Category Archives: Research

No Fear No Risk

Haegler and others at the University of Munich report that people who are anxious release a chemical signal that’s detectable by those close to their sweat. The experimenters conducted a double-blind controlled study to arrive at their results. Detectors make … Continue reading

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Microsoft develops shape-shifting touchscreen

Microsoft this week filed a patent application covering a novel way to construct a “tactile” touchscreen – a display that uses technical tricks to convince users they are actually touching the ridges, bumps and textures of a displayed image. Marks, … Continue reading

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Background Music Disturbs Reading

“… comparison of studies that examined background music compared to no music indicates that background music disturbs the reading process, has some small detrimental effects on memory, but has a positive impact on emotional reactions and improves achievements in sports. … Continue reading

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Illusions of Causality and Teaching-Learning

Matute, et al. demonstrated how repeated occurrences of two events can lead to illusions of one causing the other. It reminds me of a couple of nagging questions. Teaching and learning follow that repeated pattern of two events. I wonder … Continue reading

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1 Trillion Bits per Second Ethernet by 2015

Researchers with the University of California – Santa Barbara Terabit Optical Ethernet Center (TOEC) will develop a technology necessary for a new generation of Ethernet a thousand times faster, and much more energy efficient, than today’s most advanced networks. They … Continue reading

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WIPTE 2010 at Virginia Tech

Keynote speakers at WIPTE (Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education) 2010 are Ann McMullan (Executive Director of Educational Technology, Klein Independent School District, Klein, TX) and Dr. Tony Salvador (Senior Principal Engineer at Intel). The conference also … Continue reading

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2010-2011: The Year of the VAM

Value-Added Modeling (VAM) is a family of statistical techniques for estimating the contribution of a teacher or of a school to the academic growth of students. 2010-2011: DN, The Year of the VAM, Latest Evidence: Observations and Opinions about Research … Continue reading

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First Interactive Full-Curriculum Algebra App for iPad

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) announced a year-long pilot of the first-ever full-curriculum Algebra app for the Apple iPad. It is a year-long pilot with 400 learners in Long Beach, Fresno, Riverside and San Francisco Unified School Districts to compare iPad-delivered … Continue reading

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SAT and College-Bound Seniors 2010

Catherine Gewartz reports that scores on the SAT improved a little in mathematics in the past year, but remained flat in reading and writing. College Board released results today. The SAT of a student is a strong indicator of likely … Continue reading

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Evaluating Teachers LA Times-RAND Report

Bill Jackson offers a review of the Los Angeles Times-RAND Corporation study of the effectiveness of 6,000 teachers in Los Angeles published August 14, 2010. The report includes these findings: • Students of highly effective teachers routinely increase scores from … Continue reading

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