THE Journal — eLearning/Web
Travelocity Offers Free Online Environmental Awareness Lesson Plans
Southlake, TX-based Travelocity is offering free online lesson plans based on its animated Eco Bunnies campaign to show students nationwide how the can do their part to protect the environment.
(6/7/2007)
DyKnow Releases Vision and Monitor 5
Education technology developer DyKnow has released DyKnow Vision and Monitor 5.0. Both tools, designed for classroom environments, add enhancements in the areas of compatibility, user interface, and various productivity features.
(6/5/2007)
Kentucky Students to Participate in $6 Million Cognitive Tutor Study
Carnegie Learning, a developer of math curriculum textbooks and software, recently announced the participation of 33 Kentucky schools in a five-year study, conducted by RAND, to evaluate its Cognitive Tutor program. The Algebra I curriculum program will be tested on middle and high school students in a $6 million dollar study funded by the United States Department of Education.
(5/31/2007)
Missouri Virtual High School Partners with Kaplan, eCollege
Missouri Virtual Education program, in its plans to develop a virtual high school for fall 2007, has selected Kaplan to provide its online high school curriculum. Kaplan will partner with eCollege to provide a platform and software developer BocaVox to "provide course content, curriculum development, online instruction and administration tools," according to Kaplan. Northwest Missouri State University Center of Information Technology will serve as project manager.
(5/31/2007)
Carnegie Mellon, WPI Grants To Explore 'Intelligent Tutoring'
The United States Department of Education has awarded Worcester (MA) Polytechnic Institute and Carnegie Mellon University a four-year, $2 million grant to enhance a computerized program to help middle school students hone their math skills. The tool is designed to tie tutoring to the assessment of student performance under federal teaching and learning guidelines.
(5/30/2007)
Google Bans Ads from Essay-Writing Services
Google said it would ban advertisements for essay-writing services in an effort to help cut down on campus plagiarism. As part of the ban, Google will not accept ads from companies that sell essays, theses, and dissertations.
(5/30/2007)
Sakai Launches SCLE 2.4
The Sakai Foundation recently released version 2.4 of its Sakai Collaboration and Learning Environment (SCLE), an update six months in the making. SCLE is an open-source course management system targeted toward schools, colleges, and universities.
(5/30/2007)
iTunes U Debuts
Apple has launched a new iTunes feature called iTunes U, a new department in the iTunes Store that provides free education resources from American colleges and universities. The idea is to share resources from these campuses, such as lectures and research, free of charge. Some of the universities are also providing K-12 content.
(5/30/2007)
Ed Tech Groups Support ATTAIN Bill
The introduction this week of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) bill in the United States House of Representatives was met with enthusiasm by groups that support education technology. The bill seeks to revamp Part D of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to enhance professional development for teachers, improve technical proficiency in students, and otherwise support technology in various ways to advance student achievement.
(5/24/2007)
K-12 Instructional Software Sets Up for Online Access
Education technology company Curriculum Advantage recently announced its plans to make content for Classworks, a K-12 instructional tool, available on the Internet. The software is designed for teachers to assign and monitor progress for curriculum in English, language arts, and math.
(5/21/2007)
Fairfax County Gets Another Clue
Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia has extended its relationship with educational publisher FableVision, choosing the company's Get A Clue reading comprehension program for the fifth year in a row.
(5/18/2007)
Missouri To Launch Virtual Schools
Connections Academy, a virtual education company, recently announced that it has been selected by Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide Missouri's Virtual Instruction Program's (MoVIP) first K-5 virtual school, expected to open in 2007. The secondary education (grades 6-12) virtual school will be provided by Northwest Missouri State University. Both virtual campuses are intended to provide tuition-free education for more than 4,000 students in the state.
(5/18/2007)
Hybrid Learning: Challenges for Teachers
With the move to hybrid or "blended" course delivery that is taking place in many institutions, there is a challenge for teachers to think through the pedagogical implications of both methods and develop new designs for instruction and course delivery that maximizes both environments. The goal in the design of the instruction is to make the experience as "seamless" as possible for students, providing intentionality for each environment and the technology used. This intentionality must emerge from the learning outcomes of the course, as well as the engagement of the student throughout and the effective use of technology to heighten interaction and to support the production of learning.
(5/17/2007)
Schools Help Struggling Readers with Soliloquy
Over the last month, two schools and one district have reported improvements in student achievement in reading resulting from a reading program based around speech recognition technology, Soliloquy Reading Assistant from Soliloquy Learning.
(5/17/2007)
MS Math 3.0 Rolls Out This Month
Microsoft recently announced the launch of Math 3.0, a math and science educational tool for students in grade levels 6-12, as well as entry-level college students. The software is designed for use at home, to assist students with math and science concepts and homework, or for visual examples in the classroom.
(5/17/2007)
Interwrite Debuts Workspace, Cricket
Education technology developer Interwrite Learning has debuted two new technologies around its classroom tools: Interwrite Workspace, a software suite for working with digital media, and Interwrite Cricket, a new RF clicker for the company's student response system. Interwrite has also recently announced a partnership with MathMastery to integrate its math tools with the Interwrite Board, Pad, and Panel products.
(5/16/2007)
Pearson To Acquire eCollege
Pearson said this week that it plans to acquire eCollege, an online distance education provider. The deal will cost Pearson $477 million net, including the agreed $41 million sale of eCollege's Datamark division to a group of investors. The acquisition is expected to take place next quarter and has not yet been approved by shareholders.
(5/16/2007)
ICSAC Reinforces Bridges
The Iowa College Student Aid Commission (ICSAC) is expanding its relationship with developer Bridges Transitions to implement an online, statewide "career exploration" resource for middle schools, high schools, and post-secondary institutions.
(5/9/2007)
Angel Brings Podcasting, LOM to LMS
Angel Learning has released Angel LMS 7.2, an update to the company's learning management system. The latest update brings in native podcasting features and adds several new learning tools, including learning outcomes management (LOM) capabilities and native support for additional standards.
(5/8/2007)
Wimba Launches Live Classroom 5
Educational technology company Wimba has released Live Classroom version 5.0, the latest version of the virtual classroom suite for online courses and meetings. The upgrade adds new multimedia functionality and phone conferencing capabilities.
(5/7/2007)
Kennedy Middle School Stimulates Learning with Multimedia, Computing Power
Middle school students in Germantown, WI who are eager to learn about the latest technology have a fervent ally in their principal, Steve Bold. As principal of the 890-student Kennedy Middle School there for the last 11 years, he has been a passionate proponent of implementing computer training, presentation technology, and video production into the curriculum whenever he can. The result is more engaged, interested and involved students. We talked to him at his bustling middle school about how he uses tech to teach, experiments with new tools, and how he envisions the use of this technology in the future.
(5/3/2007)
Renzulli Releases Latest Online Learning Tool
Avon, CT-based Renzulli Learning Systems has released the latest version of its online learning tool, Renzulli Learning, which features more reporting and accountability features.
(5/3/2007)
Thinkfinity Kicks Off Asian-American Heritage Month
In observation of Asian-American Heritage Month, Thinkfinity.org has launched a website with free curriculum and educational resources about Asian history and culture. The website provides more than 50,000 lesson plans designed for K-12 students. Thinkfinity.org is a program operated through the Verizon Foundation.
(5/3/2007)
SchoolNet Launches Education Blog
Internet software developer SchoolNet has launched a new blog to support the EduStat Summit, an education conference that SchoolNet is co-hosting with the Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York.
(5/2/2007)
Angel LMS Integrates with Tegrity
Angel Learning this week rolled out enhancements to its Angel LMS (learning management system), bringing integration with Tegrity Campus 2.0, a widely used student achievement system.
(5/2/2007)
