T.H.E. News Update :: June 18, 2008

  • 06/18/08

News & Issues

Classroom Technology 'Woefully Inadequate,' Study Finds

Educators are, in large part, bullish on the role technology can play in improving student outcomes. But too large a percentage of them aren't receiving adequate training in the areas that matter most: instructional software, technology integration, learning outcomes management, and designing individual lesson plans. This according to a study released last week by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, which also described access to classroom technology as "woefully inadequate" in most schools.

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2008 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards Open

The 2008 Vernier/National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Technology Award program is now open. Each year, the program awards cash, technology, and travel funds for science teachers who demonstrate innovation in inquiry-based learning activities involving data collection.

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Desire2Learn Pays Off Blackboard, Migrates All U.S. Clients to Learning Environment 8.3

Learning management system provider Desire2Learn Thursday said that it's finished migrating all of its clients in the United States to Learning Environment version 8.3. The company also said it's paid off Blackboard more than $3 million for the judgment Blackboard won in court in February. But the story doesn't end there.

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EC Rep Talks Open Standards, Bashes Microsoft

A speech given Tuesday by Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for competition, skewered Microsoft without mentioning the company by name. In the speech, Kroes makes reference to Microsoft's outlaw status in failing to meet the European Commission's competition guidelines.

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Pearson's PowerSchool Premier Supports Oracle, Intel Macs

Education publisher Pearson Wednesday confirmed that its Web-based student information system, PowerSchool Premier, will support Oracle Database. Upon installing the latest version of the software, system data will be backed up, the Oracle Database installed, and the original data migrated into the new system.

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Infinite Campus Adds National Student Record Exchange

Infinite Campus has released an update to its epynomous student information system. The new 2009.1 update, available now, adds the ability to transfer data between districts around the country, along with other enhancements.

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HP Debuts Mobile Calculating Lab

HP has announced HP Mobile Calculating Lab (MCL) solutions, designed to allow middle and high school students to capture real-world information in real time, translate that information into numerical data, and then analyze that data with the familiar graphing calculator functions.

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Nominations Are Open for the 2008 Innovator Awards

You're doing great things with technology at school, and we want to know about them. We seek exemplary K-12 schools and districts, their visionary technology project leaders, and their innovative vendor partners who have deployed extraordinary technology solutions to school challenges. Could you be one of this year's recognized technology leaders? THE Journal's 2008 Innovators will be featured in the December issue.

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Coming Up

Find more events and calls for papers and presentations at THE Journal's online Conference 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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  • Classroom Tools & Tips: Eduhound's highly popular newsletter that provides valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum. Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials, and practical tips are featured. Published on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of each month.
    Sign up for free by clicking here.

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Featured

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    CoSN, SETDA, UDT Release Guidelines for Environmentally Responsible Technology Purchasing

    CoSN and SETDA, in partnership with IT and telecommunications solution provider UDT, recently released a set of Sustainability Procurement Guidelines designed to help K-12 school and district leaders, procurement officers, and technology directors make purchasing decisions that are both environmentally responsible and operationally effective.

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    IBM Launches Agentic AI Governance and Security Platform

    IBM has introduced a new software stack for enterprise IT teams tasked with managing the complex governance and security challenges posed by autonomous AI systems.

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    New National Academy for AI Instruction to Provide Free AI Training for Educators

    In an effort to "transform how artificial intelligence is taught and integrated into classrooms across the United States," the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), in partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the United Federation of Teachers, is launching the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative that will provide access to free AI training and curriculum for all AFT members, beginning with K-12 educators.

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    You've Paid for Tutoring. Here's How to Make Sure It Works.

    As districts and states nationwide invest in tutoring, it remains one of the best tools in our educational toolkit, yielding positive impacts on student learning at scale. But to maximize return on investment, both financially and academically, we must focus on improving implementation.