Top campuses jump into the free online course game
A dozen of the country's top universities will make courses available for free on the open online class site Coursera by the beginning of 2013. The announcement was…
internet
Google’s artificial brain watches YouTube, learns to see cats
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Google strives to enlighten with new search tool
Google is introducing a new tool designed to make its search engine smarter. The new feature, debuting May 16, draws from a Google-built database of more than 500…
Education groups weigh in on digital media use policies
A new report from a number of prominent education groups aims to guide school leaders as they revise their mobile technology and social media policies to better reflect…
Smarter search: Why ‘semantic search’ will finally let Google understand you
The Wall Street Journal’s Amir Efrati has raised eyebrows with an article (subscription required) saying Google is working to stay ahead of its rivals in internet search by…
Free websites help boost student engagement, teacher productivity
Cash-strapped schools can’t stop giving students the resources they need to learn and develop 21st century skills simply because budgets are tight. Luckily, educators can turn to free…
Petition calls for more eRate funding
The federal eRate program, which helps schools and libraries connect to the internet, should receive more funding so that more schools and libraries can serve not only students,…
Senate rejects GOP bid to overturn net-neutrality rules
Senate Democrats on Nov. 10 turned back a Republican attempt to repeal federal rules designed to prevent internet service providers from discriminating against those who send content and…
Seventh grader creates social media website for new school
It’s become a common practice for graduates from different high schools to connect on social media websites and virtually “meet” each other before arriving at college. Now, a…
Study: More than half of young children use digital media
Fifty-two percent of children ages 5-8 use smart phones, video iPods, iPads, or similar devices, and four in 10 2- to 4-year-olds use the same devices, according to…
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…
Free tools help IT leaders check school network security
A free resource aims to help K-12 school district leaders make sure they are adequately prepared to address threats to critical district technology systems and infrastructure—and it’s just…
Social websites are latest sources for plagiarized material
Plagiarism is going social, according to Turnitin.com, which found that one-third of plagiarized material in student papers can be traced to social networking, content sharing, or question-and-answer websites.…
New web-search formulas have huge implications for students and society
A quiet revolution has taken place in recent months, as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and other internet gatekeepers have revised their search algorithms in an attempt to bring users…
Teen’s social media use inspires others
Too often, we hear stories about students using online anonymity to bully their peers. But one Illinois high school student is using social media to improve campus morale.
Facebook and Time Warner join to stop cyber bullying
A new partnership between Facebook and Time Warner aims to expand the companies' individual efforts to prevent online bullying. The initiative, called “Stop Bullying: Speak Up,” will combine…
‘Google effect’ leads to changes in memory
New research reveals that if people expect something to remain easily available, they are more likely to remember where they found the information than the information itself--but if…
Rhode Island act prevents cyber bullying, not social media access
Rhode Island’s recently-approved “Safe School Act,” created in response to online bullying, seeks to standardize school responses to online bullying issues. And despite some media reports decrying the…
Project lets K-12 students archive websites
Students from schools across the country are participating in a project that archives important websites in an effort to save important digital content for future generations.
‘Bad Teacher’ movie boasts bad taste
The timing of such an ill-advised commercial couldn't be worse for teachers, as educators across the United States are under attack from politicians and the media, reports The…
Ten of the best high school lip-dub videos
Lip-dubbing has taken high school video production classes by storm. The trend, which began in 2006, describes the process of dubbing music over a lip-sync video that is…
New project could improve results from school web searches
A new partnership between the Association of Educational Publishers and Creative Commons aims to improve internet search results for teachers and students by creating a metadata framework designed…
Companies respond to ACLU’s ‘Don’t Filter Me’ campaign
Web filtering software companies have started to respond to the American Civil Liberties Union’s call to remove filters that block websites with content geared toward the lesbian, gay,…
Free websites use social networking tools to share content
As social networking and education become increasingly compatible, free websites like Wiggio and Sophia are working to strengthen this bond by providing additional tools for educators and students.
Recorded lectures take on new risk as blogger ‘goes after teachers’
Controversial blogger Andrew Breitbart might make college professors squeamish about recording their lectures.
Will GOP scrutiny change the way professors use eMail?
Professors and researchers might shy away from using their university-issued eMail accounts to discuss thorny political issues, turning instead to personal eMail, after a University of Wisconsin (UW)…
Speech therapy moves online
Offering speech therapy to students can be a challenge for school districts: Speech therapists are in short supply; it can be expensive to hire a speech therapist, particularly…
‘Teacher cheerleaders’ make online learning successful
As online learning reaches more students in districts across the country, some educators struggle with how they can become successful virtual teachers—but tips from the 2011 National Online…
ACLU demands high schools remove anti-gay filters
Several public high schools on March 28 received letters from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as well as local ACLU arms from Michigan, Kansas, and western Missouri,…
FTC, White House urge internet privacy measures
Top federal officials pushed forward March 16 on efforts to establish mandates for internet privacy, the Washington Post reports. In a Senate hearing on internet privacy, the chairman…
Baidu’s online library accused of piracy by Chinese authors
An online library operated by Chinese search engine giant Baidu is drawing criticism that its becoming the next online hotbed for pirated works, IDG News reports. This week,…
Federal broadband service map reveals need for connectivity
The National Broadband Map, released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Feb. 17, reveals that while the majority of schools are connected to the internet, those…
U.S. policy to address internet freedom
Days after Facebook and Twitter added fuel to a revolt in Egypt, the Obama administration on Feb. 15 announced a new policy on internet freedom, intended to help…
Stimulus funding brings broadband to rural homes, schools
Up in rural northern Vermont, it took until the 1960s to run power lines to some towns—decades after the rest of America got turned on. These days, it's…
Obama’s internet plan sounds an awful lot like a national internet ID
White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt announce to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research on Friday that President Obama intended to turn over development of a national…
Wired vs. Wireless…which way to go when it’s time to refresh?
One of the schools I work with is looking at a major infrastructure refresh, explains Christopher Dawson of ZDNet.
Lawmaker’s net neutrality compromise: Solution or last gasp?
As House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., prepares to release his legislative proposal for new rules to preserve an open internet, a leaked version reveals that it…
Mobile device boom sparks U.S. web address shortage
A telecommunications official on Sept. 28 warned that the United States could run out of unique internet addresses to assign to new devices by the end of next…
Kno announces single-screen tablet textbook
Kno has announced that it plans to make a single-screen version of its tablet textbook, ReadWriteWeb reports. The company received a $46 million round of funding in August…