Educational Technology Ray Schroeder, editor, OTEL - University of Illinois at Springfield |
|
  |
Saturday, April 19, 2003
eTextbooks are more engaging, users say - Cara Branigan, eSchool News
A Florida school district that tested an interactive, web-based textbook in place of a traditional textbook for a half year in six classrooms found that students were more focused and engaged and completed more homework. Despite the pilot project’s success, however, educators involved in the program say few schools are ready to replace their print versions with electronic ones anytime soon.
Bringing History to Life - Ron Schachter, techLearning
Middle and high school students can visit the virtual past with three media-rich, Web-based history programs. The traditional history curriculum gets a digital makeover, courtesy of three interactive, multimedia approaches to teaching students about the past. We looked at ABC-CLIO's World History, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Electronic Field Trips, and SAS inSchool's Curriculum Pathways. At the center of these Web-delivered courses are student activities that bring history alive through explorations of topics on the menu of most history teachers. The programs we reviewed all put primary source documents within easy reach and optimize multimedia features using audio and video clips. Each also provides teachers with standards-correlated lesson plans and offline activities. Where these Web-based offerings differ, however, is in their approach to teaching history. Friday, April 18, 2003
Software for Handhelds - Michelle Thatcher, techLearning
Though affordability and portability have always made handheld computers an appealing option for schools, the relative dearth of educational applications for these devices has been a significant obstacle to classroom integration. In the past few years, however, software publishers have developed a multitude of education-specific handheld applications. Assessment has been the fastest growing category, with educators using handhelds for on-the-go evaluation and instant data reporting. But beyond data collection and analysis, handheld offereings now inlude everything from e-books to vocabulary games, and star charts to musical scores, to be integrated into the curriculum.
Fla. schools to benefit from $202M Microsoft settlement - eSchool News staff and wire service reports
Microsoft Corp. on April 15 announced a tentative settlement of a class-action lawsuit in Florida that would allow the state’s neediest schools to buy hardware and software from any vendor and to purchase professional development services, including advanced technology training, leadership development for school administrators, or curriculum development and instructional resources for educators. advertisement The pending settlement still needs final court approval, so schools aren’t likely to begin receiving benefits until 2004 at the earliest. Thursday, April 17, 2003
Detroit schools save $3M by outsourcing IT - Corey Murray, eSchool News
Officials from the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) say a groundbreaking $75 million contract to outsource the district’s entire information technology (IT) department to local computer firm Compuware Corp. has paid off to the tune of $3 million in IT-related cost savings per year. The May 2001 agreement—in which the Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company promised to deliver IT services in human resources, financial and budget operations, student information services, and special education—reportedly marked the first time a major city school district had enlisted the help of a private company to manage every aspect of its IT department.
On A Roll: Digital Photography And Image Editing - Al Doyle, techLearning
Empower your students to become active investigators of their world with activities that focus on creative applications of digital photography. In today's increasingly visual culture, the power of the perfect image cannot be overestimated-something artists and advertisers, among others, have long understood. Add to that the visual nature of the Internet, with its reliance on maximized graphics rather than text for a quick delivery of information, and you've elevated art to what technology guru Jason Ohler calls "the fourth R." Now more than ever is a perfect time for educators to consider photography as an imaginative new pathway toward illustrating, illuminating, and informing their lessons. Even more importantly, placing cameras in the hands of students can make them active and eager participants and designers of their own learning, while at the same time giving them a leg up on possible careers in the arts or Web design. Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Testing Comment Feature
I am testing services that permit comments to be posted to the blog. Thanks for your patience (and/or comments) - Ray
Fiber-optic network enhances Internet access, distance learning - Bill McCleery, Indianapolis Star
Shelbyville Schools completed a $4 million fiber-optic network this month -- getting a step ahead of many other schools, businesses and households in the United States. The fiber-optic network, which connects all the school corporation's buildings, operates through a central hub in the corporation's technology office near Hendricks Elementary School. Fiber optics are the wave of the future, said Shelbyville Schools technology director Chuck Bujarsky -- even if the term still means little to those are not "tech geeks," as he put it. "The possibilities for what you can do with it are endless," Bujarsky said.
New search engine technology helps users quickly pinpoint relevant information - Cara Branigan, eSchool News
For teachers, students, and librarians, the ability to locate high-quality, relevant information about a particular topic quickly and easily is critical. This ability might be greatly enhanced by a new search engine technology from iXMatch Inc. that combines the best of meta-searches and clustering to deliver search results from a district’s own library resources—as well as external subscription d atabases, web sites, and web search engines—in a single step, all grouped according to category. Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Online Enrollment expected to hit 200 at Tracy site - Alex Gronke, the Record
As California's high schools become larger and more crowded, an increasing number of students are opting to seek their high school diploma from home. In Tracy, Delta Charter High School serves 160 students who have decided the area's big high schools are not for them. The distance learning charter school uses an online curriculum that allows students to study from home most of the time, showing up at the school's New Jerusalem campus in the south county for a minimum of four hours a week.
High Score Education - James Paul Gee, Wired
The US spends almost $50 billion each year on education, so why aren't kids learning? Forty percent of students lack basic reading skills, and their academic performance is dismal compared with that of their foreign counterparts. In response to this crisis, schools are skilling-and-drilling their way "back to basics," moving toward mechanical instruction methods that rely on line-by-line scripting for teachers and endless multiple-choice testing. Consequently, kids aren't learning how to think anymore - they're learning how to memorize. This might be an ideal recipe for the future Babbitts of the world, but it won't produce the kind of agile, analytical minds that will lead the high tech global age. Fortunately, we've got Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Deus X for that. Monday, April 14, 2003
Reaching Around the Globe - Jeffrey Branzburg
An increasingly wired world means more opportunities for cross-cultural experiences. Here's how two organizations are using technology to bring together students and teachers from many nations.
Middle and elementary schools report news on their own television newscasts - REBECCA RICHARDS, St. Petersburg Times
With the theme to Rocky playing in the background, the announcer welcomes his listeners to the day's newscast. "Live from the Cobra broadcast studio, this is C-TV!" declares Nick McKaig, with the punch and confidence of someone beyond the eighth grade. McKaig joins other Coleman Middle School students each weekday morning for the school's live television show. The studio, tucked into a corner of David Grassman's classroom, buzzes with activity as students report school activities, sports and weather. Sunday, April 13, 2003
JSU: 'No Teachers Left Behind' - Peggy Matthews, Clarion Ledger
Thirty teachers from the Canton school district will spend 22 days this summer taking part in a "No Teacher Left Behind" training institute at Jackson State University... A variety of courses will be offered, including classroom management, strategies for effective teaching and integration of technology into the classroom. District administrators chose primarily first-year teachers who need extra training and middle school teachers who do not have an area of concentration, such as math or science, Taylor said. Training counts as course credit toward achieving certification in a particular area, she said, but will not eliminate the need for more college credit.
Understanding Algebra
An instructor at Boise State University offers his book on elementary algebra for middle school, high school, and college students. The book spans nine chapters and covers both pre-algebra and algebra topics. Clear explanations of polynomials, systems of equations, and exponential expressions are just a few concepts addressed in the book. A particularly useful chapter provides some suggestions for approaching and solving word problems, which are often quite difficult for students. In addition to the textual elements of this Web site, four interactive, online tools are available. These tools include a graphing applet, two prime number utilities, and a "quadratic equation solver/ plotter." From The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2003. http://scout.wisc.edu/ Educational Technology News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
