Technology plays an important role in education, but teachers don't always have the time to learn how to use it. When I returned to teaching four years ago, one of my first initiatives was to bring technology into the classroom where it belongs. Technology is second nature to today’s students, and since they are immersed in it every day outside of the classroom, it is only natural to use those skills inside the classroom too.

In our increasingly connected world, technological advancements have continued to cement connected devices as essential resources for K-12 learning. As the volume of these purchases continue to grow, educators have been faced with a greater need for cyber security. In an effort to safeguard families from infringements related to big data and privacy in public services, President Obama announced a modification to his 2012 comprehensive blueprint for consumer privacy, the BuySecure initiative, to include privacy protections for American students & families.  

Hingham Tech Squad Comes to the Rescue, Students Learn in the Process

When I returned to teaching after leaving the corporate ed tech world, I was gung ho to start spreading classroom technology throughout my school. I knew that technology had an important role to play in education – that it could engage and motivate students by making the classroom more exciting. But I soon realized that not every teacher had the resources to make that a reality. Some had little or no background in technology. Some weren’t sure where to start when it came to incorporating these new tools into their lessons. And almost no one had the time to learn to use new technology.

Welcome our Newest Blogger, Sarah Coughlin, a Math Teacher at Hingham High School – and so much more!

Mimio is pleased to welcome our new blogger, Sarah Coughlin, a math teacher from Hingham High School in Massachusetts. We’ll be hearing from her over the upcoming school year, as she sends us Notes from Hingham High.  Sarah is a Mimio expert, having spent some time as a Mimio trainer and manager of Mimio’s training department. She previously taught in Virginia, and now has returned to her first love – teaching.

Get the Funding You Need for the Technology You Want

Recently we’ve summarized the qualifications for obtaining three of the five U.S. DOE funds: Race to the Top, 21^st Century Community Learning Centers, and Charter Schools. Today we’ll do the same for Title I, Part A, College and Career Readiness. If you meet the qualifications for this fund, there’s a good chance you may be able to obtain the technology your classrooms need.

Get the Funding You Need for the Technology You Want

We hope that we’ve cleared away some of the confusion about the qualifications for obtaining two of the five U.S. DOE funds: Race to the Top and 21^st Century Community Learning Centers, Title IV, Part B. Next on our list is the Charter Schools Program. If you qualify for this fund, you may be one step closer to obtaining the technology your classrooms need.

Charter Schools

The Charter School Program State Education Agency (SEA) Competition provides grants to a state’s Department of Education (or to a state agency serving the same function) to plan, design, and implement new charter schools, as well as to disseminate information on successful charter schools.

SEAs in the 40 states (41 including Washington, DC) with a state statute specifically authorizing the establishment of charter schools may apply. A state receiving SEA grant money then makes three-year subgrants to developers of charters in its state who have applied for or have already received a charter.

A state may reserve up to 10% of its allocation to support successful charter schools wishing to disseminate information. A charter school may apply for dissemination funds whether or not it has applied for or received funds for planning and implementation. To qualify for the dissemination funds, a school must also have been operating for at least three consecutive years and must have demonstrated overall success.

Get the Funding You Need for the Technology You Want

The U.S. Department of Education offers a variety of funds that can help you get the technology you need and want for your schools, but the rules concerning these funds can seem complicated and confusing. To help clear away some of the confusion, we’ll be summarizing the requirements of five different funds over the next few weeks, beginning with the Title IV, Part B fund for 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Find out how you can make the technology you want one step closer.

 

Welcome to our new monthly blog, “Training with Travis.” Travis Rink currently runs Mimio’s Training program, works with our teacher teams, and assists with the MimioConnect® online community website. His 16 years as a teacher make him perfect at knowing what really works in the classroom when it comes to training, technology, and teaching. Travis looks forward to this new avenue of reaching out to educators and to getting your insights into technology, training, and teaching. 

5 Easy Ways to Get Started with New Technology in Your Classroom

So, you have some new technology that your principal gave you at the start of the year, but you haven't fully embraced it in your classroom? You’re not alone. Most teachers have limited time in their busy day to implement everything they would like to do. Combine that problem with a possible lack of support and appropriate training from your school district, and it’s clear why successful implementation of technology can be more cumbersome that it should be.  To break through the time constraints, here are a few helpful tips:

These days, everyone in education tech is talking about Chromebooks. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re really just inexpensive laptops running a Chrome OS. These devices are designed to be used primarily when connected to the Internet, though they have some functionality even offline. If you’re wondering whether you should buy them for your school, here’s a breakdown of the top pros and cons so you can better understand what these devices do or don’t offer.

We are pleased to introduce a new monthly series of blog articles featuring cool, engaging, and unique things you can do with interactive technology tools. Each article will present a number of ways in which you can leverage the capabilities of a specific tool. We will cover everything from interactive whiteboards to assessment systems, and every article will show you new ways to make your classroom more engaging and fun for your students. 

Our first featured product is the document camera. Document cameras such as the MimioView™ document camera are relatively small cameras that a teacher can connect to the classroom computer and/or projector to show the class still images or live video on the front-of-the-room display.