$1,500 for innovation in history teaching
To recognize excellence and innovation in elementary, middle school, and secondary history teaching, including career contributions and specific initiatives. To be eligible, the group must be composed of a majority of K-12 teachers. The group can be recognized either for excellence in teaching or for an innovative initiative applicable to the entire field. The prize carries a cash award of $1,500 for the group project — plus travel expenses for the group leader — and will be awarded at the annual meeting in January 2010.
Schools would get $106 billion from federal stimulus package
The massive federal economic stimulus package hammered out by Congress this week contains about $106 billion earmarked for education, an unprecedented expansion of federal spending into the nation’s schools, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Arkansas panel says no to mobile classroom proposal
An Arkansas legislative panel on Feb. 12 rejected a proposal to create a statewide pilot program that would turn school buses into mobile classrooms with the help of laptop computers, reports the Arkansas News Bureau.
Big district dumps grade levels — for starters
School districts across the United States are trying to improve student performance. But few have taken as radical an approach as Adams 50 in Colorado.
Key words: Adams 50, student performance, gaming and education, k-12 instruction, 21st century school
New site aims to market free online lectures
A for-profit web site bases its business model on mining the internet for and then posting publicly available lectures from prestigious universities–and officials from at least one campus are reviewing the arrangement and reserving judgment. Key words: creative commons, yale university, educational technology, online lecture, MIT, stanford, open courseware.
New ‘sensory tech’ could help teach piano
Talk about a helping hand: Researchers at Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology are trying to reinvent how students learn to play the piano by developing a special glove that vibrates to cue a budding musician which finger needs to strike a key at a given moment.
Key words: Georgia Tech, music technology, vibrating glove, music education
School roofs collapse in two separate incidents
Two separate school roof collapses, caused by severe weather and snow, killed one woman and closed another school for repairs.
Video games are seen as good for children
Video games can be good for children, encouraging creativity and cooperation, a European Union report concluded Feb. 11 — running counter to the violent reputation of some titles, Reuters reports.
Stimulus deal addresses school modernization
Senate and House negotiators agreed Feb. 11 on a compromise, $789 billion economic stimulus bill that includes some funding for school modernization, a priority item for President Obama and House Democrats. Exactly how much funding schools and colleges might get to renovate their buildings and make classrooms technology-ready was unclear as of press time.
Key words: economic stimulus bill, education funding, education technology funding, school modernization funding
Tech-savvy teachers put skills to the test in citywide competition
Madison, Ala., teachers are competing in a citywide contest intended to help show new teachers how to apply 21st-century skills in the classroom, reports the Huntsville Times.