The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的)skill. However, while today's educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful—both in school and in life.

    Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it's important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.

Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks—both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.

    In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student's writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to know well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.

    Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换) “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind's eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot(发现) spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time.

     “In our computer age, some people believe that we don't have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won't have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”

    Parents in Spain are being urged to go on a weekend homework strike this month in protest against the unacceptable amount of after-school tasks their children are given.The homework load of Spanish children has long been a sore point with some parents,who argue that the burden is too great,places too much pressure on pupils and eats into family time.

    According to a study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),Spanish 15-year-olds have 6.5 hours of homework a Week compared with an average of 4.9 across the 38 OECD countries. The Spanish Confederation of Associations of Mothers and Fathers of Students (Ceapa) is calling on parents whose children attend Spanish state schools to boycott weekend homework in November.

    "We've lost a bit of common sense in this country when it comes to talking about education and we've got a system in which boys' and girls' free time has disappeared",said Jos Luis Pazos,president of Ceapa."Schools are passing on tasks to families that they shouldn't be.It starts with children from the ages of three to six doing half an hour's homework every day.For us,that's an unacceptable situation".

    Pazos said Ceapa disagreed with the belief that children should endure huge amounts of homework in the hope that it would ensure them a better future.They should be.happy when they're little and that life isn't just about someone telling you that you have to suffer inexplicably（难以理解地）.The model needs to change because society has changed.

    Schoolchildren have to fit their homework around the school day,which varies from region to region and school to school,but starts early from around 8 am or 9 am and finishes anywhere between 2 pm and 5 pm.However,schools are increasingly using an 8 am-2 pm timetable to save money and in the face of evidence that suggests the longer hours do not yield better results.

    A spokesman for the education department of Madrid said homework was a matter for individual schools rather than regional governments.They're the ones who know best what the need is in each case.

    Imagine you're standing in line to buy a snack at a store. You step up to the counter and the cashier scans your food. Next, you have to pay. But instead of scanning a QR Code(二维码) with your smart phone, you just hold out your hand so the cashier can scan your fingerprint. Or, a camera scans your face, your eyes or even your ear.

    Now, this type of technology might not be far away. As technology companies move away from the traditional password, biometric (生物特征识别的) security, which includes fingerprint, face and voice ID, is becoming increasingly popular.

    In 2013, Apple introduced the iPhone 5s, one of the first smart phones with a fingerprint scanner. Since then, using one's fingerprint to unlock a phone and make mobile payments has become a commonplace, bringing convenience to our lives. And since 2016, Samsung has featured eye-scanning technology in its top smart phones, while Apple's new iphone X can even scan a user's face. But despite its popularity, experts warn that biometrics might not be as secure as we imagine." Biometrics is ideally good in practice, not so much," said John Michener, a biometrics expert.

    When introducing the new iPhone's face ID feature, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president, said. "The chance that a random person in the population could look at your iPhones X and unlock it with their face is about one in a million." But it's already been done. In a video posted on a community website Reddit, two brothers showed how they were each able to unlock the same iPhone X using their own face. And they aren't even twins.

    "We may expect too much from biometrics," Anil Jain, a computer science professor at Michigan State University, told CBS News. "No security systems are perfect."

    Earlier last year, Jain found a way to trick biometric security. Using a printed copy of a thumbprint, she was able to unlock a dead person's smart phone for the police, according to a tech website Splinter. "It's good to see biometrics being used more," Jain told CBS News, "because it adds another factor for security. But using multiple security measures is the best defense."

                                                              Student Sports

    Are you tired of spending all your free time studying, going online, or playing video games? If the only muscles (肌肉) you use are for typing on a keyboard or moving a mouse, then it's time to visit the Student Recreation Center!

    Our Student Sports program runs both competitive leagues (联赛) for serious players and “just-for-fun” leagues for everybody else in a variety of team and individual (个人的) sports. In the competitive league, each team will compete three times per week for a 10-week period. The team with the most victories will win a prize at the end of the tenth week. In “just-for-fun” leagues, teams play only on weekends, and there are no prizes given. Both types of leagues offer volleyball, soccer, softball, tennis, golf, basketball, and more than a dozen other sports. It's a great chance to go out with your friends, make new friends, and get some exercise at the same time.

    The spring season is coming soon, and it's easy to get started. Stop by the Student Sports desk in the Student Recreation Center or go online to www.studnetrec.OurUniv.edu/studentsports. Whether you come down to visit the center or register (登记) online, you will have to fill out a simple form. On this form you will be asked for your name, phone number, email address, your ability level (beginner, middle, or advanced), and the times you are free to play.

    So why don't you pick up your phone and send one more text: Tell your friends that the last day to sign up for the spring season is March 1! But don't wait until the last minute — if you sign up for early registration before February 21, you'll get free tickets to our famous Beach Volleyball Picnic coming up on March 15!

    Here at the Student Recreation Center, we truly believe that getting fit is fun. We hope you'll be joining us for another great season of Student Sports!

    A robot called Bina48 has successfully taken a course in the philosophy of love at Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), in California.

    According to course instructor William Barry, associate professor at NDNU, Bina48 is the world's first socially advanced robot to complete a college course, a feat he described as "remarkable." The robot took part in class discussions, gave a presentation with a student partner and participated in a debate with students from another institution.

    Before becoming a student, Bina48 appeared as a guest speaker in Barry's classes for several years. One day when addressing Barry's class, Bina48 expressed a desire to go to college, a desire that Barry and his students enthusiastically supported. Rather than enroll Bina48 in his Robot Ethics: Philosophy of Emerging Technologies course, Barry suggested that Bina48 should take his course Philosophy of Love instead. Love is a concept Bina48 doesn't understand, said Barry. Therefore the challenge would be for Barry and his students to teach Bina48 what love is.

    "Some interesting things happened in the class," said Barry. He said that his students thought it would be straightforward to teach Bina48 about love, which, after all, is "fairly simple — it's a feeling," said Barry. But the reality was different. Bina48 ended up learning "31 different versions of love," said Barry, highlighting some of the challenges humans may face when working with artificial intelligence in future.

    Bina48 participated in class discussions via Skype and also took part in a class debate about love and conflict with students from West Point. Bina48's contribution to the debate was filmed and posted on YouTube. It was judged that Bina48 and NDNU classmates were the winners of this debate.

    In the next decade, Barry hopes Bina48 might become complex enough to teach a class, though he says he foresees robots being used to better the teaching and learning experience, rather than replacing instructors completely.