Computer use may not help students (National Post, 27 Feb 2008, Page A5)

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Computer use may not help students
BY KEITH BONNELL Canwest News Service
National Post
27 Feb 2008

Filling classrooms with computers does not seem to be making students any smarter and may actually be harming the education of younger children, a new report suggests. The analysis questions the millions of dollars that are being spent each year by... read more...

This is not a new debate. Technology is always under fire to justify the cost and proposed results. Technology needs to be a tool in education and not the focus of education.

Most teachers these days are digital immigrants and not digital residents like our students. Perhaps we are not getting the results we expect from our technology because we need more resources diverted to training and support for these tools.

You are the experts what is your opinion?

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

Is It Time We Delve Into the World Of FACEBOOK?

Many of our students have been "face booking" for years! Now the police are starting to have a presence on the web as they are starting to use FACEBOOK to investigate crimes. Read this article in the Windsor Star. If our students are into Facebook and now the police are starting to train their officers on how to use it isn't it high time Educators are well versed in the world of Social Networking?

Cool Software

Screen Hunter is probable one of the most useful utility programs I have used. Basically you start the program and hit the F6 key. The program lets you make a box around anything on your screen. The Image is stored in a folder of your choice in a number of different graphic formats. The image is also placed on the clipboard for instant access. There is version 4 and 5 available. Version 4 is extremely small but lacks a few features and polish. Available for PC only. Click on SadWiki for dowload and instructions for MAC users!

Video Capture

JING is Cool Really Cool. How do I define cool? FREE, EASY, and QUICK.

Jing is a test project that will allow the user to select any portion of their screen and capture a movie of everything done in that space. Jing will record your voice (provided a mic is installed) while it records the screen so you can use this to explain something to someone or just comment.

Click on the button to see an example of JING screen capture during a RCAC session.

Click on SadWiki and Browse to Cool Software for more info.

Enjoy!

A Word About Technology

Technology and It's Ever Changing Face




What do you think?

Where to Begin?

Today we have spent the morning learning about Web 2.0 tools and in particular RSS Feeds. The use of such tools is endless and extremely thought provoking.

Many in our board feel that Wikipedia is not a good reference tool for students. This Article poses some interesting points that do not support this view point.

Where do we go next?