Designing Learning Technology

Mon, 27 Jan 2003

Radio post #157
The special issue of ER on the role of design in educational research is out. This includes a piece on design-based research (pdf) by the Design-based Research Collective, of which I am part.

@18.47 #

Radio post #156
Gregg Easterbrook reviews Keith Bradsher's book on SUVs. The review is a very good argument for why SUVs are dangerous to own -- dangerous to the environment, dangerous to other drivers, and dangerous to the SUV driver. What's nice about this article is that it doesn't resort to insulting the character of SUV owners. Instead, it comprehensively deconstructs the major arguments for owning an SUV and shows what none of them hold water.

@18.42 #

Radio post #155
Here is a nice summary of the state of five popular scripting languages. Perl, Python and Tcl are well known. Ruby is a fairly new language. Lua is designed to be embedded within a larger application.

@18.37 #

Tue, 14 Jan 2003

Radio post #154
Here in Seattle everyone is patting themselves on the back (or the rock hard abs) since Men's Fitness ranked Seattle the second fittest city in the country, behind Honolulu. That's nice, but let's take it with a grain of salt: the US is the fattest nation on earth. I'm not sure I'll brag too hard about being the second fastest turtle in the race...

@00.19 #

Radio post #153
Tomorrow is the day that Washington state teachers go to Olympia to push the legislature to take education funding seriously. Washington, like the rest of the country, is in recession, and so it may not be the best time to ask for increasing funding for teachers. But is there ever a good time? As a state, Washington ranks in the mid-30s in teacher salaries, but when you adjust for the cost of living around Puget Sound, the numbers get much worse. According to Mike Riley, superintendent for the Bellevue district, Seattle teacher pay, when adjusted for cost of living, ranks dead last among 100 cities in the US.

@00.14 #

Radio post #152
Here's a clever idea! Pay phones aren't used much anymore, thanks to the fact that everyone on the planet seems to have 2.5 cell phones these days. That's disturbing because it means pay phones no longer make money for telcos, so the phones get taken out of service, which is a problem for those who either can't afford to own a cell phone, or who choose not to own a cell phone. But what if pay phones could double as wireless access points? DSL support is straightforward, and the strategic use of pay phones as WAPs could go a long way toward providing wireless coverage in urban areas. With the increased revenue, telcos might be able to keep the pay phone on the streets. Fortune reports on Bell Canada's pilot project to do just that.

@00.09 #

Fri, 10 Jan 2003

Radio post #151
EdWeek's Quality Counts 2003 is a report on the condition of public education, state by state. This year focuses on the challenges to recruiting and retaining experienced teachers.

@18.57 #

Radio post #150
BETT is a British conference on educational technology, and they have announced 2003 winners of their BETT Awards. There are several categories of software and hardware; many of the nominees are new to me.

@18.55 #

Radio post #149
It's nice to see Apple injecting new life into web browsers with "Safari". For now, I'm sticking with "Chimera" as my default OS X browser. Safari seems about one release away from being really usable. In a few days testing, I've found that Safari renders over 95% of the web sites I visit properly. Unfortunately, I browse enough that even "less than 5%" is significant. It seems Apple is committed to rapidly fixing rendering errors, so I expect that I'll be using Safari regularly within a few months. I wonder if web designers are concerned about having to support Yet Another Browser, particularly one limited to a non-Windows platform? In educational settings, Apple is still enough of a presence that web-based projects like "WISE" will have to pay attention.

@03.11 #

Tue, 07 Jan 2003

Radio post #148
Tidbits writes about a new approach to reducing spam, custom mail headers that are verified and policed by Habeas.

@18.44 #

Radio post #147
In praise of clutter. There's knowledge in the mess around your desk.

@17.53 #

Fri, 03 Jan 2003

Radio post #146
The January edition of the Technology Source is out. Technology Source is an online, peer-reviewed journal focusing on technology integration into educational organizations. Lots of stuff on course management tools and distance ed.

@17.39 #

Thu, 02 Jan 2003

Radio post #145
The Times also reports on a study that suggests that high stakes testing, as it is currently implemented, may lower academic performance because of a heightened focus on narrow testing goals, and may also increase dropout rates. One disturbing suggestion, for which the study does not provide direct evidence, is that administrators may pressure failing students to drop out, in order to improve the school's overall score.

@19.12 #

Radio post #144
Wireless changes the learning environment. The NYTimes reports how college students now have other things to do in lecture. So much for the captive audience...

@19.06 #

Radio post #143
It's been a long, crazy holiday season, which included a business trip to Chicago, jury duty, and time off for family. I wish everyone a healthy, happy 2003, as we get back to the business of helping people learn.

@19.02 #