The president also said he’s introducing an annual White House Science fair with the winners of national competitions in science and technology. “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you’ve produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognised for that achievement, too. ”

Students will launch rockets, construct miniature windmills, and get their hands dirty. They’ll have the chance to build and create – and maybe destroy just a little bit – to see the promise of being the makers of things, and not just the consumers of things. [White House via NY Times]

Industry leaders like Sony are launching a nationwide challenge to design compelling, freely available, science-related video games. And organisations representing teachers, scientists, mathematicians, and engineers – joined by volunteers in the community – are participating in a grassroots effort called “National Lab Day” to reach 10 million young people with hands-on learning.

Business leaders from Intel, Xerox, Kodak, and Time Warner Cable are teaming up with Sally Ride, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the Carnegie Corporation, to find and replicate successful science, maths and technology programs all across America. Sesame Street has begun a two-year initiative to teach young kids about maths and science. And Discovery Communications is going to deliver interactive science content to 60,000 schools reaching 35 million students.

These efforts extend beyond the classroom. Time Warner Cable is joining with the Coalition for Science After School and FIRST Robotics – the program created by inventor Dean Kamen, which gave us the “Cougar Cannon” – to connect one million students with fun after-school activities, like robotics competitions.

OnlineCourses has put together a list of 100 open tech courses and broken them down into 10 categories: Computer Science and Engineering, Computer Security, Programming, The Web, Software, Information Technology, Communication Technology, Technology in Education, Tech Math, and Technology and Society.

Looking over the list, about 98% of the courses come from MIT, so you know you are going to learn something valuable. Admittedly, some of the courses are a bit out of date, but they should provide you with a foundation on useful topics like computer systems engineering, C++, Computer graphics, Flash and Database systems to help you decide whether or not to pursue your education further. Hit the link for the full course list. [OnlineCourses]

There are currently 150 media files available, with the promise of more to be added regularly, including lectures from notable figures Tim Flannery and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Mike Moore. There are podcasts, vodcasts and all manner of other content as well, including short documentaries on life at the Uni.

If you ever want to act like you’re smarter than you actually are, then this is definitely the first place to go…

[iTunes U]

The idea being that repetition builds muscle memory, and you’ll improve faster.

You’ll need to email for pricing, but it does look like the included software works with any MIDI file. Less certain is if there’s an evil teacher mode that turns up the voltage when you misbehave. [Concert Hands via The Raw Feed via DVICE]

As school goes back, it’s a fun reminder that the laptop wasn’t always the essential piece of tech gear that you needed to survive uni. And with e-book readers and tablet PCs taking on more and more textbook duties, maybe they’re next in line after all. Time will tell. [PC World]

[Thanks Ben!]

The straight demographics are hard to argue with—on average, iPhone users do tend to be slightly younger, wealthier, and better educated than users of BlackBerrys or Windows Mobile devices. But the “more productive” conclusion is totally erroneous: It’s based on the fact that iPhone users are more likely to use the Internet at least once per week, which in our definition is most certainly not a rubric of productivity. I’ve spent entire weeks on the Internet and all I’ve produced is the beginnings of a bed sore and maybe an extra five pounds around the waist.

The survey was, obviously, taken before the introduction of the $US99 iPhone, and we’re all curious to see if the slightly-cheaper option will impact the iPhone’s demographics. Ted Schadler, who commissioned the study, promised to revisit it later this year to see if there’s been any change. Until then, enjoy your iPhones, Supermen and Superwomen. Just try not to use them while you’re flying to work, it’s dangerous. [AppleInsider]

This is a fantastic cause, and if you’re looking for a charity to donate to, this one definitely gets the Giz tick of approval…

OLPC Australia uses education to help remote communities
Australia’s Indigenous cultures and communities to benefit from education initiative

SYDNEY, Australia (May 27, 2009) – Charitable organisation One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Australia, has formally launched the first deployments of laptops to children in remote Australia and announced plans for the next deployments to be carried out in the Northern Territory and Queensland.

The launch ceremony was held today at Shepherdson College on Elcho Island, Northern Territory (NT), one of the first three schools to be involved in the program designed to help primary school-aged children in remote communities open a window to the world. The other two schools are Rawa Community School in Western Australia (WA) and Newcastle Waters in NT.

“OLPC was established by visionary Nicholas Negroponte and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, as a means to help disadvantaged primary school children by giving them access to similar resources and information available to children in metropolitan areas in first-world countries,” said Rangan Srikhanta, executive director, OLPC Australia.

“In Australia this means helping children in remote communities cross the ‘digital divide’ by giving them laptops that are not only fully loaded with educational and entertaining programs to help them learn, but that can also be connected to the Internet so they can share their experiences with the rest of the world and, likewise, learn from others.”

OLPC Australia is also hopeful the devices and supporting programs will help the children preserve and sustain their local culture, language and way of life in the face of globalisation.

“The program will enable the children to share information on their way of life with the rest of the world and enrich their own lives with what they learn from others,” Srikhanta said.

Since March, executives and volunteers from OLPC Australia and partner Commonwealth Bank (CBA) have been deploying the charity’s rugged, low-powered XO laptops to the students, as well as training teachers and installing servers to ensure the schools can fully use, and benefit from, the purpose-built educational tools.

Bryan Hughes, principal of Shepherdson College, said “As a remote, Indigenous primary school, we face many unique challenges from getting the kids to even come to school. OLPC’s program has lifted attendance and added a valuable teaching tool. It is making life easier for the teachers, and more enjoyable for the students.”

The launch ceremony was attended by members of the school and local community, the NT Department of Education and Training (DET), CBA, and OLPC Australia. Manuel Dhurrkay, the lead singer of Australian band Saltwater, performed with the children during the ceremony. One of the traditional landowners opened the proceedings. Other speakers included Gary Barnes, chief executive of the NT DET, and Michael Harte, CBA’s group executive, enterprise services and chief information officer, and a director of OLPC Australia.

CBA’s Michael Harte said, “OLPC has given our people the opportunity to be directly involved in a standout program. The initiative is an important way for us to provide support to remote Indigenous children so they can participate to their full potential in education opportunities.”

In addition to providing technical resources to help with the deployment and ongoing maintenance of the laptops, CBA is also funding a study of the initial deployments with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Key learnings from the study will be used to build on the achievements of the initial deployments.

“We are committed to ensuring the sustainability of this initiative and to having a long-term impact on the education opportunities of these children,” said Harte.

The Shepherdson College ceremony also included classroom tours and demonstrations by the students of some of the 30 programs which have been specifically written for primary school-aged children and are pre-loaded on to the XO laptops.

“Children in remote areas don’t lack the capacity to learn, only the opportunity,” Srikhanta said. “Today marks the beginning of a comprehensive, carefully designed education program which we will next take to Queensland and other schools in the Northern Territory.”

In the next six months OLPC Australia plans to roll out another 5,000 XO laptops with the ultimate aim of distributing up to 400,000 laptops to all the primary school-aged children living in remote Australia.

To enable this rollout OLPC Australia is working with the teacher training departments within James Cook University, The Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Charles Darwin University and Edith Cowan University to develop training workshops that will equip staff with XO curriculum integration skills.

“To ensure the success of the program we need teachers who know how to use the devices and integrate them in to the curriculum, communities which want to help their children and want to play an active role in sustaining their own culture, and state and federal governments who have the foresight to enable us deliver on the promises of the program,” Srikhanta said.

“We also need the strategic and financial support of the Australian business community. The Commonwealth Bank, Nortel and News Limited are already supporting us but we need much more if this program is to achieve its full potential.

“Today marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week when many organisations will be asked to consider just how they are supporting reconciliation efforts. OLPC Australia can provide these companies with a program that is real, sustainable, and can deliver on-going benefits to Australia’s Indigenous people.”

About One Laptop per Child Australia

One Laptop per Child Australia ( http://www.laptop.org.au) is a non-profit organisation which aims to improve the lives of children living in rural and remote Australia – the great majority of which are in indigenous communities – by providing them with a purpose-built educational tool, the XO laptop. When children have access to this type of tool they become engaged in their own education; they learn, share, create, and collaborate. Using the device they become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.

The Australian organisation is supported by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, News Limited, Nortel and Watterson Marketing Communications. It is associated with the US-based OLPC organisation created by Nicholas Negroponte, and others from the MIT Media Lab. That organisation was established to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education.

The XO laptops have been deployed at Rawa Community School in Western Australia and at Shepherdson College and Newcastle Waters in the Northern Territory. The Australian operation has also helped to deploy XO laptops in Niue, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Kiribati, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Tuvalu. For more information please visit http://www.laptop.org.au.

–ends–

It’s “student-rugged,” meaning it doesn’t meet any kind of ruggedised specification, but it’ll take more of a beating than a regular notebook, with a body that’s rubberised all the way around, and an optional anti-microbial keyboard for fighting off swine flu and other foul organisms that thrive on the primordial ooze perpetually coating children’s nasty hands.

One thing the kids won’t like is a network activity light built into the top lid, so there’s no covert web browsing, unless the teacher’s blind. But there are five different colours and accessories like shoulder straps to make it easy to lug around. The guts are standard fare for a netbook—Atom N270, yadda yadda.

The reason it’s got the Latitude name is that it can be remotely managed like enterprise notebooks—and there’s a Mobile Computing Station that’ll dock 24 of them using a single ethernet cable and power cord, obviously designed for the classroom.

I like the idea of classrooms filled with these—or any netbook really—and there’s a lot of thoughtful stuff going on here, but $US369 before any of the add-ons just feels like maybe too much. There’s probably a discount for buying in bulk that might make it more reasonable, but it’s a high ceiling to come down from, given the booger-filled target market, it seems. Though obviously way cheaper than giving a full-sized laptop, for sure.

What is the magic price to give every student in every classroom a computer?

AU: The Aussie and NZ versions will be available from tomorrow.

DELL DELIVERS INDUSTRY FIRSTS WITH 10.1-INCH NETBOOK DESIGNED FOR EDUCATION

• Dell believes every child should have access to the world of knowledge beyond the classroom
• The new Latitude2100 is influenced by the needs of K-12 students – ’student rugged’ design offered in five colours with wireless connectivity that can be monitored by educators with a network activity light
• Optional touchscreen is a first for education netbooks
• Custom-built Mobile Computing Station equips classrooms with a cart to store, manage and network up to 24 netbooks with one Ethernet and power cord
• The Latitude 2100 will also appeal to other public-sector and enterprise customers looking for a netbook for uses from employee training to order fulfillment, or wanting secondary systems for their workforces
• Backed by Dell’s award-winning business-class service and support – including optional onsite services

ROUND ROCK, Texas, May 19, 2009 – Dell believes every child should have the opportunity and tools to learn the skills necessary to succeed in the digital world. Critical to this is the availability of technology designed for the unique needs of K-12 students, teachers and school administrators. Today, Dell set a new standard in education technology with the launch of a netbook influenced by the needs of K-12 students, the Latitude™ 2100. The Latitude 2100 is also ideal for any business or public institution that needs affordable, durable, Internet-ready devices for email and collaboration.

Inspired by close cooperation with hundreds of students, teachers, parents and administrators, Dell designers created a purpose-built education netbook that focuses on what’s most important – learning. The Latitude 2100 is part of Dell’s connected classroom ― innovative technology products, services, software and training that make learning in the digital age a reality. With the Latitude 2100, students can access enhanced learning resources and digital content on a school network or via the Internet. As a result, the Latitude 2100 blends into student life, from lesson plans to homework, increasing time spent learning versus managing technology.

The Latitude 2100 has unique features for schools like bright primary colours and a more rugged, ‘rubberized’ design that is easier for children to carry and use safely. It also offers wireless connectivity that can be monitored by the teacher with a Network Activity Light on the netbook lid. An optional touchscreen is a first for an education netbook and makes the Latitude 2100 a perfect choice for enhanced student interaction, assessment, and for special education teaching. The Latitude 2100 also offers administrators a range of services making it easier to deploy and manage.

Additional options include: a keyboard featuring antimicrobial protection (U.S. only), solid-state drives, quick-connect handles and shoulder straps for carrying, and a webcam. The Latitude 2100 is backed by Dell’s award-winning business service and support.

The Latitude 2100 extends Dell’s Latitude range and joins the Latitude XT tablet and fully rugged Latitude E6400 XFR as systems designed to meet the exacting needs of customers across a range of private and public-sector organizations with specific mobile computing requirements. Enterprises and public-sector customers looking for a business-class netbook will be attracted to the Latitude 2100 for activities ranging from employee training to order fulfillment or when a secondary system is required by their workforce.

The News:
• The “student-rugged” Latitude 2100 is designed to absorb the daily bumps and bruises of a crowded playground or backpack. Offered in five colours – School Bus Gold, Chalkboard Black, Ball Field Green, Blue Ribbon and Schoolhouse Red- the Latitude 2100 comes with a 10.1-inch screen and a unique “four-square-ball-style” rubber casing, making it easy for little hands to grip the netbook.

• The system is available with a personalised window on the back of the battery pack where the school logo or name can be displayed, allowing schools to personalise or easily identify systems.

• Equipped with a wireless communication suite and optional webcam, the Latitude 2100 enables productive days filled with collaboration, exploration and easy uploading of assignments. A Network Activity Light on the lid helps teachers monitor network use and identify students who may be surfing the Internet.

• The Latitude 2100 also includes:
o Choice of XP Home, Vista Home Basic and Linux Ubuntu
o Intel Atom processor N270
o 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity coupled with a full suite of wireless communication options
o 2.91lb* (1.32kg) starting at weight with 3-cell battery
o Hard or solid state drives for increased durability
o Three-cell or six-cell battery
o Three-in-one Media Card Reader
o Optional External DVD+/-RW via USB
o VGA port
o Clean bottom is vent-free to avoid any intrusion from spills
o Options: webcam and a keyboard featuring antimicrobial protection (U.S. only)

• Key management features can allow IT administrators to lower overall ownership cost and speed up deployment:
o More durable design that means a longer product life
o Remote management for easier administration
o Dell ImageDirect where systems can be delivered with pre-installed software and the school’s specific network image (U.S. only).
o Hardware Customisation helps reduce deployment time by configuring software straight from the factory (U.S. only). This reduces the need for the administrator to physically touch the system and speeds up getting it in the hands of the students.

• Coming soon in the U.S., the Latitude 2100 is available with a Mobile Computing Station that equips classrooms with a cart to store securely, manage and network up to 24 netbooks with one Ethernet and power cord.

• The system is available today, and starts at $369. More information is available at www.del
l.com/latitude.

[Dell]

Vail Christian High School is taking this texting-while-driving thing seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they’ve brought in one of the most realistic driving simulators ever conceived to teach kids the dangers of this practice.