2013 Smithsonian Online Education Conference Series Presents Two Sessions on Astrophotography
Conferences Will Highlight How Scientific Data Helps Tell the Story of the Universe Through Images
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 22, 2013)—Making connections between art and science in the classroom can be a challenging task for teachers, but it can provide students with ways to hone their observation skills, discover connections and experiment with new ideas. The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access is hosting two online education conferences for teachers and students June 12 and July 10 that showcase astrophotography as a prime example of the intersection of these two subject areas.
Each session features Smithsonian experts presenting free digital-learning resources from the Smithsonian and teaching strategies that educators can use to explore cross-curricular lessons with their students. Experts also will respond to participant questions. An associated digital badge opportunity will be introduced through the Smithsonian Quests (smithsonianquests.org) program. Students can earn the Astrophotographer badge by capturing images of the solar system, stars and galaxies using the telescopes they control remotely online and creating their own images using digital tools to enhance color and light.
Joseph DePasquale and Mary Dussault from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory will present “Understanding Astrophotography: Where Science and Art Meet” Wednesday, June 12, at 1 p.m. EDT. They will demonstrate how scientists transform raw data from telescopes into impressive images that tell a story about the universe.
Dussault, with Lindsay Bartholomew of the Miami Science Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, will present the second session, “Do-It-Yourself Astrophotography: Applications for the Classroom and Beyond,” Wednesday, July 10, at 4 p.m. EDT. The educator-focused session will highlight techniques that facilitate powerful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) learning for students through project-based lessons that engage students in creating their own public astrophotography exhibitions.
The 2013 Smithsonian Online Education Conference Series provides an online space for teachers and students to engage with Smithsonian experts and make connections from textbooks to today’s world. For more information, visit http://smithsonianeducationconferences.org/.
About Smithsonian Institution
Founded in 1846, the Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities. There are 6,000 Smithsonian employees and 6,500 volunteers. Approximately 30 million people from around the world visited the Smithsonian in 2012. The total number of objects, works of art and specimens at the Smithsonian is estimated at 137 million.
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LearningStation™ and itslearning, Inc. Announce Strategic Partnership
Partnership to offer districts state-of-the-art LMS with robust assessment solution combination
Charlotte, NC- May 22, 2013- LearningStation™, leading provider of robust, student assessment platforms today announced its partnership with itslearning, the digital learning platform of choice for teachers. The two companies have joined forces to offer a comprehensive solution that combines the personalized digital learning platform from itslearning with LearningStation’s assessment platform, Insight.
The multi-faceted partnership between Charlotte-based LearningStation and Boston-based itslearning is a joint reseller and integrated product development partnership. This new venture has been formed to address the need in the market for a comprehensive, district-level assessment solution that provides educators with the ability to conduct secure online & plain paper testing, track student achievement, improve teacher accountability and more.
itslearning is a robust platform that offers districts a variety of tools that support professional development, community involvement, curriculum management, course management, reporting and analytics. With a growing list of responsibilities, teachers face a number of challenges that make their everyday teaching experience more difficult. The driving force behind this partnership was to provide educators and administrators alike with a single platform to save time, increase productivity, promote professional growth and collaboration, close student achievement gaps while engaging each learner.
LearningStation CEO Jim Kirchner said, “We are excited to partner with the great team at itslearning. It is the goal of both our companies to provide our users with the best possible solution, because most LMS systems do not have the ability to administer tests, or track student achievement, it made a lot of sense to offer our customers this joint solution.” He continued, “We have already started to receive extremely positive feedback from our users with regard to our comprehensive, combined platform.”
“Today more than ever, it is all about providing users with high-quality solutions that make their lives easier, while saving them time and precious resources,” said Kevin Pawsey, CEO of itslearning USA. “We are thrilled to announce this partnership which provides our customers with a ‘one-stop-shop’ for assessment by using the Insight Assessment Platform within itslearning. It’s a win-win for everyone,” he added.
The two solutions offered by LearningStation and itslearning compliment each other at every turn as the integration of these two platforms now give our customers the option to choose from an online or plain paper testing and assessment method.
For more information about LearningStation visit: www.learningstation.com
For more information about itslearning visit: www.itslearning.net
About LearningStation:
Since 1996, LearningStation has provided the K-12 education marketplace with custom, relevant and easy-to-use resources for assessment, data tracking, item authoring and more. As important as their solutions, customer service and satisfaction is of the utmost priority, and is at the heart of the LearningStation company culture. For more about LearningStation, please visit: www.learningstation.com
About itslearning, Inc.
At itslearning, we pride ourselves on understanding the needs of education. More than 50% of our U.S. staff has education experience and our learning platform was designed specifically for the education sector. Our learning platform is used by millions of educators, students, administrative staff and parents around the world. It can be found at all levels of education, helping make teaching more inspiring and education more valuable for students. Established in 1999, we have headquarters in Bergen, Norway and we have offices in Boston, London, Birmingham, Berlin, Paris, Mulhouse, Malmo, and Enschede.
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Promethean’s Thank a Teacher Winner Linda Yollis Connects Students to the World
Atlanta, GA – May 20, 2013 – Global education company Promethean announced today that Linda Yollis, an elementary school teacher at Chaparral Elementary School in Calabasas, California, was selected as the winner of the 3rd annual Thank a Teacher Contest.
Yollis will receive a trip to the Annual Conference for the International Society for Technology in Education (#ISTE13) to be held in San Antonio, TX, June 23-26, 2013.
Yollis, who has been teaching for 26 years, was one of hundreds of deserving teachers nominated for the contest, but her focus on opening the classroom beyond the four walls through blogging made her contributions to education unique. As word about her winning spread, her class blog quickly filled with congratulatory notes.
“Learning is my passion. By giving students the structure, guidance and opportunity to channel their interests using technology, I feel like I’m sharing my passion and helping them become digitally literate, global citizens,” said Yollis. “I’m grateful to Promethean for giving me the opportunity to continue my learning and share my experiences with others.”
Yollis started blogging with her students in 2009. Since then they have been winners of the Edublogger’s 2012 Best Class Blog, 2011 Best Class Blog, 2012 Most Influential Blog and the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I am thrilled that Linda was selected as the winner of Promethean’s Thank a Teacher Contest. She is a true visionary who embraces innovation to make the classroom come alive and an example to all educators. Linda’s passion for discovering new and exciting ways to integrate technology into student learning helps to better prepare students for the classrooms and the workplaces of tomorrow,” said Rosemarie M. Hibler, Principal of Chaparral Elementary School. “Linda is truly a pioneer in education.”
“Linda’s passion for learning and innovative approach to reinforce communication, literacy and grammar skills with 2nd and 3rd grade students is exciting. It is an honor to recognize her for her work, and I’m delighted we can support her efforts to inspire the minds of young learners,” said Rob Goldberg, President of Promethean North America. “We look forward to having Linda join us at ISTE 2013.”
Yollis’s journey to ISTE 2013 will be shared on the Promethean’s Thank a Teacher Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/ThankATeacher) as well as her classroom blog at http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/.
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About Promethean
Promethean. Spark Inspiration.
Promethean (LSE: PRW) is a global education company. We create, develop, supply and support interactive education and training solutions for schools, businesses and governments. Our products and services are raising learning standards, revolutionizing the way people learn and collaborate, making them more engaged, empowered and successful and thereby unleashing human potential. Headquartered in the UK,Promethean World Plc is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. For more information follow @ActivNews or visit
www.PrometheanWorld.com.
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Association of Educational Publishers, Association of American Publishers to Merge
Washington, DC and Wilmington, DE; May 20, 2013 – The Association of Educational Publishers and the Association of American Publishers are pleased to announce an agreement to merge, combining AEP’s quality programming and professional development with AAP’s public policy advocacy to provide the strongest services for the preK-12 education publishing industry in a rapidly changing environment.
“We are especially proud of the programs we’ve developed at AEP and are glad that they will be continued and enhanced,” said Lee Wilson, President of the Board of AEP. “Through this partnership, we will be able to support professionals across the industry in deeper, richer ways.”
“There’s been a synergy between AAP and AEP since we produced our first joint initiative in 2011. Our industry has evolved dramatically since then and will continue to do so. This merger is a logical next step to serve the longterm interests of preK-12 publisher members with a full range of programs, representation and services,” said Jay Diskey, Executive Director, School Division, AAP. “This decision reflects the evolution underway at AAP and gives AEP’s activities greater scope and scalability.”
AEP and the AAP School Division have developed a strong working relationship through numerous successful collaborations. These include the creation of the Healthy Guidelines for Educational Publishing, the Digital Learning Leadership Briefing on Capitol Hill, the annual Content in Context conference and various programs with international publishing association partners.
AEP and the AAP School Division were founded to serve the educational publishing industry. Both organizations’ services have evolved to address the opportunities presented by the emergence of educational technology. A new division within AAP will be created and structured pursuant to the merger agreement following its completion.
An informational session about the merger will take place Monday, June 3 at Content in Context, the major annual conference for professionals across the preK-12 learning resource industry. CIC is jointly presented by AEP and the School Division of AAP. All CIC registrants are invited to attend.
About AAP and the AAP School Division
AAP is the national trade association representing America’s 300 premier publishers of high-quality entertainment, education, scientific and professional content, produced with the most innovative technology and reaching the world. We advocate for members’ priorities on policy, legislative and regulatory issues regionally, nationally and globally. We also showcase the value of content and the critical role of the dynamic US publishing industry.
The AAP School Division works for its diverse membership, students and educators to ensure access to instructional materials, increase funding for learning resources and foster a fair, competitive and robust market for all education publishers. It engages state, local and federal policy leaders on such issues as funding, curriculum, testing and literacy. Read more
www.publishers.org/schoolAbout the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP)
The only professional organization that serves the diverse needs of the entire educational resource community, AEP encourages and advocates for professional, quality content for teaching and learning. Founded in 1895, AEP now helps its members navigate the global realities of educational publishing in the 21st century.
AEP is at the forefront of the educational publishing industry, taking a leading role in efforts such as the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI), which is changing the way educational materials are found on the Internet; Innovation Through Inclusion, promoting industry-wide diversity; and representation of educational publishers on matters such as new legislation and funding. Through its events, publications and recognition programs, AEP works to inform and advance the industry and to define and applaud excellence in the field. Read more at
www.aepweb.org.
Merger updates can be found on the AEP website at:
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Honolulu, HI and Little Falls, MN High Schools Take Home Top Honors in the Council for Economic Education’s 13th Annual National Economics Challenge
Iolani School and Little Falls Community High School Named Champions in Nationwide Competition
NEW YORK, NY MAY 20, 2013 – The Council for Economic Education is thrilled to announce the winners of the 13th Annual National Economics Challenge, a rigorous academic competition putting students’ economic skills and knowledge to the ultimate test. Nailing questions that few adults could answer correctly, Iolani School took home the top prize for the Adam Smith Division (for advanced placement, international baccalaureate and honors students), and Little Falls Community High School was named the winner of the David Ricardo Division (for students who have taken only a single-semester economics course). These teams outpaced over 10,000 other students—double the number of entries from 2011—to win an all-expense paid trip to New York City for a two-day competition to determine the overall champions. This year’s Challenge is generously supported by State Farm.®
In the National Economics Challenge, CEE applies the excitement of an athletic competition to academic excellence, providing students with the opportunity to apply their economics knowledge and work in teams. Competitions are held at the State, National Semi-Final, and National Final levels in the two divisions. In each competition, teams of students answer rigorous questions on microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics, and current events. At the National Finals, students complete rounds of testing, work in teams during a critical thinking round to solve a case problem, and participate in a quick-paced oral quiz-bowl in order to compete for the title of National Champions.
The four finalist teams face each other in the final round of the National Economics Challenge in a “quiz-bowl” format held in New York City. Each team must have previously won in its state and been one of the top four highest scoring teams at the National Semi-Finals competition in order to advance to the championship series.
“We’re so impressed with these students’ grasp of today’s increasingly complex economy, and their mastery of economic decision making,” Nan J. Morrison, CEO and President of CEE. “Congratulations Iolani and Little Falls on your achievements, and for setting the bar high for next year’s competition!”
The eight Finalist teams placed as follows:
ADAM SMITH DIVISION
1st Place: Iolani School | Honolulu, Hawaii
2nd Place: Choate Rosemary Hall | Wallingford, Connecticut
3rd Place: Mounds View High School | Arden Hills, Minnesota
4th Place: Richard Montgomery High School | Rockville, Maryland
DAVID RICARDO DIVISION
1st Place: Little Falls Community High School | Little Falls, Minnesota
2nd Place: Carmel High School | Carmel, Indiana
3rd Place: Olympia High School | Olympia, Washington
4th Place: Lexington High School | Lexington, Massachusetts
About the Council for Economic Education
The Council for Economic Education is the leading organization in the United States that focuses on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school. CEE trains educators to teach young people the fourth “R”—a real-world understanding of economics and personal finance—so that they will be able to make informed and responsible choices throughout their lives as consumers, savers, investors, citizens and participants in the global economy. Each year CEE’s programs reach more than 55,000 teachers and approximately 5 million students.
For more information visit www.councilforeconed.org/econchallenge.
Like CEE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/councilforeconed
Follow CEE on Twitter at www.twitter.com/council4econed.
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McGraw-Hill Education Celebrates Student Learning Impact and Results at Seventh Annual Tegrity User Conference
Company’s Tegrity Campus lecture capture solution and larger suite of digital offerings shown to deliver results through an integrated approach to learning experience
NEW YORK – May 20, 2013 – McGraw-Hill Education and its university and college partners celebrated the impact of the Tegrity Campus lecture capture solution on student learning at the recent seventh annual Tegrity User Conference (TUC) in Boston, Massachusetts. The annual conference brought together more than 100 educators and researchers representing 50 universities around the country who share a vision for improving student learning through the use of McGraw-Hill Tegrity Campus and other technologies.
At this year’s conference, faculty and experts shared numerous case studies and discussions about best practices for using lecture capture and digital solutions in the classroom and online environments to improve student engagement, performance, and retention. In addition, McGraw-Hill Education announced the recipients of this year’s Customer Appreciation Awards, who were honored during the conference for their innovation and success with Tegrity Campus at their institutions.
“We’re thrilled with this year’s recipients of the TUC Customer Appreciation Awards as each winner thoroughly embodies enthusiasm, dedication, and passion for achieving classroom success with digital tools like Tegrity Campus,” said Timothy Peyton, senior director of marketing, McGraw-Hill Higher Education Enterprise Solutions. “Every year, our Tegrity User Conference attendees demonstrate an unparalleled enthusiasm and desire to share their experiences and ideas for how to transform higher education through the use of digital solutions, which reaffirms McGraw-Hill Education’s vision to create a complete digital learning experience for students through a robust suite of products.”
The TUC Customer Appreciation Awards honor both institutions and individual faculty that have championed the adoption of lecture capture at their campuses and showed passion and innovation in maximizing the benefits of Tegrity Campus. The winners of the 2013 Tegrity Customer Appreciation Awards include:
- Student Achievement Award: University of Central Florida (Orlando, Florida)
- Innovator Award: Michaella Thornton, Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Rapid Response Award: Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tennessee)
- Voice of the Customer Award: Tammarra Holmes, Laramie County Community College (Cheyenne, Wyoming)
- Outcomes Assessment Award: University of Texas at Tyler, College of Nursing (Tyler, Texas)
- Shared Vision Award: North Dakota University System (Bismarck, North Dakota)
- Provost Award: Stephanie Trowbridge, Northeastern University
- President Award: Dr. Ahmed El-Haggan, Coppin State University (Baltimore, Maryland)
Tegrity Campus represents an important part of McGraw-Hill Education’s strategy to use digital technology to generate positive results for students, educators and institutions. In addition to Tegrity Campus, McGraw-Hill Education has launched a number of digital tools for higher education that personalize the learning experience and make it easy for both instructors and students to succeed in the classroom, including the market-leading adaptive learning solution McGraw-Hill LearnSmart®, the LearnSmart Advantage suite of adaptive learning products – which includesSmartBook, the world’s first-ever adaptive e-book – and McGraw-Hill Connect, a digital teaching and learning environment that incorporates all of McGraw-Hill Education’s tools on one central platform.
McGraw-Hill Tegrity Campus is the only cloud-based lecture capture solution that enables professors to record lectures, supplemental materials and classroom discussion so that students can access classroom content “wherever, whenever,” ultimately providing a more flexible, efficient and effective learning experience. The technology is proven to improve student achievement, satisfaction, retention and recruitment across an institution. Lecture capture solutions have become a critical component of today’s academic setting and campuses are widely deploying McGraw-Hill Tegrity Campus due to its proven impact on engaging students, recharging their study habits, improving learning and overall driving classroom performance and higher grades.
To learn more about how McGraw-Hill Education is helping educators drive results through lecture capture and other technology, visit www.mheducation.com.
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About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a digital learning company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions that improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill Education is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The Company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 60 languages. For additional information, visit www.mheducation.com.
“This year’s honorees are truly remarkable,” said Steve Boyea, Vice President Product Development. “They all demonstrated exemplary curriculum innovation and execution, and offered a fresh perspective for getting students engaged in physical activities both in and outside of a school setting. Setting students up for present and future success is integral, and these educators did just that.”
Once the submissions are received, the entire pool of candidates is narrowed down to six regional winners for each regional education district—elementary, middle and high school. From there, each district chooses one national winner from its six regional winners.
The district finalists for Teacher of the Year include: Sue Wright, Summit Elementary School, Colorado; Jeffery Jacobs, Worcester Elementary School, Pennsylvania; Susan Sellers, Lynnwood Elementary School, Washington; Sarah Lowell, Cartoogechaye Elementary School, North Carolina; Mary Lou Baranowski, Lindbergh Schweitzer Elementary School, California; Susan Toth, Tenafly Middle School, New Jersey; Andrea McMurtey, Fishers Junior High School, Indiana; Erik Jokinen, Langley Middle School, Washington; Jason Broussard, Iberia Middle School, Louisiana; Reid Anderson, Clayton Middle School, Utah; Taralyn Garner, Park Hill High School, Missouri; Joanna Bailey, D.C. Everest Senior High School, Wisconsin; Lisa Kloke, Mark Morris High School, Washington; Amber Hall, Maple Mountain High School, Utah.
Additionally, the National Dance Alliance (NDA) and American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR) honor educators in their fields with a Teacher of the Year award. The NDA chose Stacy Shane, Boulder Creek High School, Arizona, and AAPAR’s winner for Adapted Physical Education is Brad Weiner, Prince Georges’ County Public High School, Maryland.
The day will conclude with a hands-on tagging activity that will walk attendees through the LRMI tagging process. For starters, attendees will learn what properties to use and what values to assign, what constitutes an individual resource, and how best to determine the proper person from their organization to do the tagging. Attendees are encouraged to bring resources or links to resources that they would like to tag.
“This workshop kicks off our year-long LRMI workshop series designed to update everyone on the LRMI project and take the next step toward implementation,” said Dave Gladney, LRMI project manager at AEP. “Individuals and teams in attendance will gain valuable insights and skills that can be applied or transferred immediately within their organizations.”
AEP’s thought leadership and market insight have created ground-breaking opportunities for its members to collaborate, network, and partner with each other as well as to acquire a voice in the development of government education policy. Founded in 1895, AEP now assists its members in navigating the global realities of educational publishing in the 21st Century. For more information, please visit www.AEPweb.org.
