Washington, D.C. (June 8, 2010) - The Education Division of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announces the release of its most recent report on the K-12 and postsecondary education technology markets - officially titled the SIIA Trends Report for Education Technology.

Authored by various members of the education industry, the report highlights industry shifts and emerging trends as they relate to five main topics: K-12 learning management systems, postsecondary learning management systems, online learning, state of the states, and mobile computing.

"The purpose of this report was to identify the opportunities, challenges and potential areas for growth in K-12 and higher education institutions with regards to education technology.  We aimed to find where technology has the greatest impact and where it can provide the most prolific benefits moving forward," said Karen Billings, vice president of SIIA's Education Division.

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Atomic Learning invites you to join us as we welcome Gayl Bowser for a FREE webinar on creating an Assistive Technology Professional Development plan. Gayl will discuss flexible and practical professional development assessment and planning strategies that include a variety of training approaches including the use of online tutorials.

Thursday, June 10, 2010 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CDT 

Register here

Funding for Classroom Technology is in jeopardy!  Join ISTE members and education technology advocates from across the country for a day of blogging and tweeting in support of 21^st century learning.

President Obama’s budget provides no funding for education technology.  The Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, which was funded at $100 million in 2010, is rolled into a the new program “Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education.”
Without funds specifically set aside to pay for education technology the administration’s messaging about the importance of technology for classroom teaching and learning rings hollow. If education technology is so important, why has the proposed 2011 budget eliminated funding for the only dedicated ed tech funding program?

Although the President has recommended to eliminate funding for EETT, Congress does not have to agree with this recommendation.  ISTE is urging congress to fund education technology at at $500 million for next year. To get this issue on congress’ agenda we need to tell  policymakers that we are not going to take the loss of EETT quietly.

On Wednesday, May 12 we are going to flood the Web with messages in support of funding for education technology. We’ll provide some Twitter messages to get you started, but we’re asking for a major effort from all the ed tech bloggers, tweeters, Facebookers and Ning-regulars out there to write in support of dedicated federal funding for education technology.

Keep watching ISTE Connects for information on how you can help secure $500 million for ed tech in 2011. Together we can make our voices heard!

http://www.isteconnects.org/2010/05/06/join-the-campaign-tweet-and-blog-for-ed-tech-may-12/

You already have some great assistive technology tools. Many of them have had a huge impact on your students. 
But, are your teachers making the most of them?

Don Johnston teamed up with Atomic Learning to solve this problem. We came up with an exclusive bundle of online trainings—some of which you won’t find anywhere else. Subscribers will get unlimited whole-district access to thousands of online tutorials for all of your top assistive technology software and devices.

Find out more

I admit that I've been skeptical about the usefulness of the iPad to those of us who like to create content and share information as well as take it in. Sure, it's been billed as a game-changer, but it's also been described as a consumption-only device, not having much ability to store files or spread them around. Many a blog post and Twitter tweet express concern about Apple's tight control over usability and content.

There's a debate ongoing over whether technology in schools should really be invisible. One blogger argues that technology should never be a hurdle to leap before learning, and one says it's critical to understand how technology works to alter our living environments.

April is National Poetry Month. We've just updated one of our Technology Integration Projects which uses Garage Band '09, and it does a nice job of bringing poetry to any classroom:

Take poetry to a new level! Users will use an audio application to produce a podcast of themselves narrating a piece of poetry. They will create a music track to accompany their poem, and also add images they have found to illustrate their poem. They may elect to use an image capture utility on their computer to create their images. Finally, they will export their podcast for an MP3 player.

View the project here

We've released a batch of new Technology Integration Projects and Workshops with our colleges of education customers in mind. They're also useful to K12 educators looking for more advanced content.

Technology Integration Projects
Collaborating to Build a Slideshow Presentation – Google Docs

Creating a Photo Book – Photoshop Elements 8 (PC)

HP & Intel's Digital Learning Event Series 2010 - Practical Strategies for Digital Learning Environments

Register today!

Although funding concerns remain, the National Ed-Tech Plan is a promising start, ed-tech advocates say.

The new National Education Technology Plan, released March 5, sets an ambitious agenda for using technology to transform teaching and learning, ed-tech advocates say–and a call to action that is long overdue.

The plan, called “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology,” calls for engaging and empowering learning experiences for all students; standards and assessments that measure key 21st-century skills and expertise; a shift to a model of “connected teaching,” in which teams of interconnected educators replace solo classroom practitioners; always-on connectivity that is available to students and teachers both inside and outside of school; and a rethinking of basic assumptions, such as seat time, that limit schools’ ability to innovate.

 Read more at eschoolnews.com

Easiteach^® Studio is a powerful and flexible whole-class-teaching software product, which provides a wide range of cross-curricular teaching tools for both primary and secondary schools. This tutorial series will teach you all you need to know about the features that come with the RM Easiteach Starter package.

One of the themes that I regularly encounter in my social media wandering is that technology should never be employed simply to be "high tech". Doing so misses the whole point, which is to engage students and enable them to learn in new ways and collaborate on a higher level. Putting a whiteboard on the wall or a laptop in a student's hands accomplishes virtually nothing without proper technique.

Here's a funny representation of tech for tech's sake. Believe it or not, some classrooms aren't far from this scenario.

This project by PBS and the MacArthur and Park Foundations aligns well with recent posts on digital learning. It starts this evening.

More and more educators are tapping into the power of digital media and technology for teaching and learning. The variety of information resources available online is simply staggering. Explore how teachers and students are using the power of social media to promote students' active engagement, critical thinking and literacy skills.

Anyone who has attempted to pass a public funding referendum for education knows how difficult it can be to convince John and Jane Q. Public of the merits of certain types of teaching.

Via eSchool News:

Acer and Intel are accepting nominations for Acer’s School Library Technology Makeover Contest, which will award 10 new Acer Aspire Timeline notebook computers, valued at nearly $10,000, and two all-in-one desktop computers to a deserving school library.

https://usspringpromo.acer.com/Campaign/SchoolLibraryMakeover/index.htm?LS=Intel

This speaks for itself. I'll let it.

We are calling on educators and web professionals to join our new effort – the 2010 MLK Day Technology Challenge. The idea is simple: to connect schools with technology needs to IT and web professionals, developers, graphic designers and new media professionals who are willing to volunteer their skills for good, take on these technology projects and give back to a school in need.

What a great idea in this time of financial crisis for schools in many nations. There's a location feature down the page for those interested.

Happy new year to all our readers, customers, and educators everywhere. To kick off 2010, here are some interesting looking Tweets from today. New to Twitter? Be our guest with these two free tutorials. 

chollingsworth

We've released a big batch of new tutorials this week, starting with a series on OpenOffice, the free, open-source productivity alternative.

OpenOffice.org 3.1 Writer - Intro (PC)
http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/oow31_intro

OpenOffice.org 3.1 Calc - Intro (PC)
http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/ooc31_intro

OpenOffice.org 3.1 Impress - Intro (PC)

Assistive technology plays a tremendous role in leveling the playing field for many students whose disabilities need not be hindrances to learning. If you're passionate about learning and have a background in sales and some knowledge of assistive tech, drop us a line!

We are pleased to offer you the opportunity to participate in FETC 2010 – the most comprehensive ed-tech learning event in the U.S. — at a significant discount! FETC 2010 is the content-rich conference that brings education leaders and technology experts together to exchange techniques and strategies for administrative, teaching and learning success.

With more than 200 Concurrent Sessions, 70-plus workshops—and an exhibit hall of 400-plus solution providers displaying and demonstrating the latest products and services—it’s

Technology use in schools is gaining momentum. To fuel this growth, educators need data. With your help, we can present the real-world picture of 'what works' to others to help them avoid pitfalls and be successful.You understand the power of technology to transform. We need your help so everyone else will.

Go to survey

This morning I was repeatedly reminded of a dilemma professionals in many fields encounter. On one hand, an employee is expected to keep up with the latest technological tools available to them and relevant to their job. On the other, they may already feel overwhelmed with what's on their to-do lists.

Atomic Learning's Amanda Peters was joined by Beth Thomlinson of Freedom Scientific for a seminar at this year's ATIA conference in Chicago.

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