Buddy has discontinued publication of the ETCetera newsletter. You may read the back issues on our site.
volume 1 number 7
April 2008
Dear Subscriber to ETC,
Please forward this newsletter and invite others to join this informative newsletter filled with upcoming events and current news!
Most schools recognize the responsibility to prepare their students to be lifelong learners in the 21st century, and that in addition to the three "R's", we must now teach them fundamental technology literacy skills in the classroom. So, are we being successful? Extremely relevant arguments can be made for the position that we are, but also that we are not. What do you think? Take the very brief survey, and we'll share the results next month!
See how using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can connect your students to experts and real-time activities around the world - for FREE!
Almost two years ago, Wes-Del Community Schools embarked on a quest to provide their students with easy access to technology in their classrooms. Mike Bush, Curriculum/Technology Coordinator, with some help from the Indiana Department of Education through the inAccess grant, coordinated Wes-Del's transition into a one-on-one computing environment. Therefore students' access to technology has become a part of their everyday curriculum by providing a computer on every desktop in the high school English and science classrooms. Learn more by reading this artilce.
Teachers can search for funding to further their own educations by accessing www.Fastweb.com which identifies itself as "the nation's largest, most accurate, and most frequently updated scholarship database online." The site presents links connected to grants, scholarships, loans, and internship programs among other financial resources.
It's not too late to research tech funding resources for the 2008-2009 school year. A site that provides information and links to available technology grants for teachers, students and schools K-12 can be found at their web site. This database includes connections for awards from $200 to $50,000.
When k-12 education is relevant, motivating, and collaborative, students thrive. And when videoconferencing and other collaborative technologies support learning, more educational opportunities are accessible and dollars are saved. This is the premise behind The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC), an Indiana nonprofit that brings national and international resources for videoconferencing content, collaborations, professional development, and technical assistance to educators to enhance learning. Read more about this resource.
Looking for some really smokin' software, but don't have money to burn? Check out this amazing list of open source software that is free for the asking. You'll be pleasantly surprised!
Does your school have a need for more computer stations? The state of Indiana makes "surplus" computers available to eligible educational entities. Currently, the surplus includes pentium III and IV type computers. The Corporation for Educational Technology serves as a facilitator between those who qualify and the Indiana Department of Administration's State Surplus organization. Go to this article for more information and to download the request form.
Whether you are not familiar with Indiana Computer Educators (ICE), or just haven't been in touch with them for a while, they are a cool professional organization worth knowing. Do yourself a favor, and take a minute to reacquaint yourself with ICE!
Join the Fun! Earn Credit! Announcing several new single day workshops as well as summer camps at the Buddy Technology Learning Center. Visit the BTLC homepage, then select the workshop that fits your needs and schedule.
Articles appearing in the ETC...and More! newsletter are published by the Buddy
Project
(Corporation for Educational Technology), in
collaboration with the Hoosier
Educational Computer
Coordinators (HECC),
Indiana Computer Educators (ICE),
the Indiana Department of
Education, and Promoting Achievement through Technology and INstruction for all Students (PATINS).
Send your ideas for stories, school project write-ups, and/or suggestions to Rex Church, et cetera editor, Rex Church.
A byte is a unit of information and in the computing world represents space for a single alphabet character in binary code. Today's computers' memory and storage capacity are described in terms of megabytes and gigabytes. A kilobyte is 10241bytes. A megabyte is 10242 or about a million bytes, and a gigabyte is 10243 or just over a billion bytes or 1,073,741,824 bytes. In more relevant terms, a gigabyte of MP3 music would play for about 18 hours.
