Cisco launches SchoolMessenger to improve attendance rates
Cisco Systems has unveiled automatic communication software called SchoolMessenger for Cisco Unified Communications, which will enable schools to convey important information to parents more efficiently. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
SchoolMessenger, a US parental notification company, has integrated its system with the Cisco telephony application, which is based on Internet protocol (IP). Teachers can record a personalised message, select a preprogrammed calling list, and send a message to parents from a computer or IP phone. Cisco claims that the SchoolMessenger system provides more efficient communications compared to traditional autodialer systems. In turn, this helps improve attendance rates and increases student performance. A school district in Utah, one in Washington, and another in Illinois have implemented the communication technology.
Computer technology to enter Primary School learning
Drama is a superb way of enriching learning, Sir Jim says computer technology is to move centre stage alongside English, maths and personal skills in an overhaul of England's primary school curriculum. These are the 'essentials for learning and life' recommended by former school inspections director Sir Jim Rose. Traditional subjects continue with more cross-curricular work in six themes, and a stress on speaking and listening. From 2011 all children will be able to start school in the September after they turn four, says the government. The change is part of an overhaul to smooth progression from early years through primary and into secondary school.
Sir Jim said, 'The touchstone of an excellent curriculum is that it instills in children a love of learning for its own sake. From what I have seen on my visits, the best schools demonstrate that these priorities – literacy, numeracy, ICT and personal development – are crucial for giving children their entitlement to a broad and balanced education.' He added, 'In no way does that suggest we are stepping back from recognising the importance of science and technology.' But it also complains that his interim proposals had been misreported as doing away with traditional subjects. He mentioned, 'My recommended areas of learning will not 'abolish' subjects, such as history or geography.' 'The essential content of these subjects must be taught well in order for children to be able to make links between them, which is what having the six new areas of learning will allow teachers to do.'
Free educational video game designed with support of students
Over four weeks were spent by middle and high school students this summer at McKinley Technical High School in Washington, D.C., developing the programming and modeling for a prototype of an educational computer game called Immune Attack 3.0.
With objective of making science fun, last year the students used the free educational game to learn. This year, they’re putting their programming and modeling skills to the test to help the Federation of American Scientists update the game. The program was set up more like a summer job than summer school, said Chris Johnson, a modeling instructor at McKinley’s summer youth program. Mitchell Holmes, a McKinley student who will be entering the 10th grade this year, said he knew he wanted to be part of the program, because he hopes to enter a career in graphic design when he finishes his schooling. This was his first year working with the ‘Be the Game’ program headed by Kelsey, a summer program that is funded by the Mayor’s Summer Youth Program.
‘Immune Attack’ is a three-dimensional game that provides scientifically accurate simulations of the immune system, with imagery designed by medical illustrators. Players navigate a nanobot through 3-D blood vessels and connective tissue in an attempt to save an ailing patient by retraining her non-functional immune cells.
McKinley students worked with Melanie Stegman, program manager of learning technologies with FAS, who met with the instructors and students to determine the design of the game. She said she hoped that Immune Attack 3.0 got the students interested in concepts such as what chemotherapy looks like and how mitochondria move. In programming and modeling for Immune Attack 3.0, both the students and college-aged instructors had to learn more about the immune system.
ICT Professor sponsored by MTC at Polytechnic
MTC has funded the appointment of an information communication technology (ICT) professor at the Polytechnic of Namibia to spearhead the identification of opportunities for growth in information and communication technology and associated areas. After an extensive search within and outside the borders of Namibia, Professor Hippolyte Muyingi was identified as the most suitable candidate to drive the ICT research and development agenda at the Polytechnic of Namibia. MTC and the Polytechnic of Namibia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) according to which MTC will fund the endowed chair as a full-time position at the Polytechnic for a period of five years. The endowed chair has been designated as professor in the School of Information Technology. Professor Muyingi's main areas of responsibility are to support teaching, research and services, and focus on ICT in education and development. He is also now the advisor in ICT to the Namibia Business Innovation Centre (NBIC).
The NBIC will be a one-stop-shop for business incubation, consultancies, startups and anchor companies, research and technology transfer. According to MTC's Managing Director Miguel Geraldes, the funding of the ICT professorship is another demonstration of the company's commitment to building intellectual capital for the country. 'We at MTC believe that the return on our investment will propel Namibia into a country that will compare with the best in terms of ICT research and development. It is also our hope that the ICT research initiatives undertaken under the supervision of Professor Muyingi will be beneficial to the entire citizenry. ICT provides the platform to work faster and smarter and it is MTC's expectation that the ICT research conducted at the Polytechnic will be shared with our public service institutions for efficient service delivery,' said Geraldes. Tjama Tjivikua, Rector of the Polytechnic, said MTC's funding of the professorship is an indication of how far the country can go through collaborative efforts of this nature. In terms of the MoU between MTC and the Polytechnic, funding for the ICT professorship will be for a period of five years, which is renewable by mutual consent.
Digital School Curriculum by Ongeri
A programme was unveiled by Education Minister Sam Ongeri, which when fully implemented could deal publishers and booksellers a major blow. With this programme people can be enabled to get access to content on subjects in the school curriculum over the Internet. The minister said primary and secondary schools would be required to have computers to enable teachers access the curriculum content. Ongeri said digital content has the potential to revolutionalise teaching and learning by enhancing access, quality, relevance and equity. Education Minister Sam Ongeri hands over Digital Content for e-learning to his PS Karega Mutahi during the launch at Kenya Institute of Education.
He said all budget allocations to schools for purchase of course books would now be transferred to purchase of diskettes for the curriculum. The minister quickly moved to allay fears the e-learning system will lead to reduction in number of teachers, as computers will largely take over. Ongeri added availability of ICT and digital content would require even more contribution from teachers. But he said teachers will need to be better equipped with skills, knowledge and values of knowledge-based economy in readiness for this change. The minister said schools without electricity would soon be supplied as a matter of urgency through rural electrification programme. He said other schools would have to make arrangement for use of solar energy.
Combined Defense Service Examination-II to be held on September 13, 2009
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will hold the Combined Defense Services Examination – II (CDS-II), on September 13, 2009. The examination will be conducted by the UPSC for admission to Indian Military Academy (IMA), Naval Academy and Air Force Academy for the courses commencing in July 2010 and Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai for the Courses (Men and Women) commencing in October, 2010. For details regarding the eligibility conditions, syllabus and scheme of the examination, centers of examination, guidelines for filling up application form etc. aspirants must consult the detailed notice of the examination.
Candidates must apply in the Common Application Form devised by the Commission for its examinations, which can be purchased from the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices (specified in Appendix-III of the notice) throughout the country. In case of any difficulty in obtaining application forms from the designated HPOs/Pos, the candidates should contact the concerned Post Master or UPSC's 'FORMS SUPPLY MONITORING CELL' over Telephone no.011-23389366/Fax No.011-23387310. The last date for all applications to reach the UPSC either by hand or by Post/Speed Post or by Courier is May 25, 2009. However, in respect of candidates residing abroad or in certain remote areas specified in the Notice, the last date for receipt of application by post/speed post only (not by hand or by courier) is June 1, 2009. In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their application, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC's Facilitation Counter in person or over Telephone No.011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 during working hours.
Computer science students at school to learn open source database and Java at Secondary level
Another breakthrough post adoption of Open Source Technologies at NCERT. After NCERT, now Java and MySQL will be included as a part of the Senior School curriculum 2011 for Informatics Practices Syllabus of CBSE. This is the result of continued efforts of past 6 months, including
meetings with Ministry of HRD, workshops and technical support extended to the HOD, Computer Science of leading schools and case studies presented. Total of 9824 schools are affiliated with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board in India.
Schools in US close as swine flu spreads
More than 400 schools in the US have been closed as the swine flu virus spread to 19 states, but President Barack Obama voiced hope the deadly disease will run its course 'like ordinary flus.' Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said confirmed cases have risen from 109 on Thursday to 141 on Friday with the flu now reported in 19 states, up from 11. Separately, a few states reported slightly higher numbers. The Education Department said that 433 schools had closed, affecting 245,000 children in 17 states. That was about 100 more schools reported closed than reported on Thursday. Meanwhile, United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. will temporarily cut flights to Mexico in response to lower demand amid swine flu fears. 'I am optimistic that we're going to be able to manage this effectively,' Obama told reporters as he received an update from his cabinet on the federal response to the health emergency.
At the same time, he emphasised that the federal government is preparing as if the worst is still to come so that it won't be caught flat-footed. The most recent onset of illness was Tuesday, CDC said, indicating a continuing spread, though no faster than the rate of the regular winter flu. 'We think the cases do continue to occur,' CDC's Anne Schuchat was cited as saying by the Wall Street Journal.But CDC also said the new swine flu virus lacks genes that made the 1918 pandemic strain so deadly. Obama said it wasn't clear whether the flu would be more severe than others before it, and he said the swine flu is a cause for special concern because it is a new strain and people have not developed an immunity to it. Government agencies are preparing in case the flu comes back in a more virulent form during the traditional flu season, the president said, talking of an overarching effort to help schools and businesses while also responding to pleas for help from other countries. The Journal cited a US health official as saying the virus lacks genes that made the 1918 pandemic strain so deadly. The CDC said the new virus is 'a very unusual' four-way combination of human genes and genes from swine viruses found in North America, Asia and Europe.
Public Health University at Delhi
The national capital will have public health university and an Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) to provide a trained health workforce, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after donating 51 acres of land for the two institutes on Friday. The institutes will be built by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), a public-private partnership between the central government, the Delhi government and private players – which is the brainchild of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The university, to come up in southwest Delhi, will be a constituent unit of the network of institutes being established by the PHFI. This campus will be named 'Swasthya Niketan', and the university will link several institutes of public health which the foundation proposes to establish in various regions of India.
First computer technology research institute at New Zealand: Key to new innovations
The NZ$20 million dollar ICT Innovation Institute, otherwise known as NZI3, recently opened at Canterbury University and it's hoped it will help turn great ideas into commercial success stories. The ICT Innovation Institute will house engineers and scientists who invent radical computer technology used in everything from supermarket computers, to military hardware. Centre director, Darin Graham, says that the ICT Centre is designed to bridge the gap between business and the ivory tower of academia. 'This is going to be a very sexy place, it's certainly not geeky,' said Graham. 'The entire space is all open concept. It's not like a typical university environment where everyone's in their cloistered little offices and hiding away.' Business stumped up NZ$10 million in funding, with the Government matching this. And Prime Minister John Key says it will have benefits for the whole country.
New Zealand company Tait Electronics is one of the founding companies backing the institute and is keen to see academics' ideas turned into a commercial reality. 'Innovation without a commercial imperative is effectively just a hobby,' said Tait Electronics Managing Director, Michael Chick. One of the ideas that's really taking off is PhD student John Stowers' aerial mapping project, Quadrota. It has huge commercial potential and he says working in the NZI3 centre alongside researchers from the likes of IBM and Hewlett Packard will help speed up its development. Stowers is just one of the talented students who can flourish in the new environment NZI3 presents.
