Education and Technology

This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who is an industry critic on Devry University review. She invites your feedback at:

heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com

Teachers who are interested in blended learning are seeing many new Web 2.0 tools come and go these days. One of the most promising tools that recently launched is haiku LMS. This learning management system delivers a robust series of features so that teachers can seamlessly integrate the Web with classroom instruction. As the makers of haiku LMS say, “The message, not the medium, is what we are about.”

The user-friendly interface of haiku LMS means that teachers and students can adopt the new system with little to no training. Individual teachers can create and administer course content, assignments and assessments. Both students and teachers can easily collaborate through the system, exchanging messages and homework assignments.

haiku LMS offers enterprise-level service and support. Administrators can even implement the system throughout a school, rather than starting an account for a single class. Naturally, there are different fees attached to the various levels of support. Although there are open-source content management systems available for free, some teachers may opt for a commercial service like haiku LMS, if only for the professional support.

There has been a lot of positive feedback on this streamlined management system (self-described as “zen-like”). Various testimonials from educators are advertised on the site’s homepage, as people have been testing the system since its 1.0 launch in 2006. Things are constantly being updated and improved on with haiku LMS and I highly recommend it to teachers everywhere. A 60-day free trial, completely risk free is offered.

Note: All views are those of the guest blogger. The author of this blog does not endorse any products or services mentioned in the post unless otherwise noted. The reader is responsible for checking all offers and link authenticity before entering into any agreements or purchases.

I’ve been working a second job sine the beginning of the year which has cut down on my free time. With the cut back in time I’ve had to prioritize that time between doing my blogs or spending it with my family. Of course my family has won that battle, so I have not been posting for the last month as the second job has started taking off with more work equaling less free time.

I do get a chance to read my RSS feeds and wanted to share some of the best reading that I get to do during lunch or late at night. Here is my list of the top 5 feeds I like to read:

1. Problogger
2. Zenhabits
3. Weblogg-ed
4. Zero Day
5. Education IT

The above are my 5 must reads from the 31 feeds that I have in Google Reader, but I do have 2 other favorites that I like to follow so I would like to share them also….. Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub and the “The Official Dilbert Website.”

Enjoy

Technorati tags: Education, Technology, Blogging

I received an email from the editor of the blog Open Education pointing to a post they had written about a British study on students and technology. I’ve taken the time to read over the post and its conclusions, coming to my own views. Here is a quote from Open Educations blog:

Read The Rest Here

I was reading my RSS Feeds when I came across this post from 43 Folders.

I also like to not re-invent the wheel as I have other things to do.

Source: Teacher’s Productivity Hampered by technology. No love. | 43 Folders

Read the Rest Here

Here is what the local newspaper recommends on Amendment 1:

The proposed amendment that voters are considering between now and Jan. 29 has serious flaws:
It doesn’t provide tax reform.
It doesn’t eliminate inequities; in fact, it exacerbates them.
And it would further restrict the ability of local governments — the governments closest to the people — to respond to community needs.
We recommend voting NO, against proposed Revision No. 1.

Source: Sarasota Herald Tribune Editorial Staff - Vote “No” on Amendment 1

Read the Rest Here

Are you willing to pay for schools in other counties?

When the Florida legislature looked at doubling the Homestead Exemption several years ago they found that some of the poorer counties would pay little or NO property taxes due to their low property values? That meant that the property taxes collected in richer counties like Sarasota would be used to pay for schools in counties not paying property taxes. Are you willing to subsidize the schools in other counties?

Vote No on Amendment One on January 29.

Technorati tags: Florida, Vote, Amendment One, Politics