EdTech Show Daily

Global Virtual Classroom 2010/2011 Award Winning Websites Announced

The Give Something Back International Foundation (GSBI) has announced the winners of the 2010/2011 Global Virtual Classroom Contest (GVC) -- a free online collaborative learning project that fosters creativity, cross cultural understanding, helping others and teaches IT and website design skills amongst students working together from around the world.

Sponsored by GSBI, the GVC program provides an opportunity for primary and secondary school students from different countries to work with and learn from students in other countries, as they collaboratively design a website on a topic of their choosing. Teams are comprised of either three primary or three secondary schools from different countries. A panel of international judges evaluates the final work and determines the winners.

In September 2010, AT&T announced a $25,000 contribution to support the Global Virtual Classroom project.

With subjects that range from combating world hunger to bridging the digital divide, and from helping victims of natural disasters to exploring the creative world of music, sites from participating teams show the kind of creativity that can come from putting approximately 2100 students from 23 different countries together in a collaborative endeavor.

Their efforts were judged for content, presentation, collaboration, and a helping focus. The helping focus encourages students to also demonstrate achievement of a helpful objective such as personal, social and/or environmental responsibility or support for a worthy cause.

This year's Grand Prize winner for the primary school category is the "Lacing up the Digital Divide" website created and built by students from Horace Mann School in Oak Park, Illinois, USA and the International Community School of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. The website highlights the importance of bridging the digital divide with innovative approaches as to how to make a positive impact.  The team also shares their efforts to support the Bingerville Orphanage in Cote d'Ivoire providing computers, Internet access, books and French website resources to enhance student learning in a very challenging environment.

The secondary school category's Grand Prize winner is the "Food for All and All for Food" website presented by students at Philippine Science High School in Quezon City, Philippines; Ranji School in Bangkok, Thailand; and Denmark Empowerment Charter School in Denmark, Wisconsin, USA. The website highlights ways to combat world hunger as well as highlights foods from their respective cultures and the influences on cuisine from around the world.

Certificates of participation are awarded to all students. Plaques and cash awards are presented to the schools of the winning teams. The Grand Prize award is $3,000 for the winning primary school team and $3,000 for the secondary school team. The second place award is $1,500 for each winning team and the third place award is $750 to each team.  Special Merit awards are also presented for exceptional academic merit, for significant helping focus accomplishments, for creativity, and for the innovative use of multimedia. Merit award winners receive software from Tech4Learning.com.

To view the winning websites visit www.VirtualClassroom.org. Online applications for the 2011/12 program are also available on the site.

RI lawmaker seeks to mute cellphones during school

Robert Mayne sees the sly texters slouched at their desks. He hears the muffled chirps of smartphones tucked in bluejeans or backpacks. He worries a student might email the week's math test to a friend in the afternoon class.

"They're not just phones," said Mayne, a high school math teacher at Chariho High School in Richmond. "They take photos. They text. They email. There are games, the Internet, Youtube. It's not just one distraction. It's dozens."

Count Mayne a supporter of legislation in Rhode Island's General Assembly to prohibit students from using cellphones during the school day. Some educators question how a ban would be enforced, and whether they're waging a battle against technology they can't win. But Mayne said a state law will give teeth to efforts to curb bullying, inappropriate photos, cheating and the myriad disruptions caused by cellphones in school.

Under the legislation students could still carry phones in school, but they couldn't use them during school hours, including study hall and lunch. A first offense results in a warning. A second violation would lead to administrators confiscating the phone for three days. The third time, the phone would be kept for five days. Exceptions would be made for emergencies.

Sen. John Tassoni Jr., D-Smithfield, introduced the bill after leading a legislative task force investigating cyberbullying. The work led Tassoni to conclude that cellular prohibition is the best way to ensure students are focusing on a textbook, not Facebook.

"If a phone becomes a problem, then we're going to take it away," he said. "Not only are people using them to bully other students, but they're using them to cheat."

While many school districts restrict phone use, Rhode Island would be the only state with a law specifically banning phone use in school, according to the Education Commission of the States.

Good luck, said Kenneth Trump, president of the Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services. According to Trump, 80% of U.S. schools restrict student cellphone use. That Rhode Island is considering a statewide ban just shows that local policies aren't working, he said.

Providence, the state's largest school district, prohibits cellphone use during the school day. Administrators confiscate phones from students who cause repeated problems, though a warning usually resolves the problem, according to Nkoli Onye, the district's executive director for high schools.

"We don't search our students," Onye said. "We don't want to be the phone police. We simply ask that if they have a cellphone, they keep it out of sight."

Onye predicts that schools will someday embrace devices much like today's smartphones as a teaching tool, she said.

"The technology isn't going away," she said. "Will we even have textbooks in schools in 15 years, or will students use something like an iPad? The big question is how we use this technology to enhance education."

Full press release can be found here.

SIIA Announces Finalists for 2011 CODiE Awards in Business Software

The Software & Information Industry Association, the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries, announces finalists for the CODiE Awards in the education technology categories. Finalists now will be reviewed by SIIA members, who will vote on winners for all 24 categories. The winners will be announced on Monday, May 23 at the CODiE Awards Reception and Dinner, to be held as part of the 2011 Ed Tech Industry Summit.

Of 425 total nominations, 113 products from 80 companies were selected as finalists. Nominated products underwent an extensive review by judges via live demonstration, trial product access, and analysis of product documentation. With 14 nominations moving to the second round, Pearson garnered the most finalist slots for one company in all CODiE Awards categories this year. A complete list of the finalists is shown below, but also may be reviewed at http://www.siia.net/codies/2011/finalists.asp.  

Of particular note, several categories experienced dramatic increases in participation during the entry period, reflecting trends seen in the education technology market. They include:

• Best Virtual School Solution for Students – nominations up almost 270 percent
• Best Corporate Learning Solution – nominations up 100 percent
• Best Postsecondary Instructional Solution – nominations up about 90 percent
• Best Reading/English Instructional Solution – nominations up about 70 percent
• Best Education Community Solution – nominations up about 60 percent

Karen Billings, Vice President of the SIIA Education Division, commended the companies that qualified as finalists: "The CODiEs reflect excellence and innovation in the education technology industry. We are pleased and proud to have so many companies participating this year and to have so many moving on to the member voting phase. Billings continued, saying, "We have a diverse range of companies represented, which reflects the overall health of the industry."

The CODiE Awards, originally called the Excellence in Software Awards, were established in 1986 by the Software Publishers Association (SPA), now SIIA, so pioneers of the then-nascent software industry could evaluate and honor each other's work. Since then, the CODiE Awards program has carried out the same purpose – to showcase the software and information industry's finest products and services and to honor excellence in corporate achievement.

Six Law School Deans Form a Discussion Group on Ways to Collaborate on More Effective Use of Technology in Legal Education

The deans of the Australian National University College of Law, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, the University of Miami School of Law, New York Law School, the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, and Southwestern Law School have agreed to begin a joint conversation on how law schools can collaborate to use technology more effectively and expansively in legal education.

Recognizing that the study of law, like many other aspects of education (and modern life in general), is relying more on technology and moving online, and is subject to being disaggregated and unbundled at a rapid pace, the discussion group will focus on the following issues and ideas:

•     how the law schools might work together to explore ways to facilitate blended and online courses and degree programs at these schools and more broadly in legal education.
•     the prospect of developing a place on the Web to provide access to learning opportunities and information about a wide variety of legal topics on a "just in time" basis (fixed learning, variable time), untethered from legal education's restrictions around academic calendar and course/program arrangements (fixed time, variable learning).
•     creating a marketplace to bring together those who want to build and sell even finer-grained sets of learning objects, activities, and games with students and others who want those opportunities.

The participating deans encourage those interested in this venture to get in touch with Richard Matasar at Richard.Matasar (at) nyls (dot) edu or Barry Currier at barry(at)legaledtech(dot)com.

University of Hawaii plans Internet graduation for education technology students

A virtual commencement address and virtual diplomas will be handed out to University of Hawaii students participating in an online graduation ceremony.

The university's College of Education Department of Education Technology is organizing the graduation event in the virtual world of Second Life.

The May 6 ceremony will take place at a replica of Diamond Head Amphitheatre.

Education technology professor Peter Leong said all students in the department — those who study on-campus and online — can participate.

He said some students are planning real-life parties with families and friends that coincide with the virtual graduation.

3 Ark. high schools to benefit from $125K grant from Verizon Foundation

A technology education program that's in place at three Arkansas high schools in the Delta region is receiving $125,000 from Verizon Communications Inc.'s foundation.

Officials with the Verizon Foundation on Thursday announced the grant to support One Economy's Digital Connectors program at Dumas, Osceola and Lake Village high schools. The foundation announced the grant at a news conference at the state Capitol with Gov. Mike Beebe.

The grant will go toward a program to help students at those schools develop leadership skills and receive technology training. The foundation says those students will then volunteer in their communities. The grant is the second part of a $250,000 commitment the foundation made to support the Digital Connectors program.

West Salem High School Wins National Education Technology Contest

Technology leader Samsung, in partnership with Grammy award winner and Show Me Campaign founder, John Legend, today announced Oregon’s West Salem High School as the grand prize winner in its national science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition. During the last six months, more than 1,100 schools from across the country have competed for $1 million in technology from Samsung and its partners Microsoft, DirecTV and the Adobe Foundation through the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. As part of Samsung’s Hope for Children initiative, and in partnership with Change the Equation and the National Environmental Education Foundation, Solve for Tomorrow aims to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“The creativity and the smart application of math and science in these students’ project entries were truly inspirational,” said David Steel, EVP of Strategy and Corporate Communications, Samsung Electronics America. “We know everyone is excited to win this technology, but for us the real win is the enthusiasm and excitement that the program has generated in STEM at schools across the country.”

As the grand prize winner, West Salem High School will choose from a range of technology prizes including projectors, smart boards, LED TVs, printers, laptops and software. The total grand prize package is valued at $155,000. The school’s use of technology, innovative thinking, and creativity were key factors in setting it apart from the other schools, which was recognized by both a public voting panel and Samsung’s panel of judges.

American Public University System Receives Grant from Next Generation Learning Challenges to Enhance Student Outcomes Through Sakai Learning Management System

American Public University System today announced that it has been awarded part of a $250,000 grant from Next Generation Learning Challenges as a member of the Open Academic Analytics Initiative. Designed and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates and William & Flora Hewlett Foundations, NGLC is focused on identifying and scaling technology-enabled approaches to dramatically improve college readiness and completion, especially for low-income young adults, in the United States.

“As a large, fully-online institution with a commitment to quality education, APUS will provide a unique opportunity to research best practices associated with implementing academic analytics in online courses”

The OAAI consortium, led by Marist College, also includes Cerritos College, College of the Redwoods, Howard University and Savannah State University. It will collaborate on technical work, pilot activities, and exploratory research in support of the Sakai learning management system. In addition, APUS will continue to work with IBM on local Sakai implementation, according to APUS Scholar-in-Residence and former Provost Dr. Frank McCluskey.

“We’re very pleased to be recognized by NGLC for our collective effort to develop and pilot the application of academic analytics in a diverse range of educational environments,” said McCluskey. “We successfully began implementing Sakai at APUS last year to help monitor student trending data to help better predict and intervene when they may need help in the classroom. Coupled with our past recognition by the Sloan Consortium for excellence and best practices in online education, this initiative further validates our standing commitment to provide the optimum student experience and learning outcomes.”

Education and Business Community Applauds Congressional Effors To Restore Federal Funding For School Technology

Recognizing the essential role education technology plays in both strengthening schools and the economy, 14 U.S. Senators called on the Senate Appropriations Committee to restore funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program to the FY 10 level of $100 million. The move follows an ongoing and growing call from the education community to invest in technology-based education innovation through EETT.

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Education Association (NEA), National School Board Association (NSBA), Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) have been leading efforts to maintain funding for EETT, an essential program that is helping transform our nation’s schools and is providing educators across the country the support necessary to integrate technology into the classroom.

These groups released the following statement, “We applaud Senate leaders for recognizing what educators in all 50 states have long understood: EETT is an essential component to supporting 21st century education and ensuring a strong, relevant, and meaningful education for all students. While the dollars for EETT may be perceived as relatively small, the impact and ROI for our schools and our children is immeasurable.”

CoSN Launches Access4Ed.net – A New Online Community of Practice Focused on Providing Access to Online Environments in K-12

Got Access? Attendees of CoSN’s 16th annual conference – CoSN 2011: Mastering the Moment – may have wondered what all the “Got Access?” stickers and signs were all about as they hurried from one conference session to the next. It became clear when CoSN launched Access4Ed.net, a brand new online community of practice focused on innovative approaches to providing access to online environments in K-12 schools and districts. The new community of practice is launching in conjunction with the release of a draft of a new report on the state of online communities of practice in education. Both are part of a three-year initiative, Connected Online Communities of Practice, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and implemented in partnership with the American Institutes for Research and five other organizations, of which CoSN is one.

CoSN’s new online community will serve district technology leaders, superintendents, school boards and educational service agencies, and many other education stakeholders. The online community of practice will first focus on student-owned devices, followed by broadband. Future areas of focus may include cloud computing, mobile computing, enabling home access, wireless access and network design, among many others.