Hey, I’m 21! Now I can legally consume all of the edTech goodness of Darpa-E, Snapify, and Gwyneth Jones and The Daring Librarian.
“If we want to win the future – if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas – then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.”
- President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, January 25, 201
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA has had a major influence on our lives and most American citizens don’t really know what it is. Think Internet and GPS and these are just a couple of areas that DARPA has had an impact. ARPA-E was an extension of that that focused in on Energy. Now, ARPA-ED is set to do for education what the other Advanced Research projects have done.
To address the under-investment in learning technology R&D, the President’s FY2012 budget proposes to invest $90 million to create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED). ARPA-ED will fund projects performed by industry, universities, or other innovative organizations, selected based on their potential to create a dramatic breakthrough in learning and teaching.
Digital tutors as effective as personal tutors
Courses that improve the more students use them
Educational software as compelling as the best videogame
Check out the Role of Arpa-Ed by the Department of Education for a whole lot more information.
SnapIfy Extension for Chrome brings the contextual web to websites. Over a year ago I reviewed I reviewed Apture, a similar plugin, that was bought by Google. While it appears that Google has done nothing with Apture so far, Snapify is there ready to fill the void. Rumor has it that Google is planning on incorporating it into future versions of Chrome rather than as an extension. By highlighting a word on a webpage, Snapify will bring up a pop up box that presents the user with relevant Google images or maps and WikiPedia Pages. So if you miss Apture, give Snapify a look, you can find it in the WebStore.
For the listeners of the CTRL-ALT-DELIVER podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 14-day trial to give you the opportunity to check out their service.
This week, I recommend author Barry Lyga.
To download your free audiobook today go to Audibletrial
This week’s pick is The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
When fanboy meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, he finds an outrageous, cynical friend who shares his love of comics as well as his hatred for jocks and bullies. Fanboy can’t resist someone who actually seems to understand him, and soon he finds himself willing to heed her advice – to ignore or crush anyone who stands in his way. But Kyra has secrets, too. And they could lead Fanboy to his dreams…or down a path into his own darkness.
After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Barry Lyga worked in the comic book industry for ten years. In 2006, his first young adult novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was published to rave reviews, including starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Since then, he has also written Goth Girl Rising (the sequel to his first novel), as well as the Archvillain series for middle-grade readers
I am currently reading Mad Mask, the second installment in the Archvillain series. His work is a fun read, full of asides and humor for all ages. Sometimes, after a long day of teaching, that is EXACTLY what I am looking for. A FUN read.
Follow him @barrylyga on Twitter and check out his website at Barry Lyga
I’ll be talking more about Technology this week on Waves of Tech Episode 125. You can hear me, along with Steve and Dave, each week on Waves of Tech at NetcastStudio.com. We record each week on Wednesdays at 6PM PST or 9 PM EST.
And now for our feature on KidLit
@gwynethjones, The Daring Librarian, is a middle school teacher librarian, a blogger, a Tweeter, a public speaker, a citizen of Social Media, and a resident of Second Life. Gwyneth is a member of the ISTE Board of Directors, was named an Innovator and one of Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers 2011, and is the author of the award winning Daring Librarian blog. Admittedly, she’s also a goofball & a geek.
Recently she did a Google+ Hangout with a group of Gifted Second graders to talk about QR codes and how they are used. As is always the case when you check out these awesome supports of literacy and literary wonder, you will learn some amazing things yourself. For example, did you know that there are audio QR codes. QR Code Voice will read back a short message (100 letters) in a robotic voice. Don’t take my word for it. Take hers and check it out at her website, The Daring Librarian. You can follow her at @gwynethjones on Twitter.
That wraps it up for this episode of the CTRLALTDELIVER Podcast. You can find me on Twitter at @CTRLALTDELIVER
Talking about Darpa-E, Snapify and @gwinethjones on this week’s CTRLALTDELIVER Podcast netcaststudio.com/darpa-e-snapif…
— Jim Meeker (@ctrlaltdeliver) February 22, 2012
Recent Comments