Wednesday
Jul012009
No More Faking Sick: Tech Savvy Education Providers Make Learning Fun
By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service
The International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) hosted the 30th annual National Education Computing Conference (NECC) Tuesday to present the latest technological innovations in education to make learning engaging. Companies from around the world presented their ideas for improving learning, teaching, and educational leadership.
Companies, such as Lego and Microsoft, predicted the future of educational improvement will be through fun technology.
“You’re going to see a lot more Web 2.0 kind of features, you’re going to see us more in the multimedia kind of facet . . . and we have a lot of renewable energy products coming out as well,” said Debra Smith, Market Communications Coordinator for LEGO.
The technology on display varied widely. Some technology was interactive, such as LEGO’s robotics, while others, like Microsoft’s Online Office Space, focused on life long education.
“In the future when the students go to college, they go to the workforce right? And so, if they are already familiar with the Microsoft office products it will be very helpful for them,” said Jim Jin, Microsoft Senior Project Manager, who added that the new Online Office Space is an extension of current Microsoft products.
NECC celebrated aspects of U.S. education that seem to be heading in the right direction. However, the conference aimed to improve the lackluster aspects of American education as well.
“I believe we must make going to school a step into the future for our students,” ISTE President Helen Padgett said. “A future defined by an educational environment enriched with technology that will engage them, challenge them, inspire them, and prepare them for all that life has to offer.”
The International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) hosted the 30th annual National Education Computing Conference (NECC) Tuesday to present the latest technological innovations in education to make learning engaging. Companies from around the world presented their ideas for improving learning, teaching, and educational leadership.
Companies, such as Lego and Microsoft, predicted the future of educational improvement will be through fun technology.
“You’re going to see a lot more Web 2.0 kind of features, you’re going to see us more in the multimedia kind of facet . . . and we have a lot of renewable energy products coming out as well,” said Debra Smith, Market Communications Coordinator for LEGO.
The technology on display varied widely. Some technology was interactive, such as LEGO’s robotics, while others, like Microsoft’s Online Office Space, focused on life long education.
“In the future when the students go to college, they go to the workforce right? And so, if they are already familiar with the Microsoft office products it will be very helpful for them,” said Jim Jin, Microsoft Senior Project Manager, who added that the new Online Office Space is an extension of current Microsoft products.
NECC celebrated aspects of U.S. education that seem to be heading in the right direction. However, the conference aimed to improve the lackluster aspects of American education as well.
“I believe we must make going to school a step into the future for our students,” ISTE President Helen Padgett said. “A future defined by an educational environment enriched with technology that will engage them, challenge them, inspire them, and prepare them for all that life has to offer.”
tagged 
ISTE, Joseph Russell, Microsoft, NECC, debra smith, helen padgett, jim jin, lego in News/Commentary
ISTE, Joseph Russell, Microsoft, NECC, debra smith, helen padgett, jim jin, lego in News/Commentary
Reader Comments (3)
[...] communications coordinator Debra Smith long enough to get two stories out of her, titled ‘No More Faking Sick: Tech Savvy Education Providers Make Learning Fun‘ and ‘LEGO Products Are Now Educational, Even For College Students.’ KHTS AM 1220 [...]
While I wholeheartedly support the improvement of education and making it "fun,” maybe the problem with education in this country is to be found in the pedagogical philosophy of American classrooms. What happened to learning for its own sake? The USA has become so pragmatic and utilitarian that the age-old question of students, "Will this be on the test?" has become the educational paradigm for teachers. Our educators are truly, "teaching the test." If ISTE, NECC, & USDE want to make education fun, it seems that they will need to induce a paradigmatic shift in the pedagogical philosophy operative in this nation. Stop teaching the test and start "unveiling" the reality in which human beings live. It just might happen that educational improvements will entail computers and LEGOs, but rest assured, without a renewal of what is the fundamental purpose of education, these "new and fun" approaches will quickly grow stale.
[...] communications coordinator Debra Smith long enough to get two stories out of her, titled ‘No More Faking Sick: Tech Savvy Education Providers Make Learning Fun,’ and ‘LEGO Products Are Now Educational, Even For College Students.’ KHTS AM [...]