schools

SEEFELD, Austria--At the Audi Winter Driving Experience, the first thing I need to do when I slide into the driver's seat is forget everything I've ever learned about driving in the snow.

I'm not at your typical winter-driving school where you learn how to stop slides. Not here. Opposite lock in an $80,000 luxury sedan while kicking up plumes of snow is taught and encouraged. Oversteer and understeer -- the moves that usually send you careening into a snowbank -- are met with an approving nod, a round of applause from my classmates, and the occasional … Read more

NYU's advanced audio production course is offered to both master's and undergraduate students. They work in 10 recording and computer music studios, listening rooms, and research labs where more than 40 music technology courses are taught.

The night I attended the class, the students were preparing to record a large jazz band, with horns, piano, keyboards, electric guitar, bass, and drums. One of the students, Charles DeChants, currently works in a studio in Brooklyn; he hopes to eventually make records for a living. "That's the dream, and that's why I came out here, so I … Read more

Schools are using technology in the classroom at an increasingly rapid rate. Now, the next frontier for tots might be social networking.

A kindergarten teacher at a New York City public school has begun experimenting with using Twitter as a teaching and learning platform, according to The New York Times.

"We added more days in school stickers. We didn't have any lame reflections. We had snack outside. Ask us about time," read a recent 116-character tweet from the kindergarteners, The New York Times reports.

This class's teacher, Jennifer Aaron, says that Twitter helps students think about … Read more

Have the world's schools caught up with this social-networking thing? Or even with this Web thing? Or even with this being a teenager thing?

These thoughts cross one's temple on hearing the news that a high school in the Philippines is withholding the diplomas of six boys -- ages 16 and 17 -- who allegedly posted pictures on Facebook that appeared to show them, well, snogging one another, as they say in some European parts.

According to the Inquirer, the boys may not have realized that everyone could see these photos. And, yes, scandal appears to have ensued … Read more

"Gorilla Glass" could one day become a household phrase, but Corning has even larger ideas.

"A Day Made of Glass 2" is a montage of "how highly engineered glass, with companion technologies, will help shape our world," according to Corning. It is mind-blowing to imagine everyday objects suddenly having rich, interactive displays and multiple functionalities.

After watching the video, I began to think about how intelligent glass, installed on a broad scale, could change the world. There are two key integrations: in the education and medical fields.

In the video, kids sit in rows … Read more

Comcast is ramping up its Internet Essentials program to cover more low-income families and students eager to get online.

Launched last September, the program provides cheap Internet access, low-cost computers, and literacy training to poor families and their school-age children.

Families who have at least one child getting a free lunch through the government's National School Lunch Program (NSLP) have been able to receive 1.5-megabit-per-second broadband Internet for only $9.95 a month, compared with the $41 that Comcast typically charges.

Detailing the program in a blog post this week, Comcast noted several accomplishments, such as promoting the … Read more

Journalists and engineers could come together to shape the future of news thanks to a new joint Columbia-Stanford media innovation institute funded by Cosmopolitan Editor Helen Gurley Brown.

The David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation will be an East Coast/West Coast collaboration. Housed at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City and Stanford's Engineering School in Palo Alto, Calif., the institute is thought to be a first of its kind initiative aimed at helping the foster a new era of communication between the editorial and technical sides of news organizations.

The … Read more

Streaming radio site Slacker Radio has a brand-new station that might get its more softhearted listeners in the mood for some love-making.

The new DJ-curated "Old School R&B" station takes you back in time with some of the silkiest hits from artists like Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Etta James. But '80s babies (like me), don't fret, because the station also extends into our golden era with more-contemporary, yet still decidedly old-school, crooners like Mint Condition, Boyz II Men, and Maxwell.

Curated and socially programmed stations are available free to all Slacker users, … Read more

iTunes U lets people download college courses with all the included materials, and study a subject on their iOS device.

As a recently released product there are currently not many courses to take at iTunes U (about 30 at the time of release), but it's pretty easy to predict the app will probably gain more traction as we approach the fall when classes resume for a new year. Of the courses offered, many big-name schools have contributed their coursework including Yale, MIT, Harvard, and several others.

The interface for the iTunes U app shares the look and layout of … Read more