Videogames as part of a reward system

A school in London is using videogames as an reward for their students:

A Birmingham school has found a novel way to motivate pupils to stay disciplined – by giving well-behaved pupils a range of executive perks, including access to a computer-games room and the right to wear a special uniform.
Selly Oak School has benefited 180 [...]

SimCity donated to the OLPC project

Games that can educate: SimCity donated to OLPC project:
Electronic Arts announced yesterday plans to donate the original version of the SimCity computer game to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project so that it can be distributed to schoolchildren in developing countries on OLPC’s XO laptop.

Although they haven’t hit their $100 goal, the OLPC XO [...]

Asus Eee PC $299 available in January in pastel colors?

Asus Eee PC in pink, green, blue, and black:
Anyone waiting until next year to purchase the entry-level Asus Eee PC 2G Surf ($299) will soon have a new decision to make: Pure White, Lush Green, Sky Blue, Blush Pink, or Galaxy Black.
Combined with a 1-to-1 initiative, what an interesting way for students to gain ownership [...]

Day 1 – eTech|Ohio Educational Technology Conference

Today marks the start of the eTech|Ohio Educational Technology Conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. I look forward to the conference every year. Not only is it a great resource of ideas and practices, it is also a great motivator!
Tomorrow I am running a booth at the Technology Support Display from 10:30-2:30 on Virtual [...]

The financial aspects of being a college graduate

Analyzing Census data shows that being a college graduate is worth $23,000 a year:
“How much is a bachelor’s degree worth? About $23,000 a year, the government said in a report released Thursday.”
An extra ~$1,000 a month isn’t too shabby.

Firefox 2.0 released to FTP sites

Fire up your browser and head on over to Mozilla’s ftp mirrors to download the latest version of Firefox. Although this version isn’t as monumental as those in the past, it does add a couple of nice features, including spell check in form fields and a built in session manager to restore your browser windows [...]

VMware server now free

Machine virtualization seems to be the hot topic right now in the computing world, especially with the release of VMware Server from EMC and Virtual PC 2004 from Microsoft for free. That means you can now host multiple virtual machines on your current Windows or Linux PC.
For the uninitiated, virtual machines is a process of [...]

Circle time for America’s education crisis

Circle time for America’s education crisis | Perspectives | CNET News.com
Recently, I toured educational facilities where the following questions were asked:
Do you offer classes in both Cantonese and Mandarin? How are computers integrated into the curriculum? What emphasis do you place on biological sciences?
Have I been trying to find a college? [...]

The Seattle Times: Education: Teachers see iPods as educational tool

The Seattle Times: Education: Teachers see iPods as educational tool
At Jamestown Elementary School in Arlington, Va., Camilla Gagliolo took another approach. Rather than fighting the fad, she is capitalizing on it by giving students iPods and re-imagining them as a learning tool.
“It just makes so much sense. They are so drawn to this technology. They [...]

Study Reveals How to Become a Highly Creative Person » Quantum Biocommunication

Study Reveals How to Become a Highly Creative Person » Quantum Biocommunication
Do you desire to be a more creative person but don’t think you have the “creative” gene? You may have some hard work ahead, but it’s possible to become the next Walt Disney or Martha Stewart, says an expert on creativity at Washington University [...]