THE Journal — Policy/Research
Report: Further Declines in Computer Science, but Turnaround May Be on the Horizon
A computing research organization said that enrollments and degrees at United States-based computer science departments dropped further in 2006 and 2007. The non-profit Computing Research Association, which is composed of academic and private industry members, has done survey work on computer science degrees since 1974, tracking enrollment trends among 170 Ph.D.-granting schools.
(3/7/2008)
Report: EETT Cuts Threaten NCLB Goals
Slashing EETT ("Enhancing Education Through Technology") has become an annual event in federal budget planning. A little more than a month ago, the Bush administration again proposed eliminating funding entirely for the program for fiscal year 2009. But a new report from the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), released today, suggests that cuts imperil the scope of programs that have improved academic achievement and helped to ensure teacher quality.
(3/6/2008)
Festival To Bring Hands-on Science to Northern California Students
In an effort to spark interest in science among elementary and middle school students--particularly girls--Sally Ride Science is holding a festival March 29 at Santa Clara University in Northern California that will feature hands-on science, workshops, and socialization opportunities for students and teachers alike.
(3/3/2008)
Social Media: How to 'Sell It' to Your Team
Social media is something that many younger teachers will have a familiarity with outside of the classroom. Ask any colleague under the age of, say, 30, and it's fairly likely that he or she will have a profile on a social network like Facebook or MySpace. Business-facing social networks like LinkedIn have also seen explosive growth from educators in the last year.
(2/20/2008)
Homework or Busywork? Attitudes Soften, but Quality Still Questioned
Educators might be striking a happy balance between homework that's assigned to promote learning and homework that's perceived by students and parents as "busywork." As recently as 2002, a vast 74 percent of secondary students described their homework as busywork. Now, however, that's down significantly, with just 30 percent holding that attitude, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive, the "MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: The Homework Experience." But it also showed a "disconnect" between teachers and parents on the quality of assignments.
(2/19/2008)
Karl Fisch: Creating Lifelong Learners
Many technology pioneers come from, well, technology backgrounds. Not Karl Fisch, a former math teacher whose role over time evolved into the director of technology at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO. Starting with three years of teaching middle school math in the early 1990s, Fisch noticed technology "inching its way" into the school administration and classrooms after years of seeing all recordkeeping handled at each institution's central office.
(2/7/2008)
Which Technologies Will Shape Education in 2008?
Mobile broadband, collaborative Web technologies, and mashups will all significantly impact education over the next five years, along with "grassroots" video, collective intelligence, and "social operating systems." This according to a new report released last week by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative, the 2008 Horizon Report.
(2/4/2008)
Bush Budget Cuts EETT
EETT is once again on the chopping block. In a proposed budget from the Bush administration released Feb. 4, the Enhancing Education Through Technology program (EETT) was listed among the programs recommended for zero funding. EETT is part of Title II D of the No Child Left Behind Act, designed to support the deployment and integration of educational technology into classroom instruction.
(2/4/2008)
NSBA on NCLB: Fix, Fund, Reauthorize
Following President George W. Bush's State of the Union address last night, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) released a statement applauding efforts to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act but calling on legislators and the executive branch to fix flaws that have become apparent over the last six years of implementation and to increase federal investment in public schools.
(1/29/2008)
FETC 2008: It's All About Community
Education technology took center stage in Florida last week as teachers, administrators and district technology experts gathered at FETC 2008 in Orlando. Podcasting, digital collaboration and Web 2.0 dominated much of the discussion, but security, new and emerging technologies, and environmental education were also major themes.
(1/28/2008)
Web 2.0: Helping Reinvent Education
The evolution in education has created a gap between "Classic learning and knowing" and "Web 2.0 learning and knowing," said Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, speaking at the FETC 2008 conference Thursday. "Thinking is now distributed across minds, tools and media, groups of people, and space and time."
(1/25/2008)
Open Source Poised for Surge in Education
Open source software will nearly double in the education space over the next four years. From its present level of $286.2 million, the market--including software, services, and maintenance--will reach $489.9 million by 2012, according to a report released today by market analyst Datamonitor, which proclaimed that "open source software has the ability to change the face of the education Industry."
(1/24/2008)
Microsoft To Expand Partners in Learning
Microsoft this week said it intends to redouble (or retriple) its commitment to education through its Partners in Learning program. Over the next five years, the company will "triple the impact" of the initiative through three of the programs under the Partners in Learning umbrella: Innovative Teachers, Innovative Students, and Innovative Schools.
(1/23/2008)
Corwin--Educators Offer Hope in These 'Dark Days' for the Environment
Our natural resources are at a "critical stage," and educators have the most important mission on the planet, said Emmy award-winner Jeff Corwin, who delivered the opening keynote address at the FETC 2008 conference Wednesday in Orlando, FL. Corwin, best known as the lively, energetic host of Animal Planet's The Jeff Corwin Experience and the Discovery Kids series Jeff Corwin Unleashed, said that teachers are bestowed with an "awesome responsibility" in getting out the message of conservation and acting as stewards of the environment.
(1/23/2008)
New Coalition Aims To Bolster Elementary Science
A group of educators, education publishers, and businesses from Arc Capital Development has formed formed a new coalition aiming to advance science in elementary education by tackling perceived problems at the federal level. The group, the Elementary Science Coalition, said it's looking to bring a national focus to the issue of improving science education for young learners and to achieve increased funding for elementary science education in the United States.
(1/18/2008)
K-12 Online Teaching Endorsements: Are They Needed?
According to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2007), "Research shows that the single most important school-related factor in raising student achievement is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. Today, in the era of high standards and increased accountability, boosting teacher quality is more crucial than ever before" (p. 4). The nature of the 21st-century classroom is rapidly changing. Online education in K-12, also called virtual schooling, is growing at about 30 percent annually (North American Council for Online Learning [NACOL], 2007). With this rise comes an increase in demand for experienced teachers to teach online, which adds another dimension to this issue of teacher quality.
(1/10/2008)
U.S. Students Below Average in Science and Math
Validating the long-standing theme in science and math education, the results of the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released Dec. 4 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), showing that in math and science students in the United States are lagging behind most of their counterparts in other countries. The results of this latest research place the United States 25th out of 30 OECD countries in math achievement among 15-year-olds and 21st in science achievement.
(12/4/2007)
PreK-12 Leads Electronic Learning Growth
In the United States, the demand for self-paced electronic learning products will hit $13.6 billion by the end of 2007 and will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.01 percent over the next five years. This according to a new forecast from Ambient Insight detailed in report released this week entitled, "The U.S. Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2007-2012 Forecast and Analysis."
(12/3/2007)
2007 Speak Up Survey Deadline Extended
Project Tomorrow has extended the deadline for its 2007 Speak Up survey, a poll conducted annually to assess views on current issues in education, with results shared with state and federal policy leaders. The new deadline has been extended by a week and set to Dec. 21.
(11/28/2007)
Route 21 Paves the Way for 21st Century Skills
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has launched a new resource focused on providing information and tools for educators for boosting 21st century learning in K-12. Designed as a "one-stop shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources, and tools," the site provides more than 450 individual resources and has attracted about 500 members since its launch last week.
(11/19/2007)
Online Learning Growing, Needs More Oversight
Most online learning programs are growing by 25 percent each year, with 42 states running either significant supplemental or full-time or combined supplemental and full-time online earning programs, according to Keeping Pace, a new report on K-12 online learning researched and written by Evergreen Consulting Associates.
(11/19/2007)
Much of Professional Development's Impact on Student Achievement 'Unknown'
The amount of professional development teachers receive affects their students' achievement, but the specifics of that relationship are still sketchy, according to findings from the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southwest.
(11/15/2007)
Are Schools Failing Kids in 21st Century Skills?
Are students getting what they need out of schools in order to succeed in the 21st century? Whatever your own opinion, Americans, in large part, think schools are failing in this regard, and they spread the blame around to school leaders, teachers, and parents, according to a new survey released this week by Harris Interactive and commissioned by ASQ, a quality control/management association.
(11/14/2007)
ACLU Contests Cell Phone Policy at Colorado High School
The American Civil Liberties Union last month challenged the actions of the Monarch High School in Lafayette, CO, after school administrators confiscated a sophomore's cell phone after a school security officer accused him of smoking and parking in the wrong lot.
(11/12/2007)
The Great Debate: Effectiveness of Technology in Education
I sometimes wonder why there is debate on the effectiveness of technology in education. The whole point of a debate is to examine issues in such a way that decisions can be made. However, in this case, we can hardly say, "Remove all technology from education!" Or, "Don't add any more because we are not getting an adequate return on our current investment--technology is not improving the quality of education." What would we put in its place?
(11/8/2007)
