Donated computers - the good, the bad, and the ugly
Donated computers run my labs, but they bring with them a host of problems.
ZDNet Education
News and analysis on IT and computing in the education sector.
Christopher Dawson
Chris Dawson is a freelance writer, consultant, and policy advocate with 20 years of experience in education, technology, and the intersection of the two.
Latest Posts
SMS-based cheating on the rise on British exams
Although overall cheating is low, the numbers are on the rise, with mobile phones a key enabling technology. Can edcuation keep up?
Three schools, two in NC, win $250K packages for tech visions
Who figured North Carolina for the hotbed of education technology vision? Two of three schools winning a competition for edtech vision hail from the Tarheel state.
Schools' IT chief's bribery conviction upheld
The US Court of Appeals upheld a three-year prison sentence for a Pennsylvania school district IT manager for receiving some $2 million in kickbacks related to the federal E-Rate program.
Blogging award winners say the format is changing education
Easy to use, loaded with information, the blogosphere offer real audiences to students, connection and education to teachers.
Whats wrong with WikiPedia?
I just read Wikipedia's Wales on education: Openness leads to critical thinking and while I agree that 'collaborative knowledge' encourages critical thinking, I do not believe that Wikipedia is necessarily a good example of that. Academia has a long tradition of peer review from which the concept of collaborative knowledge surely comes but, with the peer-review model comes accountability.
CEOs speak up against dumbed-down tests
A panel considering the impacts of No Child Left Behind is pushing for a national testing standard, motivated by reports that states are dealing with low test scores by making tests easier.
A glimmer of hope for edtech funding
hough it's too early to tell how it will all shake out, prospects are looking up for preservation of at least some of the education technology funding slated for budget cuts by President Bush.
BBC Jam: 120 websites to turn kids onto learning
The BBC has launched an ambitious network of websites, at a cost of 150 million pounds, aimed at bringing interactive teaching to British schoolchildren.
Dumbing down tests to satisfy NCLB
Federal annual reporting requirements force schools to dumb down tests, moving from essay exams to multiple-choice tests.