Issues

June 9, 2008

Digital Directions, Vol. 02, Issue Spring/Summer 2008
Curriculum Reviewing E-Books
Virtual textbooks—some with interactive zing to better teach a generation of students weaned on Xbox and iTunes—are attracting attention from more schools.
Rhea R. Borja, June 13, 2008
6 min read
PASCO Scientific is slated to unveil its latest probeware, the Spark Science Learning System, at a national conference of science teachers this week.
PASCO Scientific is slated to unveil its latest probeware, the Spark Science Learning System, at a national conference of science teachers this week.
Courtesy of PASCO Scientific
Science Tools of the Trade
While “probeware” may not be a household word, it has grown more familiar to science educators as new instruments for collecting and analyzing data from the physical world.
Andrew Trotter, June 13, 2008
8 min read
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Education Top Picks
Web sites on technology, leadership, 21st-century skills, and more.
June 13, 2008
3 min read
Classroom Technology Blackboard vs. Moodle
A growing number of K-12 educators are using course-management systems to distribute information to students and their parents.
Andrew Trotter, June 13, 2008
8 min read
Science Opinion Where Are the ‘T’ and ‘E’ in STEM?
Some ed-tech experts are concerned that policymakers are overemphasizing the math and science parts of STEM at the expense of technology and engineering.
June 13, 2008
3 min read
IT Infrastructure & Management Friend or Foe? Balancing the Good and Bad of Social-Networking Sites
With the advent and rapid growth of social-networking sites, the result is that school leaders are being forced to deal with a host of unsettled and even unsavory issues.
Michelle R. Davis, June 13, 2008
6 min read
IT Infrastructure & Management Classroom Connections
Educators are mulling ways to use the influence of social-networking sites to foster deeper ties to schools and education.
Michelle R. Davis, June 13, 2008
5 min read
Ed-Tech Policy The School’s Role
Our guests discussed how social-networking technologies can be used to help students learn and monitor their behavior.
June 13, 2008
2 min read
Classroom Technology Happy Birthday, DD!
In the first issue, we told you that our goal was to build a publication whose sole purpose was to help ed-tech leaders do their jobs better. A year later, we feel that we are heading in the right direction.
Kevin Bushweller, June 13, 2008
1 min read
Classroom Technology A School Where STEM is King
For the past two decades, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute has remolded its curriculum around blending disciplines known as STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Andrew Trotter, June 13, 2008
10 min read
Education TIPS
Get the administrative green light. Does the administrative leadership in your district or school understand the positive impact virtual textbooks can have on learning?
June 9, 2008
1 min read
IT Infrastructure & Management What Is a CMS
EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit group that promotes the use of information technology in education, provided a definition of course-management systems in a paper on the topic prepared in 2003 by the group’s Emerging Technologies Committee. “At its simplest, a course-management system is a tool that allows an instructor to post information on the Web without that instructor having to know or understand HTML or other computer languages. A more complete definition of a CMS is that it provides an instructor with a set of tools and a framework that allows the relatively easy creation of online course content and the subsequent teaching and management of that course, including various interactions with students taking the course.”The Teacher Education Center at Illinois State University notes that most online course-management systems include:
June 9, 2008
1 min read
Education TIPS
Establish a policy for dealing with incidents in which students break school rules and their inappropriate behavior is showcased publicly on social-networking sites.
June 9, 2008
1 min read
Timothy J. Magner
Timothy J. Magner
IT Infrastructure & Management The Ed-Tech View from Washington
Timothy J. Magner, the director of the U.S. Department of Education’s office of educational technology, talks about the big picture and emerging issues.
April 30, 2008
3 min read
IT Infrastructure & Management A Novel Idea Crafted on a Cellphone
If U.S. students embrace the literary phenomenon now sweeping Japan, the next great American novel could be written on a cellphone.
Katie Ash, April 2, 2008
6 min read
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Education Top Picks
Web sites, lesson plans, and PDFs from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and resources for ed-tech leaders.
April 2, 2008
1 min read
School & District Management Total Cost to You...$0
Building an ethical playbook for dealing with IT vendors could save your job.
Michelle R. Davis, March 5, 2008
8 min read
Classroom Technology Checking Sources
The Internet has become a place where hidden agendas and false information about history and social studies can trip up both students and teachers.
Michelle R. Davis, March 5, 2008
3 min read
IT Infrastructure & Management 'Data Leakage'
School districts store vast amounts of confidential data in their computer systems. But that information doesn’t always stay private.
Michelle R. Davis, March 5, 2008
6 min read
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Education Top Picks
A small district technology leadership wiki and resources from the Smithsonian.
March 5, 2008
1 min read