Carrie Schmelkin : Gossip from the Hallways
Carrie Schmelkin
Web Editor, TMC

June 2011

You are browsing the archive for June 2011.

The Not-So Ugly Side of Facebook

June 30, 2011

So I spent some time in my previous blog posts bringing up the less than glamorous side of Facebook, but for this entry, I have decided to change my tune (and attempt to fit in with my Facebook aficionado generation).

Facebook is perhaps one of the biggest education technology tools in the classroom today and the social networking site continues to grow in popularity.  Despite some of the more troubling actions that Facebook enables such as cyber bullying, procrastination and cheating in schools, Facebook is also one of the best ways to link teachers to their students academically. 

The New Kid on Campus

June 28, 2011

When I was a newspaper reporter covering education, among other beats, in Connecticut, one thing was overtly clear to me as I strolled down the hallways, reported on school assemblies and sat in on class presentations: smartphones and iPods have quickly become the most popular kids on campus.

Almost 10 years ago, when I first started high school, cell phones were the biggest thing to hit school (after Pogs and Tamagotchis). Verizon had just introduced the concept of a family share plan, and kids couldn’t wait to start whipping out their Nokia cell phones.

Once kids were lucky enough to receive a Nokia phone (and even luckier once they received rhinestone phone covers) they would use the phones sparingly in school, predominately to play the riveting game called “Snake.”

The New College Acceptance Letter

June 23, 2011

Confession time: I am extremely jealous of Syracuse University’s incoming freshman class.

No it’s not because in just a few months they will get to travel to Hartford, “bleeding orange” and yelling profanities at UConn as our football team takes to the turf. And no, it’s not because they will soon be able to brag that they too can survive the most inclement and traumatic of weather. But rather it’s because they found out that they got accepted to Newhouse in a way that puts to shame all previous classes.

The New Playground for Bullying

June 21, 2011

Here’s what bullying was like for students who were in middle school from 1997 to 2001: If you were a girl, pre-adolescent girls stopped talking to you if you were still wearing Gap when you should have clearly switched to Abercrombie & Fitch. If you were a guy who was a “late bloomer,” still teetering somewhere around four feet five inches, you would have become the victim of some harsh pranks during recess. And, for both sexes, some of the most traumatic forms of bullying were being ostracized at the lunch table and finding nasty notes in your locker.

Fast forward just 10 years and bullying has taken on one of the cruelest forms to date.

Fear No More: Technology Platform Brings Financial Literacy to Schools

June 16, 2011

I have a confession to make – and please don’t judge me – but when I was in high school, I can promise you I did not know the first thing about credit scores, mortgages or IRA accounts (or the fact that if I didn’t pay off my credit card on time I would get a bad credit score because once again, what is a credit score?)

Almost six years out of high school, I can save face and tell you that I have a rudimentary understanding of the financial world (but, after all, how good can it be until I buy my first house or start actively planning for my retirement?) But the thought remains: If my generation had understood credit scores earlier, would more of us have been able to rent our first apartments without needing a guarantor? And if we had known about the importance of paying a credit card bill on time, would our parents still have had to bail us out?

Fortunately for many of you high school students out there, education technology leader EverFi is paving the way for financial literacy and helping you guys stay ahead of the game.

Welcome to the Hallway

June 14, 2011

Welcome to “Gossip from the Hallways,” an education technology blog designed to dish on all the scuttlebutt resounding from the school hallways about how technology is impacting education. From cyberbullying to virtual classrooms to energy efficiencies in schools, this blog will cover all the stuff too good to simply pass a note about.

First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carrie Schmelkin and I am a Web Editor here at TMCnet. Let me start off by saying that I am no stranger to how education technology has rocked the school hallways.