TechNews is a Becta technology, news and analysis service aimed at those in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. I’ve subscribed to this service for a number of years and find it very useful as a means to keep informed of developments and timescales, particularly in relation to device hardware and networking. The following are extracts of some of the items in the most recent publication, which are subject to Becta copyright protection, which I consider of particular interest to us in developing our capacity:

Near Field Communication

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a very short range, low power wireless connection technology. It is a development of RFID and contactless card technologies and is likely to be increasingly found in mobile phones, smart cards, and consumer electronics. The technology is very intuitive to use as it involves bringing two devices very close together (a few centimetres) to create a connection, without the need for configuration or set-up.

NFC devices respond on demand to any request signal and have been used to create smart posters and smart objects. These smart objects communicate with NFC enabled computers, phones and handhelds. The NFC device transmits either identities or even small packets of data such as a URL, which is then picked up by the NFC-enabled device. Projects such as Transport for London’s Vortix, have trialed using smart posters to guide travelers through the London Underground. In this system a user touches their phone to an NFC poster and they receive a URL. The phone then connects to the Internet and downloads travel information. In a school, smart posters could be used to direct students around planned learning journeys, to test understanding once a lesson is complete, or to allow learners to interact with objects and locations in the real world. (see Ubiquitous computing in Becta’s Emerging technologies for learning volume 2)

Galileo navigation satellites move forward

The European Union has approved the development of the Galileo satellite navigation system. The system, similar to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), will be built with components supplied by a variety of EU countries and is planned to be operational by 2010. The system will have five services, many of which will be free to air, requiring no ongoing subscription. The services available will be Open Access, Commercial, Safety of Life, Publicly Regulated and Search and Rescue. The open access systems should reduced the cost of location based computing, geotagging projects and certainly offer more choice in the products available

IWB interoperability specification

Becta has announced a new initiative to improve teacher’s ability to share Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) content. Currently most IWB software use proprietary file formats, meaning that content developed using one whiteboard will not work on a different company’s product. Becta have commissioned work to develop a national standard whiteboard file format to allow files to be created and shared easily. Industry will be invited to become involved in this process.

Information & Communication Devices

Several manufacturers have released information about their ICD developments. Intel with devices that run on Linux, have 4.8” screens and support WiMAX wireless broadband. A device known as mtube, will use both WiMAX and Wi-Fi wireless networking standards to connect to the internet. The Linux based mTube is designed to run PC like software and has a 1 GHz processor, 8 GB of storage and a 2.8” screen but weighs less than 150 grams. Asus have been giving details of the next versions of their Eee PC which is intended to be in production in the second quarter of 2008. The new notebooks will feature larger 8.9” screens with increased resolution and will be WiMAX ready and will come in Linux and Windows XP versions. The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project has moved forward mass production starting in November and both Peru and Bolivia have committed to purchase a large number of the low cost notebooks.

Ollie Bray has an interesting post on some other emerging devices. The potential for transformational change provided by these devices and their effective use is a common theme in my recent learning technology discussions.

Anti-bullying

The BeatBullying charity in co-operation with YouTube has launched an online anti-bullying video channel. The channel will provide advice for children being bullied in a number of short videos. A moderated community will also be available for user to chat about their experiences.

Curricular Content

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has launched a new, free content service for secondary schools. Based on the successful open courseware initiative, the site presents education materials for both students and teachers in secondary schools. Subjects covered include science, engineering, social studies and foreign languages.

Categories: 1:1 Learning, technologies