In The News

During social studies class, eighth-grader Elliott Headden sketches timelines on his iPad 3. While in math class, he writes math problems using his finger on the iPad screen and shows his teacher the calculations and solutions. In science class Headden uses a search engine app to look up quick facts, such as the sugar content in bananas or the population of the world.

Westtown (Pa.) School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, January 25 to inaugurate a new Digital Media classroom. The space supports an innovative Digital Media course in the Art Department which is consistent with a schoolwide vision for STEAM education, adding art and design to the more traditional STEM constellation – science, technology, engineering, and math.

Darien parents urged the Board of Education not to cut spending for school technology at a public hearing Tuesday. "Technology is an integral part of the learning that goes on each day in our schools," said Susan Vogel, co-chair of the Council of Darien School Parents.

With some major names behind it as funders and advisors, the new nonprofit inBloom aims “to make personalized learning a reality for every U.S. student by improving the effectiveness, variety, and affordability of education technology.”

Last year saw 48 acquisitions in the edtech space, with the biggest buys understandably made by publishing juggernauts. GigaOM has a nice summary of these, which only account for a small slice of the 2,277 overall tech M&As tracked by CB Insights.

A $2 million campaign will try to get 21st-century technology into every classroom in the Iowa City school district. The Iowa City Community School District Foundation, a private nonprofit that raises money for the district, launched the public phase of its “EveryClassroom” campaign on Tuesday.

North Carolina lawmakers want to ensure students and teachers are prepared for a digital world. The House Education Committee approved three bills Tuesday related to school technology and Internet access.

Students in Opelika City (Ala.) Schools are learning how to do things in new ways thanks to new technology. Now, they can take advantage of the newly placed emphasis on digital technology in education with more than 200 new Kindles and software that have been placed in the system’s intermediate, middle, and high schools.

Tennessee is a long way from putting a laptop in the hands of every one of its nearly 1 million public school students, but it is embarking on a technology plan that might change the classroom as much as the Internet changed the workplace.

A $104.2 million school budget for 2013-2014 won unanimous Board of Education approval Monday, of which $1.1 million will be spent on technology.