Reuters has this article up about a middle school in Boston that has stopped using textbooks, paper and pencils in favor of laptops. The laptops are handed out to every student at the beginning of the school day, the kids use them all day for math, reading, etc., and hand them back in at the end of the day. The school library is still standing and stocks lots of fiction in book form, so I suppose I can support the idea of computers replacing all tree-based implements of learning in the classroom. (Really, I think it’s that I can see the inevitable age of laptops-for-every-human and no-more-trees-left-for-paper coming down the pike, so I may as well give up and step out of the way.)

I adore pencils and paper (Ticonderoga #2’s and college ruled) and books that are bound and I will probably never give them up completely, regardless of mankind’s technological advancements. However, as much as I prefer words in print to their computer-screen counterparts, I do understand that technological evolution, progress, and advancement (blah blah blah) is forward motion and that is usually a positive thing.

I’m not terribly fond of the increased amount of screen time elementary and middle school kids will be adding to their daily tally if laptops are to be used all day in the classroom, but I’m sure that back when someone started writing on paper, there was my cave-writing counterpart bitching about how mankind’s technological advancements into paper making were going to ruin everyone’s eyesight. The symbols can be bigger on the walls, you jackasses! We’ll all go blind if you start writing small on that clay tablet crap! I am crotchety and I fear change no matter which epoch I’m residing in.

Further Reading:

Testing with Tech: The Role of Technology in Supporting and Enhancing Assessment

Technology Integration

Technology Not Being Used Effectively in Schools

NEA Survey Results on Technology in Public Schools and Classrooms

State Leadership in Technology For Schools: Trends in access, use and capacity

Technology Literacy and the MYSpace Generation

Posted by Alexa Harrington

Again I say: there but for the grace of All Things Holy go I. A phone call to my parental units might be in order so I can thank them excessively for bringing me into this world at a time when computers took up entire rooms, tiny technology was available only in science fiction books, and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook hadn’t yet been conceived of.

By no means was I an over-the-top party girl in high school or college, but I feel confident that had the technology been in place, I could have certainly captured some detrimental moments for posterity. Any number of which, I can guarantee, would somehow, somewhere, have been unearthed by a prospective employer.

Bowling Green’s online newspaper has an article up about the increasingly standard use employers make of sites like Facebook and MySpace to screen job applicants. I don’t agree with the practice, and part of me feels like it’s an invasion of privacy for employers to go digging around online for information. Which brings me around to the impossible-to-refute point that nothing posted online where the whole world can see it can be considered personal or private.

It sucks that teens and twenty-somethings have to work harder that any other generation since the Victorian age to mind their reputations, but all this technology is probably here to stay. Don’t put s**t out there that you don’t want people to see. Like all things logical, it’s elegant in its simplicity. So either keep your proverbial pants on or mark the “friends only” box on your chosen social networking site. Good luck.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

The AMD Foundation has come up with an awesome way to teach middle and high school kids the skills they’ll need to successfully graduate from high school and go on to college: creating video games. What kid doesn’t love gaming? The program’s official name is AMD Changing the Game.

Along with their partner organizations, Girlstart, Science Buddies, Global Kids, Institute for Urban Game Design, and the 5th Annual Games for Change Festival, they teach the program participants STEM skills: science, technology, engineering and math.

Because the games the kids design have socially-relevant themes, like how to deal with the effects of a natural disaster, the students are made aware of their fellow humans and how important it is for everyone to look out for more than just themselves. “Global concerns such as poverty, hunger, climate change, and the genocide crisis in Darfur have already been addressed in games that help players understand the complexities involved and explore creative solutions.”

Further Reading:

Girlstart
Science Buddies
Global Kids
Institute for Urban Game Design
Games for Change
AMD Foundation Press Release

Posted by Alexa Harrington

Online colleges have increased in popularity and ease of use over the past decade. A lot of that probably has to do with the convenience factor of online courses—no travel time, no sitting in class, no moving to another city, etc. In addition, the fact that the technology has improved on both ends—the school/instructor end and the student end—makes the whole concept more feasible for anyone who might be considering online education as an option. There are pros and cons to an online education, but for an increasing number of students, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

As far as online course options go, there are two: you can take online courses from a fully online college, which would enable you to earn an entire degree online; or you can take online courses from a traditional brick-and-mortar college that offers online courses in addition to their regular in-classroom courses.

Online college resources:

All Online Schools
The Open University (in the UK, but a good resource nonetheless)

Taking online courses from a known brick-and-mortar college makes the question of accreditation a little less sketchy. Because anyone can pretty much do and say whatever they want online, if you’re looking into a fully online education at a fully online college, you owe it to yourself to check their accreditation status. Fake diplomas from diploma mills don’t tend to look stellar on the résumé.

Here are some good accreditation resources:

Council for Higher Education Accreditation
U.S. Dept. of Education

Posted by Alexa Harrington

On a biological level, WiFi is not as necessary as water, but I think it can be argued that having the capability to access the information available on the Internet is conducive to survival in society today. The advent of indoor plumbing was such an improvement for humanity, wouldn’t you agree? Electricity in homes was another bonus. Two developments that improved our lives immensely, were momentous when first implemented, were at first only available to the wealthy, and are now so standard in American society that to lack electricity or running water is a sign of poverty, a natural disaster, or camping.

The concept of Public Internet is following a similar path. It’s quickly becoming necessary (to the point of being taken for granted) that of course everyone in America has access to the Internet and all the knowledge and information contained therein. Online information can be found, maintained, and more inexpensively and instantly updated than its hardcopy counterparts. Much like public utilities, once the infrastructure is in place, WiFi should be available to everyone, regardless of the real estate values in their neighborhood.

I’ve never understood, nor have I agreed with, the idea that knowledge should be accessible only to the dudes with the most cash. The printing press and public library systems are two of my favorite human ideas–they rank right up there with matches, tape, Ziploc bags, wet-wipes and cell phones. I think we’re all familiar with how pissed the powerful religious types and the wealthier citizens were when the printing press fell into the hands of the uneducated masses. Suffice it to say, those in control preferred an uninformed public and the printing press meant newly clued-in hordes of poor people. Historically speaking, that has rarely gone well for those in charge.

I’m not saying The Powers That Be are preventing the spread of public WiFi as a way to control the masses. I’m sure it’s got much more to do with profit than with keeping the little people down. In case there was any confusion, neither of those reasons is valid. Education and information should be available to everyone. If humans have figured something out, we should all get to learn about it. ‘Those With Access to the Most Knowledge Win’ is a dumb game. Doesn’t it seem in our best interest (as humans, I mean) to collectively know more? I’m not a hippie or a communist or a socialist or an ist of any kind. I avoid grouping and clubs and labels. I’m just cranky me with an overly black-and-white view of the rules, and it just seems that keeping information out of someone’s hands for profit or control clearly falls under the ‘Wrong’ category.

If you have Internet access you can read more about those fighting the good fight:

NPR’s On the Media: The Last Shall Be First
The Battle For a Public Internet
Internet Archive Brings Free High-Speed Internet to Public Housing
Muni Wi-Fi Powers Hope at San Francisco Housing Project
Where’s My Free Wi-Fi?
Internet Archive
Low-Income Residents Get High-Speed Access

Posted by Alexa Harrington

January is almost over, which means if you made a New Year’s resolution that necessitates the implementation of a whole new organization regimen, that all needs to happen before month’s end or you will have officially failed at that resolution. As far as organizing your life, you’ve basically got four choices (see below). Don’t be a slacker. Just pick the one that will actually work for you (not the one you wish you were together enough to pull off).

(1) High-tech gadget-y bits:

Laptop
iPhone
PDA
Time Machine

My guess is if you already have one of these or are lusting after one enough to purchase it, you already have a pretty good idea what it can do for you and whether or not you’ll actually take full advantage of it’s life-perfecting applications. If you’re going with the laptop, I’ve heard good things about “Google’s suite of productivity applications,” which a large percentage of Lifehack readers will back me up on. Plus, Google’s free. The iPhone is not. And the time machine isn’t real.

(2) Find a new religion:

Getting Things Done

The be-all, end-all organizational regime/regimen that some people swear by, and other people don’t have that much effing time for. I’m a cheater and skimmed the good bits off regarding dealing with crap the moment it enters my sphere of influence so I never have to think about it again. Also, I agree with the writing everything down so you don’t spend stupid amounts of energy trying to remember details and info.

(3) Mid-range tech:

The PocketMod
Hipster PDA

The PocketMod does require a computer and the Internet, but in its final form, it’s a strictly (you have to watch the instructional video so you do it right) folded up sheet of paper that you can customize, write stuff on, and keep in your pocket for the day. It’s perfect for the light packer. And for anyone who doesn’t need their organizational tool to last more than a day. If you do need to remember any written bit, you’ll invariably end up with a pocket-roughed stack of booty-shaped PocketMods on your desk, waiting for you to sift through looking for that one word/ phrase/ assignment/ phone number.

(4) Low-tech (tubes of ink required):

Notebooks
Moleskines
Day-Timers
Post-its (bordering on time-suckage)
Random scraps of paper (evil time-suckage)

This is my level—I never claimed to be a high-tech girl. Molskinerie.com proves I’m not the only paper-using, low-tech dork out there. It’s fascinating to see how involved some people are with what is basically some bound-up blank paper. I’m not quite that intense with regards to my paper product usage. However, I do use one bound notebook for all calendars, lists, notes, etc. so I never have annoying pieces of detritus to sift through.

Random scraps of paper are a waste of time and are the way an eight-year-old would organize his life. Grow up and at the very least (read: this is the uncool and frugal option) buy a generic notebook at the grocery store for a dollar, use the first two-thirds as a calendar (one page per day) and the last third of the notebook for lists (grocery store, new phone numbers you’ve acquired, To Do, directions to your date’s house, etc.). If you ever find yourself with an errant scrap of paper with important information written on it, write the info in your notebook and ditch the scrap. Keep your notebook with you always (excepting showering or date moments) and I swear you’ll save time, money, and all kinds of mental energy.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

My world is better when all pertinent information is collected and listed. Lifehack.org just posted The Ultimate Student Resource List, thereby improving the alignment of the universe. Don’t you feel lighter, more organized, supremely in control of yourself and everything around you? I really, really, very much do.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

This 60 Minutes special is all about the generation that was born between 1980 and 1995. It’s about the tech savvy, multi-tasking, “me, me, me,” crowd. “Some of the others are absolutely incorrigible.”

Watch a Wall Street Journal columnist blames Mr. Rogers for making kids of this generation feel like they are way more special than they are. It’s the generation of the coddled college student who tells his professor, “My Mom wants to talk to you,” about a bad grade.

And one video features a woman - Mary Crane - who makes a living training Generation Millennials - on good manners and proper workplace etiquette (wearing underwear is a must, she tells them).

There are lots of other videos that are a part of the segment. Check it out here.

Posted By Sindya Bhanoo