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…
Best Practices
Best Practices
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…
Clark County schools to track academic, operational performance
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Districts share progress toward 21st-century learning
Incorporating technology to enhance student learning and creating teams of stakeholders to drive innovation in all school endeavors are two of a handful of best practices that educators…
Using Dropbox as a course management tool
Today’s classroom teachers are increasingly seeking out simple ways to effectively share information and collect assignments over the internet. Numerous institutions now encourage the use of course websites…
Incident response plans help district address student safety
Following the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the East Coast, U.S. Homeland Security determined that schools and hospitals…
Hybrid approach drives retention success
In 2007, when California Lutheran University (CLU) campus leaders noticed a drop in freshman return rates, they charged me with serving as CLU’s retention champion. As the first…
Closing the math skills gap and boosting achievement
As with so many other schools around the country, it was apparent that too many of our students, at all grade levels, were struggling with math and were…
Would you like to wow parents all year long?
You won’t likely wow parents by sharing the classroom rules and procedures. You will, however, wow them by sharing valuable information about their child. How do you do…
Recycling program helps schools snag new technology
At a time when many school districts are forced to cut technology spending, some schools are able to purchase laptops, digital cameras, and other classroom technology through a…
The digital natives are restless
We believe many American schools today provide an effective education, but that the bar is rising, requiring new ways to think about how to educate today's students. A…
Hybrid online classes: What we’ve learned
Three years ago, in an attempt to reach students throughout the state more effectively, the Massachusetts Collaborative for Educational Services tried a hybrid model blending face-to-face instruction with…
At Westside High, learning ‘is no longer a six-hours-a-day event’
Nebraska's Westside High School owes much of its success to its focus on effective ed-tech integration that extends learning beyond the school bell. Here, IT director Kent Kingston…
Students, educators leverage educational streaming media
Students and staff at a Galesburg, Ill., school district are giving a ringing endorsement to Learn360’s broad range of services that have enhanced the interactive learning experience at…
Ten tips for using social media in school communications
With social media networks now ubiquitous, it’s time to shift the debate from whether it’s a good idea for educators to use this new medium to how to…
Five ways to connect with online students
The online classroom poses unique challenges for classroom management and connection with students. Online students might report feelings of loneliness, a lack of connection, and a need for…
How social media can help, and not hinder, during a crisis
It’s important for school leaders to understand basic crisis management principles—and how social media might play a role in the event of a crisis, for better or worse.…
Six steps for a successful online summer school
For some students, the education process requires more than the allotted time frame of 180 days. Online learning can be an effective, affordable means of getting lagging learners…
District future-proofs for more capacity, safety
Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Castro Valley Unified School District’s (CVUSD) new synchronized system allows for a centralized database that is maintained and shared across…
Solving our document dilemma with Enterprise Content Management
It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – we’ve all heard the term “paperless office” too many times to count. It’s a term so undefined and it often…
Meet our 2011 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners
Partnerships with local businesses to provide free Wi-Fi for students … a virtualization project that reportedly has saved $1.5 million in energy costs … an instructional content repository…
Texas district takes math skills to the next level
As with so many other school districts around the country, we at Brazosport Independent School District (ISD) in Texas have struggled with ensuring that our ninth-grade students start…
How to keep tabs on mobile computers … without being sued for ‘spying’
A Pennsylvania school district was sued last year for remotely activating the webcams on student laptops to find missing machines. In nearby New Jersey, the Brick Township Public…
Classroom license helps California Partnership Academy satisfy state requirements
The Westlake Information Technology Academy (WIT) is a California Partnership Academy that combines high quality academic instruction with work-based learning experiences. WIT is a unique “school within a…
Enhancing classroom instruction with collaborative technologies
Today’s students are raised in a completely different technology-rich world than previous generations. Typewriters are non-existent and cursive writing is becoming an art of the past. For our…
Memo to Facebook: Face up to security responsibilities
Based on the importance of safe social networking, maybe it's time for Facebook and its staff to spend a little more time understanding what may be the most…
High-tech school bus extends learning
The Pope County, Ark., district is participating in a new program for rural schools believed to be the first of its kind: It's is playing math and science…
Online collaboration across the globe
In its technology implementation framework, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) shares standards that staff and students should learn, including skills to collaborate online with different…
The computer ate my teacher! Technology and the new face of today’s classroom
I recently worked with a sixth grade teacher in Arlington, Texas, who was piloting a virtual science club program with her in-class students. Ms. Mueller was delighted that…
What you should know about the 2011 e-Rate program
To fully leverage 2011 e-Rate funding in boosting broadband access, it’s important to understand the latest changes to the program (and there are many)—but don’t overlook the things…
School of One boosts individual learning
Although an innovative school model in New York City called the School of One has just started its first full year of implementation, it already has garnered national…
Engaging students while avoiding plagiarism
Mt. Olive High School is a large, diverse public school in New Jersey that experienced a unique problem with plagiarism. ... Read more
Viewpoint: Educational software games could leave poor children even poorer
The amazing progress of technology used in modern teaching resources herald huge advances in learning opportunities. But are the costs of the equipment that play the new educational…
Reducing bullying and cyber bullying
As in many states, K-12 teachers in Massachusetts now have new responsibilities to respond to, report, and address bullying and cyber bullying. The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC)…
Education in a social world
Prior to the industrialization of education, the education model was centered around a single-room school house consisting of one teacher with many students throughout many grades. The teacher…
Setting students on the path to high school graduation
On the road to graduation, ninth grade is the place where many students lose their way. To help all students cross the finish line with a diploma in…
Taunt them with technology and they will not resist the fever
As unusual as it may sound, I used a new technology to attract teachers’ interest when our district approached implementation, rather than face pushback when we implemented the…
Virtual desktops: Imagine the possibilities for teaching and learning
Moving from the current use of desktop and laptop computers to a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) creates many possibilities for teaching and learning. Imagine the possibilities if teachers…
Gearing up for the new school year
In the past I have dusted off curriculum binders, gathered a supply of whiteboard markers (so recently replacing chalk), and put up a framework for bulletin boards to…
Hathaway Brown discovers the power of media literacy for students in the 21st century
Today, globalized media has the potential power to replace parents and schools as socializing agents for children. Media literacy instruction helps students “filter” media messages through accepted community…