Oct 6
Posted by mLearnCon Staff
Categories: K12
Hand-held device will soon become part of classrooms across the country
The role of technology in the classroom has no doubt been a contentious issue since the first Roman student brought an abacus to his grammaticus. Using the most up-to-date equipment in school has always seemed to be a necessity. And yet the process of learning hasn’t really changed that much since ancient times: teachers still need to teach and students still need to pay attention.
Last week Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sparked a national debate on the role of technology in Canadian classrooms. Asked about a proposal to relax a ban on cellphones in the classrooms of Toronto-area high schools, the premier seemed rather agreeable to the idea. “Telephones, BlackBerries and the like are conduits for information and one of the things we want our students to be is well informed,” he said. “It’s something we should be looking at in our schools.”
McGuinty has a point. It seems inevitable that some sort of hand-held wireless device will eventually become part of education systems across the country. The cost and complication of traditional textbooks makes electronic delivery of course material straight into the hands of students a rather attractive proposition. For this reason alone, electronic tablets or smartphones such as the BlackBerry likely have a place in the classroom of the future. The prospect of linking students together via communication technology also holds great educational promise.
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/09/28/dont-give-students-more-tools-of-mass-distraction/
Oct 4
Posted by mLearnCon Staff
Categories: Industry , Oracle , Google/Android
OpenWorld JavaOne | Oracle is throwing hardware-accelerated graphics and web integration into mobile Java to catch and contain Google's rogue Android
The database giant has laid out plans for Java ME - Oracle's preferred flavor of Java on mobile - that will let the stack render HTML, CSS, and Javascript by default.
Java ME is going to include WebKit Engine, JavaScript Engine, and Java/JavaScript Bridge, which will mean phones running future versions of Java ME can access web services and apps outside of a browser and - potentially - without any performance bugs or performance issues.
Also, Oracle is juicing 2D and 3D graphics with a brand-new Java rendering engine planned for the next calendar year.
Read the full article HERE
Oct 4
Posted by mLearnCon Staff
Categories: Industry , Google/Android
Google updated its Gmail mobile e-mail client for the Android operating system decoupling it from a smartphone's core functions. The move by Google to independently offer a version of its Gmail software is a big step by the company to wrestle back control from carriers how core functions of the Android OS look and perform.
Most owners of Android-based phones rely on a version of Gmail baked into the phone's OS provided from a wireless carrier. Users rely on the carrier to manage and update that version of Gmail. Now Google has freed Gmail from carriers, meaning Android users will get individual updates straight from Google, bypassing the carrier. This gives both Google and end users more control over managing and updating the Gmail e-mail client on their Android-based phone.
Read the full article HERE
