Weekly Media Roundup - August 28, 2013

Community partnerships and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning were singled out as two important education trends for Iowans to follow during the 2013-2014 school year. “Schools in Iowa are increasingly teaming up with community organizations to provide students with extra learning opportunities before, after and even during the school day,” the Des Moines Register reports. In addition, Iowa students will likely see their exposure to the STEM subjects grow during in- and out-of-school time thanks to $4.7 million from the state legislature for STEM instruction for nearly 1,000 schools, museums, clubs and other educational organizations. The Des Moines Register also notes Iowa’s upcoming teacher leadership program, the rollout of statewide education standards, and school security in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary are other trends to follow.

 

Letters: Extending the School Day, Innovation Calls for New Ways to Use Time for Learning (Boston Globe, Massachusetts)
Nicholas C. Donohue, president and CEO of The Nellie Mae Education Foundation wrote a letter to the editor responding to a Boston Globe editorial on longer school days. He wrote: “The inclusion of an extended school day in Governor Patrick’s budget and the work the Time to Succeed coalition is doing on behalf of the initiative are critical steps forward in education reform. But the central issue is not just about more time, it’s how we use it — specifically, to support new, equitable, and innovative approaches to learning. More personalized, student-centered approaches are sprouting up in school districts across the country, including tailored learning opportunities in environments that expand learning beyond the confines of school walls and school calendars; blended learning that makes the most of new educational technologies; and performance assessments that measure progress based on mastery of complex, real-world skills and knowledge. Not all of these efforts require more time, but they all do require time to be used differently.”

 

Barstow Police Activities League’s afterschool programs recently moved to a new location and by doing so renewed the afterschool program’s focus on education. The program’s new facility houses a small library, separate rooms for homework and reading and a computer lab equipped with six computers in addition to a television, leather sofas, two separate video game stations and a foosball table, the Desert Dispatch reports.

 

Chris Alfano, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Jarvus Innovations, a web software engineering firm, has been declared the winner of Philadelphia’s Philly311 Widget Contest, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports. The city was looking for software that will allow users of the City of Philadelphia’s Philly311 Mobile App to access a directory of afterschool programs and activities. Alfano will not win any prize money for designing the After School Programs Widget, but the city will officially adopt his widget and distribute it to the 15,000 users of the Philly311 Mobile App.