If you're like most ed-tech enthusiasts, I'm sure you're watching closely the economic stimulus packages proposed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, both of which include $1 billion for education technology. (Here's a story written by my colleague Alyson Klein about the details of those plans.) The question now is whether that money is going to make it through the conference committee (when the Senate and the House hammer out the differences between their plans), and what will it look like if it does. I listened in today on a conference call, sponsored by ISTE (International Society for ...

A new study by Purdue University has shed some light on how to most effectively engage students in technology and engineering at a young age. The study took five classes of 8th graders in a rural Indiana school and taught them about human impacts on water and water quality through a traditional textbook and lecture method and then compared their comprehension of those subjects to another five classes of 8th graders from that school who learned about water quality through engineering design modules. The students in the latter group were asked to build a water purification device as a way ...

I've been back in Portland for a few days, but I have one more post I wanted to write about FETC. During the conference, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills released a white paper (PDF) about 21st-century learning environments. The paper addresses more than just what the architectural structure of a school should be (although it does address that topic as well), but includes suggestions on the kind of technological and community infrastructure schools should have. The paper also emphasizes that learning environments are no longer confined to brick and mortar school buildings anymore. The idea behind a 21st-century learning ...

I just attended a great talk by Chris Dede, a professor at Harvard, about emerging interactive media in education. Dede, who has been studying and working in the educational technology field for about 30 years, spoke about how teachers today are preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, which raises the question: How do we effectively teach students the skills they need even though we don't have a clear vision of what exactly they might be doing in the future? The main focus of Dede's talk was Web 2.0, how it can be used in classrooms, and what ...

This morning, I attended an eye-opening and informative breakfast meeting hosted by CDW-G, which featured IT administrators from three different school districts, all in different phases of implementing new technology systems into their respective school systems. As someone who hears and reads a lot about education technology, it's always a treat to listen to those who are working directly with teachers and students to see how technology can make a difference in the classroom. One thing that was emphasized over and over at the meeting was how essential it is to have a supportive superintendent who is open to learning ...

Hello from Orlando, where I thought I might be able to catch some sun after a few months of winter in the rainy Northwest, but apparently that's not in the cards. I've been told that Orlando is currently having the coldest week on record since 2003. But despite the cold front, myself, along with thousands of ed tech educators and enthusiasts, have converged here this week to share ideas, review best practices, and pinpoint ed tech solutions at FETC. So far, I've met with a handful of companies exploring innovative solutions to problems with online security, data management, and green ...

California Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard recently introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to help low-income schools get federal funding for technology upgrades and computers as part of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act, or ATTAIN. The bill, which amends part of the No Child Left Behind Act, would also provide more technology training for teachers, put standards in place to make sure every child is technologically literate by 8th grade, and provide federal guidance for states on how to make sure that all schools have up-to-date software and technology. In addition, there's a research component to the bill, which ...

The Bytes & Books ball last night was full of high spirits for the Obama administration and the prospects for greater investment in education technology for the nation’s schools. “I think there are very good times ahead for ed tech,” said Mark A. Schneiderman, a lobbyist for the Software & Information Industry Association. “President Obama believes very much in what teaching and learning can look like if technology is used efficiently.” Schneiderman is also the treasurer of the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET), which hosted the event. He brushed aside a suggestion that a flood of federal ...

So now we have arrived at the weekend before Inauguration Day. And on Tuesday night, the 20th, this reporter will be attending the black-tie "Bytes and Books Inaugural Ball," which is sponsored by a coalition of companies and education groups promoting education technology and, especially, federal funding of same. Several ed-tech friendly members of Congress are expected to attend. And four individuals will be honored for their contributions: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy; Filmmaker George Lucas, who started the George Lucas Educational Foundation; Barbara Stein, the longtime ed-tech policy expert at the National Education Association; and Bill Thomas, the director ...

Education technology is likely to receive a major federal boost from the economic stimulus package, based on the House Democrats' version of the plan, released today. The House Democrats' "American Recovery and Reinvestment" plan includes "$1 billion for 21st century classrooms, including computer and science labs and teacher technology training." This plan, which Capitol Hill sources say was developed in collaboration with the incoming Obama administration, is not the final one, as the Senate Dems are developing their version of the stimulus plan, which may have different numbers. But it is a key piece of the emerging picture of what ...