Transitioning to Digital Content: 3 Recommendations

By staff writers, eSchool News, April 13, 2013 — As a concept, using digital content in the classroom is nothing new. But making the leap from using traditional print textbooks to fully integrating digital content in the classroom can be intimidating. During a webinar sponsored by the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), some experienced digital content advocates shared how they implemented changes in their schools and districts.

In “Out of Print: Reimagining the K-12 Textbook,” a recent SETDA report, the group issued three recommendations to help school leaders and policy makers guide and implement the use of digital content:

• Complete the shift from print-centric textbook adoption practices to digital resources within five years, beginning with the next major textbook adoption cycle

•  Develop a vision and roadmap for completing the shift, eliminate unnecessary or ineffective policies and regulations, invest in infrastructure and devices, and ensure effective implementation of digital learning policies

•  Ensure a vibrant marketplace for digital and open content

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TED Talks Education – The High School Dropout Crisis

TED Talks Education, hosted by John Legend, premieres May 7, 2013 at 10:00pm on WGBY.  PBS and TED, the non-profit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, share a deep commitment to addressing the high school dropout crisis. The TED Talks Education one-hour program brings together a diverse group of teachers and education advocates delivering short, high-impact talks on the theme of teaching and learning.

These original TED Talks are given by educational leaders including Geoffrey Canada, Bill Gates, Rita F. Pierson and Sir Ken Robinson. TED Talks Education is part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Graduate initiative. See all speakers and performers.

For more TED talks on a wide range of ideas worth spreading from innovative, influence thinkers around the world, you’ll want to explore the TED site for yourself http://www.ted.com/talks. You can search by subject and speakers as well as look for those talks with descriptions such as “inspiring,” “jaw-dropping” and courageous.

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7 Facts about Ed Tech Leaders

By Laura Devaney, Managing Editor, eSchool News, March 13, 2013 – School district technology leaders aren’t too optimistic that their ed-tech budgets will increase over the next year, and funding remains among the top challenges that face ed-tech leaders, according to the Consortium for School Networking’s first annual K-12 IT Leadership Survey, released at CoSN’s annual conference in San Diego.

The survey revealed these seven key findings:

• Eighty percent of school district IT leaders predict flat or declining ed-tech budgets.
• When asked to name their top three priorities for the 2012-13 school year, K-12 technology leaders identified Bring Your Own Device programs, assessment readiness, and broadband access.
• Budget and resource limitations, changing the culture of teaching, and breaking down district-wide barriers are ed-tech leaders’ biggest challenges
• The most common titles, when it comes to school district IT leadership, are chief technology officer (CTO) and chief information office (CIO).
• Many CTOs have held their positions for more than six years, indicating that the job position is relatively stable.
• Eighty percent of IT leaders are in charge of both instructional and administrative technology for central and school-based staff.
• School district CTO salaries tend to lag behind salaries of comparable positions in the business field.

Read the entire story by clicking here.

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WGBY Feature: “Divided We Stand: A Street in Our School”

WGBY announces the launch of “Divided We Stand: A Street in Our School,” a special Connecting Point series that will present various sides of one of the area’s longtime community issues: the tunnel beneath I-91 that runs through the Germán Gerena Community School in Springfield’s North End.

Built in 1973, the school currently serves 700 children.  Because of the building’s close proximity to I-91, a tunnel was built on the lower level of the school so that students and members of the larger community, divided once the interstate was constructed, could safely walk from one side of their neighborhood to the other. Over time, “the tunnel,” as residents refer to it, became more than a passageway linking Plainfield and Main Streets. It became a pathway providing access to varied community services. A generation came to depend on the organizations that filled space within the tunnel itself.

Yet, due largely to extensive flooding and structural damage, time has changed this once vibrant space. Community spaces now stand empty.As residents and city leaders discuss their vision for the Gerena School and tunnel, WGBY explores its past and present. Viewers will learn just how much happens in this place they don’t see.

For the first time, WGBY will provide Spanish subtitles for the series of segments, airing periodically between March and May. The series’ first segment, available online, included a discussion about the school and the status of repairs to the tunnel with Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno and School Superintendent Daniel Warwick.

Future air dates are as follows: March 27, April 24, April 30 & May 20-22.

WGBY invites viewer feedback and especially encourages people who live near Gerena, largely members of the city’s Latino community, to contribute memories, stories or opinions throughout the series’ run.

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Program Feature: 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School

180 Days:  A Year Inside an American High School

WGBY airs 180 Days:  A Year Inside an American High School tonight, March 25,  at 9pm.  Following the day-to-day stories of students, parents, teachers and staff at the Washington Metropolitan High School (also known as DC Met), this documentary is an intimate portrait of a public school that attempts to make a difference in the lives of students each and every day.

Whether they are preparing for college or becoming teen moms, the students at DC Met face many challenges with spirit and resilience and welcome us to challenge many of our own assumptions as we travel with the first graduating class to commencement. Led by a charismatic and outspoken young principal, DC Met invites us in for an unprecedented first-hand account of life inside of the school reform movement. Watch a preview.

As an educator, you may identify with what you see in this story of a principal who remains optimistic that her students can succeed despite the personal and academic obstacles they face.   We’d appreciate hearing what you think about this film or about your own obstacles or triumphs during the 180 days you spend inside an American school.

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New teacher survey shows digital resources support classroom learning

PBS LearningMedia’s new survey of teachers found that teachers are embracing digital resources to propel learning in the classroom.  Check out this inforgraphic with some really interesting findings.

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Report: Early Education Linked to Economic Development

A recent report released by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst outlines a very important connection between early childhood education and prosperous economic development.  According to economist Arthur MacEwan:

“It is highly desirable and valuable to society for state governments to support universal early childhood education. In doing so, governments will be putting in place an essential component of economic development, a component that will provide both a long-run foundation for their states’ economic development and an immediate boost to their states’ economic progress. Moreover, they will be providing an important service to families and strengthening equality of opportunity.”

You can check out the full report here or read more on the Eye on Early Education blog.

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Good News About American Students’ International Ranking

By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor, eSchool News, January 16, 2013 — Prominent international tests skew comparisons of test scores, and U.S. student performance actually ranks much higher than believed, according to a new report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The truth, says the report, is that—when comparing apples to apples in weighing U.S. student performance against that of other industrialized countries—U.S. students don’t rank 25th in math, but 10th; and in reading, the country is not 14th, but 4th.

Read the entire story by clicking here. 

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Helping Today’s Wired Students Learn to Focus

From Larry Rosen, eSchool News — While educators agree that digital technology can help students learn, there is an overwhelming feeling among many that today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans and that today’s students are too “plugged in” and need more time away from their digital devices.

Mr. Rosen goes on to describe the various studies that have been conducted and offers suggestions on avoiding the hazards that digital technology can have on the quality of education today.

Read the entire article by clicking here

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Program Feature: “After Newtown”

After Newtown is a program that focuses on the devastating events that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month.  Anchored by Gwen Ifill, the PBS Special addresses such issues as access to guns and the politics of gun laws; mental illness in young adults; the science of detecting violent impulses; and how communities react to unspeakable tragedy. The program features contributions from PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, Washington Week, Need to Know, and NOVA.  The program has been made available in its entirety on Youtube and we thought we would share it with you in case you missed the broadcast.

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