Learning Apps/Tools
- Project Wonderland: Good Avatars Make Good Neighbors
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7/2/2008
Sun Microsystems's Project Darkstar and the Wonderland Toolkit for building 3D spaces show why virtual reality is better for education than video conferencing. And Project Wonderland has announced its first education space.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
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7/2/2008
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Wake Forest U Aims To Reduce Note Taking with Classroom Capture
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6/30/2008
Students taking a course in venture capital at Wake Forest University have, over the last semester, benefited from the use of Recordant audio-capture technology that allows Web-based archiving, searching, and playback of course lectures. The university said one of the goals was to get students to close their notebooks and focus on comprehension, secure that they'd be able to access the captured lectures later on.
- Lyon's 1:1 Laptop Program Aims To 'Level the Playing Field' for Students
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6/26/2008
This fall Lyon College, a four-year liberal arts school in Arkansas, will join the elite ranks of post-secondary institutions offering laptops to all incoming freshmen. The program is part of a larger initiative, called "The Lyon Experience," which aims to bring "additional value to the education" the school provides. How can a small college roll out such an ambitious technology program? It's all a question of priorities, according to Lyon College President Walter Roettger.
- Podcasting in Instruction: Moving Beyond the Obvious
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6/25/2008
The lightweight, mobile nature of podcasting has the potential of moving education beyond familiar constraints of coursework and promoting a level of networking and input never seen before. But challenges still exist. Can more be achieved with podcasting that would heighten student engagement and maximize knowledge building in instructional contexts? Can we move beyond the obvious in their use?
- Wilkes U and Discovery Education Collaborate on Online Master's in Instructional Media
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6/20/2008
This fall Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA and Discovery Education, which produces digital media-based learning, are launching a new online master's degree program in instructional media. The 30-credit instructional media program will prepare teachers to engage today's students in learning through digital media. Courses will focus on topics such as digital storytelling, using digital media in the classroom, using technology to support creativity and applying brain-based theories of how students process information to technology integration.
- Loyola, NOBTS Use Tech To Return to Pre-Katrina Numbers
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6/18/2008
A huge increase in freshman enrollment numbers for the fall semester has Loyola University in New Orleans pleased with its efforts to rebuild its student body after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) is also looking at strong enrollment numbers, three years after the hurricane and its aftermath of flooding devastated New Orleans.
- Elicitus E-learning Authoring Tool Adds Embedded Sound Recorder
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6/17/2008
Harbinger Knowledge Products has released version 7.0 of Elicitus, its e-learning authoring tool. The new release provides usability enhancements, including an embedded sound recorder.
- Emantras Partners With Odyssey Press, Brings On-Demand Printing To REED Platform
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6/16/2008
Digital education and learning-enhancement company Emantras announced its partnership with digital printer Odyssey Press. The partnership with Odyssey will add on-demand printing for end users of Emantras' REED (Rapid e-Book and e-Journal) platform.
- Free Lecture Capture Platform Adds Blackboard integration, Podcasting Features
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6/11/2008
Panopto told us this week that it's releasing CourseCast v2, an update to the company's classroom capture system, and making it available to educators free through its Socrates Project beta program.
- University Distance Learning Brings Flexibility to State-wide Training
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6/11/2008
Conducting disaster preparedness meetings among 14 Pennsylvania universities no longer requires hours or even days of travel time for university administrators. Instead, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is using interactive collaboration software from Wimba to conduct some of its state-wide staff meetings and training sessions.
- iPhone 3G, New Mobile Apps Debut at Apple WWDC 2008
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6/9/2008
During his keynote address at Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) Monday, CEO Steve Jobs debuted the company's new iPhone 3G, an update to the popular mobile phone and computing device set for delivery July 11. Developers also took the stage during the keynote to show off new technologies arriving for the platform.
- Elluminate Launches Learning Suite, Planning Software for Online Learning
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6/9/2008
Ed tech developer Elluminate Monday announced new collaborative learning bundles--the Elluminate Learning Suite and the Elluminate Next bundle--and launched a new tool for planning online learning sessions called Elluminate Plan! The company also told us it's revamping its education licensing structure, moving away from a concurrent user model to a structure based on the full-time enrollment of educational institutions.
- Can We Trust Students to Learn in Web 2.0?
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6/4/2008
A core debate about learning design arises from the fear that, if we allow learners too much freedom, they will not learn the right things. Web 2.0 exacerbates that fear because it is beyond the control of educators.
- Threats to Office Multiply with New Offerings from Adobe, IBM
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6/4/2008
Paying for word processing software may soon be a thing of past if Microsoft competitors Adobe, Google and IBM have any say.
- Who's Out Front with Technology Innovation on Campus?
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6/4/2008
The Web 2.0 wave on campus may have left academic computing units in its wake. Is anyone in charge of technology innovation?
- Cengage Completes Acquisition of Houghton Mifflin College Division, Expands Offerings
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6/4/2008
Print and digital instruction and reference materials provider Cengage Learning announced Monday that it has completed its acquisition of Houghton Mifflin College Division (HM College). After announcing the agreement to acquire HM College in December, the company recently received the regulatory clearances required to close the deal.
- Free Online Tool Helps Users Record and Share Research
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6/3/2008
A free clickstream recording Web service for researchers has launched, developed by two college graduates who had become frustrated by the inefficiency and redundancy of gathering research. iBreadCrumbs, created by California State University, Fullerton graduates Reuben Fine and Rey Marques, is an online tool that allows teachers, researchers, and students to save and share their research with others.
- U Arizona Brings Phoenix Mars Mission to iTunes U
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6/3/2008
The University of Arizona has brought video and animation relating to the Phoenix Mars Mission onto iTunes U, the education-focused portal hosted on Apple's iTunes. U Arizona is the lead on the mission, the first in a NASA program aimed at launching smaller missions to Mars designed to complement larger ones.
- Adobe Intros Acrobat 9, Launches Acrobat.com Beta
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6/2/2008
Adobe Monday announced details of its forthcoming major revision to the entire Acrobat family: Acrobat 9. The company also debuted a new Acrobat.com collaboration beta site and announced an updated Creative Suite (version 3.3), which will incorporate the upcoming Acrobat 9 Pro software.
- Students Get Web-based Planning and Time Management Service
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6/2/2008
Studiolo Systems has gone into beta testing with StudyRails.com, a Web application intended to help students improve their academic performance by optimizing their study habits. StudyRails provides step-by-step, personalized study plans, e-mail and cell phone study reminders and the blocking of social networking Web sites, software and games during study time.
- Smart To Update Classroom Response System in July
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5/29/2008
Education technology developer Smart Technologies this week announced a new version of its Senteo interactive response system, Senteo 2.0. The free upgrade is expected to be available in July.
- Social Networking: Learning Theory in Action
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5/28/2008
There has been a lot of recent debate on the benefits of social networking tools and software in education. While there are good points on either side of the debate, there remains the essential difference in theoretical positioning. Can social networking both as an instructional concept and user skill be integrated into the conventional approaches to teaching and learning? Do the skills developed within a social networking environment have value in the more conventional environments of learning?
- Frankenstein in the University
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5/28/2008
In our day-to-day encounters with new media, online education, and vendor software products, we may sometimes be tempted to believe that encroaching technology is controlling the way people teach and learn. Is there a monster in our midst, determining our actions?
- Live@edu Integrates Exchange Labs
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5/27/2008
Microsoft's Live@edu, a suite of online tools focused specifically toward education, has now been expanded to include Exchange Labs, which is similar to a hosted Exchange service but with prototype features that are not yet available to the general public. The move brings expanded e-mail options to campus IT departments, including 10 GB of space per account, as free added features.
