Tuesday - Sep 21, 2010
As texting and friending and web browsing have entered the classroom, the question remains as to whether digital technology has improved education. Technology in the classroom is nothing new, but until recently, most didn’t require batteries.
One of the first learning aids was the horn book, paper printed with the alphabet pasted on a wooden paddle, used by students in Europe and colonial America in the 17th century.
Two hundred years later, the magic lantern entered the classroom. A forerunner of the slide projector, it cast hand-drawn images on to a screen. But the technology that has withstood the test of time–still a fixture in most schools–is the chalkboard.
The New York Times has an interactive timeline that chronicles these learning machines, ending with the iPad, a device that echoes the horn book and may replace textbooks. But will it make kids smarter and maybe more importantly, will it help them think outside the box?
While digital life has its benefits, according to technologist Jaron Lanier, it falls short, “Roughly speaking, there are two ways to use computers in the classroom. You can have them measure and represent the students and the teachers, or you can have the class build a virtual spaceship. Right now the first way is ubiquitous, but the virtual spaceships are being built only by tenacious oddballs in unusual circumstances. More spaceships, please.”
With digital technology inextricably integrated into modern life, it’s not surprising to find it in classroom around the world. While some educators argue that it’s a distraction, most agree that computers are a powerful learning tool. What do you think?
Thursday - Sep 16, 2010
As the gateway to the Internet, your web browser is arguably the most important program on your desktop. In the late 1990s there was a heated battled between the Netscape Corporation (makers of the now-defunct Netscape Navigator browser) and Microsoft (makers of Internet Explorer) –the so-called Browser Wars–for global domination. Microsoft won and for years it virtually owned the browser market. Then along came Firefox, Chrome and Safari, eroding IE’s popularity, which now hovers around 60%.
Personally, I find the latest release, IE8, to be very sluggish and prone to frequent crashes. But since almost 70% of Learn the Net’s readers use IE, I tend to use it too, so I can share the same online experience as you do. When I need to do some serious surfing however, I launch Firefox.
Microsoft has taken criticism of its flagship browser to heart. As of yesterday, it’s made a beta of IE 9 publicly available for download. The company hasn’t said when the final version will be released. According to reports, it may not be until early next year.
So far, the word from the technosphere is very positive. IE9 appears to be speedy, stable and sleek, with a new user interface that promises to improve your online experience: less browser so there’s more real estate to view a web page. Here’s a review of the features.
If you enjoy playing with the next new thing, take IE9 for a test drive by downloading it from Microsoft. Bear in mind that it will run only on the Windows 7 operation system. It’s also a beta release, meaning that you may encounter some bugs. Let us know how you like the new browser.
Tuesday - Sep 14, 2010
Over the Labor Day holiday weekend, I had an opportunity to test out WiFi service from Gogo Inflight Internet. The service launched on Delta Airlines in 2009 and is now also available on Air Canada, AirTran, Alaska, American, United, US Airways and Virgin America.
Pricing varies (nothing is free on airlines these days) based on the device you use and the length of the flight. For instance, a one day pass to connect a laptop on a flight over 3 hours costs $12.95. Under 1.5 hours, it’s $4.95. You can also buy buy a 30 day pass for $39.95 or a monthly subscription if you’re a road warrior. For a small discount, sign up at the Gogo website , otherwise you can set up an account after takeoff.
Gogo is vague about the speed of its broadband connection. All it will say is that “You should expect to experience speeds similar to the mobile broadband experience on the ground.” By searching the Web, I learned that the download speed is 3 Mbps, plenty fast for e-mailing and browsing the Web.
When I first logged on, response was very good. As the flight continued across the country, I experienced a noticeable decrease in speed. Why? As more passengers went online, we all shared the connection, slowing things down.
After I finished my work, I wanted to relax with a movie on Netflix. I made my selection, clicked “Play”, connected to the movie server and started watching. About five minutes into the film, the video stream was interrupted and the software began buffering the data, a process that took at least five minutes. The film then resumed playing, only to stop and buffer again. The third time this happened, I surrendered.
On the Gogo website, I found this FAQ: “…the viewing of full length television and movies is not supported. Watching a few short video clips should work most of the time.”
Bottom line: The service works well for low data-intensive tasks like e-mail and Web surfing. Accessing multimedia is iffy, so don’t plan on watching much streaming video while airborne. But on a half-full flight with technophobes, who knows? You might have better luck than I did. Have you tried Gogo? If so, share your experience.
