Hack Education

Google announced the 15 finalists for its Google Science Fair, as well as the winner of the People's Choice award, Nimal Subramanian. The finalists will travel to Google headquarters in July for the final round of judging. The Wikimedia Foundation recently highlighted the work of the Montana Campus Ambassadors, long-time...

I cringe at the notion of offering children money on the condition they do our bidding. "I'll pay you $5 if you clean your room." "I'll give you $10 for good behavior at your cousin's wedding." "I'll give you $20 if you can get straight As on your report card."...

I attend a lot of technology conferences. I attend a lot of education events. At both sorts, we talk a lot about new tools, about the future. But there's often (at least) one thing missing from either: kids. It isn't just that these events aren't "family friendly" (whatever that means)....

There's a lot of confusion about the 3 main laws -- COPPA, CIPA, and FERPA -- that govern children's and students' online privacy. Confusion about FERPA makes schools reluctant to share information about students' progress or problems. Confusion about CIPA leads schools to utilize unnecessary Internet filters. And confusion about...

A version of this post is also available on KQED's Mindshift The New York Public Library released an iPad app entitled Biblion: The Boundless Library. A re-launch of the library's Biblion journal, the app has been specifically designed for the tablet. It is a beautiful discovery and browsing experience as...

Even though only a few people have had their hands on Google's new Chromebooks, we've heard all sorts of opinions about whether or not the new cloud-only devices will be a good deal or DOA when they're officially available this summer. There's also been some confusion about the Chromebook offerings,...

 Is college worth it? I take that question pretty seriously -- not just as an education journalist, not just because it's suddenly quite a buzzworthy questionto be asking. I take it seriously as a student loan debtor. I cringe at what I owe the government and Sallie Mae, and I...

A version of this story is available at KQED's MindShift Microsoft announced this week that it has agreed to acquire the popular VOIP service Skype for $8.5 billion. Skype has become an important tool for educators bridging classrooms around the world, and the acquisition may boost Microsoft's status in the...

I've been travelling for two weeks straight now, and I'm heading back to Eugene, Oregon this afternoon. Needless to say, my travel schedule has made me a bad blogger, and I've neglected to keep Hack Education as updated as I'd have liked. Food poisoning midway through my journey didn't help....

I've written several times here about the mixed reviews that college students have given to e-readers and e-books, such that it's beginning to feel very much like a non-news story when yet another study is released saying just that: students really aren't so sure that e-readers "work" for school. But...