Persistent negative impact

E Sunday Telegraph reports a survey of more than half a million children reveals technology is counter-productive in improving student achievement.

It found that introducing children to computers from 10 years of age could have a detrimental effect and was associated with "modest but statistically significant and persistent negative impacts on student maths and reading test scores".

The study, published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, flies in the face of popular belief and shows that expanding computer access does not reduce the digital divide.

Study co-author Jacob Vigdor said the findings suggest access to computers can harm children's learning.

"Students who gain access to a home computer between 5th and 8th grade tend to witness a persistent decline in reading and math test scores," he said.

"For school administrators interested in maximising achievement test scores, or reducing racial and socioeconomic disparities in test scores, all evidence suggests that a program of broadening home computer access would be counterproductive."

Researchers analysed administrative data for more than 500,000 Years 5-8 students from North Carolina.

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Take a spin in the Auto-GCAS

WHEN the Australian Defence Force takes delivery of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in 2015, it can expect the usual array of advanced weaponry and stealth technologies.

For the price tag of around $110 million and climbing per plane, it ought to, but the first major upgrade to our air force fleet in 30 years is not all about firepower.

Last week, Aviation Week reporter Guy Norris got a sneak peek of the JSF's extraordinary new secret weapon — crash avoidance.

He's unlikely to ever forget it. At times he was experiencing 1000km/h in runs through canyons less than 70m off the ground.

The point of it all was for the US Air Force to show off its new system for dealing with those unfortunate moments when the pilot forgets where they are or loses consciousness — the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, or Auto-GCAS.

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Current systems are simply based on terrain awareness and warnings which alert pilots of impending collisions.

The big difference is that Auto-GCAS actually wrests control off the pilot and takes evasive action.

It won't save pilots' lives in a mechanical emergency or if they've detuned it in order to make a low pass, but all the scenarios Norris was put through replicated accidents that happened in combat situations.

One notable incident occurred when a USAF pilot pulled up out of a bombing run and turned the wrong way, plunging into the ground instead of up in the air.

Smartphones and appliances

PHONE-crazy Australians are behind a huge leap in numbers of smartphones like Apple's iPhone being sold.

More than $500 million was spent on the gadgets in the three months to the end of June — a 92 per cent increase on the same time last year.

The smartphone boom has come at the expense of traditional mobile phones, with their sales tumbling almost 50 per cent to $200 million, the latest GfK TEMAX consumer electronics survey says.

However, the statistics reveal a general fall in consumer confidence, with overall sales down 5.2 per cent.

GfK spokeswoman Gwenno Hopkin said consumers' passion for social networking and surfing the net on the move was helping to drive the smartphone explosion.

"Smartphones are becoming standard now and people are looking for that kind of functionality in the phones on offer," she said.