B-Dag

Schools around the country have been taking advantage of new technology this year. Cloud-hosting and online communications offer students and teachers new ways to collaborate in an educational sphere. ePals, Inc. is working to establish itself as a leader in online educational communities, especially with the recent launch of its K-12 Solutions Partner Program.The program supports ePals’ already popular LearningSpace and SchoolMail applications. LearningSpace is a controlled online environment complete with social media and digital storage areas. Users are assigned roles (such as teacher and student), and teachers can moderate the information students are posting before it goes out over the web. LearningSpace is aimed at school districts seeking more communication between different sites, although smaller groups can be created within individual schools and classes. With blogging, wikis, content tagging, RSS, and web forums at their disposal, students learn to work with technology and integrate it into their other subjects. Users can also connect with other students and teachers in the more than 200 countries that use LearningSpace. (more…)

In earlier generations, home-schooling was seen as the most popular alternative to public school. This option was seen by some as isolating children from the traditional school experience, but it had its advantages for parents that wanted to keep their children close by during the day. A new trend is on the rise that also keeps children at home, but also makes them part of an online community. These communities are referred to as “virtual schools”.Recent statistics suggest that more than 2 million children between kindergarten and 12^th grade are enrolled in online schools, and that number has been growing by 20 percent in recent years. Online school programs may be supplemental to actual class-time experience, but more and more schools are offering full-time virtual options. (more…)

The Internet now touches almost every aspect of modern life. Even children’s education is jumping on the bandwagon, as proven by the fact that you are reading this article on a blog. However, the variability of the Internet means there are many sites that you wouldn’t want your young child exploring. The challenge lies in how to introduce them to this valuable resource while still keeping them safe. Enter the Children’s Educational Network.This software company is devoted to offering children a way to explore the world wide web in ways that are fun and interesting. To start with, parents and children should check out Club TUKI, a comprehensive online children’s community. You can access some of the games for free, but to get the full experience you should sign up for an affordable monthly membership of 9.97. There is also a yearly payment option of 97.00. (more…)