A Second Life for Middle School Science

By Linda Briggs

Second Life, the virtual online world that is catching the attention of colleges and universities for its educational possibilities, hasn't been an option for middle school use because of its age limit. Although most 12-year-old students would probably find the site's graphical elements and endless social possibilities intriguing, Second Life's policy bars anyone younger than 13 from accessing any aspect of the site.

Now, using part of a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation, graduate students from Ohio University's Russ College of Engineering and Technology have changed that. Working with Linden Lab, the company that owns Second Life, the grad students have developed a special protected island within the virtual world where only select middle school students are allowed....

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Nebraska Inks $15 Million Deal to Connect Rural Students

The state of Nebraska signed a five-year, $15 million deal with Denver, CO-based data and voice carrier Qwest Communications International Inc. to provide Internet protocol (IP) connectivity to thousands of rural students in northwest Nebraska. The services will give students access to distance learning and online classrooms....

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5 Districts Adopt SchoolNet's Performance Management System

SchoolNet, a developer of school performance management (SPM) systems, recently announced that five urban school districts have adopted its K-12 management solutions. The five districts will also be included in SchoolNet's National School Performance Network, where districts share practices and ideas at regional and national conferences....

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Report: E-Rate Brings Communications to 90 Percent of Low-Income Schools

The Education and Libraries Networks Coalition (EdLiNC) and the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) released a report detailing the impact of E-Rate 10 years and $19 billion later. The study showed a dramatic increase in access to communications technologies in schools and libraries. But the study also suggested that the mission of E-Rate is not yet complete....

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VBrick and Clearvue & SVE Partner to Provide K-12 Digital Video Package

VBrick Systems has partnered with Clearvue & SVE, a division of Discovery Education, to create a digital video package for K-12 schools. The package will include EtherneTV digital video system with a pre-loaded library of educational programming....

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Kaplan Finalizes Purchase of EduNeering

New York-based education services provider Kaplan Inc has acquired Princeton, NJ-based EduNeering Holdings, a developer of technology-enabled knowledge and education solutions....

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PBS Launches Educator Site

PBS has debuted a new online portal designed specifically for Prek-12 educations: PBS Teachers. The portal, in development for more than a year, provides a "front door" for educational services offered by PBS....

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• MARCH 23-24, 2007
  Celebration of Teaching and Learning
  Presented by New York Public Television Stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21
  New York, NY

• JUNE 24-27, 2007
  NECC 2007
  28th-Annual National Educational Computing Conference
  Atlanta, GA

Share Your Best Practices

T.H.E. Journal is currently looking for the following types of articles for future issues and for our eNewsletter, T.H.E. SmartClassroom:

• School Perspectives - discuss a specific topic, trend, or concern about education technology.
• Case Studies – have you implemented technology and learned a lot from the experience? If so, share your efforts about what worked -- and what didn't.

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

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