Educational Technology Articles and Resources

The Institute for Education and the Arts shares these links to information about emerging technologies and education.

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SCIENTISTS: VIDEO GAMES CAN RESHAPE EDUCATION
Ben Feller, USA Today, October 18, 2006

“Scientists call it the next great discovery, a way to captivate students so much they will spend hours learning on their own. It's the new vision of video games. The Federation of American Scientists — which typically weighs in on matters of nuclear weaponry and government secrecy — declared Tuesday that video games can redefine education. Capping a year of study, the group called for federal research into how the addictive pizazz of video games can be converted into serious learning tools for schools.”

Read more here.

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WIKIS FOR EVERYONE
From wikispaces.com

“Wikispaces offers free wikis -- collaboratively authored sites, like Wikipedia.org, that let anyone add or edit content -- to all K-12 teachers.”

Learn more here.

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NO TEST TUBES? DEBATE ON VIRTUAL SCIENCE CLASSES
Sam Dillon, New York Times, October 20, 2006

“When the Internet was just beginning to shake up American education, a chemistry professor photographed thousands of test tubes holding molecular solutions and, working with video game designers, created a simulated laboratory that allowed students to mix chemicals in virtual beakers and watch the reactions.

“In the years since, that virtual chemistry laboratory — as well as other simulations allowing students to dissect virtual animals or to peer into tidal pools in search of virtual anemone — has become a widely used science teaching tool. The virtual chemistry laboratory alone has some 150,000 students seated at computer terminals around the country to try experiments that would be too costly or dangerous to do at their local high schools . . .

“Now, however, a dispute with potentially far-reaching consequences has flared over how far the Internet can go in displacing the brick-and-mortar laboratory. Prompted by skeptical university professors, the College Board, one of the most powerful organizations in American education, is questioning whether Internet-based laboratories are an acceptable substitute for the hands-on culturing of gels and peering through microscopes that have long been essential ingredients of American laboratory science.”

Read the article here .

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GOOGLE FOR EDUCATORS

Google has launched a new website aimed at connecting teachers to its resources, which include the blogging site Blogger, the photo management and editing software Picasa, Google Earth, Google Maps, and more. Educators can subscribe to the Google Educators’ Newsletter and participate in a seminar to become “Google Certified.”

Learn more here.