'Letters alive' is helping autistic children become more engaged in learning, its users say.

A menagerie of virtual 3D animals that swim, eat bugs, and fly are building crucial reading skills in autistic children at Audubon Park Elementary in Orlando.

Four-year-old Christopher Gomez lined up a set of specialized word and animal cards, including one with the letter “I” and a picture of an iguana under a camera to compose the sentence, “The iguana can eat.”

Christopher shifted his eyes toward a projection screen, smiled and said, “I like the iguana!” as the reptile appeared to pop off the card and onto the screen to eat an insect. A woman’s voice simultaneously spoke the sentence displayed above the screen.

Teachers at the Baldwin Park public school say “Letters alive,” software that combines interactive 3D technology with sounds, words, and realistic animal actions, is helping the school’s 50 autistic children overcome the challenges they encounter when learning to read.

For more news about 3D learning in schools, see:

Research: 3D content can help improve learning

How to use 3D in the classroom effectively

“A static image has little meaning to Christopher, but a three-dimensional image that interacts with him through movement and sound makes a lasting impression because it becomes functional,” said Mary-Elizabeth Langston, Audubon Park’s primary special-education teacher. “I hear the children throughout the day repeating the sounds they learned.”

Audubon Park is the first school in the nation to test the preschool and kindergarten program developed by Logical Choice Technologies, an educational software firm based in Georgia.

Password sharing among teens puts their cyber security at risk.

Educators should be aware of an emerging trend that puts students’ cyber security at risk: Password sharing among teen couples.

It’s something that experts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area say teen couples are doing to show their love and affection, KDAF-TV of Dallas reports. But they also say it can come with some serious long- and short-term consequences.

“They feel like it is another level of status in their relationship,” said Teen Contact Director Missy Wall, who added that it’s something many teens tell her they’re doing. She said it often causes problems.

“Relationships change, and in schools what happens with bullying and the stakes get higher with Facebook,” said Wall.

Teens admitted to sharing passwords on the KDAF-TV Facebook page. One girl wrote, “I share my password to everything with him.”

For more safety & security news, see:

10 ways schools are teaching internet safety

Teachers’ newest online worry: ‘Cyberbaiting’

SAFE Center at eSN Online

Wall said it actually could be a sign of an unhealthy dating relationship.

“If they say, ‘If you really trust me, you’ll let me have your password,’ well that is a control mechanism,” she said.

The folks behind EyeGaurdian, a tool designed to help parents track their kids’ online behavior, say password sharing can lead to even bigger problems long-term.

“That person could easily give out information that maybe they didn’t want to share, so then they’re prone to identity left, they’re prone to cyber bullying,” said ImageVision Social Media Director Stephanie Ochoa.

"We're getting calls now, and we're more than happy to share," said Superintendent Lance Bagstad. "We've made mistakes, and we've done things right."

The sign in the hallway tells Renville County West fifth-grade students what they’ll need in class: social studies book, pencil, folder, iPad.

In another classroom, Quick Response codes on the bulletin board can be used to download assignments directly onto an iPad.

They are visual reminders of how much things have changed this year for students and staff at RCW, which has provided Apple iPads for all students in grades 4-12. Nearby MACCRAY Schools has provided iPads for students in grades 7-12.

There have been bumps in the road—the devices need better cases, because they break too easily, and there have been occasional issues with kids downloading unauthorized software.

But the positives have outweighed the negatives, school officials said recently. While this is still a transition year, they say they can see ways the iPads will help the district contain costs in the future.

As they need new textbooks, for example, they expect to use digital versions where possible.

For more news about iPads in the classroom, see:

Apple unveils interactive textbooks, revamped iTunes U

Tips and success stories for effective mobile learning

Schools see rising scores with iPads

Many U.S. schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks

Textbook-free schools share experiences, insights

Their experience also has stirred interest around the state. RCW representatives were mobbed at a January school board convention, where people had to be turned away from their presentation.

“We’re getting calls now, and we’re more than happy to share,” said Superintendent Lance Bagstad. “We’ve made mistakes, and we’ve done things right.”

School Board member David Hamre said the board has been pleased with the progress seen this year.

“They are above and beyond what we ever dreamed of,” he said, “and it’s only the beginning.”

Students taught by one Model Classroom workshop participant said they never felt so enthralled by schoolwork.

South Carolina is at risk of a water shortage. With $500,000 in grants available for innovative conservation projects, it’s up to the students in Bryan Coburn’s introduction to engineering course at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, S.C., to devise solutions.

Armed with smart phones and an array of ed-tech tools, the teens spent much of last semester on that hypothetical assignment. By the project’s end, they had created elaborate online portfolios showcasing their research, 3D designs, and multimedia packages.

Students said they never felt so enthralled by schoolwork. Some were inspired to become engineers.

“It was amazing,” freshman Parker Hooten said. “We didn’t just sit there and learn. We actually did stuff. It made the class much more fun and involving. You want to be there.”

That’s the kind of school experience that Coburn, the state’s Teacher of the Year in 2009, and the founders of a national program want to replicate.

For more Best Practice news, see the “Best Practices” section of eSN Online.

Coburn is among a cadre of celebrated teachers rethinking how to prepare students to excel in an age of rapid innovation and global uncertainty. The project is called “The Model Classroom.”

Run by the Pearson Foundation’s New Learning Institute, the two-year-old program invites Teacher of the Year winners from around the nation to Washington, D.C., during summers for workshops on making better use of ed tech to inspire a new generation of students.

About 10,000 students from low-performing schools are participating in the first year of the program.

An online pilot program to help eighth- through 10th-graders who are struggling with Algebra I is being launched at 16 high schools and 23 middle schools throughout Oklahoma.

About 10,000 students from low-performing schools are participating in the first year of the program, which is free to their school districts, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

“We wanted to reach students who are most struggling in Algebra I as they prepare to take end-of-instruction tests—one of the requirements for Achieving Classroom Excellence,” said state Superintendent Janet Barresi.

Teacher training is conducted by webinar and will continue through Feb. 8. Training is also free to participating districts.

“This is one of the state department’s efforts to assist low-achieving schools by providing additional resources to teachers and students,” Barresi said.

She said she hopes to expand the program across the state and reach students in younger grades after this pilot year.

Learn more about Apangea Math

After reviewing seven online programs, the state Education Department selected Apangea Learning Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., to provide the supplemental online math instruction and tutoring services.

“We were very impressed with the demonstration of this product and can see the high potential for Algebra I students who are struggling,” said Jeff Downs, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) director for the state Education Department.

He said other states, including Texas, Idaho, and Indiana, have seen success from the program.

Schools and stakeholders across the nation advocated for more access to educational technology during Digital Learning Day.

Thirty-nine states, 15,000 teachers, and 1.7 million students participated in the first-ever Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1, which aimed to demonstrate how technology is improving teaching and learning across the nation.

Headed by the Alliance for Excellent Education, Digital Learning Day kicked off with web sessions focusing on leadership and innovation, instruction, and professional learning and teacher effectiveness before attendees viewed a national town hall webcast featuring Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, and video conferences with teachers and students from exemplary schools across the nation.

“We have to do everything we can to foster education and to help us move from print to digital as fast as we can,” Duncan said, noting that while technology has transformed businesses and governments around the world, it has only slightly changed the way most U.S. schools operate.

“We have to move from being a laggard to being a leader,” he said, challenging schools to move from print to digital textbooks within five years.

In March, Duncan and Genachowski will convene a meeting with policy makers and stakeholders to develop real action plans that will help the U.S. move forward and remain competitive with foreign education systems, Genachowski said.

Watch to see an example of one district’s Digital Learning Day

“The world has changed dramatically in the just the last year. … The next thing we want to do is to keep this moving forward,” he said.

A live chat continued through the presentations, and participants discussed “bring your own device” initiatives, how to ensure equity in educational technology access, the use of cell phones in classrooms, and more.

Kristin Kipp, the 2011 National Online Teacher of the Year, said digital learning and online education provide opportunities to students who might not graduate from high school otherwise.

The Obama administration has challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students' hands within five years.

Are hardbound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools?

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Feb. 1 challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students’ hands within five years. The Obama administration’s push comes two weeks after Apple Inc. announced it would start to sell electronic versions of a few standard high-school books for use on its iPad tablet.

Digital books are viewed as a way to provide interactive learning, potentially save money, and get updated material faster to students.

Digital learning environments have been embraced in Florida, Idaho, Utah, and California, as well as Joplin, Mo., where laptops replaced textbooks destroyed in a tornado. But many schools lack the broadband capacity or the computers or tablets to adopt the technology, and finding the money to go completely digital is difficult for many schools in tough economic times.

Tied to the Feb. 1 announcement at a digital town hall was the government’s release of a 67-page “playbook” to schools that promotes the use of digital textbooks and offers guidance. The administration hopes that dollars spent on traditional textbooks can instead go toward making digital learning more feasible.

For more news about digital textbooks, see:

iBooks 2 license agreement gets icy reception in higher education

Textbook-free schools share experiences, insights

Many U.S. schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks

Going digital improves the learning process, and it’s being rolled out at a faster pace in other countries such as South Korea, Genachowski said in an interview. Genachowski said he’s hopeful it can be cost-effective in the long run, especially as the price of digital tablets drops.

Watch an example of Apple’s new digital textbooks

“When a student reads a textbook and gets to something they don’t know, they are stuck,” Genachowski said. “Working with the same material on a digital textbook, when they get to something they don’t know, the device can let them explore, it can show them what a word means, how to solve a math problem that they couldn’t figure out how to solve.”

Students can use the textbooks for video explanations to help with homework, they can interact with molecules, and they can manipulate a digital globe to see stories and data about countries, said Karen Cator, director of the Education Department’s Office of Educational Technology.

“We’re not talking about the print-based textbook now being digital. We’re talking about a much more robust and interactive and engaging environment to support learning,” Cator said.

About $8 billion is spent annually in the U.S. on textbooks for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, said Jay Diskey, executive director of the school division of the Association of American Publishers. Diskey said textbook companies have been working on the technology for the past five years to eight years to transform the industry, but in many cases, schools simply aren’t ready.

MIT will develop an online multiplayer game for high school math and biology.

A $3 million Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant will help the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Education Arcade build a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) to help high school students learn math and biology.

Part of the grant’s purpose will be to change the way that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics are traditionally taught in secondary schools. Studies indicate that many students fail to remain engaged and interested in STEM education in high school and college, leading to a need for highly skilled STEM employees in the nation’s workforce.

MIT Associate Professor Eric Klopfer, director of the Education Arcade and the Scheller Teacher Education Program, has researched educational gaming tools for more than 10 years. Klopfer created StarLogo TNG, a platform that helps kids create 3D simulations and games using a graphical programming language, as well as several mobile game platforms—including location-based augmented reality games.

MIT’s Education Arcade explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play. Aside from STEM education topics, Education Arcade projects have included history, literacy, and language learning and have been tailored to a wide range of ages. They have been designed for personal computers, handheld devices, and online delivery.

For more news about STEM education, see:

Inquiry-based approach to science a hit with students

Climate change skepticism seeps into classrooms

Meet six of the country’s best STEM schools

In a MMOG, many players’ avatars can interact and cooperate or compete directly in the same virtual world.

“This genre of games is uniquely suited to teaching the nature of science inquiry, because they provide collaborative, self-directed learning situations,” Klopfer said. “Players take on the roles of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to explore and explain a robust virtual world.”

The game will be aligned with the Common Core standards in mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards for high school students. It will use innovative, task-based assessment strategies embedded into the game to let students use and display mastery of the topics and skills necessary to play the game. This task-based assessment strategy also will give teachers targeted data that will enable them to track student progress and provide valuable, just-in-time feedback.

Klopfer’s team will work closely with Filament Games, a Wisconsin-based games production studio, as the project’s primary software developers.

The VGo device has helped Cris Colaluca connect with his peers at school.

Teacher Ben Edwards points to the number 75 written on the board in his seventh-grade math class at Mohawk Junior High School in Lawrence County, Pa.

“Is this going to round up to 80 or down to 70?” he asks all the students before calling on one to answer. “Cris?”

From a half-mile away in his bedroom at home, Cris Colaluca correctly answers, “Up!”

Edwards can hear and see Cris clearly through a screen set atop a 4-foot-tall, 20-pound mobile robot called a VGo. As the first student in the state to use the technology, according to the company that produces it, Cris is attending school for the first time in six years.

“I was surprised there was something out there to help me,” said Cris, 14, of New Castle, Pa., an affable boy with a crop of curly brown hair and a quick smile.

Cris was born with spina bifida but attended school until his first-grade year, when he developed a rare condition that caused his body to seize almost 90 percent of the night.

“His brain was getting no rest,” said his mother, Terry Colaluca.

The seizures caused respiratory problems as well as achalasia, a disorder affecting the ability of the esophagus to move food toward the stomach. Cris now takes 21 medications daily, including steroids to control the seizures. He has 16 doctors.

Cris no longer can physically tolerate school. For several years, teachers came to his home. He tried a stationary web cam but missed out on the peer interaction he remembered from earlier years.

Last year, Mohawk technology coordinator Theresa McConnell discovered a solution when she saw a news report on the VGo, made by the New Hampshire-based company of the same name.

“I knew that was exactly what we needed,” she said.

Ninety-one percent of teachers said they have access to computers in their classrooms.

Despite advances in digital learning tools and efforts to close the ed-tech access gap, school budgets remain one of the biggest barriers to classroom technology access, according to a national PBS LearningMedia survey of preK-12 teachers.

Although ed-tech advocates campaign for technology’s seamless integration into instruction, only 22 percent of teachers surveyed said they have the “right” level of technology in their classrooms.

Sixty-three percent of teachers said budgets continue to be barriers to classroom technology access, and in low-income communities, 70 percent of teachers reported budgets are their main obstacle. Aside from funding, teachers reported that unfamiliarity with technologies (8 percent), a lack of knowledge about where to find proper technologies or a lack of training (8 percent), technologies’ incompatibility with current curriculum (7 percent), slow/poor/no internet connection (6 percent), and other various reasons (9 percent) as barriers to classroom technology use.

Socio-economic status also plays a role in other areas: 38 percent of teachers in affluent school districts reported high levels of parental support, compared with just 14 percent of teachers in low-income communities; and 38 percent of teachers in high-income areas have school board support, compared to 21 percent of teachers in low-income areas.

Computer access is not a problem for the majority of teachers—91 percent have access to computers or laptops in their classroom—but access to “newer” technologies is. Fifty-nine percent have access to interactive whiteboards, and teachers in affluent districts are twice as likely to have access to tablets as teachers in middle- and low-income districts.