Judge Upholds NCLB Law

A challenge to the No Child Left Behind law was dismissed yesterday by Judge Mark R. Kravitz of the Federal District Court in New Haven, CT. The law suit by the state of Connecticut was over whether the Federal government could force states to spend their own money to comply with the law. Connecticut Attorney General has said he would appeal the decision. More info at the N.Y. Times.

Double-Duty DVD

If you’ve ever tangled with a mess of cables trying to get a DVD player to work with a monitor, Westinghouse’s SK-26H570D LCD HDTV-DVD is for your classroom. This 26-inch TV has a full DVD player built in and doubles as a monitor for class viewing. It has a pair of HDMI connectors and AutoSource technology that turns the screen on when an external player is activated. The DVD TV costs $600.
Specs: 1,366 by 768 resolution, 800:1 contrast ratio, two 10 watt speakers.
Bottom line: Forget about trying to get a DVD working with a monitor because this TV has a player built in.

New Research-Based Evaluation of School Leaders

No school initiative starts without the support of their school administrator, but how can schools evaluate school leadership? Vanderbilt University announces a program that evaluates school leadership using six core components related to student learning, including high standards, rigorous curriculum and performance accountability. Six additional evaluation areas measure leadership skills like planning, advocating, and communicating.  The program, The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED), will be distributed by Discovery Education. VAL-ED was field tested in 100 elementary schools, 100 middle schools, and 100 high schools in 53 districts in 27 states to show how a principal's performance compares with their peers nationwide.
Details: The VAL-ED leadership assessment takes just 20-25 minutes, in either online or pencil and paper formats. The assessment instrument has 72 questions that evaluate 72 behaviors.
Bottom line: A quick and easy tool to measure abstract leadership skills.

Time to Upgrade Windows XP

I know it’s not something that administrators look forward to, but it’s time to upgrade every Windows XP computer in your school. That’s because Microsoft released the Service Pack 3 for XP today, and at over 300MB it’s a whopper. We suggest you download it, put it on your network and install the software from there. An overview of the free software is available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=68c48dad-bc34-40be-8d85-6bb4f56f5110&displaylang=en
Details: consolidates over 1,000 previous updates for security and reliability.
Bottom line: Get the latest software for your computers with the XP Service Pack 3.

Seeing Really is Believing

Rather than filling a chalk board with odd sketches, arrows and arcane formulas, Vernier’s Wireless Dynamics Sensor System (WDSS) lets students discover the laws of motion for themselves. The small device is chock full of sensors, wirelessly communicates with a Bluetooth-equipped computer and comes with the analysis software needed to make Newton’s laws come alive in nay science classroom. At $250, the WDSS is a valuable and versatile teaching tool that can enrich any school’s science curriculum.

About the size of a notebook power adapter, the 6.5-ounce WDSS has digital sensors for force, altitude and a 3-axis accelerometer inside. Together they can track the motion of any object and can help teach valuable concepts, including gravity, centripetal force, how pendulums work and much more. With several threaded attachment points, the device can be easily mounted on everything from a bicycle wheel to a roller coaster.

Because it uses a Bluetooth radio to move data, there are no clunky cables to get in the way. While the WDSS can hold up to 240,000 data points internally, when it’s time to move the data you need to have a Bluetooth-equipped computer nearby to receive the data. The device has a 30-foot range.

The key to the device’s teaching abilities is its Logger Pro Software, which receives the data, consolidates it into columns and graphs it. On top of letting students predict what will happen and compare the results, the WDSS can help find the right equation to represent it and even link to a video of the experiment. This can make the experiment come alive for the entire class when shown on a large screen monitor or projector.

With seven suggested labs, including the forces you feel on a rollercoaster, it’s ready for the classroom; there are many imaginative projects on Vernier’s Web site. The best part is that all the data and graphs can be exported to Microsoft’s Office programs so that students can quickly write up their results as lab reports.

On the downside, you can’t connect extra sensors to the WDSS – such as for temperature or humidity. By contrast, Vernier’s slightly more expensive LabQuest system is a handled that connects to a variety of off-the-shelf sensors and has a built in screen to view data and graphs.

A
Vernier Wireless Dynamics Sensor System
$250
www.vernier.com/ (888) 837-6437

+ Reliable sensors
+ Excellent analysis software
+ Includes labs and exercises
+ Bluetooth radio beams data

- Requires nearby computer to download, analyze and display data
- Can’t add other sensors to WDSS

New High School Literature Resources

It’s spring assessment time! I know -- those words make all of our skin crawl a bit, and wading through the quagmire of assessment tools can be tricky since it’s hardly one size fit all. But, if you’re shopping for a resource that helps kids get the classics, you might check out Pearson’s Perspective, a remediation tool that’s been around for a while and has added high school Literature Teachers Guides from its imprints like the Penguin Group. The product also now includes the APerspective blog, which has news, hints and tips on using Perspective.
Bottom line: The new Literature Teachers Guides introduce students to work from classics like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare within the Perspective framework, which includes built-in assessment tools.

Germ-Free Keyboard

If dirty hands covered with germs scares you as much as it does me, Seal Shield’s Silver Seal antimicrobial keyboard is good medicine. It's the first keyboard that sanitizes itself and could help stop kids spreading colds to each other. The device’s entire surface is covered with a special silver compound that kills bacteria without using any harsh chemicals. The price is $60.
Specs: 106-key keyboard, numeric keypad, germ-proof coating
Bottom line: Stop bacteria with a keyboard that kills germs.

Free Online Computer Literacy Training for K-12 Teachers

Training teachers adequately is one of the oldest challenges for schools, and yet it’s still the most important piece in getting your pricey tech used properly. To help (at least with a handful of teachers), Teknimedia offers FREE online access to its PCIC3-Getting Ready for IC3 courseware. This series gets K-12 teachers ready for Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3). The program has multimedia lessons, interactive exercises, quizzes, and end-of-course tests.
Details: Includes 100 hours of instruction; approved by Certiport and covers 100% of the IC3 exam objectives. Up to five teachers per K-12 school building eligible to receive the free training.

Projector All-in-One

Every so often a classroom device comes along that impresses me because it rethinks a standard way of teaching and running lesson. By combining a flat bed scanner with a high-power projector, Avio’s ip 60e is a breakthrough product that can help teachers teach and students learn. The projector’s three LCD panels deliver 3,500 lumens of light and its scanner produces sharp 4-megapixel images without fumbling for a document camera. Just put the sheet of paper you want projected onto the scan bed, and it's on screen for the whole class to see. At $8,500, it’s quite expensive.
Specs: 1,024 by 768 resolution, 3,500 lumens, can store 32 images internally
Bottom line: ditch the clumsy document camera with Avio’s ip 60e’s built-in scanner.

NCLB, Next

If you're uptight about the next No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation making its way through Congress, you're not a alone. On top of quicker communication with parents of failing children, NCLB is expected add a standard way to measure and report graduation rates so that meaningful national statistics can be compiled. At the school level, these changes are likely to result in greater recordkeeping and reporting requirements for staff and administrators.
Bottom line: Expect more paperwork from the next NCLB law.

Free Stuff for Schools

On top of introducing the NP 100 and 200 pair of small projectors, NEC has figured out how to help schools get displays for free, or close to it. The company’s Star Student Rewards program now rebates 2 percent of all NEC projector and large display purchases to schools in the form of a debit card instead of points to buy more equipment. I love a bargain for schools, and this one works for me.
Specs:
NP100—800 by 600 resolution, 2,000 lumens, 1,300:1 contrast
NP200—1,024 by 768 resolution, 2,100 contrast, 1,300:1 contrast
Bottom line: NEC has the latest projectors and pays schools a 2 percent rebate on purchases.

Everything Tech

If you don’t know the difference between a forced flash and an automatic flash, then Bob Hoffman’s Encyclopedia of Educational Technology is right up your alley. With everything from eLearning to Video learning, it’s organized into large categories that each have dozens of individual topics. A must read on the Web for any techno-saavy teacher, there are thousands of definitions, easy explanations and tons of tips and tricks.
Bottom line: With entries on everything from digital cameras to Web-based training, the dictionary is a great resource for teachers and administrators.

NEW DIGITAL CURRICULUM HELPS STRUGGLING STUDENTS

Administrators know struggling students need more than extra time on task in math and reading to succeed.  They need individualized and differentiated instruction, which isn't always possible when a teacher has 30 students in the classroom. But at-risk students who use digital curriculum like the individualized instruction and the ability to move at their own pace. To meet these needs, Apex Learning has added new course offerings to their digital curriculum for differentiated instruction. They have also redesigned the standards-based digital curriculum to support students in credit recovery, dropout recovery, remediation, intervention, and alternative school programs. The Apex Learning courses adds audio assistance in direct instruction for ESL students or those reading below grade level.

Bottom Line: Graphic organizers help students accomplish tasks. Study sheets teach students how to develop good study habits. The digital curriculum uses audio, video, graphics, images, and animations to address a variety of learning styles.

CTB/McGRAW-Hill Updates Writing Roadmap

Administrators know how difficult it is to automatically score essays. How can you measure all the nuance? Schools have had success scoring essays with CTB/McGraw-Hill’s Writing Roadmap, an online essay assessment system that uses artificial intelligence to assess the writing skills of students in Grades 3-12, and now the program adds some new administrative feature to manage the program. The lockdown student browser lets teachers choose to have students respond in a secure setting that locks students in the program once they log in and disables access to other applications on their computer. “Asterisk” technology automatically flags certain scores that might benefit from teacher review. Sixteen new writing prompts cover four styles – Narrative, Informative/Expository, Descriptive, and Persuasive. An improved scoring algorithm uses 4, 5, and 6-point rubric scales that meet psychometric standards for classroom assessments.
Bottom Line: Writing Roadmap covers a range of essay styles with 66 classroom writing prompts, 10 training prompts,  and the ability for teachers to craft custom essay topics.

eBook is Back

If you’ve been frustrated that you couldn’t get any Amazon Kindle eBook readers for your library or reading classrooms, they’re back in stock. Following an apology by Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos that they couldn’t make the devices fast enough, the online shopping site now has Kindles back in stock and ready for delivery at $400. In addition to basic Web browsing, the 10-ounce eBook reader doesn’t require a computer to load any of the 110,000 books and periodicals it can display.
Specs: 10 ounces, 6-inch screen, 7.5- x 5.3- x 0.7-inches
Bottom line: Libraries and classrooms can replace paper books with Kindle eBook readers that double as Web browsers.

School Storage Central

I’ve found that nothing wastes more time and effort at a school than when the server is full and won’t accept any more files. With room for eight hard drives, DLink’s DSN-2100 xStack Storage Array is an easy way to make room for a school’s worth of data. Not only does the array automatically detect and configure new drives, but it supports the most popular RAID techniques, so no data will ever be lost. Capable of holding 8TB of data, the array costs $5,300.
Specs: holds 8 hard drives, RAID level 0, 1, 2, 1+0 and 5 
Bottom line: With the DSN-2100, your school will likely never run out of server space.

Wide-Screen Bargain

It may be a new monitor, but Dell has cut the price of its UltraSharp 2408WFP monitor by $100 to $600, making it a bargain for schools. The 24-inch wide-screen has a pinpoint perfect 1,920 by 1,200 resolution, can handle full high definition programming and has a wide 178-degree viewing angle, so the whole classroom can see.
Specs: 24-inch LCD display, 1,920 by 1,200 pixel resolution, 3,000:1 contrast ratio
Bottom line: Dell’s 2408WFP monitor proves that you don’t have to settle for second best to save money.

Making Science Fun

Looking for a real world science project to stimulate your science class? The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at the Stevens Institute of technology has dozens of online experiments, ranging from how much water you use every day to following ships as they navigate throughout the world. They’re extremely creative and, best of all, they’re all free.
Bottom line: Science becomes fun when students work with data.

Projector Two-For

We spend a lot of time here talking about classroom projectors, but what about projectors for an auditorium, lecture hall or large room? That's where the latest T series projectors from Sanyo come in becuase they set a new standard for brightness and resolution. The two look alike but the PLC-ET30L pumps out 4,200 lumens of light, has a super-sharp resolution of 1,400 by 1,050 and sells for $6,500. By contrast, the PLC-XT21/L delivers 4,000 lumens, has 1,024 by 768 resolution and sells for $5,000. Which you choose depends as much on how big the room is as how big your budget is.
Specs:
PLC-ET30L—4,200 lumens, 1,300:1 contrast, 1,400 by 1,050 resolution
PLCXT21/L—4,000 lumens, 1,000:1 contrast, 1,024 by 768 resolution
Bottom line: For a large room,Sanyo’s T series of projectors is a bright bunch.

Monitor Double Vision

I’ve found that seeing double can actually be good for teaching when it comes to monitors. For instance, it’s absolutely amazing what happens in a science class when you show the video of an experiment that the students did on one screen while looking at data graphs on another. Rather than awkwardly setting up two clumsy monitors, DoubleSight’s $450 DS-219STA stand can hold a pair of 19-inch displays. The displays can be tilted, adjusted up and down as well as rotated so everyone gets a good view. 
Specs: Holds two 19-inch VESA monitors of up to 22 pounds each
Bottom line: DoubleSight’s monitor stand can securely hold a pair of displays, doubling the teaching potential.

CoSN Launches “Empowering 21st Century Superintendents”

Wouldn’t it be nice to have one easy kit that includes everything you need to do your job as superintendent? The new initiative from COSN isn’t quite a magic box, but it’s a decent start. Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent provides superintendents with the tools and resources they can use to better understand the transformative role of education technology. It even includes a blueprint for technology leadership and action.
Bottom Line: CoSN listened to an advisory committee of superintendents to provide direction for the initiative. They also conducted focus groups and personal interviews to help develop this set of resources for superintendents.
See the detailed toolkit’s Five Themes & Action Steps for Technology Leadership at http://superintendentempower.org/.
Hear the personal thoughts of real superintendents in a four-minute video, where they discuss their roles as catalysts for 21st century learning: www.pearsonfoundation.org. 

Little Big Book

It’s a shame that notebook-makers sell their biggest and bulkiest systems to schools, despite the fact that they will be used and lugged around by children. HP ends this size mismatch with its HP2133 Mini-Note PC, the first notebook designed especially for K-to-12 students and classrooms. One of the smallest, lightest and least expensive systems available, the Mini-Note only disappoints on performance.

Housed in a silver-colored aluminum case, the Mini-Note has a sophisticated appearance as opposed to the toy-like look that some other school systems have. Thoughtful design touches abound, like LED battery charge indicators, a built-in Web cam and a low screen hinge so that kids can’t hide from the teacher behind it. Plus, the hinge is made of super-strong magnesium and the screen has a scratch-resistant coating. I love HP’s DriveGuard technology, which automatically protects the hard drive’s contents if the system’s been dropped.

At 10.1 by 6.5 inches, the system weighs 2.6 pounds with its standard 3-cell battery pack and the front edge is just 1 inch thick. With the 6-cell battery, the keyboard has a comfortable tilt to it and the system still weighs only 3.2 pounds. In other words, it’s perfect for being carried and used by small hands.

As small as it is, the Mini-Note has all the basics. The $750 fully loaded system I looked came with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M processor, 2GB of system memory, a 120GB hard drive and Windows Vista. The $500 base model is less ambitious with a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash memory and Linux. All Mini-Notes have an 8.9-inch wide-screen and VIA graphics with 8MB of its own memory; it can use up to 380MB of system memory.

On top of stereo speakers and a touchpad with large actuation buttons, the Mini-Note has 18mm keys that are perfect for the tiny fingers. There are enough ports to connect at school or home as well as wired and wireless networking. It’s got Bluetooth, but lacks an optical drive and a modem.

The pre-production sample I looked at was not only reliable, but its 6-cell battery ran for 3 hours 35 minutes of continuous use, more than enough for a school day of stop-and-go use. Although it never locked up in two weeks of daily use, the Mini-Note felt sluggish. Its 845 and 107.4 scores on the PC Mark 05 and FutureMark’s Performance test, respectively, are the lowest levels I’ve seen. Even so, the system has a hot spot on the left side near the exhaust fan’s outlet.

The final piece of the Mini-Note puzzle is the teacher Experience Web site (www.hp.co./go/teacherexperience) that HP built in collaboration with Microsoft. Once you register, it is a curriculum cornucopia with everything from teaching tips to lesson plan ideas.

It may not be a performance system, but the Mini-Note is an inexpensive way to bring notebooks to K-through-12 students and not wear them out carrying the systems around all day. The first notebook designed with the needs of these students in mind, I hope it won’t be the last.

HP2133 Mini-Note PC
Price (base/as tested): $500/$750

+ Good price
+ Sized for small hands
+ Overall design

- Sluggish performance
- Hot spot
- No optical drive

Specs: 1.6GHz VIA C7-M processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 8.9-inch screen at 1,280 by 768 pixel resolution; 3.2 pounds with 6-cell battery, 1.0 by 10.1 by 6.5-inches: Windows Vista Business.

Bottom line: the first notebook designed for the K-12 crowd, the Mini-Note is a bargain.

High-Power Antenna Makes Schools Smaller

Dead spots are inevitable with any wireless network, particularly with older schools. Hawking Technology’s Hi-GainWireless-300N WiFi client radio can fill them with data and can work with 802.11b, g and n networks. Insuring that every computer gets a strong signal, the 300-N has removable antennas, which can be replaced with high-power ones that boost the signal two- or three-fold. It works with Macs and PCs, and costs $90.
Specs: 802.11b, g and n, removable antennas.
Bottom line: Make sure every computer has a good wireless connection with Hawking’s Hi-Gain wireless radio.

SmartMoves DVD Gets Kids Moving

One way to deal with the universally growing student body (literally) is to keep students active -- not easy in an education environment that focuses more on test-taking than recess. FableVision and Thinking Moves released a SmartMoves DVD that combines movement and music in short segments of physical activities, and they believe this will help increase students’ ability to learn. Based on the rapidly growing field of “embodied cognition theory,” which suggests that body movement increases the brain’s ability to learn. SmartMoves features a series of 40 body movements, choreographed to music, that are designed to increase students’ academic performance, information retention, and focus.
Bottom Line: The moves take between 3-5 minutes, so it’s easy to get students hopping around then back to work.

Atomic Training 2.1 Released

Looking for quick just-in-time training? Atomic Learning has become a leader in video-based online tutorials, and they just released a new version of their latest product, Atomic Training. Atomic Training lets schools manage and deliver training videos and procedures. Version 2.1 allows network administrators to easily customize the training environment and video tutorials. The can assign content to specific users and user groups and track the progress of the trainees.
Bottom Line: Atomic’s quick video online tutorials are ideal for busy teachers and administrators. The new management feature of V2.1 is a good enhancement to this product.

Document Camera Makes the Rounds

I really enjoy seeing a creative teacher working with a document camera and projector or large screen monitor to augment the curriculum with everything from a magazine article to live video of artifacts or lab equipment. AverMedia Technologies’ CP300 portable document camera makes it a lot easier to share these devices, rather than having one per room. Small, light and easy to fold up, it can go from classroom to classroom as needed yet faithfully reproduce images of 3-D objects with its 3.2 megapixel camera and zoom in on details. The camera costs $800
Specs: 24 frames per second of video, 3.2 megapixel images, 16X zoom.
Bottom line: Why get a document camera for each room, when you can share them.

Connecticut BioBus Connects Students to Biosciences

Connecticut has combines the efforts of local educators, state representatives, and the biotech industry to create the BioBus Educational Programs that include a unique “BioBus.” For scheduled school visits, the Connecticut BioBus arrives--free of charge--at the school so students can participate in bioscience experiments. The staff scientist uses a donated SMART Sympodium interactive pen display and AirLiner wireless slate to teach the lesson. The students follow the lesson, and the see the notations from the scientist, on the 10 LCD screens along the interior of the bus. The Connecticut BioBus staff uses Notebook collaborative learning software to create original lessons that they can share with other students across the state.
Bottom line: The BioBus Educational Programs consists of four parts: 1) a mobile science laboratory (Connecticut’s BioBus); 2) an equipment loan program (BioConnection); 3) custom-developed curricula: and 4) teacher professional development. The Programs’ mission is to be a key bioscience education resource in Connecticut. The Programs--offered free of charge thanks to the sponsors--have already visited more than 56,000 students.

Putting DVDs on Screen

One thing that really biugs me are the black strips above and below a wide-screen DVD movie that a traditional classroom projector produces. Hitachi’s CPX3 puts an end to this with its CPX3 projector, which delivers an aspect ratio of 16:10 rather than the traditional 4:3. Using a trio of LCD screens, the CPX3 is a short-throw projector that can put 2,000 lumens of brightness on screen and features an ultra-sharp 1,280 by 800 resolution.
Specs: 3.9-pounds, 3 LCD imaging engine, 1,280 by 800 resolution, 2,000 lumen brightness.
Bottom line: Hitachi’s CPX3 puts a sharp, bright, wide-screen image on screen.

Council of Administrators of Special Education Re-Endorses Spectrum K12 School Solutions’ Encore Special Education Software Product

Many products are touted as “special education” thanks to added bells or whistles that make the products eligible for special ed funding. To help schools recognize those special needs products that stand out from the pack, The Council of Administrators of Special Education offers official endorsements. One recent recipient is Spectrum K12’s Encore Special Education product. Originally endorsed in 2005, CASE just re-endorsed the product, making it the first product to be re-endorsed by CASE.
Bottom Line: “With Encore, Spectrum K12 sets a new benchmark in special education IEP software,” said Luann Purcell, Ed.D., CASE executive director. Encore helps districts eliminate compliance issues, reduce paperwork, and support individual education program goals.

Keeping Schools Secure with Video

Tired of having to clean up graffiti and put garbage back into cans every morning? Using well-placed video surveillance cameras can scare vandals away, preventing a lot of extra work. They can also catch bullies and criminals who ignore the cameras in the act. D-Link has prepared a white paper on using inexpensive IP-based video cameras to monitor schools 24-7. It’s available at ftp://ftp10.dlink.com/pdfs/products/ip_surveillance_education_solution_brief.pdf

eInstruction Announces “Content Meets Technology” Sweepstakes

To celebrate the recent combination of eInstruction and Interwrite Learning, the company announced their first “Content Meets Technology” sweepstakes. Teachers and students submit, using just 250 characters or less, their vision of the role of technology in education. Those thoughts will then post to an interactive Google Map mashup on the eInstruction site. 

Here’s How: The student/teacher submissions should highlight classroom achievements made possible by the use of technology or focus on the benefits of a technology-empowered classroom. The work, along with the name of the school, the grade, and the teacher’s name, will appear on a Google Map of the world on the sweepstakes’ Web site.

Prize: Winners will be awarded an interactive makeover prize package that consists of the Interwrite Board, Interwrite Pad, 32-Pad CPS RF Clicker System, Epson PowerLite 400W Projector, and more.

Deadline:  The sweepstakes begins on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 and ends on Thursday, May 13, 2008. Winners will be chosen randomly from each grade category and announced on Monday, May 19, 2008.

Discovery Education & General Motors Offer $1000 "LIVE GREEN Grants"

Discovery Education and General Motors will award 40 educators in public middle and junior high schools across America $1,000 each to implement inventive classroom lessons on the environment or renewable energy initiatives. Winners will also be invited to participate in a virtual online professional development program promoting school-specific green initiatives. As part of the webinar series, each grant recipient will receive a free digital camera that they will use to document their experience teaching environmental or renewable energy lessons.
Here’s how: Middle and junior high school teachers must submit a 750 word essay explaining how they will advance their students' learning about sustaining resources through the use of new and emerging technologies.  Essays should demonstrate vision, creativity and a novel way of presenting environmental and energy-related concepts. Winners will begin to be notified in June 2008 – the same month Discovery Home channel becomes Planet Green, the first 24-hour eco-lifestyle channel. planetgreen.discovery.com
Grade: Middle and Junior High School Teachers
Deadline: Applications for the LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants are being accepted now through May 15, 2008.

Mini-Note with Maxi Impact on Schools

HP announced today its HP 2133Mini-Note, a notebook that seems custom designed for K-12 schools. Based on a Via C7 processor, 120- or 160GB hard drive and 8.9-inch wide-screen display, the 2133 Mini-Note weighs just 2.5 pounds. It comes with built-in wired and wireless networking as well as a good assortment of ports, but lacks an optical drive. The system starts at $500 and look for a full review of it next week.
Specs: 1.6GHz Via C7 processor, up to 160GB hard drive, 8.9-inch display at 1,280 by 768 resolution.
Bottom line: At $500, the 2133 Mini-Note does more for less.

EDUCATION BUSINESS NEWS SITE LAUNCHED BY QED AND THE HELLER REPORTS

Administrators can now have industry news at their fingertips with the new “B2E News Alert,” a new online news hub for the education industry provided by The Heller Reports and Quality Education Data (QED), both Scholastic subsidiaries.
Bottom Line: “B2E News Alert” becomes the Web home for QED/The Heller Reports News Alert, which provides weekly e-newsletters covering te latest education business news. The new site contains free news about product launches, business trends, legislative issues, and education executive moves. It also includes a searchable news archive “B2E’ news site.

Super-Sized Notebook Hard Drive

One of the biggest problems when students share notebooks is that the hard drives fill up faster than you can say "students, open up a new Word file." At 320GB, Fujitsu’s MHZ2 BJ hard drive is the closest thing to a laptop bottomless pit. The drive’s disks spin at 7,200 rpm for peak performance. Look for it in notebooks this summer.
Specs: 2.5-inch format, 2.3 watt power consumption, Serial ATA interface.
Bottom line: The Fujitsu MHZ2 BJ balances notebook performance and space.

Rethinking Schools’ Approach to 21st Century Skills

Is technology really helping to improve your test scores? The answers are inconsistent at best. At the recent CoSN conference in DC, a representative from Henricho County School District, one of the pioneers of one-to-one, stated they have not seen significant improvement since implementing the program. When they dug in deeper to find out why, they realized they needed to take their program to the next level. For this, they turned to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has updated their skills framework with Route 21, a one-stop-shop for 21st century skills-related information, resources and community tools. A key component of the Partnership’s framework for 21st century teaching and learning focuses the skills students should master. This section of the site provides an overview of the student outcomes, a white paper and links to additional resources.

Bottom line: There is a lot of information on this site, and it’s worth taking the time to read it over. The 21st Century framework details what they believe are the outcomes and support systems needed to truly prepare students for 21st century life. One computer is just a part of this complete solution that includes training and new approached to classroom teaching.

High Tech Trade-In Time

When a school’s worth of new systems come in, there’s nothing worse than having to dispose of the old equipment, which is often worthless and contains potentially hazardous materials. Toshiba now will recycle all sorts of electronic gear for schools while providing a credit towards the purchase of new equipment. To get an idea of how much your school’s old systems, cameras and printers are worth, go to http://toshiba.eztradein.com/toshiba.

Small Wonder of a Notebook

Say hello to Intel’s second generation Classmate school notebook. Announced today at Intel’s Developers Forum in Shanghai, the ClassMate carries a Celeron M processor, 512MB of RAM and a 30GB hard drive. The 9-inch LCD screen and Web cam, making it an audio-visual workhorse for K-12 classrooms. The system is available in either Linux or Windows XP. No word on pricing, but it’s sure to sell for less than typical notebooks.
Specs: Intel Celeron M processor, 512MB RAM, 30GB hard drive, 9-inch LCD screen.
Bottom line: Intel’s Classmate school notebook squeezes a lot into a small package.

Free Whiteboard Lessons

Looking for great lessons for Earth Day? SMART’s popular microsite has just launched a new update that includes six FREE Notebook collaborative software lessons – including the award-winning lesson from West Potomac High School.
Bottom Line: All lessons on the site are aligned to standards. Also included are contests and plenty of other helpful links, articles, and how-tos for both new and experienced whiteboard users.
FREE

Dinosaur Dig for Grades 3-12

In the GeoSafari Classroom Dinosaur Dig from Educational Insights, students get to participate in a faux expedition, looking for T. Rex skeleton parts and fossils embedded in a rock base. Includes lesson plans, worksheets, and tools.

Bottom Line: “Students really ‘dig’ creating a prehistoric friend!” says our tester. “After excavating the dino bones from their assigned quadrant, our young paleontologists build the T. Rex out of the collected bones. The bones were strong and sturdy, able to handle the many hands that were eager to help. A great small group, cooperative learning activity.”

Grades 3-12

$149.99

Mini-Mite Desktop PC

To me, nothing is more of a waste of precious classroom space than the desktop PC case, so I love the idea of Cybernet’s 9100 zero footprint computer. It not only packs a full PC into something only slightly taller than the typical keyboard, but the system can be ordered with a Pentium 4, Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processor. Cybernet's computers come with wired and wireless networking built in, and pricing starts at $700. To get the most out of its classroom space, Kings Mountain High School in Kings Mountain, NC uses this mini PC.
Specs: up to Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, 4GB RAM, 750GB hard drive.
Bottom line: Cybnernet squeezes a powerful PC into a keyboard.

School Data that Sings

Don’t you just hate having to renter data or import data from one section of a school administration program to another? Orbund Online School System is the one place to keep and analyze a school or district’s worth of data. The software can not only handle everything from teacher lesson plans and grade books to parental access and integrating with the institution’s Web site, but its data is available to every part of the program. Pricing starts at $2,000 for a small school, and it’s used at the Lincoln Academy for boys in Fayetteville, IL.
Specs: Modules for administration, grades, parental access, Web site integration.
Bottom line: Data from each section is available for other modules, eliminating repeated data entry. 

Super-Sharp Document Camera

Got a high-definition monitor or projector, but the same old document camera? The Lumens DC260 is the first document camera to create high-definition images and has a 3X optical zoom lens. The three gooseneck arms are for the camera and pair of lights.
Specs: 1080p resolution, SD card slot, two lamps.
Bottom line: This document camera gets the most out of a high definition projector or monitor.