Learning Solutions

eSchoolnews reports:

InfoSource Learning recently launched a free, online technology literacy assessment that tests K-12 students to determine their technological proficiency. The assessment is available free of charge to all school districts, state education departments, and educational organizations.

“It is extremely important for all schools to measure and improve their students’ use of technology,” said Michael Werner, chief executive officer of InfoSource Learning, in a press release. “In fact, we believe it is so important that we want to make our assessment available to all states and school districts free of charge–for all of their students.”

The assessment began as a promotion at the 2008 National Educational Computer Conference to help school districts determine if their students are technologically literate by the eighth grade in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act.

Find out more at http://www.simpleassessment.com

Urging policy makers and school leaders “to take bold steps … to improve education for America’s 21st-century leaders,” the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has issued new guidance for reforming the nation’s schools with the help of technology.

With input from more than 100 national policy makers and all 50 state educational technology offices, SETDA’s action plan sets forth the following 10 recommendations for national, state, and local education leaders:

1. Ensure that technology tools and resources are used continuously and seamlessly for instruction, collaboration, and assessment.
2. Expose all students (pre-K through 12th grade) to STEM fields and careers.
3. Make ongoing, sustainable professional development available to all teachers.
4. Use virtual learning opportunities for teachers to further their professional development, such as through online communities and education portals.
5. Incorporate innovative, consistent, and timely assessments into daily instruction.
6. Strengthen the home-school connection by using technology to communicate with parents on student progress.
7. Provide the necessary resources so that every community has the infrastructure to support learning with technology, including assessments and virtual learning.
8. Obtain societal support for education that uses technology from all stakeholders–students, parents, teachers, state and district administrators, business leaders, legislators, and local community members.
9. Provide federal leadership to support states and districts regarding technology’s role in school reform by passing the ATTAIN Act.
10. Increase available funding for the e-Rate so that schools can acquire telecommunication services, internet access, internal connections, and maintenance of those connections.

eSchoolnews reports:

LearningExpress has created a new blog, called The Writing Teacher, for sharing ideas and expertise on helping students become better writers. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 33 percent of eighth grade students in the United States are writing at a proficient level. To help change that, The Writing Teacher includes writing input, content, and feedback–all encouraging participation by those who teach writing every day.

The blog’s debut article, “Research-Based Best Practices for Teaching Writing: A Discussion with Steve Graham,” features advice from a literacy professor at Vanderbilt University. “We are a knowledge-based society. Knowing how to effectively plan, draft, edit, and revise your communications and then self-regulate the whole process are fundamental skills necessary for success in school and the world of work,” said Graham. “Too many students progress through school without becoming proficient in these skills. We can do better.”

http://www.thewritingteacher.org

eSchoolnews reports:

For educators who are ready to take on the growing frontier of virtual worlds, a new online hub–RezEd–now exists to make the journey to alternative realities a little easier. Launched in beta format in mid-March, RezEd is a comprehensive virtual-world resource for educators, students, and those simply interested in learning what these increasingly popular worlds are all about.

Developed by the nonprofit organization Global Kids through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning initiative, the site brings attention to all aspects of learning across virtual worlds through resources such as weekly best practices, moderated discussions, and twice-monthly podcast interviews with students, educators, and experts in the field. Visitors to RezEd can learn about several virtual places and topics, such as Second Life, K-8 virtual worlds, virtual gaming in education, research on the sociology and ethics of virtual worlds, and more.

RezEd “is a community that makes accessible and practical the type of research being done by many and connects them with practitioners in the field to inform their work,” said Barry Joseph, director of the Online Leadership Program for Global Kids.

http://www.rezed.org

Now’s the time to GET OUT THE VOTE! The first round of judging in the 2nd Annual Interactive Classroom Makeover Contest has been completed and the 15 finalists have been chosen – five in each of the three grade categories (K-5, 6-8 and 9-12).

With nearly 300 video submissions from 40 states and four countries to review and “grade,” our judges narrowed the field to their top 15 and we’re now ready for you, your friends and associates – and anyone else you can think of – to go online and vote your choices at www.eimakeover.com. These votes will help determine who wins the Grand Prize classroom “makeover” worth more than $25,000.

If you haven’t already viewed some of these videos, you’re in for a treat. Each submission is an amazing demonstration of collaboration and creativity, and delivers an important message about technology in the classroom to educators, students and parents around the world. (More than 350,000 people have already visited the site and had an opportunity to watch the videos.)

Click the links below to view and vote for the finalists.

The voting will close at 11:59 am EST (16:59 GMT) on Friday, November 14, and the winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 3.

Please cast your vote now…and encourage others to do the same.