Education budget cuts across the country are going to force schools to downsize in upcoming years; program eliminations, teacher layoffs, and building closures are inevitable. But New York City schools have determined one area of education that can’t afford to take a hit: technology. Despite a $1.3 million cut to the city’s school construction budget over the next three years, “New York City’s Department of Education plans to increase its technology spending, including $542 million next year alone that will primarily pay for wiring and other behind-the-wall upgrades to city schools.”
Enrolling in nursing classes online is often a logical way for working nurses to earn the higher degree necessary to advance their career while they maintain their current job. But the unique format of online education can also help nurses develop advanced technology skills that can be particular useful in a modern healthcare setting.
Following suit of ground schools across the country, Purdue University’s College of Education will begin offering a new online graduate school program this fall, a master’s degree focused on learning design and technology. The program has been offered for 35 years at Purdue’s ground campus, and the shift to a fully-online program is being made to offer graduate students a more convenient route to earn a degree and advance in growing fields, as well as to provide access to students globally.
Open courseware is making huge waves in the higher education sea. Many IT universities have already made the leap into this realm, with stunning results. From learning about electrical engineering to computer science, pretty much anything is possible.
A majority of working college students say that they benefit from online universities and technology. According to a national survey, 70 percent of college students who hold full-time jobs feel that “more educational technology tools are needed” in college-level curriculum. But as students become increasingly tech savvy, teachers are hesitant to follow. The study results agree with previous research that identified a “widening gap between student and faculty technology preferences.”
Today, as we approach a time when more healthcare workers will be needed than ever before, the nation’s best nursing schools are under pressure to prepare their students for careers in nursing. Luckily, new technology may be able to lend a hand- smartphones. Nearly 8,700 medical applications have been created to assist in training future healthcare workers. Mobile applications provide nursing students with access to information anytime, anywhere. Many of the best nursing schools are even requiring students to carry mobile devices on them for reference.
Eight percent of American adult web users are on Twitter, but only a small number (about 2 percent) of these people use the microblogging site on a daily basis, according to a survey recently conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. There are, however, interesting links between Twitter use and education level; survey results claim that while “college students aren’t flocking to Twitter…they’ve proven more likely to type the 140-character updates than most demographic groups, especially teenagers and young adults.”
College students rely on their laptop computers for nearly everything from writing papers and conducting Internet research to keeping in touch with their friends. Today, because so many different options exist in the world of mobile technology, it’s important to shop around when trying to select the best laptops for college students. Price is unfortunately one of the main factors to consider though, because students face high tuition rates. It’s important for students to research their options before buying a laptop because even within a strict price range, a lot of flexibility is available. The best laptops for college students take the following factors into consideration:
A one-year study evaluating the increased use of education technology among middle school students found that technology helped to engage students in the classroom and encouraged them to work together. Also, student scores on state assessment tests improved with the use of education technology. The experiment was conducted by Boston College education researchers and the Newton school district in Boston.
Lisa Wagner, a parent who home-schools her four children said that “for almost anything you want to learn, you can find a video on YouTube.” Wagner pointed out that users must be cautious, though, while conducting research on the Internet because “there can be a lot of inaccurate information” online.