EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
April 27, 2004
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| NHEON :: Office of Ed Tech :: ETNews | |
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IN THIS ISSUE • School Building Technology Surveys • LoTi Surveys • NH SALT Registration Now Open • Open Source Software • Writing Tips for Web Pages
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====================================== The 2003 technology survey, available at http://nh.vived.com, will be CLOSED as of May 14th for the 2003-04 data collection period. School building technology coordinators are advised to complete the survey ASAP. This annual survey provides critical data for technology planning and funding decisions. All schools within a district applying for technology funds administered by the NH Department of Education must complete this survey each year.
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====================================== LOTI for the 2003-04 School Year The closing date for the Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi) Survey is June 30, 2004. You may access this assessment tool at http://www.nheon.com/oet/loti. LoTi is available to all schools in NH. Districts receiving NHDOE technology grants commit to having at least 75% of their educators complete the LoTi survey annually. LoTi provides valuable data for your district professional development and technology planning. If you need assistance with the introduction of this tool to your staff, please contact Dan Cherry at dcherry@ed.state.nh.us or 603-271-8264.
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====================================== New Hampshire School Administrators Leading with Technology (NHSALT): Meeting the Standards for School Leadership is funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. NHSALT is an exciting professional development opportunity, sponsored by the NH Department of Education in partnership with the NH School Principals Association. NHSALT, now entering its third and final grant year, was developed specifically to meet the professional development needs of superintendents and principals throughout New Hampshire.
Registration documents were mailed this week to all superintendents, and similar information will soon be mailed to all school principals. The NHSALT program focuses on the areas of Leadership, Organizational Change, and Technology. Please mention to your administrators that registration documents are out. One of the largest impacts we have experienced with administrators is the role of the LoTi (Level of Technology Implementation) survey and the use of technology in an instructional setting.
If you need more information about NHSALT, or if you would like the documents e-mailed directly to a principal or superintendent, please contact Dan Cherry, NHSALT Program Director, at dcherry@ed.state.nh.us or 271-8264.
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====================================== OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE ======================================
Open Source Software Group The following information comes from an open source software group in New Hampshire: “The Greater Nashua Sustainable Software (GNSS) is a non-profit group of IT professionals who are offering free consulting about Open Source Software and Free Software (OSS/FS) to schools in the greater Nashua area. Their goal is to raise the awareness and appropriate adoption of OSS/FS in non-profit organizations. There is never any charge for GNSS services. They are offering their services 1) to help schools learn about OSS/FS, 2) to help schools plan implementations of OSS/FS in their networks and classrooms, and 3) to train the existing network administrators (as necessary) to maintain their OSS/FS systems. (They are not interested in long-term support, but rather in enabling schools to become quickly self-sufficient in their use of OSS/FS.) For more information about GNSS, visit their website at http://gnss.majen.net/ and contact them via email at gnss-consult@majen.net .”
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====================================== WRITING TIPS FOR WEB PAGES ====================================== http://www.smalldog.com/newsarchive/edsup_list.php Here are some great tips about writing text for web pages, adapted from a recent issue of “Eds Up!” published by the folks at Small Dog Electronics:
A 1997 Nielsen study about web site readability states that, "People rarely read web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. . .79 percent of our test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word." Their findings confirmed that web pages have to employ scannable text, using:
· highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others) · meaningful sub-headings (not "clever" ones) · bulleted lists · one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph) · the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion · half the word count (or less) than conventional writing Resources: http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
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Regards, Cathy Higgins for the staff at the Office of Educational Technology at the New Hampshire Department of Education Visit us on NH Educators Online at http://nheon.org/oet |
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About ET News
ET News is sent from the Office of Educational Technology at the New Hampshire Department of Education. ET News serves as a primary e-mail communication tool about technology matters pertinent to NH educators. Current and previous issues are posted on the web at www.nheon.org/oet/etnews and include information about: · NHDOE technology surveys and technology planning · Federal technology funding and E-rate discounts · Research studies, curriculum information, and professional development related to technology implementation
Requests from service providers to disseminate information about their technology products and services using the electronic newsletter ET News can no longer be accommodated by existing OET staff (see March 29 issue of ET News). Providers are referred to the Reports and Statistics section of the NHDOE website, where several data reports are available in various formats, including School and SAU Information with names, phone numbers, and addresses, Student Dropout Data, and more. Go to: http://www.ed.state.nh.us/ReportsandStatistics/Reports.htm. |
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