The premiere issue of Digital Directions, launched in June, prompted many responses from readers. Here is a sampling.
Digital Natives
This is a great publication, and I truly appreciate all of the articles, especially John Q. Porter’s interview. I agree with him that technology is being held to a greater standard than some of the other instructional tools.
I am the K-12 technology curriculum leader for the Long Beach Unified School District in California and am constantly looking out for effective emerging technology for use in the district and in the classroom. Our student population has changed, and we need to help our teachers meet the needs of these digital natives.
I am currently working on my dissertation on the changing roles of teachers in one-to-one laptop classrooms and am interested in seeing what is happening in other educational institutions.
Our district technology budget is currently limited since there is no line item for technology at the state level and we have to depend on district general funds. We are looking at our needs and hope to have a budget that will allow us to support the emerging technologies.
I think this publication is above average and look forward to future issues.
Vanitha Chandrasekhar
K-12 Technology Curriculum Leader
Long Beach Unified School District
Long Beach, Calif.
Exemplary Methodologies
Congratulations! Finally, something that is both innovative and generative with regard to truly exemplary educational digital-technology methodologies and executions. Thank you on behalf of all teachers, students, and parents currently constrained by traditional education irrelevance.
Jim Ross
President
21st Century Digital Learning Environment
Clinton Township, Mich.
Keep It Up!
Education Week does wonderful work, and I’m really looking forward to this new resource for information on a field of such large and growing importance. Keep it up!
Brian Taylor
Managing Editor
California School Boards Association
West Sacramento, Calif.
Gaming in the Classroom
I wanted to drop you a note and tell you how much I enjoyed the Digital Directions magazine. I wanted to share something that we are working on in West Virginia that you might be interested in. I have done a lot of research on teachers’ using gaming in the classroom. What I found was until teachers have their own “game” to play and learn from, they will not transfer that methodology to the classroom. With that being said, we worked with Ruby Payne and one of her books, Working with Students,and used the context of it to build an online simulation game for teachers to play to practice classroom-discipline strategies. We have done formative and summative evaluations on it in five universities across West Virginia.
Nancy Sturm
Education Technology Adviser to Gov. Joe Manchin III
West Virginia Office of Technology
Charleston, W.Va.
Correction: A story in the Summer 2007 issue, “Wireless Technologies Present New Set of Challenges,” incorrectly referred to routers and hubs in wireless networks. It should have referred to wireless hubs, which do not use routers. Also, the story should have said that the common wireless standards are 802.11 b and 802.11 g, and that 802.11 b moves data at up to 11 megabits per second, and 802.11 g moves data at 54 megabits per second. In addition, the story should have said that standard wired networks move data at 100 megabits per second.
