EDTECH
Research To Assess Computers Effects On Classrooms (NYT)
This Buffy Slays Indian Stereotypes (USA)
INTERNET
Health Web Sites Will Form Privacy, Accuracy Policies (WSJ)
New Media Streaming into the Mainstream (SJM)
Filing Online? It May Be Free (USA)
E-COMMERCE
Corporate Coalition, OECD To Sign E-Commerce Accord (WSJ)
WIRELESS
Majority Of U.S. Households Now Have Mobile Phones (NYT)
EDTECH
RESEARCH TO ASSESS COMPUTERS EFFECTS ON CLASSROOMS
Issue: EdTech
The American Academy of Pediatrics is teaming up with an organization known
for its skepticism of technology use in the classroom to fund new research
into how computers and software impact the development of children from
birth though age 11. The academy is partnering with Woodland, Calif.-based
Learning in the Real World, a nonprofit organization that questions the
merit of technology in schools. The groups are funding one-year research
grants of up to $50,000 to study questions relating to computer use and its
impact on motor development. "Children spend a lot of time surfing the Net,
but there is no research to date on the effects, especially on young
children," said Miriam Bar-on, chairwoman of the American Academy of
Pediatrics' Committee on Public Education. A study titled "Fools Gold: A
Critical Look at Computers in Childhood" by the Alliance for Childhood said
there is not enough research into the impact computers could have on the
developing minds of young children. That study, which was released in
September of this year, called for a moratorium on computers in elementary
school classrooms until further research is done.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Rebbeca S. Weiner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/13/technology/13EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
See Also:
LET THE TEACHERS TEACH
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Moira Gunn]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/columns/front/docs/mg121200.htm)
THIS BUFFY SLAYS INDIAN STEREOTYPES
Issue: EdTech
Academy Award-winning songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie didn't take to her son's
fifth-grade curriculum on Native Americans in the mid-1980s. "It was the
same old dead text on dead Indians," says Sainte-Marie, who is a Cree. "It
was shallow, inaccurate and not interesting." In response to the experience,
Sainte-Marie created the Cradleboard Teaching Project (www.cradleboard.org).
This year the project expanded beyond handouts and an Internet curriculum to
a multimedia CD-ROM based teaching aid. The CD-ROM incorporates science
lessons on friction and sound, for example, using examples from Native
American culture. It is geared toward children in fifth grade through middle
school. Most importantly, the program tackles what Sainte-Marie sees as a
problem in traditional education: presenting accurate information on Native
Americans. Sainte-Marie says her curriculum differs only in that it is
taught from a Native American perspective. The Cradleboard Teaching Project
pairs children at mainstream schools with peers at schools on American
Indian reservations.
[SOURCE: USAToday, 12/12 (10D), AUTHOR: Mara H. Gottfried]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001212/2907567s.htm)
INTERNET
HEALTH WEB SITES WILL FORM PRIVACY, ACCURACY POLICIES
Issue: Health/Internet
A group of 18 Internet health sites plan to jointly develop a "seal program"
aimed at helping consumers evaluate the avalanche of medical information
available on the Internet. The standards program would make it easier for
consumers to protect personal details they submit to certified
health-related Web sites and ensure they are getting accurate medical
information, according to the Internet health group. The certification
process would begin next year. The program comes at a time when the federal
government is more interested in establishing privacy and security standards
for computerized records. Hi-Ethics (name of the group) members include
America Online, drkoop.com Inc., Healthwise Inc., InteliHealth Inc.,
iVillage Inc., MedicaLogic/Medscape Inc. and WebMD Corp.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Staff Reporter]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB976661495468846850.htm)
(requires subscription)
NEW MEDIA STREAMING INTO THE MAINSTREAM
Issue: Internet
While "streaming", the delivery of audio and video on the Internet, has been
around for a few years now, it doesn't appear to be replacing traditional
media forms any time soon. The main problem with streaming is network
congestion -- too many people trying to watch at the same time. But as
bandwidth increases this problem will ease. More and more people are growing
accustomed to watching or listening to important events on the Web. Mr.
Gillmor predicts that steaming media will allow companies and individuals to
create content aimed at highly discrete audiences, making for greater
consumer choice.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dan Gillmor]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/columns/front/docs/dg121300.htm)
FILING ONLINE? IT MAY BE FREE
Issue: Internet
Just 28% of tax returns were filed electronically in 2000, but the IRS's
goal is to have 80% of tax returns e-filed by 2007. Several companies will
be offering Americans the opportunity to prepare and file taxes
electronically for free next year, which should help move the IRS towards
its goal. Electronic preparation and filing normally costs $10 to about $70,
depending on whether the taxpayer uses desktop software or cheaper Web-based
services
[SOURCE: USAToday (8B), AUTHOR: Thomas A. Fogarty]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001213/2911486s.htm)
E-COMMERCE
CORPORATE COALITION, OECD TO SIGN E-COMMERCE ACCORD
Issue: E-Commerce
An international coalition, led by media and technology companies is
expected Wednesday to sign alliances with the International Chamber of
Commerce and an advisory committee to the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD). The aim of the alliance is to draft
common approaches to e-commerce issues, an act that would pave the way for
greater international industrial cooperation in setting ground rules for
doing business online. The Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce
(GBDE) has been lobbying governments and international agencies on Internet
taxation, privacy, intellectual-property rights and other related matters
since its formation in 1998. In recent years, the International Chamber of
Commerce has helped update private-sector standard practices, such as
commercial contracts, to fit the demands of e-commerce. For its part, the
OECD has worked to increase coordination among its member states, which
include the world's wealthiest countries, on issues including online
taxation and privacy. While GBDE claims some success in influencing
government policies, it drew criticism this fall from U.S. and European
officials for not pushing stringent enough consumer-privacy guidelines for
the Internet.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB976660670524066714.htm)
(requires subscription)
WIRELESS
MAJORITY OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS NOW HAVE MOBILE PHONES
Issue: Technology
For the first time, a majority of U.S. households has at least one mobile
phone, according to a new study. The survey by Dataquest, a unit of the
Gartner Group, found some 52 million U.S. households, or about 51 percent of
the total, owned a mobile phone in February, up sharply from 32 percent in
October 1999. The Western region of the U.S., including California, and the
South Atlantic, including Washington, D.C., showed the highest rate of
ownership at 53 percent. The New York and New England areas trailed the rest
of the country, with just 46 percent of households owning mobile phones,
according to the survey. The data were based on a representative survey of
40,000 individuals, Dataquest said.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-telecoms-mobilep.html)
(requires registration)
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