Microsoft Schools Agreement Renewed to 2015

The Ministry of Education has renewed the Microsoft Schools Agreement through to the end of 2015. The agreement provides schools with unlimited access to the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office software for school-owned or leased devices, as well as unrestricted use of Windows Core Servers. 

Evan Blackman, Microsoft Education Sector Manager, says the renewed Microsoft Schools Agreement gives schools certainty about what technology platforms are available to them, so that teachers and students can fully utilise the technology in their classrooms.

Pauline Barnes from the Ministry of Education agrees.

“The extension to December 2015 gives schools greater ability to make IT network management plans. It will support schools to access and provide modern digital teaching and learning environments.”

Schools can also use Microsoft’s Office365 cloud service at no cost. With cloud computing, students and teachers can access documents and software from anywhere with any device, irrespective of the software loaded onto the device. It also allows multiple students to work on the same documents at the same time, lending itself to online project work and collaboration between students in different classrooms, cities and countries.

Blackman says technology is now an integral part of the way teachers teach and students learn and is key to lifting academic achievement in New Zealand.

“E-learning is changing teaching and learning. With our suite of software and infrastructure almost any form of information sharing is possible. For example, rural schools will be able to organise lessons for their students taught via our video conferencing software, Lync. Equally, teachers will be able to share resources and work on lesson plans together.”

The company has also been travelling to schools around the country giving free seminars about how to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment with technology. To ensure that schools know how to upgrade to Windows 8 and Office 2013, Microsoft will be releasing a step by step Deployment Kit during Term 4, 2013.

The company has also been travelling to schools around the country giving free seminars about how to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment with technology. To make the upgrade to Windows 8 and Office 2013 as easy as possible, Microsoft has created a step by step Deployment Kit during Term 4, 2013.

“Technology should enable collaborative learning and give students access to amazing resources, not take educators away from the classroom to roll it out. So we’ve created a deployment kit that basically does the heavy lifting involved for schools in upgrading to Windows 8, “added Blackman.

Upgrading is particularly important for the schools still using XP software as after April next year, support for XP will be switched off. Schools still using XP will be vulnerable to viruses and over time will find new technology will not be compatible with XP.

Ref: http://www.interfacemagazine.co.nz/articles.cfm?c_id=&id=1808

The Condition of Education 2013

Susan Aud of the National Center for Education Statistics, along with the American Institutes for Research have produced the 2013 edition of The Condition of Education 2013 for the National Center for Education Statistics (IES). Congress has mandated that an annual report be made on the trends in U.S. education for both K-12 and postsecondary education.

By combining the latest data with the 42 indicators it is possible to create a report that can keep policymakers informed and the American public alert to the trends and conditions in U.S. education.

Some of the highlights of this report:

• In 2012, 90% of young adults ages 25 to 29 had a high school diploma or equivalent.
• The average grade 4 reading score in 2011 was not measurably different from that in 2009.
• At grades 4 and 8, the average mathematics scores in 2011 were higher than the average scores for those grades in all previous assessment years.
• Young adults ages 25 to 29 with a college degree made twice as much as high school dropouts.
• One in five elementary and secondary schools are considered high poverty. (75% qualify for free or reduced lunch). This is up from one in eight in the year 2000.

The key Indicators for K-12 education for 2013:

Educational Attainment  In 2012, some 33% of 25-29 year-olds had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher credential. The size of the White-Black gap in this educational level in 2012 was not measurably different from that in 1990, while the white-Hispanic gap widened from 18 to 25 percentage points.

Children Living in Poverty  In 2011, approximately 21 percent of school-age children in the United States were in families living in poverty. The percentage of school-age children living in poverty ranged across the United States from 9 percent in North Dakota to 30 percent in the District of Columbia.

Public School Enrollment  From school years 2010-2011 through 2021-22, public elementary and secondary school enrolment is projected to increase by 7% from 49.5 to 53.1 million students, but with changes across states ranging from an increase of 22 percent in Alaska to a decrease of 15% in the District of Columbia.

Characteristics of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools  In school year 2010-11, about 33% of traditional public schools were in rural areas, compared with 16% of charter schools. In contrast, 25% of traditional public schools were in cities, compared with 55% of charter schools.

Concentration of Public School Students Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch In school year 2010-11, some 20 % of public school students attended a high-poverty school compared with 12 % in 1999-2000. In 2010-11, some 24 % of public school students attended a low-poverty school, compared with 45% in 1999-2000.

Reading Performance  The average grade 4 reading score in 2011 was not measurably different from that in 2009. The average grade 8 score, however, was 1 point higher in 2011 than in 2009.

Mathematics Performance  At grades 4 and 8, the average mathematics scores in 2011 were higher than the average scores for those grades in all previous assessment years.

Reading and Mathematics Score Trend The average reading and mathematics scores on the long-term trend National Assessment of Educational Progress were higher in 2008 than in the early 1970s for 9- and 13-year olds; however, scores for 17-year-olds were not measurably different from the early 1970s.

Public High School Graduation Rates  In school year 2009-10, some 3.1 million public high school students, or 78.2%, graduated on time with a regular diploma Among all public high school students, Asian/Pacific Islanders had the higher graduation rate (93.5%), followed by Whites (83.0%), Hispanics (71.4%), American Indian/Alaska Natives (69.1%), and Blacks (66.1%).

Other indicators included:

• International Educational Attainment
• Annual Earnings of Young Adults
• Labor Force Participation and Unemployment Rates by Educational Attainment
• Enrollment Trends by Age
• Early Education and Child Care Arrangements of Young Children
• Charter School Enrollment
• Private School Enrollment
• Racial/Ethnic Enrollment in Public Schools
• English Language Learners
• Children and Youth With Disabilities
• Undergraduate Enrollment
• Post Baccalaureate Enrollment
• Rates of School Crime
• Teachers and Pupil/Teacher Ratios
• Public School Revenue Sources
• Public School Expenditures
• Education Expenditure by County
• International Assessments
• High School Coursetaking
• Status Dropout Rates
• Immediate Transition to College
• Characteristics of Postsecondary Institutions
• Characteristics of Postsecondary Students
• Undergraduate Fields of Study
• Graduate Fields of Study
• Price of Attending an Undergraduate Institution
• Grants and Loan Aid to Undergraduate Students
• Postsecondary Revenues by Source
• Expenses of Postsecondary Faculty
• Characteristics of Postsecondary Faculty
• Student Loan Volume and Default rates
• Institutional Retention and Graduation rates for Undergraduate Students
• Degrees Conferred by Public and Private Institutions

Source:  Condition of Education

7 August 2013 Last updated at 15:13 GMT

South Korean road wirelessly recharges OLEV buses

Technology reporter by Leo Kelion

Continue reading the main story

Two buses fitted with the wireless charging tech are in use in the city of Gumi

South Korea has switched on a road which can recharge electric vehicles as they drive over it.

The project's developer says the 12km (7.5 miles) route is the first of its kind in the world.

It means vehicles fitted with compatible equipment do not need to stop to recharge and can also be fitted with smaller than normal batteries.

Two public buses are already using the technology and there are plans to add 10 more by 2015. "It's quite remarkable that we succeeded with the OLEV [online electric vehicle] project so that buses are offering public transportation services to passengers," said Dong-Ho Cho, who led the team behind the scheme at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

"This is certainly a turning point for OLEV to become more commercialised and widely accepted for mass transportation."

However, another transportation expert warned that the costs involved in installing the equipment meant it was less practical than other schemes which involved vehicles wirelessly charging at specific locations or using overhead cables.

"There is clearly a lot of potential for this technology for public transport applications, but for private electric vehicles the cost of fitting all roads with such systems may be prohibitive," said Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis from the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University.

The researchers say the electromagnetic fields involved do not pose a health risk

Smaller batteries

The Korean project runs from the train station in the town of Gumi, in the south of the country, to the In-dong district.

A device fitted to the bottom of the buses receives power from the road using a technology called Shaped Magnetic Field In Resonance.

Electric cables installed under the road are used to generate electromagnetic fields which are picked up by a coil inside the device and converted into electricity. The receiving equipment can be up to 17cm (6.7in) above the road's surface.

The researchers say they can transfer 20 kHz and 100 kW (136 horsepower) electricity at up to an 85% maximum power transmission efficiency rate.

They say that the power strips involved only need to be placed under 5% to 15% of the road, meaning that only certain sections need to be dug up and replaced.

They add that because vehicles do not need to stock up on energy before making their journey, the batteries involved can be three times smaller than would otherwise be needed. This reduces the weight of the vehicles helping reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted when generating the power required.

'Showcase technology'

Although the OLEV project is the first working scheme to power vehicles on the move, there are other inductive charging projects elsewhere.

Torino, Italy and Utrecht, the Netherlands have also fitted wireless charging equipment to some of their bus stops to allow the vehicles to top up power while drivers take short breaks.

Engineering firms Arup and Mitsui have set up a joint venture to roll out a similar scheme in Milton Keynes this autumn.

Utah State University is also testing a prototype campus bus which it says can achieve greater than 90% power transmission efficiency with a distance of 6in (15cm) between the pick-up coil and road surface at certain stops.

A Utah State University spin-off company is testing a wireless charged bus on its campus

There are also moves to transfer the concept to cars. In London, computer chip maker Qualcomm is testing a wireless charging tech it calls Halo which it has fitted to Citroen and Rolls Royce vehicles, but again the idea is only to install power transmission pads at certain spots.

One expert said it was likely to be a long time before South Korea's more ambitious design became commonplace.

"I think we are decades away from even thinking about a nationwide network of electrified roads," said Ashvin Chotai, managing director of the Intelligence Automotive Asia consultancy.

"For now, it appears to be more of a showcase technology than something which has the potential to be commercialised."

Ref: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23603751