computer labs

Five dozen teenagers decrypting codes, cleaning malware and fending off network intrusions in the finals of a national cybersecurity contest got a glimpse of the labor market’s appetite for their skills as sponsors such as network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. described career opportunities. Internships start as young as 16 at Northrop Grumman Corp.

The Flatiron School, launched last year, is teaming up with Skillcrush, a New York-based digital literacy start-up, to offer a two-week intensive program for high school students hoping to hone their developer chops.

As an advocate of project-based learning and student-directed learning, I wanted my students to be able to use computers to create projects using the many different webtools available on the internet. There was just one problem ... I didn't have any working computers in my classroom.

In one Northern Kentucky high school, students have come together to help their classmates get computers and connect to the internet with a classroom project called Communities to Computers.

Desert Hills High School computer programming students are experimenting with new ways of incorporating the programming theory they have learned in class. Students explore computer science in the class and usually spend most of their time learning to code simple business applications.

For years, there’s been an ongoing discussion about the digital divide between the “haves” and the “have nots.” As technology has advanced, so has that gap, which is driving fundamental changes in how we work, learn, and live.

As we look forward to an exciting new year of technology-enabled learning, District CIO reached out to superintendents to find out what their chief technology priority is for 2013. From hardware rollouts to more training on how to use technology, here’s a sampling of what school districts are focusing on this year.

Given the brutal wear and tear of a K12 environment, Lenovo has added features to its ThinkPad X131e Chromebook to protect the unit in case it is dropped, such as a rubber bumper around the top cover and stronger corners, and its hinges and hinge brackets are built to last more than 50,000 open/close cycles at school. 

St. Paul district leaders have picked Dell to design a key piece of their eight-year technology plan. At more than $4.2 million over five years, the proposal was also more expensive than other pitches.

At two previous sessions, PTA president Mary Harris requested increased access to computers and infrastructure improvements. This time, she thanked the board and county officials for listening.