Selected Articles: David Nagel

David Nagel, editorial director
David Nagel is editorial director, education for 1105 Media's Public Sector Media Group. The articles listed below represent a sampling of his recent work. To find the 1,000 most recent articles by David, please use our online search tool.


Facebook on three mobile phones

Can Facebook Make Better Students?

A new study out of Baylor University's College of Arts and Sciences suggests the social network can improve some aspects of students' academic performance and, in large classes, create a sense of connectedness that promotes active learning.

Google Turns Off Ad Scanning in Apps for Education Permanently

Google today revealed changes to its Apps for Education policies that include permanently disabling scanning in Gmail for its 30 million Apps for Education users and permanently disabling the ability to display ads.

item count example in google sheets

How To Get an Item Count in Google Sheets

Here's a quick and dirty formula you can use in Google Sheets to get a running count of cells that contain any value (numbers, dates, text, links, etc.).

 Sample Google Sheet sowing the date extracted from a URL.

How To Extract the Date from a URL in Google Sheets (or Any Spreadsheet)

This question comes up often in user forums: How do I extract a piece of information from one column and put that extracted information into another? For example, if I have a URL in one column, can I extract the date from that URL and put it in m date column so I don't have to the the date manually?

4 Emerging Principles of Connected Learning

Mimi Ito, professor in residence in the departments of Anthropology and Informatics at UC Irvine, shares ideas for building stronger connections between formal and self-directed learning.

google sheets teaser

Formatting Cells Based on Date Ranges in Google Sheets

In our first tutorial on Google Sheets, we looked at extending the software's default conditional formatting options through the use of formulas. That solution is good for a limited range of dates, but it might get cumbersome in spreadsheets that span longer periods, since each possible date requires a unique formula.

Panopto Adds Video Content Search to Lecture Capture Platform

Panopto has released a new version of its lecture capture platform that now allows users to search within videos for spoken words or any text that appears onscreen (or that appears in comments or notes).

Change the Homework, Improve Student Achievement

A new study from Rice and Duke researchers identified a relatively non-invasive approach to improving student achievement — one that doesn't involve gutting the curriculum or reinventing pedagogy. The researchers found that implementing subtle, technology-based changes to homework resulted in improvements in student performance on tests.

OpenGL ES 3.1 Adds 3D Capabilities, Integrated GPU Computing

The Khronos Group this week released an update to the royalty-free OpenGL ES specification — a widely adopted OpenGL specification designed specifically for mobile devices backed by mobile hardware heavyweights like ARM.

Google sheets conditional formatting date options

Extending Conditional Formatting in Google Sheets Using Dynamic Date Calls

Google Sheets, the spreadsheet tool that's part of the Google Apps productivity suite, lets users format cells based on certain conditions, including the date contained in a cell and how far away that date is from the present. But the options available through the Conditional Formatting dialog are limited. Here's a way around those limitations.