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"Teachers, especially at the college level, are increasingly making
resources available in MP3 form."
Companies mine growth of MP3 homework
Posted 2/6/2007 2:26 PM ET
By Madlen Read, The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Lindleigh Whetstone wears headphones as she shoves clothes into
the washing machine. Her classmate, Stepheno Zollos, wears them as he shops
for groceries. An onlooker might assume the teens are listening to the
latest top 40 hit, but they're really learning Spanish.
Whetstone, 18, and Zollos, 17, are students in Kathy O'Connor's class at
Tidewater Community College in Southeastern Virginia. O'Connor got an
$11,000 grant from the school to lend her students iPods so they can
practice their Spanish conversations anywhere - not just sitting in front of
a computer.
"I get a lot more listening in than I did before," said Whetstone, who
estimates that it's increased from about 30 minutes a week to 4 or 5 hours.
Continue article:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-02-06-mp3-homework_x.htm
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-02-06-mp3-homework_x.htm
<http://space.sparklist.com/t/585543/4265102/20121/0/> New Technology Sends
Closings by Phone
Parents in Harford County, MD, don't have to turn on the radio this winter
to see if the latest snowstorm has closed schools. A new service being used
by school officials automatically calls students' homes and plays a
prerecorded message, much like the robo-calls used by political campaigns
and telemarketers. Officials say they've quickly discovered other uses for
the Internet-based system, including reminders of school events and
scheduled early closings and alerts for parents of students who had not
received newly required immunizations. Belleville News-Democrat, 2/12/07
Posted on Mon, Feb. 12, 2007
New technology sends closings by phone
ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press
BEL AIR, Md. - Parents in Harford County don't have to turn on the radio
this winter to see if the latest snowstorm has closed schools.
A new service being used by school officials automatically calls students'
homes and plays a prerecorded message, much like the robo-calls used by
political campaigns and telemarketers.
While there has only been one countywide snow closing so far this school
year, officials say they've quickly discovered other uses for the
Internet-based system, including reminders of school events and scheduled
early closings.
School officials said they even used the system to alert parents of about
4,000 students who had not received newly required immunizations. Without
the vaccinations, the children wouldn't be allowed into school, so "we had
all of the schools pull their data of those who were not in compliance and
we send out a call," said Teri Kranefeld, a school system spokeswoman.
The homes of absent students are also automatically dialed - at random times
so a skipping student can't easily intercept the call. The system inserts
the student's name into a prerecorded message, saving administrators time
each day.
Fliers with reminders for parent-child events or other advisories don't have
to be sent home with students any more, and messages can be recorded in
various languages with each home receiving the appropriate one.
Jennifer Handlin, of Fallston, has a daughter, Kay-Lee, in sixth grade and a
son, Patrick, in kindergarten. She said the system has helped her keep track
of their schedules.
"All parents now, especially me, have a very busy schedule. So, it's very
nice to actually receive calls two, three days in advance reminding me that
my child will be coming home early from school," Handlin said.
The school system contracted with Raleigh, N.C.-based Saf-T-Net, one of
three main companies in the field, to use its AlertNow Rapid Communication
Service.
Saf-T-Net President Robert Bruce said the company has contracts with 700
school districts covering about 3,000 buildings and 2 million students, and
the company's Web site says its customers include school systems in
Maryland, Connecticut, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia.
The company is one of three big players in the industry, which has plenty of
room for growth - there are 60 million students in grades K-12, Bruce said.
The phone-calling service, which costs $80,000 a year, is accessed through a
Web page onto which the phone numbers - and details such as school name and
a student's home language - are loaded along with the messages.
Even school bus drivers have their own messages. "Hi, this is Norm," the
school system's transportation manager says in one message to the bus
drivers. "There will be a two-hour early dismissal today."
ON THE NET
Saf-T-Net: http://www.saftnet.com
Harford County Public Schools: http://www.hcps.org
Source:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/business/16681568.htm?template=cont
entModules/printstory.jsp
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