Jeff Festa, Author at eSchool News

November 24, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Babylon Ltd., a provider of language learning solutions and dictionary and translation software, has announced a new donation program for K-12 schools worldwide, called "Babylon in Every School."…

Teaching Trends

New web site combines project-based learning, social responsibility

November 17, 2010 by Jeff Festa

A new partnership between Microsoft Corp., the Smithsonian Institution, and TakingITGlobal will help teachers integrate project-based learning to teach their students core curriculum content, as well as problem-solving…

Teaching Trends

Final version of new National Ed-Tech Plan released

November 10, 2010 by Jeff Festa

The final version of the new National Educational Technology Plan includes a focus on individualized instruction and connectivity, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said meeting the…

Teaching Trends

Business group urges support for early childhood programs

November 3, 2010 by Jeff Festa

The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has issued a new report called "Ready, Set, Go: How Business Should…

Teaching Trends

New online tool helps teachers use primary source documents

October 27, 2010 by Jeff Festa

The National Archives has created a new web site to help educators teach with primary-source documents. The site, called DocsTeach, not only lets teachers explore documents in a…

Teaching Trends

NSF, NBC team up with the National Football League to help teach science

October 20, 2010 by Jeff Festa

To help engage students in science education, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NBC Learn have joined with the National Football League to create a 10-part series of…

Teaching Trends

New tool helps explore path to more STEM graduates

October 13, 2010 by Jeff Festa

State and local policy makers and philanthropists have a new resource to help them increase the number of graduates in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields:…

Teaching Trends

ConnectSafely.org hosts a comprehensive directory of online safety resources

October 5, 2010 by Jeff Festa

An extensive collection of internet safety resources maintained by educator Anne Bubnic for the California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) faced an uncertain future when the program lost its…

Teaching Trends

Feds launch new teacher recruitment web site

September 28, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Sept. 27 launched a national teacher recruitment campaign that features a new web site, www.teach.gov, with information for students and prospective teachers-including a…

Teaching Trends

FTC web site helps students become smarter consumers

September 21, 2010 by Jeff Festa

'You Are Here,' a web site from the Federal Trade Commission, provides lessons on advertising, marketing, recognizing scams, protecting personal information, and other consumer concepts. The site is…

Teaching Trends

New web site helps students explore STEM careers

September 15, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Educators who want to help students better prepare for the technology careers of the future now have a new resource in the Math & Science Career section of…

Teaching Trends

Microsoft’s REDU aims to galvanize national discussion-and action-to improve education

September 8, 2010 by Jeff Festa

REDU is a new web site from Microsoft Corp. powered by the company's Bing search engine, that aims to help parents, teachers, students, and education advocates learn more…

Teaching Trends

Deep-sea images reveal colorful life on ocean’s floor

September 1, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Scientists using cutting-edge technology to explore waters off northern Indonesia were wowed last month by colorful and diverse images of marine life on the ocean floor--including plate-sized sea…

Teaching Trends

New Site Tracks Billions in Stimulus Spending on Education

August 25, 2010 by Jeff Festa

EdMoney.org, a project of the Education Writers Association with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, lets users track spending on K-12 education from the federal economic…

Teaching Trends

New white paper gives steps to prevent cyber bullying

August 18, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Cyber bullying can take many forms--sending hurtful text messages and pictures, posting cruel comments online, or creating fake Facebook or MySpace pages to impersonate other kids, for example--and…

Teaching Trends

New web site makes education data easier to find–and use

August 11, 2010 by Jeff Festa

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has launched a new interactive web site aimed at making accurate and timely education data available in a single place, for easy…

Teaching Trends

NCTAF: Collaboration is the key to successful teaching

August 4, 2010 by Jeff Festa

According to a new report, 21st-century teaching and learning can only occur if teachers and school staff work together as a collaborative team; simple adjustments to antiquated school…

Teaching Trends

New tool shows how arts education boosts 21st century skills

July 28, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Working with national arts organizations, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) has developed a first-of-its-kind Arts skills map that clearly defines how arts education promotes key 21st-century…

Teaching Trends

MimioVote assessment system

May 24, 2011July 27, 2010 by Jeff Festa

What if your assessment tool solved problems, instead of creating them? The MimioVote™ assessment system from DYMO has a unique, patent-pending design that's much easier and more intuitive…

Teaching Trends

Find everything you need to know about starting a small business at Business.gov

July 21, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Business.gov, the U.S. government's online portal for small businesses, recently was added to FREE (Federal Resources for Education Excellence), the Education Department's collection of federal web sites that…

Teaching Trends

‘Terapixel’ project lets users explore the cosmos from a PC

July 14, 2010 by Jeff Festa

In a project that aims to pull a new generation of students toward science and technology, Microsoft and NASA have teamed up to create what they say is…

Teaching Trends

‘Nautilus Live’ lets students follow deep-sea exploration in real time as discoveries are made

July 13, 2010July 7, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Robert Ballard, the explorer best known for the discovery of the Titanic and other wrecks, has not only made deep-sea exploration more accessible for K-12 and college students,…

Teaching Trends

SafetyWeb helps parents monitor their children’s online activity

June 30, 2010 by Jeff Festa

A new site that launched last month, SafetyWeb.com, aims to simplify online safety by helping parents guard their children's online safety, identity, and reputation. The fee-based service monitors…

Teaching Trends

Parents get help in choosing an online-learning program

June 23, 2010 by Jeff Festa

A new guide offers parents a roadmap in their quest to find the right online-learning program for their child. "A Parent's Guide to Choosing the Right Online Program,"…

Teaching Trends

Videos highlight successful school reform

June 15, 2010 by Jeff Festa

To help local education leaders with their own school-reform efforts, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has produced a new series of online videos highlighting successful school improvements…

Teaching Trends

Wouldn’t you like a fun way to engage and motivate your K-12 students to participate in classroom activities while building confidence?

January 10, 2012June 8, 2010 by Jeff Festa

A+ Classroom Student Response Software, offered by The American Education Corporation, is a bank of over 30,000 engaging, standards-aligned interactive formative assessment items designed to improve student learning…

Teaching Trends

New computer games promote civics education

June 7, 2010 by Jeff Festa

An "unintended consequence" of the No Child Left Behind initiative has been a decrease in civics knowledge, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said May 26 in…

Teaching Trends

Hatch to Premiere iStartSmart All-in-One Computer Learning System at ISTE

May 24, 2011June 3, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Visit Hatch® at ISTE booth 2216 to discover iStartSmartTM, a research-driven instructional technology system designed to increase school readiness skills and provide standards-based, individualized progress monitoring at the…

Teaching Trends

New service helps users search for open online courses

June 2, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Sifting through archives of open online course material soon could become easier: A new public beta version of a web-based college course library aims to help students and…

Teaching Trends

What Bill Gates is learning right now

May 26, 2010 by Jeff Festa

It's no surprise, really, but it turns out Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates is a strong supporter of the open-courseware movement that has swept through education in…

Teaching Trends

New YouTube channel features fun science experiments for families

May 19, 2010 by Jeff Festa

A new survey of science teachers and parents, from Boehringer Ingelheim and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), shows that an overwhelming majority of science teachers wish their…

Breaking Through Barriers to Learning

Project puts 1M books online for blind, dyslexic

August 11, 2011May 12, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Even as audio versions of best sellers fill store shelves and new technology fuels the popularity of digitized books, the number of titles accessible to people who are…

Teaching Trends

New web site encourages a closer look at nation’s energy use

May 5, 2010 by Jeff Festa

The National Academy of Sciences has launched a new web site that encourages a closer look at the nation's energy use, based on data from the National Academy…

Teaching Trends

New media literacy campaign teaches ‘tweens’ about advertising

April 28, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Advertising to American kids is nothing new--but now the internet and social media have taken kids' exposure to advertising to new levels: Ads are virtually everywhere. That's why…

Teaching Trends

Quiz Maker

April 21, 2010 by Jeff Festa

The educational web site ProProfs.com has launched a free, easy-to-use quiz creation site that can help teachers enhance their lesson plans and engage students. Called Quiz Maker, the…

IT Management

Common Sense Media launches digital media and citizenship program

April 14, 2010April 13, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Common Sense Media has announced a comprehensive digital literacy and citizenship initiative that aims to provide educators, parents, and kids with the tools necessary to raise a generation…

Teaching Trends

C-SPAN Video Library puts democratic process online

April 7, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Discovering how the hotly debated health-care reform bill became law, or learning about other legislative actions, is now as simple as watching a viral YouTube video: The contents…

Teaching Trends

SEN Teacher promotes free resources for special needs students

March 31, 2010 by Jeff Festa

SEN Teacher is a web site that provides free teaching and learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities. Resources for K-12 and college-level students are…

Teaching Trends

New online social network aims to encourage effective teaching

January 17, 2012March 23, 2010 by Jeff Festa

Taking advantage of current social media technology, Teachers Network--with funding from the Ford Foundation--has introduced a new online forum for collaboration on issues affecting educators. The web site…

Teaching Trends

TI, NASA team up on free math curriculum

March 17, 2010 by Jeff Festa

At the Texas Computer Education Association's annual conference in Austin in early February, Texas Instruments announced that it has teamed up with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration…

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