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March 15, 2002
Trend Watch
By Susan McLester, Amy Poftak,Kristen Kennedy and Michelle Thatcher
Hot this month: talking, typing, and touting technology.
To Cell or Not to Cell?
What's Your Opinion?
Should schools ban student cell phone use? We'll report your responses on the Back Page in the May issue.
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While most schools require kids to turn off their cell phones during class periods, some allow phone use only after school hours, with cell phone-abusing students earning Saturday detention. In Michigan, concerned parents and kids are challenging a controversial law prohibiting cell phones, PDAs, and pagers in school. Originally banned because of their role in drug dealing on school grounds, cell phones have become an accepted way for parents and kids to keep in touch, they argue. With market research predicting that half of all teens will own cell phones by 2004, acceptable use policies for this technology are in the future for schools.
Keyboard "Lite"
A doctoral candidate whose repetitive stress injury kept him from writing his dissertation may have transformed the way computer users type. His invention, the TouchStream keyboard, uses sensors that detect slight finger movements above the keys to determine what users are typing. Even better, sensors in the keyboard read gestures instead of mouse movements, minimizing the hand and arm motion that causes many wrist and shoulder stress injuries while "mousing." Though TouchStream is not designed specifically for use in educational settings, we think it's an important development both as a safeguard against future injuries to young computer users and as a tool for students with physical disabilities who require touch-sensitive peripherals.
Speakeasy
Gaming companies Sony Online and NCSoft have teamed up to develop "universal translator" technology that will allow online game players who speak different languages to compete against each other in real time, according to a recent Wired News report. That means an online player in Japan could go up against a player in Australia without any language barriers. While the technology is being developed for the lucrative gaming market, watch for it to be harnessed for cross-cultural educational applications in the future. ;
Don't Leave Technology Behind Either
At a recent summit hosted by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training, former and current Secretaries of Education Richard Riley and Rod Paige met with education technology advocates and business leaders to strategize on how technology can help play a part in ensuring every student is best served by the No Child Left Behind Act. Key findings of the group include the need to: consider 21st-century skills, such as technology literacy, in student achievement measurements; improve collaboration among government agencies, industry, and education; expand incentives for software and other electronic learning solutions for schools; and ensure equal access to technology through improved broadband connectivity. For the full text of the NCTET Summit findings, visit minds.tv.
Read other articles from the March Issue
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