T.H.E. SmartClassroom :: November 15, 2007

Focus

Are Schools Failing Kids in 21st Century Skills?

Are students getting what they need out of schools in order to succeed in the 21st century? Whatever your own opinion, Americans, in large part, think schools are failing in this regard, and they spread the blame around to school leaders, teachers, and parents, according to a new survey released this week by Harris Interactive and commissioned by ASQ, a quality control/management association....

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Ed Tech News

PBS Early Literacy Initiative Launches in January

In January PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will launch a five-year literacy initiative for preschoolers and young learners aimed at teachers, parents, and caregivers. Funded in part through a grant from the United States Department of Education, the multi-pronged initiative, dubbed "PBS Kids Raising Readers," will include a wide range of new tools and media, including television series, Web content, professional development, and a preschool curriculum, designed to develop literacy skills in kids aged 2 to 8....

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Hoover City Takes Library Services Online

Hoover City Schools in Alabama is expanding access to library services with the adoption of a centralized, Web-based system that allows students to search for and reserve books online and have them delivered to their desks the next day using Follett's Destiny Library Manager. The district is also using the system to provide library enhancements, including providing previews of books....

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NC District Literacy Intervention Program Applies Neuroscience

North Carolina's Anson County School District has deployed Scientific Learning's Fast ForWord To Reading Series reading intervention software as part of its program to increase literacy among students who are at risk readers....

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Advanced Media Design Rolls Out WXGA Classroom Recorders

AV technology developer Advanced Media Design has started shipping a new model in its MediaPointe family of digital media recorders, the DMR210e, designed for capturing presentations and classroom lectures. The new model sports a DVD drive and updated design and supports up to 1,500 hours of recording time....

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Kansas School District Rolls Out 1:1 MacBook Program

In one of the poorer districts in the Kansas City, KS metropolitan area--where more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches--administrators and school board members have launched a project to ensure that their students have all the technological advantages that wealthier students have in their education. The district serving that area, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), is giving every high school student and teacher a laptop for use in the classroom and at home--and not just any laptop, but the latest generation of Intel-based MacBook laptops from Apple, which were distributed to students Nov. 6 and 7 district-wide, about 5,400 systems total....

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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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