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 * BBA Research Lab: Adam Provost**

Welcome aboard. The world is changing. The items below introduce some open source software, innovations in the world of technology and science, and changes in the delivery of education. Many of these educational advancements were brought on by revolutions in technology and by thinking about things a bit differently. In the Research Lab at Burr and Burton Academy we strive to find these resources, discuss their relevance in the world, and study some of the 'magic' that makes these ideas and items tick. Information on the web constantly changes. If you find broken links (links to web pages that don't work) on this page please let me know.

Thanks for tuning in.


 * Sections listed below:**

- Google innovations:
 * 1.** Free (Open Source) Software


 * 2.** Innovation: Technology advancements throughout the world.

- iTunes 'stores' at Colleges
 * 3.** One to One Computing: A laptop for every student

________
 * 4.** OpenCourseWare: A revolution in 'conventional' education

1. Free Stuff. No Kidding.
- A centralized [|open source software listing for macs] (not all, but many great titles here). - A free version of the most powerful [|animation software (Maya Personal Learning Edition)] in the world. - A [|free music theory tutorial] - one of many - but a pretty decent one. - Free online banner / [|title effect generator]. Easy way to make signs in quick order. Options for buttons, patterns, fonts, etc. One of many, but this engine generates decent quality.

Office Suites: Over 62 million (and counting) have downloaded Open Office. - [|Open Office]: Word processor, spreadsheet, etc with much of the same functionality of Microsoft Office. - Nearly free, but worth a serious look: [|Star Office] by Sun Microsystems. - Star Office vs Microsoft Office. [|A comprehensive review by eWeek] - Free web editor: [|NVU] (Very similar to FrontPage). - [|Free classic books online]. More titles than you'd think. Also available in a format for PDAs ([|Palmreader]). - [|Sourceforge]: Battled tested software on the open source market. No kidding. - [|Gimp]: 80% of the functionality of Photoshop at no charge. - [|Audacity]: Free sound editing software. - Remember KidPix ? Try this one: [|TuxPaint]. - [|iPodder]

- Web based Wordprocessor: [|www.writely.com]
 * Google: Powerful Ideas. Powerful Stuff. Free Stuff.**

- [|Google Spreadsheets] !

- [|3D Modeling for free: Sketchup]. **NEW !** Includes a 'Warehouse' of pre-existing models. Snaps with [|Google Earth].

- [|Here's a list of all the Google innovations].

2. Innovation. Big Tinkering. Gadgets and Advancements. There's Some Great Stuff Out There.
-[|Nice summary by CNN on some new innovations]. **NEW !**

- A reminder from my friend Tim Comolli: **NEW !**

William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, was born on this date September 19th in 1911. The winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize for literature, Golding was working as a teacher in England when he wrote the allegorical novel about a group of boys stranded on an island whose behavior becomes crueler and more barbaric as time passes (1954). Some of his other books include Pincher Martin (1956) and Rites of Passage (1980), winner of the Booker Prize. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Golding in 1988. Quote: "My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder." — Sir William Golding

- Happy Birthday Hard Drive ! On September 13, 2006 the HD turned 50. [|Here's some history.] **NEW !** - 240 songs on an MP3 player 1.62 inches long (matchbook) that weighs about one ounce. **NEW !** - See the blue, see the green. [|Birds internal compass discovered]. **NEW !** - [|Ubuntu takes on the OS market]. **NEW !** - [|Star Trek turns 40] (Debut was on Sept. 8th, 1966) ! **NEW !** - [|The Uniross Hybrio]: New tech brings together the best of disposable and rechargeable batteries. **NEW !** - [|Microsoft teams up with the School District of Philadelphia] for an experiment. **NEW !** - [|Connecting neurons to a computer - in a dish]. One very unique experiment. **NEW !** - A glimps of into the future of automobiles - today. [|Tesla Motors 'electric' roadster]. **NEW !** - [|New cost analysis on hybrid cars]. **NEW !** - [|Trash, to Gas, to Energy]. **NEW !** - [|Gecko robot that climbs walls] ! **NEW !** - [|Started in 1990, the last chromosone in the Human Genome has been sequenced]. **NEW !** - Next Gen CD: [|Blue ray and NAND flash memory make their debut in laptops]. **NEW !** - [|Light moving backwards] ? The University of Rochester and one intersting result. **NEW !** - [|Underwater habitats and personal submarines ?] Not your typical business. **NEW !** - [|Bio-diesel from raw sewage] ? - [|Clothes that display images from MIT]. - Biodegradeable parts, in a 'green' car ? [|The Ford Model U] - [|What's inside a wind turbine ?] Take a look see. - [|Ever think you could use your tongue to see] ? - [|Nanogel]: Got roof ? - [|Open source backup technology]. It's in 'alpha' at the moment. - [|A Walking robot with incredible balance]. - [|iPod Nano dissection online]. Nice look inside the mysterious device. - [|Podcaster gets discovered by a record label]and signed to a deal. - [|Healing ACL (knee ligament) tears with gel] ? - [|Growing new organs is becoming a reality]. - [|NY Times article on why the Windows OS is so slow]. - Bionics: [|Mind controlled artificial limbs.] - [|Movies: New download - to - own program]. - [|It's very cold in space, but at least you'll have broadband internet access]! - [|For your Star Wars fetish]. - [|Revolutions in nanotechnology restore sight in mice at MIT]. - Huge hard drive space is on the horizon: [|Petabytes anyone ?] - Now these are sleds ! The [|'89 Batmobile] and the '[|Tumbler]' built for Batman Begins. - Great [|conceptual models of how engines work]. - [|Planet number ten]. - [|Bionic hand] - [|Now that's a monitor] ! - [|Mapping the the brain and how it processes images] - Matrix style ? - [|Space port, flights into space]. Found by Martin Lawrence. - [|Broadcast TV on your cell phone ?] - [|$125 for a laptop initiative from MIT] ? - [|Got AJAX] ? It's not just a cleaning product anymore. Google and Microsoft dove in. - Got [|stones for your iPod] ? - [|Try on this cell phone]. - [|How's this for a projector] ? - [|Behold the magic keyboard]. Projected keyboards. Potential uses in PDAs and cell phones. - Thin televisions, [|even the rollup variety]. - [|Electronic Paper]. Say it's so.

Not the Same Old Toys
- Remember that old model car ? [|Here's the new alternative energy model]. - [|R2-D2 for the home].

3. Advocates for Technology in the Hands of Students *One to One Computing ( A laptop for every student) Articles *One to One Technology *Don't Die Wondering
[|- Seymour Papert, Technology Use, Creativity], and an [|excellent keynote speech in Australia] (Quicktime). [|- Future Learning Group] at MIT. iPod and iTunes Revolutions in Education Duke Univeristy pioneered a program that gave an iPod to every incoming Freshman student. - [|The Duke University iPod Project]

Stanford University created an iTunes store to distribute intellectual property: - [|iTunes at Stanford University] One to One Computing: A Laptop for Every Student

A collection of articles for and against: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech197.shtml

Suffield Academy, CT http://www.suffieldacademy.org/today/technology

One to One Computing Center at Penn State: [|http://1to1.ed.psu.edu]

Maine Issued Laptops for 7th and 8th Graders Statewide. Maine reinstates the laptop program again for round 2: http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/templates/?a=129199

Here are the studies from the University of Southern Maine: http://www.usm.maine.edu/cepare/mlti.htm

Middle School Reform: http://www.middleweb.com/mw/msdiaries/02-03wklydiaries/CT23.html

Maine Laptop Data: http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=15269

Maine Learns Site [|http://www.mlti.org]

[|http://www.mainelearns.org]

____

Interesting q and a notes from Catlin Gabel School:

http://www.catlin.edu/upper/technology/laptops_qa#faq_1863

==4. OpenCourseWare: Pioneered by MIT, the idea is to give away intellectual property (syllabi, research, presentations, and journals). The initiative is cascading across the world - changing the world of education.== What is OpenCourseWare ? Description of the MIT innovation from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_OpenCourseWare

Program Announced by MIT: April 4, 2001 http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ocw.html

OpenCourseWare Site Posted: October 2, 2002 http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ocw.html

Speeches Dictated from MIT President Charles Vest: http://www.core.org.cn/OcwWeb/Global/AboutOCW/presidentspage.htm _____________

Wired Article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/mit.html _____________

Campus Technology:

http://www.campus-technology.com/article.asp?id=7360 _____________

MIT OpenCourseWare Web Site :

[|http://ocw.mit.edu]

Yale University: [|Video courses online]

_____________

COSL:

"At the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning, we believe that all humans beings are endowed with a capacity to learn, improve, and progress. Educational opportunity is the mechanism by which we fulfill that capacity. Therefore, free and open access to educational opportunity is a basic human right. When educational materials can be electronically copied and transferred around the world at almost no cost, we have a greater ethical obligation than ever before to increase the reach of opportunity. When people can connect with others nearby or in distant lands at almost no cost to ask questions, give answers, and exchange ideas, the moral imperative to meaningfully enable these opportunities weighs profoundly. We cannot in good conscience allow this poverty of educational opportunity to continue when educational provisions are so plentiful, and when their duplication and distribution costs so little." [|http://cosl.usu.edu]

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/AboutOCW/about-ocw.htm __________

Misc:

Utah State and links to some other sites US and International participating in the OpenCourseWare movement: http://ocw.usu.edu/Index/ECIndex_view

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ocwside-0411.html

OpenCourseWare finder: http://opencontent.org/ocwfinder

[|http://sofia.fhda.edu]

Just cranking up: http://mit.ols.usu.edu/index_html

http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/jun2002/salter.html