Camp Happy Day Still Moving Forward - Needs Your Support

The mission of Camp Happy Days is to offer support and encouragement to children across South Carolina diagnosed with cancer and to their families - providing cost free year-round programs, special events ,and access to crisis resources without charge.

 

‘Summer Camp’ is the signature program of Camp Happy Days, but the organization offers so much more. From age-specific on-going programs, family counseling and financial assistance, “dream dates,” hospital visits, holiday giving and more – these programs help relieve worries and strengthen family bonds.

 

Camp Happy Days is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your contributions are tax-deductible. More importantly, donors have the satisfaction of knowing that they have helped kids and families through the most difficult time of their lives. Last year more than 300 children and their families were able to participate in summer camp and 12 year-round programs at no cost.

 

Camp Happy Days is here again in 2020! Their ‘summer camp’ is held annually in the first week of July by Lake Marion and is still moving forward despite the challenges raised by the current COVID-19 situation. The program is still in need of donations of hats, t-shirts, sunscreen, toothpaste and other toiletries. Cash donations are especially needed as the camp is funded solely by donations.

Please call Bill Ellis at 803-460-7666 if you have questions or want to make a donation – or go to the Camp Happy Days web site to make a donation online.

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education

This blog provides a brief, high level introduction to the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and its role in the Future of Education.

Our education system, schools, and universities are in the process of dramatically redefining their mission, purpose, structure, funding, curriculum, new technologies and tools as we adapt to an ever changing future. Think about Education and Online Learning available to everyone, anywhere, anytime. Think about personalized, Lifelong Learning solutions tailored just for you.

Televideo, virtual reality, robotics, implantable systems, brain interface technology, artificial intelligence systems, personal learning assistants, augmented reality... so many new technologies and tools are in the process of being developed and deployed to bring about change in how we will educate and train people in the coming decades. The focus here is on the use of just one of these new technologies – Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A report entitled “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market in the US Education Sector 2018-2022” predicts a nearly 48 percent growth rate for AI tools over the next three years. There’s no rulebook yet for deploying artificial intelligence in schools. However, solutions such as IBMWatson Education and Google Cloud Platform & AI initiative offer the potential for schools to deliver personalized learning strategies and offer analytics-based performance feedback and insights. It is not yet clearly defined how K–12 educational institutions will actually best leverage these tools.

The following are selected articles on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of education that you might want to read:

• Unleashing the power of AI for education | MIT Technology

• Artificial Intelligence in Education | Case Studies

• AI in Education: Where is It Now and in The Future

• Artificial Intelligence in Education: Benefits and Challenges for Students and Teachers

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Applications In Education – Forbes

• Brooking Institution: The Need to rethink education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

• AI in Education is Revolutionizing Student & Teacher in K-12 Schools

• AI In Education: 12 Companies You Should Know

Understandably, most institutions still lack a formal strategy or approach to advance the effective use of emerging AI solutions at this early stage. Initial development is well underway on AI solutions aimed at improving administrative processes and daily operations. Much work is yet to be done on adaptive 'personalized education' programs, individualized assessment and feedback, intelligent tutoring, use of immersive technologies, 'accelerated learning' programs for motivated students, augmented and virtual reality, mobile ‘learning companions’, gamification and more.

 

It will be interesting to see the changes to our education system that will unfold over the coming decade, It's interesting to take a quick look back at the History of Public Schools and when they came into being in the U.S.

Other Selected Links China's Squirrel AI IBM Watson AI Education Team and Solutions‎ Google Cloud & AI Platform for Education McGraw Hill's ALEKS OpenAI Organization YouTube: Future of Education

* If you are interested in this blog, you might also read the collection of other Summerton Blogs on Technology and the Future of Education

Busy New Love's Travel Center and Truck Stop in Summerton

I swung by the new Love's Travel Center and Truck Stop off Interstate 95 in Summerton earlier this week. What a great new business addition to our small town. It was very busy. Lots of cars and trucks gassing up, the McDonalds, Subway, and convenience store all looked great. 

I guess best of all, from my selfish point of view, was the price of the gas they were selling. It appears to be a good 10-15 cents less than all the other local gas stations around Summerton and Santee, South Carolina. It has bothered me for many years that the price of gas in our area has always been around 20-30 cents per gallon more than many of the other cities and towns around the state.

The much needed competition is already having an effect in lowering the cost at many nearby gas stations. It may not sound like much, but saving $2-$3 dollars each time you fill up can easily result in savings of $20 a month or $250 dollars a year. It has also brought jobs and tax dollars into our community. 

Again, a welcome addition.