1. Monthly archive
  2. August 2016

August 2016

How beneficial are 'one-to-one' laptop programs in schools?

[Commentary] An international study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found no positive evidence of impact of educational technology on student performance. It did not find any significant improvement in reading, math or science in countries that heavily invested in technology to improve student achievement. In fact, the report found that technology perhaps even widened the achievement gaps. Does this mean we should abandon attempts to integrate technology in schools? We are researchers of technology and learning in K-12 environments, and our research suggests this would be shortsighted.

[Binbin Zheng is an Assistant Professor, Michigan State University. Mark Warschauer is Professor of Education and Informatics, University of California, Irvine.]

Yahoo and the Online Universe According to Verizon

[Commentary] There is a surprisingly ambitious, and risky, unifying theme hidden in the oddball assortment of websites and internet services that Verizon has acquired over the last year or so: The company is rethinking who its customer actually is. Verizon is imagining a future when its most important client may not be a mother signing up for a family cellphone plan in the Verizon store. Instead, the customer will be corporations — advertisers — that want to reach that family, and that are willing to pay Verizon to help them do so.

Telecoms Consider Fee Hikes, as Fierce Price War Plays Out

The wireless price war may have reached detente. After years of slashing prices, offering stunning promotions and undercutting each other to grab new subscribers in a market that has reached near saturation, the four largest U.S. wireless carriers have reported second-quarter results that suggest prices have stabilized. Some operators are even talking about how price rises could be in the future. For all carriers, the average revenue per user, a metric used to calculate how much the carriers earn from their subscribers, has plateaued after dropping steadily since late 2013, according to data from UBS Group AG. In the second quarter, the metric fell to $50.20, down from $60.70 in the third quarter of 2013, but only down slightly from $50.40 in the first quarter, according to UBS data. The stabilization of pricing comes at a time when carriers are facing big investments and slowing revenue growth.

US mobile switching at a record low as consumers put off upgrades

The four largest US wireless carriers are signing up new mobile phone customers at their slowest rate in more than 15 years as consumers put off switching networks and upgrading their smartphones.

Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile US and Sprint recruited 7.1 million of the most lucrative “postpaid” mobile phone customers in the second quarter. Analysts are divided on the reason for the phenomenon, with some blaming pent-up demand for the Apple iPhone 7 and a paucity of new smartphone features. Others argue that efforts by the networks to stop customers leaving have started to bear fruit, resulting in a smaller pool of switchers for their rivals to pick off.

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