July+27,+2011+-+Online+or+Blended+Learning,+Common+Core+Assessments,+Student+Data,+Electronic+Textbooks,+Social+Media,+Resources



=Worthy of Note: July 27, 2011=

Online / Blended Learning
New Fla. Law Enables Direct Full-Time Online Enrollment //Ian Quillen, Digital Education, Education Week, July 13, 2011 // The 97,000-student Florida Virtual School announced Tuesday that in-state students in kindergarten, 1st grade, and grades 6-12 will be able to directly enroll in its Florida Virtual School Full Time, FLVS FT, regardless of those students' residential school district assignment. Changes in Florida Law Make It Easier to Take Classes Online //Mary Kelli Palka, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville (MCT), July 14, 2011//

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Florida House of Representatives; CS/CS/HB 7197 - Digital Learning ===== Digital Learning: Creates Digital Learning Now Act; requires school districts to establish virtual instruction options; authorizes establishment of virtual charter schools & provides requirements; authorizes blended learning courses; provides additional requirements for Florida Virtual School; requires full-time & part-time school district virtual instruction program options; provides funding & accountability requirements; requires online learning course for high school graduation; redefines FTE student for purposes of virtual instruction. Effective Date: July 1, 2011

A Closer Look at Virtual Learning Models //Julie Young, THE Journal, July 26, 2011 // Julie Young, President & CEO of Florida Virtual School, is reflecting on the recent passage of the Digital Learning Now Act that expands online learning options in Florida. The three models she focuses on here are online learning, blended learning and the hybrid classroom.

KIPP Blend Promising //edReformer Staff, July 14, 2011 // KIPP Empower Academy in Los Angeles presented some amazing results from their blended learning pilot at the New School Summit. Almost none of the students were reading on grade level at the beginning of the year and 96% were proficient were at or above grade level in reading by the end of the year. Read the comments offered by Innosight Institute:

Year 1 results for the KIPP Empower Academy //Heather Clayton Staker, Innosight Institute, July 14, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In //The Rise of K-12 blended learning,// Innosight profiled the Empower Academy as one of 40 emerging blended-learning operators. KIPP opened the school in the fall of 2010, so at the time of publication of the report, the program was still too new to offer substantial results. Now having completed year one, the Empower Academy reports that 96 percent of its students are proficient at or above grade level in reading, compared to only 9 percent at the beginning of the year. How did they do it? Read the description of the Empower Academy program that we published in our report.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Ranking the Online Colleges //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">June 30, 2011 // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">U.S. News & World Report, //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> which in the last three decades has become one of the most successful and controversial kingmakers in higher education, is taking preliminary steps to apply its rankings to the increasingly important realm of online colleges. See what you think.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Traditional Higher Ed Opens Doors for Tuition-Free Online University //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sarah Kessler <span class="author" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, Mashable, June 29, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Online universities have earned a reputation among traditional higher education institutions as businesses that offer low-quality degrees in exchange for hefty debt. But online University of the People challenges the stereotype.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The University (Mashable description) is completely tuition free. Its mission is not to turn a profit, but rather to create a truly global opportunity for education. Members of the university’s core of 2,000 volunteers teach a thousand students who live in 115 different countries. Traditional universities are starting to open their doors to People’s free, nontraditional counterpart.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">1,900 Apply for 600-Student Online Charter School //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New Orleans City Business, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Monday, July 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Louisiana Connections Academy says it has 1,900 applications for 600 spots.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blended Learning’s Impact on Teacher Development //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Alex Hernandez, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Innosight Institute, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">July 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How do we train teachers for blended learning instruction? The author, a former math teacher, has a few suggestions.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Top Ten Trends in E-Learning <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">WorldWideLearn <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Based on research from the Gartner Group, the University of Pennsylvania, and other prestigious think tanks, we can identify ten vital trends that will influence the growth of e-learning over the next ten years. (Research posted in 2009 — Is this still true?)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online and Incomplete //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">July 19, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A new study ( <span class="papertitle" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">//Online and Hybrid Course Enrollment and Performance in Washington State Community and Technical Colleges (CCRC Working Paper No. 31//)) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">urges caution to those who believe that online education is a panacea for educating more community college students. The study finds that students who enrolled in online courses -- controlling for various factors that tend to predict success -- were more likely to fail or drop out of the courses than were those who took the same courses in person. Notably, there was not a gap in completion between those enrolled in hybrid and in-person courses.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">It's Not a Matter of Time: Highlights from the 2011 Competency-Based Summit <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sturgis, Patrick and Pittenger, iNACOL,July 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The //It's Not a Matter of Time// paper highlights the key issues from the proceedings at the March 2011 Competency-Based Learning Summit for advancing competency-based learning. The paper addresses the three main goals of the Summit: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A complementary paper (below), Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning, provides a more in-depth look at state policy issues discussed at the Summit.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sharing expertise across innovators and policy leaders
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Building a common working definition of competency-based learning
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Enhancing strategies for advancing competency-based options

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Competency-based Learning Summit, organized jointly by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and iNACOL, discussed how the nation could make a major transformation in dramatically increasing opportunities for student learning through competency-based approaches. It was held in March 2011.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New video: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> YouTube - Online Teaching and Learning: National Online Teacher of the Year //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Interview, June 8, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The SREB/iNACOL 2011 National Online Teacher of the Year, Kristin Kipp discusses the most effective ways to engage and connect with online students. ( <span class="st" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">You need Adobe Flash Player to watch this <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">video.) //

Electronic Textbooks **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">— ** West Virginia
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">West Virginia Asks Counties to Plan for Electronic Textbooks //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">eClassroom News, July 13, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The West Virginia Board of Education has suggested that all schools in the state start taking steps toward electronic textbooks and dependable ed-tech infrastructure for the future, state education department spokeswoman Liza Cordeiro said.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The state board of education recently implemented a two-year hiatus on the purchase of social studies textbooks, Cordeiro said. The money allocated for the books, roughly $36 million, instead will be spent on ed-tech infrastructure upgrades.

Common Core <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">— Assessments
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC or Partnership) __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New Website __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">: www.parcconline.org. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Twenty-four states have joined together to create the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC or Partnership). The goal is to create an assessment system and supporting tools that will help states dramatically increase the number of students who graduate high school ready for college and careers and provide students, parents, teachers and policymakers with the tools they need to help students - from grade three through high school - stay on track to graduate prepared. The Partnership will also develop formative tools for grades K-2. For more information, go to www.parcconline.org.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Check out the PARCC Assessment //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">June 28, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">PARCC’s next-generation assessment system will provide students, educators, policymakers and the public with the tools needed to identify whether students — from grade 3 through high school — are on track for postsecondary success and, critically, where gaps may exist and how they can be addressed well before students enter college or the workforce. A search on the PARCC site for assessment provides a number of useful recent links not included above.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Center for K-12 Assessment and Performance Management at ETS <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The K–12 Center will analyze the assessment system models proposed within Race to the Top Assessment Program applications and develop short, concise summaries to aid discussions among educators, policymakers and the public. //Coming Together to Raise Achievement, New Assessment for Common Core Standards// was published in February 2011 but an update is expected in late July 2011. <span style="color: #141413; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The assessment Consortia described in this publication will be building comprehensive assessment systems for the primary purpose of measuring student progress against these new CCSS.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Linking Assessments to Common Core Standards //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Katie Ash, Digital Education, Ed Week, July 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The State Educational Technology Directors Association, or SETDA, launched a new website and published a whitepaper to help navigate the new technology-based assessments coming out in 2014-15 that will be aligned with the common core state standards. The website, Assess4ed.net, will provide a platform for state and district education leaders to discuss and tackle the challenges of preparing for this assessment transition.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This is a national consortium of states that have been working collaboratively since December 2009 to develop a student assessment system aligned to a common core of academic content standards to apply for a Race-to-the-Top Assessment grant. They received a grant by the US Department of Education (USED) to develop a student assessment system aligned to a common core of academic standards.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Technology Integration — Common Core //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">LiveBinders, July 7, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">A resource: This binder is the work of the Woodstock Technology Integration Team. They have assembled all of the links in their Framework--whether technology tools or learning resources--in this binder. Resources will be added on a continuing basis...so please check back for new ideas! <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Assessment - Frequently Asked Questions <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Illinois State Board of Education

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online assessment is getting much attention these days. You may refer to the last July 11 Worthy of Note that included links to Pearson’s Next Generation Assessments: A Roadmap to 2014.

Charter Schools
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Eliminating the Achievement Gap: A White Paper on How Charter Schools Can Help District Leaders //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Robin Lake and Alex Hernandez, Center on Reinventing Public Education, June 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) was founded in 1993 at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. In 2008, CRPE changed its affiliation to the University of Washington Bothell. The Center's offices are located off campus, in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">CRPE engages in independent research and policy analysis on a range of K-12 public education reform issues, including choice & charters, finance & productivity, teachers, urban district reform, leadership, and state & federal reform.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Authors Lake and Hernandez discuss how these successful charters focus on school culture and parent involvement, use an extended school day, employ ongoing diagnostics and interventions, and provide intensive professional development.

Professional Development
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tightened Professional-Development Standards Released //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Stephen Sawchuk Teacher Beat, Education Week, <span class="byline" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">July 19, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Learning Forward, a.k.a. the nonprofit formerly known as the National Staff Development Council has unveiled an updated set of standards for guiding choices about quality teacher professional development.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Standards for Professional Learning describe the "context, process, and content" of effective professional development across seven key areas.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Read the standards here.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Blended Learning’s Impact on Teacher Development //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Alex Hernandez, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Innosight Institute, // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">July 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How do we train teachers for blended learning instruction? The author, a former math teacher, has a few suggestions.

Student Data
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dell Foundation Launches Tool to Connect Student Data <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sarah D. Sparks, Spotlight, Education Week, July 19, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Austin, Texas-based Michael and Susan Dell Foundation is hoping its new Ed-Fi data standard will allow educators and researchers to access information on kindergarten through 12th grade from state and local systems even before the systems have been aligned.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Common Data Initiative Proposes New Postsecondary Standards //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sarah D. Sparks, Spotlight, Education Week, July 19, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The first version of the initiative focused primarily on the types of data needed for kindergarten through 12th grade accountability reporting, according to Gary West, the strategic initiatives director for information systems at the Council of Chief State School Officers, one of the partner groups of the initiative.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The newly proposed second version, West says, is "a much broader set of data elements with a broader set of relationships. We're very interested in expanding the common language for states to be able to talk to each other and do research together on how to improve student performance, program effectiveness and things like that."

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Predictive Data Tools Find Uses in Schools //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sarah D. Sparks, Ed Week, July 12, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The use of analytic tools to predict student performance is exploding in higher education, and experts say the tools show even more promise for K-12 schools, in everything from teacher placement to dropout prevention. This is a follow-up to Sarah Sparks’ earlier article, Schools Find Uses for Predictive Data Techniques, mentioned in the July 11 WON.

Webinars
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Quality Standards for Using Mobile Apps for Teaching, Learning and Workforce Development, PreK-20 //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Event Date: August 10, 2011 - 2:00pm - 3:30pm // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This webinar will outline the standards of quality measures for mobile apps in education including how to search for appropriate apps and how to submit apps for peer reviews. It will also include the system wide approach for identifying, purchasing, piloting, and evaluating mobile devices and apps. In addition, mobile app resources will be presented of apps by discipline areas including PreK though Ph.D., subject areas including various specialized disciplines in higher education, education level from preschool to professional development, and workforce development and clusters; providing app resources and accessories for specialized areas such as student services, special needs, assistive technology (partnering with Griffin Technologies) educational games, and productivity apps for office and businesses.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sloan Consortium **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The webinar will conclude with participants providing feedback of the quality standards and in sharing mobile apps that they have found to impact teaching and learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tennessee Board of Regents is the featured presenter.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Non-member and Guest ($99/participant)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Educational Technology Cooperative (SREB) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Here’s a repeat listing of the first two Webinars noted earlier (there are five more). For a complete listing see the July 11 Worthy of Note on our wiki page:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Registration and instruction for the series of webinars can be found here.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 10:00 AM (ET) // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dianna Miller (Florida Virtual School)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Case Study of the Florida Virtual School Blended Learning Models **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 4:00 PM (ET) // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Michelle Lee (Fayette County Public Schools) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Elementary Students: Back and Forth between Online and Face-to-Face Instruction **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Wolf Creek Public Schools Embraces BYOD, Puts Pedagogy First //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tanya Roscoria, Converge, July 5, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Alberta, Canada: Over the past two years, students and staff in Wolf Creek Public Schools have brought their own mobile devices to class. But this district isn't mesmerized by the shiny technology. Instead, it places pedagogy before technology. "It's about enhancing and building excellent learning environments,"

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">BYOD and Security //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Ellen Ullman, Tech & Learning, March 1, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">How do you protect students from themselves? The author looks at several school districts, including two in Texas, that are setting policy for students to use their own technology at school.

Social Media
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Pinellas Teachers No Longer Allowed to use Social Media to Communicate with Students //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sylvia Lim, St. Petersburg Times, June 19, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Pinellas County School Board (FL) members last week banned teachers from using social media tools to communicate with students. They signed off on a policy requiring teachers to use district-provided e-mails and electronic platforms to correspond with students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Social Media Sparks Policy Debate //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tanya Roscorla, Converge, July 17, 2009 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The explosion of social media has sparked discussions about how teachers can use blogs, wikis, Twitter and other tools while keeping students safe online. This article offers a discussion of various options for social media policies.


 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">We would like to know about your policies on Social Media use. **
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">If your school, district, state or higher ed entity have established a policy related to social media use, would you please send us a link or a file. This would be a useful resource to compile. Thanks for answering this request. **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Web 2.0 (Social Media) Policies in Higher Education <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Slideshare (Last updated 11.05.09) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Social media tools and the policies associated with them.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Social Media Governance <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The //Social Media Management Handbook// was prepared for the business community, but there may ideas useful in education. There are 177 social media policies included.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Plus It All: Google Bets Its Brand on Pervasive Social Media (Google+) //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">ContentBlogger, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">July 5, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Insights and headlines from Shore analysts on trends in enterprise and media content markets. The hows and whys of Google+.

Random News and Information
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Liberal Activists: For-profit Colleges ‘Ripping off’ Students, taxpayers //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Ralshay Lin, eCampus News, July 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Campus Progress National Conference, headlined by former President Clinton, accuses corporations of abusing federal education aid. In a speech at the conference July 6, an official condemned for-profit colleges—many of which are the nation’s largest online education providers—as ineffective and financially crippling for students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Survey Reveals Need for Tech Skills in College, Workforce //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">eSchool News, July 11, 2011 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Students say that high schools are not imparting adequate technology education.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The second annual 21st Century Classroom Report from CDW-G reveals that 94 percent of students said learning and mastering technology skills would improve their educational and career opportunities, and 97 percent of school faculty agreed. But in spite of those results, only 39 percent of students said their high schools meet those technology expectations with technology in the classroom.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Texas Pulls Out of Chiefs Group //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sean Cavanagh, Ed Week, July 12, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Texas has withdrawn from the Council of Chief State School Officers.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Creative Commons, AEP Team for K-12 Metadata Search Framework //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Therese Mageau, THE Journal, July 18, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Creative Commons and AEP team up to develop an education-specific tagging system for Internet searches.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Schools Struggle to Balance Digital Innovation, Academic Accountability //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Michelle R. Davis, Ed Week, June 15, 2011 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Educators struggle through trial and error to forge new approaches that work Read about how 1-to-1 laptop initiative in a North Carolina district didn’t turn out as expected.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Khan Academy: Great Idea- With One Glaring Hole //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Daniel Rezac, EdReach, //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> March 15, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">According to this math teacher, the Khan Academy is not teaching concepts and ideas. Khan Academy teaches answers. 1 + 1 = 2. Read how he and his colleagues have taken the concept a few steps further.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">New Report Focuses on STEM Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">K-12 Computing Blueprint, July 12 ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The publication: Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. (New Academics Press) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Read the book online, free.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Quo Vadis, LMS? Trends, Predictions, Commentary //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Campus Technology, July 01, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">A panel of leading technologists, educators, and vendors discusses the future of the LMS and the innovations needed to make it integral to 21st century learning.

Resources
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Guide to Cloud Computing for Policy Makers //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SIIA, 2011 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The basic recommendation of this white paper is that there is no need for cloud-specific legislation to provide for the safe and rapid growth of cloud computing.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Tech Commandments //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Adam S. Bellow, Scribd.com // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Ten ideas to help revitalize education using ed tech. Adam S. Bellow’s website.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">20 Best Blogs in Instructional Technology

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Have you checked out HippoCampus lately; and what about SAS Curriculum Pathways <span class="subhead" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Open Educational Resources //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">OK CareerTech Testing Center //

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Top 6 Emerging Technologies in K-12 Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tanya Roscoria, Converge, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">May 17, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Comments on the NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition: Over the next five years, the publication suggests that the education community will embrace cloud computing, mobiles, game-based learning, open content, learning analytics and personal learning environments.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">One Hundred Incredibly Useful YouTube Channels for Teachers //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online Courses, October 10, 2010 //