SETDA corporate partners and event sponsors conduct research and publish white papers regularly as they create, update and modify their goods and services.
Center for Technology in Learning: The Power of Project Learning with ThinkQuest: In project learning, students discover the meaning of what they learn by working together to solve complex, real-world problems, rather than being taught facts from books. A growing body of evidence indicates that project learning supports the development of critical skills students must have to meet the demands of the 21st century. In response, the Oracle Education Foundation has developed an online learning platform called ThinkQuest to extend the benefits of project learning to classrooms globally. This paper draws on a broad international research base and case studies of actual classroom projects supported by ThinkQuest to illustrate both the theory and practice of 21st century teaching and learning.
Desire2Learn’s ePortfolio is a powerful, yet intuitive platform for collecting, organizing, reflecting, and presenting learning artifacts. ePortfolios have generated much interest and discussion on their potential impact on education providing a mechanism for users to demonstrate their level of knowledge, skill attainment, and knowledge through a variety of mediums and assessments. ePortfolios are becoming central teaching and learning channels which are user centered and outcome based promoting lifelong learning and educational advancement as a whole. This ePortfolio overview describes their benefits, impact on education and the issues associated with their implementation. Click here to review the whitepaper on Desire2Learn’s ePortfolio. Click here review the complete feature on Desire2Learn’s ePortfolio.
ENA to Expand Broadband Access and Equity for Indiana Community Anchor Institutions. Education Networks of America (ENA), one of the nation’s leading providers of managed Internet access and network services to schools and libraries, has been awarded a $14.3 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to build broadband infrastructure in Indiana to enable improved education, training and connectivity access opportunities for 145 of Indiana’s underserved schools and libraries. The grant is made possible by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The project includes an additional $4 million match and brings a combined total of $18.3 million new federal stimulus and private sector dollars to Indiana. “Providing equity of access to broadband service for all schools and libraries in Indiana is critical to achieving our educational objectives,” said Dr. John B. Keller, director of Learning Technologies for the Indiana Department of Education. “This grant will help move us closer to making sure all schools have fiber-based, high-speed broadband access.” For complete project details, visit the ENA BTOP Homepage and view the Executive Summary.
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The Future They Deserve – Achieving Educational Equity in Rural Appalachia Through Technology. Small, rural Scott County School System, TN, has achieved it — a technology-infused learning environment that fosters innovation. The district has realized full IP-convergence and is utilizing big broadband and small-district ingenuity to stream video, power its telecommunication voice system and erase distance with videoconferencing and more. It has been an ambitious and dramatically successful endeavor to take learning to disenfranchised students. This white paper explores how Scott County, in partnership with ENA, accomplished it. Click here to learn more about our journey.
PLATO Learning - Straight Curve™ Mathematics is a teacher-facilitated supplemental curriculum designed to enhance the teaching and learning of math in grades K–6.
Based on international best practices for math instruction, Straight Curve Mathematics provides rigorous lessons that bring challenging concepts to life in the everyday classroom, bringing additional depth to the textbook curriculum. Straight Curve Mathematics is designed to help teachers to teach the concepts students find most challenging, identifying and addressing students’ common misconceptions by helping to develop student thinking at a conceptual level.
Straight Curve Mathematics content is aligned to standards in all 50 states and is mapped to the NCTM Focal Points and the nation’s top textbooks for easy, flexible integration into the classroom. Click here to review the complete feature on PLATO's Straight Curve Mathematics.
Intel® Education is pleased to announce release of an improved version of the research-proven Intel® Teach Essentials Course www.intel.com/education/teach. Essentials Course version 10 curriculum includes a new focus on standards-aligned assessment for learning, curriculum-framing questions for higher-order thinking, and engagement of collaborative learning technologies (wikis, blogs). Available now for schools nationwide, teacher time is reduced to 32 hours (formerly 40 hours). Even more exciting is the upcoming release of the hybrid online version, reducing face-time to 14 hours (plus 26 hours online). Featured at NECC and the SETDA Emerging Technologies Forum, the online version provides flexibility to complete the course anywhere, anytime. Click here to review the complete feature on the New Intel® Teach Essentials Course Intel® Teach Essentials Course.
Discovery Education Science Connection is the new online supplemental science toolkit from a trusted content source. Enhance your district’s middle-school science classrooms with up-to-date, standards-based resources including full-length videos and segmented clips, virtual labs, integrated science simulations, explorations, and reading passages, plus a unique real-time assessment component, all in a flexible online format that addresses different learning styles. Teachers save time because the extraordinary resources are all in one toolkit. Students stay interested through inquiry-based learning, and deepen their understanding of scientific processes and concepts. Bring your curriculum to life and powerfully engage today’s technology-savvy students with Discovery Education Science Connection. Click here to view the complete feature on Science Connection.
