Apparently the newest "Computer Applications" textbook for High Schools in our state is based on Windows Vista and Office 2007. There is a debate in educational technology circles about having to upgrade and the issues involved with that. One of the participants in the discussion even invoked the "Conspiracy" theory meme, that M$ is working with the "approved" textbook publishers to get this sort of change made.
I think that in general, it's just the textbook company updating their texts to the latest versions, in order to sell new editions, and to keep from becoming outdated.
Suggestions from the group ranged from just staying on XP, to switching to Google Apps or OpenOffice for those classes. The Rebels!
I couldn't find the new textbook in our textbook ordering system, and I could not find any specific information on how M$/Vista/Office 2007 were required to be used.
Spartanburg 7: Instructional Technology Blog
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Monday, April 16, 2007
SQL Server 2000 Row Limit?
I didn't know that SQL Server 2000 had a max row data size of something like 8K? How can this be right? Well, after one google search, I have found the answer. The limitation is 8060 Bytes for each insert, but you can update each column separately. Also, if you use a text field or an image field, you are safe. Reference and here too.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Games in Education
David Warlick posted today about a conversation he had with Wesley Smith of iWorlds Simulations. Being an avid gamer and long time theorist on how we learn from games, I was quite interested.
I do believe that we learn from games, simulations, and interactive experiences. I believe that we even learn from music, tv, and radio, probably a lot more than we ever learned from books. But one of the things that I can say without a doubt, is that 99.9% of all "educational" software titles miss the mark.
They fail.
They don't engage children. They don't create compelling immersive environments that catch children's attention. They don't convey the breadth of material that could be conveyed given the bandwidth of the medium. They hardly, if ever, move out of the first or second levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
I know this from my half-hearted research, and the research of others, but mostly from personal experience. Almost every software title that I have had the displeasure of using has some defect or flaw that, in the minds of someone who has knowledge of educational principles, and the power of modern media and interactive experiences, causes the software to be a failure.
The sheer capability of the current crop of gaming rigs (XBOX360, PS3, Wii) is leap years beyond what any educational title is even close to implementing.
Real-time interaction in high definition 3-D virtual environments is here, now on these machines. Just think of the possibilities if a game design studio actually created serious educational content.
Educational software developers have to start playing ball NOW in that arena. Why? Because that is where children are creating their standard for digital media. If we put interactive simulations in front of them that are half-hearted, or lower in production value, many of them will immediately poo-poo it as "soooo... last year"
BUT, there is one way that lower production values can be successful, and that is game-play. Fun games are fun regardless of how good they look. Educational games can be fun if they sneak in the learning, if they work on the game-play first, and then add in the smarts.
Well I have to go eat. More later.
I do believe that we learn from games, simulations, and interactive experiences. I believe that we even learn from music, tv, and radio, probably a lot more than we ever learned from books. But one of the things that I can say without a doubt, is that 99.9% of all "educational" software titles miss the mark.
They fail.
They don't engage children. They don't create compelling immersive environments that catch children's attention. They don't convey the breadth of material that could be conveyed given the bandwidth of the medium. They hardly, if ever, move out of the first or second levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
I know this from my half-hearted research, and the research of others, but mostly from personal experience. Almost every software title that I have had the displeasure of using has some defect or flaw that, in the minds of someone who has knowledge of educational principles, and the power of modern media and interactive experiences, causes the software to be a failure.
The sheer capability of the current crop of gaming rigs (XBOX360, PS3, Wii) is leap years beyond what any educational title is even close to implementing.
Real-time interaction in high definition 3-D virtual environments is here, now on these machines. Just think of the possibilities if a game design studio actually created serious educational content.
Educational software developers have to start playing ball NOW in that arena. Why? Because that is where children are creating their standard for digital media. If we put interactive simulations in front of them that are half-hearted, or lower in production value, many of them will immediately poo-poo it as "soooo... last year"
BUT, there is one way that lower production values can be successful, and that is game-play. Fun games are fun regardless of how good they look. Educational games can be fun if they sneak in the learning, if they work on the game-play first, and then add in the smarts.
Well I have to go eat. More later.
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