Educational Technology

by Eileen FitzGerald, New Times

School officials, stunned by a growing number of incidents of vulgar and mean cyberbullying among middle school students, are establishing tough new policies and a parent education program. About 150 people attended a workshop Tuesday at Bethel Middle School on cyberbullying, which is using technology to harm others.

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/School-officials-get-tough-on-cyberbullies-475268.php

by Rebecca Ruiz-McGill, University of Arizona

Fewer than 65 percent of K-12 schools across the nation offer an introductory-level computer science course, yet a fundamental understanding of computing technology has become essential in most day-to-day interactions. Isolation, a lack of resources and inconsistencies in computer science certification across the U.S. plague teachers and have resulted in a shortage of professionals and people with diverse backgrounds entering the field.

http://uanews.org/node/31795

by David Whipkey, Post-Gazette

The district received a Classroom of the Future grant from the state Department of Education and, with it, hired a technology coach four years ago to help educators use computer technology in the classroom. Now, teachers are using such entities as blogs, Moodle and wiki pages to help inspire discussion among students, create question-and-answer sessions and help with the completion of class projects. “It is amazing how far we have come and how far we have yet to go,” said Mr. Crider, a 12-year teacher in business and computer education in the district.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10126/1055876-59.stm

by Tasha Kates, Charlottesville Daily Progress

Glen Bull, co-director of the Curry School’s Center for Technology and Teacher Education, said the fabricators can enhance children’s education in math, science, technology and more. “Digital fabrication will change everything in our lives over the next 15 years,” Bull said. To use either the 2-D or 3-D fabricators, a student creates an object on the Fab@School software. Students can see how the 2-D object will print on a flat piece of paper, a view called “the net.” Once the object prints out of a regular printer, a student loads and aligns the sheet on a plastic carrier sheet and sends it into the printer-like fabricator.

http://bit.ly/btUrwa

by Carrie Launius, St. Louis Globe-Democrat

As schools are moving to 21st Century skills and curriculum, many new educational initiatives are being introduced but none are more exciting than Project Lead the Way (PLTW). PLTW is part of the growing STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs that are being taught in high schools across the country to build interest in STEM careers. As baby boomers retire, the U.S. needs to continue to educate students in the STEM fields so that the retirees’ positions will be replaced. PLTW offers courses in engineering and biomedical sciences for all students from middle through high school. The curriculum is hands-on and deals with real world problems so that students will get firsthand experience in the medical field and engineering.

http://www.globe-democrat.com/news/2010/may/03/old-school-new-school-plan-21st-century-skills/

by Sabine Vollmer, Charlotte Observer

Simulated environments that are colorful, nuanced and lifelike require powerful and fast computers, but they are a key to 3-D learning. 3-D learning happens by immersing yourself in a computer game or virtual world, using an avatar – like a digital sock puppet – that you control. You have an out-of-body experience in a digital classroom, learning by interacting and doing, where mistakes don’t cause any damage in the real world. What’s key to 3-D learning is computer technology that’s fast and powerful enough to run the game or virtual world. In that respect, 3-D learning is an offspring of semiconductors’ doubling in speed and power every 18 months (known as Moore’s law).

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/05/03/1412081/learning-with-fun-and-games.html

by the Times-Tribune

Perhaps no element of society has been more smitten with computer technology than education. Computer literacy obviously is an important skill, so governments issue grants to ensure that students have access. While touting computer proliferation, many educators let the tail wag the dog. Computer access becomes an end unto itself, rather than a mere tool toward effective education. A case in point is the Lower Merion School District, where officials issued a laptop to every student and then lost control of the program. An investigation has revealed that the IT staff snapped more than 58,000 photographs of students, their homes and activities through Web cameras in the laptops.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/just-machines-1.762059

by Dennis Carter, eSchool News

Fifty-three percent of school officials said they would buy video technology in the next year. More than half of education technology officials in K-12 schools and higher-education institutions said they would buy video technology in the next year to make their schools “more effective and efficient” and better prepare students for the workforce, according to a new survey from technology giant Cisco Systems.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/05/ed-tech-officials-video-will-make-schools-more-efficient/

by Lorene Parshall, Herald-Times

Can adults 60 and older be trained to use computer technology? Can learning the technology lead to more social contact for those over 60? Can older adults actually have fun learning and using new technology? The Otsego County Commission on Aging (OCCOA) and Michigan State University (MSU) School of Social Work are partnering on a research project, Technology and Aging (TAP) to determine the answers to those questions.

http://www.gaylordheraldtimes.com/articles/2010/05/04/news/top_stories/doc4be06b0806925479992838.txt

by Russell Nichols

With no ads, no costs to schools and no hardware to maintain or software to install, launching Google’s cloud network in Oregon public schools was a no-brainer, officials say. Oregon became the first state in the nation to offer Google Apps for Education in K-12 classrooms.

by Converge

The Center for Digital Education, in partnership with the National School Boards Association, invites all U.S. public school districts to participate in the 2010 Digital School Districts Survey! The study examines and documents school boards and districts’ online presence, technology applications that allow the public to interact with school board members, administrators and teachers as well as their access to information such as school board calendars, districts policies, and technology use in the district and classrooms.

http://www.convergemag.com/awards/digital-districts/2010-Digital-School-Districts-Survey-Call-for-Entries.html

by Jessica B. Mulholland, Converge

This summer, Tampa, Fla.’s Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), the eighth largest school district in the nation, will deploy technology to help the district attract and retain the best teachers, and increase student graduation rates. “We are completely revamping our evaluations system, and that’s one of the ways we think we’ll leverage improving our teacher performance and empowering our teachers,” said district IT Manager Joe Cochran, adding that this will likely be the first part of LTM that HCPS rolls out. “And we know that’s the most effective lever for improving student performance.”

http://www.convergemag.com/infrastructure/Florida-District-Implements-Tech-to-Improve-Student-Achievement-.html

by Dennis Pierce, eSchool News

While 67 percent of administrators said their ideal school of the future should include online collaborative tools, just 27 percent of teachers agreed. The results from a recent survey on education technology suggest that schools are making progress on integrating technology into the curriculum—but the survey also reveals key disparities in how students, educators, administrators, and even aspiring teachers think of various technology tools.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/05/survey-reveals-gaps-in-school-technology-perceptions/

by Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor

Fifty-three percent of school officials said they would buy video technology in the next year. More than half of education technology officials in K-12 schools and higher-education institutions said they would buy video technology in the next year to make their schools “more effective and efficient” and better prepare students for the workforce, according to a new survey from technology giant Cisco Systems.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/05/ed-tech-officials-video-will-make-schools-more-efficient/

by Dennis Carter, eSchool News

Some schools say their networks will be ready for the iPad this fall, despite early connection problems. The euphoria that greeted the Apple iPad on college campuses has waned somewhat in recent weeks, as technology officials at a handful of universities have issued warnings that the much sought-after eReader might not be compatible with school web networks or could overwhelm campus bandwidth capabilities.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/05/04/after-ballyhooed-debut-some-schools-see-problems-with-ipad/

by Mary Ellen Marnholtz, the Wausau Daily Herald

Remember sitting in a classroom thinking you might know the answer but being too self-conscious to respond? Many of us are familiar with this experience. What if you had a handheld device that could instantly show all student responses anonymously on the SMART Board in the classroom? This scenario isn’t from a futuristic school. It is happening right now in Kelley Derrick’s Biology classes at Wausau West High School.

http://bit.ly/durMSz

by Russell Grantham, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

At 41, you wouldn’t think Douglas Hartley would be retooling his career for the third time, but he is. Hartley, video technician-turned-information technology worker-turned college student, is only days away from getting a mechanical engineering degree he hopes will give him a stable career with good pay. These days, he’s got plenty of company and competition, not only from students barely half his age but from other returning students who are years or even decades older.

http://www.ajc.com/business/longtime-workers-go-back-511739.html

by Emily Peters, Abilene Reporter

Abilene Christian University Professor Billie McDonnell gets calls from school district officials all over the state and nation — even from as far as Australia — who are seeking a technological revolution for their classrooms. They ask McDonnell, an education professor, if these smart phones, iPod touches and other hand-held “mobile learning” devices are a good, less-expensive alternative to the laptop — even though research and curriculum are in infancy. “Yes,” McDonnell tells them in his new K-12 mobile learning liaison role. “Every year you wait is another group of students who don’t get access to the technology they will need to function in digital society.”

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2010/may/01/districts-want-an-app-for-that/

You can vote in the competition through May 24.  Simply click on the button below:

by Denise Balkissoon, Toronto Star

A group of Grade 8 girls sat giggling around a table on Tuesday, their bright blue and green nail polish flashing as they carefully wired electric circuits into ribbons. Emily Zheng, one of 40 female students from Glenview Jr. P.S., explained how her ribbon bracelet is meant to work. When it snaps together on her wrist, current will flow from a battery near one metal button, through conductive thread, to the other half of a button, brightening an LED bulb along the way. The science isn’t her problem.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/802618–girls-warm-to-science-and-technology

by Kathryn Davis, North Jersey.com

Heading into the second decade of the 21st century, a growing number of school districts are making smart choices in terms of the three “E’s,” economy, ecology and efficiency. By using today’s available technologies, they are saving taxpayer dollars, the planet and time by leaving a lot of the paperwork behind. Making the transition to a paperless or near-paperless system, however, involves a great deal of planning.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/education/92570169_Going_Paperless.html