CoSN Releases New Report for Educators Exploring the Use of Collaborative Technologies to Enhance Education
New Resource Developed by CoSN's Emerging Technologies Committee
Washington, DC (September 7, 2006) - The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) today released a new report, Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way, which focuses on the ways educators are using collaborative technologies such as instant messaging, blogs and portals, inside and outside of the classroom to inspire students and enhance their educational experience and to facilitate greater interaction with other instructors and administrators.
Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way, the latest release in CoSN's Emerging Technologies series, is designed to be a resource to help educators and administrators integrate collaborative technologies into K-12 education. The report explores the implications, technologies, costs, and current implementations of the digital tools that make collaboration--regardless of location and time--possible for groups of teachers, administrators, and students.
"Collaborative technologies have the potential to expand K-12 learning opportunities," said Karen Greenwood Henke, CoSN board member, former CoSN Emerging Technologies Committee chair, founder of Nimble Press, and ed tech blogger. "Educators cannot ignore the technologies that students use to organize their lives and collaborate with each other. This report helps educators explore appropriate uses for collaborative technology tools to reinvigorate learning for students, teachers, and administrators."
Developed by technology advocates and education technology administrators that comprise CoSN's Emerging Technologies Committee, the report provides information and instructive evaluation of technologies that offer collaborative potential: instant messaging, blogs, wikis, and content management systems (or portals).
"To be successful in the 21st century knowledge economy, our children must be comfortable working in a collaborative environment with peers all around the world," said Rudy Mazza, Senior Director of Alcatel's Education Solutions group. "As our schools become more and more connected to the broadband world, collaboration tools will allow teachers to share best practices, students to team with peers in any location and communities to link more closely with the learning environment. Collaboration is quickly becoming a killer application in our networked world."
"Emerging collaborative technologies empower educators and students to communicate in new ways, which generates creative breakthroughs," said Darrell Walery, chair of CoSN's Emerging Technologies Committee and Director of Technology for the Consolidated High School District 230 in Orland Park, IL. "With planning and leadership, educators, school technology leaders, and students can have at their fingertips a number of cutting-edge tools designed to transform the way students learn, instructors teach and schools communicate, both internally and externally."
Support for Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way was provided by Alcatel.
Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way is the fifth report in CoSN's ongoing Emerging Technologies series. More information about the series, including free executive summaries of all five reports, is available at www.cosn.org/resources/emerging_technologies. The full report is available for purchase at https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store/.
About the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is the country's premier voice in education technology leadership with a mission to serve as the national organization for K-12 technology leaders who use technology strategically to ultimately improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support and nurture leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies
CoSN leadership initiatives include: Accessible Technologies for All Students (www.accessibletech4all.org); Cyber Security for the Digital District (www.securedistrict.org); Data-Driven Decision Making (www.3d2know.org); K-12 Open Technologies (www.k12opentech.org); Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse (www.safewiredschools.org); Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom (www.classroomtco.org); and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO Council).
CoSN's membership includes a unique blend of education and technology leaders, policy makers, and influencers from the public and private sectors. Our audience includes key technology leaders (often called Chief Technology Officers--CTOs) in leading-edge states and districts, policy makers, private sector leaders, as well as those technology leaders who wish to accelerate their districts' or states' systemic technology use. Visit www.cosn.org or phone 866.267.8747 to find out more about CoSN's programs and activities supporting leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.
About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to service providers, commercial enterprises, and the public sector for delivery of voice, data and video applications. As a global leader in converged broadband networking, Alcatel offers educational institutions advanced services for students, teachers, staff, and administrators -- supporting 21st century teaching and learning. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information on Alcatel's K-12 education solutions, please visit www.usa.alcatel.com/industries/education/k12. www.alcatel.com
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>(Silver Spring, MD--July 11)--Discovery Education, the leading provider of broadband educational services for American schools and students, today announced that it is joining forces with Sears for a national retail promotional campaign. This new effort allows Sears' shoppers to enroll in a special free three-month subscription to COSMEO, Discovery Education's new online homework help tool, after making a purchase at any Sears store between July 16 and September 4, 2006. Described as "an engaging learning tool" that allows parents "to learn how to help their kids," COSMEO is the only comprehensive, video-rich online digital library of its kind. The site features more than 30,000 educational video clips correlated to grade level and state curriculum standards, easy-to-digest homework help, interactive learning games and more. Featuring a kid-friendly design and easy-to-use interface, the website allows kids in grades K through 12 across the 50 states to instantly reference educational video clips and other learning resources for any required assignment in key subject areas. The multifaceted marketing partnership between Discovery Education and Sears will provide the opportunity for a three-month free subscription to COSMEO to all customers who shop at the more than 850 Sears stores around the United States. Scheduled to run during Sears' core back- to-school period, shoppers will receive information about COSMEO via in-store displays and a special subscription information card included with every purchase made at any Sears store or at Sears.com. The special free-subscription offer will also be promoted through: - Co-branded websites, direct mail pieces and e-mails to existing Sears and Discovery customers - Promotion in three Sears circular marketing pieces reaching 50 million homes during the month of August - Inclusion of information about COSMEO on Sears.com - Making the COSMEO subscription available to all Sears employees About Sears, Roebuck & Co. Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD), is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,400 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada, which includes approximately 926 full-line and 1,100 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End - among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 13 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com. About Discovery Education Discovery Education is a division of Discovery Communications, the leading global real-world and knowledge-based media company. The leader in digital video-based learning, Discovery Education produces and distributes high-quality digital video content in easy-to-use formats, in all core-curricular subject areas. Its award-winning digital learning resources are licensed to more than 70,000 schools across the United States. Discovery Education is committed to creating scientifically proven, standards-based digital resources for teachers, students, and parents. Through strategic partnerships with 25 public television stations across the country, its public service initiatives, products, and joint business ventures, Discovery Education helps educators around the world harness the power of broadband and media to connect their students to a world of learning. For more information, visit www.discoveryeducation.com.
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New Resource Developed by CoSN's Emerging Technologies Committee
Primary Topic Channel: CoSN
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Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way, the latest release in CoSN's Emerging Technologies series, is designed to be a resource to help educators and administrators integrate collaborative technologies into K-12 education. The report explores the implications, technologies, costs, and current implementations of the digital tools that make collaboration--regardless of location and time--possible for groups of teachers, administrators, and students.
"Collaborative technologies have the potential to expand K-12 learning opportunities," said Karen Greenwood Henke, CoSN board member, former CoSN Emerging Technologies Committee chair, founder of Nimble Press, and ed tech blogger. "Educators cannot ignore the technologies that students use to organize their lives and collaborate with each other. This report helps educators explore appropriate uses for collaborative technology tools to reinvigorate learning for students, teachers, and administrators."
Developed by technology advocates and education technology administrators that comprise CoSN's Emerging Technologies Committee, the report provides information and instructive evaluation of technologies that offer collaborative potential: instant messaging, blogs, wikis, and content management systems (or portals).
"To be successful in the 21st century knowledge economy, our children must be comfortable working in a collaborative environment with peers all around the world," said Rudy Mazza, Senior Director of Alcatel's Education Solutions group. "As our schools become more and more connected to the broadband world, collaboration tools will allow teachers to share best practices, students to team with peers in any location and communities to link more closely with the learning environment. Collaboration is quickly becoming a killer application in our networked world."
"Emerging collaborative technologies empower educators and students to communicate in new ways, which generates creative breakthroughs," said Darrell Walery, chair of CoSN's Emerging Technologies Committee and Director of Technology for the Consolidated High School District 230 in Orland Park, IL. "With planning and leadership, educators, school technology leaders, and students can have at their fingertips a number of cutting-edge tools designed to transform the way students learn, instructors teach and schools communicate, both internally and externally."
Support for Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way was provided by Alcatel.
Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way is the fifth report in CoSN's ongoing Emerging Technologies series. More information about the series, including free executive summaries of all five reports, is available at www.cosn.org/resources/emerging_technologies. The full report is available for purchase at https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store/.
About the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is the country's premier voice in education technology leadership with a mission to serve as the national organization for K-12 technology leaders who use technology strategically to ultimately improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support and nurture leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies
CoSN leadership initiatives include: Accessible Technologies for All Students (www.accessibletech4all.org); Cyber Security for the Digital District (www.securedistrict.org); Data-Driven Decision Making (www.3d2know.org); K-12 Open Technologies (www.k12opentech.org); Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse (www.safewiredschools.org); Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom (www.classroomtco.org); and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO Council).
CoSN's membership includes a unique blend of education and technology leaders, policy makers, and influencers from the public and private sectors. Our audience includes key technology leaders (often called Chief Technology Officers--CTOs) in leading-edge states and districts, policy makers, private sector leaders, as well as those technology leaders who wish to accelerate their districts' or states' systemic technology use. Visit www.cosn.org or phone 866.267.8747 to find out more about CoSN's programs and activities supporting leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.
About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to service providers, commercial enterprises, and the public sector for delivery of voice, data and video applications. As a global leader in converged broadband networking, Alcatel offers educational institutions advanced services for students, teachers, staff, and administrators -- supporting 21st century teaching and learning. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information on Alcatel's K-12 education solutions, please visit www.usa.alcatel.com/industries/education/k12. www.alcatel.com
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>(Silver Spring, MD--July 11)--Discovery Education, the leading provider of broadband educational services for American schools and students, today announced that it is joining forces with Sears for a national retail promotional campaign. This new effort allows Sears' shoppers to enroll in a special free three-month subscription to COSMEO, Discovery Education's new online homework help tool, after making a purchase at any Sears store between July 16 and September 4, 2006. Described as "an engaging learning tool" that allows parents "to learn how to help their kids," COSMEO is the only comprehensive, video-rich online digital library of its kind. The site features more than 30,000 educational video clips correlated to grade level and state curriculum standards, easy-to-digest homework help, interactive learning games and more. Featuring a kid-friendly design and easy-to-use interface, the website allows kids in grades K through 12 across the 50 states to instantly reference educational video clips and other learning resources for any required assignment in key subject areas. The multifaceted marketing partnership between Discovery Education and Sears will provide the opportunity for a three-month free subscription to COSMEO to all customers who shop at the more than 850 Sears stores around the United States. Scheduled to run during Sears' core back- to-school period, shoppers will receive information about COSMEO via in-store displays and a special subscription information card included with every purchase made at any Sears store or at Sears.com. The special free-subscription offer will also be promoted through: - Co-branded websites, direct mail pieces and e-mails to existing Sears and Discovery customers - Promotion in three Sears circular marketing pieces reaching 50 million homes during the month of August - Inclusion of information about COSMEO on Sears.com - Making the COSMEO subscription available to all Sears employees About Sears, Roebuck & Co. Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD), is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,400 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada, which includes approximately 926 full-line and 1,100 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End - among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 13 million service calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com. About Discovery Education Discovery Education is a division of Discovery Communications, the leading global real-world and knowledge-based media company. The leader in digital video-based learning, Discovery Education produces and distributes high-quality digital video content in easy-to-use formats, in all core-curricular subject areas. Its award-winning digital learning resources are licensed to more than 70,000 schools across the United States. Discovery Education is committed to creating scientifically proven, standards-based digital resources for teachers, students, and parents. Through strategic partnerships with 25 public television stations across the country, its public service initiatives, products, and joint business ventures, Discovery Education helps educators around the world harness the power of broadband and media to connect their students to a world of learning. For more information, visit www.discoveryeducation.com.
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