Designing Learning Technology

Tue, 13 May 2003

New Age Toys
Wired reports on the state of toy technology. "Sixty percent of preschool toys have some kind of [computer] chip in them." So toys can be more interactive, although it seems toy makers are still figuring out what kinds of interaction fit best with how children use toys. (I know I'm not their target audience, but the wireless Pooh doll that vibrates when a child shakes its rattle drives me nuts.) And the article notes that technology can go too far if it forces the child to interact with the toy in one specific way.

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Marketing Test Scores
School Sleuth gives families access to information on over 13,000 California public schools. Available data includes test scores, state rank, credentialled teachers, and racial demographics. Presumably the software helps relocating families find a suitable school district. I'm presuming that all of this data is public (for example, the results of the STAR test can be found here) but presumably there's a market for providing easy access to the data. For parents, this is important information to know, but certainly doesn't tell the whole story about a community or a school. If tools like this are successful, I worry that it will place increased pressure on testing, making test scores even more of a high stakes game.

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