America.gov-Education & Study: Technology and Education

Digital Library Brings Global Knowledge Network to Ukraine

Jeffrey Thomas — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:32:23 -0400

Ukraine is establishing a digital network that will improve access for the country’s students, scholars and businesspeople to the world’s academic and research information while making available for the first time on the international digital network the holdings of Ukraine’s libraries.

Web Site Contest Open to American, International Students

Louise Fenner — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:29:17 -0400

The Doors to Diplomacy competition challenges students worldwide to create Web sites that teach the importance of global issues and diplomacy. It is sponsored by the State Department and Global SchoolNet. Each year teams of students from the United States and another country share the grand prize.

Online Higher Education Gets High Marks from Educators

Jeffrey Thomas — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:25:12 -0400

A new report says the explosive growth of online education shows no sign of slowing. Students like the flexibility and lower cost that e-learning offers. Distance, time, transportation, scheduling conflicts and child care cease to be insurmountable obstacles when higher education courses can be taken online.

Online Encyclopedia Wikipedia Transforms Research

Andrzej Zwaniecki — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:30:06 -0400

Are credit-swap contracts or quarks difficult to understand? Not if you check out those terms on Wikipedia, supporters of the free online encyclopedia say. Critics, however, retort that you might get inaccurate information. America.gov examines the arguments for and against the online encyclopedia.

GoNorth Series Brings Students on a Virtual Arctic Adventure

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:38:12 -0400

The award-winning GoNorth! Adventure Learning Series recently was named a laureate of the 2008 Microsoft Education Award for its use of satellite communication and interactive Web connections to take students on real-time, virtual trips to learn about climate change and Arctic cultures from scientists and indigenous people.

The Blind Can Now Use the Web from Anywhere

Jeffrey Thomas — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:47:59 -0400

Blind and visually impaired individuals who cannot afford a screen reader or who are on the go can now access the Web from any available computer, thanks to WebAnywhere, a self-voicing Web browser created by a 27-year-old doctoral candidate in computer science at the University of Washington.

New Report Teaches Teachers to Evaluate Online Learning

Jeffrey Thomas — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:41:48 -0400

The low cost of delivering online courses and the advantages that accrue from individualized instruction have led to such rapid growth in online education that by 2019 half of all courses may be delivered via computer. But if online education is to fulfill its potential, accountability will be key, says a new report.

Chile, California Strengthen Ties in Education, Trade

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:31:47 -0400

The Chilean-California connection widely credited with revolutionizing Chilean agriculture is reinvigorated when Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign agreements for collaboration between California universities and Chile on research and teaching in agriculture.

Young Engineers Win Bragging Rights by Moving Water Uphill

Jeffrey Thomas — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:05:22 -0400

This year a record 900 students on 230 teams -- some from as far away as India -- took the Tech Museum’s challenge to design a device to move water from a stream up to a village on a hill without using electricity. The winning team comprises three 15-year-old boys from Cupertino High School in California.

Three Young Women Win Top Awards at International Science Fair

Jeffrey Thomas — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:33:21 -0400

Three 17-year-old girls win top awards at the 2008 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. More than 1,500 students from 51 countries competed for more than $4 million in awards and scholarships, making this fair the world’s largest. Some entrants have applied to patent their work, or intend to.

Award-winning Web Sites Offer American History Lessons

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:47:09 -0400

Educational Web sites by the Chicago History Museum and the National Park Service have won prestigious awards. Great Chicago Stories brings history to life by integrating museum artifacts into historical fiction narratives. Never Lose Sight of Freedom documents a critical episode in the history of the civil rights movement.

Student Writing Gets Higher Marks on America’s “Report Card”

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:56:28 -0400

American teens are doing a lot of writing in electronic media that they do not really consider writing, and standardized tests show that their writing skills are improving. Nearly all teens and their parents strongly believe that good writing skills are critical to achieving success.

Movement to Green U.S. Schools Is Gathering Momentum

Jeffrey Thomas — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:19:29 -0400

Hundreds of schools across the United States are seeking to save money and create a healthier environment by going “green.” The trend is being propelled by growing interest on the part of teachers’ unions, school boards, parent-teacher associations and governmental entities from the local to the federal level.

Maine’s College of the Atlantic Is the “Greenest” of Them All

Jeffrey Thomas — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:39:36 -0400

David Hales, president of the College of the Atlantic, pledged in 2006 that his school would become the first carbon net-zero campus “because it’s the right thing to do.” As a college dedicated to ecology, “we should be doing everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint and any other kind of pollution or adverse environmental impact,” says Hales.

Green Groundswell Sweeps U.S. Campuses

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:37:34 -0400

The greening of U.S. campuses is gaining momentum. Many college and university presidents have committed to reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases their institutions produce. And a new sustainability report card grading the 200 most heavily endowed schools finds a “green groundswell” to fight climate change.

Engineering Competition Offers Fun, Inspiration for Teens

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:55:33 -0400

What would you do if tasked with designing and building an unmanned Mars rover that could survive a 3.7-meter drop into a Martian crater, as if it dropped from space, and then climb the 1.8-meter walls of a crater? That was the challenge for 155 teams of students in 2007 in a competition that aims to inspire the innovator in everyone.

University Channels on YouTube Offer Educational Videos

Jeffrey Thomas — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:18:39 -0400

Educational wares on YouTube or Apple Computer’s university site, iTunes U, are the latest wrinkle in the OpenCourseWare movement sparked by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 when it said it would offer online access to materials for 1,800 classes -- virtually its entire curriculum -- free and open to all.

Online Learning Changing the Face of American Education

Howard Cincotta — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:59:23 -0400

Online instruction is rapidly achieving a critical mass that is transforming education in the United States from the elementary grades to the university level. Almost 3.5 million students, or 20 percent of all college students, took one or more online courses during the 2006-2007 academic year, an increase of almost 10 percent over the previous year.

“Internet in a Box” Brings Information to Developing World

Jeffrey Thomas — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:39:43 -0400

Since the year 2000, the University of Iowa has been trying to bring the benefits of the Internet to parts of the world where access is minimal and expensive. The university’s WiderNet Project manages the eGranary Digital Library, which places Web resources on a server on university campuses in developing countries that have little or no Internet connectivity. Based at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, the eGranary Digital Library manually updates its library at least twice each year on campus intranets in Africa, India, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan and Haiti.

Online Mentoring Promotes Diversity in Sciences, Engineering

Jeffrey Thomas — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 18:36:04 -0400

Young scientists and engineers can get help with career development through an online mentoring program that aims to promote diversity by offering advice and support to traditionally underrepresented groups, particularly women. MentorNet is a nonprofit network that matches undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and early-career faculty with professionals in their fields for structured, e-mail-based mentoring relationships. “MentorNet's mission and programs are indeed global, and we hope they continue to expand globally,” the group's founder and chief executive officer Carol Muller tells USINFO.

Online Materials Broadening Global Access to Education

Jeffrey Thomas — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:35:27 -0400

When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced in 2001 that it was planning to offer free online access to educational materials from hundreds of its course offerings, the university said it hoped its OpenCourseWare Web site would inspire other educational institutions to help create a “worldwide web of knowledge that will benefit humanity.” USINFO examines the enthusiastic worldwide response to MIT’s gesture -- an international movement that is affecting education on every continent.

Education Secretary Says U.S. Students Need “Global Perspective”

Louise Fenner — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:59:45 -0400

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings stresses the importance of educating Americans to compete and succeed in the new global economy, and she praised the efforts of a small Midwest liberal arts university to give students "a global perspective." Spellings says she plans to lead a delegation of college presidents to Asia in November to “discuss the common challenges we face to ensure our students get the education they need.”