Time to transform school into a place where kids go to learn, not to power down

It was the flamboyant New York publisher Malcolm Forbes who once said that education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

It is clear to anyone who appreciates the impact of today’s digital revolution that the days of kids learning by rote are over. The textbook as we know it has a limited future. Today’s kids are digital natives who converse on mobile phones, social networks and video games and go to school to power down. The responsibility of educators is keeping their young minds engaged, challenged … and open.

Great expectations
The kids who will be tomorrow’s workforce are expected to be digitally literate, adept at sciences and maths, equipped with critical-thinking skills and with the ability to cut their way through oceans of data. Failing to equip our young with these abilities is effectively failing the economy of tomorrow.

While this country flourished in the good times, barely a dime went into putting 21st-century IT resources into Irish schools. A €254m investment unveiled two years ago never materialised.

The €150m announced by the Taoiseach in recent weeks to put a laptop into the hands of every teacher as well as a digital projector in every classroom is the very foundation that is required and a brave decision in these difficult times. But it must also be remembered that this is just the start.

The content and technology must get into the hands of students in the classroom to unlock young minds, better equip teachers facing crowded classrooms and ensure that struggling students aren’t left behind.

Irish development
It is ironic therefore that while Irish classrooms lack digital tools, the very technologies that are changing the educational experience among millions of students in leading economies such as the US are being developed here in Ireland.

The above is an extract from an article in Silicon Republic See full article here

Computers for Irish Schools, takes computers which are not quite ready for the recycling bin and donates them to local schools

To get involved go to www.cfis.ie

World's first residential test of smart fridges

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to agree new global targets for CO2 emissions, in Britain, the humble fridge freezer is ready to step up and play its part in saving the planet by reducing the UK's CO2 emissions by 2 million tonnes per year and saving £220 million in grid balancing costs.

Three of Europe's most innovative companies - white goods manufacturerIndesit Company, energy supplier npower and RLtec, the smart grid technology company - are ready to begin a UK trial of fridges fitted with grid-balancing technology.

The dynamic demand technology, developed by RLtec and Indesit research teams, helps to maintain the balance between supply and demand across the national electricity grid. From this month and through 2010, up to 3,000 UK npower customers will be supplied with Indesit Company dynamic demand fridges and fridge freezers - free of charge - in what will be world's first residential test of the technology.

Dynamic demand is approved as a Demonstration Action by Ofgem under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) legislation and this initiative will contribute towards npower's carbon reduction obligations.

Indesit, one of the largest appliance manufacturers in Europe, is the design and production partner for the project. Each fridge will be monitored in real time by a data collection system, which will feed back to researchers all the information needed to assess the potential carbon emission reduction which the system could provide in an everyday environment.

Following the initial roll-out of 300, a total of up to 3,000 Indesit fridges and freezers of different types and models will be deployed so that the carbon savings from dynamic demand can be assessed and calculated against a full range of different products.

Andrew Howe, CEO of RLtec, explains - "Appliances fitted with our dynamic demand technology automatically modify their power consumption in response to second-by-second changes in the balance between supply and demand on the grid. This means that the amount of carbon-emitting generating capacity used to maintain that balance can be dramatically reduced. What's more, it's effectively a silent solution, as it doesn't affect appliance performance in any way and no action is needed on the part of the consumer.

"We are really pleased to have Indesit as the manufacturing and design partner and are delighted that npower have chosen to use dynamic demand to meet its CERT obligations," added Howe.

Bob Jackson, Acting Head of Energy Efficiency at npower, said - "Dynamic demand has the potential to reduce the amount of carbon emissions significantly - so, these trials with domestic customers are very important and we hope they will show the impact that this technology could have in the UK and around the world."

Adriano Mencarini, Indesit Company Innovation & Digital Design Director, said - "We are delighted to be involved in this project and to play a pioneering role in the world of smart grids. The efforts of our highly specialised research team - working in partnership with RLtec in the UK and Italy - has allowed us to develop a very new approach to energy saving. We have a long history of innovation and our strong environmental credentials have won numerous awards over the years. It is, therefore, extremely important to us as a business to be involved in a project which will, potentially, have a positive impact on energy consumption and the environment and I very much look forward to seeing the first results early next year."

To view a video associated with the launch - Click Here

Does Your Laptop Call It Quits Before You Do?

Keeping your laptop up and running without the benefit of an outlet requires smart, effective use of your battery’s energy. Whether it’s a long flight or an afternoon in the park, knowing what’s draining your computer’s energy can help you get through―with runtime to spare. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your laptop doesn’t power down before you’re ready to call it quits.

1. Dimmer lasts longer
   Turning down the brightness on your screen is an easy way to squeeze some more juice out of your battery. See how dim you can get your LCD without squinting, keeping in mind that every squint is gaining you uptime.
2. Unplug unnecessary devices
   Unplugging unnecessary external devices will save your energy from wandering down a dead end street. Even when not in use, anything plugged into a USB port―such as a mouse or an external keyboard―uses energy just sitting there, and that power can add up quickly, especially when speaking in terms of multiple devices.
3. Minimize running programs
   Shut down any applications not integral to what you’re working on. This means anything running in the background, from toolbar search engines to music programs and Web pages. Even having an unused CD in the drive uses energy.
4. Keep it cool
   Making sure your laptop stays cool will help it run more efficiently―and efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to extending battery life. Check the air vents to make sure they’re not obstructed, and consider buying a laptop stand so it doesn’t have to sit directly on your lap.
5. Hibernate, not standby
   Keeping your laptop on standby is convenient, but its convenience comes at a steep price compared with the hibernate function, which uses far less of your laptop’s precious resources.

Source: American Power Corporation (APC) on Techcentral Weekly