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CATEGORY: Tools and Cross-Curricular Resources |
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For May 15, 2012: Create and build in 3D with Kid Blocks from miSoft, a free app for iPhone and iPad.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 May 2012
By
Linda C. Joseph
Now available for free on the App Store, Nearpod allows teachers to create and share interactive lessons, receive feedback on student device use, assess learning in real time, and personalize instruction for students who are logged into the Nearpod Student app.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 May 2012
The CS6 product line includes powerful new releases of Photoshop, InDesign, lllustrator, Dreamweaver, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash Professional and other products as well as four suite versions - Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium; Creative Suite 6 Design Standard; Creative Suite 6 Production Premium; and Creative Suite 6 Master Collection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 May 2012
Insight 360 is an integrated system of mobile, interactive hardware, and intuitive software that delivers formative ongoing assessments to track student progress.
Carolyn Foote, our newest columnist, recently attended the South by Southwest Education Conference in Austin, Texas, where she was intrigued by the ideas of author and game designer Jane McGonigal. That got Carolyn thinking about the emotional benefit we get from game-playing.
With the advent of Web 2.0, our options to connect with colleagues online have increased dramatically. Each environment has vehement detractors as well as loyal fans. Mary Ann and her survey respondents weigh in!
As textbooks give way to digital content and the Common Core standards ripple outward across more than 45 states, how best to align instruction with learning goals and assessments is an issue that lingers on educators' minds. These companies understand this well and have provided tools to help.
Compass Learning's Ann Henson asserts that a fulfilling educational experience starts with curriculum alignment and content, and that technology will play an increasingly important role in the interplay between the two.
SpeechStream is an intuitive text-to-speech toolbar, particularly helpful to ELL students, that gives users the ability to read while hearing text read aloud by a high-quality, digitized human voice, helping to improve word recognition, vocabulary and comprehension.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Apr 2012
The latest version of Desire2Learn Learning Suite offers enhanced ease of use, a more personalized learning experience, and a broader depth of tools and features based upon the feedback of hundreds of clients.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Apr 2012
The new app built for iPad allows students to build content and knowledge.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Apr 2012
The RTI assessment tool AIMSweb now links to lessons in the enVisionMATH Common Core and focusMATH Intensive Intervention programs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Apr 2012
The new ratings assess learning potential of apps, games, and websites to guide parents to great choices and spur development of quality products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Apr 2012
The touch-screen interactive table is designed to empowers students to take a more active role in their learning. The more than 25 activities, mapped to standards, inspire students to get involved and participate in group-based projects, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Mar 2012
For March 15, 2012: "A free world-class education for anyone anywhere." That's the mission of Khan Academy featured on 60 Minutes. It is a place where students can go to view over 3,000 tutorials in many subject areas on many levels.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Mar 2012
By
Linda C. Joseph
Here's a brief piece from Edutopia that adds a lot to the discussion on etexts and ebooks, in our opinion, largely owing to its focus on resources for "doing it yourself."
News/Cool Links - Posted 13 Mar 2012
LiveBooks are similar to ebooks in that they are published online and available digitally to readers. However, rather than a single, concluded piece of work, LiveBooks can be updated by their authors at any time.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Mar 2012
A story in Publishers Weekly has the scoop on the current testing and upcoming launch of the proprietary e-book platform.
News/Cool Links - Posted 06 Mar 2012
For March 1, 2012: Want to easily integrate digital storytelling into your elementary classroom? Then, try StoryKit, a free app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2012
By
Linda C. Joseph
Educational facilities serving K-12 students need to provide safe access to Web 2.0 resources for students and staff, while also complying with laws such as the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and data retention and retrieval requirements. Another challenge faced is savvy students attempting to circumvent acceptable use policies. Websense security solutions help K-12 schools address these challenges, enabling productive use of the web; protecting against inbound threats such as spam, malware, and blended threats; and helping to ensure compliance.
Gaggle online tools are used by K-12 students to communicate safely using Web 2.0 technologies, providing a secure online social learning environment made specifically for schools. Gaggle Apps are tightly integrated into the complete Gaggle system.
As the founder of Gaggle.Net, Jeff Patterson has led the company's technology team for the past 9 years and is well- versed in the intersection of media literacy and web security. In this interview, Victor talks tech with Jeff for Internet@Schools.
"Kids these days. They're in the zone," says Victor Rivero. It's a media-saturation zone he's talking about, owing to the device-saturation that's keeping kids perpetually connected. Educators must offer guidance so kids can navigate through this zone, for reasons of safety, security, and efficacy. Victor proffers the tools that can help.
Adobe Photoshop Touch offers core Photoshop features, as well as new capabilities for creating and sharing in an app custom-built for tablets. The app is a central component of Adobe Touch Apps, a family of six intuitive touch screen applications, inspired by Adobe Creative Suite software.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Feb 2012
The icurio solution is designed to break down barriers to learning and transform the way teachers teach and students learn in a modern-day educational environment, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2012
According to the announcement, the new entity reflects a transformation of the company's strategic growth plan and ongoing endeavor to create breakthrough digital content solutions for K-12 education that remove the barriers to learning and address the unique needs of students, teachers, parents and educational administrators.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2012
For February 1, 2012: PBS is opening up its library of movies with its free iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch apps.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2012
By
Linda C. Joseph
Apple's Jan. 19 announcements on the iBooks 2 for iPad app, the iBooks Author, and the iTunes U app have engendered loads of news reporting, analysis, and commentary, not least from Information Today, Inc. Newsbreaks writer Nancy Herther.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 27 Jan 2012
This spring, Inspiration Diagrams will join the company's family of tools based on proven learning methodologies that help students and educators think, learn, brainstorm, analyze and write.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2012
Now available on the App Store, these apps provide real-time access to attendance, grades, assignments, scores, and more to the 10 million students and their parents whose schools use PowerSchool, Pearson's web-based student information system.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jan 2012
The web-based application works with a standard web or document camera to quickly grade multiple-choice tests, providing teachers with immediate feedback on student understanding.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jan 2012
MimioStudio 9 features the MimioStudio ActivityWizard, a solution for generating interactive, high-quality activities and lessons in minutes.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jan 2012
Take a look at schoollibrarymanagement.com's infographic about Apple's iTunes U app announcement.
News/Cool Links - Posted 19 Jan 2012
The iTunes U app gives iOS users access a catalog of free educational content from top universities including Cambridge, Duke, Harvard, Oxford and Stanford, and any K-12 school district can offer full courses through the iTunes U app.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2012
New apps track real-time grades, homework, attendance, and more with Facebook and Twitter integration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2012
ALA's American Libraries magazine has published a great article on ebooks and school libraries. Part of the first two paragraphs should get you into it.
News/Cool Links - Posted 16 Jan 2012
The new courses from ASCD support educators implementing Common Core State Standards. Three support implementation of new math standards; four subject-based courses focus on supporting educators in integrating the new literacy standards into science, history/social studies, English language arts, and mathematics lessons.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2012
HotChalk is a learning management system that includes a lesson plan library. Teachers can manage curricula, develop student rosters, distribute assignments and quizzes, create lesson plans, post messages, share resources and best practices, and maintain an electronic gradebook.
Blackboard Learn 9.1 is intended to be a complete learning management system for course delivery. The Content Management, Course Delivery, and Community Engagement modules make up the Blackboard Learn platform. Blackboard Drive, the newest feature of the Content Management module, allows educators to save time by editing and managing Blackboard Learn content straight from the desktop.
Through software installed on the server, SharePoint LMS enables users to create and administer multimedia courses on the internet.
A song that keeps repeating in Mary Ann's head these days is "Hard Times Come Again No More," no doubt owing to the hard times and education budget cuts her public school colleagues are experiencing in Texas. In an effort to chase away this earworm with some positive thinking, she asked herself and other educators what they can do in the face of these cuts. See what the crowd came up with.
Media specialists know to double-check that all technology is in working order, even when the activity has previously worked well. Springboarding off her updated Tips for a Successful Internet Experience planning checklist for media specialists and teachers, Mary Alice delves this month into continuing questions about lab scheduling, file storage, and printing.
At Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, an iPad pilot initiative is exploring how a new portable technology, in the hands of teachers and students, can affect teaching and learning. Librarian Carolyn Foote describes how they are proceeding, keeping a close eye on what is working and what the impacts of the project are.
A learning management system (LMS) is the Holy Grail of education: an online system to manage it all. In this month's Tools for Learning feature, writer Victor Rivero names a range of companies that have ventured into this territory, along with the products and services they offer.
The bundle - which gives students, including those with learning disabilities, a way to visually express what they've learned across curriculum - incorporates the recently announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Adobe Premiere Elements 10 software, as well as Adobe Acrobat X Pro.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2011
An infographic developed by StudyBlue demonstrates several benefits for students who power-up their smartphones for study sessions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Nov 2011
In the free informational videos, experts share key tips and answer questions on a wide range of topics related to the admissions process, including how to parent your child through the process, ideas on what questions to ask during a college visit, what parents should and should not do while assisting students during the application process, and tips on choosing the college that will help the student reach his or her full potential.
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Nov 2011
The iPhone and Android app features speech-to-text and picture-taking functionality.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Nov 2011
The study shows that secondary school students in the United States rely more heavily on social networks for content in their papers and less on cheat sites and paper mills compared to college students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Nov 2011
Britannica Image Quest provides access to more than 2 million images covering all subject areas. The images are cleared for noncommercial educational use.
The textbook is evolving, to say the least. Stephen is excited by the opportunities this presents for educators. So this month's column explores the opportunity to enhance a learner's experience and success with next-generation textbooks.
Johanna winds up her stint writing for Internet@Schools by revisiting some of the tech innovators she wrote about to explore what they're up to and the "tech effect" of their efforts.
Online education is a $34 billion industry, and it has been growing by an astronomical rate. Today, says author Victor Rivero, elearning is a paradigm shift. Here are some of the companies he's identified as being on board with this 21st-century transformation.
The three-hour, on-site workshops will help participants increase their knowledge of visual learning concepts and techniques, as well as how to apply these techniques to increase students' critical thinking, planning, organization, outlining and writing skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2011
From the announcement: "Only Spanglish that will help you prepare for the big day. Our explanations are in Spanish, but the drills and questions are in English. Since you will be battling the monster in English, we didn't want to send you to fight the battle of wits unarmed."
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Oct 2011
Focused on providing fun and engaging tools to classrooms and homes, these joint efforts include components like supplemental family activities, K-12 curriculum programs, interactive classroom lessons and more.
News/Free Resources - Posted 10 Oct 2011
Teach! Strategies & Resources is designed to help schools bridge current instruction and future Common Core expectations with on-demand instructional professional development support.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Oct 2011
The new app provides parents and students with mobile access to the eChalk online platform to receive timely notifications of school activities, and to view grades, homework assignments, learning resources, and class discussions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Oct 2011
Ebook news is big these days, and matters increasingly in the K-12 realm. Here are the opening paragraphs, plus a couple of teaser sentences to entice you to read more, from a report on Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks yesterday.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 30 Sep 2011
The 2011 sweepstakes awarded nearly $200,000 in customized classroom technologies to 53 schools nationwide.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2011
The 4th Edition operates on the same core concepts and philosophy as its predecessors - every child is capable of becoming a peacemaker - but has been further divided by grade levels to address the developmental difference for grades K-3 and grades 4-5.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2011
New features enable students to more easily produce meaningful images, professional-looking movies, and digital stories that combine photos and videos in creative ways. Teacher resources, including step-by-step tutorials and ready-to-use lessons for incorporating the software into classroom learning, are available online at the free Adobe Education Exchange.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Sep 2011
For September 15, 2011: Teachers looking for a free and safe place to share student-produced videos should check out SchoolTube, the largest K-12 moderated video sharing website in the country.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The special live student session will feature acclaimed children's author Jean Craighead George.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Sep 2011
K-12 Students can now visualize and compare 2010 Census Data with interactive maps.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Sep 2011
Bookstream makes it easy for educators to hop on the internet, upload ebooks and share them with students for anytime reading, the announcement states. It was designed to help educators comply with IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that require schools to deliver core curriculum in accessible formats to support students with disabilities.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Sep 2011
Quizlet is a flashcards and study games website offered in multiple languages, with visuals and voice in some languages. All flashcards are user-generated. Quizlet contains elements of social networking to promote learning through groups and a blog.
Room 21 is an online learning management system designed to bring education into the 21st century. Students take online classes, and teachers design lessons to capture the spirit of 21st-century learning. Designed as a social learning platform, Room 21 provides tools for parents, students, principals, and teachers to collaborate, and it supports comprehensive skills needed to meet the challenges of the Common Core State Standards.
As you start the school year in this era of economic challenges, Stephen offers a range of strategies for partnering with your local public library.
The e-everything revolution charges ahead in the education realm. This month, Victor Rivero reprises and updates the discussion he started last year in his article "E Is for Explosion: E-Readers, Etextbooks, Econtent, Elearning, E-Everything."
Teacher and information technology integrator Craig McMichael reports on successful efforts at his school to integrate Cengage Learning ebooks and other electronic resources into the everyday fabric of learning … largely in place of print-based textbooks.
The company has upgraded its Discovery Education streaming service with a variety of new resources, more efficient navigation and a free, three-week series of webinars to help educators explore how to incorporate the digital resources into their instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2011
"Curiosity in the Classroom" engages students with cross-curricular lessons.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Aug 2011
Seen on Victor Rivero's edtechdigest.com: A great article/posting by Greg Limperis—Teaching to the Common Core Standards.
News/Cool Links - Posted 18 Aug 2011
Originally released in November 2010 for Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, LS2 Mobile allows people to connect with their public or school libraries 24 hours a day from any place with mobile or Wi-Fi Internet service.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Aug 2011
For August 15, 2011: For elementary math and science teachers looking for videos or slide shows to introduce or augment a topic, check out Study Jams.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The result of the partnership is a smarter experience for mutual customers and library users who begin their search from Encore, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Aug 2011
The eLibrary feature program is a keyword search tutorial system that gives students access to more than 4,600 Common Core state standard aligned lessons (language arts, math, science, social studies, and electives) for grades 6-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Jul 2011
Shmoop's Literature Guides and Biographies are written by Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkley, and other top universities. Shmoop is known for its sense of humor and knack for pop culture. For example, Shmoop introduces students to The Great Gatsby by comparing the novel to the television shows "Real Housewives" and "The Sopranos."
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jul 2011
In addition to a rich public media library, PBS LearningMedia has content contributed from other publicly funded organizations, including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and NPR, as well as content funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Education, to deliver thousands of resources for use in the classroom and with home-schoolers.
News/Free Resources - Posted 20 Jul 2011
Information Today, Inc.'s news bureau chief and NewsBreaks editor Paula Hane has posted a report on the ALA summer conference and news emanating from it.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 07 Jul 2011
From Britannica Digital Learning, the service enables students in elementary school through college to easily access hundreds of high-quality books on the subjects they're studying.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Jun 2011
The online resource now offers a subscription option allowing teachers to track progress and metrics.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Jun 2011
OverDrive-powered library collections are now available on the LG Quantum, Samsung Focus, HTC Trophy, and other popular Windows Phones
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Jun 2011
Helpful in keeping kids engaged in education during the summer, the offering extends the personalized, online Flashcards learning experience to a mobile generation that thrives on 24/7 access to information - illustrated by the 30M downloads of Dictionary.com's mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Jun 2011
The poll assesses current and future cloud computing use in business, government, healthcare and education based on a survey of 1,200 IT professionals familiar with their organizations' use of, or plans for, cloud computing.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 May 2011
Through a new initiative, called myWorld TakingITGlobal, educators have immediate access to digitally driven content that makes global collaboration a reality for America's middle schoolers with the click of a mouse, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 May 2011
The new package is designed to help K-12 districts tackle the print-to-digital transition by enabling the efficient tracking and managing of textbooks as well as the devices used to support students in the classroom.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 May 2011
So the announcement about Google's Chromebook is out! And so is a river of informed commentary. Read this to find a really good take on the device and what it means, or might mean, ... or ...
News/Cool Links - Posted 13 May 2011
Four grade-level winners have been selected, with the winning entries to be published in Study Island online products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 May 2011
ePals LearningSpace is a web-based communication and collaboration tool for district and school use.
Too often, says Mary Alice, obvious and necessary training about the basics gets lost in training about "big picture" items such as cloud computing or data mining. So she brings us back to those basics and discusses where media specialists fit in.mary alice anderson
Johanna argues for and promotes a more flexible approach to teaching and using digital media through fabulous examples from the students of Ross Wallis, head of creative arts at a school in the U.K.
"As fast as a trending Twitterstorm and as powerful as a flood of Facebook fans, there's a curious phenomenon moving through our schools these days: social media." Read all about the phenomenon … and the tools that comprise it … in Victor's feature.
Teacher Tim Childers has been a social networking tools evangelist for quite some time now. Here he reports on why and how, plus what tools he's leveraged, what barriers he's surmounted, and how you can do the same.
The new mobile apps allow students to study online flashcards and class notes on the go.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Apr 2011
igotta is designed to provide a virtual workspace for students to find, analyze, organize, and use information to complete a wide-range of school assignments while developing the skills they need to be college- and career-ready.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Apr 2011
World Book Mobile is a mobile-friendly version of World Book's comprehensive reference database, which includes tens of thousands of authoritative articles and multimedia images, including maps, photographs, and illustrations.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Apr 2011
M86 VuSafe provides a means to show pre-approved streaming media content without the peripherals (i.e. banner ads, comments, etc.) found on the source sites, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Mar 2011
TetraData is the company's suite of K-12 data management, analysis and vision alignment tools that enables districts to more quickly user their data to make informed decisions, drive continuous improvement, and impact student success.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2011
The collaboration between CTB and SMART further expands the use of Acuity by classroom teachers to track student performance directly and use SMART Response interactive response systems in their formative instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Mar 2011
The online community of practice will first focus on student-owned devices, followed by broadband. Future areas of focus may include cloud computing, mobile computing, enabling home access, wireless access and network design, among many others.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Mar 2011
Information Today, Inc. news bureau chief Paula Hane has written a NewsBreak article on MindTap, an enormously interesting new release from Cengage. "New category." "Personal Learning Experiences." Big claims! If it sounds exciting to you, we think it indeed is, so check out Paula's report.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 14 Mar 2011
The report explores the fundamentals of mobile devices for schools - from their education potential to the pros and cons of student- vs. school-owned devices. It also details four components of mobile learning that factor into technology planning and decision making, and highlights how some school districts are successfully leveraging mobile devices.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2011
The Google search religion is finally starting to be challenged, according to Stephen. Search engine spam and questionable results run the risk of ruining the usefulness of search engines. It's time to build credulity skills in learners and researchers about what's behind the results they get from these engines.
Johanna reports on how Deborah Hargroves is providing "large school" media services to two separate "small school initiative" schools that could not otherwise afford them.
The professional development scene for teachers has advanced to the point that the web is a true gift to educators. Here are some excellent online professional development resources to help move you toward a 21 st-century classroom.
Edmodo gives teachers and students a secure and easy way to post classroom materials, share links and videos, and access homework, grades, and school notices. They can store and share all forms of digital content including blogs, links, pictures, video, documents, presentations, and more. Also included are features specifically for schools and districts that can be accessed for free by administrators.
Atomic Learning is a subscription service that offers online training and resources to educators and students for software, applications, and 21 st-century productivity skills. Training is delivered via short tutorial movies.
For March 1, 2011: There is an app for that, but which app is the best for kids? Visit Best Kid Apps to read reviews and ratings of iPhone, iPad, and Android applications.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
Practically all education reform models use some form of learning community, each of which has benefits and drawbacks. But School Loop's Mark Gross writes that it's possible to use technology to create a hybrid learning community virtually that compensates for real-world problems.
The new version offers an array of improved features focused in the areas of navigation, scheduling, health management, conduct and special education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Feb 2011
For February 15, 2011: Cyberbee is always on the look out for software programs that are easy to use, free, and help teachers with technology projects. Any Converter, for video files, is one such program that fits the bill!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The integration of the new standards, along with the system's reporting engine, will assist teachers in viewing the effects of their instruction in terms of the new standards, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Feb 2011
The agreement with BrainPOP will allow BrainPOP's animated content to operate seamlessly with Turning Technologies' student response systems for immediate assessment of student learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2011
By making Discovery Education digital services compatible with Sky, Learning.com users can now access the company's content using one single username and password.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Feb 2011
Shmoop Online ACT Prep is available for $23 for at-home purchase by an individual student. Shmoop also offers affordable Site Licenses to schools, districts and libraries for its growing stable of Online Test Prep Courses - ACT, SAT, PSAT, and AP Exams.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2011
Version 3.5 of the learning management system features a new and more comprehensive database of content standards, a new mobile app for Android devices, and the ability to integrate with Turnitin.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2011
K-12 schools can deploy a full communication solution leveraging Microsoft Live@edu infrastructure and ePals' recognized learning platform.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2011
The StudySync program combines classic and modern texts, digital media, mobile technology, and social networking designed to inspire students to achieve higher levels of critical thinking and academic collaboration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2011
Webspiration Classroom combines the power of visual thinking with innovative collaboration tools, offering students and teachers 24/7 access to an online environment where they can work independently, with their peers and in groups, to develop and strengthen their writing and thinking skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jan 2011
Developed by Pearson, PowerTeacher Mobile 1.1 features the enhancements that teachers have most requested and is designed to make grading on-the-go easier.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2011
A recent posting on Victor Rivero's edtechdigest blog turned us on to a CoSN report, "Empowering the 2st Century Superintendent."
News/Cool Links - Posted 20 Jan 2011
Enhancements includes improvements to the WilsonWeb Mobile interface, expansion of the "My WilsonWeb" individual user account functions, increased customization, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2011
The new website offers states an integrated array of resources for the move to Common Core Standards.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2011
SCAN by TregoEd is an interactive program that provides many lessons on social studies topics, current and past. The format is also available for teachers to create their own lessons or just enhance the lessons that are provided.
Mobl21 is an easy-to-use platform enabling educational mobility. With the editor, individual teachers, students, or institutions can create and share learning assets that complement formal courses, extending learning through the use of desktop widgets, social networking sites, and devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch. Facebook, iGoogle, Android, BlackBerry, and Flash Lite apps will be available soon.
Blackboard Mobile Learn allows students and educators to access teaching and learning wherever and whenever they want through two-way interactions on mobile devices. Blackboard Mobile Learn extends the course experience of Blackboard Learn, a web-based teaching and learning platform.
Given their popularity with students, knowing more about how search engines such as Google work is vital to understanding information access in a digital age.
Online. Blended. Mobile. 21 st-century. Collaborative. Project-based. Any way you label it, learning is changing. We're now settling into an exciting new paradigm of connected, engaged learning. To get a sense of all this, take a look at the sites, services, and resources we've noted right here in this article.
The CloudConnect product from Pearson Data Solutions allows districts and education agencies that rely on the Microsoft Live@edu free suite of hosted Microsoft applications (email, calendars, document sharing, instant messaging and video chat) to expand the set of services they offer their students and staff.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Dec 2010
The SMART Board 400 series uses SMART's patented DViT (Digital Vision Touch) technology to recognize both pen and finger inputs, enabling teachers and students to easily interact with digital content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Dec 2010
With the new VariQuest Design Center Software v2.0. teachers can implement visual and kinesthetic learning strategies to improve student achievement and engagement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2010
The new "Safari To Go" app, built specifically to leverage iPad capabilities such as pinch-to-zoom and drag and drop functions, allows subscribers of Safari Books Online to view book content in their library.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Nov 2010
BookMyne features mobile access to in-demand library information, holdings and services.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Nov 2010
The first release, available now in the Apple App Store, gives students mobile access to Tutor.com's library of 9,000 online lessons, worksheets, videos and test-prep resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2010
LS2 Mobile is a smart-phone interface that allows people to connect with their public or school libraries from any place with mobile or Wi-Fi internet service.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Nov 2010
Designed to work as an independent system, or in conjunction with a learning management system, Adobe Connect 8 software enables presenters to deliver engaging, media-rich experiences—live and on-demand—to widely dispersed learners and colleagues.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Nov 2010
Charles Doe reviews TimeMAPS, a money management and life skills program, a complete course or a supplement, intended to teach "personal finance literacy" defined as the knowledge needed to make responsible financial decisions.
Alice Kurtz reviews Shmoop, a free portal of digital resources, primarily for literature and social studies topics, that help students relate subjects being studied in school to their daily lives.
Just carry an iPad into a restaurant or a school library and see how much attention you get! It's a device everyone wants to get their hands on, touch, and play with. But just what are its strengths and weaknesses as a teaching and learning tool in schools? That's what author Carolyn Foote and her colleagues wanted to find out in their district. Read on to learn about their ongoing iPad pilot project at Foote's high school research center as they examine whether the devices are helpful in a school and/or library environment.
There's a quiet—or not so quiet—shift happening in school libraries across America. The social media revolution—reflected in all manner of shiny iPhone apps, blogs, Nings, Facebook pages, and other social networking tools, sites, and platforms—is real, and it's running like a loud line of students straight through the stacks, into the common areas, taking a sharp turn, and heading right on up to the teacher librarian/media specialist's desk. Are you ready for it? In this article, Victor Rivero addresses issues, answers, and resources to help.
ResponseCard NXT and TurningKey software provide a user-friendly summative assessment solution.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Oct 2010
The bundle includes the recently announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 software, as well as Adobe Acrobat X. Adobe Contribute CS5 and Adobe Soundbooth CS5 software are also included in the collection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2010
The SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard supports multiuser writing and common multitouch gestures currently recognized in Microsoft Windows 7 and Mac Snow Leopard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2010
SCAN challenges students to examine issues from different points of view using authentic scenarios and role-playing. The online tool includes built-in steps designed to focus online and in-classroom discussions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Oct 2010
The latest edition offers broad revisions in the areas of environment, science, and religion, as well as fiction and picture books. More than 7,000 of the entries are new. On WilsonWeb, Children's Core Collection is continuously updated with new material.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Oct 2010
The acquisition includes the Aspen Student Information System, a popular web-based solution designed to simplify school district data management through the integration of key K-12 applications.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Oct 2010
Enhancements in version 4.0 offer virtual student response systems, digital flashcards, customizable assessments, and a redesigned teacher page.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Oct 2010
Available as standalone products or as a single package, the Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 bundle offers a complete photo and video editing solution delivering the two products at a compelling price point for education, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Oct 2010
The new forum for dialogue about education is written by Inspiration co-founder and president Mona Westhaver.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2010
Victor Rivero reviews Cognite from Follett Software Co., a digital learning environment that integrates discovery and organization tools, collaboration, and communication.
The company's test prep service is available at $19 per student; Shmoop also announced that it will donate 20 percent of its proceeds to student groups or Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) who promote its Online Test Prep services as a group fundraiser.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Sep 2010
This month, Johanna describes a remarkable high school student's work to create something he calls "EduSweet," an engaging solution to keep the school-to-home connection alive and kicking that marries the traditional components of online grades, assignments, calendars, and notes with one-step social networking.
One of the most challenging areas in education today is helping students navigate through the ever-increasing world of information. There are many estimates out there on how fast the internet is growing, but everyone agrees it is the fastest-growing technology humankind has ever created! To get a handle on this 21st-century repository of information, librarians, teachers, and students need to harness the power and flexibility of the more-powerful, flexible, and varied online tools being developed … tools that can help them find, evaluate, and organize the megaloads of information out there. This applies not only to high school students but to younger students as well.
In this article, Victor Rivero draws on educators' and educational technology product developers' thinking that he picked up during a visit to this summer's ISTE conference. Victor cruised the show, talking with attendees and presenters, as well as with representatives from organizations such as the Partnership for 21st-Century Skills and The Software & Information Industry Association, to get their opinions on 21st century education.
The newly launched Behavior module offers a set of behavioral tools that work in tandem with the system's academic assessments and data management features to implement a comprehensive RTI framework in their classrooms.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Aug 2010
Shmoop now offers more than 4,000 titles available across the web, iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Aug 2010
All of these enrichments are available for customers immediately, and the standards-aligned programs qualify for federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2010
The Student Tracker system helps identify students who need support and creates a call to action for their education teams.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2010
For August 15, 2010: Search for exemplary lessons and information by topic or keyword at the free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
ResultsManager extends the existing reporting functionality of the company's TurningPoint and TurningPoint AnyWhere software to allow instructors and presenters to store, track, and administer multiple interactive polling sessions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Aug 2010
"Managing Learning: Next-Generation Learning Systems" details how K-12 educators and administrators are using cutting-edge Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) to transform teaching and learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jul 2010
Professional development plus instructional and assessment materials are intended to help teachers adjust classroom practices and prepare students for transition to the new standards.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jul 2010
The core subject map—the result of a collaboration between P21 and leading art, dance, music, theater, and visual arts associations—provides first-of-their-kind classroom examples of integrating the 'four Cs' into arts courses.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jul 2010
Gaggle's online learning tools bring students' and teachers' most wanted Web 2.0 abilities to their classrooms in a safe and secure online social learning environment made specifically for K-12, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Jul 2010
Susan Finley reviews the Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program, which provides online training and resources teachers can use to communicate with students about bullying and violence-related issues.
Charles Doe reviews the subscription-based Study Island SAT and Study Island ACT test preparation programs.
Having written a column several issues back entitled "What Kids Know (and Don't Know) About Technology," Mary Ann has now been inspired to address the same subject and questions to teachers and then also to administrators. So this is what she'll be covering in this month's column and the one to follow.
This month, Mary Alice offers advice and discusses tools, such as Edmodo and VoiceThread, that will help you and your students do lots more than they have in the past with primary source materials they have gathered.
Student response systems, also called "clickers," are handheld devices that help teachers poll students during class sessions and tabulate the responses. This technology is the same as that used when audiences are asked to vote on something during a television quiz program. The advantages of student response systems include increasing student involvement and allowing rapid and accurate assessment of understanding, knowledge, or interest. In this month's roundup, author Charles Doe provides a look at a representative sampling of these systems.
Last time, Stephen wrote about some of the issues facing us in the transition to a new and much more complicated ebook ecology, exploring our understanding of ebooks and how they differ from traditional books. In Part 2, he looks at emerging standards, legal issues, and what's in the pipeline for ebook devices, plus strategies for school libraries and their learners.
Part 1 of this article, which appeared in the May/June issue, looked at a range of safety and security issues affecting educators as we all strive to attain the vision enunciated at the beginning of that feature. Part 2 addresses universal digital media safety and literacy education as well as targeted youth risk online prevention.
In "E Is for Explosion …" Victor Rivero sets the scene with an overview of recent happenings in the world of e-reading devices as well as etexts, then focuses in on more than 15 kinds of electronic texts and content and their producers/providers.
For July 1, 2010: Need an inexpensive video camera to record interviews and other school events in high definition? There are two popular cameras that will fit the bill, the Flip UltraHD and the Kodak Zi8.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jul 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Cognite integrates discovery tools, retrieval, collaboration and communication with the goal of creating a vibrant experience where K-12 students excel, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2010
Ning.com currently hosts 6,500 K-12 and 2,100 higher ed social networks that run the gamut from Ning Networks designed for novice teachers, or for teachers of specific subject areas, to individual school and alumni networks and those where teachers offer help to students outside of the classroom.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2010
This new version of Elluminate Live focuses on accessibility, providing a richer, more interactive online teaching and learning environment for all participants, including those with disabilities, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jun 2010
For June 15, 2010: Create your own games using the templates provided by ClassTools. Add your own content and images, then copy the link to your blog or website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jun 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The Assistive Listening System enables educators to provide any number of designated students with a listening device to clearly hear the teacher or other amplified audio.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Jun 2010
For June 1, 2010: This summer have your students hone their keyboarding skills with Dance Mat Typing. It's fun, easy to use, and geared for ages 7-11.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jun 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Twenty-seven winners from over 327 nominations have been recognized for industry excellence.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 May 2010
The free applications are designed to integrate ebooks, audiobooks, and interactive and multimedia content into one application.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 May 2010
Projector companies Epson, Optoma, and Dell highlight the new report, an analysis of digital projectors for the K-12 education market available at ProjectorReviews.com, an online resource for digital projector reviews, research, and commentary.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 May 2010
For the last several years, Mary Ann has enjoyed using many online tools designed specifically for the purpose of conducting surveys. These are great for professional use by librarians and teachers. She started, she says, with SurveyMonkey and really took off with it. In this month's Belltones, Mary Ann discusses a selection of survey tools, and examines ways educators and students can use them.
In this age of technology-enabled openness, how much protecting is too much? And, going further, if our students are completely isolated from the benefits of the information age, will they ever learn? In this month's Tools for Learning feature, Victor Rivero examines some products, services, and solutions that address the question "How can our students stay safe and secure while simultaneously getting access to rich learning resources—and continue to fall in love with learning?"
Teachers are entrusted to provide a broad and lasting education to their students. That means, in part, exposing them to both many forms and many formats of literature. If we can help them to see the connections between those formats, then all the better. When we can lead them to see, understand, and thoughtfully combine print and nonprint formats as tools for their own expression of ideas and mastery, then we have begun to arm them with the tools necessary for lifelong learning. The faculty and staff of Chets Creek Elementary School in Jacksonville, Fla., have managed to do just that, as Johanna Riddle demonstrates in this month's Tech Effect column.
Charles Doe takes a look at the Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS Digital Camera.
Subscription web services for education offer a fascinating variety of products and approaches for teachers, parents, students, and school systems. Some services provide grade book and student information systems, others offer assessment and learning management platforms, and some feature classroom resources including lesson plans, videos, digital tools, activities, and games. This article takes a look at a representative sampling of subscription-based websites that are appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms.
Alice Kurtz discusses "Lost Nation: The Ioway," an interactive DVD that allows students to explore the plight of one tribe of Native Americans as Europeans moved westward across the North American continent.
Susan Hixson reviews School Town, an online collaborative learning resource.
It's clear that concerns about internet risk and the ineffective way in which schools are now trying to manage internet use are a major barrier to moving schools forward to embrace 21st-century learning environments. Nancy Willard says it's time for schools to address these issues in a more comprehensive manner. In this two-part article (Part 2 will appear in the next issue), she outlines how cyber-savvy schools can embrace the future.
The software suite includes Creative Suite 5 Master Collection, Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Design Standard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Apr 2010
Release 9.1 of Blackboard Learn emphasizes social learning and student engagement, and brings upgrades for K-12 and former WebCT Clients.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2010
More than 70 video tutorials can help teachers and students learn how to use the visual learning software's capabilities.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2010
Under the agreement, ePals will offer Microsoft Live@edu email and calendaring platform and other capabilities to its users, expanding ePals' services with enterprise-grade collaboration tools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Apr 2010
The NAMTC Digital Marketplace is powered by the EduTone Xchange platform, enabling education service agencies to purchase, provision, and access on demand the web-based applications and content offered in the Digital Marketplace.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Apr 2010
With the new release, Adobe is offering new curricula, a certification program, and learning resources to better train students and faculty in the digital communication and collaboration skills vital to 21st century employment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Apr 2010
Now both MyVision Basic and MyVision Free classroom management software will support mixed platform environments, allowing teachers to manage students working on both Macs and PCs simultaneously.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2010
The latest version of its testing and assessment tool, Maple T.A. 6 enables significant levels of integration with course management systems, as well as internationalization tools and increased performance.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2010
The MemoryLifter Learning Suite: Prep for the SAT and mobile SAT preparation learning modules for the iPhone and iPod touch give students a personalized learning experience, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Mar 2010
Changes to the learning management platform include enhanced administrative functionality, integrated synchronous chat and presentation tools, and advanced forum features.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Mar 2010
With its new features, including charting, "on the fly" reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and productivity tools for easier database creation, FileMaker Pro 11 makes using databases easier and quicker than ever, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2010
The new feature of Blackboard's communication platform lets teachers communicate easily with students' families - in their preferred language - helping to improve parent involvement and student engagement in the classroom, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Mar 2010
Every now and then, Mary Ann is seized by an idea or topic that really takes hold of her, piques her interest, and engenders new enthusiasm for learning and exploring. This year's big idea has been data visualization. She has discovered that she had been a fan of various presentations of data visualization without being aware of the term. Read and "see" what she's got to say about it in this month's Belltones.
An online learning community is a place designed to help users achieve learning goals of some sort through collaborative partnerships, including varying degrees of social networking and internet-based and computer-mediated communication. Charlie Doe takes a look this month at some of the more formal versions of online learning communities—often called learning management systems (LMSs)—which are usually developed by professors or teachers to achieve academic goals via web-based services.
In this age of easy access to Google, standardized testing, and AP curriculums, why should we teach research skills? Don't students "know everything" about research and the web? Hardly! Carolyn Foote has a lot to say about this, and even more about why teaching research skills counts for even more today than in the past. What we're striving for, she says, is student empowerment.
The advent of the internet and Web 2.0 has significantly changed our relationship to information and personal learning opportunities outside of formal education, notes author Steve Hargadon. The technology that took this amazing change and multiplied it tenfold is an underlying theme of Hargadon's article, which ranges across social networking, Web 2.0, the emergence of educational networking, and what he sees as the first real area of significant adoption for educational networking: professional development for educators.
The new program is designed to improve students' performance on the reading and math sections of the PSAT, ACT, and SAT exams.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2010
The announcement was made late last week, and Information Today, Inc.'s news editor, Paula Hane, spoke with execs and Gale and Questia, plus with analysts and others, to quickly put together a NewsLink Spotlight story on the subject.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 01 Feb 2010
For February 1, 2010: Want to create a list of high-quality children's literature or find out if a book has won an award? Search librarian Lisa Bartle's Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
This newest version of the online standards mastery program offers enhanced assessment, instruction, communication and collaboration tools to help schools maximize their return on investment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2010
With Time To Know, the teacher guides the class using an engaging curriculum that is integrated with tools for classroom management, planning, assessment, and collaboration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jan 2010
Under the agreement, FLVS will move all of its more than 100 courses to a fully hosted Blackboard Learn platform by the beginning of 2011.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Jan 2010
From the mechanics of writing and grammar to style and research, the Writer's Reference Center online covers the fundamentals of quality writing and provides vocabulary-building reference dictionaries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jan 2010
The new features are intended to help schools eliminate paper waste and conserve energy while saving money by offering parents more choices.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Jan 2010
With its new features, Learning Plans on Demand is a more powerful assessment tool that ties directly into hundreds of embedded tutorials for individualized learning, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jan 2010
The newest version of Inspiration's flagship software is designed to build 21st century communication and thinking skills, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jan 2010
People say it all the time: If you want to keep up in today's fast-moving world of technology, keep a kid around. In other words, just ask a Digital Native—someone who has grown up with computers and the internet. Well, Mary Ann believes that we can absolutely learn from our students, children, and even grandchildren. At the same time, though, she believes that adults need to be careful not to attribute more expertise and understanding to youngsters than is justified.
In a year's time, Charlie Doe's district has placed interactive whiteboards in about 30% of their elementary classrooms and, in doing so, has made interactive whiteboard technology the envy of the district. That sparked his interest, so for this roundup, he takes a brief look at several products that offer a variety of approaches, from full whiteboards to equipment that makes a standard dry-erase whiteboard become interactive.
Podcasting, a morph of the words "iPod" and "broadcast," was first coined by U.K. journalist Ben Hammersley. (In fact, it was declared to be 2005's Word of the Year by The New Oxford American Dictionary, edging out both "Sudoku" and "trans fat" for the philological nod.) The digital medium quickly found its way into the classroom, and why not? After all, it's free, easy, and accessible, and it has the ability to power up education for students from kindergarten to college.
According to the SIIA's Vision K-20 survey, the lowest level for its Five Measures of Progress is in the use of technology-based assessment tools, with an average score of just 46%. Clearly, there's room for improvement! And since knowing more about these tools is a good first step to using them to your advantage, Victor Rivero brings you a sampling of some of the more recent excellent products and services you may find useful when it comes to gaining much-needed assistance with assessment.
Susan Hixson takes a look at it's learning, an online learning platform for collaboration, planning, authoring, and the delivery of course materials and courses.
Charles Doe reviews the Read:OutLoud6 text reader from Don Johnston, Inc.
There is an economical way to introduce videoconferencing that involves inexpensive laptop computers and programs such as iChat, Skype, and ooVoo. A technology integration plan shared by a few pioneering districts in the author's area proves this point. Through it, schools have been able to make a serious commitment to the "new wave" of interactive technology at a minimal cost.
Ginger now works with Internet Explorer, enabling students to write with confidence online. In addition, Ginger features customizable settings, and progress reporting to track mistakes and illustrate student progress.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Dec 2009
Schools can now download updates to Netop School6 and Netop Vision6 classroom management software at www.netop.com/download.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Dec 2009
For December 15, 2009: Build a thematic unit by searching the Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University, a great tool for elementary teachers who want to create reading lists to complement the curriculum.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Dec 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
From Gary Price's ResourceShelf: An entry noting additions to the Association for Library Services to Children's list of recommended sites, Great Web Sites for Kids.
News/Free Resources - Posted 10 Dec 2009
Curriculum Correlations is a search tool designed to help educators and librarians select resources to meet state and national standards. Librarians can search it by state, subject, and grade to locate titles that align to state and federal standards in the areas of language arts, science, social studies, health, and physical education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Dec 2009
World Book’s new approach to reader’s theater provides educators a new tool for building reading fluency and content comprehension.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Nov 2009
Insight enables instructors to teach, monitor, and communicate with an entire class from one central computer. This latest version extends Insight's platform compatibilities, allowing teachers to run the console within the Mac OS X operating system.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Nov 2009
Joule features next-generation functionality, dedicated service, a growing partner program, and the open-source LMS Moodle at its core.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2009
MyVision Basic provides four essential tools for teaching with computers, so any teacher can supervise student computer work, share engaging on-screen demonstrations, instantly capture the attention of the class and control student internet access.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Nov 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews The September 11th Education Program: A National Interdisciplinary Curriculum, a seven-unit multimedia curriculum focused on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
The new Adobe Digital School Collection for K–12 students and educators provides a software bundle that includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, Adobe Premiere Elements 8, Adobe Contribute CS4, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, and Adobe Soundbooth CS4.
The new “clicker” device provides students with additional feedback during interactive polling via a small LCD screen.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Oct 2009
A provider of an enterprise learning management platform with open-source Moodle at its core, Moodlerooms plans to take all feedback it receives into consideration when planning for future developments.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2009
A recent story in the St. Petersburg Times focuses on how a local elementary school has embraced the "kids' technology" and is pressing iPods into service for teaching and learning in multiple ways.
News/Cool Links - Posted 15 Oct 2009
The virtual workspace is designed to give districts greater control of social media and allow educators to create and manage collaborative groups across classrooms, schools, districts, and around the globe
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Oct 2009
SchoolRooms gives students access from a single interface to library resources, online databases, and approved web content alongside new and past curriculum specifically created for SchoolRooms users. Version 3.0 features new administration tools that allow teachers and librarians to customize and adapt the product to meet the needs of students and parents.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Oct 2009
For October 1, 2009: Zoomify Express is a slick tool for webmasters who want to magnify content ... ideal for enhancing primary sources such as maps, documents, and photographs.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Oct 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The collection includes Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8 to help educators enhance teaching and learning of digital literacy skills, and now offers netbook compatibility support for Photoshop Elements 8 (Windows) and Adobe Photoshop Elements for the Mac platform.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2009
The comprehensive K-12+ program aligns academic skills for students with moderate to severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, to help special education and other teachers focus on standards-based learning for this group.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Sep 2009
For September 15, 2009: Want to make a rubric, but don't have time or need some assistance? At the Rubistar website, you can choose from a variety of templates and work through a ten-step process.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Looking at the world around us, it seems clear that digital photography and video are here to stay—and they should be used in K–12 education. Equipment prices have dropped significantly; cameras and other digital devices can be placed in students’ hands without concern. In this article, Charlie Doe takes a look at some of the possibilities for the classroom and media center.
Susan Hixson reviews Maps101.com, a subscription-based online resource that provides access to thousands of interactive maps, videos, animated timelines, educational games, and educator resources for teaching earth science, geography, history, and social studies.
RenderMan, the software used by Pixar Animation Studios to create Academy Award-winning animated films and visual effects, is now available in a variety of education editions with special pricing options.
Collaboration is one of the defining characteristics of the 21st century, but many educators are still searching for ways to embrace this idea in their schools. Some technologies facilitate the creation of a collaborative learning environment better than others, but there are a number of technology tools that can lead to collaborative student and teacher engagement while also addressing budgetary and infrastructure issues. This article offers suggestions for overcoming barriers using simple tools that foster complex thinking.
Two versions are planned: MyVision Free, which enables teachers to supervise student computer use and will be available for free download, and MyVision Basic, which features tools for guiding student learning on computers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2009
Now offering 35 languages in total, the updated language translation tool allows more than 1,000 language pairs to be made between educators and students worldwide. The expansion encourages teachers and students from all parts of the world to connect and collaborate without language barriers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Aug 2009
Pricing is based on school enrollment at the time of purchase, eliminating the expense and hassle of ordering more licenses when more computers are purchased.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Aug 2009
The collaboration is intended to promote the use of podcasting for both teaching and learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Aug 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews Discovery Education streaming Plus, a web-based subscription servce that offers digital content and a media resource library service.
The JourneyEd Academic eStore Network (AEN) provides access to more than 15,000 online stores offering thousands of top-tier software and technology products—including programs published by Microsoft and Adobe—at discounts of up to 85% of retail prices to verified education buyers.
Bergen, N.J., High School students win the Best-of-the-Best overall submission.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2009
The PBS Digital Learning Library will contain high-quality multimedia resources from PBS member stations and award-winning PBS broadcast programs, all aligned to national and local education standards and tagged for easy searching.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2009
Pinnacle Accelerated Learning offers districts a secure virtual learning environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jun 2009
StudyX is study-aid software that can be customized to tackle a range of subjects such as foreign languages, vocabulary words, science, history, medical and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2009
TurningTalk is a new social learning community for response technology users to provide an open forum for the discussion and sharing of ideas and teaching strategies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jun 2009
The list of educational websites can help kids avoid the "Summer Slide."
News/Free Resources - Posted 28 May 2009
The resources—websites offering a wide variety of content for all subjects in grades K-12—are presented by the nonprofit organization as it celebrates its eleventh anniversary.
News/Free Resources - Posted 01 May 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews eLibrary, a web-based collection of periodicals, images, learning resources, and teacher tools.
Charles Doe reviews PebbleGo, a program designed to introduce database skills and research concepts to students in grades K-2.
Saywire offers a combination of safe social technology and secure permission-based controls designed to provide “walled garden” social learning networks for K–12 education.
Tween's program is designed specifically for the sixth through eighth grade. Included are such skills as binder organization, using a planner, organizing a homework space, using a rubric, self-advocacy for middle school, remembering daily responsibilities, correcting poor homework habits, long term project management, and understanding grade averaging.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2009
The new version includes a Create Custom Resource tool, teacher and student communication tools, and enhanced batch enroll features.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Mar 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews World Book Student, the redesigned and upgraded version of the World Book Online Reference Center.
Susan Hixson reviews Learning Plans on Demand, an online program that provides teaching tools for differentiating instruction, constructs response assessments, and offers tutorials and practice activities.
The Learn360 video streaming service for K–12 education now offers a My Learn360 homepage designed to individualize the user experience for educators.
It’s a celebration of creative learning through technology. It’s a day filled with minds-on, hands-on, collaborative learning experiences. It’s a mini-Oscar event, complete with red carpet, lights, and paparazzi. It’s the 34th annual International Student Media Festival. Read all about it in Johanna Riddle's report.
Online “global classrooms” empower educators to leverage the power of social networking to create curriculum that is more interdisciplinary, more effective, and more relevant to students’ lives. The global classroom represents the future of learning—and the future is now! This article offers a nuts-and-bolts guide for developing a global classroom, using TakingITGlobal’s “virtual classroom” platform as a model. It begins by describing TakingITGlobal for Educators, or TIGed, and how it works; it then offers a step-by-step guide for educators who want to establish or modify their own online global classrooms.
We live in a Web 2.0 world where everyone is capable of creating content and sharing it, not just accessing what someone else has created and shared. Tools to create content are now readily and freely (or somewhat inexpensively) available to the general population. Content creation tools can aid in instruction and teaching, providing another avenue for students to access and learn material. Want some ideas and products to play/teach with? Read on as Karen Klapperstuck and Robert Lackie provide you with a great rundown and roundup.
Direct Instruction eSuite is a set of online tools designed to integrate technology into instruction to save daily planning time for teachers and increase student engagement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Feb 2009
Saywire offers a combination of safe social technology and secure permission-based controls designed to provide “walled garden” social learning networks for K-12 schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Feb 2009
Study Island rolls out integration with Turning Technologies Response Technology to provide instant assessment of student learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Feb 2009
Through new partnership with The School Improvement Network, PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection will soon feature content from PD 360 and The Video Journal of Education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Feb 2009
The student response provider rolls out comprehensive consulting services and expanded professional development programs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Feb 2009
For February 1, 2009: Through Government Information Online (GIO) you can ask questons of government information librarians who are experts at finding information from government agencies of all levels on almost any subject.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The print-on-demand library of thousands of activities across the PreK–6+ school curriculum marks its third year by offering school-site subscriptions that provide educators with the resources they need to support the varied needs of today’s students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2009
Paul Riismandel has written about Adobe's new eLearning Suite over on Information Today, Inc.'s Streamingmedia.com web site. Good insights. Useful tools. Follow the links. (From Information Today, Inc.'s Streamingmedia.com)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 23 Jan 2009
“My Portfolio” allows educators to collaborate and share digital resources at school and district levels.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jan 2009
The new Adobe K-12 Student Licensing Program offers students, teachers and staff at K-12 institutions in the U.S. and Canada the opportunity to purchase Adobe creative software at up to 80 percent off the original software price.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jan 2009
PBS Teachers Activity Packs enable educators to find and use multimedia instructional resources and activities in the classroom and save to their web sites and social network pages.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jan 2009
The proprietary software will provide a superior ebook experience more responsive to the needs of library customers and their increasing use of ebooks, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Jan 2009
kidthing and the National Education Association (NEA) extended the submission deadline for the “Dear Mr. President” project to Jan. 27, 2009.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Jan 2009
For January 15, 2009: Gadgets and widgets are small applications that can be pasted on individual Web pages or a computer desktop. Visit Widgetbox to find hundreds of widgets already created and ready to go.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
With the theme "The World is Your Stage," students can submit entries using Adobe applications in three categories: Web Design and Development, Film and Video, and Graphic and Print Design.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Jan 2009
Chancery SMS 6.7 includes several key enhancements to five major functional areas including permanent records; health immunizations; elementary school attendance; security; and its customization framework.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jan 2009
With the launch of PowerTeacher 1.5, the software is now available for integrated use with Chancery SMS - Pearson's SIS solution designed specifically to meet the needs of larger K-12 districts - in addition to use with PowerSchool Premier.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2009
Most likely, your students discovered YouTube a couple of years ago. You and your teacher colleagues probably have too by now—hence those silly video emails saved in your inbox. Did you know that you can use video in schools and libraries to enhance teaching and learning? This article provides an overview of the web video phenomenon: what it is; why it’s great for teachers, librarians, and students; what tools you need; and a bit of how-to as well.
Charles Doe takes a look at Teachscape XL, a Web-based digital database with a search engine and tools to create learning materials.
Susan Hixson reviews Type to Learn 4, a keyboarding program designed for K-12 students at a variety of skill levels.
Greenovation, a sustainable lighting system upgrade with a companion curriculum, turns the classroom itself into a teaching tool.
Today’s students are truly digital learners. Outside of school they are texting, using cell phones, creating social networks on the internet, and playing interactive games online; they often do all of these things at the same time—multitasking. They expect to use some of these tools when they are in school. Teachers can create new learning opportunities for students and turn classrooms into the 21st-century global classroom when they integrate technology into the learning environment. Read on to learn from Sheila Gersh just how teachers can begin to create such environments.
H.W. Wilson announced the electronic and print publication of the “Tenth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators,” the newest volume in the series designed to acquaint readers with the creators of outstanding young adult and children’s books.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Dec 2008
Kurzweil Educational Systems released Kurwzeil 3000 Version 11 USB, a new edition designed to provide portable access to Kurzweil 3000.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Dec 2008
Professional development content from Just ASK Publications & Professional Development will be incorporated into PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Dec 2008
danah boyd, an internationally recognized authority on online social networking sites, will open the American Association of School Librarians 14th annual national conference and exhibition with a keynote presentation on Nov. 5, 2009 in Charlotte, NC.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2008
Canvastic.NET is the first online version of the company’s publishing solution for students and teachers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Dec 2008
The new title Sunburst’s series individualizes keyboarding instruction for students in grades K to 12 and increases practice time with access from the home.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Nov 2008
The TriCaster DUO is designed to enable elementary and middle schools to produce network-style live television newscasts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Nov 2008
Google Apps Education Edition offers a variety of email, calendar, and collaboration tools directly from a computer browser.
Alice Kurtz reviews Timeliner XE, a software program designed to organize data into visual multimedia diagrams such as timelines, sequences, and cycles.
Charles Doe reviews School Loop Standard, a Web-based software program for Web site creation and management.
Resources or tools that facilitate elementary classroom processes but aren’t major curriculum or textbook components can take at least three forms: tools that help teachers with their daily work; materials (software or electronics) that can be used for learning centers with individual students or small groups of learners; and online or electronic materials and software that support the curriculum or help teaching in some other way. This article takes a look at a few examples of new technology-based possibilities for elementary education. Several of the items mentioned here can be used across grades K–12, but they are well-worth considering in an elementary resources context.
With Web 2.0, the number and functionality of fee-based and free interactive electronic resources available for K–12 classrooms have grown and changed tremendously in the last 5 years. In this article, the sixth in Robert Congleton's series of reviews, he looks at four websites he found particularly notable for the interactive programs they offer. These are programs that can be integrated into K–12 classrooms either as part of the curriculum or as learning supplements. One is a fee-based database while the others are free to use but require user registration.
Galeschools.com is hosting Monster Vote 2008, an exercise designed to help students understand the election process and a contest offering one lucky class a chance to win a set of Monsters books from KidHaven Press.
News/Cool Links - Posted 24 Oct 2008
For October 15, 2008: Money and financial planning. Too boring for kids, right? NOT! Have them blast off to Planet Orange to explore the world of money.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Discovery Education recently launched New Teacher Survival Central, a new Web site and partnership with Walden University, mimio, Adobe Systems, Inc., Elmer’s Products, Inc., and CDW-G.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Oct 2008
SAM Learning, publisher of Web-based curriculum for high school exit exam prep, now offers science content in biology, chemistry, and physics for SAM Learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2008
Welcome to Banned Books Week—Sept. 27 to Oct. 4, 2008.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2008
The American Association of School Librarians and the Children’s Book Council released the names of the contributors selected for the AASL Knowledge Quest journal’s “Meet the Author/Illustrator” column during the 2008-2009 school year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2008
The new curriculum and licensing programs will enhance access to Adobe’s design and development software, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Sep 2008
The company’s books for teaching with InspireData feature lesson plans on compelling topics, mapped to standards, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Sep 2008
The new Kidspiration lesson plan book aims to help teachers use visual learning to build young learners’ writing skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Sep 2008
Educational publisher ETA/Cuisenaire is honoring International Literacy Day (Sept. 8) with month-long access to free resources from its new WorldScapes Global Issues book series.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Sep 2008
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) presents an “Introduction to Geocaching” Webinar on Sept. 24.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2008
Greg Notess, internet columnist for Information Today, Inc.’s ONLINE magazine, is on top of the launch—beta launch, that is—of Google’s Chrome. What, why, what’s it like … ? Here's how to get to his report. (From Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 11 Sep 2008
Inspiration Software offers a free Web cast on Oct. 16 at noon Pacific time (3 p.m. Eastern time) titled “Analyzing Close Presidential Races with InspireData: How Might a Different Winner Have Changed History?”
News/Free Resources - Posted 11 Sep 2008
Teachers' Domain is a digital library of free media online resources for teachers, and online professional development courses created by public television station WGBH.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Sep 2008
Champion of IDEAS Blue Level, the second part of Ballard & Tighe’s Champion of IDEAS program, is now available for intermediate English language instruction in middle and high schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Sep 2008
In the July/August issue of MMIS, Kelly Czarnecki started her "tour of the possibilities" of using virtual environments in K-12 education with a look at two projects based on/in Teen Second Life—Science in Second Life, and Suffern Middle School in Second Life. Here's the rest of the tour, visting Whyville, the River City Project, Quest Atlantis, and McClarin's Adventures.
From using Twitter to encourage short story writing to utilizing Delicious to organize professional development tips and favorite articles, the number of social networking tools and websites is increasing exponentially. We know educators use these 21st-century tools with students in all grade levels. The question remains, however, whether and how these tools might be used to positively affect student understanding and achievement. "Yes," says ePals' Tim DiScipio, "these tools, when chosen thoughtfully, implemented appropriately, and combined with innovative pedagogy through internet-connected communities, can teach students the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st century and expand their ability to communicate and collaborate in a global marketplace." Read on, learn more!
Sally Finley reviews the NXT Sensor Adapter, a device that enables a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotics system to use sensor-based controls.
Charles Doe reviews the Bamboo Fun Pen Tablet, a computer input device.
Charles Doe reviews Animation-ish, a computer program designed to help students create animations.
Susan Hixson reviews an online test prep program for the SAT.
ABC-CLIO offers a new free online History & the Headlines resource, “Presidential Elections: In History & Today.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 29 Aug 2008
To mark the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, youth leaders for Global Kids, Inc. have created an online community and game in conjunction with Game Pill, Inc., AMD, and Microsoft Corp.’s Partners in Learning where young people can engage in and experience the ongoing relief efforts in New Orleans.
News/Free Resources - Posted 27 Aug 2008
Version 3.5 continues and expands on the concept that software tools our students use to publish should be flexible. Teachers can customize their students' work environments even further than before.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Aug 2008
NoodleTools has announced that through a partnership with Pearson Education, its NoodleBib citation and notetaking program has been seamlessly integrated into the new version Pearson’s MyCompLab writing instruction environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Aug 2008
The H.W. Wilson Company is launching Essay and General Literature Index Retrospective: 1900-1984, a new resource that cites tens of thousands of essays from anthologies and other sources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Aug 2008
The MyLibraryPlus component enables schools and districts to manage, upload, organize and deliver a growing library of digital assets.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jul 2008
Pearson’s SuccessMaker combines research-based lessons with engaging animations to meet all students’ needs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jul 2008
LEGO Education WeDo encourages teachers to issue curriculum-based challenges for students to solve. Working in teams, children invent their own solution by building a LEGO model and programming it to perform a certain task.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jul 2008
The credit recovery program provides schools with affordable, flexible options while enabling students to make up credits and progress toward graduation, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jul 2008
The new version of LanSchool classroom management software improves teacher control through USB limiting and keystroke monitoring.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jul 2008
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) releases the second edition of National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T) this month.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jul 2008
Tool Factory now includes its newest book, Adventures in Podcasting: Incredible Lesson Plans for Your Classroom, to the Tool Factory Podcasting Kit.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Jul 2008
At a time when the K–12 market is undergoing rapid growth in the adoption and utilization of digital learning systems like online textbooks, ThinkCentral offers middle and high schools a powerful LMS previously unavailable to secondary schools, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jul 2008
Elluminate Plan! enables educators to pre-package teaching content and interactive activities for use during teacher-led instruction in real time on the internet.
Alice Kurtz takes a look at two new web sites from the Library of Congress.
The 2007 edition of the Horizon Report by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative predicted that in 2 to 3 years, virtual worlds will greatly impact teaching, learning, and creative expression. These scalable and highly creative environments are being used by educators all over the country in a variety of settings and in a variety of ways. This article offers a look at projects using virtual worlds that are currently “happening” in K–12 schools, what we’re learning from them, and what we can continue to learn by charging full steam ahead with these fascinating educational tools.
Years ago, CyberBee began scouting the internet for content that was informative, engaging, and aligned with national standards, in 1996 becoming a column for MultiMedia & Internet@Schools magazine and a website for teachers. CyberBee thought it would be fitting to revisit some of the great websites that you may have missed over the past few years. There should be plenty of ideas to help you plan your lessons for the new school year.
If there’s a refrain Stephen Abram hears too often, it’s that many of us feel it’s impossible to keep up and learn all this new stuff in technology and learning. So he has devoted this month’s column to a few sites that he finds useful to quickly orient himself to some of the Web 2.0 technologies. Even when he has already played with or experienced some of these tools, he says, he always learns something new from these sites.
Storyboarding--the graphic organization of a story's arc using pictures or illustrations--is one of the great skills to learn. In a storyboard, the pictures are displayed visually in order to present the line of the story or the events you want to present. It's a powerful way to visualize and understand the ultimate experience of your story, whether it ends up in print, comic, game, or film format. And it is just made for learners of any age, as well as being a great skill for the marketplace. Want to learn more? Read Stephen Abram's Pipeline this month!
Susan Hixson reviews Kidspiration 3, the latest version of the cross-curricular visual learning program for grades K-5.
Imagine if textbooks were alive … living, changing, evolving, and improving … never out-of-date! … a textbook that would give students images, videos, and interactive tutorials about a subject, a vocabulary word, or a topic … a digital textbook that would be student-driven, a model for differentiated learning, and geared toward helping all students learn through visualization, interaction, and simulation. In the age of Web 2.0, all this and much more is possible. And it’s all at our students’ fingertips with just a click of a button. Welcome to the “Age of the Wikitext!”
Teachers have been looking for alternatives to standard written book reports and other student reports for years, often combining them with art projects for more visual presentations. Some exciting new possibilities have been created as a result of more powerful computers, increased internet use, the development of inexpensive digital and video cameras, new software, and other technologies. Read Charles Doe’s latest “Look At … ” report to learn more.
Bookshare.org and Don Johnston, Inc. are participating in a partnership to provide qualified print disabled students with a free text reader to access electronic books from the Bookshare.org library, beginning in September 2008.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Mar 2008
ISTE releases new books on RSS and PowerPoint with an educator perspective.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Mar 2008
Sally Finley reviews LabQuest, a handheld data collection tool that can be used as a stand-alone device or a computer interface.
The new Teacher One Stop offers documents, tools, and multimedia files with search capabilities, technologies, and resources designed to streamline and simplify educators’ planning activities.
Geocaching, using GPS technology, is loads of fun, and it offers lots of educational opportunities as well. Yes, even in the media center. Media specialists are good at making curricular connections, and, says Mary Alice Anderson, the curriculum connections with geocaching are easy to see. Don't believe it?? Read and learn.
In this article, Aline Soules discusses some current options for media specialists who want to adopt elearning tools and makes some suggestions about how to keep up … because, as she notes, "the pointers that will help you today will be old hat tomorrow and obsolete the day after."
Students can easily overlook websites that aren’t filled with often changing content. Do you think you’re too busy to devote time and effort to attract users to the great resources available on your library website? If you can simply copy and paste, think again! With no coding skills you can set up your websites to continually display fresh content. Read how in Aaron Schmidt's article.
Adobe Systems Incorporated is seeking entries for the Adobe School Innovation Awards recognizing the creative and innovative work of high school students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Feb 2008
Three new topics will be added this spring to ABC-CLIO’s History and the Headlines collection of free online resources.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Feb 2008
The updated Print-Limit Pro 8.0 facilitates management of printing costs through its enhanced monitoring and management tools. In addition, it provides users with a personal environmental impact statement, designed to help them think before they hit “print.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Feb 2008
The company's new EasyTech lessons and activities support middle school students to learn critical skills in blogs, podcasts, online communicating and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2008
The upgrade of Kidspiration features new visual math tools and enhanced capabilities for building literacy skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Feb 2008
SMART Technologies announced the addition of 100 SMART-created lesson activities to the Curriki global education and learning community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing free education materials.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2008
The solution is highlighted by new partnerships with key educational technology companies, including Futurekids, Inc., 8e6 Technologies, Promethean, and RM Educational Software, that broaden CDW-G’s offerings.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jan 2008
John Drag, Jr., a reviewer for MultiMedia & Internet @Schools magazine, will be working near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq for the next 12 months.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2008
The new collaborative web-authoring tool enables students to create sophisticated web projects.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2008
The new Teacher One Stop, containing documents, tools, and multimedia, comes on a DVD. It builds on the One Stop Planner’s strengths and adds numerous technologies, search capabilities, and new resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jan 2008
Vernier Software & Technology offers free hands-on workshops designed to help educators learn ways to integrate computer and handheld data collection technology into any science or math curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 23 Jan 2008
ProQuest is adding streaming video and slideshows to CultureGrams Online.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2008
The Princeton Review holds free SAT Strategy Session events in the virtual world of Second Life on Jan. 19 and Jan. 31.
News/Free Resources - Posted 18 Jan 2008
Digication Inc., a provider of e-Portfolios, announced that it has partnered with Davis Publications, a provider of art education textbooks, to combine e-Portfolios and Web 2.0 technologies with the content found in traditional textbooks. (From Information Today, Inc.’s EContentmag.com)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 11 Jan 2008
As you can tell, this article in Slate online has little good to say about Yahoo's answer service. It's a good read!
News/Cool Links - Posted 07 Jan 2008
The VideoSpin application is for all consumers and will especially attract users who don't want to spend much time creating movies, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Jan 2008
Educational video publisher School Specialty Media offers its new online Learn360 video streaming service for K-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2008
Finding just the right book that will grab a student's interest is like looking for Waldo. Tracking down books that correlate with specific curriculum areas and topics for study can be daunting. What is a library media specialist to do? Use every tool in your arsenal as well as lessons and booklists that have already been prepared and are just waiting to be uncovered by the savvy searcher. This collection of websites will serve as a starting point in your quest to recommend the best books to meet the needs of students and teachers.
RSS allows you to keep up with just about anything that you want to on the web. If you want to stay focused on the latest blog posts on the effect of global warming, RSS can help. If you just want to be updated whenever The New York Times publishes its latest book review, RSS can help. And, if you want to know when the next Dave Barry column appears, RSS can help. The greatest part of RSS is that it can do all of this in one place, without your needing to parade all over the web looking for the new content. RSS is a continuously updated customized online newspaper, and it can not only help you in locating new information (in fact, the content comes to you, not vice versa), but it can help you do it in a quarter of the time.
Remember folder games and puzzles? Teachers have always used instructional aids of one kind or another to supplement instruction, such as calculators in Math class, games, puzzles, math aids, and other devices for small group or individual work. In recent years, computers and computer-related electronics such as MP3 players, hand-held devices, keyboards, projectors, whiteboards, and a diverse collection of additional electronic instructional aids have become available. Charlie Doe's Look At ... roundup this month sorts these supplemental electronics into categories and describes an array of them for your information.
Rhonda Clevenson reviews GeoSafari Quiz Bowl, an interactive electronic educational game that simulates a television game show in the classroom.
Susan Hixson reviews Knowledge Adventure Activity Builder, an online teacher tool.
Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, founded Sally Ride Science in 2001 to create programs and products designed to educate, entertain, engage, and inspire.
The American Library Association (ALA) will provide a free live Webcast of its national announcement of the top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults—including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, and Printz awards—on Jan. 14 at 7:45 a.m., eastern time.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Dec 2007
ABC-CLIO expands its free online resources with “History and Headlines: Chronicling Despair and Hope in Darfur.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 Dec 2007
Three winners will receive an Interwrite Makeover and prizes valued at more than $15,000.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Dec 2007
For December 1, 2007: Since 1996, B. J. Pinchbeck and his dad have maintained and regularly updated his Homework Helper website for students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
The data analysis and decision support tool, paired with a student information system, gives districts a powerful solution for using data to improve student achievement, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Nov 2007
MediaWorks 6.2 updates the budget multimedia authoring package previously known as MovieWorks Deluxe with Intel Mac and Windows Vista compatibility.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Nov 2007
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, invites librarians to showcase their creativity and their library’s technology resources in a “Create Your Own Avatar” contest.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Nov 2007
Tool Factory will choose four winners for the Tool Factory Podcasting Grants program on December 30, 2007. Each will receive a free site license to Tool Factory Podcasting and all of the digital media accessories needed to start a school podcasting program.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Nov 2007
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) launched its first Digital Institute, “Minding Your Students’ Future,” as part of the AASL e-Academy online offerings.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Nov 2007
Sally Finley reviews Tool Factory Podcasting, a Windows-based program that provides the tools needed to create and publish podcasts.
Charles Doe reviews a DVD-based program designed to illustrate editing techniques and principles.
Susan Hixson reviews Rapid Resources, an online teacher's tool for differentiating instruction.
Charles Doe reviews the tool package that includes Encarta Premium, Encarta Kids, Microsoft Math, Learning Essentials and more.
The Radiosophy HD100 is an HD radio receiver and digital AM/FM clock radio developed and distributed by a team of former Gateway Computer employees.
The ClassMate Reader enables students to listen to an audio version of textbooks and study materials while following the highlighted text on screen.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2007
IntelliPath's technology allows districts to create individual learning paths aligned to state standards, research-driven strategies, and existing resources, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Oct 2007
Literature Criticism Online provides access to hundreds of volumes from 10 Gale literary series.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Sep 2007
The new lesson collection for grades 4-12 is designed to help teachers use InspireData in science, mathematics, and social studies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2007
The photo and video software feature new levels of integration and creativity.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Sep 2007
ABC-CLIO expands its free “History and the Headlines” online resources with “Double Victory—Minorities and Women During World War II,” material designed to support the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS/WETA documentary, “The War.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Sep 2007
FileMaker Pro Basics provides a comprehensive downloadable set of free training materials designed to help K-12 educators learn the essentials of creating FileMaker Pro databases.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Sep 2007
Resourceshelf's Senior Editor Shirl Kennedy compiled and annotated an awesome collection of education resources largely from government Web sites in the September 20, 2007 version of the Resource of the Week article she does.
News/Cool Links - Posted 20 Sep 2007
HippoCampus, supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is an Open Education Resource (OER), part of a worldwide collaborative effort of academic institutions and educators to make quality education available for everyone.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Sep 2007
InspireData 1.5 is the first update to Inspiration Software’s InspireData program designed to help students in grades 4-12 explore and understand data.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2007
Three winners will receive an Interwrite Makeover by creating a music video of the song of their choice, plus prizes valued at more than $15,000
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Sep 2007
The Sally Ride Science blog features a series of science-themed entries designed to help elementary and middle school teachers illustrate real-world applications of science concepts and spark classroom discussions.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Sep 2007
For September 1, 2007: The MY HERO project encourages families, schools, and organizations to publicly honor heroes that have made a difference through words, images, and short films.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
Charles Doe reviews TeacherFilebox.com, an online collection of instructional resources for PreK-6 educators.
Susan Hixson reviews World Book Advanced, designed for use in high school and beyond. This database also has been used successfully in middle schools.
ProQuest’s African Writers Series offers a digital collection of key texts in 20th century African literature.
While our students might be able to click through Web sites with ease and change the layouts of their MySpace profiles in the blink of an eye, there are still many things we can teach them about the read/write Web. There are also many ways we can teach our students using the read/write Web. Underlying these opportunities is the possibility to use the read/write Web to discuss the issues of authorship, authenticity, and the production of information—all topics for rich discussions of information literacy. This article provides a review of some of the best online tools you can use to excite teachers and to prepare students to be active agents in today’s participatory culture.
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) e-Academy will offer five continuing education programs starting on October 1.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Aug 2007
The new content integrations further advance the means in which school administrators, teachers, students and parents stay connected.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2007
The teacher Web site offers free printable lesson plans and quizzes by grade, plus new Harry Potter activities.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Aug 2007
Print-Limit Pro 7.3 updates the print management software package with a personal environmental impact statement designed to help users think before they hit the Print button.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Aug 2007
H.W. Wilson launched Applied Science & Technology Index Retrospective: 1913 – 1983, a database of historical content from the H.W. Wilson references Applied Science & Technology Index and Industrial Arts Index.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Aug 2007
For August 15, 2007: At Personal Educational Press, create free educational worksheets such as flashcards, game boards, and quizzes to print directly from your browser.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
Don Johnston, Inc. and the Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd) are co-sponsors of the “Moving Forward with Technology” free Webinar series covering a variety of technology-related topics.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Aug 2007
Elsevier is the newest publishing partner on Gale Virtual Reference Library and the 38th publisher with content housed on Gale’s enhanced platform for delivering electronic reference materials as eBooks.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Aug 2007
PracticePlanet offers an online test practice system that models standardized tests, giving students practice opportunities designed to develop confidence for annual testing.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jul 2007
For July 15, 2007: Personal Educational Press lets you create free educational worksheets such as flashcards, game boards, and quizzes to print directly from your browser.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jul 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
Adobe's new video software lets students and educators create TV-quality broadcasts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jul 2007
The National Air and Space Museum offers a variety of classroom resources, including online activities and teaching materials, designed for use in learning across the curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Jul 2007
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History offers a free online slide show titled “Wilberforce, Lincoln, and the Abolition of Slavery” and other online resources for teachers and students.
News/Free Resources - Posted 07 Jul 2007
Cables, adapters, and memory cards disappear; batteries run low at inopportune times; and busy teachers quickly borrow a camera from another classroom "just for a second" to take advantage of a photo opp. Digital photographers excited about creating photo-filled classroom Web pages come to work sessions with a camera incompatible with the computer's software or without the necessary connecting cable. It seems that no technology has caused more management hassles than digital cameras. Well, if you've got such problems—and who doesn't?—Mary Alice Anderson's got answers!
Blogs, wikis, social software, Web 2.0—it’s not really about the technologies but about the method of collaboration between users that presents some of the more interesting advantages. The goal of authors Robert Lackie and Robert Terrio in this article is to continue the discussions of practical Web 2.0 tools and social networking sites that have been brought up in this magazine and at recent school librarian conferences and to highlight other collaborative tools and exciting developments in free Web 2.0 social software, items they categorize as “Useful Collaborative Tools” and “Practical Mashups”—both very exciting and practical for today’s teacher-librarian!
Charles Doe reviews the Radius Audio Learning System, a hardware product that plays CD-ROMs and reads digital activity cards to process information and student responses.
Alice Kurtz reviews a mutidisciplinary program containing the award-winning documentary "When the Levees Broke" and a companion curriculum guide.
Educational videoconferencing has come a long way over the years. It started out very slowly, and, in recent years, there has been a burst of interest on the part of museums and zoos in providing their educational programs via this medium. As schools find it more difficult and more expensive to take their students on physical field trips, students are missing out on the phenomenal resources that these cultural institutions have to offer. When gas prices began to rise, local museums found that even schools in the neighborhood were unwilling to spend their precious fuel budgets bussing students off-site. Those in the museum community chose to take this as a sign that they should begin to promote their distance learning efforts.
Improvements to the wireless classroom pad include new design and software.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jun 2007
Thomson Gale announced that Literature Resource Center has been significantly enhanced by the first major update made since the program’s launch 10 years ago.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jun 2007
“Blue Vinyl: The World’s First Toxic Comedy,” a documentary directed by Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold, takes a charming look at a chilling situation with worldwide implications.
News/Cool Links - Posted 26 May 2007
The program addresses digital video editing for students at all levels of editing expertise from grades 6-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 May 2007
This enhanced version of the email newsletter service delivers a more intuitive user experience while also offering a more extensive array of customization options to library administrators, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 May 2007
Used in concert with an Interwrite Board, Pad, Panel, or student response system, Workspace provides teachers the means to interact with any form of digital content, while engaging their students in novel new ways, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 May 2007
Through the free two-month pilot program, schools can install Canvastic on every computer they own and test it with every student for up to 60 days.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 May 2007
Sally Finley reviews InspireData, database software focused on the concepts of visual learning and data literacy.
Charles Doe's Look At ... this month surveys software that includes student management systems featuring record keeping, scheduling, and other similar tasks; teacher evaluations; online learning environments; communications (usually email); grades and grade books; reporting; and more.
Traditionally, we have defined literacy as the ability to read and write. However, 21st-century literacy has moved beyond that into the realm of possessing the critical-thinking skills necessary to delve into information or data and figure out what it really means. Students need the ability to synthesize and evaluate data and to create new information and knowledge after they have determined its quality. To prepare our students to be informed, successful citizens, we must teach them to see beyond numbers and simple functions. They must have the skills to evaluate and analyze the data put before them. In other words, they must also be data-literate. Dr. Glenda Gunter offers strategies for building data literacy and a great deal more in her article.
Technology is playing a key role in various types of communication within the classroom today, changing the way communication takes place in a way that is having a real impact on learning. A different breed of technology, leveraging the power of simplistic Web 2.0 design principles, is proving to finally break through with a real impact on students and teachers. Technology such as online learning communities is proving to offer a more dynamic learning experience, with direct benefit to students and teachers. It’s a refreshing change for educators who have struggled with the complexity, cost, and practicality of the last generation of technology tools.
The new Critical Thinking module of Thomson Gale’s Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center offers activities, assessments, and tools that encourage students to interact with, argue about, and analyze issues and concepts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2007
TeacherFileBox.com, a subscription-based print-on-demand library, provides 7,000 supplemental learning activities across the elementary school curriculum, from Pre-K through grade 6.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Apr 2007
The new licensing, certification, and curriculum programs for primary and secondary schools will make it easier for schools to deploy Adobe’s new offering of integrated design and development tools into the curriculum.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Apr 2007
A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation will make Spike Lee’s HBO Hurricane Katrina documentary and a companion curriculum available at no cost for use by high school, college and community educators.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Apr 2007
This month, ngm.com examines the global fishing crisis from a number of perspectives.
News/Free Resources - Posted 01 Apr 2007
Made up of six new software configurations, the new Creative Suite 3 includes Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Design Standard editions; Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Web Standard editions; and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2007
The integration is scheduled for May 2007 with the release of the DyKnow Vision and Monitor software versions 5.0.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Mar 2007
The podcasting software combines a scripting tool, sound recorder, easy uploading, and built-in broadcasting, all into one interface.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Mar 2007
The new version of the integrated writing, graphics and publishing tool for students in grades K-8 includes dozens of new features and refinements.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Mar 2007
AutoSkill International now offers an optional SpanishTutor module for its Academy of MATH intervention software.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Mar 2007
PBS Teachers offers thousands of free lesson plans, local and national educator resources, teacher professional development, videos, blogs, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Mar 2007
Susan Hixson reviews WebLesssons, an online multimedia resource that replaces the typical browser window with a student learning path.
Three new GenevaLogic Vision Kits provide individual classrooms and entire schools with classroom management tools for effective computer teaching.
Moving right along, Charlie switches from last issue's Look At ... Elementary-Level Software and Webware to secondary-level materials this time ... "everything from exciting new software for video-editing tasks that weren’t really possible in high schools 20 years ago to extraordinary subscription databases," plus "Web-based courseware that is becoming larger and larger in scope, more sophisticated assessment tools, and some programs with intriguing electronic delivery methods."
In the world of education, writes Stephen Abram in this month's Pipeline, "the best path is to start by asking ourselves a simple question: ‘What will [our students'] world look like?'" Walling tools and components of the Internet—which will be a part of their world—out of our schools doesn't sound to Stephen like following the best path. So, being an affirmative fellow, he offer a turnaround policy!
HP and Scholastic offer a new curriculum titled “Get in the Technology Loop,” designed to teach students in grades 4-6 about environmental responsibility.
News/Free Resources - Posted 27 Jan 2007
Mac teachers can instantly asses their students’ knowledge with the integration of InterWrite PRS
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2007
By Kids For Kids Co. (BKFK) and Mattel are partnering for the third annual “Invent-A-Toy” World Games competition for youngsters ages 5-19.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Jan 2007
CoffeeCup Software, Inc., a Web authoring Internet software company, has announced the availability of their Educational Software Package, a free suite of five top-selling Windows applications that helps educators teach their students how to make Websites.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2007
The National Geographic Web site, Ngm.com/, explores a variety of subjects--and many corners of the world--in the month of January.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jan 2007
The teacher resource book provides over 50 curriculum-aligned lessons to accompany the activity files included in the software programs Scholastic Keys and MaxData.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Jan 2007
Sally Finley takes a look at the Super Size Me: Educationally Enhanced DVD, a combination of the award-winning documentary and interactive learning features for students in grades 6-12.
Charles Doe reviews WriteBrain, a Web-based multimedia writing program.
An online product designed for younger users, English-language learners, and reluctant readers, World Book Kid offers simple navigation, easy to read content, bright colors, and bold graphics.
Mindful of the safety and security issues surrounding social networking, Stephen Abram nontheless has plenty of good to say about the popular phenomenon. In this month's Pipeline, he talks about, and guides readers to resources about, positiveeducational uses of social networking.
Podcasting is emerging as one of those technological diamonds in the rough that has the potential to reshape the way we look at the Internet, mass media, and ourselves. With a multimedia computer, easy-to-use recording software, and some storage space on the Internet, everyone can build a podcasting production center of their very own. Podcasting is headed for a classroom near you, so read Dan Schmit's feature to be ready for it!
Thomson Gale is supporting National Poetry Month (April) with Poet’s Corner, a free Web site.
News/Free Resources - Posted 30 Dec 2006
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, announced the launch of a new open discussion list, YA-MUSIC.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Dec 2006
H. W. Wilson has added approximately 62,000 images to its Art Museum Image Gallery database, an art image reference source on the WilsonWeb database service.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Dec 2006
EBSCO Publishing introduced a new way for users to learn about EBSCOhost interface enhancements.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Dec 2006
For December 1, 2006: Fact Monster, a great, free research, homework help, and just plain fun site from Information Please, provides loads of features targeted to students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
Califone International, Inc. launched the USB Jackbox, the first jackbox with microphone inputs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Nov 2006
An online version of the American Film Institute’s (AFI) K-12 screen education program, “LIGHTS, CAMERA, EDUCATION!,” is now available on Discovery’s unitedstreaming service.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Nov 2006
The online Sagebrush Education bookstore at www.sagebrushbooks.com/ now offers titles aligned to state curriculum standards in all 50 states for the core subject areas of Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Nov 2006
Don Johnston, the founder and leader of the multimedia company that bears his name, has written an autobiography designed to inspire struggling students to become self-learning advocates and to take charge of their own learning process.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Nov 2006
Reviewer Sally Finley takes a look at Blue Zones: Quest for the True Fountain of Youth, the latest online exploration from Questmaster Dan Buettner.
Stephen Abram offers more tricks to build information fluency in the second of his columns on the subject, this time offering teaching/learning ideas based on MySpace, Second Life, Teen Second Life, Activeworlds, OPAC or Web treasure hunts, and game show Web sites.
A mystifying or vague buzzword to many, Web 2.0 was made fashionable in late 2004 by O'Reilly Media, the foremost publisher of computer technology books and a leader in cutting edge online technology conferences. This article will provide an introduction to Web 2.0 for libraries and will also attempt to bring to light a few notable, free Web-based interactive communication tools that can help librarians and other educators seamlessly access, create, organize, and disseminate information for their library, themselves, colleagues, and friends. The resources mentioned and the references and recommended readings provided should bring librarians up-to-speed on little-known and newer techniques, tools, and thinking on this crucial topic.
SIFA has also released its first version of the SIF Web Service Reporting Specification, version 1.0.
News/Breaking News - Posted 31 Oct 2006
Washington Post staff writer Yuki Noguchi takes a look at MySpace and other online teen social sites in this article in the Sunday, October 29, edition of the newspaper.
News/Cool Links - Posted 30 Oct 2006
The latest version of InterWrite PRS software now supports over 14 global languages; is compatible with Windows, MAC OS X, Intel MAC, and Linux; and showcases a new user interface making it easier for educators to use PRS “clickers” and software to receive student feedback and assess comprehension of a subject matter.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Oct 2006
On October 11, Google very quietly launched Google for Educators, a site that pulls together access to and, in a sense, annotates a whole bunch of Google features, tools, and resources in a way that will make them easier for educators to find, understand, and use for teaching purposes. Read all about it!
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Oct 2006
MaxData is designed to teach students all aspects of data handling, from the first steps of simple representation of data, to learning database concepts such as fields, field types, records, tables, and filters.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Oct 2006
The collection brings together four software applications: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0, Adobe Contribute 4, and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional software, and curriculum and training materials for teachers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Oct 2006
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) unveiled a new Web-based science toolbox, the Coral Ecosystem SciGuide for grades 9-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Oct 2006
The free classroom program allows teachers, kids, and parents to explore blogging, messaging, and private social networking while having fun and connecting safely online, according to the announcement.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Sep 2006
New this fall will be expanded textbook-aligned content, enhanced reference resources, and more videos, including Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Sep 2006
The free online resource enables educators to understand student concerns and
areas for administrative growth, according to the Zoomerang announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Sep 2006
The upgraded edition of TechKnowledge, the online interactive technology literacy program for students in PreK-6th grade, offers a variety of new features.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Sep 2006
The SchoolRooms online portal and a simplified library management system interface are among the offerings for school libraries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Sep 2006
The Incite! Learning Series for grades 4–8 offers a set of original short films in an integrated media package that provides anchored instruction for social studies classrooms.
As Stephen Abram writes, "The Internet has given us many new ways to provide learners with an environment that allows them to learn through discovery, play, collaboration, and just plain having fun." He elaborates, and give loads of examples, featuring YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, Blogger, podcasting, del.icio.us, and more in this month's Pipeline.
Through the acquisition, Follett Digital Resources will be better positioned to meet the growing digital delivery needs of educational publishers and schools, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Aug 2006
It's been almost 2 years since Google dramatically expanded its book digitization program--originally known as Google Print but now called Google Book Search--from only having publisher partners to including five major research libraries. Now, another major research institution has joined the Google book Search library program. Barbara Quint has the story. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 14 Aug 2006
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) released the second edition of the popular book, “Spreadsheet Magic” by Pamela Lewis.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Aug 2006
UltraKey 5.0 now includes new features that enable Spanish-speaking students to hear instructional support in their first language while learning to keyboard in English.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Aug 2006
For August 1, 2006: At DigiTales, multiple media and storytelling really come alive! The Web site presents seven steps to creating a 3-5 minute digital movie, with specific directions for each step.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Aug 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
The book, “Touch the Earth,” demonstrates how a paper-based Braille book with tactile images can be connected to supplemental digital content stored on a computer through the touch of a page.
News/Breaking News - Posted 31 Jul 2006
WilsonWeb's new Spell Checker is one of many new WilsonWeb enhancements recently introduced in response to customer requests.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jul 2006
The Intel Corporation, the Intel Foundation, the National Science Foundation and others are underwriting “Design Squad,” a live-action PBS series for 9-12 year-olds designed to get them excited about engineering.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jul 2006
The five winning grants were selected based on effective use of digital cameras and technology in the curriculum, high degree of student involvement, and creativity and fun. Olympus and Tool Factory are continuing to support the Classroom Grants Program, with new entry deadlines in 2007.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jul 2006
The new Web-based educational suite is intended to leverage the popularity of Pokémon to engage students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jul 2006
The new service is a user-friendly interactive application that downloads news directly onto any computer, helping students stay connected to the news of the day.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Jul 2006
The new product provides quick access to online digital media from one integrated access point, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2006
Inspiration’s new tool was developed by TERC and is designed to help students to dynamically visualize, investigate, and understand data.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2006
Designed to be a comprehensive online source for educators, Promethean Planet provides searchable information to help educators maximize the use of interactive technology in the classroom.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jul 2006
The software now includes built-in lesson plans with activity files to further help teachers integrate technology into their language arts, math, science, and social studies curricula.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jul 2006
Susan Hixson takes a look at Cosmeo, the Web-based homework help resource from Discovery Education.
Charles Doe reviews Type to Learn Jr. New Keys for Kids, a keyboarding program for students in grades K-2.
In this issue, Linda Joseph's Cyberbee guides you and students to sites with ideas and tools, plus loads of examples, for leaving "a legacy of cultural history for future generations through digital storytelling."
GO Solve Word Problems, Science Court, Reading for Meaning, and Decisions, Decisions 5.0 are among many of the company’s titles now supported by online guides to help educators use them with interactive whiteboards and projectors.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2006
InterWrite PRS 4.0 supports InterWrite PRS-RF, the newest addition to the company’s line of student response systems, as well as existing InterWrite PRS infrared systems.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 May 2006
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is participating in a new initiative designed to educate American teens about online safety.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 May 2006
The Education Desktop is a customized Internet portal for teachers and students that provides access to education-appropriate applications and tools.
KnowledgeBox 4.0 is the newest release of the K–6 learning system that provides digital standards-based multimedia resources for reading/language arts, math, science, and social studies.
Moodle is a free, open source course management system software package that is designed to help educators create quality online content and a collaborative, interactive environment to support their classroom courses. It's been in use at the author's school, the National Cathedral School (NCS) in Washington, D.C., for 3 years and there has been tremendous growth in its use over those years. Athena Maikish describes the software and the many ways they're pressing it into service, from creating interactive physics homework quizzes to promoting a paperless classroom and applying technology to increase productivity.
Stephen Abram has been following the Duke University experiment of providing iPods to all students ... and a lot more that's been going on with iPods in education. iPods represent, he asserts, a bellwether technology. In this column he discusses why and lays out a host of educational activities the technology lends itself to.
Instead of students thinking through adventure plots for their game avatar, says Patrick Greene, educators are interested in having students learn to think through real-life adventure plots that will help them acquire the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that will help them to become successful in life. Invoking the work of the likes of Roger Schank, Chris Dede, and Bernie Dodge, Greene discusses the evolution of online gaming/simulations to where it meets these educators' aspirations.
Twenty new science movies and a Spanish version of BrainPOP are currently launching.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Apr 2006
The new version of the integrated writing, graphics, and publishing tool for students in grades K-8 features dozens of refinements.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Apr 2006
The newly-launched Clip Art Station (http://www.clipartstation.com/) offers a library of more than 2,000 categorized photographs designed to meet the needs of K-12 educators.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Apr 2006
The newest phase of the Tool Factory/Olympus Student and Teacher Contests is currently underway; the deadline for entries is June 2, 2006.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Mar 2006
Browsealoud adds speech to Web sites and PDF files: When a user holds the cursor over the content, each word is highlighted as it is spoken in either English or multiple other languages including Spanish, French, or German.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Mar 2006
The standards engine provides up-to-date standards for all 50 states in the U.S. and aligns the lowest level benchmark for each state to every activity and resource in QuickMind.net. New resources include math, biology, chemistry, science, wiriting, literature, and geography.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Mar 2006
The new version is designed to enhance administrative and end-user settings for the Personal, School, Family, and Enterprise editions of TurboTools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Mar 2006
Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office, a software tool that provides education-specific scaffolding for students and teachers using Microsoft Office applications, is reviewed by Charles Doe.
Inspiration 8 updates the visual learning program launched nearly 10 years ago for grades 6–12 with new and improved capabilities designed to help students visualize, think, organize, and learn.
New MMIS columnist Mary Ann Bell introduces herself in her inaugural Belltones column and discusses some of her interests and plans for upcoming columns, including information ethics, technology use in schools, the principles of AASL's Infomation Power, information access, and more.
A media specialist's instinct is often that teachers of core subjects—language arts, social studies, and science—are the logical and easiest clientele to work with. That isn't always the case. Some media specialists say they have more success collaborating with noncore areas than with the "traditional academics." Mary Alice Anderson looks in this month's Media Center column at some of these kinds of collaboration.
Stephen Abram writes in this month's Pipeline, "While we may be seeing some learner resistance to traditional writing and creation activities, maybe we can increase their engagement in learning good writing, editing, and information literacy competencies by aligning some of the projects with a Web-based option." Among the options he discusses are social networking, blogs, wikis, and photo sharing.
Many students experience "library anxiety" when making the switch from high school to college. While school librarians do an excellent job teaching information literacy skills to their students, they may find themselves asking, "What other skills are important for my students to learn before they leave high school, and what resources are available for them?" Having worked for years as a librarian and with librarians in school and academic settings, the authors offer solid advice and ideas for school librarians to help students bridge the gap between the high school library and academic libraries.
Brainy Kids, from the Dana Foundation, is a comprehensive Web site offering children, parents, and teachers selected science-related links to games, labs, science fair ideas, educational resources, and lesson plans.
News/Free Resources - Posted 17 Feb 2006
Students or audience members can use the system’s credit card sized input devices for polling, testing, or anonymous response.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Feb 2006
This month, the National Geographic Web site examines the Winter Olympics in a variety of online feature articles.
News/Free Resources - Posted 12 Feb 2006
Thinkronize’s netTrekker d.i. search engine will now feature links to Promethean lesson plans and resources for educators to use with their ACTIVclassroom solutions including the ACTIVboard, Promethean’s interactive whiteboard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2006
IDMS Version 6.1 also introduces the ability to create lesson plans that teachers can align to the pacing guides and share with other educators.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Feb 2006
The new version of Inspiration offers expanded visual capabilities, increased support for writing, and new resources for curriculum integration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2006
Read&Write 8.0 GOLD enables students in grades 3 and up who struggle to read and write to use mainstream classroom software alongside their peers, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 31 Jan 2006
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has launched an Emmy Awards program for high school students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2006
Sunburst’s new program focuses on student improvement in grades K-12 using technology developed for targeted intervention.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jan 2006
The site targets museums, libraries, and public broadcasting stations, aiming to help them “work together to address local needs, increase civic engagement, and improve the quality of life” in their communities.
News/Cool Links - Posted 23 Jan 2006
In January, the online edition of National Geographic presents writer Frank Viviano’s examination of the conflict in Iraq. Viviano’s article focuses on the Kurds, possibly the only group powerful enough to keep Iraq from tearing itself apart.
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Jan 2006
In the last installment of the two-year run of Learning Unleashed!, Trevor Shaw looks back and takes stock of what they have accomplished over the past 2-and-a-half years of their technology infusion and integration program at his school.
The latest release of the software provides enhanced tools and student assessment features, plus new content. The InterWrite PRS student assessment system is now integrated into InterWrite 6.0.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Dec 2005
The link between NWEA’s assessment products and CompassLearning’s instructional resources will enhance educators’ ability to tie assessments to instructional content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Nov 2005
The new Teachers’ Guide provides tutorials, tips, online and print resources, and specific curriculum-based projects in which U.S. teachers can participate to establish school-to-school global interaction on the Internet.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Nov 2005
Reviewer Susan Hixson takes a look at ULtraKey 5.0 keyboarding software.
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at MyTeacherAssistant.com.
Over 40 new features and refinements are included in this release of the integrated writing, graphics, and publishing tool for students in grades K-8.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Nov 2005
The tablet computer rollout--culmination of the Learning Unleashed! program--went off smoothly this fall for Trevor Shaw's school. In this column, he discusses how and why it worked out so well.
Charlie Doe looks at everything from computers, projectors, and printers to curriculum, tool, and security software in his latest Look At ... roundup.
Always peering ahead, Stephen Abram discusses e-paper and e-ink technology this month, including a "here and now" form of e-paper from Sony, in his Pipeline column.
Will Richardson, supervisor of instructional technology at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Fleming, N.J., and now a well-known speaker on cutting-edge educational uses of the Web, has written a book to be published by Corwin Press in February 2006 entitled An Educator's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Cool New Tools That Are Transforming the Classroom. This article is adapted from a chapter of that book, with permission from the publisher.
Following up on her earlier Media Center column "Data Gathering--Why You Need the Numbers ... And What You Can Do with Them," Mary Alice Anderson tells how to build and use an Excel spreadsheet that will hold the kind of qualitative and quantitative data you want.
The upgrades to Adobe’s tools provide innovative and intuitive ways to edit and share digital photos and home/student-created video, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Oct 2005
The standards-based activities are organized by state, subject area, grade level, and keyword for searching on SMART’s new Web site for educators.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Oct 2005
BookSource: Nonfiction now features more than 3,100 nonfiction books, including 1,300 that are part of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program used by many schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Oct 2005
The Web-enabled resource delivers timely content to K-12 classroom, is aligned to state standards, correlated to adopted textbooks, and extends the life of those textbooks, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Oct 2005
ETS has repositioned all of its flagship K-12 products and services under the System 5 brand.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Sep 2005
PALS Classroom Exchange and PubSub will provide monitored, filtered blogging for 4.6 million educators and students in 191 countries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Sep 2005
For September 15, 2005: Audacity is a solid audio recording and editing program for the budget minded teacher, and here's where you can get it.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Industrial Audio Software’s ePodcast Producer offers an integrated podcasting solution of real benefit to teachers, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Sep 2005
Macromedia’s new K-12 site license offers educators a combination of digital communication tools and resources to enhance teaching, learning, and communication, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Sep 2005
Charles Doe reviews Read & Write 7.1E Gold, a floating toolbar designed for use withWindows-based software programs.
Trevor Shaw documents their plans in anticipation of "deployment," as the the first day of the 2005–06 school year and the initial rollout of their student tablet PC program approach.
Information Today, Inc. News Bureau Chief Paula Hane has written about a new anti-plagiarism tool from LexisNexis and iParadigm, CopyGuard. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 31 Aug 2005
The new Web site was specifically designed for tweens, to engage, entertain, and educate them about the features of the new FLY pentop computer.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jul 2005
TurboTools is the foundation of a Big6 information literacy program for your school and provides an effective way to implement and teach information and technology literacy, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jul 2005
These days, students are creating reports, portfolios, presentations, or other works that need to incorporate—legally, but without enormous hassles—multiple media “objects” such as music, voice, video, images, and more. Laura Gordon-Murnane’s Searcher article explains how “librarians now have a useful tool they can use to help identify content that patrons might want to use in a podcast, a mash-up, a collage, a video contribution to a blog, a document, a presentation, or whatever.” (From Information Today, Inc.’s Searcher magazine)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 25 Jul 2005
Version 4.1 includes major enhancements to the software packages, which foster interactive classroom instruction and control and monitor student desktops.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jul 2005
The FLY pentop computer offers a range of innovative applications for tweens (grades 3-8) to learn, communicate, and game.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
The company has added an authoring and game-sharing system to the Classroom Jeopardy package.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
SMART Ideas concept-mapping software 5.0 is designed to improve student comprehension and retention; the new version streamlines planning, teaching, and assessment, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
The partnership, an extension of the Adobe Digital Kids Club program, is intended to make it easier for K-12 educators to take advantage of digital cameras and photo editing software in the classroom.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
This month, Trevor Shaw focuses again on the importance of the public relations aspect of his school’s tablet PC initiative—good PR gained largely through a substantive, all-faculty professional development day primarily planned and executed by the faculty themselves, that is.
Over the years, while creating content for the CyberBee Web site and constructing workshops for educators, Linda Joseph says she has invariably needed a software program to complete a specific task or to solve a particular problem. The programs described in this article are Linda's/CyberBee’s favorites for work and play.
The package includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 and Adobe Premiere Elements 1.0 software, and a comprehensive Teacher Resource Center CD, at special education pricing.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2005
The nationwide Discovery Educator Network—a community of teacher-innovators in digital media—will “connect teachers to their most valuable resource—each other.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2005
The new Internet search tool allows educators to more easily differentiate their instruction for each student, matching educator-selected, standards-based online resources to individual students’ learning needs, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2005
The upgraded software expands educators’ options for developing and delivering questions and lessons using the classroom response system InterWrite PRS, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2005
Powered by the QuickMind.net online learning environment, Sunburst’s portal offers teachers an economical selection of classroom tools and resources that they can use immediately, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2005
The SmartTRAX program (Teaching, Reviewing and Assessing Across the Curriculum) is designed as a tool to introduce, instruct, and assess standards-based curriculum and to analyze student progress on an individual or whole-class basis, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jun 2005
Inspiration’s visual learning software is now compatible with leading handheld computers, with the Pocket PC version joining Inspiration for Palm OS, launched last year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jun 2005
Since Google wants to “organize the world’s information,” the company is working toward making book content searchable and available from its new Google Print Web site. Learn about it, then try it out in beta.
News/Cool Links - Posted 01 Jun 2005
Thomson Gale has announced the newest enhancement to Gale's Virtual Reference Library, the eBook Subcollection Manager, plus enhancements and additional entries to databases. (From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 27 May 2005
Improvements include enhancements requested by existing NoveList and NoveList K-8 customers, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 May 2005
Bowker’s Book Analysis System enables library professionals to perform quick core and gap analyses of their book collections.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 May 2005
Read&Write 7.1E Gold, featuring Spanish translation tools, is designed to level the playing field for students in grades 3 and up who struggle to read and write in English.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 May 2005
MetaMetrics, Inc.’s three-day conference, to be held August 8-10 in Research Triangle Park, NC, will focus on linking reading assessment and instruction across the curriculum and grade levels.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 May 2005
Change can be hard to swallow, and the introduction of one-to-one computing has presented massive changes for virtually everyone involved in Trevor Shaw's school's technology initiative, Learning Unleashed. In this column, Shaw discusses their experiences with getting parents and teachers on board with the initiative, in the face of resistance to change. And he comments on new tactics they evolved that helped.
Discovery Education’s acquisition of health and prevention curriculum programs from the Comprehensive Health Education Foundation is intended to enhance its Discovery Health Connection—a new online library of K-12 health and prevention content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Apr 2005
Reseller Educational Resources is offering schools a free three-month subscription to the QuickMind.net collection of online curriculum and other resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Apr 2005
August 2005 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Emmett Till's murder. TeachingBooks.net, in collaboration with Houghton Mifflin Company, has created an online resource that stimulates discussion about this landmark event in America's civil rights history, an Authors Up-Close program featuring award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Apr 2005
EBSCO's new database is designed to provide high school students with resources for advanced studies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Apr 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Mar 2005
The Iditarod dog sled race starts March 5. Here's a review by Sally Finley of a Web site offering lots of learning opportunities built around the race. (From Information Today, Inc.'s MultiMedia & Internet@Schools -- Yes, that's us, right here!)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 04 Mar 2005
Kid's College is an online program designed to motivate students to practice skills and reinforce classroom activities. The program uses a sports theme to capture the students' attention and to encourage them to continue to answer questions and gain points.
This Web site features information and activities related to the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race held in Alaska each March--this year starting March 5
EasyTech, available in English and Spanish, provides a series of instructional lessons that integrate technology into the core curriculum. Working at their own pace, students complete activities while learning how to use a variety of technology tools for their curriculum-related products.
Canvastic is a publishing tool that combines paint, draw, and text tools and can be used to created single page-sized documents or slideshows. The program offers easy-to-understand text, draw and paint tools, and a clear interface. Canvastic is customizable for use with younger students and has none of the "toy" features that are common with paint programs for this age group. The download package includes backgrounds, clipart, templates, and some sample lessons in several content areas.
Can learning be achieved effectively by the standard measures, via e-learning, or through some blend of technological and classroom strategies? When added to the issues of the digital divide, you have a problem of gargantuan proportions. With effort, thought, and money, however, it is possible.
Challenged to identify common information needs across the community and to gather and deliver the resources for them, librarians at Cherry Hill Public Library created a “Digital Community Center.” Sirsi’s Rooms content manager serves to organize and house the resources, and to open them up everyone.
The free Internet, subscription databases, and e-books make information available outside of physical library walls, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With the proliferation of information in electronic format, virtual school libraries must be entities of the present, not the future. We must provide access to quality resources and instruction in how to use them, virtually! Learn more and discover virtual school libraries that represent Best Practices in the field in Audrey Church's article.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
Staff technology training sessions can get bogged down if too much time is spent in direct instruction and not enough time is spent actually working on projects and discussing ideas of how to use the technology in classes. There are ways to avoid such pitfalls, however, and this month’s Learning Unleashed! column discusses some techniques … learned from experience.
The IntelliTools Classroom Suite includes three integrated software programs--IntelliPics Studio 3, IntelliMathics 3, and IntelliTalk 3.
The software, designed for grades pre-K8, provides a network-ready cross-curricular platform for classroom activities, creativity tools, and student performance tracking and assessment.
The Neo is a portable, lightweight, and inexpensive computer "companion" that looks like a keyboard with a small screen attached.
Shaw discusses his 3-day workshop for teachers, which is designed for technology training and model effective teaching. The lack of time available for teachers to experiment with technology and to develop ideas is one of the biggest problem they seem to have about technology training, so he designed his workshop with a mix of direct instruction activities and unstructured time in order to give them their flexible, free time.
Charles Doe reviews the CIBS-R Management System, a Web-based student record book, scoring sheet, scorer, and performance tracker for student progress as measured by the BRIGANCE Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills--Revised (CIBS-R).
In "Learning Unleashed!" Trevor Shaw is chronicling the progress of a multi-faceted technology initiative at the Dwight-Englewood School, a private K-12 day school in Bergen County, New Jersey. This issue's column focuses on introducing the school's board and staff to the concepts involved, and 30 of the staff to new tablet computers.
Data gathering, data-driven decision-making, and accountability are today's buzzwords. Media specialists should take note: Make ongoing data collection routine so that information needed for advocacy, decision-making, and gaining program support is quickly accessible when needed.
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