Coverage of the FETC 2011 Conference
Here you'll find coverage of the FETC 2011 winter conference being held Jan. 31 through Feb. 3 in Orlando, FL. We're providing news from the show floor, session highlights, and lead-up interviews with ed tech leaders who will be delivering keynote addresses and moderating sessions at the event. For show schedule, registration information, and other details about the conference itself, visit FETC's site here.
According to John Kuglin, cloud computing could serve as the strategic component that has been missing in K-12 technology efforts--a way to deliver more and better services. The technology may answer the question that educators tend to ask after computers are purchased and 1:1 initiatives implemented: "Now what?"
Florida Virtual School founder Julie Young began focusing on technology initiatives as a classroom teacher and elementary school administrator, but she found her direction in 1995 when she joined a team to explore the concept of online learning.
For Meg Ormiston, it's a wonder sometimes that teachers don't just give up. Restrictive Internet policies in schools, coupled with unresponsive IT departments and beleaguered administrators, present teachers with a nearly impossible situation: They're being pressured to incorporate 21st century teaching and learning into their classrooms, but they're not being allowed to use the tools they need to do that.
For Metiri Group CEO Cheryl Lemke, "Web 2.0" isn't just a nebulous label for the latest and greatest online technologies; it's emblematic of the collaborative, participatory skills and instructional practices that she sees as crucial to the 21st century teaching and learning.
Anybody who follows K-12 education technology trends has surely run across Kathy Schrock and her opinions. During her time in the public eye, Schrock has seen hundreds of products that promise to change how education is done in the classroom. She's also been witness to dozens of predictions portending major shifts in how technology will change students, teachers, and schools. Some of those have fared better than others and others have been total surprises, as she told us in this interview.
One of the keys to a successful school mobile learning program is the acceptable use policy. But according to Anthony Luscre, director of technology for Mogadore Local Schools in Ohio, the AUP alone may not be enough.
For the last decade, according to futurist Brent Williams, schools have been doing a disservice to students by failing to give them access to the most advanced technologies that budgets will allow.
Research out of Carnegie Mellon, the University of Illinois, and multiple other institutions is just beginning to uncover the transformative effect of digital devices on the education of young children. Yet introducing these into the classroom can become a real distraction and a burden on the teacher--unless certain components are in place.
What you believe about professional learning communities (PLCs) may be wrong. That's what Rem Jackson, CEO of Top Practices Education, has discovered in working with a group of educators from around the world whose goal has been to create sustainable change in schools.
Think banning cell phones and restricting access to Web sites in your classrooms is a good idea? If so, your students will miss out on some incredible learning opportunities, according to education technology advocate Leslie Fisher.