T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education) articles from December 2008

T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education) archives from December 2008

Should school shift print dollars toward digital resources?(what's ONLINE)(Thinkronize Inc.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... According to a report released recently by ed tech firm Thinkronize, more than 85 percent of teachers and principals want access to web resources that will help them provide differentiated instruction to students. Does this mean that funds...

Suspended teachers in Facebook incident ignites debate: should online privacy for educators exist?(HOT TOPICS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... According to the attorney for a Charlotte, NC, teacher suspended for a comment made on her Facebook page, the postings were intended to be read only by friends to whom she granted access. www.thejournal.com/ articles/23611

Devon IT launches green school initiative.(HOT TOPICS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Devon IT has announced the launch of its Green School Initiative, a new program aimed at bringing thin client technology into the classroom. According to the announcement, the program is intended to provide districts with resources to help...

LAUSD uses secret weapon in laptop theft recovery.(Los Angeles Unified School District)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... When staff at a middle school in the Los Angeles Unified School District discovered the disappearance of 32 notebook computers in early October, it didn't generate much attention. That's because the district has in place an efficient process...

How poinsettia elementary school has tackled math intervention with compass learning.(PODCASTS)(Poinsettia Elementary School)(Stephen Ahle)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... In this podcast, Stephen Ahle, principal of Poinsettia Elementary School in Carlsbad, CA, talks with T.H.E. Journal contributor Matt Villano about how he has tackled math intervention, www. thejournal.com/podcasts/ compasspodcast.aspx

Using chat to move the thinking process forward.(Viewpoint essay)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The idea of using chat to communicate with students is widely accepted in education. Using the same tool to progress critical thinking is not often discussed. Ruth Reynard looks into why that is. www. thejournal.com/articles/ 23535

Separation anxiety: the annual Speak Up survey returns, with some unsettling data revealing a disconnect between students and their educators.(Project Tomorrow)(Survey)
December 1, 2008... TWENTY-THREE PERCENT. Twenty-three percent! That is the number of students--self-labeled "advanced tech"--who answered yes to the following question on last year's Speak Up survey: Is your school doing a good job of preparing you for...

The first lultimedia, HD-ready, SXGA portable visual presenter.(Lumens DC260)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Lumens DC260 represents the first ever generation of multimedia HD capable visual presenter. Equipped with a dedicated powerful processor, the DC260 will thrill and amaze even the most sophisticated consumer with...

Keynotes.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... "I just went crazy. I thought, 'Now we're going to do this right.'"--James Natale, computer teacher, on his reaction to receiving $2,500 in grant money, which he used to upgrade the weekly school news show his students produce (20) ...

Tech::watch: this issue's ups and downs.(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [down arrow] POWER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: A district reports considerable cost savings with initiative to turn off machines when they're not in use. Also known as Project: Duh. [up arrow] ANIMATION: Schoolhouse Rock meets the Digital Age: An...

New PD program targets 21st-century skills.(The Partnership for 21st Century)(professional development)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... THE PARTNERSHIP FOR 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills. org) has launched the P21 Professional Development Affiliate program in an effort to establish a network of affiliates to help build and implement K-12 professional development...

FETC 2009 goes green: the annual ed tech conference will be led off by Philippe Cousteau a leading conservationist worthy of his notable pedigree.(Conference news)
December 1, 2008... FROM JAN. 21-24, THE ORANGE County Convention Center in Orlando, FL, will welcome school IT staff, teachers, administrators, ed tech leaders, and more for the 2009 Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC; www.fetc.org). The annual...

SETDA urging action to improve education.(State Educational Technology Directors Association)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... As part of a project it is calling Class of 2020: Action Plan for Education, a culmination of white papers and policy recommendations, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA; www.setda.org) has laid out 10 steps the...

Contest calls on students to reach Obama.(Awards and Contests)(Barack Obama)
December 1, 2008... School e-mail and networking provider ePals (www.epals. com) has launched the Your Presidential Minute contest on Election Central, the company's web resource focused on the recent presidential election. Interested K-12 students must submit a...

Certiport to name Microsoft Office world champions.(Awards and Contests)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... For the seventh year, skills certification company Certiport (www.certiport.com) is holding its Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office to honor students with superior Word and Excel skills. To enter the contest, students age 13 and older...

Atomic learning offers tech skills assessment.(Industry News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Now teachers can gauge students' technology skills through the Atomic Learning (www. atomiclearning.com) Tech Skills Assessment, available through a subscription to the company's Technology Skills Collection of online learning resources....

Flocabulary launches the week in Rap.(www.theweekinrap. com)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Flocabulary (http://flocabulary. com), a new provider of music-based educational resources, recently debuted another tool meant to engage students in learning and foster academic success. The Week in Rap (www.theweekinrap. com) is a website...

Glogster releases education program.(Industry News)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Glogster (www.glogster. com), a Web 2.0 platform popular with both teachers and students that allows users to express themselves through graphics, text, photos, music, and video, has launched an education program. The company hopes to build an...

A savings twofer: efforts to reduce the costs of operating the district data center are also producing positive benefits for the environment.(green technologies)
December 1, 2008... WITH THE COST OF electricity and consumer goods rising as rapidly as the economy deflates, the decision of many school districts to go green has been one born of necessity and reared by technology. Districts are finding that using technologies...

'Animation Creates Life!' A Virginia educator explains how the use of computer animation has the power to engage students in a way that is unique among classroom technologies.(web 2.0)
December 1, 2008... ROBB PONTON NEVER GUESSED that a routine stopover at a local bookstore would start him down a path to the widespread use of animation in his 10,000-student school district. Yet that's just what it did, and now animation technology is an...

T H E journal innovators 2008.(Cover story)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER used grant money to fund a weekly student news broadcast. A technology director created video booths to reveal to teachers where their math instruction was falling short. A young, tech-savvy...

Assistive technology and access for all: a slight revision to existing legislation has expanded the base of students eligible to receive assistive technologies, creating major changes in their implementation.(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
December 1, 2008... ON THE SURFACE the change seems minor, almost imperceptible: What once read "requires" now reads "needs." But the amending of that single word in the 2004 update of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) automatically triggered...

Curriculum advantage.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... CURRICULUM ADVANTAGE introduces the Preparing All Students for Success (PASS) Model for use with its Classworks instructional software. The new, research-based instructional model is designed to help educators identify struggling students and...

Optoma.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OPTOMA announces the arrival of the Pico PK-101, one of the world's smallest and lightest portable projectors. It employs a Texas Instruments DLP pico digital micro-mirror device--a reflective chip that creates the...

Proxim.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... PROXIM now offers Orinoco AP-8000 dual-radio 802.11n access points in order to simplify 802.11n network deployments. Schools can achieve throughput rates of 320 Mbps with the dual-radio access point, offering higher performance than is...

FETC 2009.(Conference notes)
December 1, 2008... FETC is one of the largest, most comprehensive conferences devoted to educational technology. The conference program is designed to provide educators and administrators an opportunity to learn how to integrate technologies across the...

Getting--and staying--connected.(extracurricular: For technologists who do their homework)(Statistical table)(Survey)
December 1, 2008... * T-1 AND T-3 LINES CONSTITUTE THE MAJORITY OF BANDWIDTH CONNECTIONS IN SCHOOLS (68.9%) * OLDER TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS DSL (5.2%) AND CABLE MODEMS (3.6%), ARE IN LIMITED USE * NEARLY A THIRD OF RESPONDENTS SAY SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS...