A computer is a general-purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a set of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem.
Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved.
Mechanical analog computers started appearing in the first century and were later used in the medieval era for astronomical calculations. In World War II, mechanical analog computers were used for specialized military applications such as calculating torpedo aiming. During this time the first electronic digital computers were developed. Originally they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).
Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and mobile computers can be powered by small batteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are generally considered as “computers”. However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from electronic toys to industrial robots are the most numerou
Monday, 13 June 2016
Educational Technology
Educational technology is the effective use of technological tools in learning. As a concept, it concerns an array of tools, such as media, machines and networking hardware, as well as considering underlying theoretical perspectives for their effective application.
Educational technology is not restricted to high technology.Nonetheless, electronic educational technology, also called e-learning, has become an important part of society today, comprising an extensive array of digitization approaches, components and delivery methods. For example, m-learning emphasizes mobility, but is otherwise indistinguishable in principle from educational technology.
Educational technology includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video, and includes technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV, CD-ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and web-based learning. Information and communication systems, whether free-standing or based on either local networks or the Internet in networked learning, underlie many e-learning processes.
Theoretical perspectives and scientific testing influence instructional design. The application of theories of human behavior to educational technology derives input from instructional theory, learning theory, educational psychology, media psychology and human performance technology.
Educational technology and e-learning can occur in or out of the classroom. It can be self-paced, asynchronous learning or may be instructor-led, synchronous learning. It is suited to distance learning and in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, which is termed blended learning. Educational technology is used by learners and educators in homes, schools (both K-12 and higher education), businesses, and other settings.
Educational technology is not restricted to high technology.Nonetheless, electronic educational technology, also called e-learning, has become an important part of society today, comprising an extensive array of digitization approaches, components and delivery methods. For example, m-learning emphasizes mobility, but is otherwise indistinguishable in principle from educational technology.
Educational technology includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video, and includes technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV, CD-ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and web-based learning. Information and communication systems, whether free-standing or based on either local networks or the Internet in networked learning, underlie many e-learning processes.
Theoretical perspectives and scientific testing influence instructional design. The application of theories of human behavior to educational technology derives input from instructional theory, learning theory, educational psychology, media psychology and human performance technology.
Educational technology and e-learning can occur in or out of the classroom. It can be self-paced, asynchronous learning or may be instructor-led, synchronous learning. It is suited to distance learning and in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, which is termed blended learning. Educational technology is used by learners and educators in homes, schools (both K-12 and higher education), businesses, and other settings.
Science is a Systematic Enterprise
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In an older and closely related meaning, “science” also refers to this body of knowledge itself, of the type that can be rationally explained and reliably applied.
Contemporary science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences which study the material world, the social sciences which study people and societies, and the formal sciences like mathematics. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations.Disciplines which use science like engineering and medicine may also be considered to be applied sciences.
From classical antiquity through the 19th century, science as a type of knowledge was more closely linked to philosophy than it is now and, in fact, in the West the term “natural philosophy” encompassed fields of study that are today associated with science such as physics, astronomy, medicine, among many others.
In the 17th and 18th centuries scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of laws of nature. Over the course of the 19th century, the word “science” became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself, as a disciplined way to study the natural world. It was in the 19th century that modern scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and biology reached their modern shapes. The same time period also included the origin of the terms “scientist” and “scientific community,” the founding of scientific institutions, and increasing significance of the interactions with society and other aspects of culture.
Contemporary science is typically subdivided into the natural sciences which study the material world, the social sciences which study people and societies, and the formal sciences like mathematics. The formal sciences are often excluded as they do not depend on empirical observations.Disciplines which use science like engineering and medicine may also be considered to be applied sciences.
From classical antiquity through the 19th century, science as a type of knowledge was more closely linked to philosophy than it is now and, in fact, in the West the term “natural philosophy” encompassed fields of study that are today associated with science such as physics, astronomy, medicine, among many others.
In the 17th and 18th centuries scientists increasingly sought to formulate knowledge in terms of laws of nature. Over the course of the 19th century, the word “science” became increasingly associated with the scientific method itself, as a disciplined way to study the natural world. It was in the 19th century that modern scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and biology reached their modern shapes. The same time period also included the origin of the terms “scientist” and “scientific community,” the founding of scientific institutions, and increasing significance of the interactions with society and other aspects of culture.
Electronics engineering, or Electronic Engineering
Electronics engineering, or electronic engineering, is an engineering discipline which utilizes non-linear and active electrical components (such as electron tubes, and semiconductor devices, especially transistors, diodes and integrated circuits) to design electronic circuits, devices and systems. The discipline typically also designs passive electrical components, usually based on printed circuit boards.
The term “electronic engineering” denotes a broad engineering field that covers subfields such as analog electronics, digital electronics, consumer electronics, embedded systems and power electronics. Electronics engineering deals with implementation of applications, principles and algorithms developed within many related fields, for example solid-state physics, radio engineering, telecommunications, control systems, signal processing, systems engineering, computer engineering, instrumentation engineering, electric power control, robotics, and many others.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is one of the most important and influential organizations for electronics engineers.
The term “electronic engineering” denotes a broad engineering field that covers subfields such as analog electronics, digital electronics, consumer electronics, embedded systems and power electronics. Electronics engineering deals with implementation of applications, principles and algorithms developed within many related fields, for example solid-state physics, radio engineering, telecommunications, control systems, signal processing, systems engineering, computer engineering, instrumentation engineering, electric power control, robotics, and many others.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is one of the most important and influential organizations for electronics engineers.
Economics is the social science
Economics is the social science that describes the factors that determine the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek οἰκονομία from οἶκος (oikos, “house”) and νόμος (nomos, “custom” or “law”), hence “rules of the house (hold for good management)”.Political economy’ was the earlier name for the subject, but economists in the late 19th century suggested “economics” as a shorter term for “economic science” to establish itself as a separate discipline outside of political science and other social sciences.
Economics focuses on the behavior and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Consistent with this focus, primary textbooks often distinguish between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics examines the behavior of basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyzes the entire economy (meaning aggregated production, consumption, savings, and investment) and issues affecting it, including unemployment of resources (labor, capital, and land), inflation, economic growth, and the public policies that address these issues (monetary, fiscal, and other policies).
Other broad distinctions within economics include those between positive economics, describing “what is,” and normative economics, advocating “what ought to be”; between economic theory and applied economics; between rational and behavioral economics; and between mainstream economics (more “orthodox” and dealing with the “rationality-individualism-equilibrium nexus”) and heterodox economics (more “radical” and dealing with the “institutions-history-social structure nexus”).
Besides the traditional concern in production, distribution, and consumption in an economy, economic analysis may be applied throughout society, as in business, finance, health care, and government. Economic analyses may also be applied to such diverse subjects as crime,education,the family, law, politics, religion, social institutions, war,science,and the environment.Education, for example, requires time, effort, and expenses, plus the foregone income and experience, yet these losses can be weighted against future benefits education may bring to the agent or the economy. At the turn of the 21st century, the expanding domain of economics in the social sciences has been described as economic imperialism.
The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek οἰκονομία from οἶκος (oikos, “house”) and νόμος (nomos, “custom” or “law”), hence “rules of the house (hold for good management)”.Political economy’ was the earlier name for the subject, but economists in the late 19th century suggested “economics” as a shorter term for “economic science” to establish itself as a separate discipline outside of political science and other social sciences.
Economics focuses on the behavior and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Consistent with this focus, primary textbooks often distinguish between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics examines the behavior of basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyzes the entire economy (meaning aggregated production, consumption, savings, and investment) and issues affecting it, including unemployment of resources (labor, capital, and land), inflation, economic growth, and the public policies that address these issues (monetary, fiscal, and other policies).
Other broad distinctions within economics include those between positive economics, describing “what is,” and normative economics, advocating “what ought to be”; between economic theory and applied economics; between rational and behavioral economics; and between mainstream economics (more “orthodox” and dealing with the “rationality-individualism-equilibrium nexus”) and heterodox economics (more “radical” and dealing with the “institutions-history-social structure nexus”).
Besides the traditional concern in production, distribution, and consumption in an economy, economic analysis may be applied throughout society, as in business, finance, health care, and government. Economic analyses may also be applied to such diverse subjects as crime,education,the family, law, politics, religion, social institutions, war,science,and the environment.Education, for example, requires time, effort, and expenses, plus the foregone income and experience, yet these losses can be weighted against future benefits education may bring to the agent or the economy. At the turn of the 21st century, the expanding domain of economics in the social sciences has been described as economic imperialism.
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2016
Which Education Next articles were most popular in 2016?
Our top article of 2013 was a randomized experiment designed to measure the effect of taking students on a field trip to an art museum. The study concluded, as the authors wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times, that “art makes you smart.”
What other topics were popular?
Five of the top 20 articles for 2013 looked at some aspect of technology in education: an article on flipped classrooms, a study of the effectiveness of online learning for college students, a profile of a charter schoolthat utilizes blended learning to individualize instruction, an article “checking the facts” of a study that evaluated K12 virtual schools, a look at educational apps aimed at preschoolers.
Another five articles of the top 20 articles focused on teachers or teacher training: a critique of ed schools, a look at the role played by substitute teachers, an article describing new organizations aimed at giving teachers a greater voice in the profession, a study of the academic qualifications of today’s teachers, an article on the cost of teacher benefits, and an article on changes at Teach for America.
Five more articles looked at some aspect of charter schooling: a look at how graduates of No Excuses charter schools are doing in college, an inside look at high-scoring BASIS charter schools, a look at the softer side of KIPP schools, an article about a blended learning charter school in L.A., and a study looking at how competition with charter schools affects district schools.
Assessment Through the Student's Eyes
Assessment Through the Student's Eyes
Rather than sorting students into winners and losers, assessment for learning can put all students on a winning streak.
Historically, a major role of assessment has been to detect and highlight differences in student learning in order to rank students according to their achievement. Such assessment experiences have produced winners and losers. Some students succeed early and build on winning streaks to learn more as they grow; others fail early and often, falling farther and farther behind.
As we all know, the mission of schools has changed. Today's schools are less focused on merely sorting students and more focused on helping allstudents succeed in meeting standards. This evolution in the mission of schools means that we can't let students who have not yet met standards fall into losing streaks, succumb to hopelessness, and stop trying.
Our evolving mission compels us to embrace a new vision of assessment that can tap the wellspring of confidence, motivation, and learning potential that resides within every student. First, we need to tune in to the emotional dynamics of the assessment experience from the point of view of students—both assessment winners and assessment losers. These two groups experience assessment practices in vastly different ways, as shown in “The Assessment Experience,” p. 24. To enable all students to experience the productive emotional dynamics of winning, we need to move from exclusive reliance on assessments that verify learning to the use of assessments that support learning—that is, assessments for learning.
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