Free online learning coming to some in Haiti
Supporting neurodiverse learners requires more than accommodation: It demands systemic change
Neurotypical students who learn alongside neurodivergent peers develop critical social-emotional skills
South African students study math via cell phone
A South African think tank said Sept. 23 that it has lined up volunteers to tutor on a popular mobile phone platform after a nationwide teachers' strike left…
Groups urge updates to teacher preparation programs
The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills are calling on teacher education programs to update their curricula to better prepare…
Indiana students get online tutoring in math
At least 35,000 Indiana middle school and high school students will get online math tutoring as part of a state Department of Education pilot program, according to an…
Panelists: Digital tools expand learning opportunities
The nation's ed-tech director called on schools to replace textbooks with mobile learning devices, and the head of the FCC said his agency would be voting this week…
Report: ‘Top-third’ teachers essential to U.S. success
Improving teacher effectiveness has risen to the top of national education priorities, but the key to attracting, training, and retaining truly effective teachers may lie in the “top-third”…
A professor’s review of online cheat sheets
At this time of year, students are buying textbooks and looking for ways to avoid reading them. Nothing is new about that, the New York Times reports. CliffsNotes…
Texas education board to consider rule on Islam’s portrayal in textbooks
Just when it appeared the State Board of Education was done with the culture wars, the panel is about to wade into the issue of what students should…
Music instruction goes virtual
As online courses spike in popularity across the nation, students are finding that even the most traditional face-to-face courses offer virtual options that are just as thorough as…
U.S. ramps up efforts to improve STEM education
A grant program that challenges students to design their own video games is one of several new initiatives announced by President Obama Sept. 16 as part of a…
Intel awards $1 million to schools
Things are looking up for America’s innovative and dedicated STEM schools, thanks to Intel Education’s over $1 million donation to six math and science schools as part of…
Study: Online learning might be less effective for some
Higher education’s embrace of online courses could hurt the performance of some groups of students, according to a study that contradicts the findings of a 2009 report from…
Spell-check use on writing exam prompts debate
A decision by the Oregon Department of Education to let students use a computer spell-check feature when taking an online version of the state’s writing exam this year…
Philippines developing low-cost computer for schools
The Philippine government is working on a low-cost tablet computer that could bring an end to the days of children dragging heavy schoolbooks around, AFP reports.
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…
Five lessons from the nation’s best online teacher
Educators who teach in an online setting should foster strong relationships with their students' parents and should offer plenty of positive feedback, says the nation's first-ever K-12 Online…
UK experts say game education could help lacking tech curriculum
Information and communication technology (ICT) education is failing UK students and the country's technology industry as a whole, but a curriculum that includes video game-related subjects could help…
Long Beach schools teaching algebra with iPads
Need to learn algebra? There's an app for that, as a group of students at Washington Middle and Hudson K-8 schools in California found out Sept. 8, reports…
Gates Foundation to invest in next-generation instructional tools
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to invest up to $250 million over the next eight years to develop ... Read more
Feds probing claims of bias against Arizona’s non-native English speaking teachers
The federal government is investigating whether a new Arizona policy discriminates against teachers who are not native English speakers, reports the Arizona Republic. The state’s education department for…
After nearly a decade, laptops changed learning in Henrico County
Henrico County, Va., is entering the 10th year of its novel program to provide a laptop computer to every middle and high school student. Now ubiquitous, the laptops…
3D equipment helps school lessons take on a whole new dimension
Vera Johnson's fifth-graders barely noticed as visitors walked into their classroom this week, reports the Dallas Morning News: They were far too focused on the disembodied head that…
First virtual school in Mass. opens today
The Massachusetts Virtual Academy opens in Greenfield on Sept. 2, not only as the first in the state, but also as the first virtual school in New England…
California schools cancel deal with online Kaplan University
California's community colleges have dropped a controversial plan that would have allowed their students to take some courses at the online Kaplan University and make it easier to…
Former Leapfrog, Blackboard exec joins DreamBox Learning as new CEO
DreamBox Learning has hired Jessie Woolley-Wilson as its new CEO, an appointment that comes four months after the Bellevue, Wash., online education startup was sold to an investment…
Wired youth forget how to write in China and Japan
Like every Chinese child, Li Hanwei spent her school days memorizing thousands of the intricate characters that make up the Chinese writing system. Yet, at 21 and now…
Bill Gates is wrong: College campuses will not fade away
Earlier this month, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted that place-based colleges soon will be significantly less important as online learning continues to grow. Writing for the Huffington…
iTunes Texas education channel launched
Texas students now can download podcasts, videos, and other multimedia lessons directly from iTunes through a new online program aimed at providing free, supplementary coursework that can be…
Replacing a pile of textbooks with an iPad
A new company called Inkling hopes to break the standard textbook model and help textbooks enter the interactive age by letting students share and comment on the texts…
Oregon’s education board seeks rules on virtual schools
This week, the Oregon Board of Education took a small step toward resolving a five-year dispute over one of the thorniest questions of the virtual-schools movement, reports the…
Opinion: Corporate policy making would result in a net loss
The future of digital-age learning could hinge on the boardroom deals being made by giant corporations as they seek to head off “net neutrality” regulations—and education leaders ought…
Former governors fight for digital learning
