News Stories on Science, Technology, and Society
Recent Studies
Teachers’ Tech Use on the Rise (eSchool News)
A survey of K–12 public school teachers indicates technology has changed the way they teach.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5835
Study: These Factors Retard Digital Teaching (eSchool News)
Researchers find that schools still lack the appropriate infrastructure to integrate the full-scale use of digital materials into the classroom, and that teachers do not receive proper training or time to research and plan the use of a digital curricula.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5706
Internet Use Up, Trust Down (CBS News)
A new study shows that computer and internet use have increased, but so have concerns about identity theft and other online dangers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/28/tech/main990633.shtml
Survey: One in Five Teens Have Own Blogs (ABC News)
Nearly three out of five school-age teens with internet access have created online content, and about one-fifth have blogs, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project report.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1275916
New Teaching Technologies
Remote: New Tool for Alert Classes (St. Petersburg Times)
The remote control might sound like the last thing teachers should hand to students. But clickers are coming to classrooms nationwide, and proponents say they can actually motivate students to stay alert and participate in class.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/03/news_pf/Hillsborough/Remote__new_tool_for_.shtml
The Rise of E-Classrooms (The Globe and Mail)
Students learn biology concepts through the use of remote-control devices.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051102/SRUNIVERSITY02/TPEducation
Boards Gets Brains, Chalk Vanishes (Wired News)
Teachers and students worldwide are switching from the chalkboard to interactive, computer-driven whiteboards that enable them to share assignments, surf the web, and edit video using their fingers as pens.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,67710,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3
Technology Teaching Strategies
Science by Role-Playing Uses Today’s Technology (Cincinnati Enquirer)
An Ohio science class—one of many across the country—embraces popular television shows, board games, and “whodunit” mysteries to make science more compelling.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050321/NEWS0102/503210333/1058/NEWS01
Concept Maps Go to School (Wired News)
A research institute takes software designed in part to preserve scientists' knowledge and distributes it to schools worldwide for use as a learning tool.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,67685,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_6
Technologies Used by Scientists
Brain Scans Help Scientists “Read” Minds (Scientific American)
Researchers report that magnetic resonance imaging scans of human brains can reveal what types of images they have recently seen.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000BB5F3-67BE-1269-A7BE83414B7F0000
Microscope Looks at Atomic World (CBS News)
An electron microscope enables scientists to see how materials bond at an atomic level.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/21/tech/main644812.shtml
Nanotech Researchers Report Big Breakthrough (USA Today)
An advance in nanotechnology could lead to the creation of artificial muscles, super-strong electric cars, and wallpaper-thin electronics
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050819/a_nanotech19.art.htm