Edutopia - June/July 2008 - (Page 23)

HeadofClassJHotStuff Red Zebra and ZAC kid-friendly Web browsers Free redzee.com, zacbrowser.com A search engine that filters smut? You bet. Red Zebra assures parents of early readers that their little one’s search for, say, a unicorn image brings up only G-rated sites. Results are presented like a fan with images of each screen, so your child can scroll through and click on the site that offers the closest match. Another new kid-friendly technology is the ZAC browser. ZAC (Zone for Autistic Children) is developed specifically for children with autism and autism-spectrum disorders. It allows the child to interact with and play the many games and activities, as well as experience independence using it. ZAC also offers a forum for teachers, parents, and caretakers to share resources. FieldTrips June Sparking Innovative Learning and Creativity 11–14, Princeton, New Jersey Head east to the New Media Consortium’s Summer Conference, which opens with a talk by the president of Educause and closes with a talk by MIT’s Henry Jenkins, an expert on media and popular culture. National Alliance for Public Charter Schools 22–25, New Orleans “Still We Rise: Achieving Academic Excellence at Scale” is the theme of the only national gathering of the entire charter school community, meeting in the city with the largest percentage of public charter school enrollment. Geoffrey Canada, of Harlem Children’s Zone, is keynote. Absorb everything you need to know about charter schools while enjoying the music and food of the region. Model Schools Conference PowerUp Free powerupthegame.org Save the planet Helios from ecological disaster and SmogGobs in PowerUp, a free online game that draws an emotional connection to our newly refreshed ecological awareness. The three-dimensional game, from IBM’s TryScience initiative, is designed to engage students in learning about engineering and energy while trying to supply solar, wind, and water power before an ecological disaster hits. PowerUp offers classroom lesson plans that cover energy transformation, as well as an interactive module to students learn about the technologies required to build virtual worlds. 22–25, Orlando, Florida The worthy goal: A rigorous and relevant education for all students. The conference showcases successful K–12 programs, instructional practices, and research, as well as keynotes by luminaries in the ﬁeld. NECC 29–July 2, San Antonio Don’t forget the Alamo, but don’t forget this annual ed-tech blowout, either. This year, the National Educational Computing Conference is in San Antonio, which promises to be hot as a pizza oven. There’ll be hundreds of booths, dozens of panels, and thousands of attendees. Pack sensible shoes. July The Stonington Retreat 8–11, New York City Like a technology boot camp, this intensive workshop aims to help you integrate creative technology into your class, museum, or community organization. Get busy in handson workshops on robotics, animation, digital video, and blogging. And don’t miss a special guest instructor, the MIT Media Lab’s Mitchel Resnick. eScience Labs Prices vary esciencelabs.com Kids, you can try this at home. Kits from eScience Labs are a series of labs that contain virtually everything needed to complete an entire series of experiments—with the exception, perhaps, of an egg or a plump piece of fruit. These experiments are designed specifically for use by homeschoolers or distance learners but are great for any class. The biology kit, for example, includes high-definition images instead of expensive slides and a microscope, and still offers hands-on exercises. Registered students get the benefit of video introductions, interactive animations, and supplementary course material. New lab kits are continually in development. High Schools That Work 9–12, Nashville Visit Music City and join educators from across the nation for hundreds of schoolimprovement workshops. Games + Learning + Society Conference 10–11, Madison, Wisconsin How does playing games enhance learning? What impact do games have on society? Academics, designers, and educators gather in the dairy heartland for interactive discussions, discussion groups, and, of course, some game playing! Scratch@MIT 24–26, Cambridge, Massachusetts Visit the home of MIT at the inaugural Scratch conference, where you can share your experience and “imagine the possibilities” of this programming language, which is designed to help kids ages eight and older develop twenty-ﬁrst-century learning skills. HP Mini-Note PC $499 hp.com Those with shrinking school budgets should find the new MiniNote PC laptop an affordable alternative to the standard PC setup. Weighing in at less than 3 pounds, the full-function PC is small enough to fit in student backpacks without causing shoulder strain. Multimedia tools, as well as wireless and security capabilities, make it easy for students to work in class, on a field trip, or at the kitchen table. With this notebook, HP also plans to provide free, online professionaldevelopment courses for teachers. Other features include a keyboard with a special coating to protect the finish from spills, and a drive protector that shuts down the hard drive if sudden movement or shock is detected—both perfect for the student user. AUGUST GIS 4–8, San Diego Meet with members of the worldwide geographic-information-system (GIS) education community during this oneof-a-kind forum. Explore how to use GIS software in your ﬁeld, maximizing teaching, understanding, and managing. GO AFIELD Find links to event Web sites at William Duke edutopia.org/events-june-july-2008 EDUTOPIA.ORG EDUTOPIA 23 http://redzee.com http://www.zacbrowser.com http://powerupthegame.org http://esciencelabs.com http://hp.com http://edutopia.org/events-june-july-2008 http://EDUTOPIA.ORG

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Edutopia - June/July 2008 Contents UpFront Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of Class Cool Schools Design Young Minds, Fast Times Wii Love Learning No More Pencils, No More Books Tech Without Support All the Right Moves Room to Learn Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Jeff Corwin

Edutopia - June/July 2008

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