Articles in the Computer Uses in Education category

Education Talk Radio previews NSBA’s 2013 Annual Conference

Kanisha Williams-Jones, Director of Leadership & Governance Services at the National School Boards Association (NSBA), was a guest today on Education Talk Radio providing a preview of NSBA’s 2013 Annual Conference. Thousands of school board members, administrators, and other educators will be coming to San Diego to take part in the April 13-15 event.

Listen to the broadcast:

Listen to internet radio with EduTalk on Blog Talk Radio

The conference will feature more than 200 sessions on timely education topics, including federal legislation and funding, managing schools with tight budgets, the legal implications of recent court cases, new research and best practices in school governance, and the Common Core State Standards. A series of sessions will focus on school safety and security.

Expanded education technology programming will include site visits to the University of San Diego and Qualcomm’s Mobile Learning Center to explore its research laboratory on mobile learning; Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to examine the technology in science education and STEM; Encinitas Union School District to view its One-to-One Digital Learning Program; and the San Diego Zoo to learn about the cutting-edge learning tools used to teach at-risk students. U.S. Navy SEALs will show leadership and team building skills during another workshop.

The meeting also includes one of the largest K-12 educational expositions, with some 300 companies showcasing their innovative products and services for school districts.

General Session speakers include Academy Award winning speaker Geena Davis, who will be speaking about her work off-screen as founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Davis works with film and television creators to reduce gender stereotyping and increase the number of female characters in media targeted for children 11 and under. She will explain how media plays a key role in children’s development, and how her organization is making a difference.

Television star Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of the world’s most engaging and passionate science advocates, will headline Sunday’s General Session. From PBS to NASA to Presidential Commissions, organizations have depended on Tyson’s down-to-earth approach to astrophysics. He has been a frequent guest on “The Daily Show”, “The Colbert Report”, R”eal Time with Bill Maher”, and “Jeopardy!”. Tyson hopes to reach “all the people who never knew how much they’d love learning about space and science.”

Monday’s General Session features acclaimed researcher and author Diane Ravitch, who has become one of the most passionate voices for public schools. Her most recent book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, makes the case that public education today is in peril and offers a clear prescription for improving public schools.

Learn more about the common core standards, new research on differentiated learning styles, and teaching “unteachable” children at the Focus On lecture series. Learn about new technologies for your classrooms as part of the Technology + Learning programs.

It’s not too late to register, visit the Annual Conference website for  more information.

Alexis Rice|March 6th, 2013|Categories: 21st Century Skills, Arts Education, Assessment, Athletics, Board governance, Budgeting, Bullying, Center for Public Education, Charter Schools, Computer Uses in Education, Conferences and Events, Council of School Attorneys, Crisis Management, Curriculum, Data Driven Decision Making, Discipline, Diversity, Dropout Prevention, Educational Finance, Educational Legislation, Educational Research, Educational Technology, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Environmental Issues, Federal Advocacy, Federal Programs, Food Service, High Schools, Key Work of School Boards, Legislative advocacy, Mathematics Education, National Standards, No Child Left Behind, NSBA Annual Conference 2013, Nutrition, Obesity, Online learning, Policy Formation, Preschool Education, Professional Development, Public Advocacy, Rural Schools, School Board News, School Buildings, School Climate, School Law, School Reform, School Security, School Vouchers, Special Education, STEM Education, Student Achievement, Student Engagement, Teachers, Urban Schools|Tags: , , |

NSBA’s 2013 Annual Conference to feature Geena Davis, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Diane Ravitch

Registration and housing for the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) 73rd Annual Conference, to be held April 13 to 15 in San Diego, is now open. Join more than 5,000 school board members and administrators for an event with hundreds of sessions, workshops, and exhibits that will help your school district programs and help you hone your leadership and management skills.

General Session speakers include Academy Award winning speaker Geena Davis, who will be speaking about her work off-screen as founder of the non-profit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Davis works with film and television creators to reduce gender stereotyping and increase the number of female characters in media targeted for children 11 and under. She will explain how media plays a key role in children’s development, and how her organization is making a difference.

Television star Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of the world’s most engaging and passionate science advocates, will headline Sunday’s General Session. From PBS to NASA to Presidential Commissions, organizations have depended on Tyson’s down-to-earth approach to astrophysics. He has been a frequent guest on “The Daily Show”, “The Colbert Report”, R”eal Time with Bill Maher”, and “Jeopardy!”. Tyson hopes to reach “all the people who never knew how much they’d love learning about space and science.”

Monday’s General Session features acclaimed researcher and author Diane Ravitch, who has become one of the most passionate voices for public schools. Her most recent book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, makes the case that public education today is in peril and offers a clear prescription for improving public schools.

Learn more about the common core standards, new research on differentiated learning styles, and teaching “unteachable” children at the Focus On lecture series. Learn about new technologies for your classrooms as part of the Technology + Learning programs.

Special discounted rates are available for early registrants who sign up by Jan. 10, 2013. NSBA National Affiliate and Technology Leadership Network Districts save even more.

View the conference brochure for more details. Be sure to check the Annual Conference website for updates and more information.

 

 

Joetta Sack-Min|October 17th, 2012|Categories: 21st Century Skills, Announcements, Arts Education, Assessment, Athletics, Board governance, Budgeting, Bullying, Charter Schools, Comparative Education, Computer Uses in Education, Conferences and Events, Council of School Attorneys, Crisis Management, CUBE, Curriculum, Data Driven Decision Making, Discipline, Diversity, Dropout Prevention, Educational Finance, Educational Research, Educational Technology, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Federal Programs, Governance, High Schools, National Standards, NSBA Annual Conference 2013, Online learning, Policy Formation, Preschool Education, Public Advocacy, School Board News, School Boards, School Buildings, School Climate, School Law, School Reform, STEM Education, Student Achievement, Student Engagement, Teachers, Technology Leadership Network|Tags: , , , , |

The week in blogs: Lost in cyber space?

NSBA has long been a leader in educational technology — and that’s no exaggeration. Through its Technology Leadership Network and its regular conferences and site visits, the association has championed technology in the classroom for more than 20 years.

So when NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant questions whether the explosion of online charter schools is causing “too many students to get lost in cyber space,” as she does in her recent Education Week blog, she’s hardly coming from Luddite territory.

“All this has taken place with no research to back it up,” Bryant writes. “In fact, what little research and anecdotal evidence exists on full-time virtual learning shows alarmingly low graduation rates, course completion and test scores.”

A new report from NSBA’s Center for Public Education, Searching for the Reality of Virtual Schools, says the biggest takeaway from its study of this burgeoning field — and market, for profit-making companies — is how little we know.

For example, what impact would increased enrollment in cyber schools have on real communities, many of which have long seen the public schools as key to maintaining strong ties between citizens?

Writes Gary Obermeyer, of Portland, Ore., in response to Bryant’s blog: “While I am a strong believer in and advocate for online learning, I do not support the notion of ‘virtual schools.’ My primary concern is for the health and vitality of communities. Schools should be grounded in communities, so that students’ learning experiences can be tied to local issues/concerns, through which they learn to care about and contribute to the community.”

In fact, technology intelligently used can actually help tie communities together by giving disadvantaged students the tools they need to become more active participants. As Ann Flynn, NSBA’s director of education technology, writes in a letter to the editor this week to the Washington Post:

“Public schools must provide the technology resources that level the playing field for all students, thus allowing them to excel in core content and develop media literacy,” Flynn writes in response to a Post story on the widely varying use of technology in area schools. “The skills supported through appropriate interactions with technology will define the literate person of the 21st century; those without such opportunities will be left behind.”

Lawrence Hardy|May 19th, 2012|Categories: 21st Century Skills, Charter Schools, Computer Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Technology Leadership Network|Tags: , , , |

Virtual Learning: Growing but untested, NSBA report says

Do K12 students benefit from taking some or all of their classes online? A new report by NSBA’s Center for Public Education, Searching for the Reality of Virtual Schools, says that while online education holds promise for 21st century learning, researchers know relatively little about the performance of virtual schools, and the studies that have been done are troubling.

“Virtual learning is the future. It’s increasing,” said Patte Barth, director of the Center. “But we don’t have a lot of information about its effect right now, so I would caution people to start slow and monitor it very closely.”

“Online learning” can refer to anything from a single class, such as an Advanced Placement class that is not available at a school or a credit recovery class, to full-time K-12 virtual schools, to a combination online and face-to-face instruction. Programs can be created and operated by school districts, states, non-profit or for-profit entities, as well as a host of other sources, which can blur the lines of accountability. 

While the information on online learning is incomplete, several studies on the practice are not encouraging. For example, a Stanford University study covering the period 2007-2010 found that 100 percent of virtual charters schools in Pennsylvania performed significantly worse in math and reading than traditional schools in terms of student gains.

The research also shows that full-time K-12 virtual schools tend to show the least effective results in graduation rates, course completion, and test scores.  While full-time virtual schools enroll less than two percent of the nation’s public school population, that number is rapidly increasing, and much of the growth is with for-profit providers.

“A full-time experience is much different than one class, and the overall data for full-time virtual schools tends to be where the wheels fall off,” Barth said. “Most of the research we found raises serious questions about the accountability and monitoring of some of these schools.”

The report also examines the funding streams of four states: Colorado, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania, and the researchers found that in most cases funding is not based on the actual cost to educate a child through virtual schools. Determining budgets—and sometimes, enrollments—of virtual schools is often difficult.

The report gives school board members and the public a list of questions to ask to ensure their taxpayer’s funds are being used by programs that produce better results for students.

The report was written by Barth, the Center’s Managing Editor Rebecca St. Andrie, and the Center’s Senior Policy Analyst Jim Hull.

 

Lawrence Hardy|May 14th, 2012|Categories: 21st Century Skills, Board governance, Center for Public Education, Charter Schools, Computer Uses in Education, Curriculum, Educational Technology, High Schools, Online learning, Privatization, School Board News, Student Achievement|Tags: , , |

NSBA discusses transforming education through technology on Education Talk Radio

The National School Boards Association‘s (NSBA) Director of the Education Technology, Ann Flynn, and Project Facilitator for Nevada’s  Clark County School District, Margie Zamora, appeared on Education Talk Radio discussing how technology is transforming education.

NSBA’ Technology Leadership Network (TLN) host several site visits  throughout the school year showcasing outstanding use of educational technology.

Since 1987, TLN has served local district leadership teams that establish policy and implement technology decisions to enhance teaching and learning, administrative operations, and community outreach.

Through NSBA’s technology site visits, school leaders are able to see education technology innovation in action and develop their own successful initiatives. This is a great opportunity for school leaders to witness classrooms where curriculum goals drive technology decisions.

From April 25-27, 2012 NSBA will host a site visit in Clark County, the nation’s fifth largest with nearly 310,000 students, encompasses both Las Vegas and its outlying communities.

Ranked first in last year’s Digital School District Survey by the Center for Digital Education and NSBA , Clark County uses technology to provide enterprise systems that support the business of learning and provide engaging 21st century experiences for all students. From cyberbullying prevention initiatives and “bring your own device” pilot programs, to online professional development and extensive use of social networking systems, this visit offers examples of innovation that can be applied in districts of any size.

Listen to the show on Education Talk Radio:

Listen to internet radio with EduTalk on Blog Talk Radio
Alexis Rice|March 28th, 2012|Categories: 21st Century Skills, Computer Uses in Education, Educational Technology, NSBA Opinions and Analysis, Student Achievement, Technology Leadership Network|Tags: , , , , , , |

Project RED: Changing Policy to Support Schools

I missed the first 10 minutes of the Project RED presentation, but was immediately engaged by the slide displayed when I walked through the door. More than half of survey respondents (62%) reported that ubiquitous technology in their schools increased high-stakes test scores, and 48% reported a reduction in disciplinary action.

Project RED is the research project of Jeanne Hayes, the Hayes Connection; Tom Greaves, the Greaves Group; and Leslie Wilson of the One-to-One Institute. Through surveys and interviews, the group seeks to show the true financial benefits of education technology. They have focused on two key issues:  student achievement and the financial impact of technology on state budgets. To my knowledge, no other group is making a research-based financial connection between education technology investment and state economies by analyzing cost savings, cost avoidance and revenue enhancements to state budgets with investment in educational technology.

(more…)

Karen Henke|November 3rd, 2009|Categories: Computer Uses in Education, Leadership, Student Achievement, T+L|

Getting ready for Open Source

I tried at this conference to take a wide variety of different workshops and round tables. The open source sessions were top notch and my hats are off to the presenters. They focused on the benefits of open source software, but also was frank about the realities of open source software.

I was extremely excited to see the Linux desktop in use. In the open source lab I spent a good time looking at all of the educational software availablein the Linux KDE environment.

That night I was trying to figure out how I could get those applications on my laptop with out installing Linux. I then came across a great project from kde.org called KDE on Windows. You download a small install program and then finish the install from a mirror in the Internet. I have not dug in to how they accomplish it but I can describe the results. The program created a new program group in my start menu with all of the KDE programs I chose to install. When I click on one of these applications, Windows launches the application like it was a native Windows application. It is an excellent way to look at these programs right away on existing equipment and software.

KDE on Windows can be found here.

William Brackett|October 30th, 2009|Categories: Computer Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Professional Development, T+L|

What makes Fayetteville Public Schools (FPS) a success?

So what makes Fayetteville Public Schools stand out to the Technology Leadership Network (TLN)?  What inclined the TLN  to showcase Fayetteville Public Schools with a Spring Site Visit?

Well, the Technology Leadership Network would like to give you the opportunity to hear about their journey and success directly from this leading district.  Come chat with them at T+L this fall or visit their district for a closer look during TLN’s Spring Site Visit to Fayetteville Public Schools. Their excellence may have something to do with their approach to project based learning and 21st century education environments but that is just the beginning.  Visit the Fayetteville Public School website to watch their Best Practices Series and learn more about what sets them apart!

Colleen O'Brien|September 9th, 2009|Categories: 21st Century Skills, Computer Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Professional Development, Student Achievement, T+L|

Online discussion: we’ll give a topic (two actually!)

Be sure to log in to two online discussions that will take place during the T+L Conference. These hot topic discussions are sure to get tongues wagging (or fingers typing, at least), so don’t forget to tune in!

It’s not all fun and games!
How schools can harness educational games for learning
It’s no secret that kids love video games. And even an recent article in the New York Times has highlighted the advantages that some games can present. But how can your school district find the best way to use these games? Log in and learn from expert Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, the educational benefits of using gaming in the classroom. Submit your questions now for this online discussion which will take place during NSBA’s T+L Conference, October 28, 1:00 p.m. PT.

Yours, Mine, and Ours
Ways school districts can make it work with students’ personal technology devices
With all the talk of one-to-one computing, school districts are working hard to find ways to put technology in every student’s hands. Why not let students use their own devices – laptops, ipods, voice recorders – in school to enhance their learning? Kathy Rains, Director of Technology, in the Madison (AL) City Schools will discuss the ups and downs, the challenges and opportunities, of these options and how school districts can make it work. Leave a question for Kathy or tune in live on Wednesday, October 29 at 1:00 p.m. PT.

And don’t forget, we’ll be on the west coast, so be sure to tune in during Pacific Time. We hope to see you (and your questions) there!

Andrew Paulson|October 24th, 2008|Categories: Computer Uses in Education, Educational Technology, T+L|

The cloud hits education

And that’s a good thing! As ZDNet‘s Christopher Dawson writes:

Cloud computing is one of those great buzzwords in IT that, so far, has meant very little to the average Ed Tech customer. We all have a pretty good idea what it means: lots of computers somewhere (we don’t actually care where) doing lots of processing to deliver services to our desktops via the Internet. On the other hand, with the maturation of virtualization technology, the idea of virtual desktops and virtual servers is certainly rearing its head in education as we try to cut energy costs, ease management, and consolidate resources.

And the latest of example of this comes to us from SIMtone Corporation and Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The school is piloting SIMtone’s cloud computing platform to deliver low-cost, virtual desktops to hundreds of students and faculty. The pilot is part of the SIMtone Education Thunder Program which aims to help close the digital divide and provide access to full PCs in the cloud to the estimated five billion people who cannot afford it, without requiring them to own a computer. The program educational content is provided by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF (USF), and is open to technology and connectivity sponsors worldwide.

Frank Porter Graham is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District which is recognized for its academic excellence. The pilot is being launched during the current fall 2008 semester. SIMtone has also identified other schools and institutions to expand the Education Thunder Program on a national and global scale.

“Our school wants to equip each student with the most advanced computing environment necessary today to effectively study, learn and access all the digital courseware and teaching tools available. Asking each student to purchase and maintain their own PC is impossible, just as it is impossible for the school to ensure each student’s PC is up to date and has all the latest courseware. SIMtone eliminates all these complexities and costs, and allows our school to deliver to each student a real ‘PC in the Cloud,’ fully maintained by the school itself, that is always available to our students on-demand and on-the-fly, in class, in the library and at home, without requiring them to purchase yet another PC,” said Shelia Burnette, Principal of the Frank Porter Graham School.

The SIMtone Education Thunder Program aims to provide students with their own, school-managed, SIMtone-powered PC in the cloud, containing their own coursework, homework, school services, personal files and TeachUNICEF education materials. An Asus Eee-based notebook (called a SNAPbook) will be provided for easy access to the cloud. BoardBuzz is intrigued. Is your district exploring Cloud Computing? Let us know, leave a comment.

Andrew Paulson|October 8th, 2008|Categories: Computer Uses in Education, Social Networking, Student Achievement, Student Engagement, T+L|
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