Motorola CEO confirms $800 price tag for Xoom tablet on Verizon
Those leaked ads showing an $800 sticker price for the Android 3.0-powered Xoom tablet through Verizon Wireless have been confirmed by Motorola's chief exec, who adds that a…
Year: 2011
A huge win for artificial intelligence … but what does it mean for humans?
A gigantic computer created by IBM specifically to excel at answers-and-questions left two champs of the TV game show “Jeopardy!” in its silicon dust after a three-day tournament,…
Obama’s ed budget a tough sell on Capitol Hill
President Barack Obama's budget request for increased education spending is likely to face a tough fight against Republicans — and even if ends up being approved, the extra…
Feds reverse course on open education mandate
The departments of Education and Labor have heeded calls from online education experts to change a mandate in a $2 billion grant program that opened last month, meaning…
New site allows for safe YouTube viewing
Many schools block access to YouTube on their networks, which can be frustrating for teachers who want to use YouTube at school. There's a lot of great educational…
U.S. policy to address internet freedom
Days after Facebook and Twitter added fuel to a revolt in Egypt, the Obama administration on Feb. 15 announced a new policy on internet freedom, intended to help…
HTC’s ‘Facebook phones’ revealed
Rumors had been swirling for weeks that HTC had a pair of new Android phones with deep Facebook integration in the offing, and now the two handsets—the Salsa…
Qualcomm has high hopes for augmented reality gaming
Qualcomm is demonstrating a number of augmented-reality games for Android-based smartphones at Mobile World Congress, IDG News reports. The games were developed using its AR SDK software development…
Computer crushes the competition on ‘Jeopardy!’
The computer brained its human competition in Game 1 of the Man vs. Machine competition on "Jeopardy!" The Associated Press reports that on the 30-question game board, veteran…
Free app adjusts color on monitors to prevent disruption of sleep cycle
Humans evolved to respond to darkness by producing melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep cycle. But our light-sensitive pineal gland near the center of the brain responds…
Viewpoint: Why education is not like business
Much of the recent political chatter has claimed that government is inefficient, inept, and wasteful, and the oft-cited remedy for such failures is to make government—including public education—act…
Police: student charged after Tenn campus shooting
According to the Associated Press, a 20-year-old student pulled out a revolver and shot another man in the thumb during an argument on the campus of Middle Tennessee…
Principals briefed on how to ‘excess’ teachers
One sign of the difficult days ahead was the refresher course that school principals took via conference call last week on how to eliminate teacher jobs as they…
Multitasking, cut-and-paste support coming to Windows Phone 7
Two of the biggest complaints about Microsoft's mobile OS reboot--no multitasking for third-party apps, and no cutting and pasting--will be fixed before the year is out, with the…
Acer Iconia A100: A 7-Inch Android tablet (with Honeycomb!)
Acer may take the plunge to put Android 3.0 on a 7-inch tablet, according to reports from this week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The company is…
A nationwide day for honoring Charles Darwin, but handled with caution
There was trepidation on both sides when a squadron of biologists set out to celebrate Darwin Day in rural America during the weekend, the New York Times reports.
Campus libraries use tech to streamline student searches, staff work
A smart-phone application has ended the days of database searches at Boston College libraries, and staff members at Eastern Illinois University’s library can take inventory in two hours…
Education sees modest increase in Obama’s FY2012 budget
Despite tough economic times, President Obama’s $3.73 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 would increase education spending by 4.3 percent in an effort to help students compete…
Grants of $10K and $35K for innovative school practices
The foundation is interested in proposals utilizing innovative practices in K-12 education throughout the United States. Of particular interest are: curricular and school reform initiatives; and preparation of…
Funds for school libraries and literacy efforts
This program helps LEAs improve reading achievement by providing students with increased access to up-to-date school library materials; well-equipped, technologically advanced school library media centers; and professionally certified…
Federal funds to help improve history instruction
The program is designed to raise student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge and understanding of and appreciation for traditional U.S. history. Grant awards will assist LEAs, in partnership…
25 awards for nonprofit gardens
Each year, Mantis presents the Mantis Awards to charitable and educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life in their host communities. NGA selects 25 outstanding applicants…
Grants for minority fellowships
The fellowship, which is based on academic excellence and need, is open to both undergraduate and graduate students of color. The Hearst Fellow serves as an intern with…
$3K grants to boost youth literacy
These grants provide funding to schools, public libraries, and nonprofit organizations to help students who are below grade level or experiencing difficulty reading.
Up to $20K to help adults develop literacy skills
The Adult Literacy Grants award funding to nonprofit organizations that provide direct service to adults in need of literacy assistance. Organizations must provide help in one of the…
Up to $1K in matching education grants
The Northrop Grumman Foundation's Employee Matching Gifts for Education Program is designed to acknowledge and support our employees' commitment to education. Please check the eligible/ineligible education support lists…
Recruiting in China pays off for U.S. colleges
At rural Grinnell, nearly one of every 10 applicants being considered for the class of 2015 is from China, reports the New York Times.
Hispanic students make strides on AP exams, College Board reports
Hispanic high school students in the US now make up a greater share of those achieving a passing score on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam than at any…
NYC schools chief weathers rough first 6 weeks
In her first six weeks as head of New York City schools, Cathie Black has been heckled by parent activists--and heckled them back. She joked that birth control…
US starts Farsi Twitter account aimed at Iranians
The U.S. State Department began sending Twitter messages in Farsi on Sunday in the hopes of reaching social media users in Iran, the Associated Press reports.
D.C. schools to use data from teacher evaluation system in new ways
Although the main purpose of the District's new teacher evaluation system is to rate teachers' effectiveness, officials are beginning to use the fresh troves of data it generates…
Recognizing the warning signs for teen bullying, suicide
Mainstream media outlets have coined a new term to describe the rash of student suicides committed in the wake of persistent school bullying and harassment: "bullycides."
Charges against Muslim students prompt debate over free speech
When administrators at the University of California, Irvine, decided to suspend the Muslim Student Union for a quarter over the disruption of a speech last year by the…
Police hold off arrest in Calif. schoolgirl death
Because of conflicting witness accounts, police are holding off charges against the driver of a pickup truck who ran a stop sign and plowed into a group of…
Nokia, Microsoft in pact to rival Apple, Google
Technology titans Nokia and Microsoft are combining forces to make smart phones that might challenge rivals like Apple and Google and revive their own fortunes in a market…
Community colleges are uneasy as ax hangs over state aid for health benefits
The Legislature’s initial state budget proposals calling for the closing of four community colleges caught many lawmakers off guard. But what largely escaped their attention--the slashing of health…
Parents protest in-app purchases for kids’ iPhone and iPad games
A story in yesterday's Washington Post follows a pretty common narrative of parents, kids turned loose with technology, and sticker shock when a bill for that comes in.…
Free web tools for classroom educators
During the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) conference, technology integration specialists Jenni Keith and Sarah Daugherty from Coppell Independent School District presented a round-up of free web tools…
Obama promotes plans for wireless expansion
President Barack Obama wants nearly all Americans to have access to speedy wireless services. He's promoting that plan in a small city in Michigan that's becoming a model…
Dell and ePals take the Connected Classroom to the cloud
ePals has done it again. Now they’ve partnered with Dell to deliver state-of-the-art, cloud-based communication/collaboration platforms as part of Dell’s Connected Classroom effort, reports ZDNet.