CNN STUDENT NEWS

It might involve helping one person; it might involve helping hundreds. If there’s someone you know who’s helped your community in any way — large or small — we want to hear about it!

Carl Azuz Anchor, CNN Student News

Software developer ScrollMotion has been tapped to develop iPad-friendly versions of textbooks for education publishers like McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin, and Kaplan.

Features that may make it into the iPad textbooks include video, interactive quizzes, the ability to record lectures, highlight and search text, and take notes, according to The Wall Street Journal.

ScrollMotion announced a similar deal to bring textbooks to the iPhone and iPod Touch during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June of last year.

google translator: Media to promote a bad thing.

Cult hero: Tatsuya Ichihashi (back of picture) has attracted hundreds of fans after being arrested for the murder of British student Lindsay Ann Hawker

Social networking sites Mixi and 2Channel have been innundated with admirers who have awarded him elevated nicknames, such as Ichi-sama (Lord Ichi) and Tobo Oji (the fugitive prince).

Some content themselves with lavishing him with praise while others have fantasised about having sex with him. Bizarrely, some supporters claim he could not have murdered Miss Hawker, 22, as he looks ‘too kind.’

‘When he was arrested, I thought his dishevelled black hair and the line along his neck to his jaw made him look so sexy,’ one blogger wrote. ’He’s really cool!’, another added.

Lindsay Ann Hawker

The Gyotoku  police station where Ichihashi is awaiting trial has also been struggling to deal with a slew of fan mail -  Masumi Kurata, an expert on criminals and cults in Japan, said: ‘From his image on wanted posters, Ichihashi seemed like a hunk, and I suppose this had a strong impact on young women. They see him as a man of mystery, like a hero in a romantic comic story.

Aya Matsumoto, a clinical psychologist, added: ‘It was a very cruel crime, but it seems that people here are treating it almost as if it were entertainment.

‘It seems to me that anyone who appears on television here in Japan is immediately elevated to some sort of star and these people are unable or unwilling to associate Ichihashi with Miss Hawker’s death.

Miss Hawker’s family, from Brandon, in Warwickshire, have fought a desperate battle to bring their daughter’s killer to justice.

dailymail.co.uk

Everyone in the world is conversing about the Apple iTablet.

Here is speculation from the Wall Street Journal.

• Focused on the home and the classroom
• Shared by multiple family members [Um, sorry sis, get yer own!]
• Apple has explored electronic textbooks
• Has virtual keyboard
• Working with print media on text content
• Working with CBS/Disney on video content
• Working with EA on video game content
• Talking with Microsoft about search and maps
• Cable/TV providers resisting giving Apple “best” content (4-6 shows per channel), would rather it be “all” content
• $499  price point
• iTablet UI meant to be shareable; Apple has explored “sticky notes” as a way to share messages; facial recognition as a way of knowing who’s using it
• Apple planning web-based version of iTunes called iTunes.com
• “Buy” buttons would go wide on as many websites as possible

Digital history was made Monday when President Obama became the first commander-in-chief to “tweet” a message on the social networking site, though he had a little bit of help.

When Obama stopped at the headquarters of the American Red Cross’ to promote aid to Haiti, a member of the agency’s new media team wrote a message on Twitter.com telling people he had arrived.

“President Obama and the first lady are here visiting our disaster operation center right now,” the Red Cross staffer wrote.

The new media staffer then asked the president to hit “Update” on the screen and Obama posted the item himself under the @RedCross handle at Twitter.com.

A moment later the Red Cross staffer posted a follow-up tweet: “President Obama pushed the button on the last tweet. It was his first ever tweet!”

White House aides told CNN they believe it is Obama’s first-ever tweet. During the presidential campaign, the Obama team used the @BarackObama account to send out quick messages in the then-senator’s voice, but he did not physically post the items himself, a disappointment to some of his techie supporters.

Text to Canada Saved Woman in Haiti

Thanks to the awesome people at Gizmodo for always keeping us informed when technology is used to save lives.

A Canadian woman trapped under rubble after the recent earthquake in Haiti managed to send out a text message to the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa, a place nearly 3,000 miles away. And it saved her life.

Once received, the text message was “relayed to Canadian diplomats back in Haiti” who then provided aid in the search for the woman. There’s not much more information beyond that, but it’s simply good to hear even the tiniest bit of encouraging and happy news in regards to this devastating event—particularly when it shows that a gadget and solid communication between diplomats can save a life.

• MSF/Doctors Without Borders
• The American Red Cross International Response Fund
• Texting “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross International Response FUnd

Chaos ensued in Tokyo’s ‘geek district’ with the launch of ‘Final Fantasy XIII.’

Hordes of obsessed Japanese flooded electronics stores across the country in an attempt to pick up a copy of the game. Huge queues gathered outside the major game shops in Tokyo, with more than 300 people queuing in Akihabara at one point.

The game itself has received rave reviews across the Japanese gaming community and has set unprecedented sales for the already popular console. With around 4 million PS3 units sold in Japan, Final Fantasy XIII is now owned by more than 30 per cent of the PS3 owners. Sales of the Playstation 3 itself have increased by nearly 100,000.

Japanese Xbox owners are less fortunate. They will have to wait for the release of the game on their console.
Final Fantasy XIII will be released in Europe on March 9th 2010 on both PS3 and Xbox 360.

3 minute video:

TED Talks 2009, Erik Hersman presents the remarkable story of a GoogleMap mashup that allowed Kenyans to report and track violence via cell phone texts. This is an intuitive purpose for the use of technology and social media.

TED TALKS | IN LESS THAN 6 MINUTES

Josh Silver demos adjustable liquid-filled eyeglasses.

THIS is SUPERCOOL

hijō ni goku teion  iken no Googlehon’yaku

YOUTH LEADERS – ACTIVISTS AT HOPENHAGEN

A message of hope: This is Irena Ward’s video, 13 years old from Sydney, Australia.  Her message of hope and belief for the future regarding the outcomes of the Cop15 conference.

ETHICAL CONTRIBUTORS

Rachel Butler

Ethical Contributors.

Ethical Contributors…young people who are participating on this blog. “Rise of the Technology Class,’ was the thesis statement for my MBA in Germany at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership. It served well to highlight why young people ARE NOT actually a technology class who adore technology as marketers believe, but rather a generation who is integrated with devices as appliances. Some exceptions noted, but their behavior proves otherwise. For them, technology creates a bridge to conversations that  previous generations did not connect to.

Technology is often transparent and expected, leaving everyone a ‘creative’ or ‘technology’ class of people. From the posts on this site, it became evident that devices and technology did not create compelling stories, but rather improved a quality of life. Our young students in Mexico want to be online more, but don’t have access to the internet. In Tokyo modern payment methods are common via mobile at retail. In India, there is still a thriving newspaper business. And in the UK and US, young people do talk about technology, but speak much more about themselves.

One blogger, Ryan, wants to turn back time to the era of Sean Connery as James Bond, mid 1960s. No phones, no computer, twitter, facebook or match.com. James was cool and fine on his own with a glass of Smirnoff.

Another blogger, Cristo, asks what happens to our passwords when we die? He wants his family to find his life stored in googlemail. My favorite post is by Veena, who contemplates the complexity of how technology has taken the humanity and personal interaction out of war. Perhaps she has found a philosophical challenge that our society has become to distant from the pain that war causes. Not sure if the Armed Forces on the ground in Afghanistan feel the same way, but her point is well taken. Most modern wars are drone and push-button destruction.

Not money or time is the killer of innovation, but rather FEAR. The young people on this site are brave, thoughtful and fearless to talk about how their contribution to global conversation is based on imagination. Not the technology that enables it.

Usman Ali

Two Halifax, UK teenagers have been chosen to report on key global issues to their peers for the next six months, as part of a youth reporters project.

Calderdale Youth Parliament member Usman Ali, 16, and Denise Donnelly, who is a student at Calderdale College, have been selected alongside 25 other young people from all over the UK to bring a local perspective on key global issues for the next six months, thanks to funding from UKaid from the Department for International Development (DFID).

Youth Reporters: DFID

Usman said: “With the current global economic crisis, the spotlight can effortlessly be taken off international development. However, I believe as a young person I can raise awareness across the UK as to why international development is vital.”

Denise added: “It will give me an insight into a possible career in journalism and give me the chance to have my voice heard, as well as giving other young people a chance to air their views.”

Phones, netbooks and iPods are finding a place in the curriculum and expanding student access to technology.

Fifth-graders at Chormann Elementary School in the Southgate (Mich.) Community Schools are in their second year of using iPods. This year, they are discussing the novel Coraline with Peers in Australia, England and Singapore.

Technology has finally progressed to where mobile devices are cheap enough and powerful enough to use,” observes Elliot Soloway, a professor at the University of Michigan and at that school’s Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education. Soloway, who believes that cell phones are the true one-to-one computer option for schools, is also co-developer of GoKnow, a mobile learning environment that runs educational software on handheld computers.

At West Elementary School in the St. Marys (Ohio) City Schools, District Technology Coordinator Kyle Menchhofer helps fifth-graders use cell phones to learn vocabulary terms and definitions in social studies.

In other schools they also take quizzes and tests and store their work in an “e-locker,” from which they can transfer files to other devices such as laptops or desktop computers at home. Teachers can use management tools to record and monitor student progress and time spent on task.

These people are quite interesting:

MobileYouth researches and consults on youth marketing and mobile culture. Graham Brown and Josh Dhaliwal formed mobileYouth in 2001. They publish regular youth marketing and mobile culture research as well as share insights through online presentations,research videos, radio show and public speaking.

Feb Week 2

• Bahrain (1 space left)
• Dubai (fully booked)
• Delhi/Mumbai (1 space left)
• Kuala Lumpur (1 space left)

Feb Week 3

• Jakarta
• Singapore (1 space left)
• Hong Kong
• Taipei
• Shanghai

Feb Week 4

• Tokyo (fully booked)

Mar Week 1

• Seattle (1 space left)
• San Francisco
• New York
• Toronto

mobileYouth website click here

by Joshua – Paris Apple Store. Ridunkulously Cool

For all of us who are Apple fans, this is another cool first. Stores open in different countries- iPhone goes live in China this week. Soon there will be an ibookstore, although I like to carry a book. This is cool.

New art – meets old:

Thousands flocked to Carrousel du Louvre on Saturday, the scene of France’s first Apple Store opening.

Beneath the Louvre Museum in Paris one can find a host of high-end shops and eateries and can now also find France’s first Apple store. Saturday saw the store’s opening, and thousands were on hand to peruse Apple’s current products – take advantage of the Genius Bar’s knowledgeable staff.

The store “shares several features of the more spectacular Apple stores in the chain – views for visitors.” Lower-level visitors have views of the spiral-glass staircase and can peer through the 30-foot tall window to the outside which is dominated by the inverted glass pyramid unique to the Carrousel du Louvre mall.

During a press briefing at the new location, Apple executives noted that France will see the fastest rate of new store openings of any other country to date. The Montpellier store will open Nov. 14 and in 2010 a store near the Opera Ganier.

rise of the technology class apple paris

I read this online a few days ago. Does the world think that we want technology everywhere? Students will have to pay for devices to save schools money. I have my mobile, I have my laptop.

When are we changing the name of this blog to ETHICAL CONTRIBUTORS?

Cushing Academy is the very model of a New England boarding school. Clock tower? Check. Maples and meandering footpaths? Check. Flags representing the 193 home countries of its alumni? Check.

But in the past few years, the old library was in danger of becoming a relic. Its 20,000-book collection was barely used, administrators say. Spot checks last year found that, on some days, fewer than 30 books, or about .15%, circulated. And it was becoming rather lonely down there.

So the venerable boarding school west of Boston — the first in the USA to admit both boys and girls — last summer undertook another first: It began getting rid of most of the library’s books. In their place: a fully digital collection.

One student had to say:

Asher Chase, 16, a junior, says anyone who thinks digital books are the future should read a digital book. He remembers his English class last year being assigned Charles Dickens‘ A Christmas Carol on their laptops.

Taking notes on the text? Forget it. “It was terrible: ‘Shade, file, edit, highlight.’ We were like, ‘Wow, reading books on computers is awful.’ “

Here is the full article in the US paper.

I hope we don’t have to use the Kindle.

Social networking upstart Twitter has made the jump to academia’s hallowed halls, with ‘tweets’ made compulsory writing for would-be journalists at Griffith University.

“Some students’ tweets are not as in depth as you might like. But I don’t know if getting them to write an essay is any more beneficial,” said Jacqui Ewart, senior lecturer at the university.

Twitter microblogs have become an online phenomenon with users sending ‘tweets’ of up to 140 characters, or just a few words, to increasing numbers of ‘followers’.

Twitter is used more frequently by politicians, including Australia’s bookish Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has asked followers to recommend movie choices and this week ‘tweeted’ about his visit to a rural bakery.

Students were using twitter as “an exercise in self-reflection,” Ewart said, citing increasing demand from employers for people to use social networking tools.

“Quite surprisingly, a lot of students didn’t know what Twitter was. There were a couple of really vocal students who were saying they couldn’t believe we were using it and thought it was a waste of time,” Ewart said.

Prepare for school in the US, this list search of  best websites for students

Site names are linked, just click.

FreeTranslation

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Perfect for language studies, this handy Web site automatically converts text from one language into another, such as English to Simplified Chinese or French to English. Simply type and paste up to 10,000 characters (about 1,800 words) into the search window and then select the desired language. Alternatively, you can cut and paste a Web URL to convert the entire site.

HowStuffWorks

Ever wanted to know why earthquakes happen? How CD burners work? What the sun is made of? These questions, and a large amount of others related to computers/electronics, automobiles, science, entertainment, and people, are all answered at this award-winning Web site. Simply type a query into the search window or peruse the topics by category. Extras include free newsletters, surveys, and printable versions of all answers.

Fact Monster

This site features an almanac, atlas, dictionary and encyclopedia made especially for kids, as well as handy search engine and layout designed for easy fact-finding. Check out fun features such as Biographies of the Presidents, the Geography Hall of Fame, and the Tallest Buildings Slideshow.

Download.com

Consider Download.com the ultimate file repository that links to literally tens of thousands of downloadable free or shareware programs. This includes utilities for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux, Internet tools, desktop dictionaries and language translators, Pocket PC and Palm applications, and of course, computer games. Visitors can search by typing in a keyword or by perusing the many sections.

Refdesk

Since 1995, Refdesk.com, which stands for “reference desk,” has served as a one-click springboard to many of the Web’s top dictionaries, encyclopedias, calculators, atlases, news headlines, and search engines. The site also includes a handy “homework helper” section that provides help in all subjects to students in every grade.

MSN Encarta

The free MSN Encarta site features more than 4,500 articles pooled from Microsoft Encarta, the award-winning electronic reference library, and comes with dictionaries, maps, fast facts, interactive quizzes, handy homework tools, and more.

Shakespeare Online

This Web site can be filed in the “where was this when I was a kid?” category. On the aptly named Shakespeare Online site, visitors can read every play or poem from the world’s most celebrated writer and, more importantly, make some sense of his works with free analysis, Old English language translations, and famous quotes.

Novelguide.com

The Web’s answer to those black- and yellow-striped Cliff Notes is Novelguide.com, a reliable and free source for literary analysis of classic and contemporary books such as Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground. The site offers character profiles, metaphor and theme analysis, and author biographies.

Math.com

This site provides help in a number of mathematics-related subjects, including basic grade-school math, calculus, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and statistics. Practice exercises are automatically graded, plus this free site also features a glossary, calculators, homework tips, math games, and lesson plans for teachers.

Science Made Simple

Science classes—including the ubiquitous science project—aren’t as easy for some to grasp as for others. At Science Made Simple, kids of all ages can get detailed answers to many of science’s questions, read current news articles related to science, get ideas on school projects, and take advantage of unit conversion tables. Users can also find out if their school’s textbooks pass the test.

ALL THE LINKS TO THESE SITES ARE IN THE SITE NAMES, JUST CLICK ONE TIME.

Article written by Marc Saltzman and adapted from an original piece from Microsoft Home Magazine.

For more reasons that I can tell you I AM A MAC.

What’s the big deal with apps on other phones? or Maps? I have GOOGLE on my iPhone. I can’t imagine having anything but my iphone. It’s become my everything. Everyone should just give it up for a few years. Oh, can’t wait for the Apple Book Store!

The number of would-be students who failed to get a university place was up 30% on last year in the UK.

Statistics from the UK university admissions service, showed that 141,118 applicants did not find a place this year — up from 109,103 in 2008 — after a cap was placed on admissions. Why?

A further 175,000 students started university without loans or grants after technical problems at the Student Loans Company. (in the UK)

Parents have demanded that the Government intervene.

“Ministers must now step in to ensure that the management of the loan situation are held to account for a fiasco that has left hundreds of thousands affected by late payments, lost documentation and a miserable start to their first term at university.” (sounds just like the US)

Carolyn Basham’s daughter is thousands of pounds in debt just weeks after starting university in London because of the delays to her loan payments. She applied before the deadline but has been unable to make contact with the loans company because of constantly busy phone lines.

apple facebook technology class

Found this useful. It’s the Facebook forum for students who need help with their mac products. Not withstanding, seems an intuitive place for us to learn. Cheers. Aruna

http://www.facebook.com/applestudents

apple facebook students technology

UIST 2009 | STUDENT INNOVATION CONTEST

This is cool students of the world! The tech and design geeks at SIGCHI and SIGGRAPH sponsor this contest.

UIST (User Interface Software and Technology) is cool forum and contest for innovations in the software and technology of human-computer interfaces. It’s about computer-human interaction and computer graphics, UIST brings together researchers and brainiacs from the world that include traditional graphical & web user interfaces, tangible & ubiquitous computing, virtual & augmented reality, multimedia, new input & output devices etc. It’s the cool place to be… and the winners this year from the student contest will be announced October 9th.

Winners announced here Oct 9: http://www.acm.org/uist/uist2009/call/contest.html

Here is an entry. This is cool. Instead of the keyboard working from digging your finger in a letter key, it has touch sensitive response. Fun my friends fun.

In Spain, education is compulsory until the age of 16. If the student doesn’t go to school, his parents can go to the jail.

All students between 3 and 16 years old go to school.

In Spain, 4 different languages are spoken (Català, Galego, Euskara and Castellano or Español (Spanish).with many dialects.

Spain is organized like the USA. There are 17 communities and two autonomic cities. Not all the communities recive the same money, and some communities are more rich than others. The state is giving 11 million euros to spend in education and health service.
In 2020 politicians say that all the schools will be fully modernized, with one computer for every student.

One thing more: The Obama reform will be very good for people in the USA, I think that people who say that reform will be bad are ignorant.

In Spain we only pay for medicines that doctors don’t give us in the hospital, but the prices of the medicines are inexpensive. (20 cent.€). Vaccines are free.

Almost everything is free. But there are lot of people in hospitals. Many people go to hospitals because they are bored and they invent a disease.

Educational progress in India?

INDIA : Some eight million children in India between the ages of 6 and 14 are not enrolled in schools.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are nearly 165 million child labourers in India. They mostly work as rag pickers and earn about half a dollar a day. They come from large families who are too poor to send them to school.

Education is a distant dream that they share with nearly 40 per cent of India’s illiterate population. “Child labour issue is very serious in India. Even on the streets of Delhi or on the crossings of Delhi, you find children either selling books or magazines, or simply begging. The government’s response to this has been very poor.

While the government has now made education a right of all children till the age of 14, getting the kids to school is a tough task.

But there are some innovative ideas.

A scheme called “Adopt A Girl” is helping to boost the female literacy rate.

Under this plan girls living in slums are given free textbooks, stationery and a school bag. They also get mentors who personally ensure that the girls stay in school.

“If common people fund the education of a single child, it’s no more than US$6 a year. Since we started ‘Adopt A Girl,’ the education of 20,000 girls has been funded,” said Brijmohan Agarwal, Education Minister for Chhatisgarh state. Other organisations are hoping to attract children to attend school by changing the syllabus.

Many children in India have to walk miles to reach a school. Sometimes there are not enough teachers, and schools are just dilapidated shacks.

India spends less on education than countries such as China, Vietnam and Cuba.

Well, I am studying soon in the United States. Here is my observation of driving habits around the world. No technology can help these poor souls with their driving.

Is there no technology that CAN help them with their eyesight? I will be driving a Toyota Prius. I think I can do a better job.

I see most of these pictures are from outside the US, but I am told US drivers do their damage on the highways. I look forward to GPS in the States, driving from coast to coast and enjoying a violent free ride. See the pictures below.

You can also go to this link: See more cool pics.

"I beat you"

A student that will participate on this blog next semester sent this to us. A quick guide to respect followers, fans and friends as some convert to customers. Many of the students already have flourishing online businesses. Interesting…

10 commandments to pass on when deciding on social media strategy by Bill Boorman

1. Before you do anything determine that you have products or services you can sell on-line. Without something to sell, it will be nothing but a distraction.
2. Set up “destination points.” All your time invested in areas like twitter need to be leading somewhere as a point of reference. I recommend a linked in profile completed to 100% and a web site or community to draw customers in.
3. Blog every week somewhere. I favour a mix of your own blog and guest blogging in your market place. This way you not only reach your own followers but the followers of others, some of whom will choose to follow you also.
4. Comment often particularly on your clients blogs. Not just “I thought that was great!” add something to the discussion and include your contact details. The more often you comment, the more followers you will attract.
5. Followers doesn’t equal customers. There are 4 types of followers: 1)Your target market 2)Influencers who won’t or can’t buy from you but will spread your message 3)Your competitors that are keeping an eye 4)Collectors who are motivated by building giant lists of no relevance (more ego than value in my view.)  Identify the first two and concentrate your conversations with these groups.
6. Put a person on the end. People communicate (engage) not robots. In the instant society you need an instant answer or a question as well as original responses. Would you rather talk to a receptionist or an automated response when you call a supplier? The same applies in SM.
7. Be prepared to help others. Get to know what your followers do and introduce them when a need arises, as well as offering your own help where you can. This builds reputation, and in turn engagement.
8. Blend your message. You need to include video, audio and written word to communicate your message. Followers will have their own preference, give them their own choice.
9. Have a personal conversation as soon as possible. Look to have personal contact at every opportunity moving from e-mail to face mail. Conversation personalizes the relationship and enables you to connect.
10. Review your strategy, measure the time you’re spending against the return you want. Without review you will get lost. Don’t expect a quick return; it takes about 6 months before you will notice real wins. The investment is worth it as long as you followed step 1!

maoam

Moam candie: It’s just my opinion. Why is this a big deal? In the news today. Oh boy.

Seems there is fear in the world. A German company has these cute little characters having fun and playful on their package. So, some dad in the UK made a big stink about his kids being exposed to these pictures.

Why is this so important to us? I suppose social interaction on blogs give super voice for small amount of people who don’t otherwise, respectfully. We still read newspapers in India. I don’t think anyone would care about this story.

The package is sassy.

The big story click here

maoam

We are keeping these posts relevant to tweens as we witness the evolution of a highly intelligent young generation. There are no subject filters here. There are basic rules of engagement and the posts generally unedited, except for non-english speaking students who use Google to translate. Filtering basic educational information away from young people is widely debated.

How will this generation (12-17 roughly) move through the next decade? As committed to ethical behavior as the current generation is demonstrating? Are young voters currently passively speaking out or confident to speak up? The difference is between active or passive. Is access just a utility? I think not. It’s enabled empowered truth, a voice that didn’t have opportunity for audience just a decade or so ago? For the young people who question why their passion for truth is being discounted, this blog offers just another voice to them. They are fully aware (with school and parental oversight) that Rise of the Technology Class is also collecting their words as data.

time-young-voters

Academic leaders are committed to understanding how the interactive engagement changes the lives of families, young people and those who are educating students while away from home.

Henry Jenkins, formally of MIT, now USC, is the “Marshall Mcluhan” of modern communication. Marshall would be proud to see Henry’s work today. The debate continues.

http://www.henryjenkins.org/

An electronic book offers a multitude of possibilities. It doesn’t weigh very much, small and can store lots of digital books – representing a huge saving of space. But reading in front of a screen is not good for my eyes, I get very tired and my eyes really do hurt. I prefer paper books which are more comfortable when you are reading, and I feel the weight of the book in my hands.

An advert depicting Israeli soldiers playing football with Palestinians has been criticized for making light of the occupation: