The Communications Revolution and What Schools Need To Do About It

In 1980, futurist Alvin Toffler stated that we are in a communications revolution and that the “link between communications and character is complex, but unbreakable. We cannot transform all our media of communications and expect to remain unchanged as a people.” How true those words are today, as we engage in communication and collaboration globally using Web 2.0 tools.

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Suspended Teacher in Facebook Incident Ignites Debate: Should Online Privacy for Educators Exist?

According to the attorney for a Charlotte, North Carolina teacher suspended for a comment made on her Facebook page, the postings were intended to be read only by friends to whom she granted access. In an article published Friday by The Charlotte Observer, attorney John Gresham is quoted as saying, "Facebook pages are only meant to be viewed by people permitted to see them." He questioned how the private postings became public and whether "it was appropriate for a reporter to air private postings."

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Wimba Pronto 2.1 Adds Accessibility, Spanish Language Features

Wimba this week released Wimba Pronto 2.1, an update to the company's academic instant messaging software. The new version adds a Spanish language option and new accessibility features.

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Philadelphia High Schools Adopt Virtual Technology for College-Bound Students

High schools in the School District of Philadelphia have begun adopting CollegeSupplement.com to allow students unable to meet admissions officers in person to communicate with potential colleges through secure online video.

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Students Meet Up with Scientists in Antarctica and Engineers at NASA with Videoconferencing Tools

Classes from around the world will be using Polycom visual communication solutions to connect students to NASA space and research centers, to Antarctica to study climate change with a scientific research team, and to Africa to examine democracy through the lens of United States and Ghanaian presidential elections. Polycom's hardware and software provide telepresence, video, and voice to allow people separated geographically to communicate and collaborate.

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State-wide New Mexico E-learning Program Adopts Wimba for Collaboration

New Mexico's Innovative Digital Education and Learning program (IDEAL- NM) has selected the Wimba Collaboration Suite to pilot as its statewide collaborative learning platform. IDEAL-NM will deploy Wimba's in its statewide network of K-12 and higher education institutions, which includes 89 districts and 22 college campuses, to enhance student engagement and collaboration and increase learning outcomes.

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Dimdim Launches Hosted Virtual Classroom

Videoconferencing software developer Dimdim recently announced that it's releasing a Web-based conferencing solution specifically for education. The company's new Dimdim Virtual Classroom Pack, which debuted late last month, allows 10 teachers to host up to 40 students at a time in an online environment.

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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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