% used instant messaging services to chat online with friends.

However, 77% still put real pen to paper to write notes in class or do their school homework.

Of the children who neither blogged nor used social network sites, 47% rated their writing as “good” or “very good”, while 61% of the bloggers and 56% of the social networkers said the same.

“Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing,” Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, told BBC News.

Continued…

Just when the "digital citizens" thought that they were trying to keep up with the kids, this report from NPD Group (http://tinyurl.com/n4v98n) gives us a pause.  Here is the link to the article from ars technica - http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/06/report-kids-use-of-tech-growing-exponentially.ars

The University of South Florida has created the Center for 21st Century Teaching Excellence for faculty development at USF. The Center will store audio and video podcasts that will support teaching and learning. This along with Lit2Go is a must visit for educators.  To visit this site open iTunes, select iTunes U and then select University of South Florida.  You may also use the search feature of iTunes by typing in “C21TE” to access the files or you may use this link -  http://itunes.usf.edu/

Remember Keep Up the Tech!