TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION DIGEST
Digest No. 30 -- November 26, 1997
A Moderated Mailing List
Steve Wildstrom (steve_wildstrom@businessweek.com), Moderator

Return to Technology & Education

>Stephen D. Scouten" (hfs51@univ-hsg.hfs.msu.edu) wrote:
>Does anyone know of a vendor that produces small keyboards?

The Apple eMate 300 mobile computer designed for education was indeed designed with a smaller keyboard that works very well for younger children, yet is not too small for larger hands as well. You can find more information on the eMate on Apple's education website, www.education.apple.com.

>Stephen D. Scouten" (hfs51@univ-hsg.hfs.msu.edu) writes:
>Does anyone know of a vendor that produces small keyboards?

MicroTouch by SIIG is a good one, uses an Fn key like a laptop. Also IBM had a smaller one for schools. You may be able to pick these up used from some other schools and they replace computers.

Mike

Kevin Sullivan, responding to our difficulty of getting the teachers of the K-5 school to release kids for say an hour for internet training raises the very legitimate question of whether we are trying to tech them how to cruise the internet for questionable material. The specific material I have been using for training the kids is a terrific kids oriented newspaper distributed free( for now at least), "TOO COOL FOR GROWNUPS". .it is published here in the Durham/Chapel Hill (NC) , by a couple of guys trying to make it as successful financially as it is educationally. I heartily recommend it for teachers/kids from probably 4th grade through 10th anyway. Of course, despite the richness of the newspaper for internet purposes, once we've taught them how to access the internet and use search engines, keeping the kids on what we want them to look at, as compared say to what they want, is like herding a bunch of cats.

Herb Halbrecht (919) 620-0546
Fax (919) 620-0454

An article appreared in Government Technology Magazine regarding laptops and students. Earlimart School District in a small farming community in central California partnered with CompUSA to provide laptops to 1,800 students from kindergarten thru eighth grade. The students can opt to buy one at $1,400 which is equipped with Microsoft software.

All students use the computers during school hours and may take them home. Apparently, many hurdles were overcome to provide this program, but the goal is to level the playing field and develop self-motivated learners in a community where only 11 percent of parents have completed high school, Spanish is the primary language, and more than 60 percent of the students have a limited ability to read or speak English. I think more info is available on CompUSA's web site www.compusa.com.

And library competence will not be a trait that these kindergartners develop. (... assuming anyone out there still believes that libraries, real libraries, are important ...) Instant information will be demanded by these children, and whatever is not available from the gizmo on the lap will be deemed unimportant and too much trouble to pursue. Bet on it.

And of course, Microsoft will be deemed as demi-god-like. Research has proven that extensive computer use by children who cannot yet read can very well result in future learning dysfunction.

"Silicon snake oil is soooo... seductive. We will not know the effects of excessive IT thrusting on kids until it is too late. "

Kevin -- using computers since 1984; on-line since 1994.

>Craig B. Coogan (craig@c-e-o-s.com) wrote:

> >In Digest 27 you asked:

> ><<<[Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools decided a couple of years ago >that all sixth graders should get laptops. The proposal lasted about 15 minutes >before being crushed by parent opposition. Anyone know of other cases?--MOD]>>> >

There are a number of schools across the country implementing eMate laptops for their students. Little Falls, Minnesota Schools eMate implementation (every 5th graders has one, and there is a lot of community involvement) has a nice write up in the Brainerd, MN newspaper. Check out the web site at http://www.brainerddispatch.com/FPStories/november97/FP111097t.html. This one will be of special interest in light of the comment about parent objections, since they have a very high degree of parent support. In fact, parents are given the opportunity to own the eMates (often with financing arranged through local institutions, and after just a few months of implementation, more than 60% of the parents have laid out their own money to have their fifth grader personally own their eMate.

Dear Educator,

THINK AHEAD, and PLAN *NOW* for SOME UNIQUE LEARNING EXPERIENCES...

YOU and YOUR STUDENTS are invited to bring "REAL SCIENCE REAL LOCATIONS, REAL SCIENTISTS, REAL TIME" into your learning environment via TWO upcoming PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE projects in SPRING 1998!

--------->LIVE FROM THE RAINFOREST

*Live Telecasts* April 7th, 14th, & 21st, 1998 from on location in Brazil, Hawaii and across North America; live at 13:00-14:00 EASTERN.

&

---------->LIVE FROM THE POLES

A *special* live telecast on April 28, 1998 from the Antarctic and Arctic in conjunction with NSF's National Science & Technology Week (NSTW). 13:00-14:00 EASTERN. NSTW, whose theme for 1998 is "Polar Connections:

Exploring the World's Natural Laboratories" is celebrated April 26-May 2, 1998. (NOTE: See separate posting for more details or call 1-800-626-LIVE for details)

Content focus: Science and Social Studies, with interdisciplinary extensions to math, language arts, computers, etc.; Special focus on biodiversity.

Grades: 4-12

Telecasts:
Three live telecasts April 7, 14, and 21, 1998. Freely available via NASA-TV or select PBS stations.

Special segments showing how students can use data from NASA spacecraft and the Space Shuttle to connect "remote sensing" with "ground truth" to better understand our planet and the regions where they themselves live.

Taping rights: one year from broadcast dates. Call 908-273-4108 for pricing on the 3 one hour videos if not available via satellite access in your area.

Support Materials:
Teacher's Guide pack available includes 60 page guide featuring hands-on activities, special PTK full color LFRF poster, student worksheets, and more. $20.00 per guide pack.

Multi-media Kit includes Teacher's Guide pack described above, teacher resource video with rainforest background and segments demonstrating how to implement hands-on activities via classroom demonstrations, sample online materials, set of 35mm slides, and more! $125.00 per multi-media kit.

Availability: EARLY 1998 (call 908-273-4108 or 1-800-626-LIVE for updates!)

Online Resources: Via the Web / Presently under development. Web date availability: EARLY 1998! Web address to be announced! Check 1-800-626-LIVE for updates!

To subscribe to an online update newsletter bringing you the latest plans and information, send an e-mail to: listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov In the message body write: subscribe updates-lfrf Send your message and you will receive a welcome/confirmation message and regular updates.

Overview of live telecasts:

Three one-hour programs take students via live TV and the Internet around the world to visit global rain forests. Then students will look back home to connect the science and social studies they've experienced to North America's own diverse environments, exploring issues of biodiversity by comparing Hawaiian and Brazilian rainforests and the temperate rain forest of the Pacific Northwest, as well as urban back lots, with the amazing and instructive international sites they've seen.

PROGRAM 1
"Mission to Planet Earth" Tuesday, April 7, 1998 13:00-14:00 EST

This program will show the diversity of rain forests around our planet, and their connection to how we live, no matter where we live. State-of-the-art visualizations show how ground truth and remote sensing combine to give the most current picture of a dynamic and living ecosystem.

PROGRAM 2
"Worlds Beneath the Canopy" Tuesday, April 14, 1998 13:00-14:00 EST

Real time interaction between students in North America, and researchers on camera in Brazil focuses on the many animal species to be found in the varied ecological niches provided by rain forests. Students will also see how sustainable development can assist the human inhabitants of the rain forest, while preserving viable environments of animals, plants and living organisms which are a library of genetic diversity created by nature over the eons. NASA images demonstrate how satellite technology can assist nations in long-term monitoring and management of their resources.

PROGRAM 3
"Connect Globally, Act Locally" Tuesday, April 21, 1998 13:00-14:00 EST From the Brazilian, Hawaiian, North American rainforests and urban back lots, where lessons of biodiversity are literally brought home, the third and final program will show how the Internet and educational telecommunications can create new, ongoing collaborations between world-class researchers and secondary school students.

Passport to Knowledge Contact Info:

PTK HelpLine: 1-800-626-LIVE / 1-800-626-5483 updated regularly!

PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE, P.O. Box 1502, Summit, NJ 07902-1502

voice: 908-598-0949 / fax: 908-277-9590

PTK is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

The following is an internal Bay information document. It's not proprietary. Please read the 'letter' below, and tell me what you think.

Instant EduNet isn't a product so much as it is a new paradigm for infomation delivery in the education environment.

For too long, people have been foisting business-type computer networks into the decidedly non-business environments of elementary education classrooms. Nobody has bothered to see if any of it serves a purpose. Technology seems to be its own justification.

Another point: I'm not a big fan of using newsgroup digests as 'advertising arenas' so I wouldn't suggest that this letter, in this format, be posted to the digest. But I do think that this particular technology development is something that will catch on, and is really needed. I'd like to talk about how best to be informative, telling people about this new way of doing things, without denigrating the information exchange into a glorified ad 'spam.'

Steve Jackson
Sr. Program Manager
Bay Architecture Lab
RTP, NC

* * * A narrative 'letter' to your favorite educator:

* * * Hello Again

Been pretty busy here, thanks for being patient. I now have a chance to tell you about the 'Instant EduNet' system we've developed here at the Bay Architecture Lab. It's a part of the new Bay Networks.

I am very excited about the prospects of people using this new system to put Web access in the classrooms, especially for those students who do not live in affluent areas. It's those kids who need all the breaks they can get, I think. Even rural schools can use 'Instant EduNet' because it's affordable to buy, and also affordable to own for the long term.

I will describe the system the Lab has put together. My description is in several pieces, since Instant EduNet actually is several different things all in one 'box.' It is set up to work as one 'system' even though it's constructed of otherwise unassociated technologies. The system capabilities I'll describe are in no specific order, but I have placed what I think are the most important two items first.

Many (most?) school classrooms are either already wired for television sets, or could be wired at very low cost. The cable that is used to hook up TV sets to 'Channel One' and other educational programming can also be used to network computers - and BOTH can operate at the same time! Lots of folks do not realize this. They think you can use only computer data cabling to hook up computers, and this just isn't so.

So, the first thing I can do with 'Instant EduNet' is support high-speed computer hookups along with TV signals, all on the same EXISTING wiring. No change is needed to current curricula, either. And, in the event the wiring has yet to be installed, the cable used for Instant EduNet costs much less than 'NetDay' setups. And, again, it supports both TVs AND computers... so, you get two 'networks' for the price of one. The special 'NetDay' computer data cable can't by itself be used to feed TV sets; it's idealized only for computers.

Second and just as important, I can DIRECTLY support a new kind of classroom computer that costs ONE-THIRD what a typical conventional computer does, and even less to own and maintain!

I am using a specialized 'module' that services these new, so-called 'thin-client' computers. They are also known as Network Computers or NCs ('NC' is what I call them). These NC devices do not have hard drives, floppy disks, or any of the sort of moving-part innards that are prone to fail. The students can't bring in and load game software and viruses from home, nor can they execute 'delete' commands to class materials.

A NC takes only a moment to boot-up, unlike a conventional PC. It's also smaller than a PC so it takes less desk space, and has no fan. It's not affected by power surges, and we know the power wiring in the classroom wasn't designed for today's electronics. You can turn a NC off without shutting down the operating system first, unlike a 'regular' PC. The NC does have a mouse, and it is operated just like a PC is, with Windows on the screen. The NC can have a local printer attached if you want, as well as a projector, so that the whole class can see what information is being accessed. Finally, the teacher does not ever have to administer the unit ... no maintenance worries ... he/she simply has to turn it on! There's little learning curve. I know a lot of teachers can be intimidated by computer technology, and the NC goes a long way towards alleviating this problem.

I guess you could say, for school use, the NC is the filmstrip projector of the next century! It's as easy to use as a TV with a VCR, and just as inexpensive to buy and own. The unit I have in my office (a WYSE model 2530) cost me $520 and has the performance of my wife's $1100 Pentium. And since it gets its 'computing power' from the network, it never becomes obsolete like a 'regular' PC does.

One more important thing: I can use even obsolete, hand-me-down PCs with this NC technology! You can get old, donated PCs from businesses and individuals, and use them just like new ones. You can make any 6-year-old '386' machine into a NC by loading a small piece of software. No tedious 'upgrades' are needed. That old 'clunker' can be made to perform like a 1997 Pentium, for less than $100.

Third: EVERY classroom, not just some, gets high-speed Internet access!

Would you buy a new encyclopedia, but only one copy, and hide it in the school office? NO, of course not, but that is what having Internet access in only a few classrooms is like. The system can eliminate the rat's nest (and expense!) of phone lines and modems in each classroom, and the slow access speeds they limit you to. And, my system tracks whet Web site was accessed - and by whom.

Gone are the tedious filter-programming efforts needed to keep the children from 'surfing' objectionable materials, which are needed with today's systems. Everyone will know that all Web activity is being logged. If, by chance, a computer in an unsupervised classroom gets used to 'visit' some objectionable Web site, we would have record of whose log-in was used. Parents could have access to this log, if they felt that their child was using school equipment to see things they felt were 'not appropriate.' This eliminates parental concerns as a hurdle to overcome, when implementing classroom Internet technology.

Fourth: each classroom can ORIGINATE video programming as well as receive it! No expensive "special multimedia center' required! You could have a class develop a dramatic art project to 'broadcast' to the whole school, or have morning announcements delivered by the principal, or a student, live and on camera!

Think of the possibilities: a 'play' depicting some past event would bring to relevance history for many students now disenfranchised from the topic. Or, maybe a special science project, which can only be done in one room, or outside, that could be watched by the whole school -from the student's desks. You can also send this programming back to a community TV channel for the whole town to enjoy and learn from!

Fifth: you can have a school TV 'banner' channel like the 'real' cable systems ... which could have on it all the school's news of the day. Cafeteria menu, program schedule, extracurricular activities, weather, time, birthday announcements, advertisements, you name it! It would instill a real sense of community for the whole school.

Sixth: the teachers and administrators get their own private computer network. No worries about 'Johnny' or 'Jenny' hacking in to the computer system to change their grades! This independent network would be completely private from the 'academic' network, except that it requires no extra wiring.

It's a shame I'm running out of time to write here, there's so much more! I just wish I knew how to tell more educators what the possibilities are with this technology.

Someday, I envision school textbook publishers printing new curriculum guides that 'point' to their Web sites - so that the books will never be out of date! Science texts will never again talk about space travel in the future tense, and social studies books won't have to stop at the Reagan years simply because there wasn't enough money to buy new books.

I hope you can sense my level of excitement, and that we can prepare a way for you to try 'Instant EduNet' yourself - soon.

Sincerely,

>Your Local Bay Networks Account Executive<

* * * * * * * * Steve Jackson
Bay Architecture Lab
Research Triangle Park, NC
sjackson@baynetworks.com

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