NCTI -

National Center for Technology Innovation
Advancing Technology Innovations for All Students

News

  • CAST, Google Introduce New Online Literacy ToolsNew Post!

    Posted on May 8th, 2008

    In partnership with Google, CAST celebrated World Book Day on April 23, 2008 by introducing two new online literacy tools that provide robust, embedded learning supports for readers at all levels. UDL Editions by CAST are world literature classics presented in a flexible online interface that supports and engages novice and expert readers alike. Cast Strategy Tutor offers adolescent readers customizable mentoring and support as they conduct Internet research and read websites.

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  • The 2008 Tech Museum Awards - Call for Nominations

    Posted on February 21st, 2008

    The Tech Museum of Innovation, one of the country’s premier science and technology museums, announced that nominations are open for the 2008 Tech Museum Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity. The deadline for nominations is March 24, 2008. Individuals, non-profit, for-profit and government organizations are all eligible to apply for one of five $50k prizes that honor innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity.

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  • NIDRR Releases Funding Opportunities for 2008

    Posted on February 14th, 2008

    The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) has released its funding opportunities for 2008.  
     
    NIDRR, located in Washington, DC, is a national leader in sponsoring research and is one of three components of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education.
     
    The mission of NIDRR is to generate new knowledge […]

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  • Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA)

    Posted on February 13th, 2008

    Initiated by the accessibility industry, the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA) is a group of leading Information Technology (IT) and Assistive Technology (AT) companies, content providers, and other key engineering organizations, working to create and harmonize standards for accessible technology.
    Because the need for accessible technologies is growing — an estimated one in four computer users today […]

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  • New Study on Moodle

    Posted on February 7th, 2008

    A new report issued by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) provides an overview of the free, open-source online learning program called Moodle, which has been quickly rising in popularity in the educational field. The report looks at what the program can do and provides profiles of how it is being used in several different […]

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  • IES Releases Two Ed-Tech RFPs Through the SBIR Program

    Posted on December 14th, 2007

    The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has released two RFPs for developing and evaluating education technology through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. One is for Phase I proposals and another for Fast-Track (Phase I and II) proposals. The submission deadline for all proposals is January 22, 2008.

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  • Conference 2007 - Slideshow

    Posted on December 8th, 2007

    To help you re-live the fun and great presentations at the NCTI’s 2007 Conference, we have created this slideshow. If you missed the conference, here is your chance to catch a glimpse.

    Do you have a favorite photo? Let us all know by describing it in the comment box below!

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  • The Fourth Sector

    Posted on November 16th, 2007

    During the final session, NCTI conference speaker Al Miller presented a vision of cross-sector collaboration (profit, non-profit and government) to create solutions that are both more effective and less costly.
    Fourth Sector enterprises, as he calls them, take the best of each sector to maximize social good (what NCTI Keynote speaker, Jim Fruchterman calls […]

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  • Second Life for Students With Special Needs

    Posted on November 15th, 2007

    NOAA, CDC, and US Department of Homeland Security have started using Second Life as a tool for their agencies or interacting with the public. As more federal agencies delve into Second Life and other emerging technologies, issues of accessibility become more important — with more participants. If the second life (or other) platforms are […]

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  • Innovation’s Missing Link

    Posted on November 15th, 2007

    One emerging theme during the NCTI conference is the question not of innovation, but of our ability put it to work.
    Jim Fruchterman, in his keynote, described an initiative in Bangladesh to launch Wi-Max (fast wireless Internet) countrywide over the next couple of years. Bangeledesh will have better Internet Access than Silicon Valley. Jim says that […]

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  • Using the Power of Social Media: A Collaborative Draft

    Posted on November 15th, 2007

    Add your voice to the NCTI Issue Brief, Using the Power of Social Media to Promote Assistive and Learning Technologies. The purpose of this Brief is to 1) provide a primer on social media and how it works; 2) highlight the benefits of the new social media to enhance the educational experience of all students, and 3) explore the barriers and ways developers and educators might overcome them. Additionally, we hope to spark further discussion with the field by opening the draft for comments and additions before finalizing the Brief. Read the full Issue Brief.

    Add your comments before December 15, 2007.

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  • Five (Easy) Steps to Innovation?

    Posted on November 14th, 2007

    Conference day approaches, and with it office talk about the nuts and bolts of innovation. Putting together some materials for the big day, the NCTI team worked through the process of creating new technologies and tools for students with special needs. With five main steps, five disciplines, five sets of skills to […]

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  • Conference Prelude

    Posted on November 9th, 2007

    Conference Prelude (11/09/2007) - This morning’s eSchool news features a piece on its “Best of the Education Blog” awards which celebrate the uses of blogging technology in and around schools. But how might blogs also help researchers, entrepreneurs and policy-makers bring to fruition better tools and techniques to help students with special needs? […]

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  • Five University Teams Awarded During Student Design Competition

    Posted on September 25th, 2007

    An impressive group of 42 students in 15 teams representing 10 universities comprised this year’s RESNA’s Student Design Competition sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Among the top winners were the University of Texas, University of North Carolina, NJ Institute of Technology, University of Arkansas, and Northwestern University. Each winner was awarded an engraved caliper.

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  • da Vinci Awards

    Posted on August 17th, 2007

    [ September 28, 2007; ] The National Multiple Sclerosis Society have recognized individuals and organizations for their outstanding design innovations aimed at helping the disabled overcome barriers and further empower all people. The 2007 winners will be honored Friday, September 28th at the da Vinci Awards gala at the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn, Michigan. Past winners include a Who’s Who of accessible design.

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  • MacArthur Announces $2 Million Digital Media and Learning Competition

    Posted on August 14th, 2007

    The MacArthur Foundation announced today a public competition that will award $2 million in funding to emerging leaders, communicators, and innovators shaping the field of digital media and learning. The competition is part of MacArthur’s $50 million digital media and learning initiative that aims to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life.

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  • Technology and 21st Century Skills: The Future of Education

    Posted on July 26th, 2007

    A new report on a survey by CISCO Systems and Zogby International provides details of more than 7,000 Americans polled on their views of the importance of 21st Century Skills in today’s schools. The report emphasizes a strong trend in the power of technology and networking to improve education, connect to communities, and help teachers.

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  • $2 Million to Install Technology in Classrooms

    Posted on July 11th, 2007

    Through a partnership with Microsoft Corporation, Samsung’s Hope for Education (an educational and philanthropic program) will provide more than $2 million in technology and software to K-12 schools in the U.S. that enter an essay competition describing how technology can help improve students’ education.

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  • $120,000 in Reading Software Programs and Training

    Posted on July 11th, 2007

    The Schools in Need Competition will run from July 1st  to December 15, 2007, and is open to schools that need to raise reading scores by at least 30 percent within a population of students in grades K-8, need supplemental reading materials to address specific reading deficiencies in students, and need to make use of […]

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  • Apple Releases iPhone

    Posted on July 9th, 2007

    Apple released its highly-anticipated, first cell phone, the iPhone, to the market on June 29th, 2007. The iPhone is internet and multi-media enabled and allows users to use touch-screen technology to perform such activities as taking pictures, playing videos and music, checking email and visual voicemail, and browsing the web.
    What are the implications of this […]

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  • U.S. Census Bureau Disability Statistics

    Posted on June 27th, 2007

    Check out these fascintating statistics on disabilities in the US. The brief notes additional numbers on the disability population, including those using or needing assistance, specific disabilities, on the job, perceived health status, income and poverty, living arrangements, and education.

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  • Community Tech Centers Take On Accessibility

    Posted on June 25th, 2007

    The Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCNet) is a national membership network of community technology centers and other non-profits committed to provide technology access and education to underserved communities. Recently, the Network offered grants to members to address accessibility in their Center. The grants consist of $20k for activities such as staff training and the purchase of AT and 30 hours of technical assistance.

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  • NCTI 2007 Conference Agenda Available

    Posted on June 14th, 2007

    Join us for the 8th Annual Technology Innovators Conference: Turning Bright Ideas into Real Solutions. This forum brings together thought leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs engaged in enhancing educational technology. See the exciting line-up of speakers and topics.

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  • National Research and Development Center on Instructional Technology

    Posted on May 18th, 2007

    The National Center for Education Research (NCER) has announced a competition for a National Research & Development Center on Instructional Technology. The submission deadline is November 1, 2007. To read more information about this funding opportunity, go to http://ies.ed.gov/funding/ and find the RFP at http://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2008305_randd.pdf.

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  • Codie Awards Announced

    Posted on May 16th, 2007

    The Software Information & Industry Association’s annual Codie Awards represent peer reviewed recognitions for the best content in education technology, software, and digital media. Visit the SIIA site to see this year’s winners in the Education category and to find out more about the competition. Congratulations to the winners!

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  • NCTI Technology in the Works 2007

    Posted on May 4th, 2007

    NCTI is pleased to award funding to the Access Technologies Group and to CyberLearning Technology, LLC. These awards represent innovative technologies applied in innovative ways with strong collaborative research designs to determine the impact of the technology for students with special needs. We look forward to sharing more about these research projects and the collaborations they represent as the projects get underway.

    Thank you to all proposal teams that took part in the competition.

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  • Technology Counts 2007: A Digital Decade

    Posted on March 29th, 2007

    Education Week’s 10th annual report is now online! Check out materials like your state’s Technology Leadership Report Card, how schools are using their digital tools, a timeline of key educational technology trends over the past decade, and discover where educational technology has been and where it’s going.

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  • Welcome to NCTI’s New Site

    Posted on March 19th, 2007

    Look to the new NCTI site for breaking news, trends, resources, and analysis on assistive and learning technologies. Register to add your comments and to receive our bimonthly QuickClicks E-newsletter. Share your favorite posts with other sites such as digg.com, del.icio.us, and technorati. Explore our areas of focus: Innovators, Events, Policy, Marketing, Tools, and Funding. Navigate through the site by the cross-cutting categories of tagged resources on the left column. Let us hear from you!

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  • Jim Schroeder, Ph.D., CHFP - President, Applied Human Factors (AHF) Inc.

    Posted on March 16th, 2007

    Jim Schroeder chuckles a bit at the incongruity that his one-time work for the Army Research Institute preparing weapons simulation systems led directly to his AT products. It all began with a long-distance light pen he developed and patented in that early work. AHF now produces products targeted for persons with computer access and augmentative communication needs. Anecdotal reports suggest that persons with learning disabilities are using the programs to meet their unique needs, too. Various switches, pointing, and stylus devices can be used for input.

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Articles and Papers

  • CNET News: VMWare Surge Puts Virtualization in the spotlight

    Virtual machines, the technology that VMWare helped pioneer, allow one computer to act as many, whether it’s a Mac running Windows and the Mac operating system at the same time or a massive server running multiple instances of Windows and Linux simultaneously. Once a niche technology, virtualization is expanding rapidly as businesses try to get more bang for their server buck. . . . CNET.com reports.

  • CNN: Microsoft presses FCC on vacant TV airwaves

    On August 20th, Microsoft Corp. will try to convince U.S. regulators that vacant television airwaves can be used for wireless services without interfering with broadcast signals, The Washington Post reported. The unused TV airwaves would be available for other services by early 2009, when broadcasters are due to switch from analog to digital signals. . . . CNN reports.

  • Da Vinci Award Winners

    The National Multiple Sclerosis Society have recognized individuals and organizations for their outstanding design innovations aimed at helping the disabled overcome barriers and further empower all people. The winners will be honored Friday, September 28th at the 2007 da Vinci Awards gala at the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn, Michigan.

  • eSchool News Special Report: Converged Wireless

    Two technology trends that have been taking place separately in K-12 and higher-education institutions across the country are now beginning to come together: (1) the proliferation of wireless networks, and (2) the convergence of voice, video, and data on a single network infrastructure. . . . eSchool News reports.

  • eSchool News: Court Ruling Dispels Cloud Over Linux

    A federal judge has ruled that The SCO Group doesn’t own the lines of Unix software code it claims were misappropriated by developers of the open-source Linux OS. The judge’s decision removes a legal cloud… freeing schools and other users of Linux from the threat of copyright infringement. . . . eSchool News reports.

  • Industry Collaboration to Promote Safe Use of Audio Products

    The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders asserts that more than 30 million Americans are exposed to hazardous sound levels on a regular basis. Califone International, Inc. and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) announced a collaborative effort to promote awareness of the safe use of audio products. Also read about Califone International’s new mp3 player designed specifically for use in the classroom. The player includes a feature that allows teachers to set the maximum device volume to the ASHA-recommended level.

  • Microsoft 2007 Imagine Cup

    The Microsoft 2007 Imagine Cup is an international competition with $25,000 as the grand prize with $170,000 given overall. Now in its fourth year, competition organizers are seeing student contestants take on the challenge of creating designs for users with disabilities. Final awards will be announced in August.

  • New York Times: Prototype - A Patent Is Worth Having, Right? Well, Maybe Not

    Patents are supposed to give inventors an incentive to create things that spur economic growth. For some companies, especially in the pharmaceutical business, patents do just that by allowing them to pull in billions in profits from brand-name, blockbuster drugs. But for most public companies, patents don’t pay off, say a couple of researchers who have crunched the numbers. . . . The New York Times reports.

  • Newsweek: Facebook Grows Up

    At 19, Mark Zuckerberg came up with a new way for college kids to connect—and started an online revolution. Now 23, he’s trying to build out his business without losing its cool. . . . Newsweek reports.

  • Slow Internet Speed in the U.S. and Implications for Innovation

    A study by the Communications Workers of America finds that the U.S. has slower internet speed than 16 other industrialized nations. Slower internet speed could negatively affect innovation in the country, says the union, and it recommends a national policy to address the problem.

  • Software Allows Children to Create Their Own Technology

    Marina Bers, an assistant professor at Tufts University and the author of the new book, “Blocks to Robots,” has created a software program that aids in learning by letting children create their own virtual communities.

Websites

The following links are to outside resources and are not contained on this site.

  • 2007 AEP Award Winners

    The Association of Educational Publishers recently announced winners of its 40th annual AEP awards. See the technology categories and sub-categories in each section to view the winning websites, software, and audio/video products. Congratulations to the winners!

Yahoo! News: FCC And Vendors Are Developing Wireless ‘White Space’ Devices

If the FCC and a coalition of high tech companies led by Google and Microsoft have their way, so-called “white space devices” (WSD) will be embedded in laptops and smart phones to take advantage of the analog to digital TV spectrum switchover in February 2009. . . . Yahoo! News reports.

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