A sample project-planning form
1. Begin with the end in mind. Summarize the theme for the project. Why do this project? Identify the content standards that students will learn in this project. Identify key…
Helping project-based learning take hold
The Buck Institute for Education, which focuses on professional development and materials to support project-based learning, believes that, as with most complex instructional approaches, there are many conditions that need…
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 fully, possibly saving millions of pounds, reports BBC News.
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 ways that aren’t boring, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Paperless format helps students and alumni
Ralph C. Richardson’s skepticism of educational technology faded–and eventually vanished–with the introduction of electronic tablets that allow more comprehensive note taking and instant student responses during professors’ lectures at Kansas State University. Key concepts: educational technology, kansas state university, paperless, student laptop.
Gates Foundation to show excellent teaching
Billionaire philanthropist and former Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates says his foundation hopes to post online videos of exemplary teachers plying their craft as a way to inspire other educators and help students learn. He also says the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will increase its giving in 2009, despite the sinking economy.
Key concepts: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, teacher video, student achievement, education funding
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 wireless infrastructure to teach students about animals within their habitats via a videoconference link, Computerworld reports.
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 possible cut could eliminate a very important software tool that 108 school districts use, called the Star System.
Report: Reinvent schools for digital age
Educators can’t truly deliver 21st-century instruction in schools that reflect Industrial-Age designs, with rigid schedules, inflexible facilities, and fixed boundaries between grades, disciplines, and classrooms, according to a new white paper from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21).
Key concepts: P21, 21st century skills, learning environment, digital age
How to defend your campus IT budget
Campus technology officials have joined the ranks of department heads vying for shrinking funds in a sagging economy, and many IT chiefs say defending their budgets is complicated by jargon that some university decision makers don’t fully understand. Key concepts: college budget, university budget, budget cut, educause, sarah lawrence college, college of new jersey.