Lock the gates
Risk assessments are awful, but necessary
Here are 5 ways to improve risk assessments in your district
Teacher wants to change education using 40 iPads
Matt Wilson, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Garfield Middle School in Hamilton, Ohio, is asking for some help to outfit his classroom with a set of iPads,…
How video will likely create, rather than kill, the classroom “star”
First it was music. Then it was theater. Now it's ... education? Technology has enabled inexpensive reproduction of a wide variety of media, which has in turn radically…
Teachers’ union shuns Obama aides at convention
In a sign of the Obama administration’s strained relations with two of its most powerful political allies, no federal official was scheduled to speak at either convention this…
Judge orders school newspaper to delete stories
Should school newspapers, or any newspapers for that matter, be forced to delete archived stories in order to clear a person’s record online? That’s the issue before a…
Ed-tech grant program aims to boost college readiness
A new initiative will dole out grants to education-technology projects aimed at improving college readiness, especially among low-income students.
Study: eBooks take longer to read than print
In a recent usability survey, Jakob Nielsen of product development consultancy Nielsen Norman Group discovered that it takes longer to read books on a Kindle or an iPad…
Lobbyists try to reframe distracted driving issue
Responding to moves by state legislatures to restrict motorists’ use of cell phones and other devices, a major electronics industry trade group and a Washington lobbying firm have…
Technology brings new role to public libraries
Tucked under a public library computer keyboard was an anonymous note: "Thank you for helping me get a job." The paper scrap turned up at downtown Baltimore's Enoch…
Kid vandals?
The criminals seem to get younger all the time. A school in Louisiana recently reported...
Lawmakers trade broadband grants, school reforms for education jobs
Schools would get $10 billion to help them avoid teacher layoffs under a bill passed by the House. But the funding would come at a price for other…
iPad pilots launching in higher ed this fall
Educators say there’s a simple reason they believe the Apple iPad pilot programs coming to colleges and universities this fall will run smoother than previous trials with popular…
Apple says iPhones overstate signal strength
Apple Inc. said its iPhones overstate wireless network signal strength and promised to fix the glitch in the coming weeks, Reuters reports.
Google rumored to be building a Facebook competitor
Silicon Valley is speculating that Google is working on a social network to compete with Facebook, called Google Me, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Groups push feds for video-game age restrictions
Video game aficionados might have to enter a credit card or find another way to verify their age before playing a networked game, thanks to a new push…
Google Apps for Education wins over Iowa and Colorado
Google Apps for Education, a version of Google’s web-based application and productivity suite tailored for educational institutions, has won the endorsement of the states of Iowa and Colorado,…
3,000 new sex offenders each month
As of June, there are now 716,750 registered sex offenders in this country. What alarms me is that number is up nearly 72,000 over the past two years.…
Oceanographer touts deep sea web surfing
Bob 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,…
How to avoid accidental data breaches
While most CIOs spend their days worrying about the external hacking threats, a university’s greatest vulnerability comes from its own students, faculty, and administrative staff.
No failure to communicate: School-wide communication systems for the 21st century
For most of us who remember classroom announcements in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, we recall the tinny, muffled "voice of God" summoning an unlucky classmate to the…
NCTAF: Transform teaching through collaboration
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…
Keynote: STEM should include arts education
Not only do global learners create global leaders, but the world's future depends on education focusing on creative and innovative science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning, said…
Thoughts from the show floor
Which came first...the chicken or the egg? I sometimes wonder about that when I'm in the exhibit hall at educational technology conferences like ISTE. When you look around…
Amazon updates Kindle DX, lowers price
Amazon.com is launching an updated version of its high-end Kindle electronic reader and cutting the price in a move to address the threat from Apple's iPad tablet computer,…
Facebook launches ‘permissions’ for apps, web sites
Facebook is rolling out a new feature that requires outside applications and web sites to tell users exactly what parts of their profiles have to be shared for…
Microsoft pulls plug on Kin social-networking phones
Microsoft has pulled the plug on a new generation of smart phones aimed at young consumers, less than three months after unveiling the devices that were part of…
iPhone 4 antenna glitch sparks lawsuit
A pair of Maryland residents filed a lawsuit against Apple on June 30, claiming the iPhone 4's wonky antenna has caused them "emotional distress," InformationWeek reports.
Google Wave for the K-12 classroom
Here I am at a session about Google Wave (presenters: Tim Stack, Utah Education Network, Jared Covili, and Mitchell Jorgensen). I have always been intrigued by this technology,…
Stores see Google as ally in e-book market
Independent bookstores were battered first by discount chains like Barnes & Noble, then by super-efficient web retailers like Amazon.com. Now the electronic book age is dawning. With this…
Feds: Make eReaders accessible to all students
The federal government will help schools and colleges using eReaders such as the Amazon Kindle to comply with laws giving students with disabilities equal access to emerging education…
Words that inspire
Live ISTE Blog - One of my favorite quotes comes from Uncle Ben of Spider-Man fame... "With great power, comes great responsibility." I'm pretty sure that Stan Lee…
Protect teachers, too
Most often, talk about securing campuses centers around protecting the students. But there are times that we have to remember that we need to...
Turning lives around with technology: The Intel Education Service Corps
"It's Friday night, and six Intel employees, sitting in a row, are sweating buckets," Jason Cheah recalls of his first day in Vietnam. "We're sitting in a wide…
ISTE explores global solutions to education reform
ISTE 2010 opened its third day with a panel discussion featuring global perspectives on how education can best benefit from excellence and innovation.
In faulty-computer suit, window to Dell decline
After the math department at the University of Texas noticed some of its Dell computers failing, Dell examined the machines. The company came up with an unusual reason…
Google changes China access after Beijing objects
Google Inc. said Tuesday it will stop automatically routing users in China to its Hong Kong site after Beijing threatened the company with the loss of its Internet…
‘.xxx’ porn domain arrives
At long last and after heavy debate on both sides, the “.xxx” top-level domain has been formally and officially approved, reports Yahoo News.
Last day of ‘Rubber Rooms’ for teachers
Monday was the last day of school for the city’s 1 million students. But at the “rubber room” on West 125th Street, it was also the end of…
Research dispels common ed-tech myths
Contrary to popular opinion, newer teachers aren’t any more likely to use technology in their lessons than veteran teachers, and a lack of access to technology does not…
Study: Student access to classroom tech limited
