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Media Workshop Edu-Tech News Digest -- March 12, 2001

Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 04:51:19 -1000
From: Jessica Millstone <jmillstone@mediaworkshop.org>
Subject: Media Workshop Edu-Tech News Digest -- March 12, 2001
To: edutech-news@www.mediaworkshop.org

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Each week Media Workshop sends out an email highlighting recent news articles about K-12 educational technology...
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week of March 12, 2001

Inside this week's issue:

* ONLINE TEXTBOOKS AND TOOLS
"Textbook Publishers Try Online Education"
"Internet2 Will Expand to K-12"

* FREE-SPEECH ISSUES
"Student Web Sites Pose Rising Test of Free Speech Rights"

* WOMEN AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
"Girls Into Science, Not Computers"

* DIGITAL NEWSPAPER CONTEST
"Volunteers, Students Gear Up for Digital Newspaper Contest"

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ONLINE TEXTBOOKS AND TOOLS
"Textbook Publishers Try Online Education"
Susan Stellin
New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/07/technology/07EDUCATION.html
March 7, 2001
McGraw-Hill and Pearsons PLC, two heavyweights in the educational publishing industry, are entering the online education market in two very different ways. McGraw-Hill is concentrating on interactive textbooks - augmenting traditional textbook images and text with video, audio, and interactive quizzes. The textbooks will be made available by subscription, and are currently being tested at middle schools in Florida. Pearsons, on the other hand, is revamping a Web-based portal of lesson plans and administrative tools for teachers (formerly called the Family Education Network) into a free service site for teachers, parents, and students. While teachers are integrating web-based resources into their classes, issues of bandwidth still keep many classrooms from taking full advantage of these new online materials.

"Internet2 Will Expand to K-12"
Katie Dean
Wired News, http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,42112,00.html
March5, 2001
An update on using Internet2 , a high speed network of computers good for distributing high quality audio and video, in the K-12 world. Discussions are brewing between schools and institutions who would like to develop some interesting applications for this network, including videoconferencing, archives of video materials, and musical collaborations.

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FREE-SPEECH ISSUES
"Student Web Sites Pose Rising Test of Free Speech Rights"
Martha Groves, Jill Leovy, David Colker
Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20010306/t000019818.html
March 6, 2001
In light of school shootings and other violent acts, websites such as SchoolRumors.com, a CA-based website that allows for anonymous posts by school-ages children, are being shut down. The content found on these student-run websites is often seen as violent, lewd, or disparaging to parents and educators. Courts in several states have ruled that schools can not control a website produced and maintained off-site unless the content is clearly threatening. The ACLU typically defends such cases as First Amendment rights violations, and calls these lawsuits "a growing trend."

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WOMEN AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
"Girls Into Science, Not Computers"
Kendra Mayfield
Wired News, http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,42210,00.html
March 9, 2001
While middle-school girls are choosing math and science classes nearly as often as boys, computer science still remains unattractive to girls. Educators realize they need to look for creative ways to redesign computer classes to better attract and engage girls (as well as boys).

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DIGITAL NEWSPAPER CONTEST
"Volunteers, Students Gear Up for Digital Newspaper Contest"
Erin Joyce
At New York/Internet.com, http://www.atnewyork.com/views/article/0,1471,8481_708681,00.html
March 8, 2001
A digital newspaper competition is helping NYC high school students and teachers learn technology and journalism skills from the professionals - the New York Times, web consultancy iXL, and non-profit organization MOUSE. The contest began three years ago as a workshop/mentoring session between iXL and Dewitt Clinton High School. This year's finalists are participating in workshops to develop their winning newspaper ideas, with an awards ceremony to be held on May 22, 2001. Workshop leaders and teachers say that the collaboration and project management skills learned from working on a team are some of the most valuable lessons being passed on to these students.

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summaries complied by:
Jessica Millstone (jmillstone@mediaworkshop.org), Technology Consultant Media Workshop New York, a special project of the Bertelsmann Foundation http://www.mediaworkshop.org

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