The IT industry's transition to mobile computing, cloud services, social networking, and big data technologies--collectively referred to as the third platform--will accelerate in 2013, according to IDC Predictions 2013: Competing on the 3rd Platform, a recent report from International Data Corporation.
Eastern Maryland Elementary School's new computer lab features tables and flooring designed to foster collaborative learning.
Recent research on high school students in Florida found that those who took at least one technology course and a technical certification exam tended to have better attendance and a higher grade point average than those who didn't.
The PreK-12 non-hardware education technology market in the United States grew by 3.5 percent in 2011, reaching $7.76 billion from $7.5 billion in 2010, according to a new report from the education division of the Software and Information Industry Association.
A new free online service promises to help organizations troubleshoot potential problems areas in their networks and provide point-in-time reporting of every device.
An elementary school in Louisiana will be receiving $15,000 worth of tablets in a competition sponsored by 3M and fulfilled by Digital Wish.
A virtual high school in Georgia is now selling its online Spanish courses, which can be used to earn credit by high schoolers doing credit recovery or by others who want to learn a foreign language.
Fluke Networks has introduced new capability in its AirMagnet line that allows an organization to track wireless smart devices without having to deploy client software, such as an agent, on the device.
Vernier has released the Mini GC Plus, a portable gas chromatograph designed for high school science labs, which expands upon the number of detectable compounds over the company’s original Mini GC. The device helps separate, analyze, and identify substances contained in a volatile liquid or gaseous sample.
Knovation, a provider of personalized learning solutions, has launched its new netTrekker Search Navigator Program, a professional learning community for K-12 educators that supports the use of netTrekker Search for differentiated instruction for students.
Discovery Communications, the parent company of Discovery Education and a number of popular cable television channels, has made a $20 million investment in Grockit, part of a wider partnership. Grockit is a test prep company that launched the education-centered pinboard site Learnist earlier this year.
Tennessee's Putnam County School System will adopt a new learning management system in an effort to provide a more flexible and secure platform for online and blended learning.
Oracle has released Oracle NoSQL Database 2.0, a scalable, low-latency, key-value database for real-time big data workloads.
California's Robert Gisler Elementary School has opened a math lab intended to help increase interest in science, technology, engineering, and math.
A Colorado school district has gone public with details about its use of video conferencing via mobile devices and PCs to attend meetings, deliver remote classes, practice language skills, and other purposes.
A division of Cengage Learning has released new K-5 reading curriculum that uses material from National Geographic and aligns with the Common Core.
A North Carolina school district will receive $30 million through a federal Race to the Top District grant.
Reporting tools and specialized teacher training are among the key factors required for creating a successful distance learning program, according to a new survey from K12.
New Jersey's Nutley Public School District has adopted a Web-based tool in an effort to monitor and improve teacher effectiveness.
Califone's new headsets feature built-in microphone and fun, kid-friendly designs.
Calcasieu Parish Public Schools uncovered new information about its student populations, thanks to geovisual analytic software from GuideK12.
A school district in Florida has made public its use of "telepractice" to provide speech therapy to students.
Sixteen districts out of 372 applicants that vied for funding from the Race to the Top-District program have been chosen as the recipients of four-year multi-million grants from the United States Department of Education.
The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, Education Pioneers, and the Strategic Data Project have banded together to create Activate ED, a collaboration intended to connect leaders, managers, and analysts with school systems.
Futures Community College, a secondary school in the United Kingdom, has implemented new technology to accelerate BYOD adoption on its campus by providing access to desktop applications via students' mobile browsers.
Google's Android operating system is cruising toward total dominance of the smart phone market globally. According to new research, Android will power 68.3 percent of all smart phones shipped in 2012--up nearly 20 points from 2011--while Apple's iOS remains at a healthy but unmoving 18.8 percent market share. On the horizon, both Android and iOS will be challenged by Microsoft Windows-based handsets.
An online service that provides education-oriented data analytics is offering free "starter accounts" to teachers.
Mimio has launched an app that provides access to MimioReading lessons and activities via iPads.
New features in Lightspeed's learning management system aim to help teachers meet Common Core learning and assessment goals.
This January NEC will ship two new ultra-short-throw LCD projectors, both to be available with in bundles that provide interactivity using the company's eBeam technology.
The World Wide Workshop's six-year-old social learning network, Globaloria, is designed to teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills through hands-on game design and programming.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which is one of two organizations working on developing new online assessments to go along with the Common Core State Standards, has brought in Wireless Generation to help build reporting functionality.
The American Institutes for Research is working with Google to make sure the latter's Chromebook devices are ready for use by school districts in delivering high-stakes online tests.
Faronics has unveiled online software for school district computer labs that automatically tracks lab, computer, application and printer usage data.
Oxford University Press, a department of the university, will be releasing a new English language teaching service for delivering daily lessons through videoconferencing.
Google has announced a limited time program with online charity DonorsChoose.org to match donors with public classrooms in need of Chromebooks.
More smart connected devices--desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones--shipped in the latest quarter than in any other quarter in history, topping 303.6 million units, growing 27.1 percent from the same period last year, according to a new analysis and forecast released by market research firm IDC. The strongest gains were seen by the three leading manufacturers: Samsung, Apple, and Lenovo.
The number of educators who participate in online social networks has increased 34 percent since 2009, according to new research, with 82 percent now belonging to social networks compared to 61 percent in 2009. Librarians have the highest rate of participation in online social networks, followed by teachers, and then principals.
A company with a national tutoring service is testing out a new program it has developed specifically to help high school and college students who want to focus on disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Driven by stronger-than-expected Android tablet sales and new developments from Apple, adoption of tablets worldwide is growing faster than previously predicted.
Norfolk Public Schools in Virginia has implemented a new system to manage more than 900 mobile devices used by the students and teachers in the district.
Edvance360 is testing new learning management system cloning technology that the educational software company said will be of great interest to districts and schools that want to standardize curriculum across multiple locations.
Enterasys Networks and iboss Security have joined forces to launch an integrated location-based filtering solution aimed at helping districts manage and monitor user access of Web and application content.
E2020, a provider of online learning solutions, has launched a new career and technical education curriculum, Career Pathways, which is a suite of interactive online courses to help high school students gain practical career training leading to industry-recognized certifications in business, health sciences, and information technology.
A company that develops applications for the toolmaking and manufacturing industries has introduced a student version of its software.
GroupLink is offering its help desk software, everything HelpDesk, for free to K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
Elmo USA will unveil its new mobile projector at the 2013 International CES in January in Las Vegas, NV.
Microsoft has revealed details about its forthcoming Surface tablet device running Windows 8 Pro.
Middle school students who use mobile devices for school work are more likely to express an interest in STEM subjects, yet there's a large gap in the number of students using the devices at home and those using them in school, according to a new survey from MIT's Center for Mobile Learning at the Media Lab and the Verizon Foundation.
Microsoft is once again extending its Partners in Learning program, committing another $250 million to the program over the next five years, bringing the total commitment to about $750 million.
Track My Progress, an online assessment platform by True Progress that tests and analyzes knowledge of reading, language, and math in students in grades K-3, will kick off nationwide field-testing in December.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has selected a developer for its online, open source solution for reporting results from student assessments.
The Software & Information Industry Association's Education Division has named three winners in its annual program designed to identify and showcase companies developing the most promising and innovative technologies for education.
A sizable district in Alabama has been running a 2012-2013 pilot to motivate students using an online math skills portal.
Education publishing and technology company CTB/McGraw-Hill has released a new application that allows teachers to create project based assessment tasks.
Maplesoft has launched a teaching kit to help instructors of first- and second-year calculus use its mathematics software. "Teaching Calculus with Maple: A Complete Kit," free to Maple and Maple T.A. customers, is available now.
A Florida public school district with almost 200 schools has deployed an assessment platform to help target areas where students are in need of improvement.
The Poudre School District will be moving online with its student information system and grade book application for the 2013-2014 school year.
The Walker School, a college-preparatory, PK-12 independent school in metro Atlanta, has upgraded from a 15 Mbps Internet connection to a fiber optic network to support the school's use of educational applications and online resources, as well as its bring-your-own-device (BYOD) program.
A consortium of education organizations will be developing an online repository of classroom videos to help new teachers learn from master instructors how to teach math and science topics in third through sixth grades.
McGraw-Hill is selling its McGraw-Hill Education business to investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management (Apollo) for $2.5 billion.
Hapara, an education management platform for Google Apps, has released a product bundle exclusively for Google Chromebook users.
Benesse America has unveiled a self-tutoring mobile app that uses gamification to help struggling middle school students improve in math.
Pacific Metrics, in collaboration with state education agencies in North Carolina, Kentucky, New Mexico, and South Carolina, has completed the Online Mathematics Assessment Project.
Educational Testing Service and My Learning Plan have partnered to launch an online library of K-12 classroom videos for teachers and administrators.
Although states are doing a masterful job of accumulating data and integrating data sources to support education improvement, according to a new report, the next part of the job may be their toughest yet: teaching people how to use the data.
The next window for E-Rate funding requests opens on December 12, 2012 and closes at the end of March 14, 2013, 93 days later.
Instructors have a new free resource to help them integrate content from TED talks into their courses.
As states prepare to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and administer computer-based assessments in the 2014-2015 school year, many school districts have yet to begin preparations for implementing digital learning strategies required by these initiatives.
Rosen Publishing has released 60 new interactive digital textbooks that are aligned with Common Core standards.
Conceptua Math and the Consortium on Reaching Excellence in Education have launched a partnership to deliver professional development services to school districts.
Karen Cator, director of the Office of Educational Technology at the United States Department of Education, is stepping down from her office, according to two reports.
Sonic Foundry is previewing an update to its Mediasite EX Webcasting and streaming media suite, incorporating a range of workflow and content creation enhancements.
NEC has updated its line of mobile LCD projectors for education, adding three new sub-$1,000 models and introducing a new technology that supports wireless transmission of images from an iPad.
A new green-friendly classroom furniture line from Bretford, designed to support agile learning spaces, is set to ship late 2012.
CoSoSys has added Mobile Device Management (MDM) for iOS and Android as a new module for its data loss prevention product, Endpoint Protector 4.3.
New Providence High School in New Jersey has selected a cloud-based mobile device management system to support its deployment of 500 iPads for student use.
Opal Public Charter School in Portland, OR is participating in a pilot program sponsored by Livescribe to test the use of Sky, a new Wi-Fi smartpen introduced by the company in October.
The International Education and Resource Network (iEARN-USA), which helps connect classrooms through virtual exchange programs, will implement an initiative that will partner students and teachers in the United States with those from 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. U.S. teachers who are interested in participating in Global Connections 2.0 can apply for a scholarship.
Smart Technologies has debuted a new touch- and pen-enabled interactive projector--the first of its kind, according to the company. The LightRaise 60wi is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2013.
Altius Education has debuted its first course for the Helix platform, a learning environment that takes a narrative, storytelling approach to online education, matching students' interests with the information being taught.
Desire2Learn has unveiled new capabilities for its flagship learning platform, including integration with several collaboration, communication, and accessibility tools.
Desire2Learn has launched the first new release of its flagship learning management system (LMS) application suite following the infusion of an $80 million investment into the company.
Conflicting reform efforts, poor communications, and "initiative fatigue" are among the factors presenting challenges to Common Core State Standards implementation. In order to overcome these potential barriers, states, districts, and schools need to take new approaches to professional development, technology adoption, and reform efforts, according to a new report released Thursday by ASCD.
Teachers are conflicted about the effect of the Internet and digital search tools on their students' research and writing habits, according to a new study. While they seem to agree that mobile devices and Internet-based resources have had an overwhelmingly positive impact on students' research habits, they also question students' abilities to use them properly.
Teachers use Pinterest to make cloud-based learning fun.
The instructors teaching students to be technicians in their schools not only see these programs as important teaching tools, but also as the direction teaching needs to move in order for a curriculum to be relevant.
With government data centers on the verge of major changes, how can states balance their technology needs with their financial reality?
Blackboard has started beta testing a new LMS-agnostic, cloud-based learning object repository, xpLor. Seventy-two K-12 schools, colleges, and universities have joined the beta program as of Nov. 5.
CFY, a nonprofit organization that uses digital learning in an effort to improve educational outcomes for low-income students, has received a $1 million grant to study and develop its whole school blended learning model, the Digital Learning Program.
At least 10,104 students in American classrooms have been exposed to statistical problem-solving in a project introduced two years ago in this country to educate school-aged kids on statistical literacy.
A rural Washington school district has found a new way to support students needing speech therapy and lighten the caseload for its crew of speech-language pathologists.
Blackboard checked in with 600 students through focus groups and interviews, surveys, and usability testing to come up with a number of new features that appear in the latest service pack update of its learning management system. Likewise, the company said it also worked with 600 educators to refine Blackboard Learn SP10.
SEP Software released a new version of its backup and recovery solution, SEP sesam 4.0.5, at the Educause 2012 conference in Denver.
Educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has unveiled a free iPad app designed to help children in grades K-6 to improve their reading skills.
Netop has released a Web-based student response system that allows students to use their mobile devices as clickers.
A professor of educational technology has launched an Arabic and English language network that allows individuals to produce and share video presentations online for free.
An online video crowdsourcing platform, which was recently launched to provide free multimedia content for high school classrooms, has added a homework assignment tool.
Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia is implementing predictive analytics software with the goal of improving student performance and achievement. The new software is part of the district's new digital curriculum and instruction initiative, called eCLASS.
According to the United States Department of Education, all five eligible states have stepped forward to participate in the second round of applications for the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, which provides funding for reforms in state early learning programs.