T.H.E. News Update :: January 28, 2009 -- THE Journal

FETC Spotlight

Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills
"We need to change the way we teach," said Howie DiBlasi, speaking at FETC 2009 in Orlando, FL last week. DiBlasi, retired district CIO and emerging technology evangelist, pointed to a statistic from the United States Department of Commerce that left many in the audience shaking their heads: According to a study that ranked 55 industry sectors by their level of IT intensiveness, "education ranked 55 ... below coal mining." More
ISTE GA Director Sees Positive Outlook for Ed Tech Funding Under Obama
During her session at FETC 2009 in Orlando, FL last Friday, Hillary Goldmann summed up her thoughts on the new Obama administration's understanding of the issues facing educators today with five simple words: "We know he gets it." More

Phoenix Area District Deploys Crisis Management System
Maricopa Unified School District has installed the Rapid Responder crisis management system to provide information to police, fire, emergency medical and school security personnel in the event of a school emergency. More
Florida District Taps E-Rate Funds with Help of Online Software
Florida's Okaloosa County School District has made substantial use of E-rate Manager for Applicants, and district administrators find it has made a big difference in their ability to secure funds from the federal E-rate program, according to information released by the district. More
Grow Network To Update Personal Learning Program for Math and Reading
Grow Network, a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill, is developing a new version of the MyGuide Personal Learning Program, which helps teachers develop instruction methods in math and reading according to individual students' needs. More
NSBA Partners with Teachscape for Online Graduate Courses
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has joined with online teacher education provider Teachscape to offer $100 discounts on online graduate courses to teachers at Technology Leadership Network member school districts. The discounts will apply to course and materials fees for any of 10 continuing education courses. More

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Student AI Use on the Rise, Survey Finds

Ninety-three percent of students across the United States have used AI at least once or twice for school-related purposes, according to the latest AI in Education report from Microsoft.
Google Introduces Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet

Google has launched Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, a new artificial intelligence model designed to reason through problems before delivering answers, a shift that marks a major leap in AI capability, according to the company.
Common Sense Media Releases Free AI Toolkit, AI Readiness & Implementation Guides

Common Sense Media has developed an AI Toolkit for School Districts, available to educators free of charge, that provides guidelines and resources for implementing AI in education.
AWS Survey: Generative AI Surpasses Cybersecurity in 2025 Tech Budgets

Global IT leaders are planning to spend more on generative artificial intelligence than cybersecurity in 2025, according to new research by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

THE NEWS UPDATE

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