T.H.E. SmartClassroom :: September 21, 2006
Today, T.H.E. Journal introduces a new eNewsletter focused on the important and evolving technology surrounding the ‘smart classroom’ -- design, tools and instruction methods. Twice a month, on the first and third Thursdays, T.H.E. SmartClassroom will bring you news, information, opinion, best practices, and case studies on the effective use of these technologies in a school setting. You’ll read about the hardware, display devices, infrastructure, and people who are leading the K-12 community in smart classroom advancements.
Feel free to share this newsletter with your colleagues. Request a free subscription here. And, send us your perspective or feedback on implementing these technologies in your school or district. We want to hear from you -- send your thoughts, ideas, commentary, and news items to Editorial Director Geoff Fletcher, [email protected]
Viewpoint
Making the Leap to Interactive Whiteboards
By Denise Averill
Interactive whiteboards are replacing chalkboards in many districts across the country. Could your district be next? You better hope so.
Interactive whiteboards help you integrate digital information into teaching, presenting, and brainstorming. These easy-to-use collaboration products improve learning and meeting effectiveness by enhancing communication. They also help create an active audience engagement, which, in turn, saves you time and effort.
Today’s interactive whiteboards maximize student retention and learning by using hands-on technology tools to enhance learning. The interactive whiteboard’s touch-sensitive display connects to a computer and digital projector, enabling you to control specific computer programs and write notes on the whiteboard with a special digital pen. Through the use of this cutting-edge presentation technology, you are able to write notes, insert diagrams, link to Web sites, and save your work for future use...
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Ed Tech News
CDW to Acquire IT Solutions Provider Berbee
CDW Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Berbee Information Networks Corp...
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Report Knocks Quality of Teacher-Education Programs
Despite growing evidence of the importance of quality teaching, the vast majority of the nation’s teachers are prepared in programs that have...
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A Laptop at Every Desk
Last year, officials at Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia set out to provide a laptop computer for every student in the county’s nine high schools...
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Products & Services
Pearson Assessments Launches New Line of Fast Scanners
Pearson Assessments has launched its iNSIGHT 150 line of scanners, which will allow schools, businesses, and other organizations to capture data and images from forms at a rate of 15,000 sheets per hour...
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LearningExpress Releases Instantly Scored Writing Program for Grades 3-11
LearningExpress LLC, a leading provider of online test preparation, skills remediation, and career guidance programs for the library and education markets, has released LearningExpress eFolio...
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Case Study
Virtual Global Studies: An Explosive Journey Through World History
By Judy Maxson
Last spring, Cattaraugus-Allegany Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), a nonprofit organization that provides educational services to 22 component school districts in southwestern New York, expanded its vast educational opportunities and pioneered its first distance learning summer school course. The pilot program was recommended by the organization’s director of instructional support services, Dr. Gail Hirst, as a way to solve transportation issues since the districts are spread across 2,159 square miles. It was also a great way to provide its more than 21,000 preK through adult students with a new, unique, and exciting way of learning. The summer school course itself incorporated both synchronous and asynchronous elements and was transmitted completely over IP technology.
By the onset of summer school, BOCES had the vision, technical support, equipment, and bandwidth needed to successfully initiate a distance learning course over IP. During the 2005-06 school year, BOCES and its component districts received a $498,000 federal grant award, which allowed the organization to substantially upgrade its existing distance learning capabilities. Using grant funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 100 new endpoints were added to the existing network. The entire distance learning infrastructure resides on a gigabit network, which virtually eliminates bandwidth constraints related to videoconferencing. Furthermore, the BOCES technical support team possesses the technical expertise and experience necessary to pilot new distance learning programming and IP courses...
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Web Notes
Zoomerang Unveils Education Resource Center
To kick off the school year, Zoomerang, the leader in online survey tools, launched a one-of-a-kind Education Resource Center (ERC)...
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NASA Site Turns Students Into Astronomers
NASA’s Student Observation Network (SON) is a collection of online, inquiry-based modules that allow students to discover answers to some of the questions that excite NASA scientists...
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Events Calendar
THE Journal Opportunities
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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