The Technology Student Association (TSA) surveyed 675 middle and high school students during its 2002 national conference in Denver, Colorado, to find out about their Internet-use habits. The students surveyed ranged in age from 12 to 18 years old.
The survey found that the Internet is important to students for both school and social reasons.
?Kids really enjoy talking to each other on the Internet and use it as much as the telephone,? says TSA National President Michael Ward, who is from Ninnekah High School in Ninnekah, Oklahoma. ?But the Internet?s most important use is that it helps us complete school assignments and have access to limitless information for research, right there in our own house or school.?
While many boys use the Internet to check on sports updates and automotive interests, girls use e-mail to communicate with family and friends. Both girls and boys cite the most prevalent reasons for using the Internet as doing school research, using Instant Messenger, sending and receiving e-mails, chatting, peer-to-peer music sharing, listening to music, checking news, playing games and shopping.
Just how important is the Internet to these tech-savvy teens? In response to the question, ?Do you feel the Internet is a necessity in your life?? 69 percent of the girls and 63 percent of the boys surveyed answered yes.
For more information, visit www.tsaweb.org.
Working with Hewlett-Packard, the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) is helping to develop accessible computer workstation solutions for people with disabilities in libraries nationwide. ASCLA is a division of the American Library Association.
The strategic initiative, which is called Library Technology Access, was announced by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in October. HP is donating 12 workstations to six libraries?four public libraries and two university libraries?as part of the first phase. The six libraries are: Cleveland Public Library, Milwaukee Public Library, Johnson County Public Library in Kansas, San Diego Public Library, University of South Dakota and Arizona State University.
According to HP, the Library Technology Access initiative workstations will be Internet connected and will consist of ergonomic furniture, a Compaq Evo PC, an HP Scanjet scanner and HP LaserJet printer, Microsoft Office software and a variety of assistive technology products that address the needs of library users with visual, hearing, mobility or learning disabilities.
HP also says that it will provide technical support for the workstations and is developing training materials for libraries and patrons.
For more information about Hewlett-Packard?s work with the Library Technology Access initiative, visit http://www.hp.com/accessibility. For more information about the Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, visit www.ala.org/ascla.
The Technology-Based Assessment (TBA) project is designed to explore the use of technology, especially the use of the computer, as a tool to enhance the quality and efficiency of educational assessments. As a project of the National Center for Education Statistics, TBA is exploring how the use of computer technology will affect the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The key questions about technology-based assessment being addressed by the project are:
- What are the measurement implications for NAEP?
- What are the equity implications?
- What are the efficiency and cost implications?
- What are the operational implications?
- How can we best incorporate new technology in NAEP, both short term and long term?
TBA includes three empirical studies (Mathematics Online, Writing Online and Problem Solving in a Technology-Rich Environment), a conceptual paper on computerized adaptive testing, and an online school and teacher questionnaire segment. The three studies involve a small-sample pilot test, an expanded pretest and a larger field test.
For more information, visit http://nces.ed/gov/nationsreportcard/studies/tbaproject.asp.
An Innovation Odyssey offering ?a world tour of innovative uses of technology in education? can be found at the Intel Web site. Featuring a new story every school day, An Innovation Odyssey allows teachers to read about how other teachers around the globe are using technology to support and enhance student learning.
Here are a couple of the recent stories.
A fourth-grade teacher in South Carolina challenged his students to create musical instruments that could change both pitch and volume to help them understand the properties of sound. As they researched the project, the students learned about Internet resources, Web pages and search engines.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil, students ranging in age from 11 to 16 are using technology to investigate the benefits of growing soy, a crop with great nutritional benefits. The students are working on the project, which is called Healthy Alimentation, in their school?s 10-computer technology lab.
For more information about Intel?s An Innovation Odyssey or to read the daily stories, visit http://www97.intel.com/odyssey.
