Library of Congress Primary Source Materials now keyed to CT Standards

The Library of Congress new site, Primary Source Learning, is definitely worth a visit. Now you can easily search for lessons that use primary source materials that are coordinated with CT standards. You can even field-test the site's learning experiences in your classroom, develop your own lessons and then share them online.

Open Technology Solutions Fair Update

The Open Technology Solutions Fair at EDUCATION CONNECTION was wonderful and was attended by over fifty people. Most of the presentations are available through the Moodle Site maintained by the Open Technology User Group. The User Group is sponsored by EDUCATION CONNECTION and is open to all. To get logon instructions you can e-mail Sean Kavanaugh at kavanaugh@educationconnection.org.


Open Technology provides an interesting alternative to the proprietary model many of our schools are using. The case studies around the country as well as in Connecticut show that this is a viable alternative that is cost-effective, supported and meets the functionality of schools. In Europe it is apparently the standard for most K-12 schools.

Infrastructure proposals have been mailed to readers

I want to take this opportunity to thank the 47 volunteers who will read and score the infrastructure proposals. Each reader will receive six or seven grants; some or which are lengthy. The readers will spend hours reading, scoring and on May 31st, additional hours collaborating with other readers to develop summative evaluations of the proposals.

DOE requests your input on how technology should be integrated

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is seeking ideas on the integration of technology in education. The DOE is requesting feedback on the following questions:

1) In what ways has technology improved the effectiveness of your classroom, school or district?

2) Based on your role (administrator, parent, teacher, student, entrepreneur, business leader), how have you used educational data to make better decisions or be more successful?

3) In what ways can technology help us prepare our children for global competition and reach our goals of eliminating achievement gaps and having all students read and do math on grade level by 2014?

4) What should be the federal government's role in supporting the use of technology in our educational system?

To share your comments and suggestions, please click on the "Add Your Comment" box at www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/roundtable.html or send an e-mail to edtech@ed.gov.