Pros and cons of e-readers vs. textbooks by Cynthia Boris

Article tweeted by @JudyArtz

The article states that while e-readers and tablets save students from lugging heavy books around they don't really save any money. A textbook might cost $121 while the e-version costs $86. A student could sell the actual text back for around $75 bringing the total cost down to $54 nevermind the cost of the tablet or e-reader. Another advantage to traditional textbooks is being able to annotate them. The e-reader is very difficult to navigate and doesn't allow easy annotation. Tablets are much better because they much like regular computers that have text mapping and annotation tools.
This article is relevant because I have heard some speculation that CPS might move to e-readers or tablets rather than traditional texbooks. While I agree that there is great value in tablets other than just e-text I think e-readers would be a waste of money. High school students would benefit greatly from not having to bring heavy textbooks to school every day. I knew there was a reason that I didn't ever want to buy a Kindle but now I actually know why. I'm getting a tablet as soon as I can afford one or someone gives me one. It has much more value than e-readers. I hope to have one soon, for the classroom and personal use.

Massachusetts School Launches 1:1 iPad Program for Students in Grades 3-8

Tweeted by @SNewco

The article states that Tower School in Boston's North Shore has put money together to get each kid his or her own ipad for the upcoming school year. The program was piloted last year with great results. One science teacher was amazed at the quality of work the students were able to put together with the ipad. Also, how easy it is to grade work because it's all online. They have also set up an online community for the students to have discussions and help each other with any issues with the work.

I feel like this is the first step in the right direction. It's good to see a rich community show how effective technology can be to students. I would like to see this tech spread around to the students that could benefit from it the most, sooner than later. The "Hole in the Wall" experiment by Sugata Mitra showed how technology helps the most underperforming students the most, while students who already perform well only see a small increase. I think this technology would be a great asset to teachers in Chicago public schools. I hope AUSL comes through with all it's connections and I see ipads in my classroom, wherever it is.

Search Engines Change How Memory Works

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/search-engine-memory/

The article by Brandon Keim is based on Elizabeth Sparrow's research on how transactive memory is affected by online search engines. Data suggests that people are less likely to recall facts that are available online. This is similar to how we use people in our social network, relying on them as references rather than remembering everything ourselves. Sparrow begun a new study analyzing how students perform on critical thinking tasks when relying on transactive memory.
It will be interesting to find out what that study yields. We as teachers are more concerned with critical thinking skills and any insight into this is valuable. I hope to find that critical thinking is positively affected due to not having to "download" facts. I realize there is no substitute for having information readily available in your memory, however. Having to look things up on the internet for every piece would be time consuming. As we are moving toward interactive classrooms we should be aware of the implications of promoting such a style of thinking and memorization. Should students memorize anything if it is always available? Does memorization slow down or speed up critical thinking skills? These are questions that will hopefully be answered by future studies. I will be on the lookout for some answers.

Following on Twitter.

Didn't know I had to post my list. Here they are:
coolcatteacher
tomwhitby
rmbyrne
TeachPaperless
tedtalks
Dell EDU
OfficeofEdTech
NMSI
infomalscience
Science_Ed
THEJournalDave
TimesScience
AND many others

Angry Bird Awesomeness!!

I must first say that most of the tweets I see are garbage. Or they have no educational value whatsoever. So sifting through them takes a little bit. But when you find a re-tweet about Angry Birds being used in a 9th grade physics classroom in Atlanta, GA it makes it all worth while. The physics teacher was able to use Angry Birds as a way to explain projectile motion. He broke it down into the Y and X axis showing that gravity affects the Y motion and the initial velocity is the X axis. The students weren't on their Iphones during class. It was Google Chrome who made Angry Birds accessible to the teacher to put it up on a projector. The students were going crazy learning physics. They can't wait to learn more using cool games. Unfortunately, you can't get any better than Angry Birds... so it's all down hill from there.
I'm starting to get excited at the possibility of teaching physics in the classroom. I am a Biology nerd but might could potentially teach physics. I will use Angry Birds if I get a chance to teach force and gravity. And I will continue to look for cool new games and tech to get students interested in my subject.
Die you evil pigs!!! Angry Birds rules.

PLN #1 Four New Initiatives from the Department of Ed

I am finally following the full 10 twitter accounts in education and technology. I decided to follow @elemenous who retweeted an article from the Office of Ed Tech. The article was about 4 new initiatives by the Dept of Ed to integrate technology into american education throughout the country. The first point was giving data on where broadband is throughout the country an which schools have access to it. The idea is that as more of the country has access to broadband the more connected all of the public schools should be. Another more interesting point was how valuable it is to have a professional profile for connecting to other educators. More and more teachers will be connected across the country and world in order to share research, new projects, and new ideas on how to be a more effective teacher.
The education community is growing very fast now that everybody can be connected through the web. This will be a valuable asset to me going forward in my career. I feel lucky to be teaching in a time where all of my colleagues can share info on what is going on in their classroom. Also, this article also excites me because it shows that the DOE is ready to move into the technological age of education. Having it be a movement across the nation will help all students and teachers learn more quickly. This is an asset we must take advantage of as educators. We can't afford to be behind the curve. Our students need us to give them every advantage we can.

Power Point