PeopleCube has released a new version of its application for managing workspace, resources, and facilities. The new version of Resource Scheduler 9.0 provides integration with Lotus Notes, includes a mobile phone interface, features new Web-based functions, and integrates with personal calendaring systems such as Outlook.

Quantum is releasing a new version of its StorNext data management software. Version 4.0 features changes in de-duplication and replication, as well as a new distributed data tiering function.

Last month, President Obama put forth the call to schools, organizations, corporations, and the country at large to renew America’s global competitive edge in innovation, specifically by promoting substantially greater interest in both education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

February

8

Report: IT Workers May See a Bump in Pay

IT organizations are budgeting to give employees a small pay increase in 2010, according to a recent report.

Under the Colorado Education Accountability Act of 2009, the state has made improvement of chronically low-performing schools a priority. With the help of federal funds, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has instituted a statewide school transformation and turnaround effort. This effort includes grants that will allow schools to reorganize under one of four intervention models: transformation, turnaround, restart, or closure.

The Hawaii Department of Education (HDOE) has chosen PD 360 from School Improvement Network (SINET) for its statewide online professional development resource. After a few schools in the state already using the service reported positive results, HDOE purchased access for all 289 of Hawaii’s public schools.

February

4

Early Intervention with Technology

When reading issues began surfacing within its elementary student population in the mid-1990s, Liberty Public Schools developed an internal tutoring program to help boost those students’ scores on statewide reading tests.

February

4

New York District Beefs Up Wireless LAN

Penn Yan Central School District in upstate New York reported that it’s successfully deployed a new wireless local area network (WLAN) to cover all computers in the district, which enrolls more than 2,000 students in K-12 and adult education programs.

If adopted by Congress without alteration, President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2011 budget would pump an additional $3.5 billion into education. But it would also cut the sole source of dedicated federal funding for education technology, and that has three prominent ed tech advocacy groups worried.

February

3

Web 3.0 and Its Relevance for Instruction

While Web 3.0 has been talked about for some time, there has been increasing and ongoing discussion as to how it should best be defined and what the foundational characteristics of the technology are or will be. The reality is, however, that while there are attempts at clear definitions, the ideas and concepts continue to evolve as users make sense of where things are going.