• How to get more for your money from K-12 vendors
• Best practices for blending online and classroom learning
• Using smartphones in K12 classrooms today: From why to how
• Keeping control of your message in the digital age
• Get more technology for your money with refurbished computers
• Using data to manage and improve Response to Intervention
• Maintaining school wellness during tight budget times
• Cyber-Security: How to protect your students, staff and network
• Stretch budgets and close gaps with online courses

How to get more for your money from K-12 vendors

In today's economy, school districts must do everything possible to stretch their budgets, getting more goods and services for fewer dollars. Our panel of K-12 purchasing experts will offer an insider's guide to negotiating effectively with vendors, offering valuable advice on how you can get suppliers to "sharpen their pencils" on their bids and proposals. Join our Web seminar to find out: How to leverage resources by asking vendors to bundle products and services How to tap into the purchasing power of educational service agencies How to save money through purchasing cooperatives How to extend warranties on tech purchases How to close budget gaps with alternatives to new equipment Presentations by: Ralph Maier, Director of Contracts, E&I Cooperative Purchasing; Doreen Marvin, Director of Development, LEARN Regional Educational Service Center; Michael McKean, Sales Manager, CDI Computer Dealers, Inc.
Original webcast: 8/19/2010. Sponsored by CDI
Watch Now
Back to top

Best practices for blending online and classroom learning

Find out how you can close the gap between the way students live and the way they learn by blending online resources with classroom activities. This blended learning approach, which incorporates web 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs and other online technology resources with familiar classroom practices, can foster collaboration, extend resources and broaden student experiences. Get the latest information on blended learning and its applications for K12 classrooms. In addition, listen to case studies from Poway Unified School District in California and the Pine Crest School in Florida. Topics discussed will include: •The established and emerging technologies that are making blended learning a reality •Research results regarding the impact of blended learning in the classroom •Practical tips for adopting blended learning in classrooms and assessing its effectiveness Presentations by: Holly Sagues - Chief Strategy Officer for Florida Virtual School; Eleanor Brown - Director of Technology Integration, Pine Crest School; Stacey Campo - Instructional Technology Specialist, Poway Unified School District; Andrew Shean - Technology Integration Specialist, Poway Unified School District
Original webcast: 5/13/2010. Sponsored by Blackboard
Watch Now
Back to top

Using smartphones in K12 classrooms today: From why to how

Teaching 21st century skills requires the use of 21st century tools. The smartphone – not the laptop – is emerging as the quintessential 21st century tool. In this web seminar, educators who are using smartphones – aka cellphone computers – in their classrooms will provide first-hand, birds-eye observations on the benefits, challenges and resolutions, and costs of rolling out 1:1 cellphone computer initiatives successfully. Join our panelists as they discuss issues such as: •What are the benefits of using smartphones in today’s K12 classrooms? •How can objections, such as interruptions and cheating, be successfully addressed? •What do cellphone computer-based lessons look like? •How does a district prepare its IT staff and teachers for a 1:1 cellphone computer rollout? •How might a district scale up and sustain a pilot initiative? Presentations by: Elliot Soloway, PhD, Panel Moderator, University of Michigan; Kyle Menchhofer, Technology Coordinator, St. Marys, OH; Thomas J. Phillips, Superintendent, Watkins Glen Central School District, NY; Lenny Schad, Chief Information Officer, Katy, TX; Cathie Norris, PhD, Discussant, University of North Texas
Original webcast: 4/29/2010. Sponsored by District Administration
Watch Now
Back to top

Keeping control of your message in the digital age

Keeping control of your district’s communications to parents, students, faculty and community leaders in the age of email, blogs and social media is more challenging than ever. But K12 leaders can also use new technology to make district communications more timely, targeted and effective. This webinar will look at tips and tactics for communicating with your constituencies in ways that ensure your message is received as you intend it. Join Web Seminar Editor J.D. Solomon and our panel of communications experts to find out: •How you can communicate via the Web directly to your constituents. •What you can do to ensure favorable coverage by the local media. •How you should alert your community to problems and emergencies. •How you can influence public perception of your district in your routine communications to students and teachers. •How new technologies, including digital displays and Web-video portals, can help you communicate within your schools and across your district. Presentations by: Terry Abbott - K12 communications consultant and formerly chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education and press secretary at Houston ISD; Michael Kuhrt - Superintendent, Giddings ISD, Texas; Michael Ebner - Solution Collaboration Technologies Specialist, Insight Networking
Original webcast: 3/25/2010. Sponsored by Insight Networking
Watch Now
Back to top

Get more technology for your money with refurbished computers

Tight budgets are convincing many K12 districts to turn to certified refurbished computers as a way to stretch technology budgets. But secondhand computers, and the vendors who sell them, aren't all the same. This web seminar will help K12 administrators understand the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of buying refurbished computers. Join Web Seminar Editor J.D. Solomon and a panel of K12 technology experts to find out: •What are the savings, selection and sustainability benefits of buying secondhand computers? •What should tech buyers expect from vendors? •Where do certified refurbished computers come from? •How have secondhand computers helped districts extend curricular resources? Presentations by: George Moore, Instructional Technology Consultant for Responsive Education Solutions, which operates 38 public charter schools in Texas; Brian Bray, Director of Instructional Technology, Lebanon Community Schools
Original webcast: 1/28/2010. Sponsored by CDI
Watch Now
Back to top

Using data to manage and improve Response to Intervention

Research shows that effectively screening for and responding to at-risk students involves much more than monitoring test scores. Many non-academic indicators can provide early warning signs about the need for intervention. This web seminar will explore how administrators at the Allentown School District in Pennsylvania are using data to manage and improve their RTI program. The presentation will also review district-wide processes and provide results from pilot schools. Join Web Seminar Editor J.D. Solomon and two senior administrators from the Allentown School District to get answers to questions like these: * How do educators use custom reports to get quick access to universal screening information? * How is data used to help decision-makers determine appropriate interventions for students? * What kind of reporting is used to provide a history of student participation in interventions? * How can data be used to validate the indicators used to identify students at risk? Presentations by: .
Original webcast: 11/4/2009. Sponsored by Follett Software
Watch Now
Back to top

Maintaining school wellness during tight budget times

School districts have been making great progress in health and fitness, and there’s no reason to scale back on wellness initiatives just because budgets are tight. This web seminar will look at ways you can promote health and fitness among students and staff with low-cost and even no-cost initiatives, some of which may even yield cost savings. Join Web Seminar Editor J.D. Solomon and our panel of experts to get answers to questions like these: •How can school wellness programs for students complement worksite wellness programs for staff? •How does a healthy school environment impact academic achievement? •How can districts find and work with community partners to foster staff and student wellness? •How can low-cost programs such as exercise-in-place and active transport help combat childhood obesity? •How can schools engage parents and extend wellness initiatives into the home? Presentations by: .
Original webcast: 10/20/2009. Sponsored by Dannon
Watch Now
Back to top

Cyber-Security: How to protect your students, staff and network

Sinister forces may roam the net, but your network can be protected. This web seminar will address key security issues, including privacy safeguards, content filtering, network access control and virus protection. Join Web Seminar Editor J.D. Solomon and a panel of network security experts for a discussion of topics such as: * Email and web security – Find out how to combat spam, viruses, phishing, spyware and other web-based threats with high-performance email and web security systems. * Firewall security – Discover how to keep the bad guys out and let the good guys in with the best in firewall security delivered on high-performance appliances and integrated network security devices. * Endpoint protection – Learn how to prevent attacks and enable secure connections using network access control, IPS and posture assessment services delivered to endpoints across the network. * Threat management – Defend against threats with greater precision using a threat management solution that configures best-in-breed services. Presentations by: .
Original webcast: 10/15/2009. Sponsored by Cisco
Watch Now
Back to top

Stretch budgets and close gaps with online courses

More than one million K-12 students in the U.S. are engaged in online learning, a 47 percent increase from 2006. View this live web seminar to find out why online learning is growing so quickly, and how online curricular resources can help you stretch your budget and meet the needs of diverse student groups. Our panelists will also discuss the advantages of blended courses, involving face-to-face and remote learning. Join Web Seminar Editor J.D. Solomon and a panel of online learning practitioners to find out: * What the latest research says about the effectiveness of online learning. * How online courses can help with remediation, credit recovery and dropout prevention. * How school districts can expand foreign language, AP and other course offerings with online resources. * Why online courses can be especially helpful for students with special needs, including gifted and talented children and students with developmental or learning disabilities. Presentations by: .
Original webcast: 9/30/2009. Sponsored by K12
Watch Now
Back to top