Year 2004 – The SLD issued Wave 15 on March 24,
2005, which committed over $110.7 million in 643 letters. The
funding associated with this wave includes funding for Priority One
and for Priority Two at the 81% and above discount level. With
issuance of this wave, the SLD has committed over $1.8 billion in
31,104 letters for Funding Year 2004. The SLD plans to issue waves
every other week until the process is complete. See:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org. For Funding Year 2004, see:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/y2004/waves/default.asp.
Year 2005 – The Form 471 application filing
window expired February 18, 2005. To track the progress of
Forms 471, visit
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/FY3_form471/471StatusCheck.asp.
E-Rate
program hearing and new GAO report
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is doing a poor job of
overseeing the E-rate program, according to a report of the
Government Accountability Office’s (GAO). In mid-March, the House
Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
held a hearing to review the report, entitled: Telecommunications –
Concerns Regarding the Structure and FCC’s Management of the E-rate
Program. [See:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05439t.pdf.]
The report, which led some
subcommittee members to question whether the FCC is the best agency
to oversee the program, found the operating structure of the program
to be unusual, which has affected its management by the FCC; calls
for development of specific performance goals and measures to be
better able to assess program impact; and, cites poor effectiveness
of the current accountability measures that have led to waste, fraud
and abuse in the program and a large backlog of E-Rate appeals.
While several subcommittee
members expressed a desire to see the program continue, they
question why the FCC has been slow to recover misspent funds, why
structural and administrative changes were not made earlier, and
whether the FCC is the most competent agency to oversee the
program. House Commerce Committee Chair Joe Barton (R-TX)
questioned not only the administration of the program but also the
continuing need for funding, whether it was appropriate for Congress
to extend the universal service program to schools and libraries to
cover their Internet access, and whether it had already outlived its
usefulness with 93% Internet penetration in public classrooms.
Jeffrey Carlisle, the FCC
wireline competition bureau chief, indicated the FCC has made
progress on the recommendations already. The FCC General Counsel’s
office had made analyses of 15 separate statutes to assure E-Rate
compliance, is working on establishing performance measures to have
in place shortly, and has reduced the appeals backlog from 458 cases
to 358 cases since January. Additionally, the Bureau is
contemplating a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the program’s
administration and an Order on expanding audit coverage of the
program’s largest beneficiaries. In later questioning, Carlisle said
that he could estimate to some degree waste, fraud and abuse in the
program. Based on the audits conducted, he stated that 3% to 5% of
dollars disbursed had compliance problems that warranted recovery.
Should the program management be moved, Carlisle replied the most
logical place would be ED.
Kevin Martin
appointed new FCC Chair
Commissioner Kevin Martin was appointed Chairman of the FCC,
replacing Michael Powell who resigned recently. Martin has been a
FCC commissioner since 2001 and in public positions has expressed
support for the program with a more activist commission role. Since
Martin was already a FCC commissioner, his move to Chairman will not
have to be approved by Congress.
FCC contract to
evaluate E-rate Program
The FCC contracted with the National Academy of Public
Administration to conduct a study of USF to determine if it is
analogous to other special funds, and the pros and cons of
continuing with the current structure or switching to an alternative
model. The project will be divided into two phases. Phase one will
involve obtaining an understanding of the origins and operations of
USF and USAC as well as other Federal entities that operate similar
funds and/or programs. The end product will provide alternative
models to the current organizational and governance structure
together with the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Phase
two is designed to be more detailed in nature and will provide
specific guidance on the operational aspects of the models
identified in the first phase. See:
http://www.napawash.org/pc_management_studies/ongoing_FCC.html.
Technical Assistance Booth
<Reminder> Rebecca Miller will be available for technical
assistance at MOREnet’s Spring Technical Conference, April 6-7, at
Tan-Tar-A, in Osage Beach, Missouri.
The State Educational Technology
Directors Association (SETDA) will host the first annual National
Imagine a Technology Black Out Day to be held on April 20, 2005.
Thousands of teachers, students, and parents will participate in a
discussion about how modern technologies impact their lives at
school, work, and play. The day is set for April 20, but teachers
can choose to initiate their "Imagine a Technology Black Out Day"
discussions and submit their results anytime from now until the
event closes on May 20.
The FREE lessons are tailored for grades K-2,
3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Participating teachers and students are eligible
to win more than $5,000 in prizes, including iPODs, Amazon gift
cards, software, and hardware.
We would like to see at least 20 schools in Missouri participate.
Please visit the Website, and sign up today!Afterwards,
please email the Instructional Technology section to share your
experiences.
See:
http://www.technologyblackoutday.com.
Newsline archives searchable by topic
Instructional Technology has begun the task of indexing Newsline
articles by major topics. Thus far, articles from the 2004 and 2005
issues of Newsline have been cataloged. The topic index is located
at
http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/instrtech/topics_templates/TOPICS_index.html.
Note, also, that this link is provided in current issues, at the
bottom of the side bar below the “Inside this Issue” listing of
articles.
SETDA releases 2005 National Trends
Report
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA)
recently released the second annual National Trends Report. SETDA
again commissioned the Metiri Group to conduct the national survey
in the fall of 2004 on the second year implementation of the No
Child Left Behind, Title II, Part D, Enhancing Education Through
Technology (EETT) program and on general state policy trends in
educational technology. Findings are based on surveys from 49 states
and the District of Columbia, representing 15,478 LEAs and 99% of
the federal dollars allocated across the United States in 2003-2004.
Data from the first annual National Report for Round 1 serve as a
baseline for trends and represented a similar population (46 states
and the District of Columbia). To view the full 2005 Report, see:
http://www.setda.org/content.cfm?sectionID=185
SETDA cross matches PETI tools with federal data
initiative
The Performance-Based Data Management Initiative (PBDMI) is a
collaborative effort among ED, state education agencies (SEAs), and
industry partners to improve the quality and timeliness of education
information. The initiative will produce an Education Data Exchange
Network, providing SEAs and the federal government capacity to
transfer and analyze information about education programs. See:
http://www.ed.gov/pbdmi.
The SETDA task force and the Metiri Group,
while developing the Profiling Educational Technology Integration (PETI)
resources, also developed a cross-match to the PBDMI technology
indicators. The cross match lists each of the four PBDMI technology
indicators and the corresponding PETI questions that a school,
district, or state could survey to respond to the PBDMI. See:
http://www.metiri.com/SETDA/nationalsurvey/.
Skills-based rubrics to assess NETS for students and teachers
ISTE and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL)
continue work to develop skills-based rubrics that break down the
NETS for students by grade levels, written as proficiencies for K-2,
3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The purpose of the
NETS for Students: Extended Rubric
is to define four achievement levels in relation to the NETS, and is
being developed to assist state and school-district leaders in their
efforts to measure and monitor the development of student technology
literacy throughout the elementary and secondary grades. To view and
provide feedback on the four student rubrics and the teacher rubric,
see:
http://www.ncrel.org/tech/nets/rubrics.htm.
At the CoSN conference, NCREL announced
development of online technology proficiency measurement tools for
eighth-grade students and for teachers, expected to be available in
August 2005. An additional assessment for fifth graders is expected
to be available by December, followed later by assessments for
third-graders and high school students. The assessment items will
consist of multiple-choice, matching, and open-ended questions. Cost
is estimated at $2 per student assessment and $5 per teacher
assessment.
NCES reports on computer use, distance learning, and Internet
access
Following are recently published documents or resources from the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES):
-
Computer
Technology In The Public School Classroom: Teacher Perspectives
This Issue Brief examines public school teacher views on
technology in the classroom. Using data from the 2000–01 Teacher
Follow-up Survey (TFS), the Brief reports on what types of
technology teachers find essential and whether they consider
technology sufficiently available in their classrooms. It also
compares teacher opinions across various teacher
characteristics. A majority of teachers (57 percent) considered
their classroom technology sufficiently available. See:
http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005083.
-
Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary
and Secondary School Students: 2002-03
This report presents findings from the first national survey
to explore distance education courses for public elementary and
secondary school students. The report provides national
estimates of the number of districts and schools with students
enrolled in distance education courses, as well as the number of
enrollments in those courses. In addition, it examines the
reported reasons for having distance education courses, the
instructional level of the populations served, entities
delivering the courses to students, and data pertaining to
online courses. Data about curriculum areas and technology in
distance education courses are also discussed. Survey findings
are presented at the national level and by school district
characteristics such as metropolitan status, district enrollment
size, region, and poverty concentration. See:
http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005010.
-
Internet access in U.S. public schools and
classrooms, 1994-2003
This report presents 10 years of data from 1994 to 2003 on
Internet access in U.S. public schools by school
characteristics. It provides trend analysis on the percent of
public schools and instructional rooms with Internet access and
on the ratio of students to instructional computers with
Internet access. The report contains data on the types of
Internet connections, support of computer hardware/software and
websites, technologies and procedures used to prevent student
access to inappropriate material on the Internet, and the
availability of hand-held and laptop computers to students or
teachers. It also provides information on school websites, the
availability of computers with Internet access outside of
regular school hours, and teacher professional development on
how to integrate the use of the Internet into the curriculum.
See:
http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005015
-
NCES data tool
Search for statewide information in elementary/secondary
education, postsecondary education and selected demographics for
all states in the U.S. based on data collected and maintained by
the National Center for Education Statistics. See:
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/stateprofiles/.
-
Forum Unified Education Technology Suite
The Forum Unified Education Technology Suite presents a
practical, comprehensive, and tested approach to assessing,
acquiring, instituting, managing, securing, and using technology
in education settings. It will also help individuals who lack
extensive experience with technology to develop a better
understanding of the terminology, concepts, and fundamental
issues influencing technology acquisition and implementation
decisions. This online resource combines and updates four
previously existing NCES/Forum publications: Safeguarding Your
Technology (1998), Technology @ Your Fingertips, Version 2.0
(2001), Technology in Schools (2002), and Weaving a Secure Web
around Education (2003). See:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/tech_suite/.
Netday announces resource center for
students
NetDay announced availability of a
new online research and collaboration website that provides
resources to empower students to influence and impact how technology
is used for their education. For more information, please contact
Beverly.Fleming@bellsouth.com or visit
http://www.netday.org/news_student_resource.html.
Report on Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds
A Kaiser Family Foundation
survey found children and teens are spending an increasing amount of
time using “new media” like computers, the Internet and video games,
without cutting back on the time they spend with “old” media like
TV, print and music. Instead, because of the amount of time they
spend using more than one medium at a time (going online while
watching TV), they’re managing to pack increasing amounts of media
content into the same amount of time each day. The study,
“Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds”, examined media
use among a nationally representative sample of more than 2,000
students, grades 3-12, who completed detailed questionnaires,
including nearly 700 self-selected participants who also maintained
seven-day media diaries.
See:
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia030905pkg.cfm.
CDE white
paper offers solutions for budget-strapped education systems
“Rethinking Processes:
Reducing Costs and Maximizing Resources in Education,” published by
the Center for Digital Education (CDE), offers proven information
technology solutions for education systems facing significant
financial challenges such as budget cuts, tuition hikes and service
reductions. The white paper tracks and documents the current state
of education systems in the United States and abroad. It describes a
string of challenges faced by institutions that all involve funding
– or lack thereof – and identifies creative solutions to these
challenges that have been tested and are providing significant
results. See:
http://media.centerdigitalgov.com/RethinkingProcesses.pdf
CoSN releases new report on using data
to improve instruction
The Consortium for School
Networking (CoSN) released a new report as part of its multi-year
“Data-driven Decision Making: Vision to Know and Do” initiative. The
2005 report, entitled “From Vision to Action: How School Districts
Use Data to Improve Performance,” follows up on the consortium’s
2003 report and details best practices from school districts that
have used data on student achievement to effect change within their
schools and better meet state and national standards for student
achievement. It profiles examples of successful leadership in a
data-driven school environment and includes examples of school
districts that are successfully implementing improvement strategies
based on the data their schools have collected and studied. The
report is available for $24.95 ($19.95 for CoSN members). To order,
visit:
https://my.cosn.org/mycosn/store/?storecat=Data-Driven%20Decision%20Making.
On April 20th,
2005 thousands of teachers, students and parents will examine the
power and potential of technology In the
classroom
during
“National Imagine a Technology Black Out
Day!”
March 21, 2005
(Arlington, Virginia) –The State Educational Technology Directors
Association (SETDA) announced today that it will host the first
annual
National Imagine a Technology Black Out
Day
(NITBOD) to be held on April 20, 2005. The purpose of this event is
to highlight the vast power, potential and necessity of effective
technology use in America’s public schools.
Thousands of
teachers, students, parents will participate in the event
to analyze and share the impact
technology has on closing the achievement gap, enhancing
accountability, and increasing teacher quality – not to mention
providing a 21st century environment for students to
learn, share and grow.
From now until May
20th, teachers will facilitate discussions about the
effects that modern technology has on students’ daily lives.
Students will examine the ways technology permeates the way we work,
learn, and play. They will even have an opportunity to assign
homework to their parents that addresses the transformative nature
of technology on the workforce. Those submitting their outcomes will
be eligible for great prizes!
By
imaging one full day without technology,
participants will begin to realize the vast potential that
technology offers in the field of education and the absolute need
for our nation’s students to leave high school with strong
technology literacy skills no matter their career choice!
Free lessons and
activities for elementary, middle and high school students,
addressing state standards in social studies, language arts and
technology are available at
http://www.technologyblackoutday.com.
Teachers, students and parents will have a chance to win great
prizes when they post their findings!
Visit for more
information
http://www.technologyblackoutday.com.
About SETDA - The
State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the
principal association for state directors of technology and their
staff members. SETDA provides its membership consisting of 50 states
and three territories with opportunities to collaborate and learn
from one another as well as the broader ed-tech community through
meetings, surveys, conference calls, and online leadership courses.
For more information about SETDA and/or its events, visit
http://www.setda.org.
State
education officials honored 14 students as "Tech-Prep Students of
the Year" in a ceremony March 4 at the Capitol in Jefferson City.
The honorees and their schools were:
·
Lee Acre, Hillsboro
High School
·
Matthew Bax, Eldon
High School
·
Charlie Chapman,
Meadville High School
·
Jeremy Clubb,
Francis Howell Central High School, St. Charles
·
Amanda Merckling,
Silex High School
·
Mallory Mudd,
Warrensburg High School
·
Amanda Mueller,
Rolla High School
·
Michael Oates,
North County High School, Bonne Terre
·
Joel Patrick,
Truman High School, Independence
·
Ryan Peterson,
Webster Groves High School
·
Thomas Shaddox,
Mexico High School
·
Ian Smith, East
Newton High School, Granby
·
Mark Van Every,
Central High School, Springfield
·
Cody Zuroweste,
North Callaway High School, Kingdom City
Students were
selected on the basis of their commitment to career and technical
education, academic achievement, involvement in school or community
activities, leadership abilities, and their involvement in student
organizations related to career and technical education.
"Tech-prep"
focuses on both academic and career education to prepare young
people for postsecondary training in a technical or career field.
All tech-prep students take part in "2+2" programs, in which they
take career-oriented classes during 11th and 12th grades, and then
move directly into related studies at a community college, a
technical school, or an apprenticeship program.
There are 15
regional tech-prep "consortiums" in Missouri, coordinated by the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Each consortium
involves local high schools, area career and technical centers,
community colleges and representatives of business, industry and
labor. The groups work to coordinate curriculum, academic standards
and policies, and articulation agreements so that students are able
to move smoothly from high school into postsecondary studies.
###
For more
information, contact:
Shawn Brice, Director of tech-prep programs for the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education, at 573-522-1775.
2005
Missouri Educational Technology Conference: Enabling Learning
Technologies
--Submitted by Eric Nicklas,
Program Manager, K-12 Technology Newwork Program, MOREnet
http://www.more.net/conferences/fall2005
Presentation Proposals Still Being Accepted
MOREnet
welcomes presentation proposals on effective applications of
educational technology for the 2005 Missouri Educational
Technology Conference: Enabling Learning Technologies. This
professional development event is directed toward any and all
educators interested in educational technologies, grades
pre-kindergarten through college.
All proposals
must be submitted online at http://www.more.net/conferences/fall2005.
It is recommended the presentation proposal submission instructions
be reviewed prior to completing the online submission form.
Presenters
will receive a discount on the conference registration fee.
Presenter Discounted Registration Fees:
One
presentation $145
Two or more presentations $115
One presentation + Preconference $230
Three-hour presentation Conference
registration fees waived
The deadline
for presentation proposal submissions is April 8, 2005. Final
acceptance and regret notifications will be mailed by mid-May.
Student
Technology Showcase
All Missouri teachers
are invited to submit their students’ technology projects for the
Student Technology Showcase at the 2005 Missouri Educational
Technology Conference. This opportunity provides students the chance
to demonstrate and exhibit their work. Not only do the students gain
valuable experience in speaking with individuals and communicating
their ideas, but educators attending the conference experience real
examples of exciting and proven uses of technology.
Projects using
technology that are written and/or produced by students are
appropriate for these exhibits. Only original student creations or
projects that have appropriate copyright permissions from original
copyright holders will be accepted for exhibition. Projects might
include videotaped documentaries, student-written tutorials, problem
solving exercises/games, CD-ROM applications, video yearbooks,
computer-assisted designs and/or drafting, computer programs,
multimedia projects or other applications of technology.
The deadline
for project submissions is April 8, 2005.
Conference
Registration Fees:
Preconference sessions $85
Conference
$350
Late Fees
$10
Presenter
Discounted Registration Fees:
One
presentation
$145
Two or more presentations
$115
One presentation + Preconference $230
Three-hour presentation Conference
registration fees waived
More
Information
For complete
conference information the 2005 Missouri Educational Technology
Conference: Enabling Learning Technologies, including schedule,
costs, presenter and exhibitor information, visit the conference
website at http://www.more.net/conferences/fall2005/. For
additional information contact Sandra Monnig (conferences@more.net)
or Eric Nicklas (eric@more.net) or call (800) 509-6673.
Moniteau Co R-I
Congratulations to
eMINTS student finalists: Dave Mathys, a fifth grade eMINTS teacher
from California Elementary (Moniteau R-I) has a group of students
who are finalists in the Toy Challenge
http://wwwtoychallenge.com/index.shtml. They will be going to
the national competition in Raleigh, North Carolina in May along
with 50 other teams from across the United States.
Nixa
Nixa’s Central
Elementary School was featured in the Scholastic Administrator,
March/April 2005 edition. The article “Future Schools-Design That
Lets the Tech Shine In” included snapshots of classrooms in the
elementary school for early childhood through fourth-grade. The
school was designed to fully integrate technology. Inside, three
data rooms, voice, video, and data-communication systems link to
each classroom where technology enhances learning.
eMINTS
Special thanks to eMINTS
teachers Barb Prock (Lebanon R-III), Julie Thompson (Alton), Pam
Lowe (Popular Bluff), and Linda Harmon (St. Charles) for their
teacher stories that are now featured on the
University of Missouri
System. Check them out on the website at
http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/news/features/050121emints.shtml
Congratulations!
Popular
Bluff
Pam Lowe (01 eMINTS
teacher and the Veteran Teacher’s Pilot eCoach Program) has made
great strides in her work. She has the ‘Featured Project” on the
front page of the eCoach site for her activity with the Fibonacci
Sequence. See Pam’s project at
http://my-ecoach.com/ Congratulations Pam!
Missouri
State University
Congratulations
to Diana Garland, Missouri State University, Springfield for being
chosen as a recipient for the 2005 Inspired Teacher Scholarships for
Visual Learning. Inspiration Software announced the 30 educators
who will receive the scholarships. The scholarship program supports
professional development activities for educators in K-12 schools,
colleges and universities who champion integration of visual
learning and technology into the curriculum.
http://www.inspirationsoftware.com
--Submitted by Kevin Roberson, Technology Director,
Midway R-I School District and METPA Executive Board Member
www.metpa.org
I
hope everyone is looking forward to atttending the upcoming MOREnet
Spring Technical Conference on April 6 and 7 at Tan-Tar-A, Osage
Beach, MO. METPA will again have a very strong presence at this
year’s conference with several breakout sessions being presented by
METPA members.
The
annual METPA membership meeting is scheduled for April 6 at 7:00 pm
at I M Tirebiters. Members will discuss plans for the upcoming year
and what they can do to make METPA a better organization. Please
plan to attend and keep METPA a strong force in Missouri
technology.
There is good news on the ISTE affiliation front. METPA has been
accepted into the ISTE organization as an affiliate member. This
membership allows METPA to offer current members a wealth of
resources. Membership in a national organization such as ISTE means
that METPA is serious about their mission. Stop by the METPA booth
or talk to a METPA member and join us in our goal to help strengthen
educational technology in Missouri schools.
Q.
Students complete good research but the final product contains only
a short list of information. How can I get them to expand what they
present?
A.
There could be several reasons for this and you may have to dig a
bit to see what your students are doing. If you do not have the
students take notes on a graphic organizer I would start doing
this. It forces students to organize information by topic and
paraphrase what they read rather than copying it word for word.
When students present what they
have learned to the group, they should be creating a plan for the
final project. Often teachers use some of the templates in
PowerPoint so students plan out each slide of a PowerPoint or each
part of their presentation. By requiring the presentation plan be
completed first, you have something to look at and give feedback on
before the presentation occurs. I would tell my students that
everything on their graphic organizer should be in their
presentation because the presentation is their chance to show me
what they know. I would tell them if they left something important
out, I couldn’t give credit for it on their scoring guide. I often
added an indicator to my rubrics discussing how well the
presentation matched the plan.
Many teachers have found that
requiring students to make sure all of the content is present in a
PowerPoint (or any type of production) before any clipart,
backgrounds, sounds, costumes, rehearsals, props, etc. could be
added has helped keep the focus on content rater than on the “bells
and whistles.” (Jennifer Kuehnle)
Q. Which
search
engines are safe for my students to use independently?
A. There is really no
such thing as a safe search. We once thought Yahooligans might be
safe, but learned the hard way that the safest way for students to
use the Internet is for the teacher to take responsibility for
finding sites and checking them within 24 hours of the students
using them. When a domain name expires, anyone can buy it and the
content of the site can be altered without any warning. eThemes is
a great solution for finding good sites, but even then the strands
are not meant to be given to students. They are listings for
teachers to check out and decide about their best use. Students
should not be doing free searches. It is our responsibility as
teachers to review any resource children have access to on the
Internet just as we would review a movie before showing it to our
students. Searching strategies are often taught beginning in fifth
grade. Even then, the skills involved and ground rules should be
well understood before students begin to search on their own.
(Jennifer Kuehnle)
Q.
May an educator (e.g., administrator, classroom teacher, substitute
teacher, or student teacher) other district employee, volunteer, or
others
scan and digitize allowable portions of images
(cartoon, chart, diagram, graph, picture, or drawing) for use
in presenting at peer conferences and workshops?
A. Yes
This is permissible if the
presentation is made to an educator’s peers; it is made for a
non-commercial purpose; the quantity limitations are followed;
and the presenter is not making a profit.
Note:
·
No
more than five images by any one artist or photographer may
be reproduced or otherwise incorporated.
·
No
more than ten (10) percent or 15 images, whichever is less, may be
reproduced or otherwise incorporated from a published collective
work.
Note: These limits apply
cumulatively to each educator’s multimedia project(s) for the same
academic semester, cycle or term.
Note: Alterations may be made to
the copyrighted work that is being incorporated into an
instructional project. This is allowed ONLY if the
alterations support specific curriculum objective.
Educators are advised to note that alterations have been made.
Example:
In a collective work of 100 photographs, only ten (10) may be
used as this is ten (10) percent of the work. Up to five of
the ten (10) photographs may be included from any one
photographer.
Example:
In a collective work of 300 images, only 15 may be used as
this is the maximum portion allowed from a single published
collective work. Up to five of the 15 may be included from any
one illustrator or artist.
| |
|
|
April 3-5 |
Missouri Association of School
Librarians (MASL) Spring Conference
Tar-Tar-A Osage Beach, MO
www.maslonline.org
|
|
April 3-5 |
Preparing the Next Generation
for Technological Literacy
ITEA Conference and Exhibition
Kansas City, MO
http://www.iteawww.org/D2.html.
|
|
April 6-7 |
MOREnet Spring Technical
Conference
Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO
http://www.more.net/conferences/spring2005/index.html |
|
April 6-7 |
Higher Education Learning and
Information eXchange Conference
(HELIX ) 2005
Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO
http://www.more.net/conferences/helix2005
|
|
June 16 |
Missouri
Digital Government Summit
A Government Technology Executive Leadership Forum
Capitol Plaza Hotel, Jefferson City, MO
http://www.govtech.net/events/conference.php?confid=239
|
|
July 11-12 |
SuccessLink Handheld Conference
Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO
www.successlink.org
|
|
July 14-16 |
11th Annual
Character Education Conference
Hyatt Regency, Union Station Hotel, St. Louis, MO
http://csd.org/characterplus/conference.html
|
|
October 16-18 |
Missouri Education Technology
Conference: Enabling Learning Technologies
Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, MO
http://www.more.net/conferences/fall2005
|
|
November 18-20 |
National Council for the Social
Studies Conference
“Social Studies: The Heart of the Curriculum”
Kansas City, MO
http://www.afriedman.net/ncss/proposal.html |
Source: Technology & Learning
For descriptions of the individual grants, go to the
www.techlearning.com/grants.html
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
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April 1 |
Newsline published online
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April 14 |
Missouri Rural Development
Partnerships
Committee Meeting (1:15 pm-3:30 pm)
Governor Office Building, Room 316, Jefferson City, MO
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April 12-14 |
eMINTS grant reading |
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April 15 |
Technology plan reading |
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April 25 |
Newsline articles due
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i-SAFE: New
Curriculum Release and Announcements
www.isafe.org
New
Materials Available
For those of you
teaching the 9-12 curriculum, Webcast 7: Pornography on the Web is
now available. Developed around the winning high school entry in
i-SAFE’s 2004 Student Filmmaker Contest, this Webcast is designed to
increase student awareness of the problems associated with the ease
of access to pornography on the Internet. You can access it online
at
www.isafe.org.
Becoming i-Safe Certified
If you (or your
colleagues) are not yet i-SAFE certified and would like access to
i-SAFE’s free K-12 Internet safety curriculum, you can view the i-SAFE
Professional Development Program (PDP) at
www.isafe.org in the Educator Resources section. You can also
check the Calendar of Events for information on upcoming PDP
sessions in your area.
Impementing Programs in Your Area
You can submit an
Implementation Plan to obtain materials for K-12 classroom
instruction, PDPs, parent programs, school assemblies, and more at
www.isafe.org.
If you are
using the curriculum from year’s past and have not submitted an
Implementation Plan yet this year, please let me know! Send me an
email with your school name, # of students being taught, and their
grade levels. This is very important for i-SAFE’s funding!
Planning
for 2005-2006
i-SAFE is now accepting Implementation Plans for 2005-2006.
Please go to
www.isafe.org for details.
i-SAFE is working on the PDP
calendar for 2005-2006. If you would like to work with i-SAFE in
coordinating an in-service for your community/region, please contact
us! If you would like to unsubscribe from our mailing list, go to
www.isafe.org and login. Click on “My Info” and uncheck the
“i-SAFE Times” box. Click the “Update Info” button and you will be
removed from our distribution list.
CompassLearning Odyssey
Solutions Nationally Recognized
CompassLearning's
technology-based solutions are consistently recognized for their
contributions to improving student achievement. Several
CompassLearning solutions were honored in 2004 and 2005 for
achievement in educational technology.
Built
specifically for the web, CompassLearning Odyssey solutions are
designed to promote PreK-12 student achievement through better
technology targeted assessment of student learning, automatic
prescription of standards based curriculum, and detailed reporting
of student performance data. Odyssey solutions support a variety of
instructional strategies, learning styles and reporting
requirements.
Odyssey ELL was recognized in 2005
as a Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) Codie
Award finalist for Best Instructional Solution for English Language
Learners and in 2004 with eSchool News Reader’s Choice Awards for
Best Software for Teaching English as a Second Language for grades
PreK-3 and for grades 4-adult. Odyssey assessment solutions were
also recognized as SIIA Codie Award finalists in 2005. Odyssey’s
overall assessment program was honored for Best Student Test
Preparation or Assessment Solution and Odyssey Manager was honored
for Best Classroom Instructional Management Solution.
Odyssey Writer has garnered two top
honors: as a 2005 SIIA Codie Award finalist for Best Elementary
Education Instructional Solution: Language Arts/Reading and as the
winner of the Technology & Learning Award of Excellence in 2004. CompassLearning
Odyssey Reading received numerous honors in the eSchool News
Reader’s Choice Awards in 2004: Best Software for Teaching Phonics
and Phonemic Awareness for grades PreK-3; Best Software for Building
Vocabulary for grades PreK-3; Best Software for Building Reading
Comprehension Skills grades PreK-3 and for grades 4-adult; and Best
Software for Building Reading Fluency for grades PreK-3.
CompassLearning is a member of WRC
Media, Inc., the world’s largest publisher of supplemental
educational materials. The WRC Media Inc. family includes: Weekly
Reader, World Almanac Education Group, AGS Publishing and
CompassLearning. Your Missouri CompassLearning Account Executives
are Cheri Ladner (cladner@compasslearning.com)
and Gus Bowering (gbowering@compasslearning.com)
.
GRANTS, OPPORTUNITIES
School Technology Leadership Preparation Program Now
Soliciting Applications
http://www.schooltechleadership.org.
The University of Minnesota School
Technology Leadership Initiative is the only academic program in the
country based on the National Educational Technology Standards for
Administrators (NETS-A). The STLI has been proven to have
statistically significant effects on participants' technology
leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities and is now accepting
applicants for its third nationwide cohort. Cohort participants
include superintendents, principals, technology coordinators, media
specialists, and teachers.
Microsoft Releases Cybersmart-Internet Security
and Safety Program
http://www.WebWatchersOnline.com.
Microsoft recently
released their Internet security and safety program directed at
students in grades three through eight. The program provides
teachers with valid curriculum lessons that help students understand
both the opportunities and risks of the Internet, such as how to
help protect their identity online and how to avoid installing
malicious software. As part of the program, participating schools
will be eligible to win $1,000 or $5,000 for the purchase of new
computer hardware and software as an incentive for students’
families and friends to take steps helping secure their PCs. Schools
can sign up to participate and access program materials by visiting
the website.
SMARTER KIDS Foundation Grants to Research
Technology and Teaching
http://www.smarterkids.org/research/details.asp.
The SMARTER KIDS
Foundation has created a research program to help educators research
the effects of technology on teaching and learning, and to publish
the results of these studies. Each participant conducts a 6- to
8-month study of a learning environment that includes a SMART Board
interactive whiteboard. The project culminates with a final research
paper that details the study's outcomes. Projects most likely to be
chosen are those that have a clear research goal and that focus on
learning processes.
Student Video Discovery Awards
www.eschoolnews.com/vda
eSchool News is proud to unveil
the inaugural Student Video Discovery Awards competition for video
journalists in U.S. high school and junior and senior colleges.
This contest offers its winners a chance to cover the National
Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Philadelphia. More than
$25,000 in technology prizes are also available to the winning
teams’ schools.
Tap into the Exciting World of NASA for FREE
Resources
www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15864a125051a227264343a0
NASA offers six FREE multimedia
programs for grades K-16. Programs use NASA research, TV
broadcasts, and hands-on and online activities to increase the
awareness of real world math, science, technology, and engineering.
Standards-based.
National Neighborhood Day Film Contest
www.neighborhoodday.org/film.asp
National Neighborhood Day sponsors are hosting a film contest for
both professional and amateur filmmakers to illustrate, through a
film running five minutes or less, what their neighborhood means to
them. Films will be judged by a panel of renowned filmmakers and
community. K-12 students, as individuals, in groups, or through
classroom projects, are especially invited to participate. There is
no entry fee for the youth category, and the grand prize is $2,000.
The deadline for entries is June 1, 2005.
National Neighborhood Day is
celebrated in neighborhoods across the country each year on the
second Sunday in September as an annual day to recognize and
reinforce the relationships are the fabric of our communities.
Visit the website for contest rules and entry forms.
Do You Blog?
www.contentbank.org
The Children’s
Partnership is pleased to make this youth-focused blogging
curriculum available to use in their own communities. Contentbank
is a project of The Children’s Partnership, a national nonprofit
child advocacy organization, with generous support from the Markle
Foundation, the Time Warner Foundation, and the California Wellness
Foundation. The Contentbank Web site is designed to be the “first
stop” for information and resources about online content for
low-income and underserved community users.
Gamequarium
www.gamequarium.com
Math site that
has many practice levels.
Book Adventure
www.bookadventure.org/qt/booklist.asp
A
reading site for motivating readers. It lists books for students to
read; then allows them to take a quiz and feel successful.
The Anatomy of a Volcano
bj.canon.co.jp/english/3D-papercraft/science/volcano_e.html
This volcano is not one of the exploding models, but it does nicely
demonstrate how a volcano develops and forms. Background
information is also included for your students to study and assemble.
Animal Diversity Web
animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html
A searchable encyclopedia of
thousands of photos, descriptions, sound recordings, and other
information about individual animal species. Find out about
amphibians, arthropods, birds, fishes, insects, mammals, mollusks,
reptiles, and sharks. Explore special features on mammals, skulls,
and frog calls. Students are invited to contribute.(NSF)
Biology Student Workbench
bsw.ncsa.uiuc.edu/
Introduction to the basic concepts
of bioinformatics and promotes the use of molecular data in
identifying and exploring biological problems. It aims to bring to
students' desktops the interactive tools that scientists use to
search biology databases and compare molecular sequences, visualize
and manipulate molecular structures, and generate phylogenetic
hypotheses. (NSF)
Botany
www.nbii.gov/disciplines/botany/index.html
Offers resources related to the
study of Earth's more than 400,000 documented species of plant
life. Topics include the history of botany, paleobotany, plant
pathology, genetics, anatomy, ecology, algae, mosses, ferns,
agronomy, forestry, horticulture, annuals and perennials,
vegetables, wildflowers, invasive plant species and weeds, disease
and pest management taxonomies, plant identification tools, plant
databases, and science projects. (NBII/USGS)
Children's Butterfly Site
mpin.nbii.org/insects/kidsbutterfly/
This site looks at the life cycle
of butterflies and moths, answers frequently asked questions about
butterflies and moths, lists references to butterfly and moth books
and videos, and provides photos of butterflies in Asia, Western
Europe, North America, and Central America. (NBII/USGS)
Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources
far.nbii.gov/
Provides information about managed
fish populations throughout the U.S., as well as watershed-based
data and state-by-state fishing resources. Learn about freshwater
and marine fishes, aquatic invertebrates, water quality and
habitats, and dams and fish passage. Fishbase, a global database,
provides names, pictures, and key facts about more than 25,000 fish
species. (NBII/USGS)
Systematics
www.nbii.gov/disciplines/systematics.html
Focuses on the classification of
organisms and their evolutionary relationships. It includes
information about Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), the father of modern
plant and animal classification, and links to resources for learning
about taxonomies, biological nomenclature, careers in systematic
biology, and more. Resources are organized by the five kingdoms:
viruses, bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals. (NBII/USGS)
Tree of Life
tolweb.org/tree/phylogeny.html
Offers photos, descriptions, and
other information documenting the diversity of the world's
organisms. Learn about animals, arthropoda, eukaryotes, flowering
plants, fungi, and terrestrial vertebrates. Explore genetic
relationships among organisms (NSF)
Emma Goldman
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldman/
The companion website for a film
about this Russian immigrant who championed women's equality,
workers' rights, and free universal education. Goldman (1869-1940)
defined the limits of dissent and free speech in Progressive Era
America. Although her anarchist activism led to her imprisonment and
deportation from the U.S., she later denounced Soviet
totalitarianism and praised America for its high level of freedom.
The website offers the film transcript, speeches, and historians'
views of Goldman. (NEH)
Historic Maps in K-12
Classrooms
www3.newberry.org/k12maps/
Features lesson plans built around
historically important maps on 18 topics: Columbus' world (1482), an
Indian map of the Southeast (1721), Captain Cook & Hawaii (1778),
"Nouvelle Orleans" & nearby French settlements (1723), the road from
Missouri to Oregon (1843), turnpikes, canals, and railroads (1835),
the transcontinental rail network (1878), a British plan of Boston
(1775), World War II (1944), a farm in Illinois (1874), and Los
Angeles (1979), and more. (N | 
