Tag Archive for 'K-12'

Schools and Programs in the News - January 1-6, 2008

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 7, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Japan looks to India’s education system, British schools’ wasteful spending on technology

gold for indiaDespite an improved economy, many Japanese are feeling a sense of insecurity about the nation’s schools, which once turned out students who consistently ranked at the top of international tests. That is no longer true, which is why many people here are looking for lessons from India, the country the Japanese see as the world’s ascendant education superpower. — New York Times (free registration may be required)

The British Government claims that Britain is a European leader in installing IT in the classroom. However, Becta, the Government’s adviser on IT in schools, says that many teachers are intimidated by the equipment and struggle to cope, and that children have a better understanding of how it works. Through buying the wrong software, schools are not using technology as effectively as they could, according to Becta’s chairman. — Times

Online Education in the News – December 3, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on December 3, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Curriki.org’s wiki approach to teacher education, Japanese university’s mobile phone course, a Biology teacher’s tale of implementing online materials into classes, Bloomsburg University’s online course for deaf and hard of hearing students

Curriki.org, a nonprofit group originally part of Sun Microsystems that likewise takes content contributions from the public at large, teaches educators themselves how to teach. Is this wiki-approach academically credible? Will its free content hurt textbook publishers? — International Herald Tribune

Cyber University in Japan has begun offering a mobile class on the “mysteries of the pyramids,” but instead of a typical PC’s display of text, images, sound, and video, the mobile version offers a streaming Power Point presentation on the topic. The university – 71 percent of which is owned by Softbank, a mobile service provider — has 1,850 students, and offers almost 100 courses, though only one is available for phones. — Engadget

High school students are hooked on a Biology teacher’s video lectures and notes available online. He talks about how easy it is to record and upload them – and he admits he is not even a tech-savvy person. His web site received some 38,000 hits last year, indicating that his students are using the lectures repeatedly after class, as well as sharing the site with other students. — T.H.E. Journal

Last semester, Bloomsburg University began using Wimba’s Live Classroom, a Web-based learning tool, to offer deaf and hard of hearing students an online course that includes a sign-language interpreter and closed-caption text to accompany the standard slide presentation and instructor’s voice. — Campus Technology

IT news - December 3, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on December 3, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Pearson Inform, Steven Kirsch’s spam e-mail filter, Microsofts’s acqisition of WebFives, LiveJournal’s acquisition, lawsuit against One Laptop Per Child, Nvidia’s C-compiler, Toon Boom Animation’s new animation program for kids, Amazon’s launch of Askville.com

Pearson School Systems has released an update to Pearson Inform, a data analysis tool for K-12 schools. The new release, Inform 4.2, adds a new Academic Intervention Plan feature for planning individualize and group instruction. – T.H.E. Journal

Twenty-five years ago Steven T. Kirsch crated the computer mouse with optical sensor. Now he believes he has found a way to create a better trap — for spam, not mice. He founded Abaca, a company with a new approach to detecting junk mail and a claim that its product can filter out 99 percent of spam e-mail. — New York Times

Microsoft acquired WebFives, a social newtworking website for sharing photos and phone videos. After the acquisition, WebFives service will stop as Microsoft plans to implement the technology used in the website instead of maintaining the community. — Seattle Times

The owner of LiveJournal, a blogging and social-networking site, agreed to sell the company to SUP, a Russian online media company, in the latest example of deal-making in the social-networking sector. — New York Times

Lagos Analysis Corp, a Massachusetts-based hardware company, is suing the One Laptop Per Child project, claiming in a lawsuit filed in Nigeria that the group reverse-engineered a keyboard designed for foreign languages. — AHN

Nvidia has released a public beta of CUDA 1.1, an update to the company’s C-compiler with a Linux display. More than 20 universities around the world have adopted CUDA for multi-core and parallel processing programming — Campus Technology

Toon Boom Animation, a developer of 2D animation technologies, including Toon Boom Studio, this week released Flip Boom, a new animation program aimed specifically at kids. The software is based on traditional 2D animation principles, focused on teaching the principles of timing and motion in the animation process. — T.H.E. Journal

Amazon.com recently launched Askville.com, a website where users ask and answer questions, and discover answers to thousands of questions on everything from how to buy an HDTV to the best way to lose weight. Askville.com users who share their knowledge by answering questions will receive Quest Gold, which, for a limited time and while supplies last, can be redeemed for $100 or $50 Amazon.com Gift Cards. Askville.com is now available to all Amazon customers around the world. – Financial News USA

Schools and Programs in the News — November 26, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on November 26, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: tracking students’ illegal movie downloads, home schooling, universities’ partnership to aid mature workers work better with technology, Texas high school web management, and Arizona’s university funding policy review

Brian Krebs’s computer security blog for Washington Post provides a detailed overview of the discussion surrounding the Motion Picture Association of America’s proposal to implement the use of software to catch students using their universities’ networks to download pirated movies. — Washington Post blog

Are home-schooled children more aptly prepared for college? This article explores the Utah state requirements for home schooling, options parents have of meeting them, and how being taught at home affects subsequent college admissions and overall experience for the estimated million American children who learn from home. — Daily Herald

A new partnership brings together researchers from the University of Dundee’s School of Computing in the U.K. and the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine in a concerted effort to develop assistive technologies and gain insight into new ways to improve workplace performance in maturing workers by improving the workplace and by increasing the ability of older workers to use technology. — Campus Technology

Round Rock Independent School District in Texas is moving management of its special populations to the Web. Half of the data entry assistants, formerly helping with paperwork, will be reassigned to positions of working directly with students. — T.H.E. Journal

Plans are discussed at Arizona state Capitol to make university funding reflect student performance and graduation rates, possibly replacing the current policy that distributes money based on number of students enrolled. — Arizona Daily Star

Research in the News — November 26, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on November 26, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: ebook reader technology, report on k-12 online learning programs, an evaluation of continuing and professional education websites, the relationship between webspace choice and socioeconomic background, and the cost and efficiency of public education

Amazon Kindle - image by Wikimedia
People are talking about the new Kindle electronic reader by Amazon. A blogger gives her personal but very informed, research-backed opinion, suggesting that this kind of technology is perhaps old-fashioned and explaining why we need a version with more of a “digital twist.” – TechLearning

According to Keeping Pace, a new report on K-12 online learning researched and written by Evergreen Consulting Associates, most online learning programs are growing by 25 percent each year, with 42 states running significant supplemental, full-time or combined supplemental and full-time online learning programs. However, the report also notes that the majority of education leaders still lack sufficient policy oversight to maintain student opportunities and demonstrate quality to stakeholders. — T.H.E. Journal

A study by educational consultancy Eduventures reveals that continuing and professional education (CPE) websites do not rank well in some key functionality areas, such as content, search capabilities, and multimedia. According to the report, CPE sites are strong on aesthetics and marketing but lack depth. — Campus Technology

A Northwestern University study suggests that students’ choice of webspace (MySpace, Facebook or Xanga) might be related to social factors, such as race, ethnicity and parents’ education. The findings challenge the ideas about the Web’s potential to improve people’s lives by sidestepping physical constraints. — EurekAlert

The cost of public education in Illinois has increased dramatically over the past 12 years, but has student performance improved? Is the ACT or the ISAT a better indicator of student knowledge level? The author of this article has strong opinions on both questions and backs her convictions with data from research institutions in Illinois and DC. — Chicago Daily Herald

Schools and Programs in the News – November 8, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on November 8, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: University of Arizona’s virtual campus, Intel’s Classmate PC initiative, Ohio University’s improvements in information security, North Carolina School District’s literacy program and Fast ForWord

The University of Arizona’s Office of Student Computing Resources has subleased an island on Second Life and is going to use it to teach and test building and scripting in a digital environment, facilitate community outreach projects, and recruit students. More than 400 other higher education institutions have opened Second Life accounts. – UA News

Intel World Ahead launched the Classmate PC, a project under which a student and a teacher get PCs, which it had test-run in a Nigerian school for two years. The concept is similar to the One Laptop per Child initiative, but emphasizes teacher training and teacher-student connectivity. The Intel program has pledged $1bn in the next five years to accelerate access to computers, the Internet and local content for people in developing countries. — AllAfrica.com

Ohio University plans to enhance its information security practices after a series of setbacks, including exposed Social Security numbers and legal disputes with the Recording Industry Association. — Campus Technology

North Carolina School District will use Fast ForWord software to improve reading skills in children at risk. The software applies neuroscience principles and works to increase the brain’s efficiency in processing information. — T.H.E. Journal

Online Education in the News - November 8, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on November 8, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Skills database by Partnership for 21st Century Skills, robotics for the classroom by Innovation First

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills launched Route 21, an online, one-stop shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and tools, such as standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction environments. Route 21 harnesses Web 2.0 features to allow users to tag, rank, organize, collect and share Route 21 content based on their personal interests. — Earthtimes

Innovation First, the company behind a wide range of robotics initiatives, has launched a new online resource targeted directly toward K-12 and post-secondary education. The free materials include activities, course outlines, assessments, rubrics, miscellaneous resources, and games and challenges designed for the classroom. The basic kit for building radio-controlled robots runs at $549. — Campus Technology

Conferences in the News - November 5, 2007

Published by Erica Nielsen on November 5, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Laptop Institute, MIT LINC, Universal Knowledge Solutions, Sun Microsystems, Education Lybia, Education Sector

The Lausanne Collegiate School has teamed up with the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation to produce next year’s Laptop Institute, an academic conference focusing on the adoption of laptop and tablet-based computers in K-12 education. — T.H.E. Journal

MIT LINC conference brings together a group of educators from around the world who are interested in using e-learning technologies to help their respective countries increase access to quality education, particularly in high schools and universities. Universal Knowledge Solutions (UKS), the Middle East’s leading learning solutions enabler, has been an active participant and a platinum sponsor of this year’s conference, taking place in Jordan and Dubai. — Al Bawaba

Sun Microsystems, Inc. has teamed up with SunGard Higher Education and Al Wasl to sponsor Education Libya 2007, that takes place from November 5-7 at the Tripoli International Fairground. This will serve as an opportunity to demonstrate its solutions that assist in creating a Digital Campus environment in which people, processes and technology interact seamlessly to strengthen institutional performance. — Al Bawaba

In a new report from Education Sector, Sara Mead and Andrew J. Rotherham researched charter school policies that influence quality and growth in 12 states. Join us for a live chat with these report authors and learn what they found. — Ed Week

Schools and Programs in the News – October 29, 2007

Published by Erica Nielsen on October 29, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: public education, Brooklyn Tech, STEM and the National Science Foundation, online student statistics in Minnesota, Gatlin Education Services, Hodges University, California R-I School District and NETS

Donald Nielsen takes a critical look at the problems incurred by public education and offers solutions. “I believe public schools are the most important institutions in our society. Being educated is essential for a productive life and it is also essential for the preservation of our democracy. Failing to educate our children puts our very way of life in jeopardy. Today, as a nation, we are failing to adequately educate a majority of our children.” — The Seattle Times

Teachers at Brooklyn Tech — the largest math and science themed school in the city — are getting schooled in, well, technology. The school’s alumni recently installed a state-of-the-art technology center to bring the school’s 200-plus teachers up to speed on the latest technological advances — from the elementary (e-mail) to more-advanced techniques, like the use of so-called “SMART boards,” which allow teachers to project digital images onto enormous touch-sensitive whiteboards at the front of the classroom (cool!). — The Brooklyn Paper

In an effort to explore methods for encouraging females to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the National Science Foundation has awarded the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) Education Foundation an extension services grant. The grant comes through the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering Program and was awarded to implement NAPE’s five-year STEM Equity Pipeline project. –Campus Technology

Growing numbers of online students and high school students taking college courses helped boost enrollment at the 32 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities by 4.5 percent over the last year, officials said as they released enrollment figures. This fall, the state college and university system has 180,848 students, an increase of 7,832 students from last fall’s enrollment of 173,016. Last year, enrollment increased by 1.3 percent. — DL-Online

Online education providing work force skills and certification training has come to a pair of local colleges, making it more convenient than ever for region residents to get the type of education they are looking for from the convenience of their computer. The online courses are provided by Gatlin Education Services, a provider of online certificate training programs to community colleges, universities and accredited career-colleges worldwide. — NWI Times

Hodges University provides online degrees to students who have never set foot on American soil. Alen Savatic, 34, is midway through a master’s degree program. He lives in Sarajevo, in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hodges also has an online international student from Germany, and a British student will start virtual classes in January. — News-Press

In the era of constant upward changes in technology, California R-I School District has constantly made an effort to keep up with the trends and more recently the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for students. — California Democrat

IT News – October 26, 2007

Published by Erica Nielsen on October 26, 2007 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Facebook, Microsoft, HP, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

With its $240 million equity investment announced Wednesday, along with a commitment to expand its pre-existing relationship as exclusive third-party representative for advertising on Facebook, Microsoft has cemented its connection to the company Silicon Valley is obsessed with. — CNN

In 2008, HP will award nearly $7 million in cash and equipment to K-12 schools in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and to colleges and universities throughout North America (Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.). The HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative is designed to support the innovative use of mobile technology in K-16 education, and to help identify K-12 public schools and two- and four-year colleges and universities that HP might support with future grants. – HP

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today $8.3 million in grants to help public libraries in 10 states provide quality access to computers and the Internet. — All American Patriots

Microsoft has rolled its Office Live Workspace technology into Live@edu, the company’s portal, communications, and collaboration suite for higher education. — Campus Technology