CoSN's Spinning the Globe

In September the Portugese Government launched Magellan, an ultra light portal device for school children aged 6 to 11. Portugal’s Prime Minister Jose Socrates committed 500,000 devices for education. In October, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered 1 million of the same low-cost laptops from Portugal. The computers will also go on public sale for 285 euros.

Continue reading "Portugal, Venezuela Unveil One-to-One Strategies" »

Continue reading "Portugal, Venezuela Unveil One-to-One Strategies" »

While I was in Australia two weeks ago, the Rudd Government’s $1.2 billion AU$ promise to provide a computers for every student grades 9-12, plus invest in broadband connections for schools, was front page news. Tensions between New South Wales (state that includes Sydney) and the federal government bubbled over when NSW pulled out of the Round 2 funding.

Meanwhile, Julia Gillard, Australia’s Minister for Education and Deputy Prime Minister, extolled the importance of the Digital Education Revolution program at the ACEC education technology conference in Canberra.

Continue reading "Update on Australian Government‘s Digital Education Revolution " »

Continue reading "Update on Australian Government‘s Digital Education Revolution " »

While the official Singapore Master Plan 3 is not yet officially released, the broad contours of the coming plan were highlighted by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defense, at the International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology (iCTLT) in August.

Continue reading "Singapore Prepares Master Plan 3 for ICT in Education" »

Continue reading "Singapore Prepares Master Plan 3 for ICT in Education" »

This week I had the opportunity to visit Parramatta Catholic Education, the diocese in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It was a refreshing conversation with their senior team about their strategic plan to create 21st century learning environments and the role of technology to transform learning. I particularly loved the way we started the conversation by reading out loud the Dr. Seuss book, Hooray for Diffendorfer Day…

Continue reading "21st Century Learning in Australian Catholic Education" »

Continue reading "21st Century Learning in Australian Catholic Education" »

Listen to Dr. Rick Melmer, South Dakota Secretary of Education, describes why Governor Mike Rounds (R-SD) is promoting a laptop for every student ages 9-12, as well as what he hoped to learn from his recent trip to Singapore.
Video

Read a recent press release from Governor Round about this one-to-one initiative following legislative efforts to cut funding....

Continue reading "South Dakota's One-to-One Plan" »

Continue reading "South Dakota's One-to-One Plan" »

As part of Singapore's ICT in Education Master Plan II, a handful of schools received special investment and attention to create rich ICT learning environments. While in Singapore a few weeks ago, I visited Crescent Girls' School and came away impressed with this "school of the future". View their video on mLlearning which is viewable off their main website.

Our visiting delegation asked the Chief Technology Academic Officer what was the one thing that had changed because they have an immersive technology environment. After pausing to think, he said, "That is a very hard question because EVERYTHING has changed".

I think that answer....

Continue reading "Singapore's Crescent Girls' School: Tech Immersive Learning Environment" »

Continue reading "Singapore's Crescent Girls' School: Tech Immersive Learning Environment" »

This spring participated in an international symposium on math & science in Singapore sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSS) and Pearson Foundation. The participants included U.S. chief state school officers, as well as senior ministry level representatives from many countries (Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, South Korea, Maylasia, U.K., Canada, and others).

While the topic was focused on math & science at the K-12 level, and particularly what the rest of the world could learn from Singapore's success in these subjects on high-stakes tests like PISA, the overall context was on what skills students need to succeed in the 21st century. I was struck by how much of the conversation was on the need for education systems to value creativity, collaboration and critical thinking, and how technology has changed the world.

Continue reading "Math & Science: The Global Converation on 21st Century Skills" »

Continue reading "Math & Science: The Global Converation on 21st Century Skills" »

The UK Government of P.M. Gordon Brown has issued a major policy statement called The Children’s Plan through 2020. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/childrensplan/ According to the Government, they want to make the U.K. the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. The makes reference to role of technology, however it is intended as an overall policy document for all of children's initiatives and spans from Pre-school to adulthood.

The specific reference to ICT in education is Goal #25 in the report:

To deliver world class education and children’s services we need
world class buildings and use of technology. We will continue
with our unprecedented investment in the fabric of schools and
children and young people’s services to create schools fit for the
21st century…

Continue reading "UK Children’s Plan" »

Continue reading "UK Children’s Plan" »

The new Australian government of Prime Minister Rudd ran on an election promise to contribute 1 billion Australian dollars (approx. $888 million U.S.) and create a National Secondary School Computer Fund will allow every Australian student in years 9-12 to have access to their own school computer.

Continue reading "New Australian Government Commits To A School Computer For Every Student In Years 9-12" »

Continue reading "New Australian Government Commits To A School Computer For Every Student In Years 9-12" »

CoSN will be leading a senior policy delegation to Finland, Sweden and Denmark all next week. Follow the blog and podcasts at http://www.cosn.org/blogs/scandinavia_07/index.html

Continue reading "Understanding ICT in Scandinavia" »

Continue reading "Understanding ICT in Scandinavia" »