The EDGE: Can all U.S. schools have high-speed Internet by 2016?

iCell app gives 250,000 students a look inside the cell | Can new approaches remove negative views of vocational education? | Study: Millennial generation is drawn to the traditional classroom

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June 13, 2013

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Can all U.S. schools have high-speed Internet by 2016?
All schools in the U.S. could be outfitted with high-speed Internet even sooner than the five-year timeline proposed recently by President Barack Obama, according to the LEAD Commission. In a five-point plan expected to be formally released in the coming weeks, the commission suggests completing Internet installations by 2016, and establishing one-to-one technology programs for all students by 2020 through public-private initiatives. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.)/The Associated Press (6/12)

Organizations Consider Different Paths To Affordable Care Act Compliance
Download this Mercer Survey Report to read how different organizations are approaching new regulations governing employee health benefits and where most of the concerns are centered.

eLearning

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iCell app gives 250,000 students a look inside the cell
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology's iCell application for helping students view the inside of a cell has been downloaded 250,000 times. The app is "excellent for providing students with information about cell structures in an interactive, 3D environment. Kids will love it," developer Brad Spirrison says. AL.com (Alabama) (6/11)

Can new approaches remove negative views of vocational education?

Vocational and career-exploration programs sometimes carry a negative stigma that they are only for students who are not planning to attend college, asserts teacher Kristen Swanson. In this blog post, she writes about the importance of such programs, the connection of career-readiness to the Common Core State Standards and offers three ways to "make career exploration cool again." She suggests telling students and parents about the benefits of exposing students to careers in fields they are interested in, help students take on authentic career-oriented roles and use technology, such as Skype, to bring professionals into the classroom. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education (6/12)

Other News

Study: Millennial generation is drawn to the traditional classroom
Mashable (6/12)
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Assessment resources that support the Common Core
Get your students ready for Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessments with resources built to the Common Core. The Measured Progress COMMON CORE™ Assessment Program includes a new Item Bank, Testlets, and Benchmarks designed for classroom use.

Check out Benchmarks

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Digital resources turn the tables on professional development
Flipped professional development -- comprising of face-to-face support and personalized online resources -- is helping teachers in some districts do everything from introducing more technology into their lessons to helping students produce movies in iMovie. Officials say flipped professional development also differs from traditional models in that it is driven in part by content area, grade level, teachers' technological expertise and teachers' interests. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org) (6/12)

Other News

Duncan asks cable firms to help improve classroom technology
U.S. News & World Report (6/12)
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Why are students frustrated over schools' mobile-device policies?
Education Week/Digital Education blog (6/10)
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Imagine teaching a unit where children are fully engaged, observing, predicting, questioning, and collaborating with their classmates. Starting with Science shows pre-K-2 teachers how inquiry-based science can and should be a key part of the curriculum, enhancing literacy learning and building lasting skills and content knowledge. Preview the entire book!

Managing Budgets

Wis. schools consider best practices for notifying parents of emergencies
A recent incident in which some parents in a Wisconsin district were not notified when their children's school went into lockdown has cast a spotlight on parent notification systems in the state. Districts use various services and systems, with the most popular platform reportedly being SchoolMessenger -- which provides the capability to send text-message alerts at a cost of between $1 and $4 per student, per year. Texting, believed to be the fastest way to reach parents, is not yet in widespread use in Wisconsin schools. WisconsinWatch.org (6/12)

Schools and Social Media

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Facebook begins much-anticipated rollout of hashtags
Facebook has announced that users and advertisers will soon be able to use hashtags in posts as the social network seeks to boost its pages' search rankings and make its platform more conversational. Hashtags will gradually become available to all users in the coming weeks. "If you are already using hashtags in an advertising campaign through other channels, you can amplify these campaigns by including your hashtags in Facebook advertising," the company said in a statement. Adweek (6/12)

Get 1-on-1 Expert Help for Your School
Common Core, teacher evaluations, student achievement—education experts are finding new ways to solve today's big challenges. Learn firsthand how they're doing it at SIIS 2013, July 8-11. Hear from Heidi Hayes Jacobs (Common Core implementation), Janice Poda of CCSSO (InTASC implementation), Alan November (technology in the classroom), and more.

Last Byte

Census: Smartphones aid in closing "digital divide"
For the first time, the U.S. Census collected smartphone data in its annual Internet usage report and found a much smaller racial and ethnic gap -- the so-called "digital divide" -- among smartphone users than landline-based broadband services. The report, which includes data through 2011, found almost no gap between white non-Hispanics and African-Americans. The same trend held for Hispanics and African-Americans, the agency found. Telecompetitor.com (6/11)