nanoHUB for Kids :: Blog

Hello everyone, I am finally back.  After about 1 year of no blogging I have decided to share with the community some of the resources I have created as part of my coursework in educational technology and now as part of my course work in engineering education.  Enjoy!

 

image reference: http://www.capndesign.com/photo/archives/002337.php

'Smart mob' tech spurs student activism
School leaders have a new tech phenomenon to contend with
By Nora Carr, APR

Many of the tens of thousands of college and university student activists that swarmed Jena, La., on Sept. 20 to protest the town's racial inequality were mobilized through information and communication technologies, representing what's known as a "smart mob." The phenomenon, which many believe symbolizes the democratization of the media, is being more widely used in schools across the country, by school leaders and students alike.

Check out the article here: 'Smart mob' tech spurs student activism

Image Reference: http://www.nga.gov/feature/rothko/late3.shtm

Image Reference: http://www.beyeler.com/fondation/e/html_11sonderaus/09rothko/10_rothko_room.htm

 

Share with your students about Women in Science.

 

It is my contention that children have very different perceptions of media depending on developmental level. I’ve noticed that children generally under the age of 7, have a different perception of time. They exhibit an ego-centric schema of time, which will often transfer onto digital media. Then when (if) the child reaches the concrete stage developmentally (i.e. Piaget) they develop the schema that Cyberspace time is simultaneous…they get that Cyberspace is like Minkowski’s theory of “Flat-Space Time” (i.e. special relativity) which was proposed in 1907. One hundred years ago children may never have gotten this concept of special relativity. 

Indeed, when we asked children,”If an email was sent from a friend next door and from a friend in China, which would they receive first?” The younger children tended to say next door because it is closer. Whereas, the old children will often say it depends on the server. We got clever responses from children at all developmental levels. Children often help us to see the world in a new way...including digital media.

The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1798) believed that, “Childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking, and feeling, and there is nothing more foolish than the attempt to put ours in their place.”

 

Image reference: http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11806231/Men_s_Wind_Up_Photo_Insert_Pocket_Watch.html

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

 

Image Reference: http://www.nndb.com/people/017/000029927/