Educators recognize that they need to create new learning and teaching environments where the curriculum and instructional tools reflect today's world. Schools are full of students who want to engage, socialize, communicate, create, and collaborate in meaningful ways that reflect the world in which they live. How can education re-create itself to…

What will technology-based teacher professional development look like in the next few years? In this article, teacher training curriculum designer Mary Burns presents her 5 top picks from the professional learning technologies now emerging around the world: (1) IPTV; (2) Immersive Environments; (3) Video; (4) Social Media; and (5) Mobile…

As with many schools, tech integration at the American School of Bombay (ASB) was varied and scattered. ASB had enthusiastic teachers who used technology in class, but they were the exception. As a result, just a small percentage of students experienced new ways of learning. The authors wanted to turn the occasional use of technology into a…

What can Mali, an impoverished, land-locked West African nation, teach educators about mobile technology? Little to nothing, one might think. Yet in Mali, as in much of sub-Saharan Africa, teachers and students are increasingly using mobile technologies for learning and teaching. While educators in the United States have debated whether, why, and…

Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) is a global educational program sponsored by the Adobe Foundation, the philanthropic arm of software maker Adobe. The education-based initiative teaches underserved kids aged 13-18 how to use digital media to comment on their world, share ideas, and take action on the social issues that are important to them. The AYV…

Instructional technologists can succeed in implementing 21st-century skills instruction only when those skills are seen as relevant to the pressing agendas that coexist in their schools. Otherwise they run the risk of being just more noise that teachers must respond to and may filter out. So how can they be seen as part of the solution instead of…

In late February, 13 members of ISTE's Special Interest Group for Teacher Educators (SIGTE) participated in a global exchange, traveling to New Zealand on a SIG-sponsored study tour hosted by CORE Education (www.coreed.org), a nonprofit research and development organization that supports the use of educational technology across New Zealand through…

This paper, the first of a two-part article, addresses ways that project-based learning is being used in countries around the world. It introduces Microsoft's worldwide K-12 education initiative, Partners in Learning, and provides some background as to why Microsoft is interested in developing project-based learning curricula for teachers to help…

A US Agency for International Development decided to start an educational project in Ethiopia. The project originated with Dr. James L. Hoot from the University of Buffalo in 2000. Since 2002, two primary schools in the capital, Addis Ababa, have received assistance to establish self-sustaining, technology-based learning environments for students…

In the United States, the federal government supports educational services, but what happens with technology integration when a country with a population the size of Massachusetts uses its centralized educational system to help students with special needs? The goal of this article is to share information regarding Israel's educational technology…

Costa Rica has one of the highest concentrations of computers in the Americas and is regarded as a Central American pioneer in technology development. The authors of this article describe their trip to Costa Rica, which included visits to several schools as well as to the Foundation Omar Dengo (FOD) and the Ministry of Public Education (MEP),…

Describes how the American Embassy School (AES) in New Delhi, India achieved school-wide technology integration. Discusses development of a new network; beginning to mentor; organizing the Technology Integration Plan (TIP) by software application; implementing the plan; assessing progress; and results, which overall, were positive. (AEF)

Presents a model based on a bicycle metaphor for teaching problem solving and computer-mediated solutions, discusses its implications for education, and lists ten strategies applied using the model. Provides a unit plan on using spreadsheets to explore Australian convict history, outlining establishment, development, interpretation, and…

Describes the technology-rich American School in Tokyo, Japan, its equipment, and ways students are using the school's technology. Notes three lessons learned from working in a high-tech environment: (1) teachers must be enthusiastic about technology; (2) they must create a plan that copes with constant change; and (3) they must invest in computer…