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Strollerderby
It's called a laptop, but you should use it there.
Laptop computers are great because you can use them anytime, anywhere. But experts say that one place you shouldn’t be using your laptop is on your lap.
Lots of things, like bagels, nuts and pumpkin seeds, are better when they are toasted. But skin? Not so much. But if your kid’s got her computer perched on her lap while she surfs the Internet or plays games, she might actually be cooking up some thigh meat without even knowing it. Continue reading »
A study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that a baby’s ”nonsense syllables could contain coded signals” indicating autism, AOL News reported.
A computer program designed by a team led by Kim Oller of the University of Memphis can detect autistic children based on their speech patterns, with an accuracy rate of 85 percent. Oller hails the voice recognition tool as “the first kind of system that’s totally objective.” He says the computer system alone isn’t enough to diagnose a child with autism, but that when perfected, it “could be used very effectively” to screen children who seem to be on the spectrum.
The chief scientific officer for Autism Speaks agrees. Continue reading »
Whether or not you’re one of the lucky ones to have an Apple iPad in your hot little hands after this past weekend’s release, chances are your kids — if they’re under the age of 10 — will end up with an iPad-like computer in the not-too-distant future. It may not be an actual iPad or even come from Apple Computer, but the odds are even that they’ll end up with a touchscreen computer in five years’ time.
When someone has the audacity to suggest that science is for boys or that girls can’t do math, I’ll simply ask them if they own or have ever used a computer. When they say yes, I tell them to thank a woman — specifically, Admiral Grace Hopper who is, in large part, responsible for the proliferation of computers we see today. Sadly, that sort of discussion happens all too often and, according to a new study of existing research, contributes to the lower numbers of women in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Video games have a bad reputation. While kids spend hours upon hours engaged in sedentary electronic play, parents wring their hands and bemoan the wasted time. But while there may not be any real-world advantage to mastering Super Mario, at least one expert believes that video games do have something worthwhile to teach us. Namely, how to teach our kids. Continue reading »
Think of just one thing you did in your bedroom yesterday that you wouldn’t want anyone else, except maybe your spouse, to see. Now imagine that you found out that your boss and all of your coworkers had the ability to see into your bedroom from the comfort of their own homes at any time, without your knowledge.
Let’s exactly what’s going on in a Philadelphia suburb, except the people being spied on are minors and the peeping toms are their educators. Has your head exploded yet? Continue reading »
If you cringed when you read kids spend seven and a half hours on digital media per day, brace yourself. The Internet School Bus could be coming to a neighborhood near you.
A pilot project in an Arizona school district, the wi-fi zone on wheels got a write-up in the New York Times last week for its innovation. Continue reading »
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