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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2005 Using Video Games to Teach Life Skills California Parks to Go Wireless Researchers Warn of Bogus Wi-Fi Access Points Powell to Step Down from FCC USING VIDEO GAMES TO TEACH LIFE SKILLS According to researchers at Futurelab, a British nonprofit investigating how technology can be used for innovative learning, video games have the potential to be highly effective tools for holding students' attention and teaching them about a variety of topics. This sentiment echoes recent findings of the London Institute of Education, which said video games have educational potential. "Games teach life skills such as decision making [and] problem solving," according to Futurelab's Martin Owen. One company, Lateral Visions, saw an opportunity in the educational potential of video games and developed an auto-racing game called Racing Academy. In it, players build and maintain the cars they race, using data to try to improve their performance. The game allows players to use chat rooms to exchange information and ideas, and Owen finds this aspect of the game particularly promising for developing student learning. Futurelab researchers who have been testing the game in two secondary schools have had a positive response from most students, and the researchers have generally been supportive of using the game to enhance learning. BBC, 21 January 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4189411.stm CALIFORNIA PARKS TO GO WIRELESS Officials from California State Parks this week announced a partnership with SBC Communications to bring Wi-Fi access to 85 of the state's parks over the next six months. Wi-Fi access is already available in the baseball stadium of the San Francisco Giants and in downtown San Jose. The fist state park to have Wi-Fi access will be San Elijo State Beach, near San Diego. Current customers of SBC will be able to access the Wi-Fi service in the state parks for free; others will have to pay $7.95 per day. According to a spokesperson from SBC, the revenue from the service will be split between the company and the state. California State Parks spokesman Roy Stearns said that access will largely be limited to areas in and around visitors' centers and campgrounds. Hiking trails, said Stearns, will not be part of the coverage area. Reuters, 21 January 2005 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7397115 RESEARCHERS WARN OF BOGUS WI-FI ACCESS POINTS Researchers at Britain's Cranfield University are warning users of wireless computing devices about bogus Wi-Fi access points that can steal personal information. The so-called evil twin hotspots are set up near existing access points, where they can hijack signals sent between wireless devices and legitimate access points. Dr. Phil Nobles, a expert on cybercrime and wireless technology at Cranfield, said, "Because wireless networks are based on radio signals, they can be easily detected by unauthorized users tuning into the same frequency." Security experts said that setting up adequate protections for access points, as well as installing personal firewalls on wireless devices, can prevent users from being victimized by the unauthorized hotspots. BBC, 20 January 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4190607.stm POWELL TO STEP DOWN FROM FCC Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell will resign, having completed, as he put it, a "bold and aggressive agenda." Powell is a strong advocate of deregulation and said that the actions of the FCC under his leadership have resulted in significant growth of industries including cell phones, digital television, and digital music players. "Evidence of our success," said Powell, "can be seen increasingly in the offices, the automobiles, and the living rooms of the American consumer." Critics charge that Powell's policies have unfairly favored big business. Powell also oversaw a sea change in the FCC's approach to regulating indecency on the airwaves. On Powell's watch, the FCC fined CBS $550,000 for the Janet Jackson incident during last year's Super Bowl, a fine CBS is contesting. In 2004, the FCC levied fines totaling $7.7 million for indecency, compared to $48,000 in the year before Powell became chairman. No successor has been named for Powell, who will step down in March. San Jose Mercury News, 21 January 2005 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10700962.htm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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