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Where educational technology is taught well, it has been shown to enhance students levels of understanding and attainment in other subjects. Thats because "real" educational technology is more about thinking
skills and, if you like, systems analysis, than about
mastering particular software applications.
Educational technology can provide both the resources and the pedagogical framework for enabling pupils to become effective independent learners.
Educational technology places all learners on an equal footing. Given the right hardware, software and curriculum activities, even severely disabled pupils can achieve the same degree of success as anyone else.
Educational technology has been shown to have benefits in terms of motivating pupils. That comes about partly through factors like being able to produce nice-looking work with no teachers red marks all over it (!), and partly because the computer is seen as being impartial and non-judgemental in its feedback to the pupil.
Educational technology enables pupils to gather data that would otherwise be difficult or even impossible. For example, data from inaccessible places (eg outer space), inaccessible times (eg overnight) or data at very precise time intervals.
Educational technology enables pupils to gather data that would otherwise be time-consuming or costly or both. For example, students can use the internet to get up-to-the-minute information on prices. They can use a CD-ROM to watch movies of old deducational technologyators speaking, or the moon landings, or to listen to a piece of music by Mozart.
Educational technology enables pupils to experiment with changing aspects of a model, which may be difficult or even impossible for them to do otherwise. For example, students of Business Studies and Economics can see what might happen to the economy if interest rates were raised or lowered.
Terry Freedman writes and advises on all aspects of teaching and managing educational technology in schools. Visit his website for even more hints and tips, an the opportunity to sign up for a free newsletter called Computers in Classrooms.
AP - A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.
Posted by frankvgmgzny | 6:47 PM | 
Are you an IT or Networking Company looking to add Surveillance Installations to your service offerings? You are not alone! We continue to see more and more businesses that have IT/Networking backgrounds adding this service with their existing offerings. It makes all the sense in the world, their customer is asking for it and rather than turning it down, this industry is embracing it!
They are all ready familiar with the PC based DVR's and NVR's. The wiring can be ordered with BNC connectors to make it an instant plug and play type install. If you are running CAT5 you can still use analog surveillance cameras with a CAT5 Balun to convert the video. This allows the client to update to IP Cameras in the future with no additional networking expense due to bandwidth concerns.
If you are an IT/Networking company looking to jump into the Surveillance Industry, don't hesitate, you are not alone. However when choosing a Surveillance Vendor, make sure they have technical expertise and offer telephone support. In a perfect world, they might even have a systems engineer and technicians are able to answer all of your questions, ensuring that you are not without support in the field. If you can find a company that custom builds there DVR Surveillance Systems (Commercial Surveillance applications) they will better understand your business and you're possible frustrations as a newcomer to the industry. As some CCTV Installers fail to embrace new technologies and methods, the IT/Networking community will continue to gain market share.
Ryan Temple is the Director of Operations for PCSurveillance.net. PCSurveillance has been serving integrators and manufacturing customized Surveillance Systems throughout the US since 2002. You can read more of Ryan's articles at http://blog.pcsurveillance.net/ Ryan can be directly contacted at ryan@pcsurveillance.net
AP - Anne Hathaway's former boyfriend was sentenced Thursday to 4 1/2 years in prison for cheating investors of millions of dollars by claiming he had Vatican connections that enabled him to buy Roman Catholic Church property at a discount.
Posted by frankvgmgzny | 6:32 PM |
Linux operating system.
This is not for the technologically faint hearted, Linux is a 'community engineered' alternative to the Windows operating system. Benefits to recruitment agencies are
The machines are often cheaper and faster than a Windows PC
They carry equivalent packages (e.g. word processor, spreadsheet, presentation etc.) for all available Windows office software with one key difference, the Linux software is all open source and is therefore free!
Linux machines do not suffer virus attacks. With Windows I used to loose 2 to 3 days per year (plus sleep) over virus attacks and then having to recover data. With Linux in 2 years I've had none!
The one thing to be careful of here is that Linux is different kit to windows, so you will need a specialist Linux company to support you. But, if you can get this, my opinion is, and I stress it's my opinion, Linux is fantastic for recruitment consultants, cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, faster and more reliable!
Open source software.
Office software, and in particular CRM systems can cost recruitment agencies large amounts of money to set up and run. Open source software is free, created and updated by a large community of techies it's presents highly sophisticated alternatives to traditional software. There are now excellent open source CRM packages, totally free as they are open source and perfectly usable as recruitment agency database software. As with Linux, it's advisable to find a company who will support you through it, but other than support, the software is free to obtain and use on an ongoing basis, and it's web based, making it easy for recruitment consultants to view from any location. Have a look at Sugar CRM.
Messenger.
This is not that new, but essential technology for any recruitment agency, messenger enables staff to communicate from anywhere, real-time, so long as they have an internet connection. There are a number of benefits:
Saves on phone and text charges, messenger communication is free.
Highly effective for team working with channels to all open all of the time.
Excellent to support home working in maintaining your contact with staff.
Works on any PC or mobile device with an internet connection.
Smart phones.
Today's mobile phones offer exceptional functionality with broadband speed internet connections enabling full mobile e-mail capacity and internet browsing whilst out interviewing. If your company places it's database on a server which is attached to the internet, you'll have full access to your recruitment database whilst out with clients or interviewing. The days of recruitment consultants having to synchronise with outlook when you're back in the office are gone. Run a web based e-mail package (try Zimbra) for all your e-mail, calender and notes and you will never need to synch again, simply use in on your phone over the internet
IP phones.
To look at and use these are just the same as any other phone. However, they don't need a phone line, simply a connection to the internet, but here's the good bits.
No phone line, no monthly rental charges.
An IP Phone comes with a an 0845 number which follows the phone. If you travel to the other side of the world and plug into the internet, and you have your same 0845, your same office extension (so your PA can still put calls through) and free calls to anyone else on an IP phone, or at worst a local rate elsewhere.
The biggest application for recruitment consultants is home working. You could be in the office one day, and at home the next, and still on the end of your office extension, the potential savings to recruitment agencies here are huge.
Web based e-mail.
Gone are those days when web based e-mail was just hotmail, which was convenient but lacking the sophistication of packages like outlook, which carried calenders and other useful office functionality. Now, packages such as Zimbra offer unparalleled functionality on a web based package, also now configured to work on smart phones for mobility. Rather than having to synchronise e-mail packages on PC and smart phone, now mobile recruitment consultants can use the same package where ever they are, on any computer, anywhere in the world. The software is open source, so it's completely free!
If you are a recruitment consultant like myself, you may find it difficult to focus on things like this which are visibly related to generating another fee. But be warned, recruitment consultants who embrace these developments are giving themselves the advantage before the recruitment has even began.
John Bult runs job sites for Recruitment consultants in the UK
AP - The Bush administration on Wednesday warned of "real consequences" for Iraq if it rejects a newly negotiated security pact. Without a deal, the United States could be forced to end its military operations.
Posted by frankvgmgzny | 5:33 AM |
One type of technology that definitely brings people a lot of entertainment, enjoyment, and even social bonding is video gaming platforms. Ever since Atari and other primitive video game platforms first came out about thirty years ago, the video gaming industry has tried to make better and better devices to keep people interested in all the have to offer.
There have been a number of breakthroughs in video gaming technology over the years, and as a result we now have video game platforms that have built in hard drives, optical disc drives, enormous amounts of RAM, and even multiple computer processors working in parallel. In the past, the major competitors in the video gaming industry have been Atari and Intellivision, and later Nintendo and Sega, but now it's pretty much come down to Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Play Station 3. Both of these two products have a lot in common, including the fact that they both have multiple processors, built in hard drives, optical disc drive, the ability to connect to the Internet, and stunning graphics that can reach HDTV resolutions.
One of the features that they both have in common is the ability to play high definition DVD's onto HDTV sets, making them high definition DVD players (as well as normal DVD plays and CD players). Even these High Definition DVD formats are in competition because the Play Station 3 plays Sony's Blu-ray high def DVD format and the Xbox 360 plays Toshiba's HD-DVD format. The way in which these two devices accomplishes this are a little bit different though. That's because the Xbox 360's ability to play high def DVD's comes from an optional HD-DVD drive that can be attached to the unit via cable, and the Play Station 3 comes with a Blu-ray drive installed.
The fact that these two devices play different High Def DVD's has brought them right into the middle of a format war between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Both formats essentially accomplish the same thing (although there are technical reasons why Blu-ray may be superior), but can't be played on each other's players and disc drives. For that reason, it's generally agreed that only one of the formats can survive the format war.
Both Sony and Toshiba (with Microsoft's help) have been trying to gain an edge in the market for their respective formats, and both of these video game systems have become pawns in the format war. It was hoped that the Play Station 3 would promote the benefits of the Blu-ray format to people who would buy a Play Station anyway and then watch Blu-ray discs on it as an afterthought. The problem with this strategy has been that the extra cost of including a Blu-ray drive is reflected in the Play Station 3's price and many gamers don't want to pay the extra money. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, has avoided that pitfall by making its HD-DVD drive an optional separate purchase.
All format wars aside though, these to gaming platforms are very impressive pieces of technology.
A leader in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue her dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occasionally confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.
AP - The number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to data released Thursday.
Posted by frankvgmgzny | 5:16 AM |
