ASA/AREN Consortium YR7 2004-2005 E-rate Application Filed. Alabama Supercomputer Authority (ASA) is pleased to announce submission of the E-rate Year 7 application. As the lead and billed entity for the AREN Consortium, ASA filed E-rate/SLD forms for approximately $5,576,196 on behalf of the participating 132 school systems, 615 individual schools, and 71 libraries for "end to end" Internet Access and will pay on behalf of the schools all non-discounted amounts directly to the vendors. The E-rate funding will allow participants to continue to receive 1.5Mbps Internet Access at no direct cost to them based on participation in the AREN Consortium led by the Alabama Supercomputer Authority in coordination with the Alabama State Department of Education, the Alabama Legislature, and the Office of the Governor.
In addition to Internet Access, AREN has the capacity to support applications that require guaranteed bandwidth (for example, Distance Learning (H.323 Video) or IP Telephony) to any client on our network using quality of service techniques. No other service provider can currently offer quality of service guarantees for instate education traffic. ASA can offer these guarantees due to our private intrastate backbone that doesn't utilize the commercial Internet for traffic.
ASA consortium services include web content filtering with the Internet access service at no additional charge. This is an optional service provided by the State of Alabama that can be used to meet the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requirements for a "technology protection measure." Through the ASA/AREN Consortium Application affordable Internet Access services are provided to many school systems and individual schools unable to afford this technology in any other way.
READING ABOUT EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY
National Reading Panel, (2003b). Computer technology and reading instruction. In Teaching children to read: Reports of the subroups (NIH Pub. No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/Publications/subgroups.htm
The Scoring Guide for Student Products This customizable Scoring Guide was created to evaluate the content knowledge and effective use of technology in products created by students using computers. While it was designed for use in a collaborative evaluation process, it can also be used by individual teachers and students. http://www.ncrtec.org/tl/sgsp/index.html
Laptops Help Students Become Better Writers The Peace River North School District, in British Columbia, has proof of the effectiveness of its laptop computer-writing program. After they used the laptops, just over 90% of pupils who were tested met the province's writing standards; only 70% of those pupils met the writing standards before they began using laptops. http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040114/LAPTOP14/TPE
EDUCATION AND THE INTERNET
History and Politics Out Loud features sound files of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" address and other speeches. http://www.hpol.org/master.php?t=browseands=speakerandid=12
We Shall Overcome, Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement is a travel itinerary of 41 churches, houses, and other properties related to the post-World War II civil rights movement. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/
Black History Month: Pursuing the American Dream This year marks an important anniversary in the field of education -- the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a pivotal court case in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation in education to be unlawful. Join the MarcoGram in celebrating Black History Month with activities and lessons about the Underground Railroad, African-American poetry and much more. Use the warm-up activities to help students learn about important people and events in African-American history, then use the links for more lessons and resources. http://www.mped.org/MarcoGrams/Feb2004.html.
Chesterwood: Workshop of an American Sculptor describes the work and estate of one of America's most important sculptors. Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) produced more than 100 works -- including the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial -- during a period when sculptors enjoyed high status. Models and sketches from the Lincoln project, which took nine years, are provided, as are photos of the farmhouse that he converted into his estate and workshop. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/100chesterwood/100chesterwood.htm
Creative Space: Fifty Years of Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop features works by the master printmaker and by his collaborators, students, and friends. Blackburn (1920-2003)changed the course of American art through his graphic work and the Printmaking Workshop, which he founded in New York City in 1948. His experiments in color lithography helped fuel the explosion of graphic art during the 1960s. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/blackburn/
Mark Rothko: The Mural Projects presents nine works by one of America's foremost artists. The works are related to two mural commissions from the 1950s-1960s. Rothko (1903-1970) is closely identified with the New York School, a circle of painters that emerged during the 1940s. He created a new and impassioned form of abstract painting. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/rothkoinfo.htm
America's Space Program: Exploring a New Frontier tells the story of America's journey to the moon. The creation of NASA, the Apollo vehicles, and the January 1967 tragedy are part of the story. On July 20, 1969, as the Eagle lunar module approached the moon, it became clear that the computer had chosen an unacceptable landing site -- a boulder-strewn crater. With 114 seconds of fuel left, astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin overrode the computers and manually landed the Eagle. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/101space/101space.htm
Galileo's Battle for the Heavens explains why Galileo is the father of modern science, why Galileo's refractor and Newton's reflector remain the two standard types of optical telescopes today, and Galileo's big mistake. See demonstrations of his experiments, an illustrated chronology of his life, an online pendulum, and an interactive inclined plane. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/
Mars Exploration Rover Mission provides images and updates on the two Mars rovers, Spirit (which landed January 3, 2004) and Opportunity (which is expected to land January 24, 2004). Videos and text depict the challenges of getting to Mars: testing the rovers on Martian terrain, launching the rovers, navigating their flights, bringing them into the Martian atmosphere, landing them, and getting them out of the lander cocoon. http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
The Secret Life of the Brain presents a history of efforts to understand the brain, a three-dimensional tour of the brain, optical illusions, and an animation showing how magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) works. Videoclips examine how the brain evolves and differs from infancy to childhood, adolescence, and through adulthood. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/
Back Stairs at Brucemore: Life as Servants in Early 20th Century America looks at the role of servants at a 33-acre estate during the early 1900s. The 21-room mansion was built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the 1880s with a separate entrance, dining area, and stairs for servants. Servants cleaned house, supervised children, washed laundry, cooked meals, cared for the garden and farm animals, and maintained carriages and cars. Floor plans, photos, and diary excerpts are included. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/105brucemore/105brucemore.htm
New Kent School and the George W. Watkins School: From Freedom of Choice to Integration focuses on the 1968 Supreme Court ruling that ended a decade of resistance to school desegregation in the South (1955-1964)and triggered massive integration of schools (1968-1973). The New Kent and George W. Watkins schools illustrated typical characteristics of a southern rural school system that achieved token desegregation following the Brown decision. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/104newkent/104newkent.htm
Paterson, New Jersey: America's Silk City describes conditions that led to the famous 1913 strike in a city that produced nearly half the U.S.'s manufactured silk. Conflicts between labor and management increased in the U.S. during the early 20th century. In Paterson, on January 27, 1913, when Henry Doherty tried to extend a new "four-loom system" throughout his plant, 800 silk weavers walked out. More than 20,000 Paterson silk workers took part in the strike, which lasted over five months. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/102paterson/102paterson.htm
Wheat Farms, Flour Mills, and Railroads: A Web of Interdependence examines those three industries as they evolved together in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and North Dakota during the late 1800s. The three depended on each other for success and propelled this region to dominance in U.S. flour production for more than half a century. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/106wheat/106wheat.htm
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Internet2 Connects American Schools to the Global Village Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Joyce Kasman Valenza says speedy Internet2 connections offer tantalizing opportunities for schools in the areas of interactive programming, remote technologies and worldwide collaborative projects. High-speed networks have already enabled successful real-time cultural exchanges between American foreign-language students and native-speaking counterparts. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/7657150.htm
ThinkCycle:Open Collaborative Design is "an academic, non-profit initiative engaged in supporting distributed collaboration towards design challenges facing underserved communities and the environment. ThinkCycle seeks to create a culture of open source design innovation, with ongoing collaboration among individuals, communities and organizations around the world." http://www.thinkcycle.org/
Ensuring A Place For The Arts In America's Schools In the lead article in this information-rich issue of "The Standard," Douglas Herbert advocates for educators and citizens to find both the will and way to make the arts a core subject in schools. In his view, the fight to have the arts considered a core subject in the schools has been likened to the plight of Sisyphus, toiling unceasingly to push a boulder up a steep hill. The incline has changed over the past 20 years, often as a result of significant events in the overall education landscape. Herbert outlines the ways in which the arts are a core component of a basic standards-based education. Also available at the link below is Lori Meyer’s article, "The Complete Curriculum: Ensuring a Place for the Arts in America’s Schools." According to Meyer, No Child Left Behind may have unintentionally narrowed the curriculum of public schools to the detriment of the arts, forcing states to narrow their attention and resources on complying with the law’s primary emphasis on reading, math, and science. In her view, in order to ensure a role for arts in a standards-based system equal to that of other core subject areas, state policymakers must ensure that there are high-quality standards for what students should be able to learn and know in the arts. Meyer includes ten recommendations for strengthening the arts as part of a comprehensive education. http://www.nasbe.org/Standard/index.html
Evaluating Information on the Internet This section of The Virtual Chase offers a checklist for discovering quality in Web-based information, commentary on technical trickery, examples of bogus websites, and resources for learning more. In addition to the resources provided, this website offers an introductory article entitled How To Assess the Quality of Information at a Website. It's especially suited for students and casual or beginning searchers. http://www.virtualchase.com/quality/
Quick Simple-step Guides to Using the Internet IMSA MicroModules is an online teaching and learning package consisting of short, self-directed lessons that cover a wide range of Internet topics. MicroModules address knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to locate, evaluate and use Internet resources in a learning environment. Taking only 10-20 minutes to complete, the individual modules can be used by anyone from sixth grade through adult learners. These web-based learning materials are suitable for use with middle and high school students, as well as faculty and staff. http://wizard.imsa.edu/teach/micro
Notable Pics This tool, from HPR*TEC, allows K-16 teachers and students to use their own photographs (or those which they have copyright permission) as the basis of a web-based lesson. Once the teacher has uploaded a photograph, the teacher can add facts to areas of the photograph to direct the students' attention to pertinent details. The teacher can then add instructions, content information and hyperlinks to create the rest of the lesson. http://notablepics.4teachers.org/