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News, Techniques and Theories of Effective Use of Technology in Education Times and Dates Coordinated Universal Time
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Saturday, July 04, 2009
E-rate Sees Surge in Support - David Nagel, THE Journal
The federal E-rate program has seen a spike this year in its approval among applicants, according to a new report released this week by Funds For Learning, a firm that provides consulting services to E-rate applicants. The report was announced at the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) being held this week in Washington, DC. E-rate provides schools and libraries with discounts on telecommunications, Internet, and networking technologies and services for schools and libraries. (0) comments
13 Groups to Pursue STEM Equity with ED Funding - David Nagel, THE Journal
The United States Department of Education is looking to give girls a boost in science and math. ED revealed this week that it will fund projects from 13 organizations to help high school girls improve their proficiency in STEM subjects. The four-year grants are being provided under the Department of Education's Women's Educational Equity Act Program. The 13 groups--ranging from K-12 school districts to research organizations to universities--will receive a total of about $2.4 million in first-year funding. The grants focus on meeting the requirements of Title IX (aiming to eliminate inequities based on sex), with a particular emphasis this year on "activities to help at-risk students meet challenging state academic standards and graduate," according to information released by ED. (0) comments
Partnership Releases 21st Century Skills Maps for Science, Geography - David Nagel, THE Journal
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has teamed with the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council for Geographic Education to launch the latest in its series of 21st century roadmaps for core academic subjects, in this case K-12 science and geography. The maps were introduced at the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) being held this week in Washington, DC. The 21st Century Skills and Science Map and the 21st Century Skills and Geography Map are the third and fourth in a series of maps aimed at core academic subjects in K-12 education. (0) comments Friday, July 03, 2009
Project seeks to measure ed tech's value - Laura Devaney, eSchool News
An ambitious new research project aims to revolutionize education by showing that well-implemented technology initiatives can save states money after an initial investment. Project RED (for Revolutionizing EDucation) will examine the outcomes of educational technology initiatives using a cost-benefit analysis to determine which ed-tech programs and devices are having the most cost-effective impact for schools, parents, and states. (0) comments
LEDs light up InfoComm 2009 - Dennis Carter, eSchool News
School administrators, teachers, and professors were among thousands at the InfoComm audio-video conference in Orlando June 15-19, where technology vendors unveiled the latest in digital signage hardware and software and LED projectors that could prove energy and cost efficient. Projectors powered by LED (Light Emitting Diodes) technology, rather than the traditional lamp, have displayed longer life and usually require less maintenance than lamps, which often need replaced. (0) comments
Scholarships for College Dwindle as Providers Pull Back Their Support - JONATHAN D. GLATER, New York Times
Students looking for college scholarships are going to have a harder time this year as providers, hammered by falling investment returns and declining philanthropic support, cut back. The Fulfillment Fund, a nonprofit that works with Los Angeles public high school students, has reduced the number of college scholarships offered over the last three years by nearly half and has tightened requirements students must meet, said Maria T. Espinosa, director of program operations. (0) comments Thursday, July 02, 2009
Obama Administration: Technology at the Heart of Education Reform - Geoffrey H. Fletcher, THE Journal
"Technology is core and essential to the strategies we are using to reform education." That was the message from both Jim Shelton, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement at the United States Department of Education, and Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer in the White House. Chopra said that technology in education is less about hardware and software and more about what we teach, the method in which we teach it, and professional development and support for educators. (0) comments
Gartner Forecasts Better-Than-Expected PC Shipments - Herb Torrens, THE Journal
Gartner reported a better-than-expected first quarter for PC shipments and is now forecasting a healthy market recovery in 2010, according to a statement. "We may have been a little pessimistic in our previous forecast for 2009," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, in a telephone interview. "We expected a very bad first quarter, but it didn't happen. Looking at it, consumer demand was much greater than expected." The bump in shipments may be temporary, however, because it was attributed mostly to a restocking of inventory by distribution channels. (0) comments
5 States Developing Green Curriculum - David Nagel, THE Journal
Five states have committed to developing green career and technical education initiatives. In collaboration with the United States Department of Education, the Education Department's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, and the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, the states will create secondary and post-secondary programs that will lead to certificates and associate and bachelor degrees. The Department of Education described the goals of the initiative this way: "Programs of study incorporate secondary and postsecondary elements in a progressive, non-duplicative curriculum, featuring coherent and rigorous technical and academic content and leading to a post-high school, industry-recognized credential or associate or baccalaureate degree." (0) comments Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Cerebral Imprint 2.5.0 for Mac
If you're preparing for the bar exam or a gross anatomy quiz, you may want to give Cerebral Imprint the once over. Created by developer Alex Rose, this open source application allows users to create a wide range of flash cards.Visitors can import card decks from existing text files and also export card decks to text files, if necessary. It's an easy-to-use application, and compatible with computers running Mac OS X 10.5 and newer. From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2009. http://scout.wisc.edu/ (0) comments
Waste Online
Sure enough, there is a good deal of "waste" online, so it's nice to learn about the Waste Online website which serves as a great repository for information about an entirely different set of waste-related matters. This British-based website has been funded by the New Opportunities Fund Digitise project. The project is overseen by Waste Watch, which is "the leading environmental charity dedicated to the reduction, reuse and recycling of household waste." First-time visitors can get started by clicking on "Wacky waste facts", which contains some basic facts about the nature of waste in the United Kingdom. In the same vicinity, visitors can dig deeper by looking into sections titled "The problem with waste", "Waste in the workplace", and "Waste at home". Moving on, the "Search our library" area allows guests to the site to look for specific items of interest related to dozens of topics, such as household recycling, office recycling, and metal recycling. Movinga long, the "Information Sheets" area features almost two dozen fact sheets that can be used as guides to composting, battery recycling, and the history of waste. From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2009. http://scout.wisc.edu/ (0) comments
Intelligent Virtual Environments
The research goals of the British-based lab, Intelligent Virtual Environments, of the University of Teesside are to develop "new models of interactivity based on Artificial Intelligence techniques." The website contains access to current projects, past and completed projects, technologies, as well as all publications and a tool to search those publications. Visitors can view the more than two dozen articles, going all the way back to 2000 on the subject of artificial intelligence techniques.On the menu to the left-hand side of the page are the links to the lab's current projects "IRIS", "CALLAS" and "COMPANIONS", and to "ALTERNE","BARDS" and "CHARBIS", which are the lab's past and completed projects. Visitors especially shouldn't miss learning about the "COMPANIONS" project, which will be a virtual conversation companion in the near future. Watch the"Companions Movie" and check out the "Health and Fitness Companion" and"Senior Companion" demonstrators on the COMPANIONS homepage. There is also a Companions blog, for those interested in reading and responding to various topics related to this personalized type of artificial intelligence. From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2009.http://scout.wisc.edu/ (0) comments Tuesday, June 30, 2009
New Internet2 CTO pushes multicast, IPv6 - Carolyn Duffy Marsan, Computer World
Next week, Randy Frank will take over as the new CTO of Internet2, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based consortium of 200 U.S. universities conducting advanced networking research. Frank joins Internet2 from Fidelity Investments, where he was chief technologist for the financial services firm’s Center for Applied Technology. Now, Frank is looking forward to getting back into academia, where he can get involved with cutting-edge Internet research in such areas as dynamic provisioning of high-bandwidth circuits, distributed authentication schemes and IPv6, an upgrade to the Internet’s main communications protocol. (0) comments
Myths and realities of teen media trends - Dave Rosenberg, CNet news.cnet.com
Nielsen is out with a new report on media consumption by teens and the results are counter-intuitive to what we commonly believe to be the norm. According to the How Teens Use Media report (PDF), "teens exhibit media habits that are more similar to the total population than not." Key takeaways from the report: Teens are not abandoning TV for new media: In fact, they watch more TV than ever, up 6 percent over the past five years in the U.S. Teens love the Internet, but spend far less time browsing than adults: Teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month online. Far below the average of 29 hours and 15 minutes. (0) comments
Rendell: Science, math pros needed to teach school - The Associated Press
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is asking the Legislature to create a fast-track into the teaching ranks for technology and engineering professionals. Under Rendell's proposal, candidates for the "residency certification" would have to complete an intensive, four-month training program on instructional strategies and child development. (0) comments Monday, June 29, 2009
The Disruption of the Traditional Textbook Model Continues - Geoffrey H. Fletcher, THE Journal
Texas Governor Rick Perry signed HB 4294 June 19, and the world of textbooks will never be the same in Texas or across the country. Because Texas purchases all the textbooks for all the subjects for school districts, and because of its sheer size--more than 8,000 schools educating 4.6 million students--Texas drives the textbook market. This means most publishers create their products to fit Texas specifications and with the Texas vetting process and clientele in mind. Publishers make some modifications for other states and large districts, but for the vast majority of publishers, the Texas template is the starting point. HB 4294 makes some important changes in the vetting process and strongly encourages the submission of electronic materials. It also puts a dent in the more than 50-year-old business model of one book for one student (0) comments
German teacher loses battle against pupils' web rankings - AFP
A German teacher who had sued to shut down a website where pupils rank their instructors according to competence and "coolness" lost her battle in court Tuesday. The Federal Supreme Court, Germany's top civil tribunal, rejected the claim of the teacher, Astrid Czubayko-Reiss, that her right to privacy was violated by the site, spickmich.de, (loosely translated, checkmeout.de) where she received a mediocre rating from students. (0) comments
Cheaper eBook reader challenges Kindle - Maya T. Prabhu, eSchool News
With the popularity of electronic reading devices on the rise, and a handful of colleges set to pilot Amazon.com's Kindle DX this fall, a new eBook reading device from New York-based Interead, called the COOL-ER, offers a less expensive alternative that its creator, Neil Jones, says educators could find appealing. "I thought about what readers need from an eBook. The COOL-ER is 45 to 50 percent lighter than our closest competitors. So it's light in [students'] hands," said Jones, founder and chief executive officer of Interead. (0) comments Sunday, June 28, 2009
Carnegie Corporation: 'Do school differently' - Laura Devaney, eSchool News
Urging the nation to "do school differently," a new report recommends a set of concrete actions for federal, state, and local education leaders to take to transform math and science instruction and bring the United States back to the forefront of global competition. "The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy," released by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and its Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, advocates for several changes among American schools and colleges. (0) comments
Kids cheating with tech but are schools cheating kids? - Larry Magid, CNet news.cnet.com
The results of a survey showing that 35 percent of middle school and high school students with cell phones have used them to cheat at school is indeed alarming. And perhaps more alarming is the finding that nearly a quarter of the students don't even think it's cheating. Cheating is cheating regardless of whether you use technology or old-fashioned paper notes. I'm appalled that kids may be using technology to cheat in school, but I'm just as appalled at how schools are cheating kids when it comes to technology. But in addition to admonishing kids about why it's wrong to cheat, perhaps it's also time to rethink what it means to evaluate students in the age of the Internet and omnipresent mobile devices. (0) comments
Jack Welch Launches MBA via Online Learning - Geoff Gloeckler - Business Week
A corporate icon is diving into the MBA world, and he's bringing his well-documented management and leadership principles with him. Jack Welch, former CEO at General Electric (GE) (and BusinessWeek columnist), has announced plans to start an MBA program based on the business principles he made famous teaching managers and executives in GE's Crotonville classroom. (0) comments Educational Technology News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
