A 2-year grant brings new technology to schools.

Kara BrooksFox59.com

PolyVision eno Interactive Whiteboards and Qwizdom Student Response Systems in use in Bloomfield School District

INDIANAPOLIS – Remember the days when students would raise their hand and then write their answers with chalk on the chalkboard?

Well, those days are long gone in this sixth grade classroom at IPS School #391. They’re using “virtual ink” and writing on a giant digital screen. The teachers call it “3-D curriculum.”

“What makes it amazing in 3-D is that it’s interactive, and students can come up and visually move things. they can write on it with a pen, ” said teacher Christine Strattman.

[Go to Fox Indianapolis for full story]

March 15, 2010 | Author: Ken Royal

Archimedes Academy a Bronx Gem

The ancient Syracuse problem-solver Archimedes would have appreciated his namesake Archimedes Academy in the Bronx. This 6-12th grade math, science, and technology NYC public school is run by Miriam Lazar—a modern day mathematician, principal, education entrepreneur, author, and problem solver. Unlike Archimedes, her tasks are a bit more difficult—and require a bit more work before shouting Eureka.

Running a successful school, getting corporate sponsorship, providing quality curriculum, with energetic teachers and the technology to back it all up, needs the right person at the helm. I doubt many can say no to “Ms. Miriam” when it comes to her kids, teachers, and school. Makes sense that kids travel from all over—some taking 3 buses, to attend there—and that the school population increases each year. Every space in the building is used. If you’re looking for a school example where success breeds success, Archimedes Academy stands at the top of t…

[Click here to read entire story at Scholastic.com]

By: Jessica Fera, WPXI.com

NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. — Technology is not only changing the way millions of Americans live, work and play, it’s changing the way students are learning in one Beaver County School District.

“Little New Brighton is on its way to being a premiere district in Beaver County. It really is,” said director of technology Rob Lee.

Inside every classroom at New Brighton Middle School you’ll find cutting edge teaching tools that include interactive whiteboards called Eno boards.

“They have every capability from simply being a display screen in which teachers can display various lessons on them, to being fully interactive where teachers can toggle between pictures and class notes and videos and even write over top of what they’re displaying,” Principal Joe Guarino told WPXI.com’s Jessica Fera.

“You’re interacting with the board instead of just sitting there reading off a text book, day dreaming. You’re picking, clicking things that open up links and you’re gonna remember it more and get a better grade,” said seventh grade student Maria Taylor.

Also helping these students make the grade are Quizdom hand-held clickers.

“In the age of text messaging and cell phones, the kids are taking a great liking to those. They’re using those for instant feedback in the classrooms. Teachers can see what the kids are getting and what they are not getting,” Guarino said.

“Using it has made it more entertaining to learn and engaging in it makes me want to learn,” said seventh grade student Paul Radatavich.

Teachers here say the students’ positive attitudes are producing positive results.

“Academically I know I’ve been able to get some really tough concepts through using those types of technology,” said science teacher Anthony Martella.

The middle school and high school are full equipped with these devices and the elementary school is not far behind.

“Because there’s not as many federal dollars for K-5 we still have some work to do,” said Superintendent Dr. David Pietro. “We’re hoping within the next two years we’ll have the type of equipment you’re seeing today in every single classroom in our district.”

The nearly $400,000 needed to jumpstart this initiative has come from a combination of taxpayer dollars along with state and federal grants.

“We feel it’s an investment in our students and that it’s something we need to do to provide our students an education for the 21st century,” Pietro said.

This district has high hopes for the future.

“I feel in the coming years we’ll be a beacon in technology integration not only in the county but in the entire Commonwealth,” Lee said.

[click here to read the entire story at wpxi.com]

Bronx Cheer by Christine Weiser, Managing Editor

March 12, 2010

I’ve been reporting on education for a long time. I’ve been to countless education conferences, reviewed thousands of press releases, and talked to hundreds of educators about how they are changing the lives of young people through the effective use of education technology.

But I don’t get to visit them that often.

That’s why it was a refreshing break from the office to visit the Archimedes Academy for Math, Science, and Technology in the Bronx at the invitation of the principal, Miriam Lazar.

The Web site describes the school as “a 6-12 public school whose mission is to provide a rigorous, innovative, college preparatory education focused on math, science, and technology applications while regularly celebrating the accomplishments of its diverse student body… Our dedicated staff works to improve the abilities and talents of all students through hands-on programs and project based learning.”

When I walked into the Academy building, it was not the urban oasis of cutting-edge tech I expected. The building smelled like most high schools: of paint and sneakers and sweat. Now in the classroom, I was impressed. There was a comfortable atmosphere in the room that buzzed with conversations from the students. Their seventh-grade math teacher was a young man who worked through a math problem on an interactive whiteboard. In front of each student was a math textbook, a notebook, a TI graphing calculator, and a Qwizdom student response system. I had seen these tools demoed plenty of times at conferences, but it just wasn’t the same as seeing them in action. Watch, for example, as these students work through the math problem using their tools:

You can see the kids thinking, using their tools not to solve the problem, but as a means to tap into those higher-order thinking skills so crucial to real learning.

We stopped next at a sixth-grade math class. The atmosphere was slightly more subdued, but the students were still engaged. Every student was participating. If they chatted, it was clear they were talking about the problem that needed solving. This teacher (also a young man) used a traditional whiteboard instead of an interactive whiteboard, combined with a projector and an interactive slate to demonstrate problems in front of the classroom. Again, the class worked through the problem and answered using their clickers. The displayed results were anonymous, but each clicker is linked to a specific student, so the teacher can gather data on the class or individual students who may need support.

We next visited the robotics lab. The school implements project-based learning, partnering with Vision Ed, a company that specializes in bringing emerging technologies to teachers, students, and administrators in high-need areas. The kids demonstrated their complex robot design that they will be entering in April’s Robofest contest:

After the class tour, we returned to a small back room of the library, where I was impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of Principal Lazar…

[There's more! Read the entire story at techlearning.com by clicking on this link]

02.08.2010 – AUSTIN, Texas – Most American educators are familiar with Qwizdom’s interactive classroom technology, but only those attending the Texas Computer Education Association Conference this February will have the unique opportunity to squeeze in hands-on time with the company’s newest hardware release – the Q6 student response system.

Available for pre-order in late march of this year, the Qwizdom Q6 Student Response System is unique in that it offers more opportunity for collaboration than with any previous system, including an easy-to-use keypad similar to a cell phone, text input and a larger LCD screen to view full responses. The small, ergonomic radio frequency remotes allow each student to communicate with the teacher from up to 328 feet away and are durability-tested to withstand the rigors of the classroom.

As the teacher presents questions on a screen, verbally, or by using paper-based activities, pupils enter responses with their remotes. The teacher‘s computer instantly receives the responses and records the results, allowing the freedom to easily manage and control the format and speed of the lesson. The instant response also allows the educator to gauge students’ overall comprehension or to zero in on a struggling pupil. In turn, a student is notified when their response has been received and can silently signal the teacher for help, easing the fear of judgment by peers or falling behind in class.

The device’s 1.8 × 1.5” LCD screen allows for up to 116 character input per transmission. Multiple mark, numeric, sequencing, rating scale, yes/no, fractional/decimal, multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions are all supported by the Q6. Battery life is a year on average.

Software used with Q6 remotes is both PC and Mac-friendly, integrating easily with PowerPoint® and Keynote®. Additionally, Qwizdom Connect software works with hundreds of thousands of pre-made curriculum resource slides.

For more information, visit Qwizdom online at www.qwizdomnews.com.

#####

About Qwizdom, Inc.

Qwizdom provides integrated education technology solutions for thousands of schools throughout the U.S. and U.K. Striving to make learning both effective and engaging, Qwizdom offers the most advanced radio-frequency classroom response technology (patents pending), a complete software learning system, more than 150 interactive curriculum programs, and a digital learning network. Founded in 1984, Qwizdom has offices in the Seattle area, Cleveland, and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.qwizdomnnews.com.

Media Contact
Ian Bryan
828.242.1868
ianbryan@sensiblecity.com

If by chance you aren’t familiar with the Planet Green (Discovery) series Living with Ed,  Ed Begley, Jr. is that guy famous for arriving at Hollywood red carpet events on his bicycle (really putting those limos into perspective.)

Ed works for more nonprofits and corporate change-makers in the world of sustainability than any Hollywood figure I know of, so it’s not surprising that the award-winning actor/environmentalist is slated to speak at the FETC 2010’s opening session.  Ed follows a string of high profile, environmental advocate keynotes including Jeff Corwin (2008) and Philippe Cousteau (2009).

We’ve hosted Ed in the past for West Coast Green, so the idea of him speaking at an educational technology conference in our own backyard is exciting.

FETC’s decision to continuously headline their education technology event with passionate advocates for the environment says something big: K-12 interactive education is stepping up. FETC is leading the shift.

But, what about the individual education technology companies?  What about our national e-waste crisis?  How does “reduce, reuse, recycle” apply in K-12 interactive technology?  Is there actually such a thing as “green edutech”?

Addressing environmental sustainability goals within a technology plan usually comes down to the use of the technology – not the material components of the technology itself.  I might help to consider the following:

1. Energy:  Most of the energy in your classroom, school office or district building probably comes from coal. Consider following the lead of Sharon Campbell from Napa, CA. Sharon connected her classroom technology to a bicycle powered generator so that middle-school kids could put that high energy to use. Read about it at edutopia.org. Or, for a more institutional perspective, check out what this Missouri school system is doing from a system-wide perspective to address energy efficiency via technology.
2. Infrastructure: Sustainable materials sourcing gets tricky, but a visit to PolyVision’s Booth 1101 is a must for anyone working on an integrated technology plan that includes Interactive Whiteboards. Why? Because in addition to its unique features and lifetime guarantee, the ēno Interactive Whiteboard product family is the only line in ed-tech that meets LEED for Schools standards (as a fixture) and that has been awarded the coveted Silver Cradle-to-Cradle Certification offered by MBDC.
3. Materials: Districts and classrooms using less paper and shipping have more money for other things (like more training, curriculum resources, field trips, etc). Shifting from the heavy paper requirements of daily tests and quizzing, student response systems from Qwizdom or lesser competitors can reduce the amount of paper being used for testing by thousands of pages per classroom (not to mention that the technology itself is transformative on student achievement and classroom culture). Find Qwizdom in two spots at FETC: booths 515 and 438. But the real impact on paper-reduction comes with a solid, integrated online apparatus that serves the web needs of every classroom, school and district office within a K12 community. We suggest eChalk. Their latest release, eChalk 10.0, facilitates hoards of communication which used to rely on paper (like permission slips, parent notifications, gradebooks, teacher/parent communications, interoffice communications, etc). Check them out at booth 1335.

Sensible City is a carbon-neutral communications firm with the unusual position of toggling Education and Sustainability. Since we entered the education market five years ago, we’ve been pushing for more disclosure and dialogue across the ed-tech spectrum as it relates to the materials and practices behind today’s interactive classroom and facility technology.

Congratulations, FETC. You are effectively leading a shift in the market that will impact student learning and achievement for decades to come.

P.S. Did we mention that the Orange County Convention Center has one of the largest government-owned PV solar arrays in the country?

‘We use handsets to quiz the children about music’

Terrace Road primary school in inner-city Swansea uses an unusual tool to get pupils engaged in music. Qwizdom is a hand-held voting system, like the ask-the-audience handset used inWho Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which lets the whole class respond to questions, with their answers shown on a graph on an interactive PowerPoint slide.

Teacher Peter Owen explains: “The children in this area don’t tend to have the advantages of music tuition, so there are quite low skills and some reluctance, particularly among some of the boys, towards learning music. But ICT helps to get them engaged. We haven’t got the money for computers in every classroom, so sometimes we take the music class to the IT suite to have a play with music software, but with the Qwizdom handsets we can use them alongside the instruments.

“In music, you’re desperate for them to use their ears so we use the Qwizdoms to play a little ‘name-that-tune’ quiz. It’s a nice warm-up activity that gets them listening. We also use the handsets to listen to sound clips or look at pictures of instruments on the screen and then ask questions. Is the instrument woodwind or percussion? Can they name the instrument? With choir practice, we use it to see if the children can remember the next line in a piece of music. The idea is that by predicting what comes next, they can learn the words much more quickly.

“In recorder class, we can play a note and show a picture of the recorder with the fingering and ask them is this right? You can really get them to think about it. It’s the anonymity that makes it so powerful because it helps grow their confidence.”

[read entire article]

Gadget-weary teachers rejoice. The new wireless Q7 Presenter Tablet from Qwizdom combines many tools onto one device. Use the tablet much like an interactive whiteboard, except do it wirelessly from the back of the classroom instead of with your back turned in the front. Send instructions and receive feedback and requests for help from students on the LCD screen when working within the Qwizdom student response system. Even operate other devices using radio frequencies like volume and window shade controls. It’s slim dimension and light weight make it easy to roam the classroom while you use it. Look for a review in the coming weeks online and in a future issue of Tech&Learning.

[Click here to read article]

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.