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  2. July 2009

July 2009

Students want more online learning

Despite a growing interest in online learning among students, the availability of online classes in K-12 schools and districts hasn't kept pace with the demand, according to a new report from Project Tomorrow and Blackboard. According to the report, more than 40 percent of sixth through 12th graders have researched or demonstrated interest in taking a course online, but only 10 percent have actually taken an online course through their school. Meanwhile, 7 percent of middle school students and 4 percent of high school students instead have pursued opportunities outside their school to take online courses--underscoring the disconnect between the supply and demand for online learning in today's schools. What's more, a majority of school principals, 58 percent, say the online classes currently offered in their districts are primarily for teachers; just 31 percent say the classes are primarily for students. Additionally, while a third of teachers have taken an online course for professional development--a 57-percent increase from 2007--only 3 percent of teachers say they've taught a class online, a number that has not changed in three years. Just 13 percent of teachers say they're interested in teaching online, a considerable mismatch with the growing student desire to learn online.

China's "Green Dam" Overflows and Bursts

[Commentary] Chinese Internet users won an important victory this week when the Chinese government indefinitely delayed implementation of the widely condemned "Green Dam" filtering mandate. For Internet and technology companies now facing censorship and surveillance demands around the world, the lesson out of China blows up the conventional wisdom that there is nothing that companies can do when China makes unreasonable demands that risk user rights. Instead of asking " how high" when told to "jump," the big lesson is that push back can work if companies are willing to collaborate on a strategy to resist such demands and if democratic governments are prepared to put their weight behind that resistance. The second piece of conventional wisdom that the Green Dam fiasco swept away was the view that the only Internet companies like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft faced Internet human rights challenges and that the rest of the sector didn't have to think about these issues when entering new markets or launching new products services in risky places. Now, the broader technology industry surely understands that software and hardware manufacturers are at risk of becoming the target of repressive laws intended to limit users' online freedom.

FEC Web Site and Internet Communications Improvement Initiative

The Federal Election Commission has adopted an initiative to seek public comment on how to improve all aspects of how the Commission discloses information to the public on its Web site and through the use of Internet communications. The FEC has never before sought formal public comment on the means by which the Commission discloses information to the public. As part of these efforts, the Commission is seeking written comments and will conduct a public hearing on ways the Commission can improve how it communicates to the public using the Internet and, specifically, how it can improve its Web site to ensure that the FEC Web site is a state-of-the-art resource for disclosure of information to the public including (1) disclosure of campaign finance data, (2) information about Federal campaign finance laws, and (3) the actions of the Commission. Comments must be received on or before July 21, 2009. A public hearing will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, July 29­30, 2009.

Senate Commerce Committee
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
02:00 PM
SR - 253
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&...


Federal Elections Commission
999 E Street, NW
9th floor Hearing Room
Washington, DC 20463
Wednesday and Thursday, July 29-30, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-15497.pdf

The Federal Election Commission has adopted an initiative to seek public comment on how to improve all aspects of how the Commission discloses information to the public on its Web site and through the use of Internet communications. The FEC has never before sought formal public comment on the means by which the Commission discloses information to the public. As part of these efforts, the Commission is seeking written comments and will conduct a public hearing on ways the Commission can improve how it communicates to the public using the Internet and, specifically, how it can improve its Web site to ensure that the FEC Web site is a state-of-the-art resource for disclosure of information to the public including (1) disclosure of campaign finance data, (2) information about Federal campaign finance laws, and (3) the actions of the Commission. Comments must be received on or before July 21, 2009. A public hearing will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, July 29-30, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Biersack, Special Assistant to the
Staff Director for Data Integration, 999 E
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463,
(202) 694-1658 or (800) 424-9530.

The Commission's Web site can be accessed at http://www.fec.gov.

Technical information related to the FEC's Web site, including hardware, software, capacity and functionalities can be found at http://www.fec.gov/pages/hearings/internethearing.shtml.


Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
1101 K Street, NW, Suite 610
Washington, DC 20005
Thursday, July 16, 2009
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

The United States has been focused on K-12 education reform for over two decades, with mixed results at best. One reason why progress has been slow is that the fundamental nature of pedagogy has largely been unchanged. Now a small, but growing number of American high schools are using information technologies to redesign schools in fundamentally new ways.

Please join us for a discussion of a new ITIF report, "How IT Can Enable 21st Century Schools" with the report authors, Tim McDonald and Curtis Johnson of the Education|Evolving, a Minnesota- based group of thought leaders in education reform. The authors will discuss why the existing school reform movement has stalled; how information technology (including computers, software and communications) can enable the emergence of fundamentally new kinds of schools, particularly middle and high schools; and what the states and the federal government can do to drive the emergence of these new ways of educating our nation's future generations.

Moderator: Robert Atkinson
President, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Presenters: Curtis Johnson
Managing Partner, Education|Evolving

Tim McDonald
E|E Associate, Education|Evolving

Respondent: Alan Shusterman
Founder and Head, School for Tomorrow


Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Department of Health and Human Services
Park Hyatt Washington Hotel
24th and M Streets, NW
Washington, DC
July 16, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m./ Eastern Time
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-15545.pdf

The committee will discuss the preliminary draft definition of Meaningful Use. ONC intends to make background material available to the public no later than two (2) business days prior to the meeting. If ONC is unable to post the background material on its Web site prior to the meeting, it will be made publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting, and the background material will be posted on ONC's Web site after the meeting, at http://healthit.hhs.gov

Contact Person:
Judy Sparrow,
Office of the
National Coordinator
HHS
330 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20201
202-205-4528,
Fax: 202-690-6079
e-mail: judy.sparrow@hhs.gov.
Please call the contact person for up-to-date information on this meeting.


Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Park Hyatt Washington Hotel
24th and M Streets, NW
Washington, DC
July 14, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
July 15, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m./Eastern Time.
The meeting will be available via Web cast; visit http://healthit.hhs.gov for instructions on how to listen via telephone or Web

The committee will be hearing testimony from stakeholder groups, such as purchasers, vendors, and users, on the certification process. ONC intends to make background material available to the public no later than two (2) business days prior to the meeting. If ONC is unable to post the background material on its Web site prior to the meeting, it will be made publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting, and the background material will be posted on ONC's Web site after the meeting, at http://healthit.hhs.gov

Contact Person:
Judy Sparrow
Office of the National Coordinator, HHS
330 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20201
202-205-4528,
Fax: 202-690-6079
e-mail: judy.sparrow@hhs.gov
Please call the contact person for up-to-date information on this meeting.


Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Holiday Inn Washington
Capitol, 550 C Street, SW
Washington, DC
July 21, 2009,
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-15544.pdf

The committee will discuss the certification process. ONC intends to make background material available to the public no later than two (2) business days prior to the meeting. If ONC is unable to post the background material on its Web site prior to the meeting, it will be made publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting, and the background material will be posted on ONC's Web site after the meeting, at http://healthit.hhs.gov.

Contact Person: Judy Sparrow, Office of the National Coordinator, HHS, 330 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20201, 202-205-4528, Fax: 202-690-6079, e-mail: judy.sparrow@hhs.gov. Please call the contact person for up-to-date information on this meeting.


Vice President Biden to Travel to Pennsylvania
to Highlight

On Wednesday, July 1, Vice President Biden will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania, to highlight Recovery Act broadband investments. The Vice President will be joined by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper and other local officials.

General public tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on Tuesday, June 30, at the main lobby of Seneca High School, 10770 Wattsburg Rd., Erie, PA 16509.

This event is OPEN PRESS, but media must RSVP to press@ovp.eop.gov by Tuesday, June 30, 2009, by 5:00pm EDT.

Media Details are Below:

Vice President Biden to travel to Erie, Pennsylvania

Scheduled Speakers: Vice President Joe Biden
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski
Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper

Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Location: Seneca High School
10770 Wattsburg Rd.
Erie, PA 16509


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