Amir is studious and inquisitive. His dream is to one day be a newspaper reporter. He works hard writing articles and conducting interviews for TLX News.
Emilio is an adventurer. He loves to travel with his parents and his older brother, Ernesto. He is also interested in history and has visited many historic sites.
Jill is running for class president at her school. She is a leader in her class and encourages good citizenship. Each month she volunteers at her town’s local food pantry.
Shelby loves going to her local recreation center to skateboard and take art classes. She is very involved in her community and helps with recycling and conservation.
Camille has French heritage. She uses her laptop to email her friends and organizing her MP3 collection. Her dad is a music teacher and someday she might like to be one, too.
Ernesto loves sports, and his favorite sport is soccer. He is also very interested in photography and one day hopes to be a professional photographer.
Ruby cares about environmental issues. She likes to visit state and national parks. Someday, she hopes to be an architect and design skyscrapers that are Earth friendly.
Aiden lives on a big cattle farm in Texas. He likes to grow vegetables in his own garden and uses them to help his family make fajitas. Cooking is his favorite hobby.
Adam lives with his grandparents near the beach. They are Chinese Americans. He likes to help his grandfather paint pictures of the ocean.
Lilly wants to be a pilot. One day she would even like to fly in the space shuttle! For now, she'll just use her telescope to visit outer space.
Reema and her family are from India. She likes animals and hopes someday to be a vet. She is practicing by taking care of her pet turtle, George.
Sam likes to read. He loves going to the library and reading books about dinosaurs. Sam is hearing impaired. His family is learning American Sign Language.

Amir is studious and inquisitive. His dream is to one day be a newspaper reporter. He works hard writing articles and conducting interviews for TLX News.

Home / Economics

How has technology changed the way we communicate?

Whatâ€™s Cool Right Now?

Mobile Apps
One of the latest technology breakthroughs is the creation of mobile apps. The term â€œappâ€ is short for â€œapplication.â€ A mobile app is a special type of software program. Apps can be used on smartphones, tablet computers, and other devices. All you need is an Internet connection. Think of an app as a shortcut or link to some of your favorite games, like Angry Birds, and Web sites, like Facebook. Many news companies use apps as a way to report breaking news and current events. The world of apps has changed the way people communicate in a big way.

Mobile apps use icons like these to make shortcuts to games, websites, and other online content.

Tablet Computers
Have you heard people talking about tablet computers lately? They are getting a lot of attention right now. But, what exactly is a tablet? Tablet computers are mobile devices that do not have a keyboard or mouse. Instead, people use a touch screen to control the computer with their fingers. They use a keyboard display to type. Tablets are usually smaller than a laptop computer. They have been described as an electronic version of paper notebooks because they are easy to take notes on. You can also use tablets to search the Internet and access your favorite movies, books, games, and apps. Pretty cool, huh? Some of the popular tablets on the market now are Appleâ€™s iPad, the Blackberry Playbook, and the Samsung Galaxy. Recently, Amazon also introduced the Kindle Fire.

Tablet computers can be used with the tap of your finger!

Cloud Storage
Wouldnâ€™t it be nice to save the electronic games you play at home and then go to your friendâ€™s house and pick up where you left off? Well, now you can! You can use Cloud storage. Sounds like a funny name doesnâ€™t it? But, it makes sense. Cloud storage allows us to store files like homework, pictures, games, and music on the Internet. Then you can access those same files with a computer, tablet, or phone whenever and wherever you are in the world. Itâ€™s almost as if you are storing your items in a big cloud above your head that follows you around. Soon Cloud storage will make it almost impossible for you to lose your content. There are no limits to communication with Cloud storage.

Cloud storage makes it easy to access content anywhere.

TLX News Journal: Economics Activity
What cutting-edge technology is important to you? What do you use at home or in the classroom? Create an advertisement for your favorite piece of technology. Make sure to include how you use it. Present your advertisement to the class.

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