August 16, 2006

  • 08/16/06
T.H.E. Newsletter: August 16, 2006
August 16, 2006
WEEKLY SECTIONS

  • Dell, Discovery Education Partner to Provide Online Homework Help Tools

    Dell and Discovery Education have announced an exclusive partnership in which Dell customers will receive a special offer to subscribe to COSMEO, Discovery Education’s comprehensive broadband learning and homework help for kids and families. As part of this partnership, Dell customers can purchase a one-year $99 membership or receive a free 30-day trial to Discovery’s interactive content when they configure Inspiron notebook or Dimension desktop computers at http://www.dell.com or by phone with a Dell sales agent. With a one-year membership, Dell customers will also receive two free DVD’s from Discovery with exclusive content.

    For the full story, click here.

  • VBrick Provides TEACH Act Compliance for Digital Video Copyright Protection

    VBrick Systems Inc., provider of video over IP network solutions, is now providing compliance capabilities for the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act. Signed by President George W. Bush during his second term, the TEACH Act provides government and academic institutions with guidelines to prevent illegal copying or viewing of copyrighted materials in distance learning, course management, and related digital environments. The TEACH Act requires organizations to ensure that copyrighted material is only transmitted to its intended audience—such as students registered for a specific course.

    VBrick’s EtherneTV Media Distribution System features sophisticated access controls that enable administrators to ensure that copyrighted digital video content is only available to authorized users or classrooms. Specifically, EtherneTV enables system administrators to assign and limit access to an organization’s stored and live digital video content.

    For the full story, click here.

  • Russian Teachers Choose SMART

    SMART Technologies Inc. has announced that 216 SMART Board interactive whiteboards were recently installed in Moscow South Administration District schools after being selected as the best interactive whiteboard in a rigorous evaluation. Teachers chose the SMART Board interactive whiteboard over competing products during an event organized to test interactive whiteboards in a classroom environment. A total of 420 teachers from the district took part in the testing, and a large majority preferred the SMART Board interactive whiteboard. SMART’s Russian distributor, Polymedia, supplied 186 schools in the district with SMART Board interactive whiteboards and prepared training sessions on the effective use of SMART products in the classroom.

    For the full story, click here.

  • USDLA, Distance-Educator.com Collaborate to Share Resources

    The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) and Distance-Educator.com have announced a series of collaborative efforts that will allow both organizations to share resources and better serve USDLA members via publications, expanded news coverage, discounts, and much more.

    For the full story, click here.

  • Richard Bray Names Superintendent of Tustin USD

    Richard Bray has been named superintendent of the Tustin Unified School District (CA). Bray, 59, will oversee a $147.5 million budget, 28 schools, and more than 20,500 students. Bray has been a California superintendent for 14 years, the last 12 for the Hesperia Unified School District, which has 20,000 students and 23 schools. Before that, he was superintendent of the Soledad Union School District. He also has worked as director of curriculum/instruction and child welfare/attendance for the Banning Unified School District; and as principal, assistant principal, and teacher in the Chino Unified School District. Bray replaces Brock Wagner, deputy superintendent of business services, who this summer served as interim superintendent after Dr. Pete Gorman left for the Charlotte/Mecklenberg district in North Carolina. Wagner will continue in his position as deputy superintendent.


Seiko Instruments USA has introduced a new 300-dpi smart label printer, the SLP 440, which offers a small footprint, simple setup and connectivity (with both USB and serial interfaces), high-resolution thermal printing, 2D barcoding, and enhanced networking and graphics capabilities. With the SLP 440, Seiko Instruments has added more than 23 new paper and adhesive labels to its already extensive label lineup. And with its SmartCapture feature, text can be imported easily from most Mac and PC applications. The SLP 440 can also be programmed to integrate with various education-specific applications. Pricing: $159.


Future School USA Inc. is scheduled to release its online mathematics High School Exit Exam preparatory learning module later this month. This preparatory exam module was designed to meet or exceed states’ basic high school exit exams in mathematics. The math preparatory module for the High School Exit Exam is being offered initially to schools as a means to provide additional support to students prior to state exit testing. The preparatory module will help districts and schools achieve better high school exit results. More importantly, it will provide students with specific video instruction and testing using independent learning methods. Contact company for pricing.



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com
This online marketplace, recently featured in the Los Angeles Times, provides teacher-authors with the ability to sell their original materials to other teachers. Teachers who wish to sell course materials pay a $29.95 flat fee to post unlimited course materials online, and those who buy materials only pay the amount posted for each course guide (starting at about $4). Buyers can search by topic, grade range, or by state. The site also offers a collection of free downloadable materials.


http://www.allergicchild.com
This practical website provides information on keeping your classrooms and cafeterias safe for children with food allergies. It includes information on the top eight food allergens, food allergy legislation and support groups, as well as a number of related print and online resources. The site also sells laminated posters that read “It’s Cool to be Peanut Free!” that schools can post to create peanut-free zones around campus.

For a complete listing of up-to-date conference information, visit T.H.E. Conference Calendar, T.H.E. Journal 's comprehensive conference database, at: http://www.theconferencecalendar.com

Share Your Success
 Whether your district just appointed a new superintendent or your school finally hired that new tech coordinator, we want to know! Please share your staff and faculty successes with us by sending the person's name; title; school, district, and location information; any relevant educational and occupational background; and a high-resolution color image of the person to [email protected]

Call for Papers!!!

THE Journal is currently looking for the following types of articles as we prepare for our 2006 issues:

  • School Perspectives —discuss a specific topic, trend, or concern about education technology.

  • Wishlist/Shortlist —a simple list of the technology (e.g., wireless, laptops, etc.) you're looking at to solve a challenge in your school/district, and an accompanying “shortlist” of vendors you're looking at to solve those challenges.

If you have a potential article, or questions about the above topics, please e-mail [email protected]

THE Institute and AOL @ SCHOOL Offer New Online Course for Educators
“Internet Literacy – Making the Most of the Web,” is a new online course for educators interested in using the World Wide Web in teaching and learning. Designed for elementary and secondary school teachers, the course provides tools for educators to integrate technology into their curricula to improve student achievement and meet NCLB requirements. The cost is $79 per person; course moderation and graduate credit are additional options. “Internet Literacy – Making the Most of the Web," is designed to be useful both for educators new to using technology in teaching and learning and for tech-savvy veterans.
For complete course details and to register, go to http://www.thejournal.com/institute/course510.cfm.

Four Integrating Technology Courses from T.H.E. Institute
 T.H.E. Institute is offering four online professional development courses to help educators comply with NCLB requirements and use technology more successfully in the classroom. The cost is $149 per course, which includes a $10 per person per course administration fee for documentation of clock hours and a certificate of completion. Course moderation and graduate credit are additional options; volume discounts are available. Anyone who enrolls in a course will receive individual access to the netTrekker site, as well as free individual access to United Learning's unitedstreaming site. In addition, special pricing is available for educators in districts that have purchased Glencoe/McGraw-Hill's TechCONNECT.

Integrating Technology in the Classroom Courses: Social Studies — Available Now; Science — Available Now; English/Language Arts— Available Now; Mathematics — Available Now

For more information, log on to http://www.thejournal.com/institute/IntegratingTech.cfm.

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THE Newsletter is a bulletin comprised of recent announcements that affect the education community. Our goal is to keep our readers well informed with the most up to date news. In addition, we hope our audience will share with us their opinions regarding educational technology issues so we may be certain we are covering the topics that are of most interest to them. Please direct any questions or comments about THE Newsletter to [email protected]

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