Students Prefer Smartphones and Laptops to Tablets, Study Finds (The Chronicle of Higher Education) – A multi-year study from Ball State has found that students have not taken to using tablets due to their overlap with smartphones and relatively high costs. Students view smartphones and tablets as entertainment devices and still prefer laptops for conducting school work.
Developing New STEM Teaching Methods (U.S. News & World Report) – During a panel at last week’s U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference, professors and school administrators discussed ways to improve STEM education at the college level. There was a general agreement that schools need to shift away from traditional lectures to more hands on and research based lesson plans that are shown to better retain students.
Here's How 'Big Data' Can Really Hurt The Poor (The Huffington Post) – In an interview preceding the release of a 3 month study on big data, White House counselor John Podesta discussed some of the concerns that arose. One of the main issues the ways in which big data could be used to negatively impact the poor, including using social media groupings such as ‘Ethnic Second-City Struggler’ when reviewing at job applications, which could harm a candidates chance of being hired.
Queens Library Tests Job Application Kiosk with Real-Time Video (Library Journal) – The Queens Library system has set up a job search kiosk to expand the libraries job search and training programs. The kiosks use tablets to run a job search app that was designed to connect employers and employees and has an option to conduct real-time video interviews.
Project-Based Education Is Key to Increasing STEM Interest (U.S. News & World Report) – During last week’s U.S. News’s STEM Solutions Conference Chevron announced that it will be investing $30 million to help support partnerships with a variety of STEM education organizations. The goal of these investments is to encourage and improve project-based STEM education.
