Lead exposure leads to lower test scores

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October 21, 2009

Exposure to lead in early childhood impairs performance on reading tests among minority and low-income children, according to a new study. The analysis showed that children already at the low end of the test-score curve were more greatly affected by lead exposure – the greater the exposure, the greater the impact on their scores. The study linked data on blood-lead levels from the North Carolina Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program surveillance registry to reading test scores for 4th graders in all 100 of the states counties.

The study's analysis revealed that early childhood exposure to lead, the family's poverty status and parental education all account for a decline in test-scores. On average, exposure to lead accounts for between seven percent and 16 percent of the decline, with a larger decline associated with higher blood-lead levels. By comparison, they found the family's poverty status, as indicated by enrolment in a free or reduced-price school lunch programme, accounts for 25 % to 28 % of a decline in test results.

Silver Jubilee Year for IGNOU

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October 21, 2009

In 1985 it was started as a university for disadvantaged students, now 25 years later Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has evolved into a premier educational institution. The varsity will enter its silver jubilee year next month. Currently, IGNOU is one of the largest open university in the world providing education to 2.5 million students both in India and abroad. It has 61 regional centres, 2,243 learner support centres spread across 34 countries across the globe. The varsity offers 3,500 courses in 323 academic spheres. IGNOU has been recognized as Centre of Excellence in Distance Education by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada. Started with a vision of social inclusion and democratization of education, IGNOU has a large number of socially and academically relevant programmes and nation-wide student support system. It offers state-of-the-art education through face-to-face, webcasts, telecasts and video conferencing.

Funds for colleges

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 21, 2009

USAID has funded three Further Education and Training (FET) colleges with $6.7-million (about R49-million) for skills development, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande said on Tuesday. The three-year-long initiative would be implemented in 12 FET colleges in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape. A further $1.7-million (R12.4-million) was dedicated to an HIV/Aids programme. In this year's State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma announced that the FET sector, with its 50 colleges and 236 campuses nationally, would be the primary site for skills development and training. The aim was to develop the sector into an effective part of the government's skills development programme. In line with this vision, the government had also decided to recapitalise FET colleges with an investment of R1.9-billion for the three years ending in March this year. The money was largely spent on infrastructure, equipment, development of a new curriculum and human resources.

HP Doubles Awards in Education Grants Across Europe, Middle East & Africa

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 21, 2009

HP named12 universities across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that will each receive an HP Mobile Technology for Teaching Grant for equipment and training valued at around EUR 55,000. The number of grant recipients has doubled this year, marking an expansion of the grant program to Central & Eastern Europe and Africa.

The Technology for Teaching grants enable universities to pioneer the use of mobile technology in education and explore ways to redesign core courses in maths, science, business and engineering using mobile technology. The grants contribute to embedding technology in the classroom, improving the exchange between teachers and students.The institutions chosen this year to receive HP Mobile Technology for Teaching Grants will be given a standard package: classroom sets of HP Tablet PCs, HP printers, cameras and projectors, as well as stipends and wireless technology for faculty use. The grant awards also support the participation of a faculty representative at the annual HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education conference, to be held in early 2007.

The recipient universities will become part of a larger community of practice, joining faculty from around the world in exploring innovations in teaching through the effective use of technology. For HP, these grants are a catalyst for ideas that can lead to improving student success in higher education.

From 2004 to 2006, HP has contributed a total of US$36 million in Technology for Teaching Grants to more than 650 schools worldwide. Over the last 20 years, HP has contributed more than US$1 billion in cash and equipment to schools, universities, community organizations and other non-profit organisations around the world. Since the inception of the HP Technology for Teaching initiative, grant recipients have reported a positive influence on teaching and student learning as a result of the program.

For 2006, the twelve recipient universities in EMEA include: Cadi Ayyad University, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Morocco, College of Telecommunications & Information Technology (CTIT) of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), Ethiopia, Mansoura University, Egypt, University of Veszpr

‘Vision Doc’ is focus for IIT for future collaborations

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 21, 2009

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will focus on a 'Vision Document' prepared by a three-member committee. The 'vision' is set upon the measures to suggest IITs' collaboration with the private sector in IT, biotech and other emerging areas. The IIT Council also settled upon appointing the directors and board members based on the recommendation made by an independent collegium. Reforming the non-plan grants for IITs, the IIT Council announced that instead of the existing scheme of block grants, it would now be based on the number of students in each IIT, which means that more grant will be allotted to the institutes having more students. In order to attract investment from foreign universities, changes will be incorporated even in the norms so that short term investment from any overseas institute can be made in the IITs.

12th Marks should be given more weightage, Sibal tells IITs

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 21, 2009

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) should give more weightage to the Class 12 examination marks for admission to the undergraduate courses, union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said on Monday. Sibal stressed that the IIT admission procedures 'should give more weightage to Class 12 exam marks' as well as consider raising the existing 60 % cut-off percentage for students to appear in the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The minister made the comments while chairing a meeting of the IIT Council in Delhi.

Sibal proposed a new system under which only high-scoring Class 12 students will be allowed to sit for the entrance exams to professional courses and the cut-off percentage for being eligible to write these exams would be 80-85 % instead of the current 60 %. At the IIT Council meeting, the minister said he also wanted to get rid of professional coaching for medical and engineering exams. However, coaching centres like Career Launcher, which trains students to face the competitive exam, said that doing away with the coaching centres or increasing weightage for the Class 12 exam marks was not the real solution. Sibal has also asked for setting up a five-member committee to make the IITs more competitive. Another committee has been constituted to look into the IIT curriculum.

3rd Qatar National Robot Olympiad to be hosted in Doha

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October 21, 2009

Edutech Middle East, a leading international learning solutions provider, and Qatar Independent Technical School (QITS) will jointly host the '3rd Qatar National Robot Olympiad' (NRO) in Doha. A total of over 15 teams have signed up for the competition to be held on October 25, 2009, and will vie for a spot at the 'World Robot Olympiad 2009' in South Korea as Qatar's official delegation. Supported by the WRO Committee, LEGO Education and Qatar Petroleum, the event will be attended by representatives from Qatar Petroleum, the Supreme Education Council, Qatar University, Qatar Foundation and ICT QATAR. Launched by Edutech for the first time in 2007 to select participants for the World Robot Olympiad (WRO), 'Qatar NRO' is a unique competition for mid-school and high-school students to test their innovativeness, creativity and technological abilities in the world of robotics. Participating teams will be required to solve basic robotic problems within a predetermined time limit using a set of standard equipment and parts.

This year, participants in the Open Category will have to assemble a robot following the theme 'Artist Robot' and demonstrate their creation's unique capabilities both in a verbal and written presentation. Each team will be judged according to their robot's relevance to the theme, creativity, technical superiorly and overall presentation. Last year, Al-Khor International School (British Stream) emerged as the winner of the '2nd Qatar NRO', which was staged under the theme 'Saving Global Environment'. The winning team, who beat students from leading government and private schools in Qatar, was sent to compete at the 'WRO 2008' in Yokohama, Japan. Established in 2002 in Singapore, the 'World Robot Olympiad' is an annual event that gathers talented young robotics enthusiasts from various countries to exhibit their robotics and creative skills under multiple categories. The event has been to Thailand, China, Taiwan, and Japan, with this year's competition set to be held in Kyoungbuk, Pohang, South Korea from November 06 to 08, 2009.

NIIT launches Viswanathan Anand IT Olympiad

Higher Education

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digitalLEARNING Network

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October 20, 2009

NIIT, the leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia's largest IT trainer, announced the launch of Viswanathan Anand IT Olympiad – the 1st ever IT Olympiad that will provide a student with a rating for his/her IT Aptitude. More than 1000 schools from 300 locations across India will participate in the first ever IT Olympiad. The campaign launched today will have over 75,000 students' taking the aptitude test in two groups

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