There are two things for certain with this old Georgian Airways Yakovlev Yak-42 that’s been turned into a pre-school. The kids attending this kindergarten officially have no reason to ever complain about having to go to school. And Kindergarten Plane actually sounds like an entertaining Schwarzenegger film. “This Summer flight school will never be the same.” More »
Scientists and researchers around the world are always investigating better ways to help children learn important subjects like math and science. A group of researchers at Durham University has been working for the last three years on a project to design and develop the classroom of the future. The project is called SynergyNet and hopes to help children learn mathematics more efficiently.
The location is referred to as the “Star Trek” classroom because it replaces individual desks with futuristic communal desks featuring a multitouch surface. All of those desks are linked to a main “smartboard” used by the teacher. The desks allow students to work collaboratively on solving problems in ways that traditional pen and paper are likely to limit.
According to the researchers working on the project they have found that 45% of students who use the high-tech classroom increased the number of unique mathematical expressions they created after using the system. In contrast, only 16% of students who used the traditional paper-based method increased the number of unique mathematical expressions they created.
The system has a way to go before it might show up in classrooms around the world. Some notable holdbacks at this point are the cost of the system and the complexity of maintaining it.
[via Eurekalert]
How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school’s world renowned Robotics Institute — a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we’ve got it all for you here in one handy place — plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven’t shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.
Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What do you get when you attach a point-and-shoot, display, microphone, RFID reader and a bunch of big buttons to a clear plastic box and stick it all in a classroom with a bunch of three- to five-year-olds? Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab calls the creation Message from Me. It’s a way of engaging early education students with technology, developing language and social skills and helping keep parents abreast of their school day activities.
The tool encourages kids to record a thought or take a picture and send it to a parent by pulling a card with their face on it down from the wall and scanning on the RFID reader. Parents can get updates via text message or email from kids who are often unable to pass along such information at the end of the day. According to the lab, the machines have already been installed in nearly a dozen schools in the Pittsburgh area — and from the looks of the boxes on the floor in the CREATE Lab, plenty more are on the way.
Gallery: Message from Me
Continue reading Message from Me offers dispatches from early education, we go eyes-on (video)
Filed under: Displays, Networking
Message from Me offers dispatches from early education, we go eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Devon Carrow is a fairly normal kid, except for the fact that his allergies are so severe that he has been compared to David Vetter, the boy who inspired the film The Boy In the Plastic Bubble. His allergies make it impossible to attend class with all of the other kids around.
The slightest thing could send Devon to the hospital. However, that doesn’t mean that he can’t attend school. Devon has a VGo telepresence robot that can travel the halls, sit at a desk and even go outside at recess time. While he is doing all of this through the robot, Devon is safe at home 5 miles away.
He controls the machine’s movements and camera from home, and interacts through the hi-def monitor and indicator lights on the VGo. This is the perfect example of how technology can make a major difference in our lives.
[via The Buffalo News via Neatorama]
Google is well-known for projects with unexpected origins. It’s almost natural, then, that the code Google used to build a web course has led to a full-fledged tool for online education. The open-source Course Builder project lets anyone make their own learning resources, complete with scheduled activities and lessons, if they’ve got some skill with HTML and JavaScript. There’s also an avenue for live teaching or office hours: the obligatory Google+ tie-in lets educators announce Hangouts on Air sessions. Code is available immediately, although you won’t need to be grading virtual papers to see the benefit. A handful of schools that include Stanford, UC San Diego and Indiana University are at least exploring the use of Course Builder in their own initiatives, which could lead to more elegant internet learning — if also fewer excuses for slacking.
Filed under: Internet
Google releases Course Builder, takes online learning down an open-source road originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Have you entered our back to school giveaway yet? If you’ve already commented on each of 15 eligible posts, you’re all set — you can only vote once on each article (15 times in all), so hang in there and wait for us to randomly select the winners. The rest of you, however, need to get a move on! There’s only 24 hours remaining in the contest period, so be sure to get all 15 entries in before the clock strikes noon tomorrow. Good luck!
Continue reading Engadget’s $50,000 back to school sweepstakes: just 24 hours to go!
Filed under: Announcements
Engadget’s $50,000 back to school sweepstakes: just 24 hours to go! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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During the month of August, we published 14 back to school guides, covering product categories ranging from cameras and printers, to smartphones and ultraportables. With each post, we offered a selection of gadget must-haves, but we also gave you an opportunity to enter our massive back to school giveaway, including 15 identical bags stuffed to the brim (and far beyond) with some of the hottest devices of the season. You want these gadgets, and we want to help! The contest runs through noon (ET) on Friday, September 7th, so there’s still plenty of time to enter — simply leave a comment at each of our category pages, along with the giveaway post, to secure 15 chances to win. And to make things even easier, we’re including links to all of our posts just below. Good luck, and have a fantastic semester!
Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile
There are just four days left to enter our back to school sweepstakes with nearly $50,000 in prizes! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ergo Electronics, the company behind the GoTab, is looking to help bring Android to UK classrooms in the form of the GoNote, a combo tablet / netbook running Ice Cream Sandwich. The device has a 10-inch 1024 x 600 display, a 1.2GHz ARM Rockchip RK2918, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, expandable via a MicroSD slot. Aimed at students, the GoNote also has four USB 2.0 ports and a VGA camera on-board. It’ll be hitting in the UK in September for £150 ($236) in black and white options. More info in the press release after the break.
GoNote 10-inch hybrid netbook / tablet bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to UK classrooms next month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 02:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
When it comes to outfitting your college dorm room there are obvious amenities you’ll need to bring with you. Like a computer, a TV, multiple gaming consoles, and at least a couple of changes of clothes. More »
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