K-12 Tech Trends :: November 29, 2006
Opinion
Trending in the Right Direction
By Geoffrey H. Fletcher
With educators, businesses, and legislators collaborating, signs suggest that the recognition of technology's vital role in education is reaching critical mass.
You probably have heard of The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 book about understanding change and why change happens quickly. As Gladwell writes on his website: "Ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. They are social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an examination of the social epidemics that surround us."
Drawing a parallel to the way AIDS and other infectious diseases spread, Gladwell points out that the term tipping point "comes from the world of epidemiology. It's the name given to that moment in an epidemic when a virus reaches critical mass. It's the boiling point. It's the moment on the graph when the line starts to shoot straight upwards." In our own world, I sense that line is about to spike straight up—we are approaching a tipping point in the way technology is recognized as a force in education. I came upon this notion after attending last month's Education Forum: What It Takes to Compete, in Washington, DC...
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News Briefs
CoSN Opens New State Chapters
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) has opened three new state chapters in New Mexico, Louisiana, and Georgia...
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Riverdeep, AppStream Join Forces to Offer SmartDownloads
Riverdeep LLC., the parent of Broderbund and The Learning Company, has announced SmartDownloads, a new service launched in partnership with AppStream Inc., a leader in on-demand application delivery...
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Denver Public Schools Selects ENCORE! for Special Ed Data Management
Denver Public Schools (DPS) has selected ENCORE! from Spectrum K12 School Solutions to provide a comprehensive, web-based solution for managing its special education program...
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NetDay Extends Participation Deadline for Speak Up Survey
Responding to requests from hundreds of schools nationwide, the fourth annual NetDay Speak Up survey announced that schools and districts will have additional time...
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By the Numbers
Asset Loss Costs Schools $15 Billion Annually
Asset loss and damage cost the nation's public schools just under $15 billion annually, or $306 per child per year. These are the latest findings from a national study of district asset management, conducted in conjunction with Quality Education Data. The new findings come from an analysis of responses in light of district enrollment data. The study was co-sponsored by Follett Software Co. The study surveyed 479 district business managers, administrators, and technology chiefs in all 48 contiguous states. Respondents were asked about the problems they faced in managing assets, and about the systems they used to keep track of everything from laptops to band uniforms. They were also asked to estimate the cost of loss, damage, and redundant purchases of these assets...
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Show Me the Money
Qwest to Grant $900,000 for Technology in Education
The Qwest Foundation has announced a landmark program, the Qwest Teachers and Technology grant program, to provide teachers vital technology for their classrooms. Qwest is providing a $900,000 donation that will help fund innovative technology grants so that individual teachers nationwide can greatly improve education in the classroom. The grants will be administered by Qwest partner organizations in 12 western states. The purpose of the Qwest Teachers and Technology grant program is to recognize and reward public school teachers who use innovative technology in the classroom to improve the education experience for students...
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Products & Services
AFI's Lights, Camera, Education! Video Series Launches on unitedstreaming
Lights, Camera Education!, the online application of the American Film Institute's K-12 Screen Education program, debuted recently on Discovery Education's unitedstreaming service...
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Lava Software Offers Education Discount on PasswordVault Pro
Lava Software is now offering introductory pricing for its new PasswordVault Pro software on site licenses for K-12 institutions, colleges and universities...
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Coming Up
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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