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November 15, 2001
Trend Watch
By Susan McLester, Amy Poftak, and Kristen Kennedy
Active Voices
It is a sweet twist of fate when technologies intended for the business world turn out to have compelling applications for education. This was the case when a recent Frostig Center study found that voice recognition technology, first pioneered by IBM for power computer users, improves dyslexic students' writing, reading, spelling, and comprehension skills. In a separate effort, the University of Colorado at Boulder and communications giant Avaya have teamed up to develop voice technology that will be able to detect expressions and interpret gestures. The technology, designed to boost Avaya's customer relations, is also being used to provide individualized feedback for children with hearing impairments and reading disabilities.
Reading Preferences for Handhelds
As educators explore the potential of handhelds in the classroom, one of the inevitable questions is how well and how much students can read on those tiny screens. Results may soon be in. Preliminary studies published in Usability News showed that neither font type nor size actually impacts performance-but users definitely do have preferences, nevertheless. According to editor Barbara Chaparro, users preferred a 20-point font size over a 12-point. She added, "One might say that if someone 'enjoys' a font more, they may be more apt to read longer with a higher comfort level." Studies using actual handhelds are currently underway.
First-Person Time Travel
We found out during an in-house software demo just how valuable Microsoft's System Restore function really is. System Restore-standard issue in Windows ME and XP-returns your computer to an earlier time without losing recent work, such as e-mail or saved documents. On our desktop loaner from Gateway, the function is called "Go Back," and that's just what we did when a bad program wreaked havoc on the hard drive. System Restore let us set our calendar back to the day before we loaded the offending program, quickly returning our computer to its original, fully functioning glory.
Bright Future for Amphibians
At last September's Educational Technology and Telecommunications Markets Conference (EdNET 2001), LeapFrog SchoolHouse walked away with the Rookie of the Year Award for its innovative education technology products. Kid-friendly tools, such as the handheld Twist and Shout and Think & Go Phonics, incorporate voice-chip and touch-interactive technologies to help youngsters learn to read.
Flight Simulators Grounded
Just days after terrorists attacked the United States, British retailers pulled Microsoft's Flight Simulator off the shelves at Virgin Megastores and Woolworths out of respect for the thousands killed on September 11th. While no evidence has been found linking Flight Simulator to the hijackers' pilot training, the gaming industry is nevertheless evaluating programs for excessive violence and sensitive topography. Popular game publisher Electronic Arts has already suspended development of "Majestic," in which players receive frantic phone calls from characters, a feature now deemed too true to life.
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