U.S. Department of Education awards HITN $30 million for Ready to Learn initiative

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) today announced that the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN), in partnership with Callaway Digital Arts and the Michael Cohen Group LLC (MCG), was awarded a $30 million Ready to Learn grant for Project LAMP (Learning Apps Media Partnership), reports PR Newswire. The project is an early childhood media-based education initiative. Project LAMP will create highly engaging, digital learning applications to build reading and math skills for children ages two through eight. The focus of the student-centered learning applications will have broad market appeal and educational impact, and will specifically target low-income children, English Language Learners (ELL), and their families…

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Four longtime state education leaders receive national honor

State education leaders from Colorado, Florida, Utah and West Virginia are the recipients of the 2010 Distinguished Service Award by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). The national award is given annually to state board of education members in recognition of outstanding service to public education, reports PR Newswire.

“Randy DeHoff, T. Willard Fair, Greg Haws and Barbara Fish are the embodiment of the professionalism and dedication we so need in education leadership,” said NASBE Executive Director Brenda Welburn. “State boards are the backbone of American public education, and this system is at its most effective when board members like our four honorees are involved. Every year, hundreds of citizens serve unsung as the people’s voice in public education by serving on state boards of education and we honor the outstanding commitment in time, motivation and leadership these individuals have contributed to educating the students of their states.”

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Turnitin used by all universities in Singapore

iParadigms, creator of the plagiarism prevention program Turnitin, has announced that its software has been adopted by all four universities in Singapore, PR Newswire reports. Turnitin is used across the universities’ curricula and is available to tens of thousands of educators and students. At the National University of Singapore, where Turnitin has been used since 2002, Associate Professor Brian Farrell in the Department of History says: “In my own experience with Turnitin, I have found it to be useful in doing four important things: categorically exposing crude and massive plagiarism; providing a graphic illustration of general student practices regarding the use of sources and the composition of research essays; providing a graphic teaching aid to instruct students on the problem of cut and paste; and sending a general signal about plagiarism, academic culture, and responsibilities.” More than a half-million educators and millions of students worldwide now use Turnitin, iParadigms says, and the program is available in 10 languages…

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