EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
From
the New Hampshire Department of Education
Office
of Educational Technology
Date: May
19, 2003
Volume: 2003.05.01
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IN
THIS ISSUE
· Recycling Computer Equipment
· Internet
Safety
· Research on Handhelds
· Research
on Kids Access to Computers
· Start
Your Research at NHewlink
· Electronic Math Flash Cards
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ET News is sent from the Office of Educational Technology at the New Hampshire Department of Education. Please note that, while ET News is forwarding information about technology related products and services, we have not conducted a formal evaluation of such products/services. We encourage you to let us know if you find a particular item of high quality and value to your school. You can find previous issues of ETNews on our web site at www.nheon.org/oet/etnews.
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RECYCLING COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
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Computers in the Schools Program (CITS)
http://www.state.nh.us/cits
· CITS is now taking orders for the TYPE V system. This system was built based on survey responses from schools and has increased system performance a 1.46GHz CPU and 256 MB RAM. For the first time schools also have the option of upgrading to a DVD drive or adding extra RAM. Please note that there is a very limited supply of monitors at this time, contact CITS for availability before ordering monitors.
· The NH Department of Environmental Services that provides a fact sheet on monitors (CRTs), electronics recycling companies and other useful information. To view this information please visit: http://www.des.state.nh.us/SWTAS/recycle_electronics.htm
· CITS has also developed "Suggested Guidelines for Computer Donations to Schools" to assist in planning for computer donations. The guidelines can be found at: http://www.nh.gov/cits/schooldonations.html
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INTERNET SAFETY
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I-SAFE Initiative
www.isafe.org
In the December 2002 edition of T.H.E. Journal (http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4249.cfm ) there is an article outlining the $3.5 million dollars of grant funding awarded to I-SAFE to launch a safe school initiative and outreach campaign focused on Internet safety. Using this grant $$ I-SAFE has created lesson plans for schools. The lessons, training and resources are FREE to New Hampshire Schools. Visit their website at www.isafe.org for lots more information. Thanks to Teri Blouin for sharing this news and the following comments:
“Our middle school just completed the first set of lessons of the ISAFE's (www.isafe.org) Internet Safety Curriculum at the 7th grade level. The guidance counselor who taught the curriculum - loved it! The professionally created Powerpoint, with its embedded film strips, worked very well for her and our students. She was amazed at what she learned about how our students use the Internet outside of school!!
The guidance department has seen a rise in harassment, bullying, and similar incidents during the school day due in part to IM'ing, Chatting, + Emails between students outside of school. As in many cases in education, the problem begins outside of school but the outcomes spill over to the school day and she is the one dealing with the students involved. She sees this curriculum as a good attempt at a proactive solution.
I sat in on a few classes and I was very impressed with the technology integration, Internet Safety curriculum, and "proactive" approach to Internet safety that we can now take to the classroom using this FREE curriculum. Guidance personnel have long been teaching drug awareness, health issues, etc. -- and in today's world - Internet Safety is a relevant issue for 99% of our students and very much needed. The responses to the curricula by students demonstrated the need very clearly to me and my guidance counselor.”
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RESEARCH ON HANDHELDS
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Results of Palm Handhelds Research
SRI International conducted a large-scale study of the use of handheld computers. Over 100 elementary and secondary classrooms participated. Nearly 90% of the teachers said they found the handhelds to be an effective instructional tool.
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RESEARCH ON KIDS ACCESS TO COMPUTERS
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http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003036
The above link takes you to a National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) report titled "Young Children’s Access to Computers in the Home and at School in 1999 and 2000". NCES describes the report as follows. “It uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K) kindergarten and first grade data collections to examine young children’s access to and use of computers in different settings. It describes children’s access to various computer resources (e.g., school computer labs, Internet access) in their homes, classrooms, and schools. The report also looks at the ways in which kindergartners and first-graders use computers in their homes and classrooms for various purposes. Descriptive information is presented overall and in relation to children’s sex, race/ethnicity, disability status, and family socioeconomic status. Children’s classroom computer use is also compared by several characteristics of their teachers and classrooms.”
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START YOUR RESEARCH AT NHEWLINK!!
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This resource is FREE to school libraries! Funded through the NH State Library. There are valuable curriculum related resources including daily newspaper articles to provide up-to-date coverage of current events; academic resources for students in AP and other advanced courses; more than 80,000 biographical sources.
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ELECTRONIC MATH FLASH CARDS
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http://www.tosiweb.com/myschool/
Math Facts Flash Card & Mad Minute CD-ROM
Here’s math software created by New Hampshire folks: “My School Math Facts is an electronic math flash card game for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on CD-ROM. It features practice and "mad minute" modes and is customized with your school name on the CD label and in the program. Students simply insert the CD into the computer at homework time or in the classroom. They choose the type of fact they would like to practice, select the level of difficulty and in three to five minutes can play several rounds of "math mad minutes" with score tracking. The school name customization builds on school pride and even allows the CD to be used in fundraisers if desired.” Visit the site above for more info.
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Regards,
Cathy
Higgins
for the staff at the NHDOE Office of Educational Technology
*** Visit us on the NHEON.ORG web site at http://nheon.org