Adora Svitak launches a new tv show on motherboard.tv. Adora will embark on a journey to learn as much as she can about whatever she can with film crew in tow. Although Adora has already written three books, she still has a lot to learn.  In this episode Adora travels to the SETI Institute to lean about extra-terrestrial contact and technology we use to learn about space.

Check it out…

JEFFERSON, La. – There are still the typical desks and chairs and textbooks, but classrooms throughout the metro area these days are officially in the digital age.

School districts are making a big push to get the latest technology into classrooms. Officials say they have no choice but to adopt to the changing, high-tech times.

“They’re on cell phones. they’re using gaming devices. they’re using ipods. they’re texting. that’s how they live their lives. and when they walk into a classroom, it’s like the 1950s all over again,” said Jules Hahn, the head of instructional technology for Jefferson Parish public schools.

Click here to watch the video.

Out of over 600 posted last year, the following videos received the largest audiences from June 2008 – June 2009.

(Note… many of the videos below were uploaded to multiple online viewers – thus – the view count in youtube, google or dailymotion may not reflect the actual view count)

Here are the videos:

You can now download a completely new software from Promethean called ActivInspire. The new software represents the culmination of almost three years of effort by a dedicated team within Promethean – and it would not have happened without an immense amount of help from you.

As well as a major functionality update, it is also available as a FREE Personal edition for ANYONE. If you have a SMARTboard™ or other make of Interactive Whiteboard or simply a projector – then all the thousands of lessons and resources shared on Promethean Planet are yours to access and can now be used to engage and excite learners everywhere!

If you simply can’t wait to find out more and try it out, then head over to: Introducing ActivInspire!

And for some great insights into the many possibilities of the new software, the developers have created a fantastic set of flipcharts. Get the Developers Flipcharts

We could not have done it without you….

Now that Promethean operates in over 90 countries we must all find new ways to connect to build the products you want and need. User’s blogs and the Promethean Planet Forum – are some of the tools that have come into play to help build a new “customer connection” that Promethean hopes will continue to form the foundation of an ongoing dialogue with teachers and educators around the world.

Andrew Edwardson, who heads up Software Engineering, had this to say about the experience:

“Getting ActivInspire 1.0 out of the door has been a remarkable journey. I don’t think I have ever worked on a project that had so many passionate people attached to it!

To be honest we didn’t know what to expect once we hit Beta. I remember the day we went live and I nervously Googled “ActivInspire reviews”. Bloggers where telling us about issues but they where also telling us how much they liked the new version. So that really motivated us.

One blog in particular was quite revealing. This teacher from Australia did a marvellous screen cast about Inspire. He did not hold any punches! Anyway it was mainly about video handling within Inspire. I took it into the software department and we all sat and watched it. As a result, I hope you will find that video/Flash handling is a lot smoother experience now!

We would really like to a continue to thank all the teachers out there who use our products and give us such great feedback.”

Promethean was amazed by the response to a trial of the new ActivInspire software. The forum has been buzzing with hundreds of your questions and ideas relating to the BETA version and the final release now benefits from dozens and dozens of key changes made directly in response to YOUR FEEDBACK!

Teacher blogs have proven to be a fabulous way of sharing ideas and best practices within the Educator community and in this case, helping in the development of ActivInspire.

www.activblogs.com was a blogging activity for teachers. Teachers were encouraged to using the emerging Social Web Technology to share their views, ideas and observations about the BETA version of the ActivInspire software- and wow – did they deliver!

Even more exciting was learning about the number of teachers who got equally excited about “blogging” through doing this. It is great to think that one technology can be a catalyst to stimulate a teacher to investigate using other technologies with students.

Over 200 blog submission were made to Activblogs and blog articles were submitted from users all over the world! It would be impossible to pick any fair shortlist from the great array of blogs out there so you will have to search them out and view them all, but some of the highlights for me include:

Teacher Sol: http://teachersol.blogspot.com – A special needs teacher in Washington DC and Winner of the Activblogs contest

Jill Mendell: http://jmendel.blogspot.com – A teacher from St Louis.

OllieBray: http://olliebray.typepad.com – A Depute Head Teacher from Scotland who keeps a busy blog full of ideas

Dai Barnes: http://daibarnes.blogspot.com from Ealing in London

Rosie MacAlpine: http://iwbaustralia.wordpress.com from Australia

Chris Betcher: http://betch.edublogs.org – Another great blog.

We say designed by “Educators FOR Educators” – and with this release, we feel we have lived up to it.

Image: Chicago Tribune

Adora continues to captivate viewing, listening and reading audiences in the USA and beyond. And we can’t help but be humbled that she has chosen Promethean’s technology as a focal point for her thinking in terms of ICT. Here are a few recent national and regional programs:

• http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Kid-Author-Wows-Whitney-Young.html
• http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-prodigy-04feb04,0,3101216.story
• http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/1411931,CST-NWS-kidauthor04.article
• http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.themorningblend.com/&usd=1&usg=ALhdy2_JPWUhR2Qgxpj82p7u2_81m3ULhQ

• http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3554613&referralPlaylistId=949437d0db05ed5f5b9954dc049d70b0c12f2749

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1268988892447834134&hl=en]

Sensible City recently put together this montage of the coverage that Promethean’s products get in the classroom.

In his opening keynote address at the FETC 2009 conference in Orlando, FL, Animal Planet chief ocean correspondent Philippe Cousteau proclaimed: “I have come to realize that, above all, I am a product of good teaching.” And good teaching, he continued, has the power to transform the future.

Cousteau, the grandson of legendary filmmaker and ocean conservationist Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and son of the late marine biologist Philippe Cousteau Sr., spoke of the educator’s challenge–and critical need–to inspire the new generation to “take action for a better future.”

He said, “Make no mistake: The oceans are critical to all life on this planet, and they are in peril.” He cited a range of human causes, from climate change to pollution and ocean acidification to massive population growth, as the greatest threats to the planet’s oceans.

“In the relatively few short years that we have been exploring the oceans,” he said, “much has changed.” Speaking of the vast reefs off the coast of France he frequented as a child, Cousteau confessed, “Indeed, it can break your heart

when you see that the beauty that was once there … is all gone.”

Still, according to Cousteau, all is not lost. Though we live in a time of crisis, we have the power to build a sustainable future together. And the solutions to even our most daunting challenges, he anticipates, will be championed by the next generation, by children “empowered and activated by their teachers.”

[ Read entire article ]

For many educators, the best thing about big education shows and conferences is not the new products and presentations, but what goes on in between the product showcases; Teachers connecting with teachers, the sharing of what is really working in classrooms, the excitement of meeting people you have only interacted with through online tools.

This “unconference” is actually becoming formalised. TeachMeet09, which Promethean is helping sponsor, has packed out one of the main conference rooms at Olympia with over 150 innovative teachers who want to share their ideas with each other about how they are using Technology in their classrooms. Brought together with tools like Twitter and Wikis it shows the power of the Internet to bring like minded people together. Just like Promethean Planet in fact!

[ Read entire article on Promethean Planet ]

All Viewers Please Note:

After 4.5 years acting as the agency of record for Promethean in North America, Sensible City withdrew its services as of September, 2009. Today we have signed on with PolyVision, makers of the eno interactive whiteboard. eno offers a lifetime guarantee and dozens of classroom specific features that you can get with no other provider. But here’s the best part for Sensible City’s environmental commitments: this is the only IWB to achieve the coveted Cradle 2 Cradle Certification. As well, eno reaches Gold Standard under the SCS Indoor Advantage Certification. This makes eno the most environmentally sustainable classroom technology product we’ve found on the market in the USA.

For SRS/LRS, we are now proud to represent Qwizdom - the company that gave birth to an entire market segment over 25 years ago and continues to produce the most enriching interactive experience available for classrooms worldwide. We’re positive that between these two values-driven companies, we now represent the most promising technology available for today’s classrooms. Check them out:www.polyvision.com and www.qwizdom.com.

On Christmas Eve, Ron Clark, the creative, inspiring educator, got a Federal Express package from the Queen of Talk TV, Oprah Winfrey. It was $365,000. Turns out that Winfrey had been monitoring the success of his South Atlanta school and thought that $1,000 a day for an entire year made sense as she was looking for the recipient of her most generous gift this year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Clark, who said his school needs $2.4 million to operate, says the extra money will enable him to provide 26 full scholarships for a year. Last month, his academy also got $300,000 from Tony Cann, vice chairman of Promethean Ltd, the leading manufacturer of collaborative classrooms systems.

[ Read original article ]