May+31,+2011+-+Online+and+Blended+Learning,+Social+Media,+iPads,+Resources,+Federal+Funding+and+more




 * Worthy of Note: May 31, 2011 **


 * New Report from New Media Consortium and CoSN **

NMC Horizon Report K-12 2011 //New Media Consortium (NMC) in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) // The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education. It cites five trends have been identified as key drivers of technology adoptions for the period of 2011 through 2016. 1. The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators. 2. As IT support becomes more and more decentralized, the technologies we use are increasingly based not on school servers, but in the cloud. 3. Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate and succeed. 4. People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to. 5. The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing.

Over the next five years, the report identifies six technologies that will have a profound impact on teaching and learning.

Read [|David Nagel’s comments] in THE Journal (May 17, 2011) about those six technologies that follow the trends.


 * What about iPads? **

Mixed on Media //Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">May 13, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">When Apple unveiled the iPad just over a year ago, publishers had high hopes that it would finally bump e-textbooks into the mainstream. But while the Apple iPad and computing tablet kin have made rapid gains on college campuses, printed textbooks are still alive and well thanks to a boom in rentals, according to a new survey from Student Monitor. Only 5 percent of the survey respondents said they purchased access to an e-textbook this spring. Two percent bought e-textbooks for more than one class. The most common reason for going electronic? “My professor required me to.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">iPad Study Released by Oklahoma State University //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Business Wire, May 03, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Oklahoma State University has formally released its internal findings on an iPad pilot conducted during the Fall 2010 semester, showing that the device had a positive impact in an academic environment.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Impact of the iPad on K-12 Schools //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tanya Roscorla, Converge, February 8, 2011 // A look at pilot projects.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Classroom ideas for Learning with the iPad //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Scribd // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This iPad guide is about integrating 1-to-1 devices. It is about learning, not about technology. The Student Learning Division of Education for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Melbourne, AU published it in January 2011.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the Classroom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">eSchool News Staff, May 27, 2011 // eSN readers discuss their experiences using the iPad with their students.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Farewell, Kindle. Buh-Bye, iPad //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Marc Bousquet, The Chronicle, April 27, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Just when we got to know you! Now we will have to get acquainted with the ASUS Transformer tablet.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">e-Books (not e-Textbooks) **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">E-Books Outsell Print Books at Amazon //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Claire Can Miller and Julie Bosman, NY Times, May 19, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Since April 1, Amazon sold 105 books for its Kindle e-reader for every 100 hardcover and paperback books, including books without Kindle versions and excluding free e-books.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Gartner Survey Shows Digital Text Consumption Nearly Equal to Time Spent reading Printed Paper Text //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Gartner, Press Release, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">May 10, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In the face-off between paper and screens, they're almost equal when you measure how much time consumers read on each medium. Paper has a slight edge in this area, according to the report "Survey Analysis: Consumer Digital Reading Preferences Reveal the Exaggerated Death of Paper." The huge majority of tablet and iPad users say they find screen reading either easier than reading printed text (52 percent) or about the same (42 percent). Read more about the stats.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Online Learning / Mobility **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online Learning Institute <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">At the ISTE conference: Wednesday June 29th, 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Loews Hotel, Philadelphia, PA <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The 7th Annual Online Learning Institute (OLI), jointly sponsored by EDC’s EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO), the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) offers a unique online learning event for online professional development and virtual school practitioners.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Florida Virtual Curriculum Marketplace <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Florida Department of Education, in partnership with Learning.com, has created the Florida VCM, an open repository of free and fee-based educational resources. The Florida VCM helps teachers use a single login to find, organize, use, and assign educational content that meets Sunshine State Standards. The Florida Virtual Curriculum Marketplace will launch this summer.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Informational training sessions will be offered throughout the summer to give Florida teachers early access to FVCM, and to enable them to start their instructional planning before the new school year starts.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">To learn more about the marketplace, and to see a short informational video, visit www.learning.com/floridavcm.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Why Are So Many Students Still Failing Online? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Rob Jenkins, The Chronicle, May 22, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Online learning has become the third rail in American higher-education politics: Step on it and you're toast. That's especially true at community colleges, where many leaders have embraced online courses with an almost religious fervor.

__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">iNACOL Survey __ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) requests your participation in this important survey related to quality standards for online courses. You can access the survey <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|here] <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Community Colleges Can’t Meet Demand for Online Classes <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online education is booming at community colleges, according to a survey by the Instructional Technology Council, which is affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online Ed Trends at Community Colleges //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed, May 18, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Community colleges reported a 9 percent increase in their distance education enrollments from fall 2009 to fall 2010, according to a national [|survey] of two-year institutions released Tuesday by the Instructional Technology Council, an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges.

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Online Education Growing as Colleges offer more Classes to meet Student Demand ===== //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Karen Earkes, The Plain Dealer, May 07, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Quotes stats from reliable groups such as Sloan Consortium, Babson Research Survey Group, U. S. Department of Education plus others.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Is Online Learning a Disruptive Innovation? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Peter J. Stokes, Harvard Education Publishing Group, April 14, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Depending on the sources you turn to for your higher-education reading, you might come away with the perception that online learning is a risky experiment taking place in the margins of higher education—largely under the oversight of profit-seeking, fly-by-night diploma mills. (The Blog of Harvard Education Publishing)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The reality is that a quarter of all students currently enrolled at colleges and universities are taking at least one course online, and one-in-ten is enrolled in a degree program that is delivered entirely online.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Advice on Online Learning from 13 World Experts //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tony Bates, ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">eLearning and Distance Education Learning Resources, April 29, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Maxim Jean-Louis, as special advisor to the Minister on the Ontario Online Institute, has being doing a lot of homework recently. He asked 20 world experts on online learning and distance education for their responses to five key questions about online learning. Here is his summary of the responses to each question of the 13 who replied by the deadline: Question 1: What is the biggest challenge facing online and distance learning in general today? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Question 2: What is the biggest opportunity that online and distance learning in general has today? Question 3: What is the one overriding step that Ontario ought to take as it attempts to take its online learning system to the next level? Question 4: Conversely, what is the one thing Ontario should avoid? Question 5: What current or emerging technology has the potential of radically transforming online and distance learning?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Texas Universities Lower Dost of Degree with Online Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Brooke Brown, Education Today, May 2, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The $10,000 bachelor’s degree will most likely be a virtual degree, as Texas follows the national trend toward online education.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The 10 Elements of Digital Learning <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Digital Learning Now <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In case you have not read them already, //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The 10 Elements of High Quality Digital Learning //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> and Digital Learning Now! Report were released on December 1 at Excellence in Action National Summit on Education Reform 2010 in Washington DC. The Elements are grouped into three areas of focus: Students (#1-4), Providers (#5-8), and Government (#9-10).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Converge Special Report: Mobility and Security //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Center for Digital Education and Converge, April 27, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The 2011 Q2 Special Report examines how the concept of mobility is changing the education scene. It discusses the ecosystem of elements that comprise mobility and some challenges education leaders may confront when transitioning to a mobile environment. The second half of the report confronts the issue of security in regards to mobility in education.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Real LMS Failure (Hint: We Should Look in the Mirror) (BlogU) //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed, April 28, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">We spend way too much energy thinking and worrying about LMS providers, features, companies and technologies. Blackboard or D2L or Moodle or Sakai or (now) Instructure? Open source or proprietary? This discussion board or that assessment engine? etc. etc. etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The real LMS failure has nothing to do with any of these questions. Whether you are a Blackboard or Sakai school matters only marginally to our success in what truly matters about the LMS; //how well we are utilizing the LMS to improve, support and facilitate authentic student learning.//

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">//Upcoming Webinar:// The Online Learning Imperative: A Solution to Three Looming Crises in Education //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Pearson Foundation Thursday, June 16, 2011; // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia and current president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, presents The Online Learning Imperative: A Solution to Three Looming Crises in Education. In his presentation, he describes the three major crises in K-12 education in the United States--teacher shortages, state budget shortfalls, and low student achievement--and explains how technology and online learning can lead the U.S. education system out of them.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Blended Learning **

__<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">SREB State Virtual Schools Recognized in Innosight Publication on Bended Learning __ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In the last Worthy of Note (WON) we featured the newest Innosight publication, The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning: Profiles of Emerging Models and Jeffo Public Schools in Colorado. (Kristin Kipp, SREB/iNACOL NOTY is from that district.)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">These SREB state virtual schools also are included: **Alabama ACCESS** (p 11), **Florida Virtual School** (p.79) and **Kentucky Virtual High School** (p.100)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">//Upcoming Webinar:// <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Models of Blended Learning: What Works for Your District //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Thursday, June 9, 2 p.m. EDT // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Also available “on demand” any time 24 hours after the event <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Hear about the many teaching and learning objectives they are meeting through the implementation of a blended learning program. Also learn how the two districts have grown the level of adoption by their faculty over time by championing accomplishments of the program. (Sponsored by BlackBoard)


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Social Media **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">4 Tips for Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Tanveer Ali, Mashable, May 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Here are four tips for educators on how to develop a technology policy that seizes on social networking as a learning tool and teaches children how to use it responsibly.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">5 Things You Shouldn’t be Doing in Social Media //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Patrick Powers // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">If you’ve signed up for a social media account, you’ve seen it. It’s the box that no one seems to notice. Before any social media site creates a new user account, it’s going to ask for agreement to its terms of service. This innocuous little box may mean nothing to most users when it could mean everything. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube all have terms of service that make it abundantly clear — violate the terms and the company can terminate an account. There is no need for debate. I know of only a handful of cases when a social media site simply terminated an account for violating terms of service. But the risk is real. So if you’re responsible for maintaining a professional social media presence on any social network, shouldn’t you be familiar with the specifics? There are scores of examples of those in violation. This article addresses five of the most common violations**.**

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Teaching, Learning, and Sharing: How Today’s Higher Education Faculty Use Social Media //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Pearson Learning Solutions // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Use of social media is not without its problems; most faculty are concerned with the time it requires. The two most pressing concerns about faculty use of social media are privacy and integrity: 80% report that “lack of integrity of student submissions” is an “important” or “very important” barrier, and over 70% say privacy concerns are an “important” or “very important” barrier. In spite of those concerns, however, faculties believe that social media sites offer value in teaching. An overwhelming majority reports they believe that video, podcasts, and wikis are valuable tools for teaching, and a majority report that social media sites can be valuable tools for collaborative learning. Here is Pearson’s Social Media Survey 2011.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Social Media (with focus on backchanneling) **

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media ======

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Trip Gabriel, NY Times, May 12, 2011 //
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">With Twitter and other microblogging platforms, teachers from elementary schools to universities are setting up what is known as a “backchannel” in their classes. The real-time digital streams allow students to comment, pose questions (answered either by one another or the teacher) and shed inhibitions about voicing opinions. Perhaps most importantly, if they are texting on-task, they are less likely to be texting about something else.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Backchannel (and Me) in the New York Times //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Derek Bruff, //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Teaching with Classroom Response Systems //<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;">This is a story about using backchannels. A backchannel is a second conversation stream in a classroom or at a conference, typically one leveraging digital tools to complement the lecture or spoken discussion on the “frontchannel.”

Back Channel Chat - FIGHT! //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Patrick Cauley, IT Babble.com, May 16, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Read comments by a middle school technology instructor who does not like backchanneling.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">PLAYBACK: When Teachers and Students Tweet & New Media Innovations In and Out of the Classroom //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sarah J. Spotlight, Digital Media and Learning // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Classroom backchannels; teachers find community on Twitter; new research on e-readers in academia; and teaching kids to innovate through robotics, the Google Science Fair, and the Young Makers Program//.//


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Evernote and Delicious (or my short-lived anxiety) **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Delicious has provided my organizational schema for creating SREB Worthy of Note. I was not a happy camper when it looked like it may be sold — or even would disappear. My worst fears have been relieved now that YouTube is the new owner. I gave serious consideration to using Evernote, and while it does not provide the same social attributes, it is very useful. I suggest some links below.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">7 Ways to Use Evernote //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Joel Falconer, Stepchase Lifehack, May 26, 2010 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Evernote allows you to easily <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">accessible and <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">searchable at anytime, from anywhere.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Making the Transition from Delicious to Evernote //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Andres Sinkov, Evernote, December 26, 2010 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Of course this article is a little dated, but it served me well when we thought Delicious was going to be tossed. Without Delicious, creating this SREB Worthy of Note would be very difficult. Evernote could be an alternative, but not as effective as Delicious. Evernote does have advantages — unlike Delicious, it allows you to clip your favorite webpage, text, images and links — so that you can view them at your leisure, //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">online or offline //. No more worrying about 404 errors or changing pages. Evernote does not have the social features of Delicious, but if you want to save your favorite pages forever, Evernote is perfect. I’m glad YouTube has purchased Delicious and will keep it safe — at least for a while.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Import Delicious Bookmarks Into Evernote, Tags and All //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Kevin Purdy, Stepchase Lifehack, December 10, 2010 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This imported tool says it will do what Delicious does; I can’t verify that.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Evernote for Schools – Education Series Roundup //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Posted by Ron Toledo, Evernote, March 10, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">With its flexible organization features, sharing capabilities, cross- platform synchronization and, of course, powerful search, Evernote is a well-suited tool for educators and students alike.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Cloud Computing **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">IT Outsourcing: When it Makes Sense … and When it Doesn’t //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dennis Pierce, Editor ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, eCampus News, May 11, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), and “managed” or “hosted” services: Do these ed-tech models make sense for higher-education institutions? All of these IT delivery models are forms of outsourcing, and they are also very trendy right now. Read more….


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Search Tools (Improve Your Search Skills) **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Stop Wasting Time – How to Search Like a Pro //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Julie McCormick, Lifehack, May 3, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Narrow down your searches with operators and Advanced Search. Here are Google search rules you need to know.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Google Search Education Evangelism <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Check out the education resources from Google. Link to upcoming classes — webinar archives, Web search master lessons and more. There are some really good sources for learning better Internet search skills here. Check out Google’s [|Help Center].


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Resources (including OER) **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">MITOPENCOURSEWARE for High Schools <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Highlights for High School features MIT OpenCourseWare materials that are most useful for high school students and teachers.

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">10 Open Education Resources You May Not Know About (But Should) ======

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Audrey Watters, KQED, Mind/Shift, May 5, 2011 //
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In the spirit of 10 years of OCW, here’s a list of 10 cool OER and OCW resources that you might not know about, but should know.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Federal Government Launches Online Digital Literacy Portal <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">This is the destination for digital literacy resources and collaboration. Use it to share and enhance the tools necessary to learn computer and Internet skills needed in today’s global work environment. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Read comments about the portal here. (Spotlight: Digital Media and Learning).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Digital Youth Network <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Funded by the MacArthur and Gates Foundations, the goal of The Digital Youth Network (DYN) is to provide excellent learning opportunities for children growing up in urban America. DYN is a hybrid digital literacy program that creates opportunities for youth to engage in learning environments that span both in-school and out-of-school contexts. It began in Chicago but has expanded to other states.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Amser Applied Math and Science Education Repository <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">AMSER is a portal of educational resources and services built specifically for use by those in community and technical colleges but free for anyone to use.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">AMSER is funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the National Science Digital Library, and is being created by a team of project partners led by Internet Scout.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Element K Launches InstructorHub //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Joshua Bolken, THE Journal, May 12, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Element K has released InstructorHub, a global online community and resource center for instructors. You can join the community of instructors in InstructorHub.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Using Data to Improve Education <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Access to the right data can help a school district streamline its operations and cut costs, and it can help educators tailor their instruction to ensure that students absorb as much as they can from classroom lessons. Information on how to use data effectively is more important than ever. This is a collection of articles, white papers, videos and success stories from eSchool News’ archives about using data. A SAS white paper, Creating a Data-Driven Culture: Leadership Matters which features eight steps to prepare a school district for accessing and integrating data to make informed, proactive decisions is one of the papers.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Change PDF to Word? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Have you ever wanted to change a PDF to Word format? Thanks for the tip from OK CareerTech Testing Center.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Federal Funding — or no Federal Funding **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Librarians are Teachers, Too: Why Schools Need Librarians Now More than Ever //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sarah J., Spotlight Digital Media and Learning, May 24, 2011 // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In case you missed it, the U.S. Department of Education withdrew federal support for school libraries last week. The Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program was zeroed out under the Department of Education’s allocation for <span class="caps" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">FY2011 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> funding, In Los Angeles, the school district has sent layoff notices to 85 middle and high school librarians. I haven’t heard what has happened in SREB states yet.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">H. R. 1891 Education Reform Bill (first one; more to follow) **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">This is a look at the Education Reform bill as the process began with the announcement on May 13, 2011. The first bill was approved on May 25, 2011.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">H.R. 1891, The Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Washington, DC, May 13, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, has introduced the first in a series of education reform bills planned by the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Rep. Hunter's legislation, the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act (H.R. 1891), would begin the process of weeding out inefficient and unnecessary K-12 education programs.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">To view a bill summary and full list of programs targeted for elimination, click here. Two of those programs are: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Enhancing Education Through Technology (Ed-Tech) and Improving Literacy Through School Libraries (see article above).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Committee Approves First Education Reform Bill //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">H.R. 1891 Streamlines Federal Funding, Eliminates Wasteful K-12 Education Programs // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Washington, DC, May 25, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce today approved the first in a series of education reform bills designed to revamp current Education and Secondary Education law. The Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act (H.R. 1891), sponsored by Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), passed by a vote of 23 to 16. // Enhancing Education Through Technology (Ed-Tech) // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">was on the chopping block. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">To view markup materials and read the legislation, click here. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">To learn more about this markup, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/markups.