Five ways to reinvent a stagnant career

Your once-thriving career has hit a roadblock. Well, you're not alone.

But with the right moves, it can be overcome.

ET suggests how.

 

 

 

 

Look Within

Any reinvention requires reflection.

"The fact that your career is stagnant means you're not doing all that you can do or could have done," says Ronesh Puri, MD of Executive Access.

 

 

 

Create New Flows

It's important to create new inflows and outflows, says Milind Sarwate, group CFO & CHRO, Marico.

Inflows are capabilities that could be leveraged by the organisation.

Outflows are roles that should no longer be played.

 

 

Learn to Unlearn

"Many times, the changing environment makes our old strengths irrelevant. However, we keep playing to them. This drains energy, while not creating value for the individual or the organisation," says Sarwate.

 

 

 

Analyse Competition

It's important to know what others are doing right. And judge where you may be going wrong.

"There was a time when my career was completely stagnant. I studied the performers, played to my strengths, did things differently. It took time but I was back in the game," says banking executive S Lahiri.

 

 

Get a Mentor

Identify someone experienced and reliable outside the organisation who you can trust.

"It should be someone who can help you focus, discipline you and show you the way," says Puri of Executive Access.

Gov't requires new labels for hazardous chemicals

The Obama administration announced long-awaited regulations Tuesday to improve labels on hazardous chemicals and make them conform with international guidelines developed by the United Nations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimated that such labels could prevent more than 40 deaths and about 500 workplace injuries and illnesses from exposure to hazardous chemicals each year.

Assistant Labor Secretary David Michaels said labels will be easier to understand and less confusing, especially for low-literacy workers. About 43 million U.S. workers come in contact with hazardous materials on the job.

The process of developing the rules began during the Bush administration, and the rules were initially proposed more than two years ago. The Obama administration is holding them out as a product of a presidential directive last year to streamline burdensome agency regulations and eliminate red tape.

OSHA Training officials said the latest rules would actually save companies more than $475 million annually in training costs and paperwork. Chemical manufacturers currently have to produce two sets of labels and records: one to satisfy U.S. standards and another to meet the U.N. guidelines.

"Not only will it save lives and limbs, but it will lead to increased efficiency on part of employers who produce and purchase chemicals," Michaels said. "And it will level the playing field for employers to compete abroad."

The rules will be phased in over a transition period and companies will not have to comply with them fully until June 2016.

Elizabeth Pullen, president of the American Industrial Hygiene Association, a trade group representing health and safety professionals in the chemical industry, said the new labels will improve protection for workers, employers and chemical users.

Marc Freedman, executive director of labor law policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said businesses generally support the idea of revising label requirements. But he said OSHA went too far by requiring labels to include hazard information about combustible dust - tiny particles that can catch fire as a result of producing chemicals, plastics, metals and foods.

"It's going to create a lot of confusion and uncertainty, which will undermine whatever other value this regulation provides to these companies," Freedman said.

Michaels said the agency is simply treating combustible dust the same way it has for the last 25 years. He said investigations of deadly explosions, like the sugar dust that blew up the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, Ga., in 2008, killing 14, have shown that workers didn't have the safety handling information they needed to prevent accidents.

The agency is considering a separate rule that would require many industries to better control combustible dust hazards Health Care Compliance Program.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HIPAA gives patient privacy added layer of protection

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Dr. Tom Nielsen, right, and registered nurse Mindy Pecher review a patient’s chart March 14 in the Emergency Department of Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wausau. / Xai Kha/Wausau Daily Herald"][/caption]

 

It started as an effort to allow consumers to change health insurance plans without being penalized for existing medical conditions.

But the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, also set rules on patient privacy, putting new restrictions on public disclosure throughout the health care industry. In some instances, hospitals now will not release information to a patient's family, and ambulance companies will not divulge where they received calls for help.

Hospital officials in Wausau say HIPAA, which took effect in 2003, has had little effect on them because of strict state privacy rules in place since 1983.

"As far as what (information) we release and what we don't, we have not experienced a huge difference," said Sandy Lackey, director of compliance and privacy officer for Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

Patients always can request that information about their hospital stay be withheld from outsiders, including family members. Absent that request, the hospitals will permit visitors, disclose that a patient is being treated there and release basic information about the patient's condition.

Lackey said hospitals release only the information they think is necessary to help family members with patients' care -- information hospitals can release without patients' consent.

"(HIPAA) made it clear that a physician or nurse can provide information to family members involved in the care of a patient to the extent they need that information to assist in care," Lackey said. "But (HIPAA Training) doesn't allow us to say, 'Here's a family member's medical record, review it at will' -- those things are still controlled by the patient."

Emergency responders also need to be careful about using patient information for training purposes, said Josh Finke, EMS Division chief for Wausau's Fire Department.

Finke said Wausau uses past medical calls for EMS training, but "anything that could ID a patient" must be kept out of training to avoid connecting a medical call to a specific patient.

The law sometimes becomes an issue when media outlets seek information about victims injured in crimes, traffic crashes or other incidents.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said some medical professionals interpret patient privacy too broadly as a way of protecting themselves from scrutiny or criticism.

Lueders noted that the state attorney general's office issued a 2007 opinion that ambulance companies could not universally withhold information about ambulance calls under HIPAA Healthcare Compliance.

Despite that one "pressure point," Lueders said he believes the new federal law has improved patient privacy without creating unintended bottlenecks of public disclosure.

"It's not been a big issue in Wisconsin," he said.

-- Reporter Scott Williams
contributed.

$1.5M Fine Marks A New Era In HITECH Enforcement

Data breach at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and subsequent penalty stands an example of the financial fallout from poor healthcare IT security practices

By Ericka Chickowski, Dark Reading
Contributing Writer

Enforcement actions from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) just reached a new level of reality last week when the department announced a $1.5 million settlement with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee over a 2010 data breach, making the organization the first pay out penalties since the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) went live in 2009. The question now is whether such tangible examples of financial fallout will convince healthcare IT to invest in better security measures."It's certainly a warning shot for the healthcare industry," says John Nicholson, counsel for the global sourcing practice at Washington, D.C.-based law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. "But is that a sufficient amount to act as a deterrent? It's hard to tell at this point. It's at the upper end of what organizations can be penalized and when you break it down it equals about a buck a record lost. For companies that are dealing in millions of records, that penalty can add up. But that's just at very large companies. And data breaches are becoming sufficiently routine that everyone sort of looks at it and goes, 'Eh, it's another one.'"But Nav Ranajee, director of healthcare vertical for CoreLink Data Centers, believes that starting to hit the big organizations in the pocketbook and making a spectacle out of the process should have the desired effect. Many of these organizations have been deprioritizing security because there just hasn't been enough financial incentive to push it up the stack on the IT to-do list, he says. The HHS making the risk of pecuniary damage a real risk of failing to comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA Training) security requirements changes that financial equation for these organizations, he says.

"What I'm seeing now when we talk to our clients, say a hospital or a business associate like a software company that services a hospital, is that when it comes to HIPAA, the first priority of a CIO has historically to allocate funds to get that new EMR in house or that new clinical system, because that’s going to pay off in revenue," he says. "But when it comes to making sure HIPAA requirements are up to date, that's usually the last line item on the budget because it's really a sunk cost. Now they're going to have to look at the risk involved and wonder 'Do I risk having a million dollar lawsuit if I don't put the right security protocols in place?'"

The settlement BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee paid to HHS was a penalty for failing to prevent a breach that saw the theft of 57 unencrypted hard drives containing recordings of customer service phone calls. The drives were left behind in a data closet after the company stopped using a leased facility.

"This settlement sends an important message that OCR expects health plans and healthcare providers to have in place a carefully designed, delivered, and monitored HIPAA compliance program," said Leon Rodriguez, director of HHS OCR. "The HITECH Breach Notification Rule is an important enforcement tool and OCR will continue to vigorously protect patients' right to private and secure health information."

According to Nicholson, the breach is a good lesson to healthcare organizations on how compliance really could have helped the security of the organization and maybe even prevented a breach. "One of the things that HIPAA and HITECH require is that you go through an assessment of your policies and procedures whenever your operations significantly change. I don't know for sure, but it seems like BlueCross BlueShield of Tenessee may not have done that evaluation. If they had done it, they might have said, 'We've got these hard drives containing this unencrypted PHI and it's in a locked closet but that's not sufficient in this leased space,'" he says. "That's probably a lesson to healthcare organizations. You really need to do those evaluations anytime a significant aspect of your operation changes that has implications on PHI."

For his part, Ranajee says the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee incident stands as yet another testament of the importance of encryption for healthcare data protection.

"Really, it's all about making sure that if you have data servers in your office or workplace, they need to be locked down--they need to locks on them--and they need to be encrypted," he says. "Those are two of the main things that are not commonplace but they should be." Health Care Compliance

Have a comment on this story? Please click "Add Your Comment" below. If you'd like to contact Dark Reading's editors directly, send us a message.

Five ways to stand out during probation

The first few months in a new job - the probation period - are the most critical.

One needs to make an impression on the boss as well as on teammates and colleagues.

ET shows you how you can pull it off.

 

 

Honour deadlines

Deliver projects and assignments on time, even if you have to work extra.

Also, try not to take leave, unless it's a necessity.

Try to maintain your enthusiasm throughout.

 

Create an impression

Strictly follow the office dress code.

"Also, choose your words carefully since it will, along with your attire, say a lot about you and your background," says image consultant Reshmi Jain.

 

 

Avoid politics

Be cordial with everyone, and avoid going out with colleagues who are into office politics.

Keep an ear on the grapevine, but as a rule, do not contribute to it.

 

 

 

Understand the culture

"Continue in-depth research on the company after you join. Also, do not pick out shortcomings or make recommendations. Instead, talk to the boss on areas of engagement," says GlobalHunt director Sunil Goel.

 

 

 

Learn to listen

Make a conscious effort to listen, more than to talk. "One can address the new associate by name once or twice to establish a more personal and positive professional relationship," adds Ma Foi Randstad MD & CEO, E Balaji.

 

 

 

 

NAACE ICT Mark and ITEM ? Part two

Self Review Framework for the ICT Mark/ITEM

Part two of my review of the NAACE ICT Mark and ITEM looks at the Self-review framework (SRF), which provides a structured method to review your school’s use of ICT and its impact on school improvement. The SRF is free to use and is linked to national standards for ICT and will help you to:

1. Understand what “good” use of ICT looks like


2. Benchmark your progress against other schools


3. Identify your strengths


4. Create an action plan for improvement

You can sign into the BECTA SRF site at: http://ping.fm/QfbhI

The SRF is divided into six elements, which are designed to both support and challenge your school, and you can work through each element at your own pace (* provided courtesy of BECTA).

1. Leadership and management

• Develop and communicate a shared vision for ICT


• Plan a sustainable ICT strategy


• Develop an effective information management strategy

2. Planning

• Plan for the development of pupils’ ICT capability


• Plan the use of ICT to support the curriculum and respond to new technologies


• Ensure pupils’ ICT experiences are progressive, coherent, balanced and consistent


• Identify and evaluate the impact of ICT on learning and teaching

3. Learning

• Plan the use of ICT to enhance elearning and teaching


• Meet pupils’ expectations for the use of ICT


• Consider the impact of ICT on learning

4. Assessment of ICT capability

• Assess ICT capability of pupils’ to support their learning


• Use assessment evidence and data in planning learning and teaching across the whole curriculum


• Assess the learning in specific subjects when ICT has been used

5. Professional development

• Identify and address the ICT training needs of your school and individual staff


• Provide quality support and training activities for all staff in the use of ICT sharing effective practice


• Review, monitor and evaluate professional development as an integral part of the development of your school

6. Resources

• Ensure learning and teaching environments use ICT effectively and in line with strategic needs


• Purchase, deploy and review appropriate ICT resources that reflect your school improvement strategy


• Manage technical support effectively for the benefit of pupils and staff

Once your school has reached a certain level on the SRF you can then move forward and apply for the ICT Mark/ITEM.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/RsMbP

My Takeaways from the 2012 Digital Learning and Media Conference

On March 2 and 3, I attended the third annual Digital Media and Learning Conference in my home city of San Francisco. Though I missed the first day of the conference, I got so much out of days two and three, connecting with educators and thinkers and other folks who are passionate about how we can use technology in smart ways to improve education and expand elearning beyond the classroom.

I won’t summarize all the panels I went to and the conversations I had, but instead will talk about two panels in particular that I found especially inspiring and that highlighted a concept frequently at play throughout the conference: Learning partnerships do not have to begin in the classroom to affect what happens there, and learning partnerships will be integral to the future of education.

The first of these panels, DML: Case Study in Digital Media and Learning Partnerships: A Youth-Centered Design Framework in San Francisco, featured Jill Bourne, Deputy City Librarian for San Francisco; Elizabeth Babcock, Chief Education and Digital Strategy Officer at California Academy of Sciences; Ingrid Dahl, Director of Next Gen Programs at Bay Area Video Coalition; and Matthew Williams, Educational Technologist at KQED. These four individuals, and the institutions with which they are affiliated, have come together to contribute the room, the resources and the expertise required to train youth to create digital media. Bourne explained that San Francisco’s main library would be allotting some 5,000 square feet to develop a teen-friendly space for young people to learn all manner of media production under the guidance of instructors from Bay Area Video Coalition. Cal Academy is hoping some of what the students will produce will be interesting multi-media productions aimed at helping children and teens get excited about science. And by airing the content the teens create, KQED can help bring these productions to a broader audience.

Here’s what I love about this partnership: First, each group brings something to the collaboration, and they each get something from it as well. And second, the partnership fills a need. Most schools do not have the money to buy and maintain the kinds of equipment necessary to do high-quality video and audio production, and they also lack the staff with the expertise required to teach these skills to students. This collaboration among various parts of the community helps to fill a void in “traditional” education. Jill Bourne, the Deputy Librarian, told me that she has recently formed working relationships with three different public high schools in San Francisco. I’m excited to track the progress of this partnership and see what the teens produce and how the teachers work with the group to incorporate media projects into their curricula.

The second panel discussion that had me feeling all fired up was Short Talk Panel: Playful interventions: libraries, college access, after school and media arts, which focused on creating richer learning experiences through games. “Gamification” (“Is that seriously a word?” a friend asked, when I was telling her about the conference. “Yes it is,” I replied) was a popular theme at DML2012, and I’ll be honest when I say people might be a little too game-crazy right now, for my taste. Learning activities need more than just badges to be innovative. Still, I also subscribe to the Alfred Mercier notion that, “What we learn with pleasure we never forget.” And I’ve been know to create games in my own classes when teaching elements of syntax and sentence style, and I’ve found those games to be quite effective in reinforcing the “nuts and bolts” of solid sentence structure. So I was down to hear what the folks on this panel had to say about the role of games in teaching and learning.

Adam Rogers, Emerging Technology Services Librarian at North Carolina State University, gave a lively and interesting presentation about how he and his colleagues redesigned freshman library orientation at NC State by using iPods with the Evernote app installed. Freshman Composition instructors singed up their classes for orientation, and the students in the classes were broken up into teams of four or five students each, with one iPod per team. The students were also given maps of the library and a list of scavenger hunt questions to answer and activities to complete. They logged their answers using Evernote, which allowed them to do things like capture pictures of themselves with a librarian and make note of information contained in certain volumes in the library. It was a fun, engaging way to introduce the students to the library, its staff, and even each other, as they worked together to complete the scavenger hunt. I told Adam that I thought his game had potential to be reworked throughout the year to help students become really good at research. Teachers in various disciplines could work with the librarians to craft a similar game that results in the students collecting preliminary research on a specific topic, further helping them internalize where various kinds of information are to be found in the library, and where to turn if they need help finding better information than what their own search yields.

What both of these panels highlighted for me is the idea brought up at one of the plenary sessions–that education is moving from a one-to-many model to a many-to-many model. That is to say, it really does take a village to raise our youth and educate them and give them the skills they’ll need to survive and succeed in this rapidly changing world. Districts can and should capitalize on the potential of this “many-to-many” model by evolving traditional professional development days into learning partnership days. Teachers often have very little time or space for networking with others–inside and outside of their schools–and yet building relationships with other educators and with those who could contribute to education beyond the school walls helps to make the educational experience for both faculty and students so much richer. I left DML2012 full of hope for the future of teaching and learning and fully ready to be part of that future. My hope is that schools will embrace this future by thinking outside the classroom to find innovative ways to help the village contribute resources and expertise to the educating of our youth.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/R7ln7

Tech meet an app for innovative teachers

BOYNTON BEACH — Each year more than 2,500 educators attend the annual School District of Palm Beach County’s Technology Conference. This year’s conference is set for Monday, March 26 at Santaluces Community High School in Boynton Beach. The theme is, “We Have an App for That: Innovative Teachers.”

Teachers and administrators from other public and private schools in Palm Beach County and surrounding counties are invited to participate. In addition, educators from local colleges and universities are also invited to attend.

To register and for more information regarding the an innovative learning experience, visit the conference website, techconf.palmbeachschools.org

The keynote speaker will be internationally renowned Rushton Hurley, founder and executive director of the educational nonprofit Next Vista for Learning. Hurley has worked and studied on three continents as a Japanese language teacher, principal of an online high school, teacher trainer, educational technology researcher and school reform consultant.

The closing speaker is Travis Allen, a young visionary for digital learning in the classroom. A few years ago, while still in high school, Travis created a viral YouTube video on revolutionizing education in America through mobile learning. Today, Travis is a junior at Kennesaw State University, where he operates his growing non-profit organization, The iSchool Initiative.

Other featured speakers include Mark Benno, Apple area development manager and curriculum evangelist; John Couch, Apple vice president of education; Hall Davidson, senior director of Global Learning Initiatives for Discovery Education; Lance Rougeux, director of Discovery Educator Network; and Dean Shareski, digital learning consultant for Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw, SK and contributor to Tech for Learning and Huffington Post.

As in the past, in addition to a variety of other nationally known speakers, the conference will feature a large offering of breakout sessions, a leadership track, and an extensive vendor hall.

This year, an Innovative Educator Contest is being held in which teachers were asked to demonstrate how they use technology in the classroom to enhance learning outcomes while increasing student engagement and success. Numerous teachers submitted project examples demonstrating innovative uses of technology. The winners will be honored at the conference Opening Session.

For more information contact Lee Kolbert at 561-714-8180 or 561-434-8497 or via e-mail at lee.kolbert@palmbeachschools.org

Nelson's digital learning bill advances

By Post-Bulletin staff

ST. PAUL — Legislation that encourages more online learning in the classroom passed the Minnesota Senate on Thursday with broad bipartisan support.

Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, sponsored the digital learning bill. It would require the Online Learning Advisory Council, with the help of the Minnesota Department of Education, to develop a catalog for teachers of all the digital learning materials indexed to Minnesota academic standards. There will also be a system set up that will allow teachers and students to rate the material. The bill also requires a study to determine how to link student performance to the digital learning materials.

The bill also allows basic skills revenue to be used for digital elearning, and it encourages every Minnesota student to take at least one online class before graduating.

Nelson's bill calls for a review of state regulations to identify any that might impede digital learning in the classroom.

The Senate passed the bill 53-11. The measure now goes to the House and, if it passes there, the governor.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/vGTCl

New Report Urges Online Learning Expansion in Texas

Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Public Policy Foundation would like to see Texas follow Florida’s lead in increasing access to virtual schools.

A report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation suggests that virtual education and blended elearning both present the opportunity for cost savings and academic gain in Texas.

“At the K-12 level, the potential of virtual education is enormous,” said the report’s author, James Golsan. “Through the use of technology, students in rural districts would have access to the same educational resources as students in more populated areas. Familiarization with technology could prepare students for the work force more quickly.”

While there is some concern about the ability of existing traditional institutions to convert to blended learning facilities, it’s a popular model for new start ups. Virtual education is already a success story in Florida and the TPPF wants Texas to follow Florida’s lead.

“Florida has one of the longest standing and most successful virtual education programs in the country,” Golsan said. “As Texas seeks to improve its own digital learning environment, an examination of the Florida model provides the state with an example by which to fashion, at the very least, its public virtual education after.

Several benefits to a virtual education model are highlighted in the report, such as increased course availability and access to quality instructors. Although virtual education institutions have come under fire in the past for high dropout rates, the report believes that dropout recovery could be best served in the virtual arena.

Another highlighted benefit to Texas expanding its digital education offerings is the potential for huge cost savings. Not only does the report claim that educating students online is cheaper than traditional in-person methods, but that cost efficiencies of scale accrue more under a digital learning platform.

“Currently, Texas funds its students at a rate of around $11,000 per pupil,” Golsan said. “Research suggests that full-time virtual students can be educated for between $1,500 and $3,000 less per student than those in traditional brick-and-mortar settings.”

The perceived benefits of online education have recently come under scrutiny from Great Lakes Centre for Education Research and Practice, but the TPPF remains enthusiastic.

The report also recommends the easing of the course approval process for digital coursework, the promotion of private provider participation in digital learning, the creation of a scholarship program for digital learners, and the opening of the Texas Virtual School Network to private and home-schooled students.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/Xomk6

New Report Urges Online Learning Expansion in Texas

The Texas Public Policy Foundation would like to see Texas follow Florida’s lead in increasing access to virtual schools.

A report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation suggests that virtual education and blended learning both present the opportunity for cost savings and academic gain in Texas.

“At the K-12 level, the potential of virtual education is enormous,” said the report’s author, James Golsan. “Through the use of technology, students in rural districts would have access to the same educational resources as students in more populated areas. Familiarization with technology could prepare students for the work force more quickly.”

While there is some concern about the ability of existing traditional institutions to convert to blended learning facilities, it’s a popular model for new start ups. Virtual education is already a success story in Florida and the TPPF wants Texas to follow Florida’s lead.

“Florida has one of the longest standing and most successful virtual education programs in the country,” Golsan said. “As Texas seeks to improve its own digital learning environment, an examination of the Florida model provides the state with an example by which to fashion, at the very least, its public virtual education after.

Several benefits to a virtual education model are highlighted in the report, such as increased course availability and access to quality instructors. Although virtual education institutions have come under fire in the past for high dropout rates, the report believes that dropout recovery could be best served in the virtual arena.

Another highlighted benefit to Texas expanding its digital education offerings is the potential for huge cost savings. Not only does the report claim that educating students online is cheaper than traditional in-person methods, but that cost efficiencies of scale accrue more under a digital learning platform.

“Currently, Texas funds its students at a rate of around $11,000 per pupil,” Golsan said. “Research suggests that full-time virtual students can be educated for between $1,500 and $3,000 less per student than those in traditional brick-and-mortar settings.”

The perceived benefits of online education have recently come under scrutiny from Great Lakes Centre for Education Research and Practice, but the TPPF remains enthusiastic.

The report also recommends the easing of the course approval process for digital coursework, the promotion of private provider participation in digital learning, the creation of a scholarship program for digital learners, and the opening of the Texas Virtual School Network to private and home-schooled students.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/nVelk

NAACE ICT Mark and ITEM ? Part one

The ICT Mark and ITEM

The ICT Mark is an accreditation for schools that have reached nationally agreed levels within the self-review framework. Schools accredited with the ICT Mark standard are demonstrating that they are committed to using technology to improve their overall effectiveness and efficiency.

The continued development of the ICT Mark by NAACE, supported by the Department for Education is supporting schools to raise standards by using the Self-review Framework. Celebrate putting technology at the heart of elearning in your school by working towards the ICT Mark.

The International Technology in Education Mark (ITEM) is an Internationally recognised accreditation based on the ICT Mark and ISTE NETS. Accredited by NAACE, which is a UK based ISTE affiliate, ITEM provides the framework for International schools to self-review their technology provision throughout all areas of the school from administration and management to curriculum technology integration.

The Benefits of the ICT Mark/ITEM

The ICT Mark/ITEM can help your school to demonstrate the effective use of technology throughout a range of initiatives and as ICT reaches deeply into the core of all school activities the ICT Mark/ITEM can provide widespread benefits across many aspects of school life.
Applying for ICT Mark/ITEM assessment and achieving accreditation can offer your school a number of benefits*:

 * Provides an opportunity to celebrate success
 * Verifies your own self-review judgements
 * Recognises whole school improvement
 * Provides an opportunity to be seen as centre of excellence
 * Tells suppliers that you are an informed customer
 * Provides you with credibility for hosting visits and providing services
 * Provides an opportunity for learners to celebrate their use of ICT
 * Gives parents confidence that technology is being used effectively
 * Informs parents that you offer better communication to families and homes
 * Informs other schools and organisations that you are a potential partner for extending opportunities for learning through technology
 * Raises public recognition of good practice in the use of ICT
 * Strengthens your bids for involvement in new initiatives
 * Recognises your commitment to self-review and evaluation
 * Recognises your commitment and hard work
 * Includes promotional material and guidance on how to use the ICT Mark to promote your school.
* Benefits listed courtesy of NAACE

As you can see the working towards the ICT Mark/ITEM can benefit your school in many ways.
My next post will look at The Self Review Framework for the ICT Mark/ITEM.

This article was originally posted at  http://ping.fm/2447Z

No More Pencils, No More Books

The popular children's chant may have a whole new meaning before long. State and federal government agencies have talked about and passed legislation to move towards digital education. With the rise of tablets on iBook publishing, a new age of learning may be upon us.

The American education system, however, must proceed with great caution that this trend does not lead to a new digital divide and greater inequity among students accessing a good education.

Let me explain by comparing the paths two nations are taking.

Korea's Rise as a Digital Powerhouse

South Korea has pledged that all elementary and secondary schools will be completely digital by the year 2015. The ministry of education will ensure that every student has access to a mobile device, a strong connection to the Internet, and a cloud-computing network dedicated to education.

In many ways, this isn't a great leap. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) listed South Korea—with Internet speeds on average three times faster than that in the United States—as the leading nation on their survey of digital literacy. "Digital technologies provide a great opportunity to make students more active participants in classroom learning," said Barbara Ischinger, OECD Director of Education. "[It helps] to tailor learning ... and to give students access to the world's current research and thinking."

What's remarkable is that this ranking, according to the Korean Ministry of Education, is not good enough. The Ministry has since targeted their policies and some $2.4 billion in funding so that best practices in digital learning become the norm for all students within three years.

UNESCO has documented through a series of reports how South Korea has equitably integrated digital computing in schools on a national level. Formal standards for teacher education and training, among other best practices, are now being shared widely by the international agency.

School systems around the world are watching Korea, not just for its high-achievement rates, but also to see if it succeeds in being the first country to go entirely digital.

United States' Hope

Last week, computer giant Apple announced the iBook2, a powerful platform for textbooks. It released iBook Author, a free app that allows anyone to publish educational content. Apple also announced that iTunes U, the world's largest repository of educational content, is now available to elementary and secondary schools in 123 countries.

Apple's announcement may well be a game changer, but it follows a long line of private tech companies creating tools, sharing content, and offering training to the education industry.

There's also political will backing digital learning. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education unveiled a plan titled "Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology." One of its key goals is wide-scale adoption of digital learning.

In 2011, the federal government developed an independent non-profit called Digital Promise, whose mission is "to support a ... research and development program to harness the increasing capacity of advanced information and digital technologies to improve all levels of learning and education ... in order to provide Americans with the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global economy."

States are getting in the game, too. Last summer, Florida announced its goal to phase out textbooks in favor of digital learning by the year 2015. And Alabama representatives are planning to introduce the "Alabama Ahead Act" which would allow schools to purchase electronic tablets instead of textbooks. The state has already made large investments in statewide broadband service.

Is digital learning an area where American ingenuity and innovation can be bolstered by public policy? Can it mean equal access to cutting-edge, excellent education is attainable?

In order to realize this vision our systems need to be aligned.

In a recently released study, only one out of five teachers believe they have the know-how to teach effectively with technology, despite a 91% rate of digital access.

Three lessons we can learn from Korea:

• Schools of education must model this type of teaching and learning for a new generation of teachers.


• Funding shouldn't necessarily be equitable, but rather that it should lead to equitable outcomes.


• We need to move beyond pilots and focus on ensuring every student has access to best practices.

Innovations must be matched with supportive policies, not to mention supportive teachers and parents. One thing we know from OECD studies is that excellence in education cannot happen without equity. Let's not let the promise of e-learning go by the wayside when there are successful models that show us the right way.

This article was originally posted at  http://asiasociety.org/education/learning-world/no-more-pencils-no-more-books

Digital Learning, Acceleration Bills Advance

Some high school students could have an expedited path to high school graduation, while others could graduate already trained for jobs if a pair of House bills gets final approval in the Senate.

Rep. Kelli Stargel's Acceleration Bill, HB 7059, passed the House on Monday and is awaiting action in the Senate.

If passed, it could allow K-12 students to progress through their schooling faster.

Another bill proposed by Stargel — which passed the House on Tuesday and is on its way to the Senate — is the Digital Learning bill, HB 7063, where students could take courses online either during school or after.

"They really go hand-in-hand," said Stargel, R-Lakeland. "For highly functioning students, who says they have to go to school for 180 days a year or take courses only during the school day?"

HB 7058 would create the Academically Challenging Curriculum to Enhance Learning (or ACCEL) to provide accelerated courses or instruction to eligible students.

The program would allow students to skip grades or receive mid-year promotions. It would also allow eligible students to skip certain subjects if they passed an exam, similar to CLEP tests that can be taken for college credit.

It would allow early graduation for students after completing 24 credits and the standard graduation requirements. The bill also states that a district would not lost any of its full-time equivalency funding if a student graduates early.

Stargel said the bill would not only benefit students who plan on going to college, but as early as middle school students could enroll in vocational classes.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/qWkWl

TELL US: Your Schooling on Tech Tools

The Middletown Township Public Schools District is celebrating and rewarding those who rose to and met tech challenges in February. What's your favorite, least favorite tech tool?

In an effort to infuse technology directly into classroom instruction and keep staff and students on the cutting edge of digital technology, the Middletown schools district initiated what was dubbed Digital eLearning Month in February. The culmination of the month’s efforts will be showcased and celebrated at 3 p.m. on March 8 in the Middletown High School South cafeteria.

The month-long endeavor was borne out of the Feb. 1 National Digital Learning Day. The month was dedicated to the use of electronic tools and resources for teaching and learning and their effects, a statement from Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Dr. Jill Takacs.

Middle and high school teachers learned about and used “a variety of new and existing 2.0 digital tools with their students,” Takacs’ statement added. The teachers who met the challenge and participated in the program and implemented the new technologies in classroom projects and daily learning will be eligible to win iPads and other digital tools in a raffle at the March 8 event. The tech tool raffle gifts were donated by Archipelago Learning (Study Island), TechSmith, and My Learning Plan.

Tackacs cited some of the highlights of the learning experience for the month.

Examples of some of the projects completed with the integration of the new technologies were: the presentation of a family tree in World Language Classes, in which students presented their final projects using Prezi, Gogster, and Animoto, along with the utilization of Word Press and Story Bird to communicate with each other in a foreign language; the conducting, in science class, of online research to better understand hurricanes and landforms and Brain Pop to help reinforce these concepts; the creation, in arts classes, digital online art galleries in order to display student creations; music study via the use of MP3 technology and YouTube clips; the writing of original scripts in language arts classes centered on the theme of bravery; the use of Animoto to create movie trailers in order to “sell” their original works to the movie going public; the preparation, in social studies classes, of prepared multi-media presentations on various topics related to the curriculum.

“Digital Learning Month has exuded excitement for both the teachers and students in the Middletown Township Public Schools at all educational levels,” the statement said. “The educators believe in the power of teachers and students learning together through digital resources.”

What is your favorite tech tool for use in professional and/or school projects? What's your favorite program? What tool do you think is too complicated?

TELL US all about it in the comments section below.

Technology: How to buy a budget tablet

A year is a long time in technology. At around this time last year, a tablet was considered an extravagance, with prices hovering in the vicinity of Rs 25,000.

Today, things are markedly different. You can walk into a store and pick a good quality tablet for less than half this amount.

But, how do you zero in on a 'quality' tablet? The sub-Rs 15,000 tablet market contains some very good devices but is also populated with rather ordinary ones.

So, here are a few points to keep in mind before you take the plunge.

Operating system

Barring the BlackBerry Playbook, whose 16 GB version is skimming below the Rs 15,000 mark and which runs on the BlackBerry Tablet OS, the only tablets that you are likely to get for less than this price are the ones running on Android, Google's operating system for smartphones and tablets and the most popular mobile operating system in the world currently.

However, we would advise you to make sure that you acquire a recent version of the operating system-Android 2.3 (or Gingerbread, as it is called) at the very least. It will result in smoother performance and will also be easier to upgrade if the need arises.

We recommend: Android 2.3 or higher
Bare minimum: Android 2.2

Display

In terms of size, you will find yourself being restricted to 7-inch displays. But more than the size, it's the type of touchscreen that will determine how enjoyable your experience will be. There are two types of touchscreens-resistive (which responds better to styluses) and capacitive (which works better with fingers).

You should opt for a capacitive display as these are generally more expensive but are easier to use, and Android works better on them. One of the reasons for the failure of the much-hyped Aakash was the fact that it came with a poor quality resistive display. In terms of resolution, anything below 800x480 pixels is not to be considered.

We recommend: 7-inch capacitive display, 1024 x 600 pixels
Bare minimum: 7-inch capacitive display, 800 x 480 pixels

Connectivity

Most people buy tablets to be able to browse the Web while on the move. Ideally, you should pick a tablet that supports 3G connectivity, though having a Wi-Fi-only tablet will work just as well if you are unlikely to venture far from a Wi-Fi hotspot.

In most cases, a tablet with 3G connectivity will let you make phone calls as well, a handy bonus for those who do not like carrying multiple devices. Ease of connectivity with other devices should be kept in mind too. The best option would be to get a tablet that has support for USB devices, though it is rare in this price segment. Bluetooth connectivity, however, is a must.

We recommend: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, phone call support
Bare minimum: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Processor

When it comes to processor speed, the faster the better. Most budget tablets come with single core processors with speeds in the range of 600 MHz-1 GHz. We would advise you to go with the fastest possible processor, though we have seen 800 MHz processors do a decent job on tablets running Android 2.3.

We recommend: 1 GHz processor
Bare minimum: 800 MHz processor

Memory and storage

While Android can function reasonably well on tablets with 256 MB RAM, it works significantly better on devices that have 512 MB, especially if you want to run Android 2.3.

Anything less and you will witness an occasional lag in performance and may be applications crashing. Most budget tablets come with 512 MB storage space, of which usually around 300 MB is available for usage. This is expandable using a memory card, which is often bundled with the tablet.

In the case of storage, the higher the better, so negotiate for a higher capacity memory card while buying the tablet.

We recommend: 512 MB RAM, expandable storage
Bare minimum: 256 MB RAM, expandable storage

Multimedia

The tablets in this division are unlikely to be multimedia powerhouses but will, in most cases, play videos and music decently well. In a perfect scenario, we would recommend a device with dual cameras with the capacity to play HD video, but barring this, we would insist that you go for a device that has at least a front-facing camera as tablets are handy for making video calls. Most tablet displays are good to play DVD quality videos.

We recommend: Dual cameras, capacity to play HD video
Bare minimum: Front-facing camera

Pre-installed apps

No matter which tablet you purchase, it is likely to come with some pre-installed applications. These could vary from browser variants and special application stores to full-fledged office suites.

While having a lot of software pre-installed on the tablet might appeal to many who are on a tight budget, the downside is that it eats up storage and can slow down the performance of your tablet. So, it makes sense to opt for a tablet that comes with applications that you need and are likely to use rather than just plain bloatware.

We recommend: Browser with Flash support, office suite with the ability to read and edit MS Office files
Bare minimum: Office suite with the ability to read MS Office files, media player, Android market

Battery life

This is an important part of a portable device. However, measuring battery life is not easy. A larger battery may be capable of lasting longer but a lot depends on the quality and resolution of the display, the processor, RAM and so on.

We would suggest that you consider how long the battery can last with Wi-Fi running on a single charge. The longer it runs, the better it will be. In this price segment, anything in excess of six hours will be a huge bonus if you are a power user.

We recommend: Eight hours on Wi-Fi
Bare minimum: Six hours on Wi-Fi

West Prairie ag classes learning with iPads

West Prairie High School student Jacqueline Heaton, a freshman, uses an iPad tablet computer during a recent lesson on the universal swine identification system in agriculture teacher Corinne Galvan’s Orientation to Agriculture class.

Sciota, Ill. —

In a move toward West Prairie School District’s plan to provide each student at the high school with their own digital device by as early as 2013, agriculture teacher Corinne Galvan’s students have been using iPad tablet computers since January. Three or four times per week, students use the iPads to enhance a classroom lesson, study for a quiz, or read a digital agriculture-related article for class.

As the experimental class of sorts for the district’s future technology plan, they’re also discovering, along with Galvan, what they find most and least beneficial about a digital elearning environment.

During one of her recent morning Orientation to Agriculture classes, Galvan conducted a lesson on the universal swine ear notching system using the iPads. Students used their finger to draw a pig ear on the iPad’s touch screen, then added numbered notch marks.

That’s one way the iPads are being incorporated into the class, but Galvan said the devices have been most beneficial in preparing students for quizzes. The use of digital flashcards, which include graphics and immediately let students know which answers are incorrect, has boosted quiz and test scores.

“They’ve gotten a lot better and we’re having some serious conversations about how is that going to change what we’re doing, how we’re studying.” Galvan said.

One student, freshman Jaqueline Heaton, said she likes using the iPads because all of her class materials are in one place-on the device.

“Everything is right there on the computer,” she said. “You don’t have to go search.”

Galvan is using a number of free apps with her agriculture classes, including Flipboard, which allows her to create an interactive, digital book of class materials for the iPads; MarketWatch, which lets her Agriculture Business students create and monitor their own mock stock portfolios; Educreations, an interactive whiteboard used for the lesson on the swine ear notching system, and others.

While she is pleased with the iPad experiment so for, Galvan acknowledges that using iPads a few times per week provides only a glimpse of what might happen when students someday arrive to class their own devices.

“It’s a little different than having nine iPads in your classroom,” she said. “That’s a little bit more manageable than having 25 children come into your classroom with their own laptops and you wonder how you’re going to do things with integrity.”

For Galvan, maintaining integrity in the classroom means recognizing that digital learning cannot replace the real experience gained hands-on learning, especially when it comes to the science aspect of her classes.

“It’s not like we do everything on the computer,” she said. “We still do activities in the greenhouse and cut stuff open because I think we need that.”

Galvan also recognizes that using a digital device doesn’t fit the learning style of all students and so she incorporates different activities, such as kinesthetic movement or group discussion, into a lesson using a digital device.

“The whole idea is we’re not just opening a Word document and typing all period,” she said. “Like today, the activity we’re going to do is going to require them to do partner work and get up and move.”

When it comes time for the school district to chose a device that will be given to each student, Galvan’s students already have a suggestion: laptop computers. Several students noted the full keyboards on laptops make the devices more useful for academic purposes than iPads, which have touch screens and lack keyboards.

Galvan said she is concerned about the potential cost of apps that would have to downloaded onto each device. All of the apps Galvan currently uses are free downloads.

“What if I spend $5 on it and don’t like it?” she asked. “Then I’ve kind of wasted $5. I wish there was something like ‘Try this free for 10 days.’ I wish that was there for the educator.”

While uncertain about the drawbacks of the iPad, Galvan is pleased with how the digital devices have enhanced her classroom and she been comparing this year’s test scores with those of last year’s students.

“Test scores are considerably better,” she commented. “Means on tests are way higher than they were a year ago. We will continue to reflect on how we’re using them and what works.”

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/dpIcS

Faculty Initiative: Technology in the Classroom

Colleges and universities across the country are rising to the challenge of utilizing technology in the classroom and meeting the demands of students in the technology age. St. Norbert College is not far behind the pack with a new faculty initiative.

Last February, President Kunkel and the Office of Faculty Development led a forum called "eLearning in the Digital Age." This forum was held to raise awareness of the growing trend in higher education to make use of digital technologies in the classroom.

Dean Jeffery Frick then appointed a panel of faculty members called the "Digital Learning Initiative" task group (DLI) to continue with the discussion.

Members of the task group include Paul Johnson, associate professor of philosophy, Reid Riggle, associate professor of education, Gratzia Villarroel, associate professor of political science, John Frohliger, associate professor of mathematics, Blake Hensen, assistant professor of music and Kristin Vogel, director of the library.

The group has released a DLI report on technology in higher education. The report includes the context of the discussion up until now: a history of digital learning, the group's guiding principles, the group's recommendations, and the group's vision statement.

The vision statement of the DLI is: "St. Norbert College shall work to establish and foster a culture of collaborative entrepreneurship across the campus which incentivizes, supports and acknowledges the development and successful incorporation of digital learning skills and technologies into the educational Mission of the College."

The task group is interested in the pedagogy, or the teaching techniques, implementing technology in classroom and what this can bring to education.

One of the guiding principles in the document is, "Change is imminent, and St. Norbert College must adapt."

"Until now, the discussion was kept to faculty and staff at St. Norbert College," said Johnson, "but now an important next step in the process is to involve the students to broaden the conversation."

The committee plans on taking the next step of involving students through general surveys and forums which students along with the St. Norbert College community would be invited to attend.

"I would like to see student focus groups," said Riggle. "I think a focus group would be more structured and the dialogue would contain specific questions or concerns."

An example of one of the questions the DLI has is the use of social media in higher education. Social media does not always transfer to the classroom and the task group needs the students' opinions and thoughts on why this is.

There are two ideas the DLI has presented to boost technology in the classroom. The first is to provide faculty with a small stipend to promote the use of technology. The second is to delegate one faculty member in each discipline to be the technology advisor.

"The committee has the idea of the full spectrum pedagogy," said Johnson, "One end of the spectrum holds the traditional professors and the other end holds the entrepreneur professors with all the colors in between."

The committee values both ends of the spectrum because both are extremely valuable to the Liberal Arts experience.

Something the task group is aware of is the push and pull of the spectrum. "If we lean far towards technology then what do we lose in the classroom?" said Johnson.

"It's important to maintain balance," said Riggle, "We don't want to leap into technology, but what is the best course environment as we progress into the future?"

The school plans to place implementing technology into higher education high on the school's Strategic Plan.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/8GAjZ

Archbishop Mitty High School embraces iPad as learning tool

By Patrick May

It's midmorning and the faces of the students in Tim Wesmiller's religious studies class are bathed in the baby-blue glow of their iPad screens.

Instead of sitting in rigid rows of desks staring at a blackboard, as they would in a typical classroom, kids huddle in groups to brainstorm and blog about Indian culture. Lessons flash from tablets to digitalized white board and back. The "lecture" is a blend of YouTube videos and interactive maps. There's very little paper and no sign of chalk.

Faculty and students in this two-year iPad pilot project at Archbishop Mitty High School say this is the future of education.

"We still use paper and pencils sometimes," says Jeremy Pedro, a soft-spoken junior. "But our homework is mostly digital. Paper homework is a thing of the past."

So are one-dimensional science lessons, teachers glued to the front of the classroom, and backpacks stuffed to the gills with backbreaking textbooks.

"The richness and potential here is much greater than just e-books," Principal Tim Brosnan says. "The students have embraced the idea that learning happens not just in class but at home and anywhere else they can go online. The iPad's not some magic pill, but seeing students collaborate on them seems to add more life to the elearning process."

For the past two school years, Mitty's pilot project has put Apple's popular tablets in the hands of 250 students in 14 classes. Next fall the school will rent an iPad

for all 1,680 students and 104 teachers, putting Mitty at the vanguard of a quickening trend toward digitalized education.

"What's coming this fall is huge, and I think you'll see it happening in every school across the country in the next five years," Brosnan says. "It's almost as if the iPad was the device we were all waiting for."

John Couch, Apple's vice president of education marketing, says the iPad's lightweight, tech prowess and versatile user-interface make it a valuable learning tool for "a generation of kids who grew up in a digital world."

"They want to express themselves in class through the same media-rich environment they observe around them outside of school. I see the iPad as a classroom without walls," says Couch, adding that the tablet's just the latest in a long line of Apple's efforts on the education front. "We've built this ecosystem with a lot of content like iBooks that's not just digital but truly transformational, with interactivity and other features that traditional textbooks don't have."

While Apple's dominance in e-learning is certainly not guaranteed, considering how many hardware companies and content providers have already jumped into the space, the Cupertino tech giant certainly has a solid toehold. And it owes a lot of that success to the iPad's seductive lure.

Earlier this month, Apple said it would offer interactive digital textbooks and tools for teachers to create their own books using iAuthor. This was a longtime dream of Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs, who once predicted the iPad would make print textbooks obsolete.

That's already coming true in Wesmiller's classroom, where students are following an online textbook their teacher personally crafted as a dynamic mashup of content from the Library of Commerce, YouTube and Google (GOOG) maps.

Valerie Wuerz, 17, peers into her iPad, where an app called 7 Billion breaks down the global impact of overpopulation in text, slides, video and forums where students can share ideas and develop projects. She calls the iPad "a great resource, because textbooks are expensive and heavy to lug around."

But the costs of going digital have raised concerns that struggling public districts will never be able to afford tablets for every student, widening a digital divide between public and private schools. Mitty bought the first 250 iPads at about $500 each, but will rent the ones next fall and charge each student an as-yet-undetermined monthly fee folded into their tuition. Even with those fees, Brosnan says parents will save money over time because an $80 print textbook, for example, will be replaced by a $14 iBook version.

Down the hall, science teacher Kate Slevin's class focuses on the subject of momentum.

"OK, guys," she says. "Open your iPads." They use a note-taking, audio-recording app called Notability that lets users write notes with their fingers over text on the screen. They can import a syllabus or a book chapter, create bullet outlines, and record the lecture in case they miss something. And they can email their marked-up document to the teacher, which is what Zak Hovey, 14, just did.

"I love the iPad," he says, "because everything you need is in your hands and all in one place."

Fellow student Jennifer Canfield, 14, uses the tablet in her Spanish class, "and it makes working on pronunciation and looking up words much easier than using a printed book."

Asked if she's tempted to wander the Web instead of focusing on class work, a concern some educators have raised about digital learning, Canfield replies: "I'm not that kind of student."

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/Al9gr

Microsoft sees future in Windows 8 amid iPad?s rise

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="215" caption="Microsoft is developing a version of Windows 8 that can run on the more tablet-friendly microprocessor technology licensed by ARM Holdings."][/caption]

New version of the Windows operating system to be unveiled Feb. 29

Microsoft is scrambling to preserve what’s left of its kingdom, and it’s pinning its hopes on a new version of Windows that could spawn a new breed of hybrid machines: part tablet computer, part laptop.

Since the company released its Windows operating system in 1985, most of the sequels have been variations on the same theme. Not that it mattered much. Regardless of the software’s quality, Microsoft managed to remain at the center of the personal computing universe.

The stakes are much different as Microsoft Corp. puts the finishing touches on Windows 8—perhaps the most important piece of software the Redmond, Wash., company has designed since co-founder Bill Gates won the contract to build the first operating system for IBM Corp.’s personal computer in the early 1980s.

A test, or “beta,” version of the revamped operating system will be unveiled Feb. 29 in Barcelona, nudging Windows 8 a step closer to its anticipated mass market release in September or October. The company will offer the most extensive look at Windows 8?s progress since it released an early version of the system to developers five months ago.

Microsoft designed Windows 8 to help it perform a difficult balancing act. The company hopes to keep milking revenue from a PC market that appears to be past its prime, while trying to gain a stronger foothold in the more fertile field of mobile devices. It’s a booming market that, so far, has been defined and dominated by Apple Inc.’s trend-setting iPhone and iPad and Google Inc.’s ubiquitous Android software.

“Microsoft’s future path is riding on Windows 8 and its success,” said Gartner Inc. analyst David Cearley. “This is a chance for Microsoft to re-establish itself in a market where it’s becoming increasingly irrelevant.”

If Windows 8 is a hit, it could also help lift the fortunes of struggling PC makers, including Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. Besides giving businesses and consumers a reason to consider new PC purchases, Windows 8 is expected to spawn a new breed of hybrid machines that will be part tablet computer, part laptop.

If Windows 8 is a flop, however, it will increase the pressure on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. His 12-year reign has been marred by the company’s troubles adapting to an Internet-driven upheaval. As Microsoft has stumbled, faster-innovating companies such as Apple and Google have elbowed their way into a position to steer the direction of computing for the next decade or two.

Ballmer, known for his zealous faith in Microsoft, hails Windows 8 as the catalyst for an exciting—and lucrative—new era at the 37-year-old software maker.

Investors seem to be believers, too. Microsoft’s stock gained 52 cents Feb. 28 to close at $31.87, the highest closing price since April 2008. The shares have climbed by 23 percent so far this year. By comparison, Apple’s stock has surged 32 percent during the same period, while Google’s shares have dropped 4 percent.

Microsoft’s financial performance traditionally improves when it releases a new version of Windows. The last upgrade came in October 2009 when Windows 7 hit the market. The company has sold more than 525 million copies of Windows 7 since then. Part of Window 7?s success stemmed from pent-up demand; the previous version, Vista, was so clunky and buggy that many PC users stuck with the system they already had on their machines or switched to Apple’s technology on Mac computers.

Windows 8 is radically different from its predecessors. The system won’t even have Microsoft’s familiar “Start” menu. All applications are spread across a mosaic of tiles, as part of a design Microsoft calls “Metro.” The tiles, which resemble road signs, can be navigated with a swipe of the finger on the display screen or with a keyboard and a computer mouse. The tiles also provide a glimpse at the activity occurring in applications connected to the web, such as eMail.

The system also is expected to enable users to easily back up their pictures, movies, music, and other files on a Microsoft storage service called SkyDrive, which will compete against Apple’s iCloud.

The operating system’s versatility means it can be used to power computer tablets, as well as traditional PCs.

Microsoft badly wants a piece of the tablet market that has been cutting into PC sales since Apple introduced the iPad two years ago.

In the quarter that included the holiday shopping season, Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads, more than doubling the volume from the same time a year earlier. Meanwhile, worldwide personal computer sales dipped slightly, and Microsoft’s revenue in its Windows division declined 6 percent. It marked the fourth time in the past five quarters that Microsoft’s Windows revenue has fallen from the previous year.

Reversing or slowing that trend is critical for Microsoft. It still relies on the PC industry for about 55 percent of its revenue, according to Nomura Equity Research analyst Rick Sherlund. “The launch of Windows 8 should provide a few years of robust growth and opportunity for Microsoft to reposition itself to better defend its position against challengers,” Sherlund wrote in a note after Microsoft reported the latest erosion in its Windows division.

Besides spurring more sales of the new operating system, Windows 8 is likely to drive demand for the next generation of the Office suite, another major moneymaker for Microsoft.

Windows 8 could inspire more PC makers to design machines that combine the convenience of tablets with the utility of a notebook computer. These devices would be similar to the so-called “ultrabook” computers that offer a Windows-based version of Apple’s lightweight MacBook Air machines. Once Windows 8 is available, the ultrabook line could be expanded to include machines equipped with a screen that swivels off the keyboard to take advantage of the system’s touch controls and provide a tablet-like experience.

Microsoft clearly envisions Windows 8 becoming the foundation for pure tablets, too. That’s why it’s developing a version of Windows 8 that can run on the more tablet-friendly microprocessor technology licensed by ARM Holdings. That version will complement the Windows 8 design that will run on the Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. chips that power most PCs.

HP, the world’s largest PC maker, is already counting on Windows 8 to deliver better times. The company’s division that includes desktop and laptop computers suffered a 15 percent drop in revenue during its more recent quarter ending in January. CEO Meg Whitman said last week that HP expects to release PCs and tablets running on Windows 8 in time for the holiday shopping season. HP’s Windows 8 product line will include a tablet designed for corporate customers.

The biggest question hanging over Windows 8 is whether the long wait for the software will leave Microsoft hopelessly behind Apple and Google in mobile computing.

Whatever headlines Microsoft grabs during the Feb. 29 preview are likely to be quickly overshadowed next week when Apple is expected to show off the third version of the iPad.

Meanwhile, Google says more than 300 million smart phones and tablets are already running on its Android software, with another 850,000 devices getting activated each day. At that rate, another 155 million to 180 million devices could be running on Android by the time Windows 8 comes out in September or October. As it is, a version of Android is already running the second hottest-selling tablet, Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire.

“Microsoft is late to the game and this is a different game than they have been playing,” Cearley said. “But if they hit a home run with Windows 8, it could still turn some things around.”

Digital Learning ? bringing technology into education

By Marichelle Rocha
Correspondent

I want all students to be able to learn from digital textbooks," President Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union Address. Working towards that goal, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has partnered with the Department of Education to create the Digital Textbook Collaborative. The group's mission is to discover best practices for transitioning schools to digital learning.

On Feb. 1, 39 states, 15,000 teachers, and nearly 2 million students participated in the first Digital Learning Day. The national awareness campaign, organized by the Alliance for Excellent Education, is intended to show how technology can advance learning in the United States and prepare students for high school, college, and future careers. The Washington meeting featured Education Secretary Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who challenged schools and companies to put digital textbooks into K-12 students' hands by 2017.

Two weeks earlier, Apple announced that it would 'reinvent textbooks' by delivering digital versions on the iPad. Apple has sealed agreements with the major educational companies (McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin, and Pearson), who account for 90 percent of the K-12 textbook market.

As defined by the Alliance for Excellent Education, digital learning is "any instructional practice that is effectively using technology to strengthen the student learning experience."

"Digital textbooks are one of the cornerstones of digital learning," says Genachowski. "We're talking about students having interactive learning devices that can offer lessons personalized to their learning style and level, and enable real-time feedback to parents, teachers, or tutors."

How can digital learning help our children?

Digital learning means more than eliminating the heavy textbooks, notebooks and handouts that students carry around school. It also means potential textbook cost savings. More importantly, access to information would be available to students anywhere they have Internet connectivity.

One of the most essential benefits of digital learning is that it provides interactive learning for children. In addition, they'll have access to updated materials faster. As with anything printed, information becomes quickly outdated. Digital textbooks, such as Apple's iPad books, incorporate video, audio, interactive controls, as well as annotation tools.

"Although it depends on how people will use digital publishing tools (such as Apple's iBooks 2), the potential is great," says Chris Lehmann, the founding Principal of Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a partnership school of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. SLA high school, considered to be a nationally and internationally technology pioneer, has won Apple's Distinguished School Award several times.

"The new technology puts the power in the hands of teachers and students, and can radically change the ways they interact," Lehmann says.

Why is digital learning being adopted so slowly?

There are many reasons why schools have been slow to adopt digital learning. A huge concern is the lack of broadband capacity and equipment. Also, schools aren't equipped with the textbook readers needed for digital learning. The federal cuts in K-12 funding makes matters worse.

Besides funding, there are also decisions to be made with regards to which textbook reader to use. Unless the schools provide or clearly specify which readers to use, students could end up using different products. This could certainly create more issues, says Janice C. Sipior, Ph.D., Professor of Information Systems, Villanova School of Business. Sipior, who teaches sophomores, says the majority of her students feel that "digital textbooks are for the next generation. They say they prefer physical textbooks because they can visually see how many pages remain to be read for the chapter, and easily highlight and annotate anywhere on the page as they read."

Migrating from a printed to digital learning environment is no simple task. There are many decisions to be made and policies to be created, ranging from licensing, equipment issues (maintenance, replacement, warranty, damage) to student ethics (cheating on tests) and how to handle distractions (games or Facebook).

Current school curriculums and teaching methods need evaluation and must adapt to evolving technology. For digital learning to be effective, both teachers and students must be willing to accept methods that differ significantly from the existing teaching methods they've always used.

What has been learned so far?

Currently, more than 600 U.S. public school districts have already adopted Apple's iPad program. Some pilot programs indicate that technology is making a real impact in education.

"Technology-based teaching can reduce the time it takes for a student to learn a lesson by 30-80 percent," says FCC Genachowski. Students are more engaged after using digital textbooks as opposed to printed textbooks. Increased student participation and engagement, including more meaningful discussions between students and teachers, have been cited as the results of digital learning environments.

According to Wired, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and middle school students in California participated in a pilot study during the 2010-2011 school year. Students were taught Algebra 1 using a digital textbook on the iPad. The study showed that students connected better with the content when compared to students who used traditional printed textbooks; 20 percent more students who used a digital textbook scored 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' in Algebra 1 comprehension compared to those who did not.

Hopefully, with the help of the Digital Textbook Collaborative, who'll be meeting with CEOs of digital textbooks this month, our children and schools will be better prepared to meet the challenges of digital learning.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/zqt7k

Digital revolution changing lives of students with disabilities

Kyle Beasley is a smart second-grader with an infectious grin.

He’s also functionally blind.

Until last fall, the 7-year-old used 8-by-11-inch Braille texts that teachers printed for him on a special machine.

Each page cost about $1. He once had four lockers just to store his textbooks.

Today, the student at Roosevelt Elementary School in Janesville, Wis., easily carries his own iPad and a special Braille translator that allow him to read all his textbooks, send eMails, access the internet, check the weather, and do just about anything anyone else can do with a computer.

It’s new technology that is fundamentally changing how blind people interact with their world, but it appears the digital revolution is just getting started when it comes to improving the lives of people with all sorts of disabilities.

Some of the developments border on the magical, compared with what was available 20 years ago. Schools often are the places where people first encounter them.

Educators are scrambling to keep up with developments for those who can’t see, can’t hear, whose minds have trouble with the written word, who can’t use their arms or legs, and even those who can do little more than move their eyes.

The Janesville School District employs a teacher whose job is to find the technology that best suits each student who has a disability. Her name is Kathy White.

“Technology is exploding for us,” White said.

Keeping up is a challenge, but colleagues said White is very good at it.

“Kathy White is a master at figuring out what students need—then finding, adapting, or building what is necessary to further enhance a student’s ability to learn,” Superintendent Karen Schulte said.

White keeps abreast of developments and matches the emerging technologies with the hundreds of students in the Janesville School District who have disabilities.

Kyle’s translator—called Refreshabraille—is just one example. It has a Braille keyboard that allows Kyle to write as well as read. It communicates with his iPad, translating his Braille into English and English into Braille.

Plastic Braille dots pop up instantly on a pad, corresponding to a text displayed on the iPad. Bluetooth technology lets the two devices “talk” to each other.

Kyle expertly reads the dots with his index finger. When he’s done with one set of dots, the next set pops up.

Keeping up in class is easy, Kyle said with a proud smile.

Asked how he likes his Refreshabraille compared with paper texts, his face glowed proudly.

“I can read it faster,” he said.

There’s a learning curve, and Janesville vision specialist Melanie Baumunk teaches Kyle problem-solving strategies for when he gets stuck, but he appears to have learned quickly since he got the devices last fall.

“It’s making him incredibly independent,” Baumunk said.

White gets calls from teachers who have students stymied by disabilities. White looks for a technology to overcome the barriers. She works with every age in the school district, from 12th-graders to 3-year-olds. The range of needs is wide.

Consider Correy Winke, who was slated for a slow-paced science class when he entered Parker High School about 18 months ago. College “was the farthest thing from my mind,” he said.

Correy has dyslexia. His mind has trouble processing the printed word.

White figured Correy had what it takes to reach higher. She helped him get an iPod and a laptop computer, along with software that will read any text to him out loud and guess at the words he needs as he writes a class assignment.

“Kathy White is a master at figuring out what students need—then finding, adapting, or building what is necessary to further enhance a student’s ability to learn,” Superintendent Karen Schulte said.

White keeps abreast of developments and matches the emerging technologies with the hundreds of students in the Janesville School District who have disabilities.

Kyle’s translator—called Refreshabraille—is just one example. It has a Braille keyboard that allows Kyle to write as well as read. It communicates with his iPad, translating his Braille into English and English into Braille.

Plastic Braille dots pop up instantly on a pad, corresponding to a text displayed on the iPad. Bluetooth technology lets the two devices “talk” to each other.

Kyle expertly reads the dots with his index finger. When he’s done with one set of dots, the next set pops up.

Keeping up in class is easy, Kyle said with a proud smile.

Asked how he likes his Refreshabraille compared with paper texts, his face glowed proudly.

“I can read it faster,” he said.

There’s a elearning curve, and Janesville vision specialist Melanie Baumunk teaches Kyle problem-solving strategies for when he gets stuck, but he appears to have learned quickly since he got the devices last fall.

“It’s making him incredibly independent,” Baumunk said.

White gets calls from teachers who have students stymied by disabilities. White looks for a technology to overcome the barriers. She works with every age in the school district, from 12th-graders to 3-year-olds. The range of needs is wide.

Consider Correy Winke, who was slated for a slow-paced science class when he entered Parker High School about 18 months ago. College “was the farthest thing from my mind,” he said.

Correy has dyslexia. His mind has trouble processing the printed word.

White figured Correy had what it takes to reach higher. She helped him get an iPod and a laptop computer, along with software that will read any text to him out loud and guess at the words he needs as he writes a class assignment.

Developed for the paraplegic war wounded, the Tobii includes a camera that tracks a person’s eye movements. Gazing steadily at designated spots on the computer screen is like pressing a button or clicking a mouse. It allows someone whose hands don’t work to access the internet and much more.

With the right connected hardware, a person can switch lights or a TV off and on, drive a powered wheelchair, or even open a door. Users can write and send eMail or do just about anything else with a computer.

Three students are using borrowed equipment, and White hopes to document their efforts so they can get funding for their own machines.

“The students who are using it are using it extremely well,” White said, and they’re “extremely excited” once they see the possibilities to do things they have never been able to do for themselves.

“They become so empowered,” White said.

One drawback: Constant concentration on controlling the dot on the screen can be draining.

White estimates she visits 50 to 60 students a week, helping them learn their new software or hardware, but that’s not the biggest challenge.

“The hardest part for us is to keep up with what’s going on,” she said.

Copyright (c) 2012, The Janesville Gazette (Janesville, Wis.). Visit The Janesville Gazette online at www.gazetteextra.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/3Atmx

 

Coming soon to Howard County: a digital school system

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Mt. Hebron High School students, from left, Brandon Beers, Steve Kang and Taylor Crittendon work together to analyze the stock market and create portfolios for their Honors Accounting class — just a taste of the online possibilities planned in the school system. (Photo by Noah Scialom / February 28, 2012)"][/caption]

By Sara Toth,

When the county school board approved a 2013 operating budget last week, board members also gave the green light to a comprehensive, system-wide approach to greater digital learning for students.

In its $697 million request, the board designated $500,000 for a new e-learning program that will hail the beginning of a virtual online school.

"We're in good shape to launch a very robust program," said Chief Academic Officer Linda Wise.

The program is in its beginning stages, Wise said. But the school system successfully piloted online courses during the 2011 summer school session, and has implemented other forms of digital learning in the past in "small pieces."

The new program will take those pieces to a new level, Wise said.

"By having a program as the focus of that, we'll be able to bring into the schools online credits for home and hospitalized students, for make-up credits and to make more opportunities for students to get credits or enhance their work online," she said.

The new program would move forward under the guidance of a new digital education officer and technical assistant, jobs created by the $500,000, said Julie Wray, coordinator of instructional technology.

Those positions would be filled after the County Council approves the board's budget, and online courses would be available for some students in the 2012-2013 academic year.

"We'll start small," Wray said. "It's not something that will be rolled out all at once. ... But we're moving forward as we speak with small programs so we can build it from there."

Wray said the system this summer would again be offering blended online courses — taught both online and in a physical classroom — for students in danger of failing a grade, and would offer classes for interested gifted and talented students as well.

"There's so many different pieces of it," Wray said. "We're looking at an iPad pilot that could be a component of this; we're looking to bring it hopefully next year to a middle school and one particular grade level, but there haven't been specific details of that yet."

Short on specifics

Because the program is in its infancy, specifics are unknown, Wise said. There are many ways to go about integrating technology in a physical classroom and creating a virtual one, she said, and how the system would move forward would be determined once someone is hired to oversee the new program.

For example, the school system may establish a relationship with an accredited online institution to provide classes, rent or lease online classes or create its own classes.

Some of the $500,000 set aside for next year will be used to test and develop programs, purchase content and train teachers, since the online courses would actually be "blended" with in-person classroom components.

When the program is implemented in its entirety — neither Wray nor Wise could say when that will happen — it would be more than just online classes. It could be a unique learning tool for each individual student.

"Ideally, this could be something that could accommodate pre-K through 12th grade," Wray said. "When this comes to full implementation, we could see pre-K access to online content that would be individualized and tailored to that student.

"It could be fifth-graders accessing resources online, not just because they're out of school, but as a way of enhancing their learning. ... It would be a way to accrue additional credits, to have a personalized learning program for that individual with anywhere, any time access."

Such individualized, digital learning is the future, Wray said.

"We can't restrict ourselves to learning only in brick-and-mortar buildings, where we're learning from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in a schoolhouse," she said. "It's about expanding opportunities so these kids can have more chances to learn outside the school building and connect to folks outside of the school in the county, state, country. With the technology and resources we have, we can provide students with what they need to be successful."

Board member Brian Meshkin said he helped push the drive for digital learning for that very reason.

"Technology is not just a tool," he said. "It's game-changing. It allows us to personalize information for the student, personalize exactly what they need to know. You can know what they're learning and what they don't understand."

Meshkin proposed similar initiatives last year, but with no success. This year, the board unanimously approved the program — in part, Meshkin said, because of the success of the smaller digital learning pilots.

The digital school was not included in Superintendent Sydney Cousin's initial budget proposal. But after a report Jan. 26 on the various pilot programs and staff suggestions to one day create one system-wide plan, board members decided to start the program sooner rather than later.

"We've been in such a crunch of trying to constantly downsize the budget," board Chairwoman Sandra French said. "We should have done this last year; it just wasn't economically feasible. Even now it's a leap of faith, but how many more years are we going to wait when everyone recognizes that this is a pressing need?

"We will find a way to make this happen. We need to push forward."

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/Dxpae