New course is like traffic school for sexting
Students who send explicit photos on their cell phones wouldn’t have to be branded as sex offenders, if a new curriculum developed by Yahoo! Inc. catches on.
Seven iPad alternatives for schools
With their interactive touch screens, easy portability, and quick boot-up time, tablets are increasingly becoming schools’ classroom computers of choice. And while many schools have invested in Apple’s…
Project to evaluate use of tablets in schools
Tablets—with their lightweight portability and interactive touch screens—have been hailed as the next “must have” as schools move toward mobile computing. But questions linger: How much network access…
District ‘Race to the Top’ rules spur mixed reaction
Proposed guidelines for school districts to vie for $400 million in new federal grants have elicited mixed reaction from education groups—from concern among ed-tech groups over how “personalized…
‘Data center in a box’ could ease virtual computing
A new disruptive technology aims to help schools cut costs and streamline the deployment of virtual computing by combining servers, storage, and virtualization in a single box.
Ed-tech leaders schooled on interoperability standards
When school technology directors purchase an innovative product from one vendor and an exciting upgrade from another vendor, schools can find themselves in a tangle of incompatible formats.…
Computerized searches help identify non-resident students
“Boundary hoppers”—parents who falsify their residency so their children can attend a particular school—can strain already cash-strapped districts. Now, a new technology-based solution claims it can help.
Three ways to improve your college’s recruitment program
In today’s competitive climate, institutions face a significant conundrum: the need to simultaneously increase student enrollment and reduce student recruitment costs. This challenge has motivated institutions to stretch…
New concussion-management service targets schools
Sports concussions have captured public attention in recent years, with high-profile NFL players and other professional athletes stepping forward about the long-term effects of sports-related head injuries. Now,…
The truth about flipped learning
A flipped classroom is all about watching videos at home and then doing worksheets in class, right? Wrong!
Why teacher merit pay can’t work today–and what can be done about this
When asked why it’s so hard to pay public employees based on their merit, you often hear a number of answers. Some point to union resistance, while others…
Web literacy: Where the Common Core meets common sense
Are you as worried as we are that the overall impact of technology on our children’s ability to solve complex research problems is negative? Have you heard a…
School groups craft seven-part plan for improving teaching
National, state, and district education leaders have convened at a conference this week focused on establishing better labor-management collaboration to ensure that teachers are respected, supported, and equipped…
Report calls for more broadband access in schools
School districts should provide a minimum of 100 megabits per second of bandwidth for every 1,000 students and staff members within the next two years, and federal lawmakers…
How to make videos your students will love
When we first started making our own videos, they were not very good. Over time, our videos have gotten better. Give yourself some time and you, too, can…
How to implement the ‘flipped classroom’
Despite the attention that the videos get, the greatest benefit to any flipped classroom is not the videos. It’s the in-class time that every teacher must evaluate and…
Flipping for fitness
Physical education (PE) teachers are often on the short end of the stick when it comes to technology innovations in school. When the battle of the bulge is…
After 15 years, govt. tells phone companies to follow low-price rule for schools
After 15 years of neglect, federal regulators are finally planning to tell phone companies selling services to schools and libraries how to comply with a rule requiring them…
AT&T, feds neglect low-price mandate designed to help schools
At the dawn of the internet era, Congress set out to avert a digital divide between rich and poor students. In a landmark bill, lawmakers required the nation’s…
Why more schools aren’t teaching web literacy—and how they can start
In 1998, a 15-year-old high school student used the personal website of a professor at Northwestern University, Arthur Butz, as justification for writing a history paper called “The…
Inspiring young minds to innovate
A knowledge-based society has replaced the service-based economy that once provided the majority of American jobs, and today’s students must learn to create and innovate if they are…
Resources
StopBullying.gov http://www.stopbullying.gov This is a federal website for parents, educators, other caring adults, and kids themselves, created by the U.S. ... Read more
Rural schools testing 360-degree cameras for teacher observation
Thanks to the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, videotaping teachers has become a focal point of discussions on effective teaching. As part of its Measures…
Digital signage as student recruitment tool
An advanced digital signage system won't just keep the campus community informed -- it will attract students impressed by the tech-savviest of higher-education institutions, contributor Tom Racca writes.
How to engage a higher ed audience beyond the digital screen
In trying to create new and relevant content for digital signage screens, we sometimes forget that our audience is in motion and will not see everything they are…
Digital signage competes for students’ attention
Budget-conscious colleges and universities are finding digital signage not only helps them improve their campus-wide communications and emergency messaging, but many discover that it’s cost-effective and eco-friendly. And…
Can colleges meet students’ preference for digital communication?
The effective delivery of information is important in almost any environment. No matter the setting – corporate, health care, or a university – poor communication can lead to…
Graphic material found in online library for elementary students
This article is no longer available.
Online learning: Disruptive innovation in progress
As online learning has grown rapidly in K-12 education, news stories have captured several angles about the phenomenon. But the news coverage has largely failed to capture two…
‘Study Buddies’ program delivers results
Sometimes, the best thing we can give our students to ensure academic success is attention. However, with funding tight, finding the resources to give the attention your students…
School program makes use of new skills, old computers
When a large company or famous philanthropist donates computers to children to advance their learning and give them online access to the world, it makes an impact. But…
Flipped learning: A response to five common criticisms
Flipped learning has created quite a stir. Some argue that this teaching method will completely transform education, while others say it is simply an opportunity for boring lectures…
Supporting continuous improvement with data
Difficult. Clunky. Frustrating. Those were three words often used by administrators, teachers, and staff to describe our previous data warehouse. Because the system was complicated, people didn’t use…
Reading with fluency and confidence
Tylertown High School is located Walthall County--Mississippi’s primary dairy county. In Tylertown, the county seat, approximately one-third of adults over the age of 25 do not have a…
Responsible electronics stewardship: A guide to purchasing and recycling equipment that makes the grade
Technology is essential to the modern classroom: computers, tablets, and eReaders give educators and students extraordinary access to interactive resources that connect, inform, inspire, and entertain. Unfortunately, technology…
Using video to improve teaching and learning
Knowing that good teaching leads to increased student achievement, the Great Prairie Area Education Agency already had programs in place to mentor new teachers and highlight best teaching…
Viewpoint: The education competition myth
It's not whether competition works or whether it doesn't work; the question is whether it can exist at all. Just like capitalism is predicated on the free flow…
An appliance approach to data backup
What are we hearing in the educational arena regarding IT today? Use resources as efficiently as possible. Get more out of what we have. Leverage a well-working IT…
How to engage students with wireless tech
Education has certainly changed from when I was in school, but when one of my grandkids started pre-kindergarten this year, I realized just how different things were since…
Hosted VoIP: Does it make sense for your schools?
Contracting with an outside service provider to host your VoIP service offers many potential advantages, but it might not make ... Read more
