SIIA Testifies to Technology's Promising Impact on Math Instruction

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) on Monday affirmed in its testimony before the U.S. Department of Education’s National Math Panel that technology is critical in helping students improve their mathematical understanding and achievement. SIIA’s leadership in issues affecting education and technology was recognized by its invitation to present to this advisory committee to President Bush. SIIA’s Director of Education Policy Mark Schneiderman was invited to present a framework and context for understanding what, how, and why technologies are being used today in mathematics curriculum and instruction. Schneiderman’s testimony outlined drivers of technology use in schools, a framework of math technology types and uses, and several research issues. This testimony is posted in full on SIIA’s website…

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Sylvia Martinez Named President of Generation YES

Sylvia Martinez, an education technology industry veteran, has been named president of Generation YES (Youth and Educators Succeeding). Dr. Dennis Harper, founder and CEO of Generation YES, will continue to direct operations at the Olympia, WA, office, and lead innovative global programs for children and teachers, including the nonprofit Generation Y foundation, education research, and directing the Liberia Renaissance Education Center project in Monrovia, Liberia. Since joining Generation YES in 2002, Martinez led the development of TechYES—Student Technology Literacy Certification, Generation TECH—Student-led Tech Support, and the recent redesign of the flagship program, GenYES, where students support teacher technology professional development in schools worldwide…

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New Star Student Education Program Rewards Schools for NEC Purchases

NEC Corp. of America (NEC) is launching a new rewards program called NEC Star Student, which helps educational institutions acquire visual displays needed to share information and move students to new levels of discovery without straining their budgets. All public or private, accredited, nonprofit K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and home schools with vocational and technical instruction or administration in the U.S. or Canada are eligible for the NEC Star Student Program. The program benefits educational institutions by offering them EDUwards, which give customers points for every purchase that can be redeemed for NEC products; free third- and fourth-year warranties; and the NEC exclusive PowerUp and Lamp Protect Programs...

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Virginia District Implements 7,000 Wireless Access Points with AirWave

AirWave Wireless recently announced that Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia has implemented a wireless network with more than 7,000 access points using the company’s management and security technologies. FCPS comprises some 220 schools and 164,000 students—the 13th-largest district in the United States—and had set a goal to provide wireless access to every individual classroom in the district. The school system uses Cisco wireless access points and manages them using the AirWave Management Platform (AMP). FCPS has also become the first user of AirWave’s Executive Portal technology, which allows users outside the IT department to view wireless network usage data on a districtwide basis in real time from a web-based portal…

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