T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education) articles from January 2007

T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education) archives from January 2007

Practicing what we preach: by continuing to make changes for the better, we're following our own advice.(our SPACE)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... IN THIS JOB, I have to be a good reader. Sometimes it helps to be a good listener, too. So I was all ears while going through our Editorial Director Geoff Fletcher's Policy & Advocacy column this month (see "it's Our Business, Too," page 44)....

Charp-en up those entries: 'tis the season to bestow our annual award for the innovative use of technology. Get your application in!(commentary)
January 1, 2007... YOU OFTEN SEE various forms of the word innovate in the pages of this magazine. Last month we featured a dozen innovators who are doing interesting and exciting things with technology to help kids learn. Our attention to innovators and their...

Do the math, please.(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I JUST FINISHED reading Jeff Weinstock's "Math Needs a Makeover" [Our Space, October], and I couldn't agree with him more. The most important factor in changing America's current outlook on mathematics is to show how fun and exciting math can...

An editorial bell ringer.(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... A LIFELONG SPECIAL ed teacher, I've spent the last two years here in Alaska in the bush village of Grayling on the west bank of the Yukon River, at the David-Louis Memorial School in the Iditarod Area School District. My health is still good at...

Hear, hear!(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Geoff Fletcher is spot-on. No matter what becomes of NCLB in its next iteration ["No Child Left Behind, Version 2.0," December], it will need to have ongoing support for educational technology included in some significant manner. Fletcher's...

Keynotes: wisdom from this month's pages.
January 1, 2007... 20 We are shooting to have 50 percent of the students get the questions right on the next test and then to hit 85 to 100 percent by the end of the year. --Eighth-grade English teacher Mary Rooney on the use of her school's...

GenYES founder calls for student tech input: a prominent industry voice says kids should play a role in the development and execution of technology plans.(Generation YES's Dennis Harper)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... DENNIS HARPER literally wrote the blueprint on how to work with students to create technology plans. "From Vision to Action: Including Student Leadership in Your Technology Plan" is Harper's eight-page report on incorporating student input into...

Online contest aims to spur Math interest.(by David Rock )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A veteran math teacher, David Rock (pictured) chafes at the ongoing stigma attached to his life's work. "Why is it socially acceptable to be illiterate in math?" he asks. "We've got to change that." And Rock is working to do just that. Now dean...

TetraData wins ed tech honor.(Teradata Corp.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... TetraData's (www.tetradata.com) Dash dashboard and data portal, which lets administrators monitor daily attendance, student scores, graduation rates, and other data related to their districts, has won a 2006 Innovation in Education Award from...

PCS edventures! receives ET3 award.(Education Technology Think Tank honored PCS Edventures)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Education Technology Think Tank (ET3; www.et3online.org) has honored PCS Edventures! (www. edventures.com) with its Technology to Empower Community (TEC) Championship Leadership Award. The annual ET3 awards program is designed to recognize...

LearningSoft appoints first chief executive officer.(Corey E. Brady )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Learning-Soft (www.learningsoft.net), the handheld computing and assessment company that sells the popular Indigo Learning System, has hired Corey E. Brady as chief education officer, a newly created position. In the new post, Brady will be...

New president named for Scholastic at Home.(Seth D. Radwell )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Seth D. Radwell has been appointed president of Scholastic at Home, a division of Scholastic (www. scholastic.com). Scholastic at Home provides home learning programs tailored to children's ages and learning needs. Radwell will be responsible...

Sales team lead selected at Digital Directions.(Sales and Channel Management's Hugh Conway promotes Digital Directions International's Help for Math)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... New Vice President of Sales and Channel Management Hugh Conway will promote interactive content provider Digital Directions International's Help for Math program (www.helpprogram.net). Help for Math is an online supplementary program meant to...

LeapFrog announces new hires.(LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. appointed Steve Anderson, Jeff Grant and Hilda West)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Three senior executives are joining LeapFrog Enterprises (www.leapfrog. corn), a manufacturer of technology-based learning products. Steve Anderson, the new vice president of software engineering, will lead the software architecture and...

Carolina technologists target Science students.(North Carolina Technology Association introduced vocational service for science students)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The North Carolina Technology Association (www.nctech.org) is launching a new program targeting "underrepresented middle school students pursuing college majors and careers in astronomy, physics, and related disciplines." The program, dubbed...

Site promotes future scientists.(www.iwaswondering.org)(Website overview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... At www.iwaswondering.org, a cartoon teenage girl named Lia guides visitors through free, interactive, science-related activities designed for middle schoolers. Additionally, the site, subtitled "Women's Adventures in Science," features true...

CoSN opens new state chapters.(Consortium for School Networking)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Consortium for School Networking (www.cosn.org) has opened three new chapters, in New Mexico, Louisiana, and Georgia. An organization of K-12 technology professionals, CoSN provides broad resources such as research and professional...

HM Rivergroup acquires Houghton Mifflin.(Industry News)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin (www.hmco. com) is being bought out by the newly formed Irish firm HM Rivergroup (www.riverdeep.net). Concurrent with the Houghton acquisition, HMR will also purchase Riverdeep, an educational software...

On target: using technology to pinpoint problem academic areas can enable students to catch up, keep up, and get ahead.(John Welsh School's Mary Rooney used educational technology for better assessment)
January 1, 2007... MARY ROONEY, an eighth-grade English and language arts teacher at the K-8 John Welsh School in Philadelphia, spotted a problem. On one of the recent "mini" tests the school administers every six weeks to help students prepare for the state...

Making the impossible possible: assistive technologies are helping students who don't respond to conventional means of instruction, and in the process ...(assistive technology)(Column)
January 1, 2007... A KEYBOARD THAT'S COLOR-CODED and arranged alphabetically. An audio book that lets users hear what they're reading--at several speeds. A 21-inch wand that can be used to manipulate objects on an interactive whiteboard. A school that tailors its...

The universal language: the number of immigrant students in US schools has more than doubled in the past 15 years. In response. teachers are broadening their ESL programs with the one tool that translates in all dialects--computer technology.(English as Second language)
January 1, 2007... FEW TRENDS HAVE changed the demographics of US elementary and secondary schools as dramatically as the record-high immigration of the past dozen years. Students who are learning English for the first time, better known as English language...

Casting a whole new light: multimedia audiovisual systems are transforming the learning environment in one Florida school district.(smart classroom)
January 1, 2007... THE APOSTOLICO HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TEAM, Maurizio and Saira, share more than marital vows and career interests. They share a belief in the power of projectors to energize a classroom. "The technology really does engage the students in every...

It's our business, too: a book that examines large-scale corporate failures holds some important lessons for education on what can happen when inertia sets in.(Why Smart Executives Fall )(Book review)
January 1, 2007... I HAVE BEEN READING Why Smart Executives Fall (Portfolio, 2003) by Sydney Finkelstein, a Dartmouth College (NH) business professor. Finkelstein and his team at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business investigated 51 companies that had endured...

Put your tests to the test: formative assessments are only as good as their item bank. Here's how to make sure you're asking the right questions.(assessments)
January 1, 2007... Which of the following is one of the four types of quadralaterals? * A) A parallelogram * B) An isosceles * C) Scalenes * D) The trapezoid Standard: Classify three-dimensional figures by their geometric properties. ...

Building bridges with video: a collaborative videoconferencing project succeeds in connecting two classrooms of students from opposite coasts--and opposite worlds.(Allisyn Levy and Craig Downing using Apple Inc.'s iChat software for their Public School 261 )
January 1, 2007... In the fall of 2004, Allisyn Levy and Craig Downing teamed up to implement a videoconferencing project that linked the students in Levy's third-grade class at Public School 261 in Brooklyn, NY, with Downing's third-graders at The Meridian...

A program with impact: a suitably named North Carolina technology integration model is enriching teaching and learning in schools that need it most.(professional development)
January 1, 2007... IF YOU HAD A CHOICE between a method for professional development that was effective less than 10 percent of the time versus a method that was effective 88 percent of the time, which would you choose? Not so fast. If you're like me, you...

New language technology.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)
January 1, 2007... NEW LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY is available now from Califone International. The USB Jackbox enables students to listen to audio recordings or live streaming, to speak and listen back to their own voices, to connect with other students through any...

Codian's MCU 4500.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)
January 1, 2007... CODIAN'S MCU 4500 series delivers high-definition videoconferencing that is easy to use, featuring a built-in streaming server and a scheduler so students can schedule their own meetings. The system facilitates distance learning by maintaining...

Front row's.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)
January 1, 2007... FRONT ROW'S ToGo sound system is so portable, it can be used outside (on its battery power, which lasts a full school day). The case weighs less than 15 pounds, but it encloses two speakers designed in a super-directional array to do the job of...

Tangent's rugged mini.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)
January 1, 2007... TANGENT'S RUGGED MINI is a fanless PC that can be attached to a cart or wall. Its fanless operation will appeal to educators, ensuring a quiet performance, durability (since the only moving part is the hard drive), and little energy...

Christie digital systems.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)
January 1, 2007... CHRISTIE DIGITAL SYSTEMS has released the Christie LW300. This widescreen LCD projector boasts 3,000 ANSI lumens, a native 16:9 aspect ratio, and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio with WXGA (1366 x 768) resolution that has more than 30 percent more...

E frontier's.(product FOCUS: The latest releases, services, and new product versions)
January 1, 2007... E FRONTIER'S Earth & Moon Pro Pack made its debut last month just in time for the space shuttle launch. The pack includes 3-D video models of the Earth and moon, the International Space Station, and the Hubble Space Telescope, which work with...

Event calendar.
January 1, 2007... February 2007 FEB 6-7 Oklahoma Technology Association 2007 Learning Technology Conference Oklahoma City, OK www.oktech.org FEB 11-13 Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology ...

Extracurricular: for technologists who do their homework.(schools expenditure on education technology)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Professional development and technology spending go hand in hand, as teachers have to be trained in each new tool a district acquires. Tech directors expect spending on both ends to rise significantly in the next five years. Q: What is the...