District CIO

Sumner County (Tenn.) business leaders and school officials met at Volunteer State Community College to address the state of technology and ways to handle areas of need at a panel discussion hosted by COMPASS and the Hendersonville Young Professional Council.

A human-like robot that can mimic emotions and play interactive games can help students with autism develop social skills. Aldebaran Robotics’ “ASK NAO” robot, which is about two feet tall, mimics an emotion with gestures and sounds, and waits for children to recognize the emotion.

A recent school board meeting for the Niagra Falls School District focused on what board members and the general public can expect technology-wise from the district's "Inventing Tomorrow" capital improvement project, which will start this summer.

In reviewing student survey data conducted along with National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, the nonprofit Center for American Progress found that middle school math students used computers for basic drills and practice rather than to develop sophisticated skills, and that no state was collecting data to evaluate whether technology investments were improving student achievement.

Open content, electronic textbooks, personalized learning, cloud technology, and learning analytics are emerging technologies that K12 administrators will integrate into schools over the next few years, according to the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Report on tech trends.

Schools are using digital signs more widely to convey information to students, faculty, and visitors. From emergency alerts and interactive event schedules to serving as backdrops for marching bands, digital signs are making communication more attractive and efficient.

The demand for technology in education prompted the Pea Ridge district school board (Benton County, Ark.) to create a third position in technology, agreeing to hire another technology specialist.

After going through 31 votes that each ended in a 4-4 tie, the Greater Lowell (Mass.) Technical High School Committee opted to immediately look for an interim superintendent who could serve for an initial period of three months.

Any educator will tell you that scoring essays on a standardized test is one of the most time-consuming parts of the process. The E-Rater (one type of robo reader) is an automated reader than can supposedly grade thousands of essays in mere seconds. The only problem with this program is that it cannot discriminate truth from fiction.

It isn’t just parents who should worry about kids who waste their time thumbing video games and text messages instead of doing their homework. America’s position as a world leader is at stake.