Lightning in a Bottle

Next week Antelope Technologies will be releasing a small modular computer about the size of a deck of cards. The central core module is 5 x 3 x 3/4 inches, and contains 256 megabytes of RAM, a ten or fifteen gigabyte hard drive, and a one gigahertz processor. It runs the full version of Windows XP.

The core module doesn’t operate by itself, however. It “docks” with a desktop monitor and keyboard, or into a rugged handheld case with a 6.3 inch screen that display 1024 x 768 pixels. The handheld module has ports for VGA monitors, USB for a variety of peripheral add-ons, PCMCIA slot for expansion cards, and audio in and out. It also weighs a hefty 1.6 pounds!

The computer is targeted at business markets, and doesn’t directly affect education right now. (Especially at a cost of $4,000.) It is an indication, however, of where the trends are going that could impact us in the future.

New Scientist has an overview at www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994315. The homepage for Antelope Technologies is www.antelopetech.com/en/index.aspx.

The Enterprise Charter School in Buffalo, New York, has become the first school in the country to use RFID (radio frequency identification) chips to track their students. Each child has a $3.00 photobadge that incorporates a small radio chip that can be identify the students as they enter school in the morning. (The process is still overseen by a school staff member, to make sure that students aren’t just carrying their friend’s nametag as they skip class.) Eventually, the school expects to be able to use the cards to handle lunch purchases, library checkouts, and other activities around school. Because the tags use radio waves for tracking, the students only need to pass in the vicinity of a base station to be monitored. (You can read previous posts on this technology in the weblogs by doing a search in the box in the lower left, using the term “RFID”.)

With heightened concerns over student safety, I expect to see this technology spread rapidly. Wouldn’t it be nice to just have kids walk through the lunchline and their payment is automatically deducted? Walk into the library, pick up a book (with it’s own RFID chip) and walk out the door, and it’s automatically checked out? How about if, when they walk in the door in the morning, the computer flags them for not returning that book on time?

On the other hand, those same chips in the teachers’ name badges would track when they linger in the staff room after recess, or leave the building two minutes after the kids. Maybe this idea needs work…

You can read about this program at Wired at www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60898,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1.

Amazon.com has added a new research option for us and our students. While you have always been able to search for books by title or author, you search will now go through the content of thousands of books. Amazon has now scanned in the entire text of over 120,000 titles, and your search will go through all of them. You can then view or print the exact pages with your word or phrase, even without buying the book. (You can’t, however, download or email the pages.)

I’ve tried it, and it’s pretty cool. Your search will come up with the usual books, with links to the pages with your text or phrase below. (When you click on the link, if you don’t see your page, scroll down. The pages sometimes load at the bottom of the screen for some reason on my computer.)

To try it for yourself, head over to www.amazon.com.

Toshiba announced their e805 Pocket PC handheld today, the first such device to have a 640 by 480 resolution screen. (Typical Pocket PC resolution is 320 by 240). This could potentially mean that they will be easier to read and use; the drawback is that very little software is currently able to use the new screen display. We’ll have to wait and see if software makers see enough of an opportunity to re-write their programs to take advantage of this opportunity.

I sure hope so - I think it will make for a much more usable device.

There is an overview of the e805 and the new e405 at www.brighthand.com/article/RumorMill_Toshiba_e805_e405_Later_Today.

The November issue of National Geographic has a very interesting article on surveillance. In a few short years, technology has developed to the point where daily, routine watching and listening to virtually eveyone is a reality. It’s kind of spooky - not that it’s happening, but that it’s not considered a big deal by anyone.

You can read an excerpt of the article and look at some of the pictures at magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0311/feature1/index.html.

The state of Massachusetts has issued a recommendation that state agencies move to open source software (such as Linux) whenever possible. I haven’t been able to find out if that includes public schools, but it will bear watching.

Massachusetts is the last state government to settle with Microsoft over the antitrust suit, so it’s not surprising that they would be first in line to try to move away from Windows and Microsoft products. It will be interesting to see how many other states start to follow suit.

There’s more information on this decision online at www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22516.html.

The Christian Science Monitor has a review of a new book by Todd Oppenheimer titled The Flickering Mind: The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom. . After five years of research, Oppenheimer finds quite a bit of evidence that much of what has been done to date has had very little postive effect. The blame falls to the nature of personal computers, and the tendency of the technology industry to push out hardware and software that is hard to use and undependable. Where the business world can afford the costs associated with keeping technology up and running, schools lack such funding.

The author does sound sympathetic to teachers. He is reluctant to make recommendations, but instead says:

“I have boiled down my feelings about the subject into a small set of hopes for schools. I hesitate to turn these hopes into formal recommendations for a reason. For decades, teachers and administrators have been battered [by] … all manner of ‘experts’ who do not spend their days cooped up in a room with dozens of unruly youngsters…. These teachers are doing God’s work.”

The book sounds like a good read, and raises some very important issues. You can read the whole review at www.csmonitor.com/2003/1014/p20s02-lecl.html.

Another article on the slow acceptance of the ebook is at Yahoo news. Despite lots of hype, sales are still quite low. Part of the problem is due to competing formats, and another is that for reading devices, we currently have a choice between handheld computers (screen too small) and laptop computers (device too big and bulky). The best ebook reading I have tried yet is the Tablet PC. The tablet is the size and weight of a large book, and about as natural to hold.

Still, to quote the article, “One problem is that e-books are up against a very established technology, namely books. And most people are very happy with that technology.” (Unless, of course, it means five textbooks in a students’ overweight backpack…)

The Cincinnati Public Schools launched a Virtual High School in 2001. By the end of the first year, the participation rates of the students was so poor that half were dropped from the school. The program has been radically redesigned, recognizing that “…most students need rigid deadlines, human interaction and positive reinforcement to succeed. ”

The program now requires that students come to the building housing the Virtual High School at least twice a week for 90 minutes. There is also much tighter monitoring of student progress and effort. The revised program seems to benefit those students participating, who range from kids that struggled in regular classes to really bright students that were bored with the pace of normal classes.

The Cincinatti Enquirer has article online about this program at http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/08/loc_virtualschool08.html.

Milwaukie High School in Milwaukie, Oregon has opened a new art and technology program. Partially funded by a Gates Grant, it increases the capacity of the visual arts program from 240 to 400 students, as well as providing more variety in their courses and improved facilities.

Many students not attracted to the traditional arts are interested in the digital arts, according to teachers. However, the traditional arts teacher had difficulty doing much with only one computer, one scanner, and one printer. Now both the traditional arts classrooms and the art and technology program share the new facility, with plenty of computers for daily use.

The article describing the program is at www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/1064922969178480.xml?oregonian?smn.