• Anytime Anywhere Foundation Announces Inaugural 1-to-1 Conference
  
  Last week, the recently established Anything Anywhere Foundation (http://www.aalf.org) announced its first Learning 4i Conference will be held June 21-23, 2006, at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. The conference will bring together teachers and school leaders from around the world to address a range of topics related to 1-to-1 computing and the use of laptops in schools. Keynote speakers will include Ben Shneiderman, author of Leonardo’s Laptop; former Maine Gov. Angus King; and renowned learning scientist Dr. John Bransford. The conference will also feature invited speakers from several countries, including Australia, where the 1-to-1 initiative began in the early ’90s, who will offer sessions covering topics relevant to school and technology leaders. “Our focus for this event is to create an international forum that deals with the real issues and challenges that come from every child having their own laptop computer,” said Bruce Dixon, the foundation’s president. “We want to draw on the extensive experience that now exists in 1-to-1 schools and school districts around the world, and provide an opportunity for teachers and school leaders to share insights and ideas about how access to a laptop can create significantly worthwhile learning experiences for students that truly impact outcomes.”

  For full details on the conference, visit
  http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=8fb89f89-fe32-4f99-b4d8-b2042e821b48

• NEC Introduces Projector Trade-Up Program NEC Solutions (America) Inc.

  (NEC) has announced a new trade-up program and promotion for projectors. The fast and easy PowerUp program offers a one-stop solution for customers to get cash for their pre-owned projectors, which can then be applied toward the purchase of new NEC projectors. To get a free quote on the value of your used projector, and find out more about the PowerUp program, visit http://necsam.tradeups.com. In addition, for a limited time, any customers who purchase a new NEC projector through the PowerUp program between April 1-Sept. 30, 2006, will receive a minimum of $100 or the fair market value, whichever is greater, for each qualifying trade-in projector. Customers will receive this promotion when trading-in any Epson, Hitachi, InFocus, Mitsubishi, or NEC projector.

  Visit http://www.necvisualsystems.com for more details on this offer.

• Dow, Jean-Michel Cousteau Develop Educational Curriculum to Help Protect the Oceans

  As part of The Dow Chemical Co.'s alliance with Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society, the two groups jointly rolled out a Don't Be a Beach Bum educational program at the National Science Teachers Association conference last week. Designed to help kids understand the impact of their behaviors on the oceans, this program builds upon Dow's exclusive corporate sponsorship of Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures—an inspirational six-part TV series that aired for the first time on April 5 with Part 1 of Voyage to Kure. Part two will air April 12 on PBS stations nationwide. The Don't Be A Beach Bum lesson plan features a large poster to promote awareness of ocean debris, and three lesson plans for teachers, complete with discussion points, fun activities, and much more. For a copy of Don't Be a Beach Bum, contact [email protected]. By June, the curriculum will be available in electronic form at http://www.doweducation.com.

  For the full story, visit http://news.dow.com/dow_news/corporate/

• Intrusion Prevention Systems Protect Hawaii Public Schools

  The Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) is securing its 3Com enterprise network using intrusion prevention systems (IPS) from TippingPoint, a division of 3Com. The TippingPoint solution safeguards HIDOE from malicious traffic, such as the Blaster worm, which penetrated its wide area network in 2004 and shut down the entire system for several days. The attack required the IT staff to travel across the state's islands to manually disinfect school networks. Now, with more than 150 TippingPoint systems deployed, the solution is defending HIDOE's 275 schools and 50-plus business sites against spyware, worms, denial of service floods, phishing, bandwidth hijacking, and other threats, so attacks can be blocked before infections occur. The department also benefits from the TippingPoint Digital Vaccine real-time inoculation service, which keeps its IPS solutions current with the latest threats. In addition, HIDOE uses the TippingPoint IPS to enforce bans on instant messaging and peer- to-peer communications.

  For the full story, visit
  http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/pressbox/press_release.jsp?INFO_ID=238722

• SMART Offers Subject-Specific Training Seminars

  SMART Technologies Inc. is now offering subject-specific training seminars for educators who have used a SMART Board interactive whiteboard (for a minimum of one year) or have previously attended a SMART Master’s training session. This series of training seminars responds to the increasing demand from educators who want to incorporate more diverse content into their lesson plans. The half-day sessions are designed for teachers who want to engage students in their subject area using the SMART Board interactive whiteboard. During a session, SMART trainers demonstrate lesson activities created with Notebook collaborative learning software and have participants create their own dynamic lesson activities. Trainers also show how to use advanced tools and applications. The sessions aim to improve the level of engagement and understanding for students within the subject area. Sessions are $199 per person and take place in major cities across North America. Participants receive a 10 percent discount when registering three or more people for the same event.

  Interested teachers can register for events in cities near them by visiting the training section of SMART’s Web site at http://www.smarttech.com/trainingcenter

• Online Admission Application Service Purchased From AdmissionsQuest

  inRESONANCE, a developer of technology solutions for schools and educational institutions, has acquired the online admissions application service from one of its strategic partners, AdmissionsQuest, an online school directory, information provider, and promoter of independent boarding and day schools. inRESONANCE, which already offers the AdmissionsQuest online admissions application service as an integrated feature of its more comprehensive admission and enrollment solution, PORTAL, will continue to offer the online admissions application service as a stand-alone product for schools to add to their own Web sites. And AdmissionsQuest will continue offering the online application service as a reseller of what is now an InRESONANCE product. AdmissionsQuest will also continue to operate its popular portal into private school education, providing an online school directory and research service to help families navigate the process of finding and applying to private schools.

  For the full story, visit
  http://www.filemaker.com/company/newsroom/releases/130388.html
  

Inspiration Software (http://www.inspiration.com) has introduced The Thinking Classroom: Using Inspiration to Meet Curriculum Standards, a new teacher resource book that offers an in-depth exploration of visual learning’s role in mastering fundamental thinking skills. The Thinking Classroom makes it easy to integrate Inspiration software and visual learning across the curriculum by offering in-depth explanations of visual learning's role in mastering fundamental thinking skills such as determining cause and effect, making comparisons, generating questions, and testing one’s knowledge. A free sample chapter of The Thinking Classroom is available from the Inspiration Software Web site at http://www.inspiration.com/thinkingclassroom. Pricing: Single copies can be purchased for $39.95; volume licenses are available in an easy-to-share, electronic format at $199 per school.

ScholarCentric (http://www.ScholarCentric.com), a K-12 publishing company devoted to creating the “ready-to-learn classroom,” has just introduced its flagship product, Success Highways, which was developed to help students in grades 7-9 build personal skills that motivate them to stay in school and achieve at the highest possible levels. Based on more than 15 years of research, much of it conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Success Highways is integrated into existing curriculum, seamlessly incorporated into math, language arts, social studies, and science classes. The Success Highways curriculum addresses the issues that many at-risk students say caused them to drop out, and includes 15 45-minute lessons that fit easily into any core subject curriculum. The program combines innovative one-day teacher training, a student assessment, and an interactive curriculum that is keyed to all U.S. state standards. Pricing varies.

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