School buys Lenovo's ThinkPad X61 Tablet in bulk

I've been doing quite a lot of work in preparation for our annual Readers' Choice Top 100 issue that comes out in January, and some of our reader feedback has emphasized the usefulness of tablet PC's, which are touchscreen laptops that enable handwritten notes when you swivel the screen around and hold it like a notebook. Student use is the ideal for this type of technology, which you might have read in my November cover story about touchscreens, as a lot of students can't type too well or too fast, and are much more comfortable writing notes by hand.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is a great example, it has received rave reviews for its versatility and computing power. The Forest Ridge School of The Sacred Heart, a small all-girls school in Bellevue, Washington, announced today that they just bought 330 for their entire student body. Administrators there claim these tablets provide "sturdy yet lightweight technology with easy-to-use features, along with multimedia and touchscreen capabilities that make computing simple for students."

Granted, the economy is making such forward-thinking, pricey implementations impossible for most public school districts at the moment, but I think this is a good indication of the future of one-to-one initiatives: tablet PC's, not just plain ol' vanilla laptops, make the most sense and will probably be what are commonly used.

NEF offering U.S. schools $100 million to build CyberLearning Academies

(From the NEF press release)
NEF Offers $100 Million Matching Grant to School Districts

To Help Disadvantaged School Districts Nationwide Receive $1 Billion Federally Aided Funds to Avert Fiscal Crisis

ALEXANDRIA, VA. November 20, 2008 --Dr. Appu Kuttan, Chairman of the National Education Foundation (NEF), the nonprofit leader in bridging the digital and academic divides, announced today a nationwide $100 million matching grant initiative for schools.

With most states awash in red ink and with several states proposing to cut K-12 education funds, NEF is working to leverage a $1 billion dollar U.S. Treasury program that permits the states to allow school districts to borrow money at zero interest to support the critical needs of disadvantaged schools — the most vulnerable group in the current fiscal crisis.

This Federal program is known as Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB). NEF has teamed up with banks to make it possible for all eligible schools -- those with 35% of students on free or reduced lunch -- to receive QZAB funds for renovation, equipment, curriculum, professional development etc. NEF also donates the 10% match required, and helps to build a world class CyberLearning Academy that enables students to acquire key 21st Century workforce skills. Continued, with info on applying....

Mitsubishi's XD95U projector packs a punch in a small package

 
Projectors are getting ever smaller these days, getting down even to the new class of "pico" pocket sized gadgets. Pretty amazing, but I can't recall seeing a projector quite as small while still retaining real-world specs as the new Mitsubishi XD95U. The dimensions are 7.5" X 8.1", basically the size of a half sheet of paper, and it doesn't weigh too much more: 3.3 pounds. The new so-called "pico" projectors are actually even smaller and could fit in your pocket, but they don't (yet) have these numbers: XGA (1024X768) resolution, 2200 lumens of brightness and 2000:1 contrast ratio with a filter-free DLP chip. Up to 3,000 hours of lamp life and Mitsu's 3 year warranty also sweeten the deal.
True, there are plenty of other projectors on the market with these kind of specs for less than the estimated $1495 MSRP for this when it's released at the end of November.... but you won't be able to keep them in your glove compartment like this one.

Microsoft-funded reading edugame "ItzaBitza" launched today

I talked yesterday with Margaret Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Sabi, an edugaming startup funded and supported by Microsoft as part of their IP Ventures program. Today Sabi launched their first product, a reading game for ages 4-8 called ItzaBitza, the result of several years of research and development, predominantly with Dr. John Bransford, professor of education and psychology at the University of Washington and director of the National Science Foundation-funded Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center.
Like other edugames, this is a program intended to be fun and engaging while it teaches, and can be used inside or outside the classroom. But, two things set it apart. First, the emphasis on conversational language to teach reading. Rather than hearing "The house is green," the game asks the student "Can you draw a house?" and so on. This emphasis also ties reading with immediate, concrete actions, building comprehension. Secondly, there is the game's "living ink" technology, which is a pretty impressive interactive capability. Once the student draws a house, the characters in the game interact with it, open the door and go inside, look out the windows, etc. It's a pretty unique capability in game design generally, not just in the educational vein. Watch the video below to see what I mean (you might have to wait for it to load, and double-click for full screen). The MSRP is $19.99, and it's available on CD or for download, from their site or Amazon.

The new Flip MinoHD: smallest, least expensive HD video camera on the market

     

DA recently surveyed our advisory panel, as we do periodically, to ask for their input about products and technology they are using in their districts. One of the many products mentioned was the Flip video camera from Pure Digital. The company is an unlikely success story, in a flooded market dominated by huge manufacturers, they are a small American startup that set out in 2007 to make "the world's first line of simple, pocket-sized camcorders." Not to mention, really inexpensive: find them on Amazon for $129. And our readers love them: so simple, small and inexpensive, Flip cameras can be handed out to students for projects, field trips, reports, even to make simple films. Teachers and administrators can use them in any number of ways, carry one around in your pocket and use your imagination.

And that's what seems to be happening: over a million sold, a total of 13% of the camcorder market, they now have several models to choose from, and have been raved about in BusinessWeek ("How the Flip grew from a simple idea to be a contender among giants"), The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, where David Pogue called it "one of the most significant electronics products of the year" back in March.

Which brings us to today, as Pure Digital continues releasing new and improved Flip cameras at a blistering pace. Today they released the Flip MinoHD: "The world’s smallest high definition camcorder at just over three ounces. Priced at $229.99 (MSRP), it records up to 60 minutes of 720p HD, 16:9 video and features Flip Video’s new FlipShare™ software, also announced today. This advanced on-board software platform allows consumers to plug the camcorder’s signature flip-out USB arm into any computer for easy drag-and-drop video organizing, editing and sharing on YouTube, MySpace, AOL Video or via email." So all those video projects can look better than ever, and on the cheap. Pretty cool.  

Happy National Distance Learning Week...

...to everyone out there from all of us at District Administration. What, you didn't know it was National Distance Learning Week? And you didn't get me any gifts? Every year you do this, every year you forget that over 700,000 high school students are taking one or more courses online, that almost 40 states have established statewide or state-lead virtual schools, you conveniently put it out of your mind that e-Learning now represents 10% of the overall education and training market. Sigh.
But no matter! This week is sponsored by the U.S. Distance Learning Association, which offers a number of webinars about integrating different online technologies into your school or district through Friday, you can see the schedule here. Their site also has podcasts, articles and links on the subject. And for Pete's sake, put it on your calendar for next year already.

SETDA Class of 2020 School Technology report: Professional Development Is Key

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), representing all 50 states and DC, today released the “Empowering Teachers: A Professional and Collaborative Approach” report.
“Professional development approaches and policies must shift from one-time, stand alone workshops to sustainable, on-going learning opportunities for teachers and administrators,” said Mary Ann Wolf, SETDA’s Executive Director. [...]
The key recommendations of the report include:
1.    Make Sustainable Professional Development Available to All Teachers.
2.    Provide New Teachers with Integrated Pedagogy.
3.    Ensure Administrators Have Access to Training and Support.
4.    Conduct Research Investigating the Efficacy of Comprehensive Professional Development Models.

Read a summary of the report here. 

A wiser man than me told me recently, in talking about ed tech, that we can easily forget that there is a vital chain: 1. The technology, 2. The content, and 3. The professional development. You need all three for things to work. Someone else was just telling me about a district with many interactive whiteboards sitting in boxes. Even after a successful funding initiative, teachers just didn't know what to do with them. And this report certainly seems to reinforce the idea of that chain. Who knew Fleetwood Mac was so forward thinking about education technology? "Chain... keeps us together." So true, so true.

Disney's new Science of Imagineering DVD's

 
Looking for new ways to engage your science students who find the concepts of gravity, trajectory, levers and pulleys mindnumbingly boring? You might want to consider the latest releases from Disney Educational Products, three new Science of Imagineering DVD's that explore behind the scenes of Disney attractions and illustrate these concepts at work. The new titles are intended to be used in the classroom to supplement curriculum, so you can be sure they have a lot of meaty content. Each are 30 minutes, are intended for grades 5-8 and retail for $49.95. This explains the rumors that Hannah Montana could be Obama's pick for Secretary of Education. I'm just telling you what I heard.

Alabama to use online distance learning for autism teacher training...

(Associated Press) Alabama has come up with a low-cost way to educate teachers about how to help the rapidly growing number of autistic children in public schools.
The program will train teachers through the state's distance learning program that is used to offer foreign languages and advanced placement courses to high school students across the state.
The leaders of the Alabama Autism Task Force, Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. and state Rep. Cam Ward joined officials from the state Department of Education to announce the program Wednesday. They said Alabama will be the second state after Pennsylvania to use this approach. Continue reading...

ELMO's HD-licious document camera

 
Tickle me, ELMO. Document cameras are joining the HD party that so many other gadgets are attending. There were a lot of beautiful models at T+L, as these useful devices are getting more features and providing better looking images than ever before. I saw some demonstrations that were downright amazing. This ELMO P30S is a great example. Just look at the thing. It's a luxury document camera.  1.35 megapixel image capture, 16X optical zoom and 64X digital zoom, SD card slot, XGA, SXGA and 720p HD resolutions, 16:9 aspect ratio for full widescreen displays, and a unique feature that I thought was really smart: a little LCD screen on the deck that shows what you're displaying, so you can see without turning your back to the class. I saw a demonstration and the picture quality is truly stunning. To be able to zoom in on an object in HD resolution, I can just imagine a science presentation just captivating students. This puppy also captures full motion 30 frames-per-second video, a feature increasingly common in doc cameras nowadays. It is admittedly high-end, with an MSRP of $2990, though the company says educational discount are available, and retailers like CDW-G have it for $2690. It's also designed to be easily portable... so if you can afford just one, maybe everyone can pass it around and share it?