January 2003

Alabama Supercomputer Authority


ASA provides high performance computing, information management, networking, and Internet services to Alabama's educational community and government agencies. During 2002, ASA significantly expanded its partnerships with the Alabama Department of Education and the Alabama College System. The Alabama Research and Education Network grew from 250 to 490 managed nodes, added two DS3s for Internet service, and launched several new initiatives:

ASA is the technology partner for the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) and the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) and serves as the lead in a consortium of Alabama's K-12 school systems in the E-rate program. Through this federal program and the support of the Alabama Legislature, ASA is able to provide technology and Internet services and support to the education community.

In addition, ASA was recently chosen as an invited presenter for the National Education Computing Conference in Seattle, Washington in June 2003! We have had a great year and look forward to continued growth and success in 2003.

Research and Technology

New technologies can provide meaningful learning experiences for all children, especially those at risk of educational failure. Schools that capitalize on the relationship between technology and education reform will help students to develop higher order skills and to function effectively in the world beyond the classroom. Achieving such fundamental change, however, requires a transformation of not only the underlying pedagogy (basic assumptions about the teaching and learning process) but also the kinds of technology applications typically used in classrooms serving at-risk students. Click here to read "Using Technology to Enhance Engaged Learning for At-Risk Students."

Education and the Internet

More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the FREE web site. Teachers, parents, students, & others are invited to use FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence) to find learning resources from more than 40 federal organizations. http://www.ed.gov/free

A selection of recently added resources:

Arts

"Deception & Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe l'Oeil Painting" illustrates the playful & intellectual nature of "trompe l'oeil" -- the artistic depiction of objects so precisely that those objects appear real. Twelve images are presented from the 115-piece exhibit, which represents the most comprehensive treatment to date of this phenomenon. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/trompe-info.htm

"Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music" contains more than 15,000 pieces of historical sheet music registered for copyright during 1820-1860 & more than 47,000 pieces registered during 1870-1885. It includes popular songs, operatic arias, piano music, sacred & secular choral music, solo instrumental music, method books & instructional materials, & music for band & orchestra. The collection is searchable by author, subject, & song title. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mussmhtml/

Language Arts

"Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers" features parent tips, video clips & transcripts from interviews with reading experts; motivational e-cards grandparents & teachers can send to children; a forum for sharing suggestions; booklists; & answers to key questions. This website, which accompanies the PBS "Reading Rockets" television series, also provides overviews for the 5-part series. http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders/

"Transportation Essay Contest" invites students to write an essay about the future of transportation & its importance in society. Illustrations are encouraged. Winners will receive a certificate & winning essays will be placed on the Garrett A. Morgan Technology & Transportation Futures Program website. The deadline is March 15, 2003. http://education.dot.gov/contest/2003contest.html

Math

"Create a Graph" helps students create their own graphs & charts. This online tool can be used to make 4 kinds of charts & graphs: bar graphs, line graphs, area graphs, & pie charts. http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/

"Explore Your Knowledge" challenges students to try their hand at 8th grade math & science questions taken from the Third International Mathematics & Science Study (TIMSS). http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk/index.asp?flash=true

Science

"Energy & Recycling" explores the link between solid waste & energy, the history of garbage, how landfills work, & related topics. Biographies of pioneers in energy & "energy news you can use" are offered for students. Materials for teaching about energy are provided in Classroom Connection. http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/recycling/index.html

"Toxtown" is an interactive guide to toxic substances commonly found in water, rivers, offices, stores, schools, parks, homes, &factories. Substances include arsenic, asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead, mercury, ozone, radon, & toluene. http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/

Social Studies

"LewisandClark200.gov" is a web portal to information about the famous expedition that set out nearly 200 years ago to find & map a transcontinental water route to the Pacific Ocean. The journey of Lewis & Clark & their 33-member party across the continent is shown on a current U.S. map (alongside today's cities & highways) with descriptions of historical places along the trail. The site provides maps, timelines, & classroom activities, as well as the letter of instruction from Thomas Jefferson & biographical information about Corps of Discovery members & American Indian tribes they encountered. This website is the result of a partnership among 32 federal agencies & organizations. http://www.lewisandclark200.org/

"Life in the White House" presents a history of the White House in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the West Wing. The First Lady, the President's Chief of Staff, the Vice President, & others, including the President himself, narrate video tours of the Oval Office, Cabinet Room, Diplomatic Room, & other rooms. http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/life/

"Our Documents" features 100 milestone documents in U.S. history. Each week, the website highlights 3 documents, beginning with the Lee Resolution of June 7, 1776, & ending with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Speeches, treaties, Supreme Court cases, patent designs, & Constitutional amendments are among the 100 documents that changed the course of history & helped shape our national character. Images of documents are accompanied by transcriptions & historical interpretations. The website, part of a history & civics initiative announced by President Bush on September 17, 2002, includes information about competitions for students & workshops for teachers. Teachers are invited to develop & test a classroom lesson on one or several milestone documents. http://www.ourdocuments.gov/

"Voices from the Field" presents 10 stories set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Poland, & Papua New Guinea. Lesson ideas & student work accompany the stories, which were written by Peace Corps authors. The aim is to strengthen students' reading & writing, inspire students to create their own personal meanings & narratives, & broaden students' perspectives of the world & themselves. http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/guides/voices/index.html

For Parents

"Helping Your Child Through Early Adolescence" helps parents of 10- to 14-year-olds answer questions that include: How will my child change between the ages of 10 & 14? How much independence should I give my child? How can I help my child form good friendships & resist harmful peer pressure? How can I keep my child motivated to learn & do well, both in & out of school? What can I do to help my child develop good values? How can I tell -- & what can I do - if my child is having a serious problem? http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/adolescence/index.html

"Helping Your Child Succeed in School" is designed for parents of children ages 5-11. It offers tips for talking with your children & getting them to talk with you, encouraging them to read, monitoring TV watching & video game playing, using the library & the Internet, working with teachers & schools, & helping children with test taking. More than 60 fun activities can help children develop important skills. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Succeed/index.html

News You Can Use

THE LEARNING FIRST ALLIANCE is a permanent partnership of 12 leading educational associations that have come together to improve student learning in America's public elementary and secondary schools.

The Alliance represents an unprecedented, self-initiated commitment to develop and deliver a common message to all parts of the education system, align priorities, share and disseminate success stories, encourage collaboration at every level, and work toward the continual and long-term improvement of public education based on solid research.

Alliance members represent more than ten million Americans engaged in providing, governing and improving public education. Since its founding in 1997, the Alliance's member presidents and executive directors have met regularly to advance a common agenda to improve public education.

The three major goals of the Alliance are to:

  1. Ensure that high academic expectations are held for all students;
  2. Ensure a safe and supportive place of learning for all students; and,
  3. Engage parents and other community members in helping students achieve high academic expectations.

In 1998, the Learning First Alliance published Every Child Reading: An Action Plan, which set as a goal that virtually every healthy child born in the 21st century be reading well by age 9. To download this report, click here.

REBIRTH IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP Something happened in the Mobile County public school system recently that employees of more than 25 years said they have never seen: Everyone was getting along. School board members and the superintendent, whose strained relationship has been a public issue for the last year, sat at tables with 47 educators and community members, discussing educational goals and needs under the direction of a privately hired consultant. The startling harmony is result of the community-focused "Yes We Can" campaign spearheaded by the Mobile Area Education Foundation. The goal of the effort is to build shared community leadership while creating a long-range plan for lasting educational change. http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1040292952205221.xml

EVALUATING AND ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT has become a hot topic at the national and state level over the past year. Jeff Sun has spent the past ten years working with school districts to develop meaningful evaluation procedures for student and teacher use of technology. Recently, Sun Associates revised their district workbook for creating technology evaluations. While this workbook is not designed to "stand alone" as a full technology evaluation, it does provide district administrators with a good overall picture of how to design an effective technology evaluation. It's a good starting point for setting evaluation priorities and for charting out a process for making evaluation an integral part of the district's technology implementation effort. An electronic copy of the workbook is available at http://www.sun-associates.com/eval/wkbk.pdf

The U.S. Education Department recently finalized several regulations for the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LEGISLATION. These regulations require failing schools to provide parents with a list of technology-based or distance-learning providers of supplemental educational services. Under the new regulations, schools that are not targeted for improvement or corrective action could serve as supplemental service providers and could provide this service online.The Education Department published the regulations, which provide NCLB compliance guidelines, in the Dec. 2 Federal Register, p. 71709. For additional information, contact Jacquelyn Jackson at (202) 260-0826.