Thursday, November 29, 2012

Educators Embrace Social Networks

Educators are embracing social media in a big way, but they continue to have large concerns about the mixing of professional and personal lives online, according to a recent study on educators and social networking.
 
The study was conducted by MMS Education Inc., an educational research company in Newtown, Pa., in an attempt to gauge how social networking practices have changed over the past three years. One of the most significant findings was the increased number of educators who now have profiles on LinkedIn -- more than triple the number from 2009, from 14 percent to 45 percent.

(See my complete blog on the topic at www.educationalit.com)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Mobile Demand Fueling App Developer Shortage

If you ask digital directors at leading organizations what the next evolutionary step is for the Internet, they probably don't actually talk about the Web. Instead, they most likely talk about applications and devices. They also probably say that app developers are becoming worth their weight in gold.

That is certainly the case with Cameron Clayton, president of the digital group at The Weather Channel in Atlanta. The Weather Channel has the second most downloaded app on the iPad and the fifth most downloaded app on the iPhone. Clayton obviously knows the demand for mobile application development -- and developers.

(See my complete blog on the topic on internetevolution.com)

Ed Tech's Attention Deficit

Nobody loves a tech toy more than a tech guy... or gal. But the love of gadgets should not preclude common courtesy or stand in the way of a valuable real-life learning experience.
 
This scenario was presented to me recently, when I attended the MassCUE educational technology conference in Foxboro, Mass. The problem: Devices had literally taken over the event, and attention spans had been checked at the door. Too many eyes were glued to personal handheld devices and tablets -- certainly not to speakers or one another.

(See my complete blog on the topic on EducationalIT.com)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Wanted: Good Times With Google Docs

On the surface, there are certainly plenty of reasons to like Google Docs, but many schools are having trouble implementing the platform. Don't let these challenges trip you up.

An increasing number of school districts are embracing Google Docs as the platform of choice for creating and sharing classroom assignments. The platform includes collaboration tools for students; peer editing features; revision histories that track all contributors and contributions; and real-time teacher feedback on assignments in progress. Some school districts are using Google Docs as an alternative email system as well.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at EducationalIT.com)