Going the Distance!
September 2005
Newsletter Articles:
Welcome Back to School
Welcome back from summer vacation! You are receiving this email as a friend of GCI SchoolAccess. This monthly newsletter is designed to provide helpful news and tips to teachers, administrators and school technology coordinators.
New NAEP Data Released in July
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a new long-term National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data report on national trends in reading since 1971 and in math science 1973. The study found that on average, American nine-year-olds scored higher in reading and math in 2004 than in any previous assessment year. It also revealed that American 13-year-olds scored higher in math in 2004 than in any previous assessment year. However, reading scores remain unchanged from the last assessment. For more information, please visit visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ltt/.
Senate and House Appropriations Committees Allocate Funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Program
This summer, the Senate and House Education Appropriations Committees partially restored funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT - NCLB, Title II, Part D) program. The House allocated $300 million while the Senate allocated $425 million. In February, the Bush administration eliminated EETT as part of its 2006 budget proposal. Though the program will be restored, the proposed funding represents a 28 percent cut to the program. EETT is the largest single source of federal funding for instructional technologies such as computers, software, projectors, interactive whiteboards, training, support, and upkeep. To follow the status of this program, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app06.html.
ADLP Connects Students with Alaska Lawmakers via Educational Videoconferences
Last spring students in more than 15 schools across Alaska were able to ask questions of Congressman Don Young and Senator Lisa Murkowski in Washington, DC through two educational videoconferences set up by the Alaska Distance Learning Partnership (ADLP). This unique use of technology offered an opportunity for students to practice civic-mindedness and citizenship. It also provided a chance for the Senator and Congressman to address the questions and concerns of some of their youngest constituents. ADLP plans to arrange a similar videoconference for students with Senator Ted Stevens this coming school year. To learn more about ADLP, please visit http://www.alaskadistancelearning.org/.
GCI/CEO Program Expands in 2005
GCI Career Exploration Opportunities (CEO) is expanding to more districts, schools, students and businesses beginning this Fall. This unique Career Exploration program which began in Spring of 2005, is conducted primarily through the Web and videoconferences using the GCI SchoolAccess Distance Learning Service (DLS). Five standards-based school sites participated including Anchorage (ASD), Denali (DBSD), Lower Kuskokwim (LKSD), Lower Yukon (LYSD) and Northwest Arctic (NWABSD).
The program is designed to help high school juniors and seniors in Alaska explore career options and better prepare students for internships and, eventually, success in the workforce. Students at each site are able to ask questions directly to employers about long-term career goals, job-searching strategies and about summer internship opportunities. Members of the Department of Labor conduct mock interviews with students at the different sites and offer constructive feedback. Onsite mentors provide expertise for aligning district standards to those of the GCI-CEO program. Students who successfully complete the program are recommended for summer internship placement. For more information, please visit http://ceo.schoolaccess.net.
Accessing the World Wide Web Safely
The World Wide Web (WWW) contains a vast amount of websites and information that can be useful for research and educational purposes. Unfortunately there are also a large number of websites that contain inappropriate content. Helping school districts comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act, GCI's SchoolAccess Enhanced Internet Service includes the Guardian web content filtering service. This gives districts the necessary tools block websites and content that do not meet the requirements of each district's acceptable use policies.
In order to facilitate access to the SchoolAccess web content filtering platform, a proxy server is used to funnel all web content requests through a single conduit. Anyone wishing to access the Internet must ensure that their web browser is set to use or "proxy" through the proxy server. Setting the web browser client to use the proxy server "my.school" and port 8080 is fairly easy. A quick call to the SchoolAccess Help Desk at 1-888-254-2858 can provide assistance to anyone that needs help verifying their proxy settings. Step by step written instructions can also be requested from the SchoolAccess Help Desk via telephone or via email at schoolaccess@gci.com.
