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

Longview IoT Boosts Energy and Wireless Efficiency

Some of the biggest challenges slowing down the adoption of IoT are security, efficient battery usage and optimized wireless communications.One company has...

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Hallmark's Simple, Inexpensive Way to Boost Customer Satisfaction

In an effort to boost margins, companies often push more users to automated solutions such as FAQs, chatbots, voice bots and anything...

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Huawei Places the World's First 5G VoNR Video Call

Huawei recently completed the world's first voice over NR (VoNR) call. The voice and video call service was made using two Huawei...

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IGEL Advances Future of Work

IGEL is a provider of a next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company’s software products include IGEL OS, IGEL UD Pocket (UDP) and Universal...

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Tata Communications and Cisco Collaborate on SD-WAN

Tata Communications and Cisco have extended their partnership to enable enterprises to transform their legacy network to a customized and secure multi-cloud...

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How to Win the 50-Year-Old China Trade War

Today and this week in-fact is historic - the left and right in the U.S. agree that we have a major trade...

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Extreme Elements Enables The Autonomous Enterprise

Extreme Networks just announced Extreme Elements which in-turn enables the autonomous network and subsequently the autonomous enterprise. In a dynamic webinar, Dan...

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Text Messages in Class Saving Lives

October 20, 2011

At first thought, the idea of cell phones in class seems like a bad idea. I mean how realistic is it that a teen would rather listen to why the War of 1812 started over playing a rousing game of Hanging with Friends (a game that takes an unconventional approach to hangman) with his friend on his trusty iPhone?

And in addition to making games accessible during instruction, cell phone use in class has been in the hot seat for lending a hand to cheating and fostering distractions.

However, there is one fact about phones in class that I challenge anyone to try to refute; they can prove extraordinarily useful in the event of emergencies.

They are Watching You: Schools Place Cameras on Buses to Preclude Bullying

October 18, 2011

Do you recall the days of sitting on the school bus and standing by helplessly as some pompous older student stole your hard-earned lunch money? How about the time those two girls who you thought were your friends refused to let you sit in the seat with them (even though it was meant for three) and you were forced to sit with that weird smelly kid who liked to eat paint?

Albeit tough circumstances, the types of bullying that occur on the school bus nowadays are far more personal and upsetting. From using cell phones to send text messages to your friend about someone sitting five feet away from you to kids talking about the Facebook invite they received to Kim’s birthday party (while they know that the kid in the seat next to them wasn’t invited), bullying and cyberbullying have found their way onto the school buses.

So You Want to be a Teacher... Better Become Technologically Savvy

October 14, 2011

Recently, I have been advocating just how important it is for students to develop technological acumen and to become experts with e-mail, social networking and software applications all in the hopes that they fare OK in this still doomed economy. But what about teachers?

Will individuals who received their master’s in education find themselves not getting that second interview because they have limited experience with SMART Boards? Will they not even be called in for the first interview because their resume doesn’t say something like, “Piloted an iPad educational program while student teaching?”

Are you the Next Steve Jobs? Better Stay in School While you Find Out

October 12, 2011

Is staying in school really that cool? Just take a look at the success of Michael Dell (founder of Dell if you couldn’t tell), Mark Zuckerberg (the youngest self-made billionaire in the world), or the late Steve Jobs (who dropped out of Reed College after the first six months and then went on to create perhaps the technology empire of the century) and that question becomes a difficult one to answer.

And these three men are not the only college dropouts who found fame. These three men are joined by countless other esteemed professionals – such as Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Andrew Jackson – who didn’t complete college but went on to become some of the most influential figures in the world.

States Charge Forward with Anti-Bullying Laws

October 7, 2011

We don’t think twice when asked to name illicit activities: driving while under the influence of alcohol, first-degree murder, kidnapping, shoplifting…

But what about bullying? And what about Cyberbullying? We may think of these instances as heinous crimes but, fortunately, in most states these activities are slowly becoming illegal and carry with them felony charges.

Is WiFi Threatening Students Health?

October 4, 2011

First we were told to not to stand in front of microwaves while they were on for fear that the rays could cause fertility problems. Then we were informed that talking on your cell phone incessantly upped your chances for developing cancer. But now are we really being told not to send our kids to schools that have WiFi?

It would appear so.

The Rise of Cyberbullying Puts Greater Emphasis on Anti-Bullying Assemblies

September 30, 2011

When I was a reporter in Connecticut covering the education beat, one of the most touching moments during my two years of scouring the news in suburbia was when I attended an anti-bullying assembly at New Canaan High School called “Names Can Really Hurt Us.”

The program, created by the Anti-Defamation League, asks upperclassmen to undergo weeks of training to lead underclassmen through one of the most powerful programs I have ever seen. As the assembly begins, seniors take to the stage to act out an incident that touches upon bullying. In so doing, student leaders hope to convey the message to underclassman that the biggest threats in school are not actually bullies but those that sit by and watch others get victimized – bystanders.

Admissions Counselors Hiring Facebook as a Spy?

September 27, 2011

So you visited Johns Hopkins University last weekend to see if you could see yourself there and took to Facebook that night to update your status to read: “The interviewer was a gray-haired freak with a lazy eye… sounded like Kermit the Frog.”  Sounds harmless enough right?

Mistake. Big mistake.

According to a recent press release, student recruiting firm TargetX is now making it possible for admissions offices to rely on a teenager’s best friends – Facebook and Twitter— to find out how prospective students and parents of prospects treat them in cyber world.

Do Teachers Want Help with Homework? Skype Thinks So

September 22, 2011

It’s a common site in any elementary school, high school or college – hoards of students clustered around tables with their backpacks messily strewn about with their notebooks (or laptops) and textbooks flooding the table. After all, two heads are better than one and four heads are certainly better than two when it comes to completing school assignments, right?

Well not unlike students, teachers are looking to get in on the power of collaboration and thanks to Skype, it looks like teacher collaboration just got a whole lot trendier.

Recently, Skype, the educational technology platform that currently has 16,448 educators signed up from 171 countries, announced a number of improvements to its free online education resource which is designed to help teachers create projects and collaborate with other instructors.

All Aboard My Education Nostalgic Train

September 20, 2011

I have a confession to make:  I am one-half Russian, one-fourth German and one-half nerd.

When I think about all the students who get to buy new notebooks and pens (Velocity for sure), sit through hour-and-a-half lectures about how one finds the moral fortitude to challenge company policies,  or enjoy a 40-minute high school period about symbolism in “Emma,” I get nostalgic. While others might actually miss the high school prom, beer pong, and formals instead (and yes I miss that, too), call me crazy, but I actually miss the learning part more.

In the spirit of nostalgia (and as I sit here fantasizing about what I would be doing at 2:30 p.m.