This month has been – I think you’ll agree – a colourful and eclectic month for product testing here at Tech Trends. From some amazing sex toys designed by women, for women, to a nifty pen that wards off RSI and an affordable classroom laptop that teaches kids about electronics and programming. We even found time to give the latest editing software from Vegas a quick spin. If you’d like to get in on the action and get your product reviewed here for the next edition, by all means get in touch, but do read these guidelines first to see whether it’s right for us.

Pi-top

We all learn better when we’re engaged, have fun, and take pride in what we achieve. The pi-top does that by allowing children to build a cool-looking classroom laptop from scratch. Teachers can use the device to plan lessons around coding, electronics, and much more. The device is also fully functional and highly customizable, so it’s a great value option for ICT equipment in its own right. Read the full review on IDG Connect

RRP: $200

Penclic B3 Stylus

The Penclic B3 Bluetooth is designed like a swivelling pen mounted on a gliding base, so you don’t need a mousepad, and takes up very little desk space. As someone who suffers from RSI – hazards of being a writer and spending most of my time either in front of a computer or tapping away at my phone – the advantage of switching to a stylus is that it not only uses a different set of muscles, but also makes you think about your movements more, therefore stopping the “happy clicking” that often triggers the pain, so I have to say it’s a keeper!

RRP: $103

Miss On The Go

This is a rather awesome little vibrating device that connects to a smart app on your phone (free to download on Apple and Android) and either provides guidance for your Kegel exercise routine to get those all-important pelvic floor muscles in tip-top shape, or becomes a platform for some fun and games (solo, with your other half, or with complete strangers). This is a nice product with a great story of female entrepreneurship behind it, which you can read more about on this article I wrote for the Future of Sex website.

RRP: $169

Dame Products

Another great story of female entrepreneurship came from the folks at Dame Products, who designed and successfully crowdfunded two amazing vibrating devices. You can read about them and find out more about the Fin and the Eva here.

RRP: $105 for the (Eva) and $74.95 (Fin)

Vegas Movie Studio

This month we did a deep-dive review on the Vegas Movie Studio software, courtesy of my husband, film editor, producer and all-round technical geek Tom Atkinson, who was impressed by how it provided a good-value solution for the prosumer market. You can read all about it here.

RRP: $79.99

The post April 2017 Tech Trends Product Reviews appeared first on Tech Trends.

Pi-top is a start-up making affordable, cool-looking computers for schools, which kids can build themselves while learning coding, electronics, and a whole lot more.

In my latest article for IDG Connect I explore how creative hacking and the Maker Movement have gained momentum in recent years as more people recognise there’s a skills crisis that has to be urgently tackled if we’re to not only cope, but thrive, in the digital economy.

The concept of Creative Hacking is something that a lot of technology startups have been exploring
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The concept of Creative Hacking is something that a lot of technology startups have been exploring in order to address the increasingly pressing issue of the widening digital skills gap. This essentially refers to the problem that not enough children are learning the skills they need at school to function in—and contribute to—the digital economy.

Pi-top is a start-up making affordable, cool-looking computers for schools
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This was, in fact, one of the hot topics of debate at the recent Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai, where an initiative was launched to standardize that concept of “Digital Intelligence Quotient” and introduce it into the broader international curriculum.

There are moves to introduce a Digital Intelligence Quotient into the school curriculum
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One startup’s DIY laptop could have us all be makers, by @alicebonasio from @CIOonline https://t.co/VpbnFmOvOi

— Technology Experts (@IDGCN) May 3, 2017

This is part of a broader trend that recognises the importance of life-long learning and building of flexible skill sets, something that is embodied in the idea that technology is meant to be explored and played with, and that playing and learning are not just for children, but rather life-long activities. The Maker Movement and the proliferation of Makerspaces are prominent example of how this works in practice, as is the growing popularity of hackable hardware specifically geared towards education, such as the pi-top computers, which I recently had the opportunity to test firsthand.

This is part of a broader trend recognising the importance of life-long learning
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Pi-top is an EdTech startup that launched in October 2014 and sold over 11,000 units of its DIY laptops, working with more than 500 schools so far. They raised over $400,000 through crowdfunding and $4.3 million on a series A Round and were finalists for two BETT awards. 

Pi-top’s ambition is to provide schools with affordable coding hardware that is also flexible. The main issue with IT spend in education is that the hardware quickly becomes outdated, but this modular approach ensures that the devices remain easy to upgrade. They are also working to support this with a cloud ecosystem of resources where teachers can share and download lesson plans with one another building a collaborative, evolving coding curriculum.

The pi-top is, as the name suggests, a laptop powered by the Raspberry Pi. It runs on its own operating system—pi-topOS—which allows all the functions one might expect from an off-the-shelf laptop—such as web browsing, emailing, editing text documents and gaming, which makes it accessible at its $200 price point. But apart from the end product itself, its biggest selling point is the education-enabling potential it offers students. Through the process of building the device, children learn the about the basic architecture of the computer, then go on to customize its modular structure with add-ons to make it suit individual needs. It also makes upgrading a lot more affordable, as a new microprocessor can be installed for $30, much cheaper than buying a new device, especially considering how schools have to constantly upgrade multiple units.

Code clubs are using the devices to create computing lessons on its custom-made coding platform CEEDuniverse. It teaches those skills through gamification, encouraging children to “mine” for resources to progress throughout the game, solving visual programming puzzles to unlock the next levels. This teaches all the basic coding concepts in languages such as Python and Scratch in an engaging way, such as creatively composing music, for example. The coder interface also allows all Raspberry Pi resources and worksheets created by educators to be shared around the world.

So, how did I, a non-technical person, get on with building my very own laptop? I was able to not only do it, but enjoy the process:

Building

This was fantastic fun and the instructions were very clear, suitable for someone who has never build a computer before. I quickly got familiar with all the various circuit boards and cables and how they were supposed to come together. The screen is great quality and the keyboard is adequate, but the mouse pad is a little bit difficult to use, so it benefits from an external mouse, particularly when scrolling. The case is hard-wearing and a lovely bright shade of green that would appeal to children I’d imagine, although I really liked it too. The slide-out top section is amazingly effective, safely covering the internal components when you need and giving easy access to them for whenever you need to do some extra tinkering. The battery life is also very good, up to 12 hours depending on how many programs you have running, which beats my much more expensive MacBook by a long way. The only oddity there was the lack of a battery monitor on the dashboard.

Software

The pi-topOS comes installed on a micro SD card and booted up first time, connected to my W-Fi without issue and I was off and running. It comes preinstalled with essetials such as a chrome browser, basic office apps and of course a good selection of engaging learning tools. All these can be accessed on the attractive and familiar feeling desktop or through the pi-topDASHBOARD which is a neat smart phone style interface and a good starting point to begin exploring the pi-top’s capabilities. The only limitation is that it is very much meant to be used in a classroom context. It is perfectly possible to get a lot of learning and fun from it by yourself, but to get the full benefit of the learning tools, you do need the guidance of a teacher. The educational software is very diverse and offers everything from learning through gaming and game design to organized step-by-step coding tools where you can learn, test, debug and validate code.

Extras

The speaker is truly plug-and-play and allows the laptop to play media, while the pi-topPROTO is a great little breakout board, essential for physical computing lessons where you add and program lights, switches and circuits because the Raspberry Pi’s native GPIO header pins are used to run the pi-top. The PROTO duplicates these pins plus adds a load more possibilities for creative learning with well labelled connections for soldering on components and includes standard 5V, and 3.3V plus 18V power connections.

If we are to educate the next generation to understand technology and leverage digital skills creatively, then this is exactly the sort of tool that needs to be in every classroom. The good news is that startups like pi-top are making this not only possible, but much more affordable and rather fun. It sort of made me wish I were back at school, as I would have really enjoyed learning about computers if I had been allowed to play with them.

Article originally published on CIO Online

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Bringing the Maker Movement into EdTech appeared first on Tech Trends.

There’s no shortage of really tiny computers out there these days, but I was still struck by just how tiny the BBC micro:bit is. Not that the Raspberry Pi or the Arduino are big by any stretch of the imagination. If you want to remind yourself of what a big computer looks like, see below (that’s the Colossus in case you don’t recognise it). Or you can just watch a vintage episode of the X-Files from the 90s.

We’ve come a long way since the Colossus was first built in Bletchley Park
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This new breed of computers is not only tiny, but also really, really affordable. The Arduino and BBC micro:bit retail for about £15, and you can get a Raspberry Pi for about a fiver. Best of all, they’re made to be so flexible and hackable that there’s an infinite variety of things you can do with them.

This new breed of computers is not only tiny, but also really, really affordable
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The kit I tested out was by Kitronik, one of the 29 organisations that partnered with the BBC to create the micro:bit. It is a little bit more technical and meatier than the fun-looking kits you get from Technology Will Save Us or Sphero but it is aimed at a slightly older age group, and I really enjoyed the fact that it combined coding with hands-on electronics, so that you’re learning the hardware and software aspects in tandem.

Kitronik is one of the 29 organisations that partnered with the BBC to create the micro:bit
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Every Kitronik kit comes with a teaching resource pack that guides students through how to build it, but also on the principles of what actually makes it work. The resources section of their website contains a range of tutorials, datasheets, project ideas and interactive teaching aids which further supports that learning.

Many teachers are now keen to incorporate subjects such as coding in the curriculum
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With the importance of digital skills being increasingly recognized, many teachers are now keen to incorporate subjects such as coding in the curriculum, but it’s not always straightforward for them to do so. Which is why, as we’re starting a new academic year, they’re launching a range of teaching resources to specifically support the delivery of STEM-based lessons using the BBC micro:bit.

“We are already seeing all manner of projects being created by students up and down the country and there is undoubted enthusiasm for the device as a tool to support coding and integrated projects. Judging by the number of orders we have received, there is little doubt that teachers are keen to further develop the use of this resource,” says Kitronik Director and Co-Founder Kevin Spurr.

We are already seeing all manner of electronics projects being created by students
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His Co-Founder Geoff Hampson is also excited about micro:bit’s potential for creating a cross-curricular platform for the teaching and learning of digital skills, and transform students from passive end users into creators of technology, developing their capabilities not only in coding, but in digital creativity.

Geoff and Kevin started the company in 2005 with a mission to make electronics accessible to everyone, and sold over a million kits since then, including their Electro-Fashion range which allows you to add lights to fabrics by sewing the components together with specially designed conductive thread, requiring no soldering. They also supply over 3,000 secondary schools directly.

We’ve come a long way since the Colossus was first built in Bletchley Park. Most of us carry around supercomputers (also known as smartphones) in our pockets, and Alan Turing would probably be amazed – and delighted – to see how a Raspberry Pi costing $5 can outperform most computers which cost small fortunes a mere few decades ago.

The more technology advances the easier it is to take it for granted
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But the more technology advances, perhaps the easier it is to take it all for granted, which is precisely why we need to educate the next generation about what actually makes this stuff tick. In other words, we need to get serious about playing with technology, or that digital skills gap is only ever going to get wider.

The post Learning to Love Coding with BBC micro:bit New Inventor Kits appeared first on Tech Trends.

Not enough people are learning the skills required to drive the digital economy. I explore some solutions to this growing problem in this article for IDG Connect.

As anybody tasked with the challenge of recruiting IT talent knows, there is a severe and widespread digital skills shortage, which is impacting on businesses’ ability to compete in a technology-driven world. Education technology (EdTech) is central to tackling this. EdTech in this context refers not to the digital tools that help deliver traditional curriculum elements, but to facilitating a new system of education, where we learn about technology rather than just making use of it.

The term hacking used to have negative connotations, yet nowadays it is closely linked to this concept of playfulness in relation to technology.
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Teachers already acknowledge that technology is essential to the modern economy and plays a huge role in improving the quality of education. In the UK, coding has been part of the primary school curriculum since 2014, but in places like Estonia and Israel this has been happening for over a decade. Perhaps this is why the country was found to be lagging behind in terms of IT competence, with a recent report by Barclays showing that only 16 percent of workers in the UK would be comfortable building a website, compared to 39 percent in Brazil and 37 percent in India.

Many teachers lack the confidence to teach computer science at the higher levels required to address this problem. Bill Mitchell, head of the British Computing Society, says it could take another five years to up-skill the 14,000 teachers current ICT so that they can tackle more in-depth computing classes. The problem is made worse by the fact that math and computer science graduates are in high demand, making it harder to recruit them into teaching.

Many technology companies are so concerned about this issue that they started taking matters in their own hands. In addition to launching a program to help thousands of adults in the UK to improve their digital skills, Google invested £120,000 in a training initiative for primary school teachers in partnership with Code Club, a network of 2,500 after school clubs around the UK. The BBC micro:bit project also partnered up with companies such as Kitronik to provide teaching resources designed to deliver STEM-based lessons through their electronics coding kits.

A survey by the Varkey foundation found that 9 in 10 teachers would welcome involvement from companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google to support student’s vocational training in schools
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In the U.S., IBM went a step further, setting up P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) model schools, which give the option to ninth-graders to graduate six years later with both a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering. Rackspace even went as far as establishing its own training school, from which it hires two-thirds of the graduate output, with the remainder finding jobs in other companies.

This sort of corporate involvement is actually welcomed by teachers. A survey by the Varkey foundation — conducted in collaboration with the CBI and the Times Educational Supplement — recently found that 9 in 10 teachers would actively welcome closer involvement from companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google to support student’s vocational training in schools. Marc Boxser, Chief Operating Officer of the Varkey Foundation — a not-for profit organization dedicated to promoting educational initiatives — says that such partnerships are crucial if we are to improve our digital skills base in the long term.

“In an age of disruptive innovation and digital advancement, those countries that prioritize greater understanding of digital skills will be the ones that thrive. If we continue to allow a generation of “computer illiterate” children to leave our schools, there could be grave consequences. As the growth of populism and anti-elite sentiment around the world shows, there is a divide between those “globalists” who have skills that the modern economy needs, and those whose jobs have been either downgraded or destroyed by technology.”

Indeed, a World Economic Forum report warns of a “Fourth Industrial Revolution” which will eradicate more than 7 million jobs as AI becomes ever more sophisticated and technology replaces humans. According to the WEF, 28 percent of the skills required in the UK will need to adapt before 2020 in order to meet the demands in new job sectors such as robotics and nanotechnology.

The greatest challenge we face in tackling the digital skills problem is not a lack of resources or creative solutions, nor a willingness from parents and teachers to embrace technology. The main issue we face is likely to be our outdated education system that restricts fluid and dynamic learning. There is a need to acknowledge — at a broader policy level — that the availability of information and the pace of change have rendered the concept of a fixed canon or permanent, universal curriculum grossly ineffective. A fit-for-purpose education proposition must be based around continuous learning and promote flexibility and curiosity.

In an age of disruptive innovation and digital advancement, countries that prioritize greater understanding of digital skills will be the ones that thrive
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The term “hacking” used to have negative connotations, yet nowadays it is closely linked to this concept of playfulness in relation to technology. Learning in this area happens through bold experimentation and iteration — and is as much a result of failure as it is of success. This is the fundamental shift that educators must embrace when incorporating technology into their teaching. There is no single solution to the digital skills gap problem. Rather, it requires a sustained collaboration between schools, parents and corporations in coming years. Technology is already an inevitable part of our lives, yet we must make a concerted effort to make it part of our education as well.

Read the full article on IDG Connect

How can we plug the widening digital skills gap? by @alicebonasio from @CIOonline – https://t.co/BLQ6ELTaw1

— Technology Experts (@IDGCN) September 1, 2016

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Plugging the Digital Skills Gap appeared first on Tech Trends.

When I was about ten, I desperately wanted one of the cute alien robots from Batteries Not Included * but in those days, the most you could hope to find under the Christmas tree was a toy that looked a bit like a robot and made some obliging beeping noises.

The best I could hope for under the Christmas tree when I was a child was a toy that looked like a robot
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Fast-forward to last Christmas, however, and my dream of owning a fully-fledged cute robot finally came true. After watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the sixth time I decided to ‘treat my husband’ to a BB-8. And while the dogs were distinctively unimpressed, we sure had a blast spinning the little guy around.

Yet when I got sent a SPRK+ to test (I DO love this job) I didn’t’ immediately realize that it came from the same people as made the BB-8. As it turns out, Sphero has been making little round robots for quite a while, ever since they graduated from the Techstars accelerator in Boulder, CO, back in 2010.

Sphero has been making little round robots for quite a while
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Like BB-8, Sphero’s latest ball-bot is on an important mission: Teaching kids to code. The company sold over a million robots in 80 countries so far, but the SPRK+ is designed to be their most tinker-friendly and hardwearing robot yet, with a scratch-resistant, waterproof outer shell, it can take a good bouncing.

While it’s not exactly cheap – the SPRK+ retails at around $130 – the fact that you can buy and program your own robot for less than it costs to buy a fancy pair of shoes is a testament to how far technology has come since my own childhood.

What I love about it – as someone with admittedly limited technical skills – is that you can casually start playing around straight away. Tap the ball to your phone and the app syncs the devices automatically. The transparent outer shell lets you see what’s going on inside the robot, and you can drag and drop modular puzzle elements in different sequences to make it do simple things like change colour or roll in different directions.

you can casually start playing around straight away. Tap the ball to your phone and the app syncs the devices automatically
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As well as over 150 learning activities, you can tap into a host of programmable features like sound effects, LED lights, sensors, accelerometer and gyroscope
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For those who want to dig deeper though, the sky is the limit. As well as over 150 learning activities, you can tap into a host of programmable features like sound effects, LED lights, sensors, accelerometer and gyroscope. There is a healthy global community of users that collaborate on projects through the Lightning Lab app which works across iOS, Android and Amazon Fire devices. It lets you easily share programs – using Sphero’s own programming language called OVAL – much as you would on GitHub, which is great for building up real-world programming skills.

Users can share their Sphero coding projects much like on GitHub
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SPRK teaches all sorts of valuable 21st century skills, disguised as play
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David Millage, General Manager of Education at Sphero, says that the beauty of SPRK is that it teaches all sorts of valuable 21^st century skills, cleverly disguised as play: “Learning is evolving and we are seeing a transition from consumption to creation in the classroom. Our robots are being used to teach everything from art to physics in a fun and hands-on way that engages students on a new level.”

Who wouldn’t want to build their own Solar System?
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I never tire of preaching the gospel of coding, because as much as not everybody can be good at it, we all should learn as much as possible about the technology that makes the world go around. If nothing else, it’s great exercise for your brain, and with things like Sphero, it’s also fantastic fun. After all, who wouldn’t want to build their own Solar System? And BB-8 also enjoyed meeting his new friend:

Like BB-8, Sphero’s latest ball-bot is on an important mission: Teaching kids to code
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*Classic 80s feel-good film, look it up if somehow you’ve managed to grow up without seeing it.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post How Robots Make the World Go Round appeared first on Tech Trends.