Technology

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Technology in the Classroom: Does it Help or Hurt?

Policy, Research, & Analysis, Technology June 8, 2015 at 7:30 am

A recent study by scholars at the London School of Economics has revived the argument over using mobile technology in schools, and whether students should be allowed to use their own devices. The study found that schools that banned cell phones had a 6% stronger test score improvement than schoolsRead More

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Protecting Student Privacy Online: A Look at New Proposed Legislation

Education News, Technology March 31, 2015 at 5:35 pm

Earlier this year, we told you about the Student Privacy Pledge which Google, Microsoft, and other major infotech companies signed in a gesture of goodwill toward keeping students’ data safe. The pledge was put forward as part of President Obama’s broader agenda on education technology, an agenda in which dataRead More

Curriculet and USA Today Partner to Mix Current Events and Literacy

Curriculet and USA Today Partner to Mix Current Events and Literacy

Education News, Technology March 13, 2015 at 6:33 pm

One of the most prevalent concerns in the modern American education system is literacy. Studies show that while most students can understand the face value of written words by third grade, only about one third of middle schoolers can truly comprehend written texts. A variety of strategic plans, teaching strategies,Read More

HISD Extends MyON Deal Giving Students Access to Free Books Online

HISD Extends MyON Deal Giving Students Access to Free Books Online

HISD, Technology February 19, 2015 at 8:30 am

In 2014, HISD partnered with myON, a service of Capstone Publishing which allows students to access hundreds of books online for free. The partnership was intended to support the Literacy by Three program, which stresses full literacy by the end of third grade, and the Read Houston Read program, whichRead More

Hour of Code 2014 Success Stories

Hour of Code 2014 Success Stories

Education News, Technology December 30, 2014 at 12:44 pm

The week of December 8-12, 2014 marked Computer Science Education Week. Millions of students around the US and the globe participated in the non-profit organization Code.org’s Hour of Code, teaching kids about the basics of coding in a 60-minute introductory course. Schools that participated in the event around the countryRead More

Op-Ed: Why the Traditional Low-Tech Classroom Isn’t Enough Anymore

Op-Ed: Why the Traditional Low-Tech Classroom Isn’t Enough Anymore

Opinion, Recommendations, Technology December 22, 2014 at 8:30 am

When you see buzz about education technology – like our recent feature on President Obama’s ConnectED Initiative – do you find yourself wondering why it matters? Do students really need laptops or tablets? And are agenda apps and digital textbooks really necessary? If you feel this way, you’re certainly not aloneRead More

Texas Pushes Programming Languages in New Graduation Requirements

Texas Pushes Programming Languages in New Graduation Requirements

Education News, HISD, Houston Schools, Technology December 10, 2014 at 9:00 am

Computer Science Education Week and Code.org’s “Hour of Code” are in full swing, reaching out to millions of people worldwide. Code.org hopes to demystify computer science for the masses and establish computer science as part of the core curriculum for all schools. This is particularly important for students in theRead More

K-12 Comp Sci Offerings on the Decline Nationwide

K-12 Comp Sci Offerings on the Decline Nationwide

This week, students in classrooms throughout America – including many right here in Houston – will be answering the challenge to complete an “Hour of Code” as part of Computer Science Education Week, an annual event championing computer science in K-12. Given the ascendance of computer science as an industry,Read More

Hour of Code Will Bring Comp Sci into Houston K-12 Classrooms

Hour of Code Will Bring Comp Sci into Houston K-12 Classrooms

To most of us who aren’t computer scientists, programming seems like a daunting prospect. We know that our computers, tablets, and phones could not function without vast quantities of code, but we couldn’t write that code ourselves – we couldn’t even make sense of it if we read it. WithRead More

New Guidelines Suggest Screens Not Always Bad for Toddlers

New Guidelines Suggest Screens Not Always Bad for Toddlers

Policy, Research, & Analysis, PreK, Technology November 16, 2014 at 9:36 pm

Parents of toddlers and pre-kindergarten kids: do you let your kids watch TV? And what about using iPads? In the media-driven world of the 21st century, many children grow up with digital screens. These media are so ubiquitous – and, indeed, so useful for keeping children occupied – that itRead More

Chromebooks Edging Out iPads in the Classroom

Chromebooks Edging Out iPads in the Classroom

Goods for Teens, Technology November 13, 2014 at 11:40 pm

Perhaps the biggest trend in K-12 ed tech right now is the movement toward providing students with tablets and/or laptops for use in their schoolwork. Many of Houston’s best private schools provide this technology for their students, and under HISD’s PowerUp Initiative, Windows laptops will be made available on aRead More

Texting while driving is chemically addictive

Texting while driving is chemically addictive

Goods for Teens, Technology November 11, 2014 at 6:54 pm

A new study commissioned by AT&T finds that 75% of surveyed drivers admit to at least glancing at their phone while behind the wheel. The reason, according to the study’s author Dr. David Greenfield, is that “we experience an elevation of dopamine” when a notification shows up on our phone. FurthermoreRead More

Op-Ed: An Argument for Game-Based Learning

Op-Ed: An Argument for Game-Based Learning

Health & Science, Opinion, Recommendations, Technology November 5, 2014 at 9:58 pm

Several months ago, we published an overview of educational games and their potential benefits. More recently, we also discussed a game-based productivity app in our recommended productivity apps for teens. From Minecraft-based curricula to edutainment apps for iPhone and Android, educational games are more widespread now than ever before, andRead More

5 of the Best Productivity Apps for Teens

5 of the Best Productivity Apps for Teens

Goods for Teens, Technology October 7, 2014 at 6:00 am

In a day and age when tablets like the iPad are increasingly being adopted as educational tools, digital textbooks and homework portal apps are part of daily life for many students. But what about work and productivity apps? More than 200 programs are categorized as productivity apps in the AppRead More

The Pros & Cons of Khan Academy

The Pros & Cons of Khan Academy

Khan Academy has taken the world by storm in the eight years since its inception. The online video library hosts a wealth of subjects with video tutorials allowing its users to learn at their own pace. The non-profit organization is backed by some of the largest and most influential foundationsRead More

SMU professor warns against cyber security flaws

SMU professor warns against cyber security flaws

College, Profile, Technology March 14, 2014 at 3:29 pm

On a frigid February 26th morning, Dr. Frederick Chang, a former research director at the National Security Agency and current SMU professor, gave a talk on cybersecurity to a small group of SMU alumni. While the crowd may have expected an informative lecture on how cybersecurity works, the talk wasRead More