T.H.E. News Update :: January 28, 2009 -- THE Journal

FETC Spotlight

Create, Collaborate, Communicate: Empowering Students With 21st Century Skills
"We need to change the way we teach," said Howie DiBlasi, speaking at FETC 2009 in Orlando, FL last week. DiBlasi, retired district CIO and emerging technology evangelist, pointed to a statistic from the United States Department of Commerce that left many in the audience shaking their heads: According to a study that ranked 55 industry sectors by their level of IT intensiveness, "education ranked 55 ... below coal mining." More
ISTE GA Director Sees Positive Outlook for Ed Tech Funding Under Obama
During her session at FETC 2009 in Orlando, FL last Friday, Hillary Goldmann summed up her thoughts on the new Obama administration's understanding of the issues facing educators today with five simple words: "We know he gets it." More

Phoenix Area District Deploys Crisis Management System
Maricopa Unified School District has installed the Rapid Responder crisis management system to provide information to police, fire, emergency medical and school security personnel in the event of a school emergency. More
Florida District Taps E-Rate Funds with Help of Online Software
Florida's Okaloosa County School District has made substantial use of E-rate Manager for Applicants, and district administrators find it has made a big difference in their ability to secure funds from the federal E-rate program, according to information released by the district. More
Grow Network To Update Personal Learning Program for Math and Reading
Grow Network, a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill, is developing a new version of the MyGuide Personal Learning Program, which helps teachers develop instruction methods in math and reading according to individual students' needs. More
NSBA Partners with Teachscape for Online Graduate Courses
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has joined with online teacher education provider Teachscape to offer $100 discounts on online graduate courses to teachers at Technology Leadership Network member school districts. The discounts will apply to course and materials fees for any of 10 continuing education courses. More

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Rubrik Brings Agentic AI to Its Flagship Cyber Resilience Platform

Rubrik has introduced Rubrik AI, positioning the company's cyber resilience platform around agentic operations across data, identity, and AI infrastructure.
The Budget Cut that Changes Everything in K-12

ESSER funding, the post-COVID lifeline that enabled many districts to invest in data collection and research, is coming to an end. For districts that relied on those dollars to conduct surveys and gather community feedback, the impact is significant.
SchoolStatus Attend Update Adds Time-Based Attendance Tracking

K-12 attendance solution provider SchoolStatus has announced an enhancement to its Attend product, adding flexible, time-based attendance tracking that measures missed learning time rather than just full-day absences.
Turnitin Intros Customizable AI Assistance to Support Different Assignments, Grade Levels

Turnitin has added new customizable settings Turnitin Clarity's built-in AI assistant, enabling instructors to specify AI's role and response complexity for each assignment.