Google’s Free WiFi A Polite Trojan For The Nexus One

Chalk up a few points to Google, we did not see this one coming. Remember when Google announced that they were going to be sponsoring free WiFi around US national airports this holiday season? We were all puzzled as to just what Google was up to. Why the benevolence? Merely trying to get some good PR? How about trying to push Google web-service dependency? Or, perhaps, Google was just needing to discharge a pile of cash for tax purposes. Now we do know: Google is using their WiFi power, with their free service in use around the nation by tens of thousands, to promote the Nexus One . Brilliant, really. Log onto the wonderful free internet connection, and Google sends you first to a Nexus One page. Result: nearly instant brand awareness of their product line. In the same way that Google is using their homepage to promote the Nexus One, they are using their WiFi to boost the name. This is all well and good, Google needs traffic to Google.com/Phone if their project will succeed. Google it does seem is going to get people to buy their damn phone, one way or another. Points to Google, our friendly internet overlords. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/973F_dinVII/

Online Check-in Voted ‘Business Travel Innovation of the Decade’

Brushing aside GPS, online travel booking, Wifi, notebooks, TripAdvisor and online maps, it’s “online check-in” that has been voted the best business travel in a survey of 2,400 business travellers by the Business Travel & Meetings Show That said, nothing has helped shorten wait times at airports like the ability to bypass lines at the ticket counter by checking in for your flight on the Internet and printing your boarding pass at home. Travelers who completed the survey also did mention that you still have to deal with security lines, but at least “you can get ahead of everyone who didn’t go online before leaving for the airport.” Another plus: You can go on the airline’s Web site to select or change your seat “right when the exit-row and bulkhead seats open up.” Also highly rated was the Eurostar(!), launched in 1994…surprised? Yeah, so am I. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNextWeb/~3/t8ZAEWSMPSo/

3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/6-ZQDINtg04/

education imageThe modern American school faces rough challenges. Budget cuts have caused ballooning class sizes,  many teachers struggle with poorly motivated students, and in many schools a war is being waged on distracting technologies. In response, innovative educators are embracing social media to fight back against the onslaught of problems. Technologies such as Twitter and Skype offer ideal solutions as inexpensive tools of team-based education.
 
Pockets of experimentation are emerging all around the world, and I hope to inspire my fellow teachers with some stories of success. From cell phones to social media, below are three schools that have chosen to go with the flow of popular technology to turn the tide for education.


Skype and Language Learning


Why force students to yawn over a textbook when a real-life native speaker is only a Skype call away? At Marquette University, Spanish students hone their foreign language skills with frequent webcam chats with their English-learning counterparts in South America.

“I absolutely fell in love with this program,” wrote one student. Professor Janet Banhidi, the brains behind the virtual language exchange, said Skype conversation gives students a surprisingly authentic experience. As a teacher (and fluent speaker), she can only give her students limited 1-on-1 attention. With Skype, every student has weekly access to a free personal tutor.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of using Skype is the radical increase in motivation. A whopping 85.3% of Janet’s students kept in touch with their digital pen-pals outside of the classroom through Facebook. “In the end, the best part of this exchange was gaining a friend who I still today talk with on Facebook” said one student. Additionally, though some of her students enroll to simply fulfill a language requirement, many participants have gone on to major in Spanish from the experience. Students who go above and beyond mandatory assignments will be more likely to remember class material and apply it when they get out into the working world.


Mobile Phones


students mobile

While many schools around the country have declared all-out war on mobile devices, Wiregrass High School took a decidedly different approach, integrating cell phones into the entire educational experience. Students exchange questions and answers with their teachers via SMS and browse classroom blogs for additional instruction. Moreover, as an efficient collaborative tool, students can quickly trade notes or take a snapshot of the blackboard for later studying.

Like with any tool, students do misuse the privilege, but according to the school’s principal the number of cell-phone related infractions is “minuscule.” Perhaps this is because the policy permits students to use cell phones socially between classes, giving them a much needed digital fix throughout the day. Wiregrass’s experience pairs nicely with similar workplace-related research which shows that giving employees periodic down-time with the Internet actually boosts productivity. In the end, fighting pervasive technologies may just sap the energy of everyone involved.


Twitter


homework tweet

Many universities have internal e-mail systems and message boards. But getting students to routinely check these systems for updates can be a chore. As a college teacher myself, my students have been required to participate in group message boards, which is a poor substitute for genuine intellectual curiosity. As a solution, Leicester University in the UK turned to Twitter, hoping that the popular micro-blogging technology would encourage collaboration outside of class. Students were provided with an iPod touch, given instructional materials, and told they had to make a few academic-related tweets a day. Soon, a thriving community grew, complete with @replies and hashtags flying back-and-forth between participants, tutors, and even members outside of the program. Additionally, the study has become an unexpected marketing boon for the university. The Association for Learning Technology noted in its newsletter:

“One year ago, a Twitter search for ‘University of Leicester’ revealed little of interest. More recent searches reveal a growing volume of conversation between existing students, often across institutional boundaries, and also from prospective students, commenting on perceptions of the University and Higher Education in general.”

The university was impressed by the experiment and has begun collaborating with teachers and staff to extend participation throughout the campus. Leicester University joins the growing ranks of major universities, such as M.I.T., that are preparing students with technological and cooperative skills essential to real-life scientific experimentation.


Conclusion


As social media becomes ubiquitous, students prepared for technological collaboration will graduate with a much-needed edge on the competition. Fortunately, in these economically turbulent times, social media is a free and popular alternative to traditional instruction.


More social media resources from Mashable:


- 5 Tips for Building Lasting Online Friendships
- Top 5 Must-Read Social Media Books
- Social Media Can Change The World Through Common Ground
- 5 Ways Social Media Is Changing Our Daily Lives
- How Social Media is Taking the News Local
- The Tao of Tweeting
- Sports and Social Media: Where Opportunity and Fear Collide

Images courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59, 3bugsmom

Tags: education, higher education, iPod Touch, language learning, learning, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, Skype, students, trending, twitter

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CES :: Cell-tv converteert 2D naar 3D

http://www.bright.nl/ces-cell-tv-converteert-2d-naar-3d

De Cell-tv van Toshiba was al de functiekampioen onder de tv-toestellen. De nieuwe kan nog meer.

Zijn voorganger kon al acht kanalen tegelijk tonen in een mozaïek en de beelden opslaan op een 1 terabyte schijf, de nieuwe versie van Toshiba's Cell-tv heeft nog meer features gekegen. Volgens techsites is de Cell de functiekampioen onder de tv's.

Zo is hij nu ook geschikt voor 3D-beelden en kan hij automatisch 2D-video converteren naar 3D. De ingebouwde processor is tien keer sneller dan die in de gemiddelde desktop-pc's. Hij heeft een 1 terabyte schijf en de snelle n-variant van wifi. Ook zit er een Blu-rayspeler in die bijvoorbeeld onbeveiligde bestanden van de schijfjes naar de harddisk kan rippen. De Cell-tv speelt natuurlijk ook multimediabestanden via het thuisnetwerk af.

Videoconferencing zit er ook op, maar lijkt nog niet via Skype te werken. In de VS heeft de tv ook Netflix, Vudu, CinemaNow en Pandora aan boord. Allemaal online multimediadiensten die in Nederland niet werken.

Dan het scherm, je zou het bijna vergeten. Dit heeft led-verlichting met local dimming van 512 verschillende zones. Een anti-ruisfunctie moet de beeldkwaliteit van lage resolutie video opkrikken. Het Autoview-systeem maakt gebruik van een lichtsensor om automatisch instellingen als helderheid, contract en kleuren te regelen. Hij heeft een 480Hz ververssnelheid.

De tv wordt ook nog eens geleverd met een speakerset. Prijs en beschikbaarheid van de nieuwe Cell-tv in Nederland is nog niet bekend. Houd maar rekening met zeker 8 duizend euro.

reageer

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