Oct 29
Posted by DevLearn Staff
Categories: Higher Education
100 Percent Are Technology-Enhanced to Aid in Student Comprehension, Retention
LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell announced today that 100 percent of its classrooms are equipped with technology that helps faculty explain complex topics to students.
“One hundred and ninety classrooms on campus are ‘smart,’ or technology-enhanced,” said UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan. “This generation of students expects to use technology in every aspect of their lives, especially in education. This investment gives faculty the tools needed in the classroom to help students absorb and retain complicated information, which is key to student success.”
The university’s technology-enhanced classrooms include a teaching podium, computer, digital document camera, DVD/VCR player, laptop and network connections, integrated sound and a system that controls all audio and video from the lectern. Faculty and students are extremely positive about how the technology aids learning not only in the classroom, but also later as students review materials and lectures to prepare for exams.
Lecture Capture Technology Helps Students Retain Information
Some classrooms also include an interactive LCD touchscreen that acts like an electronic writing tablet with the ability to save, share and print class notes. In addition, UMass Lowell recently outfitted 60 classrooms with Echo360 lecture capture technology, the largest deployment of its kind in New England.
Read more HERE
Oct 28
Posted by DevLearn Staff
Categories: K-12 , Higher Education
The foundation announced this week that $20 million is up for grabs for innovators in tech for education.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced this week that $20 million is up for grabs for education innovations in a new push to prepare high school students for college. The Gates Foundation announced a request for proposals for its "Next Generation Learning Challenges" from innovative programs that have a working technological or online component and a sound educational intervention to put the technologies to use in the service of preparing high school students for college. The foundation has previously focused on education in low-income, marginalized communities, but this is the first time the foundation is focused explicitly on educational technologies for college preparation.
"We're really excited about technology in education," Gates Foundation Senior Program Officer, Josh Jarrett, tells Fast Company. A former software entrepreneur and former McKinsey consultant with a Harvard MBA, Jarrett has a thing or two to say about innovation in technology and education.
With 63% of jobs at the end of the decade requiring a higher degree, says Jarrett, there is an urgent need for innovation in college preparedness programs.
Read the full article HERE
Oct 28
Posted by DevLearn Staff
Categories: Mobile , WWW/Internet/Intranet
A conflict which had been simmering below the surface was sharply highlighted earlier this year. When Apple revealed that the iPad wasn’t going to support Flash, it threw theFlash vs. Web Standards debate into the public eye. Since then, Adobe has been quietly but busily working to improve the experience it provides for mobile. Some of the fruits of that labour are now apparent, with a major update recently to Scene7, Adobe’s media streaming platform, and today’s release of study results into what consumers really use mobile for. Probably the most interest claim is that apps are generally no more popular that mobile browsers, despite the stronger media attention.
What’s Scene7?
Scene7 was an independent company founded in 1999, and bought by Adobe in 2007. It focuses on a few functions, but this release is dedicated to one: streaming media to any platform. If you’re an Adobe client with a Scene7 account, you can upload every single piece of digital media you use (sound, video, text, images) to the Scene7 server. Once that media file is hosted, Scene7 will stream it live to any device or screen you want.
Read more about Scene7 HERE
Oct 27
Posted by DevLearn Staff
Categories: Augmented Reality
Augmented reality, as the term suggests, typically refers to “adding” elements into a live-view of a physical environment via computer-generated imagery. However, a PhD student from the University of Calabria in Rende, Italy, has found a way to delete obtrusive elements and make them transparent using augmented reality itself.
In researching visuo-haptic applications that add the ability to see and touch virtual objects in a real scene, Francesco Cosco proposes a “novel mixed reality paradigm” that introduces the possibility of touching and seeing virtual objects in combination with a real scene, but without visual obtrusion produced by the haptic device.
See the full article with video HERE
Oct 26
Posted by DevLearn Staff
Categories: Conference
DevLearn 2010 offers you an unparalleled opportunity to develop and hone your skills and knowledge as an e-Learning professional. The program includes more than 100 learning activities, so you are sure to find sessions that are right for you!
For a full schedule click here
