No, that image to the left is not an iPad surrounded by SmartCovers. That is the Microsoft Surface. Not to be confused with the giant table-sized computer the company released a while ago, the Surface is Microsoft’s entry into the tablet market.
Attempting to take a page out of Apple’s playbook on several levels, Microsoft revealed the Surface during a mystery press event in California. What those in attendance saw was an iPad knock-off that is heavier, boasts shorter batter life and an inferior chip. To be fair, the Surface does have an impressive cover that contains a fully functioning keyboard, but that is an accessory that must be purchased.
Microsoft has two versions of the Surface in the works, each for a very different audience. There’s a “consumer version” that will run Windows RT and a “business version” that will run Windows 8.
Microsoft isn’t saying exactly when the Surface will be available for purchase, or how much it will cost, but experts are predicting the “consumer version” to fall in the $500 price range with the “business version” to come in at over $1,000. The pricier version does have better overall tech specs than its cheaper brother, but that improved performance comes at the cost of weight and, of course, cost.
"If we want our children to grow up learning how to learn and how to think, we should be working in the other direction: make the classroom look more like the art studio.” – Christopher Wisniewski
Forty-one years ago, Agnes Gund read an article about the arts being virtually eliminated from the budget of the NYC Board...
“A community of professionals who are open minded and keen to try new methods in their profession can improve the results of their work.” – Àgueda Gras-Velázquez
How can Educators keep up and collaborate with the newest trends in STEM education making use of the best tech and tools available to them in...
Distracted students. Technology addiction. Social media onslaught.
Fast-paced living. Increased anxiety. Sounds like a recipe for a breakdown. Welcome to the new classroom.
Societal changes have certainly brought new challenges for teachers. And with new challenges, comes the need to re-examine current approaches to education. What are some of these new challenges? To start, children are spending more and more time on electronic devices. A 2017 report released by Common Sense...
Last year in a faculty meeting, I listened as a senior administrator denied the importance of content as part of a high school education in today’s world. It was August of 2017, only days after the events of Charlottesville, Virginia and the subsequent debates about the meaning of the Confederacy and its leaders in the contemporary era.
This administrator explained how he needed no content base to understand the white nationalist rally or the counter-protestors or the emerging...
One of my favorite aspects of the Internet as a conduit of information is that I can enjoy video lectures made available by varied universities. I regularly take classes via Coursera or consume lectures open sourced by professors. Watching a lecture over a cup of coffee in the morning or listening to one at night when I am making my kids’ school lunches is now an established and beloved part of my routine.
I started using video lectures in my American History classroom two years...
“The teacher’s role in this journey is to ‘model advance learning’. They are there as a mentor, a guide, a coach, and most importantly, a co-learner.” – Glenn Chickering
Our environment should be important to all of us. It is after all where we live.
The Green School in...
“When the viewer looks down, they’ll see their arms are branches, their body is the trunk, and when they move, the tree moves too.” – Winslow Porter
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality Markets are expected to reach US$162 billion by 2020. How can schools use...
Do you remember learning to read? I am a very lucky girl – I don’t.
What I do remember is lying in bed with my Read it yourself Ladybird Book, reading to my mother. I was so intrigued with the images of Cinderella. They were different to the usual ‘soft’ images. They were almost digital (in a pre-digital time!). I grew up in a house full of books and enjoyed reading stories about The Famous Five, Mr Twiddle and The Faraway Tree……
I remember my kindergarten teacher writing a...