free education resources for parents, students, teachers & administrators

The Education Department provided start-up funding for the new project, which promotes software and "digital tutors."

The White House announced Friday the launch of "Digital Promise," a nonprofit initiative meant to bring more technology to classrooms.

Digital Promise will promote the development of new educational software and will help educators evaluate which products are actually effective, according to the administration.

One of its first projects will be to research the potential for "digital tutors" to help students learn math and other subjects.

Digital Promise's board will be made up of leaders in education and technology who were appointed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan based on recommendations from Congress.

“Digital Promise is a unique partnership that will bring everyone together – educators, entrepreneurs, and researchers – to use technology to help students learn and teachers teach," President Obama said in a statement. "There’s no silver bullet when it comes to education, but technology can be a powerful tool, and Digital Promise will help us make the most of it.” 

Read the full text of the article at the source

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- For incoming freshmen at western Connecticut's suburban Brookfield High School, hefting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and flipping electronic pages on a glossy iPad tablet computer.

A few hours away, every student at Burlington High School near Boston will also start the year with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional bulky texts.

While iPads have rocketed to popularity on many college campuses since Apple Inc. introduced the device in spring 2010, many public secondary schools this fall will move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers.

Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs, in which at least one classroom of students is getting iPads for each student to use throughout the school day.

Nearly two-thirds of them have begun since July, according to Apple.

New programs are being announced on a regular basis, too. As recently as Wednesday, Kentucky's education commissioner and the superintendent of schools in Woodford County, Ky., said that Woodford County High will become the state's first public high school to give each of its 1,250 students an iPad.

At Burlington High in suburban Boston, principal Patrick Larkin calls the $500 iPads a better long-term investment than textbooks, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren't yet available.

"I don't want to generalize because I don't want to insult people who are working hard to make those resources," Larkin said of textbooks, "but they're pretty much outdated the minute they're printed and certainly by the time they're delivered. The bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials."

The trend has not been limited to wealthy suburban districts. New York City, Chicago and many other urban districts also are buying large numbers of iPads.

The iPads generally cost districts between $500 and $600, depending on what accessories and service plans are purchased.

By comparison, Brookfield High in Connecticut estimates it spends at least that much yearly on every student's textbooks, not including graphing calculators, dictionaries and other accessories they can get on the iPads.

Educators say the sleek, flat tablet computers offer a variety of benefits.

They include interactive programs to demonstrate problem-solving in math, scratchpad features for note-taking and bookmarking, the ability to immediately send quizzes and homework to teachers, and the chance to view videos or tutorials on everything from important historical events to learning foreign languages.

They're especially popular in special education services, for children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, and for those who learn best when something is explained with visual images, not just through talking.

Read the full article at the source

WebSchoolPro Welcomes teh West Washington School Corporation. West Washington just signed up for their Ad-Free website at WesbSchoolPro.

Visit their new school website at http://www.westwashingtonschools.org/

Dedicated to providing a superior learning environment for students of all ages, and providing a springboard to their success in higher education and career development.

We know your child’s education is important to you, and we are dedicated to working with each of our district schools to create challenging and rewarding academic programs, to include after-school and outreach activities.

West Washington School Corporation!

WebSchoolPro Welcomes PS133, William A. Butler School in Brooklyn, New York

PS133 just claimed their free school website from WebSchoolPro!

"Thanks so much for your help. I have never, ever done anything like this before, so I have lots of questions. The webschoolpro set up is really user-friendly, even for non-technical people like me (I'm a social worker in the "real world"), and the extra support has been great for the things that I still don't understand after going through the help options. Thanks again!"

Visit their new website at http://ps133brooklyn.org/

McNair Middle School claimed their free school website from WebschoolPro, Sept 5th, 2011! Claim your free school website at http:webschoolpro.com/preview.html

Visit their new School site at
McNair Middle School
2190 Wallingford Drive
Decatur, GA 30032-6226

WebSchoolPro welcomes the Lithonia Middle School PTSA Council.

Lithonia Middle School just claimed their free school website from WebSchoolPro.

Visit their new free school website!

Lithonia Middle School PTSA Council, Lithonia Georgia