Crossroads in Education

Issues for Web 2.0, Social Software, and Digital Tools

We are at a crossroads in educating our youth. Advancements in technology, principally Web 2.0, social software, and digital tools, have challenged what it means to be educated and how we proceed to educate our youth in a culture where innovation and creativity, lifelong learning, personalization, and knowledge from and with the collective vie for a rightful place....

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Spotlight: Free Social Media Tools for Educators

While most districts are still tackling Web-based collaboration tools from pedagogical and security perspectives, a large number of teachers are already out there using these tools to supplement instruction, engage learners, and encourage their students to become producers of information, as well as consumers of it. In other words, they're experimenting. And here are some of the free tools they're using to do it....

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Elementary Students Reach Out to Neighborhood with Web Project

Fourth-graders at Pleasant Glade Elementary School in Washington will be developing a Web site for their neighborhood using a $10,000 grant from the Qwest Foundation, which was awarded to teachers Tamara Campbell, Ann Chenhall, and Nora Strauch this week....

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WebSphere Portal 6.1 To Couple Web 2.0, Enterprise Technologies

IBM revealed Wednesday that it will ship WebSphere Portal 6.1 this quarter (i.e. by the end of June) with new collaboration, administrative, deployment, and Web 2.0 features based on input gathered from some 4,000 beta testers. The company also announced that it's shipping three of its accelerators for WebSphere Portal this quarter....

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Microsoft Proposes Cross-Industry Effort To Address Online Trust Challenge

Microsoft Corp. has initiated a call for action to address the future of security and privacy on the Internet. In a speech by Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, the company proposed "End to End Trust," a pitch for organizations, including vendors and user organizations, to work together to create a more secure and trusted online environment....

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Desire2Learn Launches Web Services for Learning Management

CMS/LMS developer Desire2Learn this week launched Web Services 1.0, a set of Web-based enhancements for the D2L Learning Environment and D2L Learning Platform. Modules included with the 1.0 release include "organization structure management, enrolment management, and gradebook entry and lookup," according to the company....

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Study: Are Schools Inhibiting 21st Century Learning?

The idea of technology in education is to enhance learning, not limit it. Yet a large portion of students say teachers and school IT departments are doing just that: throwing up barriers to learning with the very technology that's supposed to facilitate it. And teachers, administrators, and parents seem to be largely unaware of this, according to the results of the 2007 Speak Up survey released this month by Project Tomorrow....

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Online Resources

• Preparing Students to Meet the Needs of the 21st Century through Technology
  21st-century learning and preparing students to meet the challenges of a global economy are two of education's most critical issues. This means teaching the basics of technology use and giving students the foundation they need to adapt to the changing landscape: innovation, critical thinking, information and media skills, and global awareness. For in-depth resources on 21st century learning, visit our microsite and get a fresh perspective on the relevance and role of technology in teaching for 21st century skills.
  Sponsored by CDW-G

• Security Solutions for Education
  In a K-12 setting, you need to protect your network from security risksand your students from inappropriate content. CDW-G makes sure you can. From firewall software to user authentication, we have everything you need for rock-solid security. Get fresh insights into the challenges ofplanning, developing and implementing effective safety and security strategies on our special security-focused microsite.
  Sponsored by CDW-G

• The Role of Technology in Changing Professional Development
  The advent of online learning and sophisticated collaborative tools hascreated a wealth of resources to help teachers, staff, and administrators keep up with the latest developments in education—from sharing teaching techniques to mastering the technologies used in classrooms. Read about the most effective ways to use these new and emerging tools on our new microsite exploring innovative approaches to professional development.
  Sponsored by CDW-G

• More resources

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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