It is time for end of the year lists – song of the year, news event of the year, etc.
Here is the Washington Post year in technology. It is fun to read what others feel were the major developments (and to see how many of these developments were discussed on this blog). The site allows you to cast your vote for your own favorite.
Looking to explore some new tech tools over the holidays. Try Blogdigger – a blog search engine.
Steven Levy, one of my favorite technology writers, has a Newsweek article summarizing the year for Google. The article describes the combination of developments in searching and the business opportunities such services make available.
An article from Edweek comments on young learner search skills and common problems faced in implementing searches (e.g., spelling errors, poor selection of search terms) and identifies alternatives to common search engines that may help.
The K-12 establishment in North Dakota is upset after learning that the plan advanced to establish elementary teachers as highly qualified has been rejected. Part of the frustration is that the 120 day federal review period had long passed (19 months later).
While it is hard to be against providing students access to “qualified teachers”, I was involved in developing the skills of at least some of these teachers and to me the issues are much more complex than NCLB makes it seem. Perhaps the feds have a plan for attracting highly qualified elementary teachers to rural classrooms for 10K less than they can make elsewhere. Perhaps there is a plan for encouraging older teachers in these same settings to spend the time and money necessary to “upgrade” when retirement seems so much easier.
A recent EdWeek article describes the qualification of veteran teachers as a common problem.
It is time for “year in review” comments. The Washington Post offers a piece summarizing the rise of online crime during 2004.
A USA Today article summarizes an International Study of Computer Use and Academic Achievement conducted by the University of Munich. Easy access to computers at home and lots of computer use at school seem to be negatively associated with achievement.
“The mere availability of computers at home seems to distract students from learning.” Computers seem to serve mainly as devices for playing games.
Still, there were a few exceptions: Academic performance rose among those who routinely engaged in writing e-mail or running educational software.
I am looking forward to seeing this study published so that the exact methodology is available for evaluation.