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April 15, 2001
The Back Page
By Amy Poftak and Kristen Kennedy
Watch Words
Killer App Short for killer application-one that is extremely useful and can drive technological and social change-this term arose in the mid-'80s to describe Lotus 1-2-3 (which spurred the IBM PC market) and, in the 1990s, the World Wide Web. Some speculate that the next killer apps for schools will be e-books and peer-to-peer technology.
Rollover Rollovers, also known as JavaScript rollovers, are those changes in appearance that occur when your pointer is "rolled over" a graphic on a computer application or on a Web page. The graphical transformation of your pointer into a hand when you roll over images online is a familiar example.
Text Messaging The sending of short electronic messages to and from mobile phones, pagers, and handheld computers. With the increase of cell phone-toting kids, text messaging may bring passing notes in class to a new level.
Trojan Horse The Greeks used it to sack Troy. A hacker created it to do the same to your hard drive. Like its mythological namesake, an electronic Trojan Horse is a deceptively benign program that, once downloaded and run, wreaks havoc on your operating system. The "ILoveYou" virus is one of our more recent Trojan Horses.
WYSIWYG Pronounced "whizzy-wig," what-you-see-is-what-you-get technology enables you to see screen images exactly as they will appear in print. For example, someone using a Web authoring tool can preview a work in progress by selecting the WYSIWYG function to get a realistic rendering of the "real thing."
Sources: TechEncylopedia, The Jargon Dictionary
Gleanings
For the Boys?
A recent UCLA study found that young women entering college are far less confident in their computer skills than young men. While men and women reported almost equal amounts of regular computer use, men were twice as likely to rate their skill level as above average. The study also found that incoming men are five times more likely than their female peers to pursue a career in computer programming. This year's gender gap is the widest in the history of the survey.
How Apple Got Its Groove Back
Whether you're doing a unit on the '60s, or you just want your classroom to look groovy, man, check out Apple's new tie-dyed computers. The "Flower Power" model is Apple's latest stylistic spin on its iMac line. Other new features include built-in iMovie 2 software and a slot-loading CD-RW drive for playing and burning music CDs.
Harsh Realities
Employers and professors are generally dissatisfied with how well young people are prepared for work and higher education, according to Reality Check 2001, a survey conducted by Public Agenda. The report showed that 75 percent of employers and professors say young people have fair or poor skills in grammar, spelling, and writing. Ratings for motivation and organization were also low. Slightly better news, however, is that 68 percent of employers and 71 percent of professors were impressed with students' computer literacy and know-how.
Straight Talk on E-Learning
"Unless technology becomes part of the culture of schools-and the learning process is reinvented to reflect this shift-we won't be successful."
Robert Iskander, founder, chairman and CEO, VIP Tone, at the SchoolTone Alliance and Web-based Education Commission Event, San Francisco, February 16, 2001
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