Some Very Shiny News
eChalk,
a pioneer of school communication and
instruction management software, reached a
new milestone in helping educators foster an
engaging 21st century learning environment
personalized to students’ needs. The
company’s software has been implemented in
more than 100 Brooklyn schools and more than
half of all Staten Island schools. Upwards
of 400 schools in the New York City area are
now using the eChalk platform, a microcosm
of eChalk’s impact in educational
institutions across the country. Read
more…
CollegeSolved
announced a new scholarship program, in
which current high school and college
students can earn up to $1,000. The “No More
Ramen Noodles” scholarship drawing will
award $1,000 to a prospective or current
college student who refers high school
students to http://www.collegesolved.com/,
with each referral earning one entry when
the high school student creates an account.
In addition, referred high school students
who register will be entered into a drawing
for $500. Read
more…
Six Flags and Discovery
Education launched Read to Succeed, an
online-based educational program designed to
inspire K-6 students to read for recreation.
Students who complete six hours of
non-school-related reading are eligible for
a free admission ticket to a participating
Six Flags theme park. Teachers with 10 or
more students who complete the program also
are eligible. The Read
to Succeed website is full of
classroom and at-home resources provided by
Discovery Education. Online
registration for Read to Succeed is
open to all schools nationwide. Read
more…
While
studies show response-to-intervention
programs can be effective in improving
student outcomes, program implementation is
a complex, system-wide process that requires
ongoing planning and support. To guide
schools through the process and ensure
success, STI, a
leader in education data management and
instructional coaching, debuted ResponseNOW.
Delivered through STI Achievement
Services, ResponseNOW is a
customized professional coaching service
that helps schools successfully develop and
implement response-to-intervention programs
based on research-based strategies and
data-driven decision-making. Read
more…
According to Knowledge
Delivery Systems CEO Alvin
Crawford, focusing on strategic professional
development is the best way to truly change
teacher practice so teachers can be more
effective. Improving the quality of
classroom teachers will do more to advance
student success than simply the tools,
textbooks and technology they use to learn.
According to recent professional development
studies, teachers who receive substantial
professional development can boost student
achievement by about 21 percentile points. Read
more…
In
an open letter to FCC Chairman Julius
Genachowski, Funds
For Learning CEO John Harrington
requested that the FCC increase the
available funding in the E-rate program.
With demand outpacing available funding,
Funds For Learning is asking the FCC to
allocate more funding from the Connect
America Fund to the E-rate program—a
move that wouldn’t increase taxes or fees.
Funds For Learning has posted the open
letter, video, background information, and
petition online,
and is encouraging others to sign in support
of increased E-rate funding. Read
more…
Special education teachers across the
country participated in a grant program
sponsored by PCI
Education in celebration of the
company’s 20th anniversary. Nearly 300
educators submitted activities and shared
best practices with colleagues as part of
the program, and five grand-prize winners
received a $200 cash grant and a Flip Video
camera to capture their ideas in action. PCI
Education also awarded $200 gift
certificates to the next 15 teachers who
received the most online votes to spend on
teaching materials for their classrooms. Read
more…
Participants in FundingFactory,
the nation’s largest
fundraising-by-recycling program for schools
and nonprofits, recycle an average of 4.2
million printer cartridges and cell phones
annually. FundingFactory has expanded its
list of recyclable items so participants can
now exchange small electronics such as
digital cameras, MP3 players, and GPS
systems for cash or points redeemable for
new technology. Additionally, in honor of
America Recycles Day, recognized annually on
Nov. 15, FundingFactory conducted a photo
contest to build awareness about the
importance of recycling. Find out the top
three winners at
Facebook.com/FundingFactory. Read
more…
And the awards keep
rolling in... e2020,
Inc., recently earned industry
recognition for its Lesson Search and
Virtual Classroom Suite from the Annual
Educational Software Review (EDDIE) Awards,
EdTech
Digest, Tech & Learning, and District
Administration. e2020 offers a
customizable virtual instruction platform
and rigorous, standards-aligned content
spanning core and elective curricula for
traditional school districts as well as
virtual schools. Its Virtual Classroom
Suite, bundled with Lesson Search, offers
students self-paced courses with additional
searchable activities to expand and
customize their learning experience. e2020
has expanded steadily this year through
client growth and several acquisitions. Read
more…
According to the National Center for
Educational Statistics, enrollment in
postsecondary institutions increased from
14.8 million to 20.4 million between 1999
and 2009. The popularity of postsecondary
education produces a competitive and
oftentimes convoluted application process
for aspiring students. To help guide them
through the application and entrance
process, Shmoop
debuted College
101. The free online resource
addresses topics such as admission essays,
entrance tests, financial aid, scholarships,
and money management tips for students and
parents. Read
more…
StudyBlue,
a mobile and online study service for
students, introduced an updated StudyBlue
mobile app for iPhone® and Android™
devices that lets students create
flashcards on their smartphones. The free
app offers students the ability to snap and
insert photos, as well as transcribe speech
directly into flashcard text. Having these
study materials accessible both online or on
their phones allows students to turn
normally unproductive time, such as waiting
for the bus, into study sessions to improve
their comprehension. Read
more…
Online learning environments today are far
more sophisticated than a decade ago. Beyond
synchronous and asynchronous options,
adaptive platforms, interactive tools, and
mobile technologies offer a breadth of
instructional and learning opportunities. Kaplan 12
Learning Service’s white paper, “Online
and Blended Learning: What the Research
Says,” offers an easy-to-digest
overview of how best to harness online and
blended formats and to apply instructional
best practices to deliver effective
programs. Pulling from a breadth of research
in cognitive and neuroscience, this paper
highlights key findings and outlines a
prescription for engaging students in ways
that result in long-term academic success.
Four Catholic schools in New York (Holy
Family and St. Mary’s in the Bronx and
Blessed Sacrament and Guardian Angel in
Manhattan) introduced the Time To Know
Digital Teaching Platform to their fourth
and fifth grade math classes. Teachers are
building lesson plans based on the Common
Core Standards, customizing assignments for
students based on their current levels of
achievement, and monitoring student progress
in real time. Students are utilizing the
program’s interactive learning activities
and gallery feature to post their work for
peer review and collaborate with fellow
students. The schools purchased netbooks for
student use, and Time To Know is providing
classroom teachers with professional
learning and technical support throughout
the year. Read
more…
Monarch
Teaching Technologies (MTT)
announced its VizZle
Player App for iPad is now available on
the App Store, giving children with
autism access to award-winning visual
supports and lessons. The content in
the VizZle Player App comes from a
peer-reviewed shared library within VizZle,
an award-winning
software that autism educators use
to create visually supported interactive
lessons that can be played on
interactive whiteboards,
touchscreen computers, PCs and
Macs, and now, iPad. Read
more…
The
Education
Division of the Software
& Information Industry
Association (SIIA) estimates a $7.5
billion U.S. market for educational software
and digital content, based on the results of
a survey conducted in part by the Consulting
Services for Education, Inc. (CS4ED). First
in a series of SIIA market reports, the
"2010 U.S. Educational Technology Industry
Market: PreK-12 Report" values the overall
market for PreK-12
non-hardware educational technology at
$7.5 billion dollars—with content-related
products representing 42 percent of
that revenue. The study focuses only on
revenues for software and digital
content or resources (no print, hardware, or
analog products),
and institutional sales to paint a
picture of the overall revenue of
educational technology companies. Read
more…
The Consortium for
School Networking (CoSN) recently
started a new “CoSN International” blog for
the Senior Delegation to South America. CoSN
is committed to a global dialogue focused on
the strategic use of technology for the
improvement of teaching and learning in
elementary and secondary schools. CoSN led a
delegation to Uruguay and Argentina from
Nov. 9-16, to see how these countries are
practicing innovative education techniques,
especially through using technology. The
delegation visited several schools in South
America, observing teaching methods, teacher
training classroom equipment, and
administrative techniques. Read
more…
