New campus safety issue: Cell phone stalking
The college student had endured months of online and cell-phone harassment from her ex-boyfriend. She ignored the barrage of eMails, changed her phone number, and dismantled online profiles to cut him off. Key words: stalking, cyber stalking, harrassment, U.S. Justice Department
School scraps cell phone jammer program
Just days after testing a cell phone jammer designed to block students from calling and texting during class, a Spokane, Wash., area school has scrapped the program, MSNBC reports.
School shooter warned of attack, in chat room
The 17-year-old gunman who went on a rampage at his former school and killed 15 people before taking his own life gave a warning in an Internet chatroom only hours earlier and said he was “sick of this life,” the AP reports.
New fed funding for ed tech nears $1 billion
New federal funding for education technology approaches $1 billion. The federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program will receive nearly $270 million for fiscal year 2009, thanks to the $410 billion omnibus spending measure signed by President Obama on March 11. This latest appropriation is on top of the $650 million designated in February under EETT.
Key words: EETT, education technology funding
Forum calls for better data use in education
Speakers at a forum about the use of longitudinal data in education stressed the importance of comprehensive data systems that follow students throughout their educational careers–from kindergarten to college–while also protecting students’ privacy.
Key words: longitudinal data, data systems, Data Quality Campaign
Schools should see stimulus funds next month
School districts should begin receiving billions of dollars in stimulus funding within a few weeks, and administrators are advised to “spend carefully” and keep detailed records of their expenditures, the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) said on March 10.
Key words: AASA, stimulus package, education and stimulus
Police shoot gunman who killed 15 in Germany
A 17-year-old gunman dressed in black opened fire at his former high school in southwestern Germany on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people before police shot him to death, state officials said.
Schools try separating boys from girls
Single-sex classes are being tried as an experiment to address sagging test scores and behavioral problems in a growing number of schools nationwide, reports the New York Times.
Montana legislators back K-12 distance learning
State lawmakers in Montana have endorsed a measure to create a new distance-learning program that would give students in every school district virtual access to both basic and advanced classes, reports the Billings Gazette.
Colleges mull new music royalty structure
The nonprofit group Choruss, one of the organizations promoting blanket licensing for the use of digital music, is meeting with higher-education officials to formulate a plan for the future of music on campus–and its president, Jim Griffin, said in a March 3 webinar that schools can no longer depend on technology or new laws to prevent illegal file sharing. Key words: choruss, file sharing, p2p file sharing, warner music group, EDUCAUSE