Hysteria. That is what I predict will be happening in education circles next year, EdSurge reports. 2014 may turn out to be frightening for education in America: we will likely see national hysteria over US students’ falling scores, both in the recently released PISA test scores (Programme for International Student Assessment) and as a result of the new generation of Common Core assessments. We will see districts scrambling for silver bullet solutions. But the biggest concern I have is those such quick fix efforts could just make our education system bleed even more. The PISA scores showed that the American students are falling even farther behind other countries… in spite of our obsession with testing and teacher accountability…
…Read MorePodcast Series: Innovations in Education
Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
Schools in China say they weren’t behind hacking
Two prominent schools in China are disputing allegations that hacking attacks on Google and other firms originated from them, reports the Associated Press. The New York Times reported Feb. 18 that security investigators traced the hacking to computers at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in China. The official Xinhua News Agency cited an unnamed university spokesperson on Feb. 20 as saying the allegation against it is baseless, and an official at the vocational school said its investigation found no evidence the attacks originated there. Google revealed Jan. 12 that digital thieves had stolen some of its computer code and tried to break into the accounts of human-rights activists opposed to China’s policies. The sophisticated theft also targeted the computers of more than 30 other companies, according to security experts. The digital assault was serious enough to prompt Google to confront China’s government about censorship rules that weed out politically and culturally sensitive topics from search results in the country. Google says it’s prepared to shut down its China-based search engine and the company and the government are still discussing a possible compromise…
…Read MoreTwo Chinese schools said to be tied to online attacks
According to the New York Times, a series of online attacks on Google and dozens of other American corporations have been traced to computers at two educational institutions in China, including one with close ties to the Chinese military, say people involved in the investigation. They also said the attacks, aimed at stealing trade secrets and computer codes and capturing e-mail of Chinese human rights activists, may have begun as early as April, months earlier than previously believed. Google announced on Jan. 12 that it and other companies had been subjected to sophisticated attacks that probably came from China. Computer security experts, including investigators from the National Security Agency, have been working since then to pinpoint the source of the attacks. Until recently, the trail had led only to servers in Taiwan…
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