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CATEGORY: Secondary |
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With its new features, including charting, "on the fly" reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and productivity tools for easier database creation, FileMaker Pro 11 makes using databases easier and quicker than ever, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2010
Alice Kurtz reviews The Historian's Apprentice, a social studies program that enables students to act as historians as they follow a protocol for examining primary and secondary sources to answer complex questions from American history.
Collaborations with top publishers, two public school systems, and others growDiscovery Education's library of content to more than 150,000 assets.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Feb 2010
The new program is designed to improve students' performance on the reading and math sections of the PSAT, ACT, and SAT exams.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2010
In honor of Black History Month, Shmoop, a Silicon Valley-based learning resource website, has compiled 47 free learning guides for high school students.
News/Free Resources - Posted 09 Feb 2010
With these agreements, a total of more than 62,000 K-12 and public library titles are now available for purchase online through parent company Follett's ecommerce sites, Titlewave and TitleTales.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Feb 2010
For February 1, 2010: Want to create a list of high-quality children's literature or find out if a book has won an award? Search librarian Lisa Bartle's Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
PreK-12 educators can enter the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards program through March 12 for a chance to win a behind-the-scenes trip to the premier annual PBS event and other prizes.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2010
For Black History Month (February), Gale Cengage has again assembled a collection of activities and information to complement classroom topics.
News/Free Resources - Posted 25 Jan 2010
This newest version of the online standards mastery program offers enhanced assessment, instruction, communication and collaboration tools to help schools maximize their return on investment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2010
From the mechanics of writing and grammar to style and research, the Writer's Reference Center online covers the fundamentals of quality writing and provides vocabulary-building reference dictionaries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jan 2010
The companies have partnered to create the Heinle Community, intended as a safe and secure virtual workspace designed for learners to practice English through collaboration on projects in an authentic learning environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2010
With its new features, Learning Plans on Demand is a more powerful assessment tool that ties directly into hundreds of embedded tutorials for individualized learning, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jan 2010
A long-popular aid to collection development and maintenance, readers' advisory, and general reference, Fiction Core Collection highlights more than 11,300 novels, including analytic entries for novellas and novels published in composite works.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jan 2010
The newest version of Inspiration's flagship software is designed to build 21st century communication and thinking skills, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jan 2010
In a year's time, Charlie Doe's district has placed interactive whiteboards in about 30% of their elementary classrooms and, in doing so, has made interactive whiteboard technology the envy of the district. That sparked his interest, so for this roundup, he takes a brief look at several products that offer a variety of approaches, from full whiteboards to equipment that makes a standard dry-erase whiteboard become interactive.
Podcasting, a morph of the words "iPod" and "broadcast," was first coined by U.K. journalist Ben Hammersley. (In fact, it was declared to be 2005's Word of the Year by The New Oxford American Dictionary, edging out both "Sudoku" and "trans fat" for the philological nod.) The digital medium quickly found its way into the classroom, and why not? After all, it's free, easy, and accessible, and it has the ability to power up education for students from kindergarten to college.
According to the SIIA's Vision K-20 survey, the lowest level for its Five Measures of Progress is in the use of technology-based assessment tools, with an average score of just 46%. Clearly, there's room for improvement! And since knowing more about these tools is a good first step to using them to your advantage, Victor Rivero brings you a sampling of some of the more recent excellent products and services you may find useful when it comes to gaining much-needed assistance with assessment.
Sally Finley reviews Achiever!, a student assessment program.
Susan Hixson takes a look at it's learning, an online learning platform for collaboration, planning, authoring, and the delivery of course materials and courses.
Charles Doe reviews the Read:OutLoud6 text reader from Don Johnston, Inc.
To accommodate various presentation styles and technology integrations, TurningPoint AnyWhere combined with Turning's ResponseCard keypads or ResponseWare, a web-based polling application, creates a wireless response and voting system allowing presenters to ask interactive questions within their preferred presentation application.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Dec 2009
Curriculum Video On Demand is a compilation of high-school-level video content from producers around the world, covering six core subject areas: science and mathematics, social studies, literature and language arts, health and nutrition, business and economics, and visual and performing arts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2009
Charles Doe reviews RAPS 360, a reading assessment program designed to identify problem areas in all aspects of reading, including phonics, visual and auditory discrimination, word meaning and recognition, fluency, comprehension, eye tracking, and more.
Alice Kurtz reviews The September 11th Education Program: A National Interdisciplinary Curriculum, a seven-unit multimedia curriculum focused on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
The new Adobe Digital School Collection for K–12 students and educators provides a software bundle that includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, Adobe Premiere Elements 8, Adobe Contribute CS4, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, and Adobe Soundbooth CS4.
Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, MySpace, Ning: How do we help our students learn the social skills needed to understand what it really means to live and participate in a global community? How do we incorporate this into our schools and classrooms? How do we keep ourselves and our students safe? Social networking sites are mainstream media for many tweens, teens, and adults. There are even social networking sites that attract kids as young as 5 years old. This is the reality of the world we live in, and schools should reflect this reality.
The collection includes Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8 to help educators enhance teaching and learning of digital literacy skills, and now offers netbook compatibility support for Photoshop Elements 8 (Windows) and Adobe Photoshop Elements for the Mac platform.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2009
Charles Doe reviews the Study Buddy Handheld Tutor, a device that offers electronic multiple choice practice opportunities for students of all ages.
Sally Finley reviews Classworks Web Edition, an online subscription service that provides individualized standards-based instruction in math, reading, language arts, and science.
Susan Hixson reviews Maps101.com, a subscription-based online resource that provides access to thousands of interactive maps, videos, animated timelines, educational games, and educator resources for teaching earth science, geography, history, and social studies.
RenderMan, the software used by Pixar Animation Studios to create Academy Award-winning animated films and visual effects, is now available in a variety of education editions with special pricing options.
Collaboration is one of the defining characteristics of the 21st century, but many educators are still searching for ways to embrace this idea in their schools. Some technologies facilitate the creation of a collaborative learning environment better than others, but there are a number of technology tools that can lead to collaborative student and teacher engagement while also addressing budgetary and infrastructure issues. This article offers suggestions for overcoming barriers using simple tools that foster complex thinking.
Alice Kurtz reviews Discovery Education streaming Plus, a web-based subscription servce that offers digital content and a media resource library service.
The JourneyEd Academic eStore Network (AEN) provides access to more than 15,000 online stores offering thousands of top-tier software and technology products—including programs published by Microsoft and Adobe—at discounts of up to 85% of retail prices to verified education buyers.
Conspiracy Code offers an original learning environment where students can strengthen higher-order thinking, written communication, problem-solving, and collaborative skills, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Jun 2009
The resources—websites offering a wide variety of content for all subjects in grades K-12—are presented by the nonprofit organization as it celebrates its eleventh anniversary.
News/Free Resources - Posted 01 May 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews eLibrary, a web-based collection of periodicals, images, learning resources, and teacher tools.
Sally Finley reviews LabQuest Library, a LabQuest-focused toolkit that includes a lab creator, lab organizer, and links to LabQuest device upgrades.
Saywire offers a combination of safe social technology and secure permission-based controls designed to provide “walled garden” social learning networks for K–12 education.
Sharing knowledge: In some form or another, it’s why most educators went into teaching in the first place. But traditional instructional materials don’t lend themselves to sharing between educators. New technologies now allow teachers to share and collaborate locally and globally in ways that generations past could never have imagined. These tools signal what may grow to be true disruptive change in how schools acquire and disseminate instructional and professional development resources. The nonprofit Curriki.org (www.curriki.org) is a 3-year-old organization that offers a large collection of free and open source content and collaboration tools.
Designed for at-risk middle and high school students, the new online diagnostic-prescriptive remediation service delivers a cycle of quizzes followed by personalized review and practice to help students catch up in math.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Apr 2009
The new site, which is openly accessible on the web through April 30, gives researchers, instructors, and students access to 5000+ cross-searchable video titles.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Apr 2009
Music Online is a comprehensive resource for the study of classical, jazz, world, and American music that delivers audio recordings, video content, full-text reference materials, musical scores, liner notes, biographies, and images through a single interface.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Apr 2009
Sally Finley reviews Biology.com, an online student and teacher edition of Pearson's "Miller & Levine Biology" textbook.
Alice Kurtz reviews World Book Student, the redesigned and upgraded version of the World Book Online Reference Center.
Charles Doe reviews PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection, a web-based instructional and professional development resource.
Susan Hixson reviews Learning Plans on Demand, an online program that provides teaching tools for differentiating instruction, constructs response assessments, and offers tutorials and practice activities.
The Learn360 video streaming service for K–12 education now offers a My Learn360 homepage designed to individualize the user experience for educators.
Saywire offers a combination of safe social technology and secure permission-based controls designed to provide “walled garden” social learning networks for K-12 schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Feb 2009
Inspiration Software offers a free Webcast on Jan. 29 titled “Using Visual Learning Techniques to Improve Academic Performance with Inspiration.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Jan 2009
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) offers the fourth installment in its 2008-2009 Internet & Education Webcast series with “Long Tail Learners: How Technology Transforms Learning” on Jan. 21, 1-2 p.m., Eastern Time.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2009
Energy is an essential and, at times, a controversial subject. It is important that students learn about energy sources and the impact they have in their own lives, and Linda Joseph's Cyberbee guides you this month to web resources to help them do just that.
Charles Doe takes a look at Teachscape XL, a Web-based digital database with a search engine and tools to create learning materials.
Susan Hixson reviews Type to Learn 4, a keyboarding program designed for K-12 students at a variety of skill levels.
Greenovation, a sustainable lighting system upgrade with a companion curriculum, turns the classroom itself into a teaching tool.
Today’s students are truly digital learners. Outside of school they are texting, using cell phones, creating social networks on the internet, and playing interactive games online; they often do all of these things at the same time—multitasking. They expect to use some of these tools when they are in school. Teachers can create new learning opportunities for students and turn classrooms into the 21st-century global classroom when they integrate technology into the learning environment. Read on to learn from Sheila Gersh just how teachers can begin to create such environments.
H.W. Wilson announced the electronic and print publication of the “Tenth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators,” the newest volume in the series designed to acquaint readers with the creators of outstanding young adult and children’s books.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Dec 2008
The IMP is an integrated, problem-based curriculum that offers challenging content and emphasizes mathematical reasoning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Dec 2008
Pearson’s “Miller & Levine Biology” premieres a new and interactive edition designed to take students on biology adventures and virtual journeys.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Dec 2008
The 2008-2009 Inspiration Software Inspired Visual Learning Awards program will recognize 15 educators and their students for creatively using visual learning in their classrooms.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Nov 2008
Applications are now being accepted for the National Center For Women & Information Technology/Bank of America Award for Aspirations in Computing.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Nov 2008
The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict provides a general reference work encompassing all aspects of the contentious Arab-Israeli relationship from biblical times to the present.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Nov 2008
Google Apps Education Edition offers a variety of email, calendar, and collaboration tools directly from a computer browser.
Alice Kurtz reviews Timeliner XE, a software program designed to organize data into visual multimedia diagrams such as timelines, sequences, and cycles.
For October 15, 2008: Money and financial planning. Too boring for kids, right? NOT! Have them blast off to Planet Orange to explore the world of money.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
SAM Learning, publisher of Web-based curriculum for high school exit exam prep, now offers science content in biology, chemistry, and physics for SAM Learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2008
Welcome to Banned Books Week—Sept. 27 to Oct. 4, 2008.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2008
The American Association of School Librarians and the Children’s Book Council released the names of the contributors selected for the AASL Knowledge Quest journal’s “Meet the Author/Illustrator” column during the 2008-2009 school year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2008
The New York Times/Carnegie Corporation of New York “I Love My Librarian” award program is now open—for the first time—to school library media specialists.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2008
For September 15, 2008: Learn about Henry David Thoreau and his writings at The Thoreau Reader, a comprehensive website featuring online versions of many of his books and lots of links and annotations about his literary works.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) presents an “Introduction to Geocaching” Webinar on Sept. 24.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2008
Inspiration Software offers a free Web cast on Oct. 16 at noon Pacific time (3 p.m. Eastern time) titled “Analyzing Close Presidential Races with InspireData: How Might a Different Winner Have Changed History?”
News/Free Resources - Posted 11 Sep 2008
Teachers' Domain is a digital library of free media online resources for teachers, and online professional development courses created by public television station WGBH.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Sep 2008
Champion of IDEAS Blue Level, the second part of Ballard & Tighe’s Champion of IDEAS program, is now available for intermediate English language instruction in middle and high schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Sep 2008
In the July/August issue of MMIS, Kelly Czarnecki started her "tour of the possibilities" of using virtual environments in K-12 education with a look at two projects based on/in Teen Second Life—Science in Second Life, and Suffern Middle School in Second Life. Here's the rest of the tour, visting Whyville, the River City Project, Quest Atlantis, and McClarin's Adventures.
Sally Finley reviews the NXT Sensor Adapter, a device that enables a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robotics system to use sensor-based controls.
Charles Doe reviews the Bamboo Fun Pen Tablet, a computer input device.
Charles Doe reviews Animation-ish, a computer program designed to help students create animations.
Susan Hixson reviews an online test prep program for the SAT.
ABC-CLIO offers a new free online History & the Headlines resource, “Presidential Elections: In History & Today.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 29 Aug 2008
Innovation First, Inc. and Autodesk, Inc. offer a new curriculum now included in the VEX Robotics Design System Classroom Lab Kits.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Aug 2008
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 2009 awards program includes more than $45,000 in funding for awards to AASL members.
News/Free Resources - Posted 11 Aug 2008
The 2009 application for the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National School Library Media Program of the Year award is now available online.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Aug 2008
Alice Kurtz takes a look at two new web sites from the Library of Congress.
Rhonda Clevenson reviews Smart Talk Español, an interactive learning device designed to help students develop vocabulary, oral language, and word recognition skills.
Charles Doe reviews Writing Roadmap 2.0, an online essay scoring tool designed to give students practice in building writing skills.
The 2007 edition of the Horizon Report by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative predicted that in 2 to 3 years, virtual worlds will greatly impact teaching, learning, and creative expression. These scalable and highly creative environments are being used by educators all over the country in a variety of settings and in a variety of ways. This article offers a look at projects using virtual worlds that are currently “happening” in K–12 schools, what we’re learning from them, and what we can continue to learn by charging full steam ahead with these fascinating educational tools.
Sally Finley reviews MIND Research Institute Algebra Readiness, a program that provides a visual learning approach for a comprehensive algebra readiness curriculum for grades 6-12.
Alie Kurtz reivews Learn360, a video streaming service for K-12.
Charles Doe reviews Lexia Reading v5, a collection of three software programs combined with management functions.
WriteToLearn 5.0 updates the Web-based learning tool for developing writing and reading comprehensions skills with new text-to-speech capabilities and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Mar 2008
Bookshare.org and Don Johnston, Inc. are participating in a partnership to provide qualified print disabled students with a free text reader to access electronic books from the Bookshare.org library, beginning in September 2008.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Mar 2008
ISTE releases new books on RSS and PowerPoint with an educator perspective.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Mar 2008
Dynamic Literacy released Foundations, the first of two series in the WordBuild Vocabulary Development System.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Mar 2008
Sally Finley reviews LabQuest, a handheld data collection tool that can be used as a stand-alone device or a computer interface.
Susan Hixson reviews DOMA, an Internet-based supplemental math assessment program for use with grades K-12.
Charles Doe reviews WordBuild Elements Level 1, a spiraling vocabulary curriculum for grades 3-12.
Sally Finley reviews Evolver Pre-Algebra for grades 6-12.
The new Teacher One Stop offers documents, tools, and multimedia files with search capabilities, technologies, and resources designed to streamline and simplify educators’ planning activities.
For March 1, 2008: If you are looking for information on the hot topic of biotechnology, for an annotated list of books about agriculture, or if you just need to know the date for National Cream Puff Day or International Pickles Week (!), then look no further than the American Farm Bureau Foundation's Educating for Agriculture website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Geocaching, using GPS technology, is loads of fun, and it offers lots of educational opportunities as well. Yes, even in the media center. Media specialists are good at making curricular connections, and, says Mary Alice Anderson, the curriculum connections with geocaching are easy to see. Don't believe it?? Read and learn.
With agricultural commodities so readily accessible in the U.S., it is easy to forget how the baked ham, green beans, pineapple, and rolls with butter arrive on the dinner plate in some countries, but not in others. Learning about agricultural practices, economics, and the importance of farming will go a long way in helping students understand one aspect of global interdependence. Prepare your students for a trip to a working farm by visiting these websites, all vetted by Cyberbee, aka longtime MMIS columnist and educator Linda Joseph.
Adobe Systems Incorporated is seeking entries for the Adobe School Innovation Awards recognizing the creative and innovative work of high school students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Feb 2008
Three new topics will be added this spring to ABC-CLIO’s History and the Headlines collection of free online resources.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Feb 2008
The SMART document camera enables teachers to display detailed images and video of any physical object and instantly incorporate that material into digital lessons using the SMART Board interactive whiteboard and Notebook collaborative learning software.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Feb 2008
The first GenevaLogic Visionary Grants were awarded by the GenevaLogic Foundation in late January.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Feb 2008
The company's new EasyTech lessons and activities support middle school students to learn critical skills in blogs, podcasts, online communicating and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2008
SMART Technologies announced the addition of 100 SMART-created lesson activities to the Curriki global education and learning community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing free education materials.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2008
The MIND Research Institute’s visual math courseware programs for grades K-12 are now available in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jan 2008
Vernier Software & Technology offers free hands-on workshops designed to help educators learn ways to integrate computer and handheld data collection technology into any science or math curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 23 Jan 2008
The Princeton Review holds free SAT Strategy Session events in the virtual world of Second Life on Jan. 19 and Jan. 31.
News/Free Resources - Posted 18 Jan 2008
To help celebrate the recently announced ALA Awards (Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and others), Teachingbooks.net has announced it is offering free access to a great batch of original short movies and readings by the award winners.
News/Free Resources - Posted 17 Jan 2008
Discovery Kits describe the basic scientific principles underlying the applied science and activities of NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS).
News/Free Resources - Posted 17 Jan 2008
Reinventing Project Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age offers educators a practical guide for maximizing the benefits of project-based learning in today’s technology-rich learning environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Jan 2008
Projects should be designed to increase knowledge of scientific phenomena and provide opportunities for the application of that knowledge to environmental issues relevant to the students. Approximately $4 million in grants will be awarded.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jan 2008
For January 15, 2008: There are times when we simply have to "hold" a resource, touch it, and see it firsthand. The Library of Congress’ Primary Source Tool Kit website can make this possible!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2008
By
Linda C. Joseph
Enhancements to the new versions of these databases include an "Analyze" section that helps students examine key dilemmas in history, grapple with issues, and build historical inquiry skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Jan 2008
The featured technologies in the book, Technology in the Secondary Science Classroom, range from the easy to master, such as digital cameras, to the more complex, like probeware and geographic information systems.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2008
Educational video publisher School Specialty Media offers its new online Learn360 video streaming service for K-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2008
Rhonda Clevenson reviews GeoSafari Quiz Bowl, an interactive electronic educational game that simulates a television game show in the classroom.
Charles Doe reviews Fluent Reading Trainer (FLRT), a Web-based program that helps students increase reading speed while improving or maintaining reading comprehension.
Susan Hixson reviews Knowledge Adventure Activity Builder, an online teacher tool.
The new edition of Senior High School Library Catalog is available in print and on WilsonWeb with a new name, expanded subject coverage, and new features.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Nov 2007
Soliloquy Reading Assistant 4.1 updates the reading fluency program with easier software installation, support of Windows Vista, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Nov 2007
The Decision ’08 resource, designed specifically for classroom instruction, offers up-to-the-minute presidential election news through a video-on-demand user interface, allowing teachers to customize their lesson plans with compelling and relevant content to bring the election process and political issues to life, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Nov 2007
With end-of-grade, back-to-basics, multiple-choice testing for the masses and mechanical instruction methods, there’s growing concern that children are not learning to problem solve as much as they are mastering memorization of isolated facts in order to answer test questions. Yet, when they get home from school, children eagerly devour new information and concepts through the virtual environments of video games. In what I call a stealth-learning environment, children develop skills that connect and manipulate information in the virtual worlds of video games without really knowing that they’re learning.
Sally Finley reviews Tool Factory Podcasting, a Windows-based program that provides the tools needed to create and publish podcasts.
Charles Doe reviews a DVD-based program designed to illustrate editing techniques and principles.
Susan Hixson reviews Rapid Resources, an online teacher's tool for differentiating instruction.
Charles Doe reviews the tool package that includes Encarta Premium, Encarta Kids, Microsoft Math, Learning Essentials and more.
Don Johnston Inc. announced the release of SOLO Writing Coach, a writing implementation framework designed for at-risk students writing at or below proficiency levels.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2007
Literature Criticism Online provides access to hundreds of volumes from 10 Gale literary series.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Sep 2007
ABC-CLIO expands its free “History and the Headlines” online resources with “Double Victory—Minorities and Women During World War II,” material designed to support the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS/WETA documentary, “The War.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Sep 2007
FileMaker Pro Basics provides a comprehensive downloadable set of free training materials designed to help K-12 educators learn the essentials of creating FileMaker Pro databases.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Sep 2007
InspireData 1.5 is the first update to Inspiration Software’s InspireData program designed to help students in grades 4-12 explore and understand data.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2007
ABC-CLIO launches the first in its Fall 2007 lineup of free online reference and activity collections in a nod to Constitution Day (Monday, September 17).
News/Free Resources - Posted 12 Sep 2007
In this article, Part 5 of his series of reviews, Robert Congleton continues his conversations with representatives of vendors--in this case, ePals, LearningExpress, and Teen Health & Wellness--about how they are addressing the growing K–12 classroom reliance on electronic resources, the products they currently offer, and what new resources they plan to release in the near future. The article also describes updates on enhancements and new products that have been released in the last year by five of the vendors previously reviewed in this series: Gale, Greenwood Electronic Media, TeachingBooks.net, World Book, Grolier Online/Scholastic, Inc.
Sally Finley reviews Holt Virtual Investigations, a science simulation available in middle school and high school editions.
Susan Hixson reviews World Book Advanced, designed for use in high school and beyond. This database also has been used successfully in middle schools.
The National Air and Space Museum offers a variety of classroom resources, including online activities and teaching materials, designed for use in learning across the curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Jul 2007
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History offers a free online slide show titled “Wilberforce, Lincoln, and the Abolition of Slavery” and other online resources for teachers and students.
News/Free Resources - Posted 07 Jul 2007
The “social networking” generation is writing, and this writing is important to them. Schools must find a way to merge these informal writing activities with the writing activities found in classrooms. It’s possible that the use of social networking technologies with classroom writing programs could make writing in school interesting enough to motivate students to tackle the more formal writing needed for college, business, and other activities in adult life. Charles Doe's latest "Look At ... " article examines some of the software and Webware possibilities inspired by social computing as well as some of the newer computer- and Internet-based writing tools.
Alice Kurtz reviews a mutidisciplinary program containing the award-winning documentary "When the Levees Broke" and a companion curriculum guide.
Sally Finley reviews Science Online, a comprehensive subscripton database from Facts On File, Inc.
Holt World History: Human Legacy emphaszies document-based investigation and teaches students to read like historians, analyzing source documents to create an understanding of historical figures and societies.
A key feature of World Book Advanced is its integrated content, allowing students to search across a vast collection of primary source documents, e-books, and encyclopedia articles as well as multimedia elements, editor-selected Web sites, current magazine selections, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2007
The Franklin Institute Science Museum presents online materials designed to extend the experience of the museum’s King Tut exhibit with activities geared to the K-12 science curriculum.
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Jun 2007
ST Math Algebra Readiness, for students in grades 6 to 8, takes a building-block approach to providing mathematical problems and exercises aligned to the foundational math concepts and skills needed to learn algebra.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 May 2007
“Blue Vinyl: The World’s First Toxic Comedy,” a documentary directed by Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold, takes a charming look at a chilling situation with worldwide implications.
News/Cool Links - Posted 26 May 2007
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is offering four online courses this summer.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 May 2007
Charles Doe reviews The Bridge of Vocabulary, a program that includes a book with 100 vocabulary activities and a companion CD-ROM that provides more than 300 additional activities.
Sally Finley reviews InspireData, database software focused on the concepts of visual learning and data literacy.
Susan Hixson reviews Study Island, an online program that delivers curriculum content and assessment features tied to state standards.
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, a ready-reference database that examines today's major social issues.
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, launched its Teen Read Week 2007 web site, www.ala.org/teenread/, which includes a variety of benefits for early registration.
News/Cool Links - Posted 29 Apr 2007
The new Critical Thinking module of Thomson Gale’s Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center offers activities, assessments, and tools that encourage students to interact with, argue about, and analyze issues and concepts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2007
The Excellence Award Task Force of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is looking for 25 exemplary teen programs/services in all types of libraries to include in a fifth edition of “Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Apr 2007
The Princeton Review will offer free practice college entrance tests on April 28.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Apr 2007
A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation will make Spike Lee’s HBO Hurricane Katrina documentary and a companion curriculum available at no cost for use by high school, college and community educators.
News/Free Resources - Posted 14 Apr 2007
This month, ngm.com examines the global fishing crisis from a number of perspectives.
News/Free Resources - Posted 01 Apr 2007
The MAKING HISTORY 2.0 computer simulation game is a contest of economics, warfare, and diplomacy, offering teachers in high schools and colleges a tool for motivating students to think critically, discuss complex topics, and improve their understanding of global conflict.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Mar 2007
AutoSkill International now offers an optional SpanishTutor module for its Academy of MATH intervention software.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Mar 2007
Charles Doe reviews Great Source iwrite, a free Web-based writing resource for grades 5-12.
Susan Hixson reviews WebLesssons, an online multimedia resource that replaces the typical browser window with a student learning path.
Three new GenevaLogic Vision Kits provide individual classrooms and entire schools with classroom management tools for effective computer teaching.
Moving right along, Charlie switches from last issue's Look At ... Elementary-Level Software and Webware to secondary-level materials this time ... "everything from exciting new software for video-editing tasks that weren’t really possible in high schools 20 years ago to extraordinary subscription databases," plus "Web-based courseware that is becoming larger and larger in scope, more sophisticated assessment tools, and some programs with intriguing electronic delivery methods."
Applications will be accepted until March 1 for the AASL School Librarian's Workshop Scholarship.
News/Free Resources - Posted 20 Feb 2007
H.W. Wilson announced the addition of 28 science education journals to its Science Full Text Select database.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Feb 2007
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is gathering data for a longitudinal survey of school library media programs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Feb 2007
To support teachers who want to explore use of video games in education, Muzzy Lane Software has created the MAKING HISTORY Innovative Teacher Challenge, open to all high school history teachers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2007
GenevaLogic now offers three new education kits designed to provide individual classrooms and entire schools with classroom management tools for effective computer teaching.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Feb 2007
Hotmath.com now offers nearly 1,000 video lessons that teach and explain math homework topics.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2007
This is the first in SafeSchools’ Online Safety Series, which covers the various means of communication as well as the growing dangers that can entrap students when they’re online, including cyberbullying, predators, and threats of violence.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2007
The new database combines authoritative research sources, inquiry-based teaching and study tools, and integrated current events aligned to social studies standards and curriculum.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jan 2007
By Kids For Kids Co. (BKFK) and Mattel are partnering for the third annual “Invent-A-Toy” World Games competition for youngsters ages 5-19.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Jan 2007
The National Geographic Web site, Ngm.com/, explores a variety of subjects--and many corners of the world--in the month of January.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jan 2007
The first new author program features an interview with British writer and illustrator Lauren Child, the creator of the Clarice Bean books, the Charlie and Lola series, “The Princess and the Pea,” and “Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Book,” among others.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Jan 2007
The “Make a Plan” tool gives students a choice of eight plan types, including an outline, an idea web, and templates for specific types of essays, such as compare/contrast and cause and effect.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Jan 2007
Sally Finley takes a look at the Super Size Me: Educationally Enhanced DVD, a combination of the award-winning documentary and interactive learning features for students in grades 6-12.
Podcasting is emerging as one of those technological diamonds in the rough that has the potential to reshape the way we look at the Internet, mass media, and ourselves. With a multimedia computer, easy-to-use recording software, and some storage space on the Internet, everyone can build a podcasting production center of their very own. Podcasting is headed for a classroom near you, so read Dan Schmit's feature to be ready for it!
Multimedia online technologies now offer an unprecedented ability to enable every student, teacher, and even every family to "meet" the authors of books they are reading. If you have ever seen an author speak or have hosted authors in your school, you have experienced the impact meeting an author has on a personal relationship to a book. It humanizes the book, it reveals the person and personality that created it, and more. This article highlights specific ways you can replicate these personal connections to authors and illustrators by optimizing a variety of multimedia and online technologies.
A new HP initiative will award grants totaling $3.9 million in cash and HP equipment to K-12 public schools in the United States and Puerto Rico.
News/Free Resources - Posted 28 Dec 2006
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, announced the launch of a new open discussion list, YA-MUSIC.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Dec 2006
Vantage Learning’s MY Access! Home Edition gives parents the tools they need to help their kids boost their writing skills and confidence levels, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Dec 2006
EBSCO Publishing introduced a new way for users to learn about EBSCOhost interface enhancements.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Dec 2006
Comprised of concise, balanced original articles, primary source documents, diaries, speeches, and interviews, the database is targeted to grades 7 and up, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Nov 2006
Virtual Economics 3.0, a CD-based program from The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), provides more than 1200 activity-based economics and personal finance lessons for K-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Nov 2006
A team of Canadian educators who are specialists in their content areas worked with Thinkronize to identify and evaluate high quality resources that specifically support Canadian teachers and students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Nov 2006
netTrekker now includes access to Teachers’ Domain, the result of a partnership between Thinkronize, the developer of the netTrekker educational search products, and WGBH Educational Foundation, the producer of Teachers’ Domain.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Nov 2006
The folks at the ReadWriteThink Web site—a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation—have an excellent collection of resources of their own making, plus links to many more, to use during National American Indian Heritage Month.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 Nov 2006
Don Johnston, the founder and leader of the multimedia company that bears his name, has written an autobiography designed to inspire struggling students to become self-learning advocates and to take charge of their own learning process.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Nov 2006
Schools and districts can now purchase access to Hotmath.com as a content upgrade to netTrekker d.i.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Nov 2006
Reviewer Charles Doe takes a look at TeenBiz3000, an Internet-based reading and writing supplemental program for grades 9-12.
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at American History Online, a database for 7th grade - high school learning.
The CultureGrams report series provides an insider's perspective on the daily life and culture of countries across the globe, including background information on customs, lifestyle, and country-specific recipes.
Cyberbee is positioned this month--Globally Positioned, that is--with resources to help you and your students map trails, find treasure caches, and solve problems by using the Global Positioning System technology made possible by 24 U.S. military satellites orbiting Earth that transmit signals to a GPS receiver.
The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) offers a variety of free online resources for K-12 educators and students, including curriculum information, lesson plans, bibliographies, and teacher workshops.
News/Free Resources - Posted 26 Oct 2006
There are more than 150 new video, DVD, and CD-ROM titles for grades K-12,
including animated series, now available in the Discovery School line of products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Oct 2006
For October 15, 2006: “You never know where a science fair project will take you.” That’s the philosophy behind the creation of the School Science Fairs Web site! Cyberbee says the site should be your first stop when looking for science fair project ideas.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new version includes Web delivery, advanced reporting capabilities, and
speech-recognition enhancements.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Oct 2006
Educators can now help their students gain a deeper understanding of the world by blending unitedstreaming’s broadband videos on historical, geographical, or other subjects with Google Earth’s cutting-edge geography content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Oct 2006
Criterion v6.2 includes a number of upgrades to ETS’s proprietary e-rater scoring engine, including the ability to detect run-on sentences and missing commas; expanded sentence fragment detection; and analysis and feedback regarding the technical quality of a student’s thesis statement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Oct 2006
The new feature in World Book’s Online Reference Center is intended to help students and their parents better understand the issues around global warming, from the science to the politics.
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 Oct 2006
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) unveiled a new Web-based science toolbox, the Coral Ecosystem SciGuide for grades 9-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Oct 2006
The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers an online collection of lessons and Web resources, most of which come from the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).
News/Free Resources - Posted 29 Sep 2006
The Bridge of Vocabulary, a book and CD set available November 13, offers an explicit vocabulary intervention program developed for general and special educators.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2006
The daily 10-minute broadcast on Headline News can be downloaded free from the CNN Web site.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Sep 2006
MY Access! 7.0 updates the online instructional writing tool with feature enhancements and new programs designed to help students prepare for the SAT and other standardized tests.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Sep 2006
The new reading intervention program, Passport Reading Journeys: Beginnings, expands the Passport Reading Journeys series for use with secondary students reading three to four years below grade level.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Sep 2006
Susan Hixson reviews Let's Go Learn/Reading, a K-12 diagnostic assessment program.
Reviewer Alice Kurtz takes a look at Issues and Controversies in American History, a subscription database from Facts on File News Services.
The site now offers homework help for 150 math textbooks. Free access to some content is available through January 2007.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Aug 2006
“Prosper for Shining Star” combines an assessment system with a standards-based English Language Learner curriculum.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Aug 2006
The Web-based tool is designed to build writing and reading comprehension skills through essay writing and summarization practice.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2006
Alice Kurtz reviews PLATO's semester-long online program for high school History and Geography coursework.
The scholarly Web is getting noticed more because of new digitization initiatives underway and the enormous publicity search leaders are receiving for their fledgling work. Many librarians and researchers seem to be pleasantly surprised by the continually changing face of the scholarly Web and its freely available quality full-text offerings. This article brings together pertinent resources on the free Web of interest to anyone, including librarians and other educators, who conducts research and would like to easily supplement their currently available holdings, in print and electronic formats and via commercial vendors’ fee-based subscription databases, within their own libraries.
SirsiDynix and INFOhio, the Information Network for Ohio Schools, announced that 140 librarians and educators in Ohio are creating content for SirsiDynix SchoolRooms.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jun 2006
The newly updated unitedstreaming video-on-demand service will include new multimedia assets, live curriculum-based Web seminars led by education technology experts, and hundreds of additional educational video titles.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Jun 2006
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is participating in a new initiative designed to educate American teens about online safety.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 May 2006
The Development of the Industrial U.S. Reference Library, published by UXL, covers the history of America during the second half of the 19th century, a time when the country began its march toward the role of the wealthiest and most powerful industrial nation in the world.
The Education Desktop is a customized Internet portal for teachers and students that provides access to education-appropriate applications and tools.
Science Diagrams is a drawing program that provides access to more than 200 pre-constructed and edit-ready science-related diagrams, as well as the tools to create new diagrams.
Math, computers, and the Internet make a wonderful combination that seems to be producing better, more effective, and more interesting math educational materials every day. Internet technology—driven by speedy DSL access, increasing flexibility of use, and a large (and growing) potential audience—is providing an exciting forum for the development of some really outstanding math resources. Charlie Doe takes a look at the territory in this math roundup.
This month, Cyberbee sets his and your sites on water, streams, and creeks, where your students can experience great adventures. Discover all sorts of creatures and plants that live in this aquatic habitat, investigate the health of the creek and its impact on the overall environment, and lots more. Prepare for your journey by visiting these Web sites for information and lesson ideas.
Student usage of social networking sites sites has become one of the hottest tech issues for schools this year. Clearly, social networking presents challenges for schools, and Joanne Barrett's article will help you understand the phenomenon--what it is; what it means for kids, parents, and teachers; what the benefits can be, what dangers it poses, and more.
The Glimpse Foundation launched its third annual Spring Photo Contest, "It's All in the Family," open to anyone who has traveled or lived abroad. The contest seeks photos that depict family life in countries other than the U.S.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Apr 2006
The Core level of the test is designed for high school seniors and first-year students at community colleges and four-year institutions. Until May 5, first test administration is free for qualifying colleges and high schools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Apr 2006
The new version of the integrated writing, graphics, and publishing tool for students in grades K-8 features dozens of refinements.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Apr 2006
For April 1, 2006: Each spring when the falcons nest, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources sets up the Ohio Peregrine Falcons site, using a live cam on the 41st floor of the Rhodes Tower in Columbus.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Apr 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
netTrekker d.i. now includes readability ratings for its bank of online classroom resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Mar 2006
Questia Lesson Plans are the latest addition to Questia Classroom, the teacher and student resource center that integrates the company’s digital library content into class instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Mar 2006
EBSCO Publishing launched two free Web-based resources for school libraries: History-It’s Happening! and It’s a Reading Rave!
News/Free Resources - Posted 24 Mar 2006
The broadband educational video service has been designed for “kids
who live and learn online.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Mar 2006
Thomson Gale provides free online access to a variety of Earth Day-related materials, including experiments, information on the environment, related Web links, tools for teachers and parents, and environment-focused Thomson Gale titles.
News/Free Resources - Posted 12 Mar 2006
BrainPOP offers free online movies on topics related to Earth Day throughout the month of April.
News/Free Resources - Posted 10 Mar 2006
The online formative assessment is designed to measure and improve student writing progress in grades 6-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Mar 2006
Handheld Computers and Smartphones in Secondary Schools
provides guidance and activities to help educators learn how to use this new
technology effectively to meet curricular goals.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Mar 2006
Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office, a software tool that provides education-specific scaffolding for students and teachers using Microsoft Office applications, is reviewed by Charles Doe.
Inspiration 8 updates the visual learning program launched nearly 10 years ago for grades 6–12 with new and improved capabilities designed to help students visualize, think, organize, and learn.
Linda Joseph's CyberBee this month helps you and your students transform your schoolyard into a launchpad; experiment with aerodynamics, Newton's laws, and Bernoulli's principle; create geometric kites and sleek paper airplanes; measure distances; determine the best flying designs and discover why they were successful; and more ... by guiding you to some terrific kite- and paper-airplane-related math and science Web sites.
Many students experience "library anxiety" when making the switch from high school to college. While school librarians do an excellent job teaching information literacy skills to their students, they may find themselves asking, "What other skills are important for my students to learn before they leave high school, and what resources are available for them?" Having worked for years as a librarian and with librarians in school and academic settings, the authors offer solid advice and ideas for school librarians to help students bridge the gap between the high school library and academic libraries.
The newest version of the educational simulation developer’s management program allows multiple teams to compete against each other.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Feb 2006
The program for the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) includes a closing session focused on the Texas Instruments “We Use Math Every Day” initiative, based on the popular CBS television series “NUMB3RS.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Feb 2006
For February 15, 2006: Electric Universe is "a universe of information about electricity, how it affects our lives, and how to harness its power safely." Check out "Louie's Space" and other electrifying spots on the site!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2006
By
Linda C. Joseph
PEARL (Prepare and Educate Aspiring Reporters for Leadership) World Youth News is an international news service with articles written, edited, and published by secondary school students from around the world.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Feb 2006
With the Merit Text Talker, all of the passages, questions, answers, tips, and explanations students view on the screen in Merit reading, grammar, and vocabulary improvement programs can be spoken aloud.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2006
Play Index, applauded by Reference Quarterly as “the preeminent play-finding index,” is now available as a WilsonWeb online reference.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2006
The new version of Inspiration offers expanded visual capabilities, increased support for writing, and new resources for curriculum integration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2006
Read&Write 8.0 GOLD enables students in grades 3 and up who struggle to read and write to use mainstream classroom software alongside their peers, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 31 Jan 2006
The semester courses are designed to help schools meet diverse learning needs for distance learning and credit recovery.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jan 2006
Custom Inspiration and Kidspiration graphic organizer templates will support Zaner-Bloser’s Strategies for Writers program.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2006
The site is designed to help students, teachers, and families celebrate the month.
News/Free Resources - Posted 05 Jan 2006
CyberBee, aka Linda Joseph, takes a tour of Web sites all about puzzles in this issue, covering puzzle history, puzzles for learning, puzzle generators, and more.
Voyager’s new reading intervention program uses print, Web, and DVD technology to reach struggling middle and high school students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Dec 2005
The growth measure informs instruction and prepares districts and states for upcoming NCLB accountability provisions, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Dec 2005
askSam Systems keeps on adding to its free, searchable collection of literature works online.
News/Free Resources - Posted 16 Dec 2005
Another Information Today, Inc. e-publication has published a story on ProQuest's Black Studies Center. This one is an in-depth report for NewsBreaks by ITI News Bureau Chief Paula Hane. (From Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 06 Dec 2005
The Black Studies Center is intended to record and illuminate the Black experience, from ancient Africa through modern times. (From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 02 Dec 2005
For December 1, 2005: Examine four different sculptures to discover how modern artists use different methods and materials to convey ideas at the Art Interactive site from the Hirschhorn.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
askSam continues to expand its free, searchable collection of important works online.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Nov 2005
Expanded book and author online resources will help connect students to reading through technology, according to the TeachingBooks.net announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Nov 2005
The new Teachers’ Guide provides tutorials, tips, online and print resources, and specific curriculum-based projects in which U.S. teachers can participate to establish school-to-school global interaction on the Internet.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Nov 2005
For November 1, 2005: Explore Newton’s Castle, a “stimulating journey into the revelations of Sir Isaac Newton,” where you can learn about his discoveries … and secret life! Learn about color, optical illusions, and lots more ... such as why dogs chase cars! (Did they have cars in Newton's day??)
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Nov 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Databases can inspire novel approaches to creating curriculum. As teachers become familiar with them, their thinking about lesson planning and student research often moves in innovative directions. In this article, Sarah Cooper describes five projects through which librarians can take the lead in helping history and English teachers see the potential of this new world of sources. Included is coverage of database resources from Accessible Archives, Country Watch, EBSCO, Gale, JSTOR, LexisNexis, NewsBank, The OED Online, and ProQuest.
Discovery Health Connection now includes 16 curriculum programs, three Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Model Programs, correlations to every state’s educational standards, and more than 100 new literacy lessons, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Oct 2005
The educational award program will recognize the student-created Global SchoolNet Web projects that best teach others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Oct 2005
For October 15, 2005: Miami Museum of Science's Atoms Family Web site presents a seasonal way to explore energy forms, hosted by the likes of Wolfman, Count Dracula, and their ilk.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Oct 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
The standards-based activities are organized by state, subject area, grade level, and keyword for searching on SMART’s new Web site for educators.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Oct 2005
The Web site will look at 14 American-involved wars and allow users to compare the military, economic, and social aspects of each conflict. A 30-day free preview is available.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Oct 2005
For October 1, 2005: Here's a quick reference on organizing a science fair project for your students to use.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Oct 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
The individual scenes are divided into separate documents in the database, allowing users to easily search and locate scenes pertaining to specific topics, according to askSam Systems.
News/Free Resources - Posted 21 Sep 2005
For September 1, 2005: Just right for the upcoming Constitution and Citizenship Day, Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline introduces key historical events while allowing students to think about the issues.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Sep 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Linda Joseph's CyberBee offers a wide assortment of resources to help you with activities for your class in support of Constitution and Citizenship Day, coming up this month.
The very nature of science as an ever-changing discipline requires timely and updated tools to deliver instruction within the science classroom. Technology programs provide the perfect solution to engage today’s students in scientific inquiry. This article covers science software in the categories of standards-driven teaching, simulations, inquiry, and science tools.
In this story, Mike Lambert and Margaret Carpenter, educators at Hong Kong International School, outline a range of approaches that “harness the power of images” in their teaching. Among the article subheads: Digitize ... Then Verbalize; Iconize ... Then They’ll Memorize; Use Visual Prompts to Encourage Creativity and Lateral Thinking. There’s also a sidebar of some brief stories from vendors whose products tap into visual learning.
CQ Press is offering a free 19-page lesson plan titled “The First Amendment and Protection of Students’ Rights” in honor of National Constitution Day, September 17.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Aug 2005
Goldhil Educational has launched a DVD series designed to provide a comprehensive SAT review.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Aug 2005
More than a million articles plus 60,000 books in Questia's collection now incorporate The Lexile Framework for Reading. (From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 17 Aug 2005
For August 15, 2005: At the Memorial Hall Museum Online, explore the history of New England through artifacts and historic documents … even a “magic lens”!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
The new Web site was specifically designed for tweens, to engage, entertain, and educate them about the features of the new FLY pentop computer.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jul 2005
The FLY pentop computer offers a range of innovative applications for tweens (grades 3-8) to learn, communicate, and game.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
The company has added an authoring and game-sharing system to the Classroom Jeopardy package.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
SMART Ideas concept-mapping software 5.0 is designed to improve student comprehension and retention; the new version streamlines planning, teaching, and assessment, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
The partnership, an extension of the Adobe Digital Kids Club program, is intended to make it easier for K-12 educators to take advantage of digital cameras and photo editing software in the classroom.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Jul 2005
For July 1, 2005: Too hot? Check out polar bears and other critters cooling it in their simulated natural habitats at the San Diego zoo.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jul 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
A review of Predictive Assessment Series, an assessment tool for K-12.
A review of Differentiated Instruction: Success for Every Student, a free online professional development resource.
A review of the companion Web site for the PBS/NOVA "Saving the National Treasures" television program.
A product review of Deltora, a Web site for ages 9-12 that supports the Deltora novels by Emily Rodda.
Math teachers and their students have a huge number of instructional, testing, tutorial, and other materials available in a bewildering array of formats. Programs and services are offered as software for personal computers or hand-held devices, on stand-alone handhelds and calculators, and as Web-based subscription services. This article takes a look at some of the instructional, testing, and tutorial software or Web-based programs and services for math teaching.
In Part 2 of his Database News series, Robert Congleton looks at the products offered by Facts On File, Greenwood Electronic Publishing, netTrekker, NewsBank, and World Book.
For this article, Audrey Church surveyed a number of e-book providers about their offerings to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the free and fee-based e-book content that's available today, as well as the sophisticated ways that content can be presented, searched, and otherwise worked with. Read on to see what's available from Project Gutenberg, Bartleby.com: Great Books Online, International Children's Digital Library, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Greenwood Publishing Group-eBooks, Follett Library Resource Company, Questia, and more.
Over 150 new video, DVD, and CD-ROM titles for grades K-12 have been added to the Discovery School line.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jun 2005
EBSCO’s optional new interface, an alternative to EBSCOhost, provides secondary school students with an enhanced search experience, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jun 2005
Inspiration’s visual learning software is now compatible with leading handheld computers, with the Pocket PC version joining Inspiration for Palm OS, launched last year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jun 2005
Readex's collection of primary sources will include approximately 15,000 broadsides from the 19th century. (From Information Today, Inc.’s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 20 Jun 2005
The Literary Encyclopedia is written and owned by a global network of scholars and researchers (above 1,000 and rising steadily) who are committed to making the publication into one of the most rewarding sites on the internet, according to the Web site. Definitely worth a visit, according to us.
News/Cool Links - Posted 16 Jun 2005
For June 15, 2005: Enter the front gate, virtually, of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis via this Web site developed by the St. Louis Public Library.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jun 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
Vantage Learning’s Web-based system gives customers greater freedom to administer its essay scoring technology to meet their individual needs, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Jun 2005
A cooperative effort between the National Library of Spain and the Library of Congress, the redesigned site has added materials from the collections of the National Library of Spain.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Jun 2005
There are new, age-specific home pages and more powerful search capabilities in this latest Grolier, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Jun 2005
H.W. Wilson will offer the Art Image Database to replace the AMICO Library, which is ceasing publication in July.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jun 2005
Librarian Marylaine Block’s Neat New Stuff I Found This Week was our tip-off to this quality teacher resource of historical maps and excellent accompanying lesson plans.
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Jun 2005
Additions include Assignment Discovery titles, new digital images, and classroom integration ideas.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Jun 2005
Version 5.7 includes a universal import utility for processing test data and an improved benchmarking test with 6,000 test items.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Jun 2005
Improvements include enhancements requested by existing NoveList and NoveList K-8 customers, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 May 2005
EBSCO's Humanities International Complete provides humanities content via the full text of hundreds of journals, books, and other published sources from around the world.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 May 2005
Pinnacle Studio and Advanced Academic Toolkits are designed to be simple, affordable software that makes learning fun.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 May 2005
The new online writing destination helps students find their voice, develop their craft, and publish their work, according to Scholastic’s announcement.
News/Free Resources - Posted 20 May 2005
National Geographic and PBS have created a series of four television documentaries and a complementary Web site, all under the moniker Strange Days on Planet Earth, that make for a riveting 21st-century media approach to studying environmental issues.
News/Free Resources - Posted 18 May 2005
For those of you working with secondary/college prep students preparing for university-level research, this may be of interest: Gary Price, in a ResourceShelf article, and Barbara Quint, in an Information Today, Inc. NewsBreak, recently weighed in on Google Scholar on the occasion of Google’s announcement that the pilot is being expanded.
News/Cool Links - Posted 18 May 2005
The launch of Who’s Who in American History, with more than 70,000 historical biographies, represents the first phase of a major digitization initiative by Marquis Who’s Who.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 May 2005
Although this CIA reference site provides information as of 1 January 2005, it will be updated biweekly throughout the year to provide wide-ranging information about the background, geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for all included countries.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 May 2005
Announced at the 2005 International Reading Association Convention in San Antonio, the Riverdeep products are Destination Reading Course III for grades 4-6, Course IV for grades 6-8, and Course V, a high-school-appropriate Proficiency Course for students who have not mastered the foundational reading skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 May 2005
EASE History’s creators describe their Website as “a rich learning environment that supports the learning of U.S. history … by connecting historical events, campaign ads, and core democratic values.” With its more than 600 videos and photographs from 1900 to the present and an interesting interface to explore them, it is indeed all that.
News/Free Resources - Posted 06 May 2005
Discovery Health Connection is a Web-based subscription service that provides a digital library of health and prevention resources for K-12 teachers including curriculum guides, worksheets, videos, and extension activities that address nine health and prevention issues for students.
In this issue, CyberBee has hunted down a collection of zoo Websites comprising a treasure-trove of educational information that will captivate kids for hours.
Advances in technology—including artificial intelligence (AI), as well as computer- and Web-based technologies—have led to the development of exciting instructional and testing applications for teaching writing. Some of the more radical changes are stemming from the development and relatively widespread use of computerized essay correction technology. In this article, learn about an array of essay-scoring products from some of the top testing companies, including Educational Testing Services (e-rater), Pearson Knowledge Technologies (Intelligent Essay Assessor), and Vantage Learning (IntelliMetric).
Discovery Education’s acquisition of health and prevention curriculum programs from the Comprehensive Health Education Foundation is intended to enhance its Discovery Health Connection—a new online library of K-12 health and prevention content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Apr 2005
Online journal provider Project Muse is offering high school libraries its full collection for $1,000 per year.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Apr 2005
August 2005 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Emmett Till's murder. TeachingBooks.net, in collaboration with Houghton Mifflin Company, has created an online resource that stimulates discussion about this landmark event in America's civil rights history, an Authors Up-Close program featuring award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson.
News/Free Resources - Posted 19 Apr 2005
EBSCO's new database is designed to provide high school students with resources for advanced studies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Apr 2005
Did you know it was National Poetry Month? Well, it is, and new in Thomson Gale's Free Resources space is its Poet's Corner.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Apr 2005
ProQuest's database provides a new look and new functionality to the Modern Language Association International Bibliography, making millions of records accessible and searchable online, along with links to full text.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Apr 2005
For April 1, 2005: You can make your own Picasso-esque artistic masterpiece. It's April 1st, but we're not foolin'! Check out the Mr. Picassohead Web site ...
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Apr 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Mar 2005
(From Information Today, Inc.'s EContentMag.com.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 18 Mar 2005
News/Free Resources - Posted 08 Mar 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Mar 2005
The Iditarod dog sled race starts March 5. Here's a review by Sally Finley of a Web site offering lots of learning opportunities built around the race. (From Information Today, Inc.'s MultiMedia & Internet@Schools -- Yes, that's us, right here!)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 04 Mar 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Mar 2005
Call to Freedom is a complete, online American history textbook covering pre-Columbian America to the present. It offers all of the features, content, and extensions of a traditional print textbook and includes a variety of tools that create an interactive environment for student learning.
The electronic devices, Web sites, and computer software discussed in this article will almost certainly light up the eyes of the television, Game Boy, or computer game fans in most classrooms. And, hopefully, some of the enthusiasm for the medium will carry over into the subject matter. For purposes of this article, language arts is loosely defined as anything that might be taught in an English class. Discussing a representative sampling of this technology will hopefully give readers ideas for classroom use, as well as ideas about places to look for additional similar learning tools.
To give MMIS readers a baseline on K-12 database content and an idea of what's coming up, the author recently spoke with representatives of a number of major vendors about the K-12 products they currently offer, as well as what's planned for release in the near future. The five covered in this article are ABC-CLIO Schools, EBSCO Publishing, ProQuest Information and Learning, Thomson Gale, and H.W. Wilson. But note that this article is listed as Part 1, as there are other resources to cover. Watch for Part 2 in an upcoming issue of MMIS.
For March 1, 2005: March is Women's History Month and the Women's Words of Wisdom: Thoughts Over Time site is a great way to introduce women's history to students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2005
By
Linda C. Joseph
News/Free Resources - Posted 24 Feb 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Feb 2005
Searcher magazine authors Paul Piper and Miguel Ramos report exhaustively on blogs and bloggers offering up gritty reality checks and personal accounts of the situation in Iraq. If you want primary sources about Iraq for your students to examine, this article serves them up! (From Information Today, Inc.’s Searcher magazine.)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 03 Feb 2005
News/Free Resources - Posted 03 Feb 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2005
African American experiences during slavery are identified in the National History Standards under United States History, Era 2: Standard 3C, which states, "the student understands African life under slavery." The best way to learn about daily life, culture, and history is to draw upon the firsthand accounts of people who lived during that time period. CyberBee presents a collection of primary sources in this article that are tailor-made for studying this topic.
The Science CSI kit is a collection of digital science tools accompanied by a science curriculum.
The Neo is a portable, lightweight, and inexpensive computer "companion" that looks like a keyboard with a small screen attached.
As the Web continues to develop and faster Internet access becomes available to more individuals, the likelihood of Web-based programs replacing CD-ROMs is becoming more and more real. The advantages provided by subscription Web-based services will lead them to be used for direct instructional purposes in the classroom.
An easy-to-use educational software program that enables secondary education teachers and college instructors to bring U.S. demographic data into the classroom.
Earth Science, Life Science, Physical Science
Searching the Web may seem an easy task. Just type in your terms and look at all the results—until, of course, you are engulfed in your hits, drowning in the inevitable consequences of a bad keyword search. A more efficient, viable alternative is to search combinations of superb free Web directories/portals and free/fee-based vendor resources, with an emphasis on quality over quantity.
You've learned the basic functions of your hand-held computer (or PDA—Personal Digital Assistant)—and now you're wondering what more you can do with it, or how you can improve its function.
Science Fair programs are awesome and can generate all sorts of amazing results from inspiring and engaging projects. Finding good resources that outline the process and suggest age-appropriate topics is a key component for getting students started. Another important factor is to involve parents so that they can assist their children throughout the process. Be sure to visit these CyberBee-selected Web sites for resources, tips, and experiments that will help jump-start your science fair program.
PLATO Intermediate Writing Process and Practice is designed to supplement and support the teaching of writing in the middle school years. The program contains levels of lessons with a focus on many of the specific writing skills set by NCTE and the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning Lab.
The Internet has added whole new dimensions to databases—not only to the type and breadth of information available—but to the complexity and problems involved in getting the information.
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