The HP Mini-Note fits easily on a student desk. The nearly 10,000 HP mini-laptops headed for the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) in California this fall confirm the trend: K-12 schools are eager to put technology into the hands of every student, and a growing number of schools are bypassing full-sized--and more expensive--laptop computers in favor of scaled-down, low-cost machines designed

At first glance, Sexpulse looks like a sexually explicit gaming Web site, with provocative pictures of nude men, cartoons and cheeky icons. But it’s not a game. Far from it. The Web site, in development at the University of Minnesota, is the newest strategy to slow a second wave of the HIV/AIDS epidemic rising among young gay and bisexual men.

From online courses to kid-friendly laptops and virtual teachers, technology is spreading in America's classrooms, reducing the need for textbooks, notepads, paper and in some cases even the schools themselves. Just ask 11-year-old Jemella Chambers. She is one of 650 students who receive an Apple Inc laptop each day at a state-funded school in Boston. From the second row of her classroom, she

Munford High School students participate in an interactive video conferencing class at the school. Talladega County and Pell City high schools use online courses and video conferences to provide classes that students are not able to take locally. The technology is part of the Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) Distance Learning program. Alabama’s classrooms

While some educators are on board the technology train, other teachers are going to need a little push — and all could benefit from some tech training, a state education official said."Technology has changed the face of education forever," said Brenda Hales, Utah State Office of Education associate superintendent for student achievement and school success. She addressed the public education

Some Tennessee community colleges and tech schools are moving to a 4-day school week to help commuting students facing a financial roadblock in rising gasoline prices. Four Tennessee Technology Centers and three community colleges are adopting the new class schedules after hearing from students that high gas prices could force them to drop out.

Students are being encouraged to quiz teachers by text message if they are too shy to ask in class. And it works: tech-savvy students are lifting average VCE grades from C to B+, teachers say. Schools are reviewing bans on mobile phones as days of "chalk and talk" give way to recorded lessons posted online for students to listen to out of school hours. Simple mobile phones, multi-function

Oklahoma State Superintendent Sandy Garrett called on teachers Tuesday to integrate more technology into classrooms to engage students who have spent their entire lives in a digital world. She also unveiled the state Department of Education's Time Analysis Tool, an online process designed to help school leaders identify and better plan for school-day disruptions, such as assemblies, trips and

As Illinois State University’s new provost Sheri Noren Everts settles in to the job, she becomes the highest-ranked female administrator in the university’s history. She officially started July 1. Among issues she expects to face in the near future are how to tap into the differing learning styles of an increasingly diverse student body, how to embrace technology in the classroom in a meaningful

The Wordweb free edition is a one-click English thesaurus and dictionary forWindows, which can work online and off-line. The program can look up wordsin almost any program and then provide a definition, pronunciation, relatedwords, and list of synonyms. The dictionary includes over 150,000 root wordsand 120,000 synonym sets and covers American, British, Canadian, Australian,Indian, and global

In the mid-1960s, President Johnson saw the need for independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America's cities and their residents. The President created a blue-ribbon commission of civic leaders who recommended chartering a center to do that work and in 1968, the Urban Institute became that center. Today the Urban Institute analyzes policies, evaluates programs, and informs

RAND Europe is part of the US-based RAND Corporation and has been active for the past 15 years. Based in Cambridge, UK, RAND Europe conducts research andanalysis on the challenges facing many European countries. Visitors may want to start by perusing their home page where they can read up on a spotlightedresearcher, highlighted research, or a featured report. After exploring the home page,

Academic cheating and dishonesty have long been a problem. But with YouTube students have discovered a new avenue for actually promoting such fraud. Liz Losh, a rhetorician at the University of California at Irvine, notes that there’s now a genre of videos that combine cheating advice with a “do-it-yourself aesthetic.” She flagged one of them Wednesday on her blog. It shows a student using a

Surprise No. 1: America's public schools are actually improving, average scores inching upward despite increased numbers of immigrant and often poorly prepared children.... But we're still losing — failing to inspire and fully prepare — roughly half our children. Most are bright and curious, can be taught. Just check how many, even from the poorest neighborhoods, are "digital natives." And all

Charlottesville teachers will have a new high tech teaching tool this year. Charlottesville City Council approved the funding for interactive white boards, or "smartboards," in January, and now it's full steam ahead. Smartboards are going up in every Charlottesville classroom. They are the latest effort to engage students and help raise achievement levels.

Catching them young is a popular slogan and one that yields dividends too, no matter whether one applies it to the adoption of software or the learning of a language. And with a small window seemingly open for Australia's FOSS community to push for the use of free and open source software in schools, the question arises - how does one go about making the first inroads?

Student, mother and day care director Arline Linger said signing up for online classes through Charter Oak State College is the smartest choice she’s ever made. She said she’s able to take classes whenever she wants, even after work. “It's a lot more economical to do my online courses than to drive a great distance from Colchester to New Britain,” she said.

Jefferson Community College began offering 15-week, full-semester online classes in 2001. Since then, enrollment for the classes has skyrocketed and the college is offering condensed eight-week courses and, most recently, four-week courses. "Typically each semester, about 25 percent of the student body at Jefferson takes at least one course online," said Edward J. Knapp, dean for curriculum and

For the last 11 years Marje Monroe and Doug Fodeman have worked to educate schools, parents and students about the issues that affect children in an online world. Their Web site, ChildrenOnline.org, offers practical articles, resources, research, and a monthly newsletter on the topic. Recently, the team, which has a long background in education, self-published Safe Practices for Life Online,

Alabama is aiming for a first. All high schools in the state will have distance learning programs beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, including videoconferencing and Web-based learning tools, according to information released this week by Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton.