District CIO

A late 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that young adults are more likely than others to use major social media. At the same time, other groups are interested in different sites and services.

A recent Reuters story described a new national database of student information. Reportedly built at a cost of $100 million, and backed by prestigious non-profits such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation, the aim of the project is to build a standardized database of information on all students in the country, grades K through 12.

This report, "The Broadband Imperative," commissioned by SETDA, recommends that all schools will need external internet connections of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students and staff by 2014-2015 and of 1 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff by 2017-2018.

Higher education is the next bubble. Facebook will replace classroom instruction. Textbooks will go away, and some colleges will, too. In other words, everything is going to change. Or, at least, that's the talk we in education and technology regularly hear these days. It sounds exciting—and, to some, scary. Is all the talk just hype? Or are we really starting to see the beginnings of major change?

Promising Practices is a series of six white papers written for the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Topics are: Blended learning; using online learning for credit recovery and at-risk students; socialization in online learning; operations and management; policy and funding; and a parents' guide to online learning.

The American Association of School Librarians added to its series of Learning4Life publications with the release of “Library Spaces for 21st-Century Learners: A Planning Guide for Creating New School Library Concepts.” Written by Margaret (Peg) Sullivan, the book focuses on planning contemporary school library spaces with user-based design strategies.

The Global Impact STEM Academy Board has appointed Carl Berg as the interim director of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics school. Berg, who fills the STEM Academy's first full-time position, served as superintendent at Tolles Career Center, and while superintendent at Miamisburg, he received the Superintendent Outstanding Performance Award in 1999.

Assemblyman Rocky Chávez was appointed Tuesday to the California Task Force on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (STEM). The task force is responsible for recommending a blueprint on how to improve teaching, learning, and equal access to STEM-related courses and careers for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

June 10-12, 2013
Orlando, Fla.