By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor, Author at eSchool News

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Recent Posts

Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland's prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

Project makes digital video more accessible

August 22, 2011June 17, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

A new partnership will expand the availability of closed captioning (CC) and audio description (AD) in multimedia educational content--giving students who are hearing or visually impaired, are English…

District Management

Ed-tech leaders brace for smaller budgets

September 29, 2009June 10, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

The majority of ed-tech leaders said they expect their school technology budgets for the 2009-10 school year to decrease at least somewhat, if not substantially, despite available funding…

District Management

Google Wave has great potential for education

September 29, 2009June 8, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Google Inc. later this year will unveil Google Wave, a new species of eMail and instant messaging that lets people communicate and work together with richly formatted text,…

District Management

School security breaches on the rise

January 18, 2010June 2, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Increases in physical and network security breaches among K-12 school districts are hampering schools' efforts to improve their overall security, according to the third annual School Safety Index,…

District Management

Study: Virtual schools can help cut costs

May 27, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

New research suggests that more K-12 public school students will take classes online and will have longer school days in the next decade--and academic improvement and cost savings…

District Management

Bill would fund internet safety education

May 26, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

A federal lawmaker has introduced internet safety legislation that, if passed, would authorize roughly $175 million--$35 million a year for five years--for internet safety education and training to…

District Management

New device saves money on color printing

May 21, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

A new Xerox Corp. printer that uses solid-ink technology and a sliding price scale might be good news for schools and colleges that are trying to cut costs…

District Management

Obama proposes $1.3B increase in ed funding

May 8, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Federal funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program would drop from $270 million to $100 million, a 63 percent cut, under President Obama's proposed $3.4 trillion…

District Management

Support grows for common standards

May 5, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

It's been a long-held tradition in American public education that decisions about standards and curriculum are best left to state and local school systems, not the federal government.…

District Management

Tech keeps learning alive, despite closings

May 5, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Though schools in a handful of states have closed temporarily to curtail the spread of swine flu, that hasn't interrupted the learning process for many students--thanks to technologies…

District Management

Study: Ed tech leads to significant gains

April 24, 2011April 22, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Integrating Promethean's ActivClassroom--a suite of educational technologies that includes an interactive whiteboard, teaching software, and student response systems--into instruction can raise student achievement by an average of 17…

Teaching Trends

RTI: Not just for special education

September 6, 2010April 16, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Once a concept only well known in special-education circles, Response to Intervention (RTI)--which responds to individual students' needs by taking a data-based approach to instruction--has taken hold in…

Teaching Trends

Portable unit makes video conferencing easy

April 13, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

As schools and colleges try to trim budgets and save money, many are re-examining their personnel meeting practices in an effort to cut travel costs--and a new low-cost,…

Teaching Trends

Why open-source library software is a trend

December 15, 2009April 10, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

At a time when the nation's economic future seems shaky, many school and public libraries are moving to open-source library management systems, which tend to be cheaper, more…

Teaching Trends

Review seeks clarity in projector debate

April 2, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

In the sharply competitive digital projector market, educators often must feel like they're caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between manufacturers of Digital Light Processing (DLP) and…

Teaching Trends

Text-to-speech reversal kindles disappointment

March 20, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

It's been a tough few weeks for Amazon.com and its Kindle eBook reader: Advocates for students with disabilities already were disappointed with the company's Feb. 27 decision to…

District Management

Obama backs merit pay, early childhood education

October 13, 2010March 10, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

With an emphasis on 21st-century education, President Obama called for better early childhood education programs, tougher teacher standards, and increased pay for outstanding educators and desperately-needed math and…

Teaching Trends

Fed FY2010 budget outline emphasizes ed

February 27, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

Education--and especially higher education for all students--is a critical area of focus in President Obama's proposed budget for next year, which he outlined for Congress in a 146-page…

Teaching Trends

Education snags $105.9B in stimulus package

February 17, 2009 by By Laura Devaney, Senior Editor

The final $787 billion stimulus bill that President Obama is expected to sign today contains $105.9 billion for education, including $650 million for the federal Enhancing Education Through…

Project makes digital video more accessible

Ed-tech leaders brace for smaller budgets

Google Wave has great potential for education

School security breaches on the rise

Study: Virtual schools can help cut costs

Bill would fund internet safety education

New device saves money on color printing

Obama proposes $1.3B increase in ed funding

Support grows for common standards

Tech keeps learning alive, despite closings

Study: Ed tech leads to significant gains

RTI: Not just for special education

Portable unit makes video conferencing easy

Why open-source library software is a trend

Review seeks clarity in projector debate

Text-to-speech reversal kindles disappointment

Obama backs merit pay, early childhood education

Fed FY2010 budget outline emphasizes ed

Education snags $105.9B in stimulus package

Why interactive solutions are a smarter investment for schools

Whose call: A student-driven approach to school cell phone policies

Edtech leaders see expanding roles as concerns over AI and cybersecurity increase

Is your district safeguarding student data?

CoSN 2025: Humans in an AI world

K-12 cyberattacks threaten data–and students

Lerner Publishing Group Launches Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Genius and Joy Curriculum

School Specialty LLC Announces Acquisition of Nasco Education U.S.

100 Learning Spaces Transformed, $5 Million Invested: School Specialty and College Football Playoff Foundation Celebrate Impact Across Schools Nationwide

ACT and Texas Instruments Collaborate to Enhance Student Success in Mathematics

Big Ideas Start Young: Games for Change Opens 2026 Student Challenge to Game Creators and Innovators Ages 10–25

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