Utah to use Stimulus Money for Technology

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting here that the Utah State Superintendent of Schools and the Governor want to use some of their $500 million in stimulus money for computer labs and technology to boost test scores in Utah's poorest schools. Utah will also receive $57 million for Title I schools. They plan to use the funds for writing instruction software, electronic infrastructure, and English as a second language programs for underprivledged schools.

PBS Teachers Site Holding Free Webinar March 18

The Teachers section of the PBS website is offering a free webinar about using digital media to teach Shakespear to the Net generation. It will take place Wednesday March 18, 5-6:30 PST. You can read more about it here. You can register here and have a reminder with additional login information emailed one week before the event.

Classroom 2.0

Here's an example of what an amazing resource an online community/social network can be...

NCCE 2009 Conference/Interactive Whiteboards

I spent the day at the Ed Options booth at the Northwest Council for Computers in Education conference. Lots of cool equipment on display. I like the interactive whiteboards. Here's a guy that figured out how to make one with a Wii controller and some reflective tape. With a cheap projector and a classroom computer you could have an interactive whiteboard for a few hundred dollars.

Teacher Dale Ehhardt made one and is training and setting them up in other classrooms at his school. He made a slideshow to show how he did it. Check it out here.

Video Network Company Launches Online Community

Wren, which offers video networks and service to schools, has started an online collaboration of educators and parents called Help a Teacher. It offers discussions, links to resources, and information about technology in education. The site was created using Ning, a website that offers free social network setup and hosting. This looks like it could be a great resource if enough people choose to participate.

Arizona Schools get Technology Training Grant

Here's a story about a grant given to six underserved schools around Phoenix, AZ. Funding through the Arizona Regents Reach Out grant and a parnership between The University of Arizona and Arizona State University will train teachers in the use of technology in the classroom.

Video Conferencing and Education

If you were alive in the 70's and you were old enough to predict what education would be like in 2010, you probably pictured two way video communication between students and teachers or experts from anywhere in the world. Iste's guest blogger,6/7th grade teacher, Neil Stephenson posts here about how Skypeing is used in the classroom in ways you may not have imagined back then.

Portland Mayor's Education Coordinator Leaves for Position with Portland Schools Foundation

The Portland Mercury's blog is posting that Nate Schull is leaving his Education Strategies Youth Coordinator post on Portland Mayor Sam Adams' staff. He accepted a position as Director of Community Engagement for the Portland Schools Foundation's Connected By 25 initiative. Both sides said they look forward to working together in the future.

5,000+ Students in Minnesota Take All Classes Online

Here is an article from the Post Bulletin newspaper in Minnesota. It talks about the huge growth of online learning in Minnesota and across the U.S. There are twenty-two certified online schools in the state.

"To think that every kid learns the best sitting in a chair, facing the front of the room isn't the reality anymore." Steve Kerska, Houston MN Public Schools Director of Secondary Options

Minnesota students taking their classes exclusively online have doubled in the past year.

Qwest Hands Out Technology in the Classroom Grants

Qwest the voice, video and data service provider is giving away $200,000 in grants to schools in Colorado. The grants will support technology projects in Colorado classrooms and will go to teachers who are using technology in the classroom in innovative ways. Past winners have used the grants to buy everything from iPods to projectors, laptops and educational software. Qwest is giving away $1,000,000 in teacher and technology grants across the 14 states in their service territory. You can find the list of states and links to more information here.

They also have a program that allows customers who sign up for paperless billing to donate 1% of their bill to the school district of their choice, they call it 1% Back to Schools.

It's great to see a company contributing to education, these programs should stand as an example for other corporations.

Stimulus Dollars by District

Below are some links to estimated figures on how much each school district stands to receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The numbers were prepared by the Congressional Research Service and are broken down to reflect dollars received under three programs, Title I, IDEA, and construction for 2009 and 2010. The estimates do not include an additional $79 billion from the State Stabilization Fund aimed at state and local governments to help close budget gaps and fund education and other key services. Of course these numbers are subject to change up until the bill is actually signed by President Obama.

Here are the links for districts in Oregon and Washingon. If you are interested in the numbers for districts in other states you can access all 50 (D.C. and Puerto Rico also) here.

Unique Needs and Challenges of K-12 Online Teachers

Here's a study from Boise State University and the North American Council for Online Learning. It's phase 2 of the Going Virtual! research series, from a national survey of nearly 900 respondents representing K-12 online teachers from a variety of settings including; brick and mortar schools, virtual schools and supplemental programs offering online courses. The study identifies their needs and challenges.

National Writing Project Receives Grant

The National Writing Project (NWP) has received a $300,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation. The NWP is a professional development network that serves writing teachers at all grade levels and subjects. It's mission is to improve student achievment by assisting teachers in improving the way they teach and the way students learn.

The grant from the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur foundation is part of it's digital media and learning initiative. The grant will help support The National Writing Project's Digital Is program, a national effort to provide resources to teachers in their classroom instruction of writing and utilization of new technologies.

“Today’s young people are using a range of digital tools to compose and create in utterly new ways,” said Sharon J. Washington, executive director of the National Writing Project. “It is a game-changing moment for teachers of writing. The very notion of what it means to write is shifting, and educators are faced with adapting their teaching practices to integrate new technologies while redefining writing and learning for the 21st century. We are honored that the MacArthur Foundation is supporting our efforts in this exciting area.”

Teachers are faced with having to adapt the way they teach to include new technology. This grant should help them to do that.

Betty Collum is a teacher in rural Mississippi that is putting this idea into practice in her fifth grade classroom. She uses a class blog so students can discuss literature, write, revise and collaborate on poems and even create podcasts of their poetry. Then the podcasts are put on the Youth Radio blog, Massachusetts writing project teacher Kevin Hodgeson's youth writer's project.

"Technology is motivation for students," says Betty, who is the Technology Liaison for her site. She believes that teachers, too, are motivated when they see how technology can be a tool for writing and learning.

Read all about her innovative classroom practices here.

Who Benefits from Online Learning

This is an article from MinnPost.com out of Minnesota. I'm posting this because the article does a really good job of explaining the benefits of an online education. Including the myriad types of students that may benefit from it. Including:

• Students whose work or family obligations require a flexible schedule

• High achievers who want to move faster than the rest of the class

• Students pursuing a career in music, athletics or the arts

• Students whose high schools don't offer the range of courses they need, such as Advanced Placement

• Children with autism, Asperger's or ADHD, who would benefit from a calmer learning environment

• Previously home-schooled students who want to continue learning with close parental involvement

• Students who are tired of the disruptions and lack of personal attention in today's classrooms

• Students concerned about their safety in school

• Students who have been bullied or subjected to negative peer pressure

It also has some excellent figures about the future of online learning from experts like Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor, who forecasts that in ten years half of all high school courses will be online. His prediction is from the book he co-authored called, Disrupting Class about how innovation will change the way the world learns.

Some Innovative Uses for Technology in the Classroom

Here is a blog post from a Principal working in alternative and special education in Western New York. It talks about four ways (Digital cameras/video, wireless labs, multimedia software, and streaming video.) to use technology effectively in the classroom. Much of the information comes from the excellent Discovery Education site.

I visited Discovery's streaming video site and watched a great white shark snack on a couple of fur seals, and learned about the Golden Ratio. It's not cheap, but there are thousands of streaming videos covering a broad range of subjects.

Here's a more detailed list of useful "gadgets" from Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators from the Discovery site as well.

Who Provides Curriculum and Content for Online Education

Click chart for full sized version.

*Numbers do not add up to 100% because schools often use more than one provider (See chart below). Data from K-12 Online Learning A 2008 Follow-Up of the Survey of U.S. School District Administrators by the Sloan Consortium


Data from K-12 Online Learning A 2008 Follow-Up of the Survey of U.S. School District Administrators by the Sloan Consortium