The Great Debate: Effectiveness of Technology in Education

By Patricia Deubel, Ph.D.

I sometimes wonder why there is debate on the effectiveness of technology in education. The whole point of a debate is to examine issues in such a way that decisions can be made. However, in this case, we can hardly say, "Remove all technology from education!" Or, "Don't add any more because we are not getting an adequate return on our current investment--technology is not improving the quality of education." What would we put in its place?...

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Districts Revamp Curricula for 21st Century Learning

School districts around the United States are taking an active approach to 21st century learning by retooling their curricula and changing the way they measure student achievement in STEM subjects. What's more, according to a survey released this month by the National School Boards Association, technology is playing a major role in facilitating change, from online learning to project-based learning to Web 2.0 applications like wikis and blogs....

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Mobile Educational Gaming To Triple by 2012

The market for mobile educational gaming will more than triple by 2012, according to a new forecast released late last week by research firm Ambient Insight. Demand for mobile educational gaming will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 26.5 percent over the next five years, with annual revenues expected to hit $185 million by 2012, up from the current $57 million....

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Indiana Virtual Academy Adopts Angel LMS

Indiana Virtual Academy has made the move to the Angel Learning Management System from Angel Learning. Indiana Virtual was originally conceived as a means of providing postsecondary educational opportunities to rural students in Indiana but now serves students across the state, including high school and middle school students seeking advanced courses and accelerated education, homebound students, students looking to make up credits, and continuing education students....

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21st Century Learning: 'We're Not Even Close'

Without incorporating technology into every aspect of its activities, no organization can expect to achieve results in this increasingly digital world. Yet education is dead last in technology use compared with all major industrial sectors, and that has to change in order for schools to meet the challenges of 21st century learning--this according to a paper released Monday by the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills at the SETDA Leadership Summit and Education Forum in Washington, DC....

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Case Study: Writing with Technology

Practicing writing is typically a slow process. It's time-consuming, and student feedback is often delayed owing to the time it takes teachers to grade each essay for grammar, content, and writing style. In a world of 24/7 advertising, Game Boys and instant messaging, how can teachers motivate middle and high school students to invest their time and energy and actually enjoy practicing writing?...

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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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The site boasts thousands of visitors per week, as well as a weekly newsletter, EduHound Weekly.

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