Google Chromebit Adds Portability to Education, Classrooms

Google has announced a new product, the Asus Chromebit, which is the size of a traditional thumbdrive and can be plugged into any HDMI display (like a monitor or a TV) to turn the device into a fully functional Chromebook. Like other Chrome OS hardware, it is designed with schools in mind. Peripherals like a keyboard and a mouse can be linked up via USB or Bluetooth. Google promises to price it at less than $100, according to Rachel King at ZDNet. Chromebooks, which are laptops that perform most tasks via cloud-based apps, are a popular technology option for schools, in part because they are much cheaper than a traditional PC or laptop. They are often used along with Google products like Gmail or the popular storage solution Drive. Since the work is done online, the Chromebook doesn’t need the same hardware as other computers, which cuts the price dramatically. Google uses a special low-wattage chip that doesn’t need a fan and can last for hours without charging. According to Katie Roberts-Hoffman on the Google Chrome Blog, they were the best selling laptops on Amazon last holiday season. The enhanced portability of the Chromebit would allow both students and teachers to easily relocate, eliminating class time-wasters like waiting for a PC to boot up or to install software updates, and allowing students to easily take work home with them. It can also make giving presentations easier by connecting directly to large TVs and dispensing with traditional projectors. Caesar Sengupta, the vice president of product management for Google, said: Think of the different use cases. Think of an Internet cafe, where you have a monitor, you have a keyboard, and mouse, [but] you’re stuck with an old desktop. It’s probably never been updated, pretty insecure. Think of a school lab, all the peripherals, but stuck to a desktop. Now you can replace that. Recently, along with the introduction of a new model built with students and teachers in mind, the price of new laptop-style Chromebooks has been lowered to $149 from $249. Other upcoming Chrome OS technology, writes Cade Metz of Wired, includes an ultra-thin laptop that can become a touchscreen tablet. Later models, writes Mark Hachman of PC World, will be more rugged and have drainage for keyboard spills. Other companies including Intel and Dell have products similar to the Chromebit.

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Terror Attack at Kenya University Targets Christians, Leaves 147 Dead

A terror attack at Garissa University in Kenya specifically targeting Christians has left 147 people dead and dozens of others wounded during the take-over that lasted for 15 hours until the four militants were killed by security forces. Over 550 students were evacuated and 79 were injured during the events, which targeted Christians and those who had converted to Islam. Responsibility for the attack was taken by the Somali-based Islamic terrorist group al-Shabab. The group is linked to Al Qaeda and is considered to be the deadliest in Kenya. According to students, the gunmen stormed the school at 5am and separated Christians from Muslims, holding hostages in the dormitories. Explosives were placed around the Christian hostages. “Most of us were asleep when the incident happened,” said Nicholas Ntulu, a student at the university. “We heard heavy gunfire and explosions. Every person ran for dear life as we passed the gunmen. Several (students) were shot dead. “There was nobody to help us at the time of the attack,” he said. “The police officers took more than an hour to arrive at the scene.” Targeting students who were likely to convert to Islam, some students were killed during morning prayers at the mosque, said Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery. A difference can be seen between Somali Muslims who were born into Islam and those who have converted because of differing ethnic groups, writes Tonny Onyulo for USA Today. “We’ll not allow terrorists to divide our country on religious lines,” said Aden Duale, majority leader in Kenya’s National Assembly. The majority of those killed were students, as well as two security guards, one policeman and one soldier. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been implemented in Garissa and three neighboring counties as a result of the attacks. The curfew will be in effect until April 16. President Uhuru Kenyatta is asking for a rush to be placed on the applications of 10,000 recruits for the Kenya Police College, saying the country is through suffering due to the shortage of personnel. The White House spoke out against the attacks and offered its assistance to the Kenyan government. “We extend our deep condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed in this heinous attack, which reportedly included the targeting of Christian students,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement. A $220,000 bounty is being offered for Mohammed Mohamud by Kenyan police, who they believe is responsible for the attacks. He is also known as Dulyadin and Gamadhere.

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Oil Prices Affecting Public School Funding in Alaska

The Alaska Senate Finance Committee has finished their version of the state operating budget which does not include the advance education funding proposed by Governor Bill Walker and which cuts $47.5 million in school funding for the coming school year. The cuts come in addition to cuts proposed for the state education department. The House version of the budget, however, included the proposal to advance-fund public education for the 2017 fiscal budget at 90%, according to Becky Bohrer for the Associated Press. Another assumption in the Senate Committee’s proposal is that $32 million in the form of one-time funding for public education will be cut. During its last session, the Legislature approved $32 million in one-time funds for next year and approximately $20 million for 2017. Pending in a separate, supplemental budget is a move the governor had previously proposed – cutting the one-time funds. “It’s heartbreaking how it will affect kids. Our state is better than this,” said Alyse Galvin of the organization Great Alaska Schools. Committee co-chair Pete Kelly (R-Fairbanks) said because education is such a large part of the budget, it has to suffer cuts just like every other public department. “We’ve never been in fiscal times like this, and nothing can be beyond scrutiny,” Kelly said during the finance committee’s hearing Thursday afternoon. The cuts to education are part of the finance committee’s overall budget package, which eliminates $470 million, or 10.5%, in unrestricted general fund spending by state agencies. In total, the budget for the state is $4 billion which is approximately $100 million below the House-approved budget and $220 million below Walker’s budget proposal. Nathaniel Herz and Tegan Hanlon, writing for the Alaska Dispatch News, report that the general consensus is members from both chambers will have to meet to sort out and negotiate the two budgets. The House version did not alter the per pupil funding. Galvin added that Great Alaska Schools had worked fervently for an increase in the per pupil funding during the last legislative session. Even though the group did not get all that it asked for, lawmakers did add money inside and outside the funding formula for three years. The group wants the Legislature to keep its promises and to understand that if the state is interested in expanding its economy, it has to expand its own workforce, which starts in Alaska schools. KTUU-TV’s Adam Pinsker reports that the Senate’s proposed $50 million reduction of per student funding, according to Senate Finance documents, which equates to a $200 reduction per student in state funding to each school district. Last year, the Legislature approved HBK278, raising the Base Student Allocation (BSA) by $150 per student for this year. The worldwide drop in the price of oil has had a tremendous effect on Alaska, since it is a state where 88 cents of every dollar spent by the state government comes from oil production, writes Kyle Hopkins for the Los Angeles Times. Crude oil in Alaska hit a four-year low of $60.80 a barrel last week. This kind of crash means serious threats to jobs in the state, public services, and some of the necessary infrastructure projects needed to exploit the state’s immense natural resources. “This isn’t the hand we thought we would be dealt, quite honestly,” said Walker, an independent who defeated Republican Sean Parnell in November. “Nobody anticipated this.” 

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Study: Cleaning with Bleach May Be Health Risk for Children

A new study reports that using bleach to disinfect surfaces from bacteria can lead to illnesses within the family and especially children. Bleach does kill germs, but it also makes children more susceptible to flu, tonsillitis, and other infections. Aaron Mamiit, writing for Tech Times, says research has made a connection between bleach usage in the home and the number of infections, especially respiratory issues. The bottom line is that passive exposure to bleach led to a 20% increase in the chance that children would contract the flu last year. Along with that, there exists a 35% increase in the risk of recurrent tonsillitis connected to bleach use, making some health officials label the use of bleach in the household a public health concern. The study analyzed the consequences of bleach exposure to more than 9,000 six to 12 year-old children in Barcelona, Finland, and the Netherlands. A questionnaire regarding infections acquired over the last year by their children was given to parents. The amount of bleach used for cleaning in the home within a week was also part of the survey. In Spain, bleach was used at 72%, but in Finland at only 7%. It was discovered that schools in Spain were cleaned using bleach, while those in Finland were not. In all three countries, infections increased and were more frequent in homes where parents used bleach to clean. Statistically-significant increases of flu and tonsillitis was present, and the recurrent infection risk was higher by 18%. It was possible that the cause was the irritant properties of the compounds generated when using bleach for cleaning. The lung’s cellular lining could be damaged, which could lead to inflammation which opens the chance for infections in children. Study author Dr. Lidia Casas from Belgium’s Centre for Environment and Health said researchers were concerned since bleach was used by so many households even though there were underlying negative effects. Casas added that bleach could possibly suppress the body’s immune system. The study did take into consideration other factors like passive smoking in the home, parental education, and household mold. Madlen Davies of the Daily Mail quotes Casas: “The high frequency of use of disinfecting cleaning products, caused by the erroneous belief, reinforced by advertising, that our homes should be free of microbes, makes the modest effects reported in our study of public health concern.” She continued by emphasizing that the study was observational, so no definitive conclusions can be made about cause and effect. Also, there was no information on the use of other cleaning products and only basic information was gathered on the use of bleach in the home. This made differentiation between exposure levels difficult. LiveScience’s Laura Geggel reports there have been earlier studies that suggest cleaning product use increases wheezing and respiratory infections in babies and persistent wheezing and airway inflammation in school-age children, according to researchers. In an article written by Robert Preidt for HealthDay, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), representative of bleach products and products containing bleach, were not in agreement with the study. “Since there was no data presented on the children’s actual exposure to bleach — nor any diagnoses of actual diseases — the authors are merely speculating,” the ACI said in a statement. The group also said that disinfecting household surfaces with bleach can protect people from bacterial infection. 

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Stanford Offers Free Tuition for Families Earning Under $125k

Stanford University has announced that it will be extending its free tuition program to include all students whose families make less than $125,000 per year, raising the previous cutoff from $100,000. Students whose family incomes are below $65,000 will also receive free room and board, up from $60,000. “Our highest priority is that Stanford remain affordable and accessible to the most talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances,” Provost John Etchemendy said in a statement. “Our generous financial aid program accomplishes that, and these enhancements will help even more families, including those in the middle class, afford Stanford without going into debt.” Family assets are also taken into account in the calculations. Households with a net worth above $300,000, not including retirement savings, are typically ineligible for the aid. Considered to be one of the best universities in the world, undergraduate tuition for the 2015-16 school year is set at $45,729. An additional $14,107 covers room and board. Shanell Williams, currently a student at the City College of San Francisco, said she will be applying to Stanford to attend next year as a junior in Urban Studies. “This is excellent news for low-income students who in these times are very much concerned about how we’re going to pay for college,” said Williams, a former foster youth whose mother is on disability. The University of California has a similar program, waiving its undergraduate tuition of $12,192 for students of families who earn less than $80,000. Williams will be applying there as well. Stanford recently announced it had offered spots to 2,144 undergraduates from a pool of 42,487 applicants, the largest group in the history of the school. Of those to be admitted, 16% are first-generation college students, writes Nanette Asimov for SFGate. A new report from Vox.com said future college students should not expect the financial aid program to become available at all schools across the US, as Stanford is only able to fully subsidize the tuition of some students due to the high number of wealthy students who attend the school. In addition, the school is one of the wealthiest in the nation, having an endowment of $21 billion. However, some schools are offering reduced tuition for all students in order to increase enrollment. Almost a dozen private colleges have participated in the effort for the current school year. Tuition and fees were cut by 23% at Southern Virginia University, while Converse College in South Carolina has cut its prices by 43% to only $16,500 each year, reports Danielle Douglas-Gabriel for The Washington Post. The efforts are all part of a movement to help students who previously did not qualify for aid but end up graduating college with large amounts of debt as tuition costs continue to rise. The average student debt last year was $33,050, an increase from $15,313 in 1993 using inflation-adjusted dollars, writes Douglas Belkin for The Wall Street Journal.

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The Startling Case of the Dyslexie Font

Because of the ongoing backlash over Florida’s standardized testing, the state’s Senate has passed a sweeping bill that places limits on the way tests are used in public schools. After two days of debate, in which leading Republican senators said the state had gone too far with changes that were initiated by former Jeb Bush, the vote took place. Gary Fineout of the Associate Press quotes Sen. Alan Hayes (R-Umatilla): “We’ve made some mistakes and we were bold. I feel like now our obligation is to honestly admit our mistakes, apologize for them and correct them.” The Senate measure would put a limit on the time students spend on the state’s standardized tests to not more than 45 hours a year. It also eliminates an 11th grade standardized test that Gov. Rick Scott had already suspended for this year. According to Senate President Andy Gardiner, the law will make for “fewer and better tests.” The Florida Standards Assessment is based on the Common Core standards. It was the result of a six-year, $220 million contract for a new standardized test that is now being used in elementary, middle, and high school. Along with the new test came technical glitches and an alleged cyber attack. Another problem some senators had was that the validity of the test was compromised by the problems encountered. They would like to see the A-F grading system eliminated until an independent study of the test can be completed. There was no comment from American Institutes for Research, the testing company, concerning the independent study. When the Florida legislative session began, legislators were intent on minimizing the level of testing, especially after a southwest district briefly opted out of state testing. The final Senate vote was 32-4, with a small group of senators saying the legislation had not gone far enough. Both the House and the Senate voted for allowing schools to move up starting dates to August 10, giving school districts more flexibility. Florida’s parents have taken a stand against the time the tests take away from classroom instruction. Meredith Mears was led to begin home-schooling her two children. “It was the drill and kill thing,” said Mears. “The third grade year is the hardest for teachers, because the kids have to pass those tests because everything else is tied to it. The school grades, their pay, everything.” Tenth grader Claire Overholt also opted out. “For my AP classes I have an AP exam,” said Overholt. “Then for my other courses that are honors, I have to take an EOI, which is a test from the district, or an EOC, which is an end of course exam from the state.” Jade Bulecza, reporting for WTXL-TV, says that Florida Department of Education Commissioner Pam Stewart sent a copy of what is in the law: Florida law requires that participation in the assessment program is mandatory for all school districts and all students attending public schools (section 1008.22(3), f.s.). the law also states that each student must participate in the statewide, standardized assessment program (section 1008.25(4)(a), f.s.). HB 7069 now returns to the House, reports The News Service of Florida’s Brandon Larrabee. It is not clear whether the changes approved last week will mend the differences between the two chambers.

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