Archive for August 20-24, 2001

Monday, August 20, 2001

Gary Smith of PolyMath Love Software has released two more math freewares appropriate for middle school students. Tanker Rescue Squad (365K) is an engaging game that requires the effective use of measurement of angles to rescue a disabled tanker. Also released Friday was Angle Fireworks (270K). All of Gary's freewares are available for download on his samples page. I really like many of the offerings there, as these are apps that Gary uses in his classroom every day.

The Sunday New York Times has a timely column by Kate Zernike and Melody Petersen concerning the promotion and use of stimulant drugs in treating ADD and ADHD (attention deficit disorder and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity). Schools' Backing of Behavior Drugs Comes Under Fire (free registration required) describes manufacturers new attempts to directly promote the prescription drugs to parents through advertising campaigns. The column notes that Minnesota now bars "schools and child protection agencies from telling parents they must put their children on drugs to treat disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." Connecticut has passed similar legislation that prohibits "any school staff member from discussing drug treatments with a parent." Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin also have bills pending on the subject.

Like many of the readers of this page, I have students in my classroom who appear unable to learn without such medications. I have others with whom I've suggested to parents we try removing them from such medications. While the overprescription, overuse, and misuse of stimulant medications in treating ADD and ADHD are real problems, state gag orders on educators seem like a very bad idea.

House GOP Wants Special Ed Overhaul tells of some House Republicans who want "to cut proposed increases for special education," saying such increases "would slow reform of the system." The column notes that "IDEA, enacted in 1975, called for Washington to provide 40 percent of funding for disabled youngsters' education." That has never happened, with federal funding last year estimated at just 15%. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, one of the sponsors of the funding increase, said Friday, "Local school districts have been waiting for 26 years for the federal government to step up to the plate and provide their fair share of funding. This is just one last excuse as to why they should wait even longer.''

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Meredith May tells of another school system going to a 1:1 computer-student ratio in San Lorenzo schools to give laptops to all: $20 million experiment to link all class projects to technology.

Saturday evening, Annie and I found ourselves "kid-less," and took the opportunity for a romantic dinner on the town. A friend of one of our daughters was also at the restaurant and told an interesting item about wireless computers in the classroom. The friend was taking an exam on his laptop in a classroom at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. While taking the test, an Instant Messenger communication from his computer-toting grandmother popped up on the screen! He had Instant Messenger set to launch at startup and hadn't thought to quit the app before the exam began.

Since today's posting looks as if it may be totally absent of any educational merit, let me add an item that I found interesting. Sony has announced a 5 megapixel digital camera. While I forget the exact figures, that number seems pretty close to being equivalent to 35mm film! The Cyber-shot DSC-F707 carries a ton of features, including a 5X optical zoom lens, spot and averaging metering, and auto and manual focusing.

The Mac OS 9.2.1 updater is now available from Applecare Knowledge Base (free registration required) or via the software update control panel. The update apparently provides improved compatibility of Classic applications run under OS X. The update is listed at 82 MB by Apple and is available as a single download or a six-part download. Version Tracker also has a direct download link.

According to CNET, Apple Computer has fixed a problem that caused QuickTime not to function under some patched Windows versions of Internet Explorer 5.5 (and the 6.0 beta).

ABCNews.com reported yesterday that an annual report by Phi Delta Kappa International said "Just over half of the public, 51 percent, gives their local public school system an A or B...a new high in the 33 years the study has been conducted."

Dell Computer issued a press release yesterday (Gartner Dataquest: U.S. PC Quarterly Statistics Program 2Q01) stating that it "continues to be the No. 1 supplier of computer systems to the U.S. education market" for the past twelve months. That is sure to set off a whole new round of spins on sales numbers from both Dell and Apple Computer, the previous educational sales leader.

Los Angeles Times staff writers Jessica Garrison and Daniel Yi tell of an elementary school that has added a laptop computer to their suggested supply list. School Wants Laptop on Every Desk tells of the Chaparral Elementary School's (Ladera Ranch, CA) request that "students in third, fourth and fifth grade arrive at the newly opened school with Macintosh iBooks." While located in an "upscale community," some parents of Chaparral Elementary students are protesting the recommendation on the ground that it "will create inequities. Though the school has purchased some Macintosh iBooks to loan to children of low-income families, those students whose parents simply choose not to buy them a computer will have to do without."

The New York Times Circuits page carried several good columns yesterday concerning computing and education. Take-Home Test: Adding PC's to Book Bags, by Lisa Guernsey, continues the discussion of laptops in the elementary classroom. Guernsey writes:

Guernsey also does a good job of framing the opposition to laptops for all, listing several pertinent questions regarding the practice and quoting Kenneth Reinshuttle, executive director of the Fairfax Education Association, as saying, "Before they spend money on something like that, they ought to fix the leaky roofs." This column is one of the better objective discussions I've read of school systems providing laptops for all students.

In It's Not the Computer; It's How (and Where) You Use It, Shelly Freierman briefly discusses labs versus individual laptops. She concludes by saying, "Ultimately, the value of technology in education is up to the teachers," followed by a quote from Professor Robbie McClintock, director of the Institute for Learning Technologies at Teachers College, Columbia University, "The experience can be very good, or it can be like wheeling a VCR into a classroom and turning it on."

If you have some old Apple III software you'd like to use on a Mac, Black Cat Systems has updated their free beta Apple III emulator, Sara (152K), to version 0.4.0. The Sara web page carries the following disclaimer and invitation for input about the software:

If you use Macs with a security program that can be defeated by a shift key, extensions off restart, Marc Mennigmann's Shift Key Suite may enhance your machine security. Version 1.0.6 of Shift Key Suite (156K) now adds compatibility for Mac operating systems 7.0 through 9.2.1.