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CATEGORY: Tools and Cross-Curricular Resources |
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Take a look at schoollibrarymanagement.com's infographic about Apple's iTunes U app announcement.
News/Cool Links - Posted 19 Jan 2012
The iTunes U app gives iOS users access a catalog of free educational content from top universities including Cambridge, Duke, Harvard, Oxford and Stanford, and any K-12 school district can offer full courses through the iTunes U app.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2012
New apps track real-time grades, homework, attendance, and more with Facebook and Twitter integration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2012
ALA's American Libraries magazine has published a great article on ebooks and school libraries. Part of the first two paragraphs should get you into it.
News/Cool Links - Posted 16 Jan 2012
The new courses from ASCD support educators implementing Common Core State Standards. Three support implementation of new math standards; four subject-based courses focus on supporting educators in integrating the new literacy standards into science, history/social studies, English language arts, and mathematics lessons.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2012
HotChalk is a learning management system that includes a lesson plan library. Teachers can manage curricula, develop student rosters, distribute assignments and quizzes, create lesson plans, post messages, share resources and best practices, and maintain an electronic gradebook.
Blackboard Learn 9.1 is intended to be a complete learning management system for course delivery. The Content Management, Course Delivery, and Community Engagement modules make up the Blackboard Learn platform. Blackboard Drive, the newest feature of the Content Management module, allows educators to save time by editing and managing Blackboard Learn content straight from the desktop.
Through software installed on the server, SharePoint LMS enables users to create and administer multimedia courses on the internet.
A song that keeps repeating in Mary Ann's head these days is "Hard Times Come Again No More," no doubt owing to the hard times and education budget cuts her public school colleagues are experiencing in Texas. In an effort to chase away this earworm with some positive thinking, she asked herself and other educators what they can do in the face of these cuts. See what the crowd came up with.
Media specialists know to double-check that all technology is in working order, even when the activity has previously worked well. Springboarding off her updated Tips for a Successful Internet Experience planning checklist for media specialists and teachers, Mary Alice delves this month into continuing questions about lab scheduling, file storage, and printing.
At Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, an iPad pilot initiative is exploring how a new portable technology, in the hands of teachers and students, can affect teaching and learning. Librarian Carolyn Foote describes how they are proceeding, keeping a close eye on what is working and what the impacts of the project are.
A learning management system (LMS) is the Holy Grail of education: an online system to manage it all. In this month's Tools for Learning feature, writer Victor Rivero names a range of companies that have ventured into this territory, along with the products and services they offer.
The bundle - which gives students, including those with learning disabilities, a way to visually express what they've learned across curriculum - incorporates the recently announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Adobe Premiere Elements 10 software, as well as Adobe Acrobat X Pro.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2011
An infographic developed by StudyBlue demonstrates several benefits for students who power-up their smartphones for study sessions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Nov 2011
In the free informational videos, experts share key tips and answer questions on a wide range of topics related to the admissions process, including how to parent your child through the process, ideas on what questions to ask during a college visit, what parents should and should not do while assisting students during the application process, and tips on choosing the college that will help the student reach his or her full potential.
News/Free Resources - Posted 22 Nov 2011
The iPhone and Android app features speech-to-text and picture-taking functionality.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Nov 2011
The study shows that secondary school students in the United States rely more heavily on social networks for content in their papers and less on cheat sites and paper mills compared to college students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Nov 2011
Britannica Image Quest provides access to more than 2 million images covering all subject areas. The images are cleared for noncommercial educational use.
The textbook is evolving, to say the least. Stephen is excited by the opportunities this presents for educators. So this month's column explores the opportunity to enhance a learner's experience and success with next-generation textbooks.
Johanna winds up her stint writing for Internet@Schools by revisiting some of the tech innovators she wrote about to explore what they're up to and the "tech effect" of their efforts.
Online education is a $34 billion industry, and it has been growing by an astronomical rate. Today, says author Victor Rivero, elearning is a paradigm shift. Here are some of the companies he's identified as being on board with this 21st-century transformation.
The three-hour, on-site workshops will help participants increase their knowledge of visual learning concepts and techniques, as well as how to apply these techniques to increase students' critical thinking, planning, organization, outlining and writing skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2011
From the announcement: "Only Spanglish that will help you prepare for the big day. Our explanations are in Spanish, but the drills and questions are in English. Since you will be battling the monster in English, we didn't want to send you to fight the battle of wits unarmed."
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 Oct 2011
Focused on providing fun and engaging tools to classrooms and homes, these joint efforts include components like supplemental family activities, K-12 curriculum programs, interactive classroom lessons and more.
News/Free Resources - Posted 10 Oct 2011
Teach! Strategies & Resources is designed to help schools bridge current instruction and future Common Core expectations with on-demand instructional professional development support.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Oct 2011
The new app provides parents and students with mobile access to the eChalk online platform to receive timely notifications of school activities, and to view grades, homework assignments, learning resources, and class discussions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Oct 2011
Ebook news is big these days, and matters increasingly in the K-12 realm. Here are the opening paragraphs, plus a couple of teaser sentences to entice you to read more, from a report on Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks yesterday.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 30 Sep 2011
The 2011 sweepstakes awarded nearly $200,000 in customized classroom technologies to 53 schools nationwide.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Sep 2011
The 4th Edition operates on the same core concepts and philosophy as its predecessors - every child is capable of becoming a peacemaker - but has been further divided by grade levels to address the developmental difference for grades K-3 and grades 4-5.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Sep 2011
New features enable students to more easily produce meaningful images, professional-looking movies, and digital stories that combine photos and videos in creative ways. Teacher resources, including step-by-step tutorials and ready-to-use lessons for incorporating the software into classroom learning, are available online at the free Adobe Education Exchange.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Sep 2011
For September 15, 2011: Teachers looking for a free and safe place to share student-produced videos should check out SchoolTube, the largest K-12 moderated video sharing website in the country.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The special live student session will feature acclaimed children's author Jean Craighead George.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Sep 2011
K-12 Students can now visualize and compare 2010 Census Data with interactive maps.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Sep 2011
Bookstream makes it easy for educators to hop on the internet, upload ebooks and share them with students for anytime reading, the announcement states. It was designed to help educators comply with IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that require schools to deliver core curriculum in accessible formats to support students with disabilities.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Sep 2011
Quizlet is a flashcards and study games website offered in multiple languages, with visuals and voice in some languages. All flashcards are user-generated. Quizlet contains elements of social networking to promote learning through groups and a blog.
Room 21 is an online learning management system designed to bring education into the 21st century. Students take online classes, and teachers design lessons to capture the spirit of 21st-century learning. Designed as a social learning platform, Room 21 provides tools for parents, students, principals, and teachers to collaborate, and it supports comprehensive skills needed to meet the challenges of the Common Core State Standards.
As you start the school year in this era of economic challenges, Stephen offers a range of strategies for partnering with your local public library.
The e-everything revolution charges ahead in the education realm. This month, Victor Rivero reprises and updates the discussion he started last year in his article "E Is for Explosion: E-Readers, Etextbooks, Econtent, Elearning, E-Everything."
Teacher and information technology integrator Craig McMichael reports on successful efforts at his school to integrate Cengage Learning ebooks and other electronic resources into the everyday fabric of learning … largely in place of print-based textbooks.
The company has upgraded its Discovery Education streaming service with a variety of new resources, more efficient navigation and a free, three-week series of webinars to help educators explore how to incorporate the digital resources into their instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2011
"Curiosity in the Classroom" engages students with cross-curricular lessons.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Aug 2011
Seen on Victor Rivero's edtechdigest.com: A great article/posting by Greg Limperis—Teaching to the Common Core Standards.
News/Cool Links - Posted 18 Aug 2011
Originally released in November 2010 for Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, LS2 Mobile allows people to connect with their public or school libraries 24 hours a day from any place with mobile or Wi-Fi Internet service.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Aug 2011
For August 15, 2011: For elementary math and science teachers looking for videos or slide shows to introduce or augment a topic, check out Study Jams.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The result of the partnership is a smarter experience for mutual customers and library users who begin their search from Encore, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Aug 2011
The eLibrary feature program is a keyword search tutorial system that gives students access to more than 4,600 Common Core state standard aligned lessons (language arts, math, science, social studies, and electives) for grades 6-12.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Jul 2011
Shmoop's Literature Guides and Biographies are written by Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkley, and other top universities. Shmoop is known for its sense of humor and knack for pop culture. For example, Shmoop introduces students to The Great Gatsby by comparing the novel to the television shows "Real Housewives" and "The Sopranos."
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Jul 2011
In addition to a rich public media library, PBS LearningMedia has content contributed from other publicly funded organizations, including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and NPR, as well as content funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Education, to deliver thousands of resources for use in the classroom and with home-schoolers.
News/Free Resources - Posted 20 Jul 2011
Information Today, Inc.'s news bureau chief and NewsBreaks editor Paula Hane has posted a report on the ALA summer conference and news emanating from it.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 07 Jul 2011
From Britannica Digital Learning, the service enables students in elementary school through college to easily access hundreds of high-quality books on the subjects they're studying.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Jun 2011
The online resource now offers a subscription option allowing teachers to track progress and metrics.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Jun 2011
OverDrive-powered library collections are now available on the LG Quantum, Samsung Focus, HTC Trophy, and other popular Windows Phones
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Jun 2011
Helpful in keeping kids engaged in education during the summer, the offering extends the personalized, online Flashcards learning experience to a mobile generation that thrives on 24/7 access to information - illustrated by the 30M downloads of Dictionary.com's mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Jun 2011
The poll assesses current and future cloud computing use in business, government, healthcare and education based on a survey of 1,200 IT professionals familiar with their organizations' use of, or plans for, cloud computing.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 May 2011
Through a new initiative, called myWorld TakingITGlobal, educators have immediate access to digitally driven content that makes global collaboration a reality for America's middle schoolers with the click of a mouse, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 May 2011
The new package is designed to help K-12 districts tackle the print-to-digital transition by enabling the efficient tracking and managing of textbooks as well as the devices used to support students in the classroom.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 May 2011
So the announcement about Google's Chromebook is out! And so is a river of informed commentary. Read this to find a really good take on the device and what it means, or might mean, ... or ...
News/Cool Links - Posted 13 May 2011
Four grade-level winners have been selected, with the winning entries to be published in Study Island online products.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 May 2011
ePals LearningSpace is a web-based communication and collaboration tool for district and school use.
Too often, says Mary Alice, obvious and necessary training about the basics gets lost in training about "big picture" items such as cloud computing or data mining. So she brings us back to those basics and discusses where media specialists fit in.mary alice anderson
Johanna argues for and promotes a more flexible approach to teaching and using digital media through fabulous examples from the students of Ross Wallis, head of creative arts at a school in the U.K.
"As fast as a trending Twitterstorm and as powerful as a flood of Facebook fans, there's a curious phenomenon moving through our schools these days: social media." Read all about the phenomenon … and the tools that comprise it … in Victor's feature.
Teacher Tim Childers has been a social networking tools evangelist for quite some time now. Here he reports on why and how, plus what tools he's leveraged, what barriers he's surmounted, and how you can do the same.
The new mobile apps allow students to study online flashcards and class notes on the go.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Apr 2011
igotta is designed to provide a virtual workspace for students to find, analyze, organize, and use information to complete a wide-range of school assignments while developing the skills they need to be college- and career-ready.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Apr 2011
World Book Mobile is a mobile-friendly version of World Book's comprehensive reference database, which includes tens of thousands of authoritative articles and multimedia images, including maps, photographs, and illustrations.
News/Breaking News - Posted 14 Apr 2011
M86 VuSafe provides a means to show pre-approved streaming media content without the peripherals (i.e. banner ads, comments, etc.) found on the source sites, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Mar 2011
TetraData is the company's suite of K-12 data management, analysis and vision alignment tools that enables districts to more quickly user their data to make informed decisions, drive continuous improvement, and impact student success.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Mar 2011
The collaboration between CTB and SMART further expands the use of Acuity by classroom teachers to track student performance directly and use SMART Response interactive response systems in their formative instruction.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Mar 2011
The online community of practice will first focus on student-owned devices, followed by broadband. Future areas of focus may include cloud computing, mobile computing, enabling home access, wireless access and network design, among many others.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Mar 2011
Information Today, Inc. news bureau chief Paula Hane has written a NewsBreak article on MindTap, an enormously interesting new release from Cengage. "New category." "Personal Learning Experiences." Big claims! If it sounds exciting to you, we think it indeed is, so check out Paula's report.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 14 Mar 2011
The report explores the fundamentals of mobile devices for schools - from their education potential to the pros and cons of student- vs. school-owned devices. It also details four components of mobile learning that factor into technology planning and decision making, and highlights how some school districts are successfully leveraging mobile devices.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Mar 2011
The Google search religion is finally starting to be challenged, according to Stephen. Search engine spam and questionable results run the risk of ruining the usefulness of search engines. It's time to build credulity skills in learners and researchers about what's behind the results they get from these engines.
Johanna reports on how Deborah Hargroves is providing "large school" media services to two separate "small school initiative" schools that could not otherwise afford them.
The professional development scene for teachers has advanced to the point that the web is a true gift to educators. Here are some excellent online professional development resources to help move you toward a 21 st-century classroom.
Edmodo gives teachers and students a secure and easy way to post classroom materials, share links and videos, and access homework, grades, and school notices. They can store and share all forms of digital content including blogs, links, pictures, video, documents, presentations, and more. Also included are features specifically for schools and districts that can be accessed for free by administrators.
Atomic Learning is a subscription service that offers online training and resources to educators and students for software, applications, and 21 st-century productivity skills. Training is delivered via short tutorial movies.
For March 1, 2011: There is an app for that, but which app is the best for kids? Visit Best Kid Apps to read reviews and ratings of iPhone, iPad, and Android applications.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Mar 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
Practically all education reform models use some form of learning community, each of which has benefits and drawbacks. But School Loop's Mark Gross writes that it's possible to use technology to create a hybrid learning community virtually that compensates for real-world problems.
The new version offers an array of improved features focused in the areas of navigation, scheduling, health management, conduct and special education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Feb 2011
For February 15, 2011: Cyberbee is always on the look out for software programs that are easy to use, free, and help teachers with technology projects. Any Converter, for video files, is one such program that fits the bill!
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Feb 2011
By
Linda C. Joseph
The integration of the new standards, along with the system's reporting engine, will assist teachers in viewing the effects of their instruction in terms of the new standards, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Feb 2011
The agreement with BrainPOP will allow BrainPOP's animated content to operate seamlessly with Turning Technologies' student response systems for immediate assessment of student learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Feb 2011
By making Discovery Education digital services compatible with Sky, Learning.com users can now access the company's content using one single username and password.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Feb 2011
Shmoop Online ACT Prep is available for $23 for at-home purchase by an individual student. Shmoop also offers affordable Site Licenses to schools, districts and libraries for its growing stable of Online Test Prep Courses - ACT, SAT, PSAT, and AP Exams.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2011
Version 3.5 of the learning management system features a new and more comprehensive database of content standards, a new mobile app for Android devices, and the ability to integrate with Turnitin.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Feb 2011
K-12 schools can deploy a full communication solution leveraging Microsoft Live@edu infrastructure and ePals' recognized learning platform.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2011
The StudySync program combines classic and modern texts, digital media, mobile technology, and social networking designed to inspire students to achieve higher levels of critical thinking and academic collaboration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Feb 2011
Webspiration Classroom combines the power of visual thinking with innovative collaboration tools, offering students and teachers 24/7 access to an online environment where they can work independently, with their peers and in groups, to develop and strengthen their writing and thinking skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jan 2011
Developed by Pearson, PowerTeacher Mobile 1.1 features the enhancements that teachers have most requested and is designed to make grading on-the-go easier.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2011
A recent posting on Victor Rivero's edtechdigest blog turned us on to a CoSN report, "Empowering the 2st Century Superintendent."
News/Cool Links - Posted 20 Jan 2011
Enhancements includes improvements to the WilsonWeb Mobile interface, expansion of the "My WilsonWeb" individual user account functions, increased customization, and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jan 2011
The new website offers states an integrated array of resources for the move to Common Core Standards.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jan 2011
SCAN by TregoEd is an interactive program that provides many lessons on social studies topics, current and past. The format is also available for teachers to create their own lessons or just enhance the lessons that are provided.
Mobl21 is an easy-to-use platform enabling educational mobility. With the editor, individual teachers, students, or institutions can create and share learning assets that complement formal courses, extending learning through the use of desktop widgets, social networking sites, and devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch. Facebook, iGoogle, Android, BlackBerry, and Flash Lite apps will be available soon.
Blackboard Mobile Learn allows students and educators to access teaching and learning wherever and whenever they want through two-way interactions on mobile devices. Blackboard Mobile Learn extends the course experience of Blackboard Learn, a web-based teaching and learning platform.
Given their popularity with students, knowing more about how search engines such as Google work is vital to understanding information access in a digital age.
Online. Blended. Mobile. 21 st-century. Collaborative. Project-based. Any way you label it, learning is changing. We're now settling into an exciting new paradigm of connected, engaged learning. To get a sense of all this, take a look at the sites, services, and resources we've noted right here in this article.
The CloudConnect product from Pearson Data Solutions allows districts and education agencies that rely on the Microsoft Live@edu free suite of hosted Microsoft applications (email, calendars, document sharing, instant messaging and video chat) to expand the set of services they offer their students and staff.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Dec 2010
The SMART Board 400 series uses SMART's patented DViT (Digital Vision Touch) technology to recognize both pen and finger inputs, enabling teachers and students to easily interact with digital content.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Dec 2010
With the new VariQuest Design Center Software v2.0. teachers can implement visual and kinesthetic learning strategies to improve student achievement and engagement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2010
The new "Safari To Go" app, built specifically to leverage iPad capabilities such as pinch-to-zoom and drag and drop functions, allows subscribers of Safari Books Online to view book content in their library.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Nov 2010
BookMyne features mobile access to in-demand library information, holdings and services.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Nov 2010
The first release, available now in the Apple App Store, gives students mobile access to Tutor.com's library of 9,000 online lessons, worksheets, videos and test-prep resources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2010
LS2 Mobile is a smart-phone interface that allows people to connect with their public or school libraries from any place with mobile or Wi-Fi internet service.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Nov 2010
Designed to work as an independent system, or in conjunction with a learning management system, Adobe Connect 8 software enables presenters to deliver engaging, media-rich experiences—live and on-demand—to widely dispersed learners and colleagues.
News/Breaking News - Posted 02 Nov 2010
Charles Doe reviews TimeMAPS, a money management and life skills program, a complete course or a supplement, intended to teach "personal finance literacy" defined as the knowledge needed to make responsible financial decisions.
Alice Kurtz reviews Shmoop, a free portal of digital resources, primarily for literature and social studies topics, that help students relate subjects being studied in school to their daily lives.
Just carry an iPad into a restaurant or a school library and see how much attention you get! It's a device everyone wants to get their hands on, touch, and play with. But just what are its strengths and weaknesses as a teaching and learning tool in schools? That's what author Carolyn Foote and her colleagues wanted to find out in their district. Read on to learn about their ongoing iPad pilot project at Foote's high school research center as they examine whether the devices are helpful in a school and/or library environment.
There's a quiet—or not so quiet—shift happening in school libraries across America. The social media revolution—reflected in all manner of shiny iPhone apps, blogs, Nings, Facebook pages, and other social networking tools, sites, and platforms—is real, and it's running like a loud line of students straight through the stacks, into the common areas, taking a sharp turn, and heading right on up to the teacher librarian/media specialist's desk. Are you ready for it? In this article, Victor Rivero addresses issues, answers, and resources to help.
ResponseCard NXT and TurningKey software provide a user-friendly summative assessment solution.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Oct 2010
The bundle includes the recently announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 software, as well as Adobe Acrobat X. Adobe Contribute CS5 and Adobe Soundbooth CS5 software are also included in the collection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2010
The SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard supports multiuser writing and common multitouch gestures currently recognized in Microsoft Windows 7 and Mac Snow Leopard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2010
SCAN challenges students to examine issues from different points of view using authentic scenarios and role-playing. The online tool includes built-in steps designed to focus online and in-classroom discussions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Oct 2010
The latest edition offers broad revisions in the areas of environment, science, and religion, as well as fiction and picture books. More than 7,000 of the entries are new. On WilsonWeb, Children's Core Collection is continuously updated with new material.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Oct 2010
The acquisition includes the Aspen Student Information System, a popular web-based solution designed to simplify school district data management through the integration of key K-12 applications.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Oct 2010
Enhancements in version 4.0 offer virtual student response systems, digital flashcards, customizable assessments, and a redesigned teacher page.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Oct 2010
Available as standalone products or as a single package, the Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 bundle offers a complete photo and video editing solution delivering the two products at a compelling price point for education, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Oct 2010
The new forum for dialogue about education is written by Inspiration co-founder and president Mona Westhaver.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Sep 2010
Victor Rivero reviews Cognite from Follett Software Co., a digital learning environment that integrates discovery and organization tools, collaboration, and communication.
The company's test prep service is available at $19 per student; Shmoop also announced that it will donate 20 percent of its proceeds to student groups or Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) who promote its Online Test Prep services as a group fundraiser.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Sep 2010
This month, Johanna describes a remarkable high school student's work to create something he calls "EduSweet," an engaging solution to keep the school-to-home connection alive and kicking that marries the traditional components of online grades, assignments, calendars, and notes with one-step social networking.
One of the most challenging areas in education today is helping students navigate through the ever-increasing world of information. There are many estimates out there on how fast the internet is growing, but everyone agrees it is the fastest-growing technology humankind has ever created! To get a handle on this 21st-century repository of information, librarians, teachers, and students need to harness the power and flexibility of the more-powerful, flexible, and varied online tools being developed … tools that can help them find, evaluate, and organize the megaloads of information out there. This applies not only to high school students but to younger students as well.
In this article, Victor Rivero draws on educators' and educational technology product developers' thinking that he picked up during a visit to this summer's ISTE conference. Victor cruised the show, talking with attendees and presenters, as well as with representatives from organizations such as the Partnership for 21st-Century Skills and The Software & Information Industry Association, to get their opinions on 21st century education.
The newly launched Behavior module offers a set of behavioral tools that work in tandem with the system's academic assessments and data management features to implement a comprehensive RTI framework in their classrooms.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Aug 2010
Shmoop now offers more than 4,000 titles available across the web, iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Aug 2010
All of these enrichments are available for customers immediately, and the standards-aligned programs qualify for federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2010
The Student Tracker system helps identify students who need support and creates a call to action for their education teams.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2010
For August 15, 2010: Search for exemplary lessons and information by topic or keyword at the free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Aug 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
ResultsManager extends the existing reporting functionality of the company's TurningPoint and TurningPoint AnyWhere software to allow instructors and presenters to store, track, and administer multiple interactive polling sessions.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Aug 2010
"Managing Learning: Next-Generation Learning Systems" details how K-12 educators and administrators are using cutting-edge Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) to transform teaching and learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jul 2010
Professional development plus instructional and assessment materials are intended to help teachers adjust classroom practices and prepare students for transition to the new standards.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jul 2010
The core subject map—the result of a collaboration between P21 and leading art, dance, music, theater, and visual arts associations—provides first-of-their-kind classroom examples of integrating the 'four Cs' into arts courses.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Jul 2010
Gaggle's online learning tools bring students' and teachers' most wanted Web 2.0 abilities to their classrooms in a safe and secure online social learning environment made specifically for K-12, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Jul 2010
Susan Finley reviews the Student Bullying and Violence Prevention Program, which provides online training and resources teachers can use to communicate with students about bullying and violence-related issues.
Charles Doe reviews the subscription-based Study Island SAT and Study Island ACT test preparation programs.
Having written a column several issues back entitled "What Kids Know (and Don't Know) About Technology," Mary Ann has now been inspired to address the same subject and questions to teachers and then also to administrators. So this is what she'll be covering in this month's column and the one to follow.
This month, Mary Alice offers advice and discusses tools, such as Edmodo and VoiceThread, that will help you and your students do lots more than they have in the past with primary source materials they have gathered.
Student response systems, also called "clickers," are handheld devices that help teachers poll students during class sessions and tabulate the responses. This technology is the same as that used when audiences are asked to vote on something during a television quiz program. The advantages of student response systems include increasing student involvement and allowing rapid and accurate assessment of understanding, knowledge, or interest. In this month's roundup, author Charles Doe provides a look at a representative sampling of these systems.
Last time, Stephen wrote about some of the issues facing us in the transition to a new and much more complicated ebook ecology, exploring our understanding of ebooks and how they differ from traditional books. In Part 2, he looks at emerging standards, legal issues, and what's in the pipeline for ebook devices, plus strategies for school libraries and their learners.
Part 1 of this article, which appeared in the May/June issue, looked at a range of safety and security issues affecting educators as we all strive to attain the vision enunciated at the beginning of that feature. Part 2 addresses universal digital media safety and literacy education as well as targeted youth risk online prevention.
In "E Is for Explosion …" Victor Rivero sets the scene with an overview of recent happenings in the world of e-reading devices as well as etexts, then focuses in on more than 15 kinds of electronic texts and content and their producers/providers.
For July 1, 2010: Need an inexpensive video camera to record interviews and other school events in high definition? There are two popular cameras that will fit the bill, the Flip UltraHD and the Kodak Zi8.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jul 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Cognite integrates discovery tools, retrieval, collaboration and communication with the goal of creating a vibrant experience where K-12 students excel, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jun 2010
Ning.com currently hosts 6,500 K-12 and 2,100 higher ed social networks that run the gamut from Ning Networks designed for novice teachers, or for teachers of specific subject areas, to individual school and alumni networks and those where teachers offer help to students outside of the classroom.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2010
This new version of Elluminate Live focuses on accessibility, providing a richer, more interactive online teaching and learning environment for all participants, including those with disabilities, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jun 2010
For June 15, 2010: Create your own games using the templates provided by ClassTools. Add your own content and images, then copy the link to your blog or website.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jun 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
The Assistive Listening System enables educators to provide any number of designated students with a listening device to clearly hear the teacher or other amplified audio.
News/Breaking News - Posted 10 Jun 2010
For June 1, 2010: This summer have your students hone their keyboarding skills with Dance Mat Typing. It's fun, easy to use, and geared for ages 7-11.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Jun 2010
By
Linda C. Joseph
Twenty-seven winners from over 327 nominations have been recognized for industry excellence.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 May 2010
The free applications are designed to integrate ebooks, audiobooks, and interactive and multimedia content into one application.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 May 2010
Projector companies Epson, Optoma, and Dell highlight the new report, an analysis of digital projectors for the K-12 education market available at ProjectorReviews.com, an online resource for digital projector reviews, research, and commentary.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 May 2010
For the last several years, Mary Ann has enjoyed using many online tools designed specifically for the purpose of conducting surveys. These are great for professional use by librarians and teachers. She started, she says, with SurveyMonkey and really took off with it. In this month's Belltones, Mary Ann discusses a selection of survey tools, and examines ways educators and students can use them.
In this age of technology-enabled openness, how much protecting is too much? And, going further, if our students are completely isolated from the benefits of the information age, will they ever learn? In this month's Tools for Learning feature, Victor Rivero examines some products, services, and solutions that address the question "How can our students stay safe and secure while simultaneously getting access to rich learning resources—and continue to fall in love with learning?"
Teachers are entrusted to provide a broad and lasting education to their students. That means, in part, exposing them to both many forms and many formats of literature. If we can help them to see the connections between those formats, then all the better. When we can lead them to see, understand, and thoughtfully combine print and nonprint formats as tools for their own expression of ideas and mastery, then we have begun to arm them with the tools necessary for lifelong learning. The faculty and staff of Chets Creek Elementary School in Jacksonville, Fla., have managed to do just that, as Johanna Riddle demonstrates in this month's Tech Effect column.
Charles Doe takes a look at the Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS Digital Camera.
Subscription web services for education offer a fascinating variety of products and approaches for teachers, parents, students, and school systems. Some services provide grade book and student information systems, others offer assessment and learning management platforms, and some feature classroom resources including lesson plans, videos, digital tools, activities, and games. This article takes a look at a representative sampling of subscription-based websites that are appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms.
Alice Kurtz discusses "Lost Nation: The Ioway," an interactive DVD that allows students to explore the plight of one tribe of Native Americans as Europeans moved westward across the North American continent.
Susan Hixson reviews School Town, an online collaborative learning resource.
It's clear that concerns about internet risk and the ineffective way in which schools are now trying to manage internet use are a major barrier to moving schools forward to embrace 21st-century learning environments. Nancy Willard says it's time for schools to address these issues in a more comprehensive manner. In this two-part article (Part 2 will appear in the next issue), she outlines how cyber-savvy schools can embrace the future.
The software suite includes Creative Suite 5 Master Collection, Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Design Standard.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Apr 2010
Release 9.1 of Blackboard Learn emphasizes social learning and student engagement, and brings upgrades for K-12 and former WebCT Clients.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2010
More than 70 video tutorials can help teachers and students learn how to use the visual learning software's capabilities.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Apr 2010
Under the agreement, ePals will offer Microsoft Live@edu email and calendaring platform and other capabilities to its users, expanding ePals' services with enterprise-grade collaboration tools.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Apr 2010
The NAMTC Digital Marketplace is powered by the EduTone Xchange platform, enabling education service agencies to purchase, provision, and access on demand the web-based applications and content offered in the Digital Marketplace.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Apr 2010
With the new release, Adobe is offering new curricula, a certification program, and learning resources to better train students and faculty in the digital communication and collaboration skills vital to 21st century employment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Apr 2010
Now both MyVision Basic and MyVision Free classroom management software will support mixed platform environments, allowing teachers to manage students working on both Macs and PCs simultaneously.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2010
The latest version of its testing and assessment tool, Maple T.A. 6 enables significant levels of integration with course management systems, as well as internationalization tools and increased performance.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2010
The MemoryLifter Learning Suite: Prep for the SAT and mobile SAT preparation learning modules for the iPhone and iPod touch give students a personalized learning experience, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Mar 2010
Changes to the learning management platform include enhanced administrative functionality, integrated synchronous chat and presentation tools, and advanced forum features.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Mar 2010
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
The new feature of Blackboard's communication platform lets teachers communicate easily with students' families - in their preferred language - helping to improve parent involvement and student engagement in the classroom, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Mar 2010
Every now and then, Mary Ann is seized by an idea or topic that really takes hold of her, piques her interest, and engenders new enthusiasm for learning and exploring. This year's big idea has been data visualization. She has discovered that she had been a fan of various presentations of data visualization without being aware of the term. Read and "see" what she's got to say about it in this month's Belltones.
An online learning community is a place designed to help users achieve learning goals of some sort through collaborative partnerships, including varying degrees of social networking and internet-based and computer-mediated communication. Charlie Doe takes a look this month at some of the more formal versions of online learning communities—often called learning management systems (LMSs)—which are usually developed by professors or teachers to achieve academic goals via web-based services.
In this age of easy access to Google, standardized testing, and AP curriculums, why should we teach research skills? Don't students "know everything" about research and the web? Hardly! Carolyn Foote has a lot to say about this, and even more about why teaching research skills counts for even more today than in the past. What we're striving for, she says, is student empowerment.
The advent of the internet and Web 2.0 has significantly changed our relationship to information and personal learning opportunities outside of formal education, notes author Steve Hargadon. The technology that took this amazing change and multiplied it tenfold is an underlying theme of Hargadon's article, which ranges across social networking, Web 2.0, the emergence of educational networking, and what he sees as the first real area of significant adoption for educational networking: professional development for educators.
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
The announcement was made late last week, and Information Today, Inc.'s news editor, Paula Hane, spoke with execs and Gale and Questia, plus with analysts and others, to quickly put together a NewsLink Spotlight story on the subject.
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 01 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
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
With Time To Know, the teacher guides the class using an engaging curriculum that is integrated with tools for classroom management, planning, assessment, and collaboration.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jan 2010
Under the agreement, FLVS will move all of its more than 100 courses to a fully hosted Blackboard Learn platform by the beginning of 2011.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 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 new features are intended to help schools eliminate paper waste and conserve energy while saving money by offering parents more choices.
News/Breaking News - Posted 13 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
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
People say it all the time: If you want to keep up in today's fast-moving world of technology, keep a kid around. In other words, just ask a Digital Native—someone who has grown up with computers and the internet. Well, Mary Ann believes that we can absolutely learn from our students, children, and even grandchildren. At the same time, though, she believes that adults need to be careful not to attribute more expertise and understanding to youngsters than is justified.
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.
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.
There is an economical way to introduce videoconferencing that involves inexpensive laptop computers and programs such as iChat, Skype, and ooVoo. A technology integration plan shared by a few pioneering districts in the author's area proves this point. Through it, schools have been able to make a serious commitment to the "new wave" of interactive technology at a minimal cost.
Ginger now works with Internet Explorer, enabling students to write with confidence online. In addition, Ginger features customizable settings, and progress reporting to track mistakes and illustrate student progress.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Dec 2009
Schools can now download updates to Netop School6 and Netop Vision6 classroom management software at www.netop.com/download.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Dec 2009
For December 15, 2009: Build a thematic unit by searching the Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University, a great tool for elementary teachers who want to create reading lists to complement the curriculum.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Dec 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
From Gary Price's ResourceShelf: An entry noting additions to the Association for Library Services to Children's list of recommended sites, Great Web Sites for Kids.
News/Free Resources - Posted 10 Dec 2009
Curriculum Correlations is a search tool designed to help educators and librarians select resources to meet state and national standards. Librarians can search it by state, subject, and grade to locate titles that align to state and federal standards in the areas of language arts, science, social studies, health, and physical education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Dec 2009
World Book’s new approach to reader’s theater provides educators a new tool for building reading fluency and content comprehension.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Nov 2009
Insight enables instructors to teach, monitor, and communicate with an entire class from one central computer. This latest version extends Insight's platform compatibilities, allowing teachers to run the console within the Mac OS X operating system.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Nov 2009
Joule features next-generation functionality, dedicated service, a growing partner program, and the open-source LMS Moodle at its core.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Nov 2009
MyVision Basic provides four essential tools for teaching with computers, so any teacher can supervise student computer work, share engaging on-screen demonstrations, instantly capture the attention of the class and control student internet access.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Nov 2009
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.
The new “clicker” device provides students with additional feedback during interactive polling via a small LCD screen.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Oct 2009
A provider of an enterprise learning management platform with open-source Moodle at its core, Moodlerooms plans to take all feedback it receives into consideration when planning for future developments.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Oct 2009
A recent story in the St. Petersburg Times focuses on how a local elementary school has embraced the "kids' technology" and is pressing iPods into service for teaching and learning in multiple ways.
News/Cool Links - Posted 15 Oct 2009
The virtual workspace is designed to give districts greater control of social media and allow educators to create and manage collaborative groups across classrooms, schools, districts, and around the globe
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Oct 2009
SchoolRooms gives students access from a single interface to library resources, online databases, and approved web content alongside new and past curriculum specifically created for SchoolRooms users. Version 3.0 features new administration tools that allow teachers and librarians to customize and adapt the product to meet the needs of students and parents.
News/Breaking News - Posted 01 Oct 2009
For October 1, 2009: Zoomify Express is a slick tool for webmasters who want to magnify content ... ideal for enhancing primary sources such as maps, documents, and photographs.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Oct 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
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
The comprehensive K-12+ program aligns academic skills for students with moderate to severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, to help special education and other teachers focus on standards-based learning for this group.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Sep 2009
For September 15, 2009: Want to make a rubric, but don't have time or need some assistance? At the Rubistar website, you can choose from a variety of templates and work through a ten-step process.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Sep 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
Looking at the world around us, it seems clear that digital photography and video are here to stay—and they should be used in K–12 education. Equipment prices have dropped significantly; cameras and other digital devices can be placed in students’ hands without concern. In this article, Charlie Doe takes a look at some of the possibilities for the classroom and media center.
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.
Two versions are planned: MyVision Free, which enables teachers to supervise student computer use and will be available for free download, and MyVision Basic, which features tools for guiding student learning on computers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Aug 2009
Now offering 35 languages in total, the updated language translation tool allows more than 1,000 language pairs to be made between educators and students worldwide. The expansion encourages teachers and students from all parts of the world to connect and collaborate without language barriers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Aug 2009
Pricing is based on school enrollment at the time of purchase, eliminating the expense and hassle of ordering more licenses when more computers are purchased.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Aug 2009
The collaboration is intended to promote the use of podcasting for both teaching and learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Aug 2009
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.
Bergen, N.J., High School students win the Best-of-the-Best overall submission.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2009
The PBS Digital Learning Library will contain high-quality multimedia resources from PBS member stations and award-winning PBS broadcast programs, all aligned to national and local education standards and tagged for easy searching.
News/Breaking News - Posted 30 Jun 2009
Pinnacle Accelerated Learning offers districts a secure virtual learning environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 26 Jun 2009
StudyX is study-aid software that can be customized to tackle a range of subjects such as foreign languages, vocabulary words, science, history, medical and more.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jun 2009
TurningTalk is a new social learning community for response technology users to provide an open forum for the discussion and sharing of ideas and teaching strategies.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jun 2009
The list of educational websites can help kids avoid the "Summer Slide."
News/Free Resources - Posted 28 May 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.
Charles Doe reviews PebbleGo, a program designed to introduce database skills and research concepts to students in grades K-2.
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.
Tween's program is designed specifically for the sixth through eighth grade. Included are such skills as binder organization, using a planner, organizing a homework space, using a rubric, self-advocacy for middle school, remembering daily responsibilities, correcting poor homework habits, long term project management, and understanding grade averaging.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Apr 2009
The new version includes a Create Custom Resource tool, teacher and student communication tools, and enhanced batch enroll features.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Mar 2009
Alice Kurtz reviews World Book Student, the redesigned and upgraded version of the World Book Online Reference Center.
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.
It’s a celebration of creative learning through technology. It’s a day filled with minds-on, hands-on, collaborative learning experiences. It’s a mini-Oscar event, complete with red carpet, lights, and paparazzi. It’s the 34th annual International Student Media Festival. Read all about it in Johanna Riddle's report.
Online “global classrooms” empower educators to leverage the power of social networking to create curriculum that is more interdisciplinary, more effective, and more relevant to students’ lives. The global classroom represents the future of learning—and the future is now! This article offers a nuts-and-bolts guide for developing a global classroom, using TakingITGlobal’s “virtual classroom” platform as a model. It begins by describing TakingITGlobal for Educators, or TIGed, and how it works; it then offers a step-by-step guide for educators who want to establish or modify their own online global classrooms.
We live in a Web 2.0 world where everyone is capable of creating content and sharing it, not just accessing what someone else has created and shared. Tools to create content are now readily and freely (or somewhat inexpensively) available to the general population. Content creation tools can aid in instruction and teaching, providing another avenue for students to access and learn material. Want some ideas and products to play/teach with? Read on as Karen Klapperstuck and Robert Lackie provide you with a great rundown and roundup.
Direct Instruction eSuite is a set of online tools designed to integrate technology into instruction to save daily planning time for teachers and increase student engagement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Feb 2009
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
Study Island rolls out integration with Turning Technologies Response Technology to provide instant assessment of student learning.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 Feb 2009
Through new partnership with The School Improvement Network, PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection will soon feature content from PD 360 and The Video Journal of Education.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Feb 2009
The student response provider rolls out comprehensive consulting services and expanded professional development programs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 04 Feb 2009
For February 1, 2009: Through Government Information Online (GIO) you can ask questons of government information librarians who are experts at finding information from government agencies of all levels on almost any subject.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Feb 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
The print-on-demand library of thousands of activities across the PreK–6+ school curriculum marks its third year by offering school-site subscriptions that provide educators with the resources they need to support the varied needs of today’s students.
News/Breaking News - Posted 29 Jan 2009
Paul Riismandel has written about Adobe's new eLearning Suite over on Information Today, Inc.'s Streamingmedia.com web site. Good insights. Useful tools. Follow the links. (From Information Today, Inc.'s Streamingmedia.com)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 23 Jan 2009
“My Portfolio” allows educators to collaborate and share digital resources at school and district levels.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jan 2009
The new Adobe K-12 Student Licensing Program offers students, teachers and staff at K-12 institutions in the U.S. and Canada the opportunity to purchase Adobe creative software at up to 80 percent off the original software price.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jan 2009
PBS Teachers Activity Packs enable educators to find and use multimedia instructional resources and activities in the classroom and save to their web sites and social network pages.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Jan 2009
The proprietary software will provide a superior ebook experience more responsive to the needs of library customers and their increasing use of ebooks, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 21 Jan 2009
kidthing and the National Education Association (NEA) extended the submission deadline for the “Dear Mr. President” project to Jan. 27, 2009.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Jan 2009
For January 15, 2009: Gadgets and widgets are small applications that can be pasted on individual Web pages or a computer desktop. Visit Widgetbox to find hundreds of widgets already created and ready to go.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 15 Jan 2009
By
Linda C. Joseph
With the theme "The World is Your Stage," students can submit entries using Adobe applications in three categories: Web Design and Development, Film and Video, and Graphic and Print Design.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Jan 2009
Chancery SMS 6.7 includes several key enhancements to five major functional areas including permanent records; health immunizations; elementary school attendance; security; and its customization framework.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Jan 2009
With the launch of PowerTeacher 1.5, the software is now available for integrated use with Chancery SMS - Pearson's SIS solution designed specifically to meet the needs of larger K-12 districts - in addition to use with PowerSchool Premier.
News/Breaking News - Posted 05 Jan 2009
Most likely, your students discovered YouTube a couple of years ago. You and your teacher colleagues probably have too by now—hence those silly video emails saved in your inbox. Did you know that you can use video in schools and libraries to enhance teaching and learning? This article provides an overview of the web video phenomenon: what it is; why it’s great for teachers, librarians, and students; what tools you need; and a bit of how-to as well.
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
Kurzweil Educational Systems released Kurwzeil 3000 Version 11 USB, a new edition designed to provide portable access to Kurzweil 3000.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Dec 2008
Professional development content from Just ASK Publications & Professional Development will be incorporated into PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection.
News/Breaking News - Posted 16 Dec 2008
danah boyd, an internationally recognized authority on online social networking sites, will open the American Association of School Librarians 14th annual national conference and exhibition with a keynote presentation on Nov. 5, 2009 in Charlotte, NC.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Dec 2008
Canvastic.NET is the first online version of the company’s publishing solution for students and teachers.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Dec 2008
The new title Sunburst’s series individualizes keyboarding instruction for students in grades K to 12 and increases practice time with access from the home.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Nov 2008
The TriCaster DUO is designed to enable elementary and middle schools to produce network-style live television newscasts.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 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.
Charles Doe reviews School Loop Standard, a Web-based software program for Web site creation and management.
Resources or tools that facilitate elementary classroom processes but aren’t major curriculum or textbook components can take at least three forms: tools that help teachers with their daily work; materials (software or electronics) that can be used for learning centers with individual students or small groups of learners; and online or electronic materials and software that support the curriculum or help teaching in some other way. This article takes a look at a few examples of new technology-based possibilities for elementary education. Several of the items mentioned here can be used across grades K–12, but they are well-worth considering in an elementary resources context.
With Web 2.0, the number and functionality of fee-based and free interactive electronic resources available for K–12 classrooms have grown and changed tremendously in the last 5 years. In this article, the sixth in Robert Congleton's series of reviews, he looks at four websites he found particularly notable for the interactive programs they offer. These are programs that can be integrated into K–12 classrooms either as part of the curriculum or as learning supplements. One is a fee-based database while the others are free to use but require user registration.
Galeschools.com is hosting Monster Vote 2008, an exercise designed to help students understand the election process and a contest offering one lucky class a chance to win a set of Monsters books from KidHaven Press.
News/Cool Links - Posted 24 Oct 2008
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
Discovery Education recently launched New Teacher Survival Central, a new Web site and partnership with Walden University, mimio, Adobe Systems, Inc., Elmer’s Products, Inc., and CDW-G.
News/Free Resources - Posted 13 Oct 2008
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 curriculum and licensing programs will enhance access to Adobe’s design and development software, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Sep 2008
The company’s books for teaching with InspireData feature lesson plans on compelling topics, mapped to standards, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 22 Sep 2008
The new Kidspiration lesson plan book aims to help teachers use visual learning to build young learners’ writing skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 17 Sep 2008
Educational publisher ETA/Cuisenaire is honoring International Literacy Day (Sept. 8) with month-long access to free resources from its new WorldScapes Global Issues book series.
News/Free Resources - Posted 15 Sep 2008
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) presents an “Introduction to Geocaching” Webinar on Sept. 24.
News/Breaking News - Posted 12 Sep 2008
Greg Notess, internet columnist for Information Today, Inc.’s ONLINE magazine, is on top of the launch—beta launch, that is—of Google’s Chrome. What, why, what’s it like … ? Here's how to get to his report. (From Information Today, Inc.'s NewsBreaks)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 11 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.
From using Twitter to encourage short story writing to utilizing Delicious to organize professional development tips and favorite articles, the number of social networking tools and websites is increasing exponentially. We know educators use these 21st-century tools with students in all grade levels. The question remains, however, whether and how these tools might be used to positively affect student understanding and achievement. "Yes," says ePals' Tim DiScipio, "these tools, when chosen thoughtfully, implemented appropriately, and combined with innovative pedagogy through internet-connected communities, can teach students the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st century and expand their ability to communicate and collaborate in a global marketplace." Read on, learn more!
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
To mark the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, youth leaders for Global Kids, Inc. have created an online community and game in conjunction with Game Pill, Inc., AMD, and Microsoft Corp.’s Partners in Learning where young people can engage in and experience the ongoing relief efforts in New Orleans.
News/Free Resources - Posted 27 Aug 2008
Version 3.5 continues and expands on the concept that software tools our students use to publish should be flexible. Teachers can customize their students' work environments even further than before.
News/Breaking News - Posted 15 Aug 2008
NoodleTools has announced that through a partnership with Pearson Education, its NoodleBib citation and notetaking program has been seamlessly integrated into the new version Pearson’s MyCompLab writing instruction environment.
News/Breaking News - Posted 08 Aug 2008
The H.W. Wilson Company is launching Essay and General Literature Index Retrospective: 1900-1984, a new resource that cites tens of thousands of essays from anthologies and other sources.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 Aug 2008
The MyLibraryPlus component enables schools and districts to manage, upload, organize and deliver a growing library of digital assets.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jul 2008
Pearson’s SuccessMaker combines research-based lessons with engaging animations to meet all students’ needs.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jul 2008
LEGO Education WeDo encourages teachers to issue curriculum-based challenges for students to solve. Working in teams, children invent their own solution by building a LEGO model and programming it to perform a certain task.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Jul 2008
The credit recovery program provides schools with affordable, flexible options while enabling students to make up credits and progress toward graduation, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jul 2008
The new version of LanSchool classroom management software improves teacher control through USB limiting and keystroke monitoring.
News/Breaking News - Posted 23 Jul 2008
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) releases the second edition of National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T) this month.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 Jul 2008
Tool Factory now includes its newest book, Adventures in Podcasting: Incredible Lesson Plans for Your Classroom, to the Tool Factory Podcasting Kit.
News/Breaking News - Posted 18 Jul 2008
At a time when the K–12 market is undergoing rapid growth in the adoption and utilization of digital learning systems like online textbooks, ThinkCentral offers middle and high schools a powerful LMS previously unavailable to secondary schools, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 11 Jul 2008
Elluminate Plan! enables educators to pre-package teaching content and interactive activities for use during teacher-led instruction in real time on the internet.
Alice Kurtz takes a look at two new web sites from the Library of Congress.
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.
Years ago, CyberBee began scouting the internet for content that was informative, engaging, and aligned with national standards, in 1996 becoming a column for MultiMedia & Internet@Schools magazine and a website for teachers. CyberBee thought it would be fitting to revisit some of the great websites that you may have missed over the past few years. There should be plenty of ideas to help you plan your lessons for the new school year.
If there’s a refrain Stephen Abram hears too often, it’s that many of us feel it’s impossible to keep up and learn all this new stuff in technology and learning. So he has devoted this month’s column to a few sites that he finds useful to quickly orient himself to some of the Web 2.0 technologies. Even when he has already played with or experienced some of these tools, he says, he always learns something new from these sites.
Storyboarding--the graphic organization of a story's arc using pictures or illustrations--is one of the great skills to learn. In a storyboard, the pictures are displayed visually in order to present the line of the story or the events you want to present. It's a powerful way to visualize and understand the ultimate experience of your story, whether it ends up in print, comic, game, or film format. And it is just made for learners of any age, as well as being a great skill for the marketplace. Want to learn more? Read Stephen Abram's Pipeline this month!
Susan Hixson reviews Kidspiration 3, the latest version of the cross-curricular visual learning program for grades K-5.
Imagine if textbooks were alive … living, changing, evolving, and improving … never out-of-date! … a textbook that would give students images, videos, and interactive tutorials about a subject, a vocabulary word, or a topic … a digital textbook that would be student-driven, a model for differentiated learning, and geared toward helping all students learn through visualization, interaction, and simulation. In the age of Web 2.0, all this and much more is possible. And it’s all at our students’ fingertips with just a click of a button. Welcome to the “Age of the Wikitext!”
Teachers have been looking for alternatives to standard written book reports and other student reports for years, often combining them with art projects for more visual presentations. Some exciting new possibilities have been created as a result of more powerful computers, increased internet use, the development of inexpensive digital and video cameras, new software, and other technologies. Read Charles Doe’s latest “Look At … ” report to learn more.
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
Sally Finley reviews LabQuest, a handheld data collection tool that can be used as a stand-alone device or a computer interface.
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.
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.
In this article, Aline Soules discusses some current options for media specialists who want to adopt elearning tools and makes some suggestions about how to keep up … because, as she notes, "the pointers that will help you today will be old hat tomorrow and obsolete the day after."
Students can easily overlook websites that aren’t filled with often changing content. Do you think you’re too busy to devote time and effort to attract users to the great resources available on your library website? If you can simply copy and paste, think again! With no coding skills you can set up your websites to continually display fresh content. Read how in Aaron Schmidt's article.
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 updated Print-Limit Pro 8.0 facilitates management of printing costs through its enhanced monitoring and management tools. In addition, it provides users with a personal environmental impact statement, designed to help them think before they hit “print.”
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 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
The upgrade of Kidspiration features new visual math tools and enhanced capabilities for building literacy skills.
News/Breaking News - Posted 06 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 solution is highlighted by new partnerships with key educational technology companies, including Futurekids, Inc., 8e6 Technologies, Promethean, and RM Educational Software, that broaden CDW-G’s offerings.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Jan 2008
John Drag, Jr., a reviewer for MultiMedia & Internet @Schools magazine, will be working near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq for the next 12 months.
News/Breaking News - Posted 27 Jan 2008
The new collaborative web-authoring tool enables students to create sophisticated web projects.
News/Breaking News - Posted 25 Jan 2008
The new Teacher One Stop, containing documents, tools, and multimedia, comes on a DVD. It builds on the One Stop Planner’s strengths and adds numerous technologies, search capabilities, and new resources.
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
ProQuest is adding streaming video and slideshows to CultureGrams Online.
News/Breaking News - Posted 19 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
Digication Inc., a provider of e-Portfolios, announced that it has partnered with Davis Publications, a provider of art education textbooks, to combine e-Portfolios and Web 2.0 technologies with the content found in traditional textbooks. (From Information Today, Inc.’s EContentmag.com)
News/ITI Cross Links - Posted 11 Jan 2008
As you can tell, this article in Slate online has little good to say about Yahoo's answer service. It's a good read!
News/Cool Links - Posted 07 Jan 2008
The VideoSpin application is for all consumers and will especially attract users who don't want to spend much time creating movies, according to the announcement.
News/Breaking News - Posted 07 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
Finding just the right book that will grab a student's interest is like looking for Waldo. Tracking down books that correlate with specific curriculum areas and topics for study can be daunting. What is a library media specialist to do? Use every tool in your arsenal as well as lessons and booklists that have already been prepared and are just waiting to be uncovered by the savvy searcher. This collection of websites will serve as a starting point in your quest to recommend the best books to meet the needs of students and teachers.
RSS allows you to keep up with just about anything that you want to on the web. If you want to stay focused on the latest blog posts on the effect of global warming, RSS can help. If you just want to be updated whenever The New York Times publishes its latest book review, RSS can help. And, if you want to know when the next Dave Barry column appears, RSS can help. The greatest part of RSS is that it can do all of this in one place, without your needing to parade all over the web looking for the new content. RSS is a continuously updated customized online newspaper, and it can not only help you in locating new information (in fact, the content comes to you, not vice versa), but it can help you do it in a quarter of the time.
Remember folder games and puzzles? Teachers have always used instructional aids of one kind or another to supplement instruction, such as calculators in Math class, games, puzzles, math aids, and other devices for small group or individual work. In recent years, computers and computer-related electronics such as MP3 players, hand-held devices, keyboards, projectors, whiteboards, and a diverse collection of additional electronic instructional aids have become available. Charlie Doe's Look At ... roundup this month sorts these supplemental electronics into categories and describes an array of them for your information.
Rhonda Clevenson reviews GeoSafari Quiz Bowl, an interactive electronic educational game that simulates a television game show in the classroom.
Susan Hixson reviews Knowledge Adventure Activity Builder, an online teacher tool.
Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, founded Sally Ride Science in 2001 to create programs and products designed to educate, entertain, engage, and inspire.
The American Library Association (ALA) will provide a free live Webcast of its national announcement of the top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults—including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, and Printz awards—on Jan. 14 at 7:45 a.m., eastern time.
News/Breaking News - Posted 24 Dec 2007
ABC-CLIO expands its free online resources with “History and Headlines: Chronicling Despair and Hope in Darfur.”
News/Free Resources - Posted 04 Dec 2007
Three winners will receive an Interwrite Makeover and prizes valued at more than $15,000.
News/Breaking News - Posted 03 Dec 2007
For December 1, 2007: Since 1996, B. J. Pinchbeck and his dad have maintained and regularly updated his Homework Helper website for students.
Cyberbee Web Pick/Cyberbee's Web Picks - Posted 01 Dec 2007
By
Linda C. Joseph
The data analysis and decision support tool, paired with a student information system, gives districts a powerful solution for using data to improve student achievement, the announcement states.
News/Breaking News - Posted 28 Nov 2007
MediaWorks 6.2 updates the budget multimedia authoring package previously known as MovieWorks Deluxe with Intel Mac and Windows Vista compatibility.
News/Breaking News - Posted 20 Nov 2007
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, invites librarians to showcase their creativity and their library’s technology resources in a “Create Your Own Avatar” contest.
News/Breaking News - Posted 09 Nov 2007
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