Butler Tech to be featured at world education summit
The Butler Tech Board of Education plans to adopt 21st century skills as part of its curriculum requirements for next year. The move would put Butler Technology and…
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Stimulus money makes Florida schools’ picture less grim
In one fell swoop, the federal government may have turned the dreary school funding situation in Florida from disastrous to merely terrible. The $789 billion stimulus package that…
Robotics students match wits, kits
Student-built robots whizzed, whirred and clattered around a make-believe lunar surface with the nimbleness of R2-D2 yesterday at Madison High School. The high school engineering event, which drew…
Bankruptcies throw state’s school laptop program into disarray
It was just four months ago that the Custer School District anxiously awaited a late shipment of Gateway laptop computers. Now, the school is trying to give them…
Industry makes pitch that smart phones belong in the classroom
The cell phone industry has a suggestion for improving the math skills of American students, reports the New York Times: spend more time on cell phones in the…
In the internet age, librarians’ job gets an update
Even as more school librarians teach increasingly important digital literacy skills, they often become the first casualties of budget crunches, reports the New York Times.
Schools would get $106 billion from federal stimulus package
The massive federal economic stimulus package hammered out by Congress this week contains about $106 billion earmarked for education, an unprecedented expansion of federal spending into the nation's…
Arkansas panel says no to mobile classroom proposal
An Arkansas legislative panel on Feb. 12 rejected a proposal to create a statewide pilot program that would turn school buses into mobile classrooms with the help of…
Video games are seen as good for children
Video games can be good for children, encouraging creativity and cooperation, a European Union report concluded Feb. 11 -- running counter to the violent reputation of some titles,…
Tech-savvy teachers put skills to the test in citywide competition
Madison, Ala., teachers are competing in a citywide contest intended to help show new teachers how to apply 21st-century skills in the classroom, reports the Huntsville Times.
Teachers invite Wii Music into the classroom
Eileen Jahn, who teaches music at the St. Philip's Academy in Newark, N.J., is one of 60 music educators around the country that have begun to integrate "Wii…
Scholastic accused of misusing book clubs
Scholastic Inc., the children's publisher of favorites like the Harry Potter, Goosebumps, and Clifford series, might be best known for its books -- but a consumer watchdog group…
Oregon Trail software heads for the iPhone
Oregon Trail, the educational computer game that practically raised a generation of American youth thanks to its availability in grade-school computer labs, appears to be making a return…
OLPC to laptop makers: Use our design
The One Laptop Per Child initiative seems to have found that imitation isn't simply a form of flattery, it's grounds for a new business model, CNET reports.
Student fights cyber-bullying record
A student who was suspended from high school for ranting against a teacher on Facebook is suing to have the blemish removed from her record, reports the New…
Teacher hopes evolution education program will promote interest in science
Generations of plants will evolve and adapt to their environments in just moments as Reed and Mock Elementary School fourth-graders watch next year, reports The Monitor.
Margaret Spellings will stay close to education
President Bush has left town, but former Education secretary Margaret Spellings says she'll remain until 2010, spending part of her time burnishing Bush's No Child Left Behind law,…
Nine-year-old whiz kid writes iPhone application
While most children his age sketch on paper with crayons, nine-year-old Lim Ding Wen from Singapore has a very different canvas, Reuters reports -- his iPhone.
UK schools hit by smut hack
UK primary school sites are being targeted by sleazy hackers in an attack that has reportedly resulted in hardcore porn appearing on web pages bearing school logos, reports…
Schools chief: Calif. education system ‘precarious’
Warning that its public schools are in a "precarious" state, California's top education official on Tuesday called for more money even as lawmakers were considering billions of dollars…
Vermont education chief: Schools must be relevant
Vermont's new education commissioner, Armando Vilaseca, says his goal is to improve education for kids and make it more relevant to their lives--and to 21st-century careers, reports the…
Video games lose ‘brain drain’ stigma in schools
As a coordinator for the Madison County, Mo., truancy program, Brad Paschal doesn't seem like the type of guy who thinks more kids should be playing video games.…
New Jersey schools won’t require online classes … at least, not yet
New Jersey education officials are working on an ambitious redesign of the state's public high schools that is intended to better prepare students for college and the work…
Computer game takes aim at cyber bullying
Schools in Massachusetts' Bristol and Plymouth counties will be the first in the nation to use a new computer game to educate children about bullying over cell phones…
Experts: ‘Obama worm’ probably a student prank
A new internet worm, discovered at an Illinois grade school, that displays an image of President Obama is likely a prank by a student, CNET reports.
City, district to cooperate on fiber optic project
A partnership between the city of Farmington, Minn., and the Farmington School District should make communications at public buildings more reliable, reports the Farmington Independent.
Dreambox to help elementary-age students learn math through games
After nearly three years in development, Dreambox Learning this week officially unveiled its first online education product, TechFlash reports: a new adventure game designed to teach five- to…
Open source question for schools
With Open Source Software (OSS) freely available, covering almost every requirement in the national curriculum, a question has to be asked why schools do not back it more…
Administrators share vision to change schools
Skip the piecemeal education reform. A group of Texas school superintendents are calling for a complete transformation of public schools to better prepare students for the future in…
Cleveland zoo uses videoconferencing technology to teach about animals
Tad Schoffner has some new on-the-job partners that he knows will upstage him: Schoffner, assistant animal care manager at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, uses the zoo's new mobile and…
Budget cuts could eliminate Tennessee school software tool
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said he's going to make sure money stays in the classrooms, but that doesn't mean there won't be sacrifices, reports WSMV-TV -- and one…
Study suggests the ‘Obama effect’ could be real
Educators and policy makers, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, have said in recent days they hope President Obama's example as a model student could inspire millions of…
Michigan offers video contest for teens
Young people are bombarded by many warnings from adults about the dangers of underage drinking, so an effort by the Michigan Secretary of State's office aims to have…
Feds expand list of salmonella-tainted peanut products
Federal health officials on Jan. 21 expanded their list of foods contaminated with salmonella-tainted peanut butter or paste, urging the public to check their pantries and trash for…
$3.77M from Gates Foundation to help fund Dallas ISD academic database
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will announce a nearly $3.8 million grant today to help fund a mega-database that gives Dallas school educators instant access to student…
Canadian school division fined for software piracy
When hearing about organizations involved in software piracy, schools probably wouldn't be the first culprits to come to mind. But for the Chinook school division in southwest Saskatchewan,…
Mother, son indicted in online tutoring scheme
A Minneapolis mother and son who ran an online tutoring program face federal fraud and conspiracy charges after they allegedly collected more than $2 million in state tax…
New technology a big draw for school’s library
An injection of $30,000 worth of new computer technology into the Mifflinburg Area High School library has resulted in more student visits and nearly triple the amount of…
Inauguration is inspiring classrooms nationwide
The inauguration of America's first African-American president has captured the imagination of students and educators with an intensity that surpasses previous ceremonies, and schools from New Hampshire to…
Ruling backs school in internet free-speech case
A federal judge has ruled that Burlington, Conn., school officials acted within their rights to discipline a student for an internet posting she wrote off school grounds, reports…