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June 14, 2005 - Vol. 6, No. 24
TechLearning News
- In a last minute move before adjourning, the Iowa legislature funded a pilot program to investigate the potential of one-to-one computing.
- River's Edge Charter School is the first school in the Brevard County School District to implement widespread, take-home technology in its middle school curriculum.
- In an innovative and dramatic move to address its teacher shortage, the Los Angeles Unified School District offered 78 graduating high school seniors provisional teaching contracts.
- The Boston Public Schools became the latest school system to limit students' use of Web-based e-mail services at school.
IA Funds Technology Pilots
In a last minute move before adjourning, the Iowa legislature slipped $500,000 for a program to encourage innovative educational uses of technology, including experimentation with laptops as a basic classroom tool, into a bill that pays for an assortment of state construction projects. Earlier in the session, legislators passed a bill creating the Iowa Learning Technology Commission that will collect data relating to the current status of technology in Iowa's public school system focusing on technology that works to improve and increase student achievement. That bill also authorized school technology pilot programs including an Apple Computer one-to-one laptop learning initiative. The $500,000 will serve as seed money for the pilots. The Iowa State Education Association opposes the plan and the Iowa Department of Education says that many other ideas, in addition to one-to-one laptop programs, are worthy of study. Several Iowa school districts are already experimenting with laptop initiatives. All 115 seventh- and eighth-grade students in the Mount Ayr district are equipped with Apple iBooks that they use daily. The cost of the laptop computers, including training, was $109,000. Between 1997 and 2002, the state spent $163 million to upgrade technology in Iowa schools. The Iowa Department of Education says that statewide there are currently about four pupils for every computer. More than 90% of school buildings in Iowa have high-speed Internet access and nearly half have access to a wireless network.
Source: The Des Moines Register
Personal Technology for Middle Schoolers
River's Edge Charter School is the first school in the Brevard County (FL) School District to implement widespread, take-home technology into its middle school curriculum. When school opens in August, returning sixth and seventh graders will receive PDAs equipped with keyboards, while eighth graders will get laptop computers. The school is also working to broker a deal with a local ISP that would provide Internet access to students' homes. Classrooms will be equipped with interactive whiteboards and LCD projectors to facilitate the implementation of the school's technology based curriculum. River's Edge serves a high percentage of poor children, with 85% of the school's 450 students receiving free or reduced price lunches. In addition, 30% are special education students. Only 35% of the school's eighth-graders read at or above an eighth-grade level. School leaders hope that students will become more engaged with learning as a result of having their own personal computing devices. Once school opens in the fall, students and their parents will receive training on the use and care of the computers and the school hopes to allow students to take them home by Christmas. River's Edge has spent about $40,000 on equipment for about 150 students.
Source: Florida Today
LA Growing Its Own Teachers
In an innovative and dramatic move to address its teacher shortage, the Los Angeles Unified School District offered 78 graduating high school seniors provisional teaching contracts. Eighteen students also received scholarships and jobs as teaching assistants. The students had all participated in the district's teaching career academies. If they maintain a 2.7 grade point average in college and receive their teaching credentials by July 2011, they are all guaranteed a job with LA Unified. While several states have programs that prepare high school students for teaching careers, LA Unified is the only one that offers contracts. LA Unified created the teaching academies in 1995 to develop more bilingual teachers to meet the needs of the district's rapidly expanding Latino population. Nearly 73% of the district's student population is Latino this school year. More than 85% of the students who received early contracts and scholarships are Latino. About 1,800 students in 14 high schools participate in the teaching career academies, taking courses required for admission into a four-year university. Students also take a semester-long education course and tutor at an elementary school for at least one hour a week. The combination of the academy environment, contracts and scholarships motivates students to take on a more rigorous course load in high school and encourages them to finish college. College students who have become teachers through LA Unified's Career Ladder have an 86% retention rate and closely match the demographic makeup of the school district. The district sees the program as a way to develop highly motivated teachers who are likely to stay in the local area and who will relate to their students because they come from similar social, economic and cultural backgrounds.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Schools Limit Students' Use of Web-Based E-Mail
The Boston Public Schools became the latest school system to limit the use of Web-based e-mail services at school. The district has prohibited students from checking or sending e-mail from their private accounts, such as Yahoo or AOL, from school computers. The ban was instituted after some students used school computers to send inappropriate messages to other students and teachers. The problem is that users do not have to provide their real names to use many Web-based e-mail services, making it impossible to trace threats or inappropriate communications. But for the roughly two-thirds of students who do not have Internet access at home, the ban restricts their ability to communicate with colleges and potential employers as well as friends. Students expressed their concerns during a School Committee meeting, telling the Committee that the rule prevents them from e-mailing teachers and classmates for group projects, communicating with employers or potential employers during their free periods, and staying in touch with college admissions officers. Most students now do not have district-provided e-mail and were unaware they could get the service. The district says it will issue school system e-mail addresses to students who want them. Meanwhile students can use computers at libraries and other public access spots to keep in touch.
Source: The Boston Globe
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