New Technologies
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Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology CIT ESPONS E R April 2010 What’s Inside New Technologies New Technologies and Resources by Cliff Steinberg Spotlight n February, we saw the release of a Tech Toys I device that could hold many exciting A is for Apple. NASTECH News possibilities for education. Sure, it’s a little too early to talk about what its Upcoming Events impact will be, but it definitely is fun to and more... give it some thought. Of course, this device is the iPad from Watch for our May issue Apple. Being touted as “the best way to featuring Creativity and experience the Web, e-mail, photos, and Balance video,” the potential uses for the device in the classroom are many. That being Since we are true believers in educating said, one of the most anticipated features students to be 21st Century learners, the of the device, from an educational per- discussion moves to competencies such spective, is its ability to handle ebooks as creation and innovation. With all of this Board of Cooperative ... or should we say textbooks! Its ability said, the new iPad is slightly disappoint- Educational Services of to store either a simple textbook supple- ing. The device still seems targeted to the Nassau County ment or a full replacement is extremely consumer market and consuming content Stephen B. Witt, President compelling. The iPad is able to do many rather than to the educational market. Eric B. Schultz, Vice President things in a small and compact form. We, as educators, want something that Susan Bergtraum, District Clerk Add the capability to browse the Web, will allow students to produce and experi- Michael Weinick, view video (no Flash), and perform basic ence content in new and innovative ways. Vice District Clerk Deborah Coates productivity through a customized version Unfortunately, this device seems to fall Ronald Ellerbe of iWork, and we just may have some- short in these particular areas of core Martin R. Kaye thing. On top of that, we can also down- 21st Century skills. Gale Ross-Srulevich load all the educational apps that have Many questions about this device still Robert “B.A.” Schoen already been developed for the iPhone need answers, and it will undoubtedly Dr. Thomas Rogers, and iPod touch (currently available evolve through many generations of District Superintendent Dr. Robert J. Hanna, through Apple’s App Store). development, as do most technology- Deputy Superintendent According to an article in The Wall based products. Lawrence R. McGoldrick, Street Journal, ScrollMotion, Inc. has As an educational community, we look Assistant to the been contacted by McGraw Hill, Houghton forward to the sharing that will take place Deputy Superintendent Joan S. Siegel, Mifflin, and Kaplan to make many of their around us, best practices, and of course, Associate Superintendent texts interactive for use on the iPad. This innovation. In the meantime, it’s nice to is exciting news for sure, but something dream and think about what the future Department of Curriculum, seems to be missing in the iPad. Is it the may hold. Will it be the Apple iPad, Sony Instruction and Technology fact that there is no camera, or is it the ereader, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Fred Podolski, Executive Director lack of ability to multi-task? Perhaps it’s Nook, EnTourage eDGe, the free Blio Dr. Valerie C. D’Aguanno, the lack of support for Adobe Flash... eReader, or some other new device that Assistant Director While it is disappointing that these really transforms how we look at text and Paula Pisano, Supervisor features aren’t (currently) present within media in the classroom? the device, it is what these things repre- sent that is truly missing. Continued on page 3 Information on the go NASTECH News he Apple iPhone and iPod touch have earning.com’s Digital Learning Environment (DLE) Tchanged the way we use infor- L is an award-winning, web-based, open platform for mation, and many developers learning that was specifically designed for the needs of are taking advantage of the K–12 teachers and students. It provides teachers with connectivity. One such devel- solutions delivered in the easiest, most efficient, and oper is Gale, part of Cengage most intuitive manner to have the greatest impact on Learning, best known for many of the wonderful K–12 student learning. DLE utilizes the common functionality online resources which are available from the Nassau of a Learning Management System (LMS)—the ability to BOCES School Library Services. create classes with students and assignments, and track Gale released AccessMyLibrary at the beginning of student progress through the material—and enhances the February, which is available FREE from Apple’s App experience with exciting features that increase teacher Store. With over 30 million articles from publications and student engagement. It is also an economical and available from your local public library, you are bound effective way for schools and districts to establish the to find what you need to make that important point. support structures necessary to achieve 21st Century Using Location Services via WiFi or 3G service, you learning outcomes. can find out where the nearest public library is and In addition to core LMS capabilities, the DLE also bookmark it as “My Library.” You will need your public features: library barcode and password in order to take advan- • Curriculum content creation tools tage of the many products available through your local • Assignment workflow management public library. NOVELny—the New York Online Virtual Electronic • Private and group-based communication Library— contains literally hundreds of magazines, • Single sign-on newspapers, maps, charts, research, and reference • Assessment and prescription tools books that are available to every New York state resi- dent, free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. • Professional development There are also selected NOVELny databases for all • Online collaboration tools school libraries, so be sure to check with your school Learning.com is offering a limited number of free pilots librarian for more information or contact Carl to interested districts. For more information, contact Vitevitch at [email protected]. Mary Wrynn-Huff at [email protected]. Microsoft Office OneNote he world today is all about "New Technologies"... efficiently and effectively, keep student digital portfolios, Tand what's hot, is what's cool! However, discerning and much more. A 60-day free trial is available from Micro- the meaningful from the majority often takes some soft's Web site. Give it a look; you won't be disappointed! experimenting. Under the guidance of Bonnie Foster, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/ Model Schools Professional Developer, teachers in HA100325701033.aspx Island Park are currently receiving training in Micro- soft Office OneNote. This application gives digital life to the familiar "looseleaf binder." OneNote gives students the ability to create and keep projects and all of their accompanying resources (including audio and video files) in one place. Students are also able to "share" their digital files with each other for peer collaboration. On the administrative side, teachers can use OneNote to organize their lesson plans more Upcoming Events New Technologies Continued from page 1 Be sure to join us for these exciting events: Holographic laser projection Cisco Wireless • April 13 Sure it sounds like something futuristic, and it just may be, but a company called Light Blue Optics has created Adobe • April 14 a device that utilizes that technology—the Light Touch. It Castle Learning • April 16 is a small projector that turns any surface into a multi- touch interactive display. The possibilities in classrooms, EduPlatform • April 26 library media centers, and just about anywhere else in Discovery Science & Health • April 27 a school environment are many. As we look for devices Schoolwires • April 30 that transform the way we work with various forms of media and educational content, we also open our minds Find detailed flyers here: to possibilities—and this device is no exception. www.nassauboces.org/cit/it/mcs/TRS/ trs_events.htm Two is better than one Interactive whiteboards are becoming more ubiquitous in education. Spotlight As with all technology, upgrades often seem Virtual desktops save schools to come faster than the products can be money in Wantagh UFSD released to market. hy buy new computers, when you can hook up a SMART Technologies Wsimple device to a monitor and create the same has been consistently experience through desktop virtualization—while releasing updates to their award-winning Notebook soft- potentially saving thousands of dollars on hardware, ware and has recently released a significant update to energy bills, and tech support? That’s the question that their hardware line as well. The SMART SBD600 Series drives the huge growth in virtualization among schools Interactive Whiteboard allows two users to work simulta- across the United States and the world. neously on the board using either their fingers or pen. School IT directors who have tried virtualization say most users can’t tell the difference when they’re working New projectors support 3D video on a virtual desktop instead of a regular PC. When used with compatible 3D field sequential content The Wantagh Union Free School District adopted a and optional 3D active shutter glasses (that support the desktop virtualization model when confronted with the DLPLink 3D format) Sharp 3D Ready projectors captivate prospect of having to replace aging computers in its audiences with breathtaking 3D imagery. There are elementary school classrooms. “We had 10-year-old three primary types of 3D used in projection: Anaglyph, Dells and were really due for a refresh,” said Technology Polarized, and Stereoscopic. Director Don Murphy. Instead of buying new PCs, the dis- Sharp 3D projectors trict purchased X series devices from NComputing, Inc.