...dedicated to...hmmm, we're still figuring that one out...
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The TeacherLaptop Foundation announced in its December report that it has awarded its first two laptops to Georgia teachers. The Foundation hopes to collect contributions to be used to award laptops to registered educators selected at random. The first two awards appear to have resulted from contributions targeted at two specific Georgia schools. While the Macintosh world is focused today on Steve Jobs keynote speech at Macworld Expo, the Windows world looks to Bill Gates presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Gates is expected to introduce a new device called "Mira," which CNET reports "is effectively a cross between a Pocket PC-based handheld computer and a TV remote control." Dan Locke was kind enough to write and remind me that SigSoft's Classic Menu has been updated for Mac OS X compatibility. Classic Menu 2.5.1 (38K) adds another choice for OS X users who wish the Apple Menu in X function more like the Apple Menu of old under the Classic OS. Other options mentioned here previously on Educators' News include FruitMenu and piDock. So far, none of the options have all the features I want. Guess I'm looking for BeHierarchic X. Macworld Reports Since I'll be at work as the Macworld Keynote unfolds, there won't be any up to the minute coverage of the new announcements here. During some previous Macintosh announcements, I've found that Stan Flack has good ongoing coverage on his MacMinute site. What I do plan to do is continue the Special Report for Educators that I've maintained since beginning this site (See: Special Report for Educators: Macworld Expo New York [7/11/01], and Special Report for Educators: Macintosh Pricing [10/17/01]). Look for it on Tuesday (at the earliest). Buyers' Guides With two major technology shows going on simultaneously, lots of new hardware and software will be announced or introduced this week. As Dan Knight wrote in his Mac Rumors: Sense and Nonsense column last week, "Today is not a good day to buy a Mac -- any Mac. Wait until after Monday's keynote address to see what Apple actually comes up with." Lots of vendors will be offering various "show specials." While you must be present at the San Francisco and Las Vegas shows to take advantage of some of them, others are available during the show week online. The folks at DealMac and DealNews (previously Deal-PC) usually seem to pick up on most of those specials. So once the dust has settled from today's announcements, a visit to either or both might save you some money. Other "sweet spots" may include Other World Computing's Specials page, MacResQ (Click on Clearance Sale when you get there.), and later this week or next, eBay, when folks start unloading all their old stuff to pay for the new stuff! If you have suggestions, news ideas, etc., please . I've put together a collection of retail and K-12 prices for Apple's current offerings in Special Report for Educators: Macworld Expo San Francisco. Apple has also updated is downloadable education price lists. 
President Signs Education Bill President Bush signed the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law on Tuesday. The Associated Press quotes Mr. Bush as telling the crowd gathered for the signing in Hamilton, Ohio, "The fundamental principle of this bill is that every child can learn, we expect every child to learn, and you must show us whether or not every child is learning.'' AP White House correspondent Ron Fournier provides a good summary of the bill, highlighting its most immediate effects, in Bush Signs Landmark Education Bill. From the White House site (that's whitehouse.gov, not .com:-): President Bush Signs Landmark Education Reforms into Law -- Even if the content of this page doesn't suit your politics, you need to take a peek to see what a gorgeous web site our tax dollars provide our nation's Chief Executive. The page also provides a clearly partisan description of the hoped effects of the new legislation. Washington Post Staff Writer Dana Milbank takes a little different approach in covering the signing tour in President Signs Education Bill. Milbank tells of "bleary-eyed reporters" arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at 4:15 A.M. Tuesday to accompany the President on the expected 17 hour tour through Ohio, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. This story is an interesting peek behind the scenes of the political side of a public ceremony. The reauthorization act is now the law of the land. While it funnels increased funding to some of the nation's neediest schools, it also raises expectations for improvement without addressing many of the underlying issues that are completely beyond the control of public educators. Over a year ago I said my piece about what was wrong with education in America and why such a bill won't accomplish what has been promised. I won't restate those views here, but will merely provide a link to the column, Making Schools Better? Shame on our President and Congress for perpetrating such a fraud on the American public -- and leaving we educators holding the bag. How many times have I complainingly written that there isn't much educational news for a day and scrounged for filler material for the site. Guess it's hard to make me happy, as I'm swamped with news and new releases today and am grumpy because I can't do it all justice. Anyway, on to other education and computer related items. Educational Hanky-Panky in the City of Brotherly Love? The Philadelphia Daily News reported yesterday that "Edison Schools Inc. paid $85,000 to four politically connected professional firms to help make its way into the Philadelphia community." Edison is expected to receive the contract for managing many of the schools described as "failing" in the Pennsylvania state takeover of the Philadelphia schools. While Edison's actions probably aren't illegal, the whole state takeover is beginning to smell. Is this what is in store when the feds start retooling "failing" public schools under "No child left behind"? New Apple Products
Computerworld's coverage of MacExpo begins:
In the "day after" discussions of the new iMac with my peers, my wife had some of the kindest comments, saying, "Can you spell 'death knell'?" (Remember, she's a Novell-Windows-PC techie.) Even the NT techie at school was taken aback when he first viewed the new creation. He cocked his head and said, "Uh, it's innovative all right." I suspect he won't be ordering any iMacs in the near future. Even As the Apple Turns had some fun calling the new design, "Lump-Stick-Rectangle." They also appear to have taken some serious lumps for it from the "Apple can do no wrong" crowd. Rob ART Morgan of Bare Feats fame calls the new iMac a "Luxo Lamp." Rob was "left wanting more... much more" from the Expo introductions. Rob writes that he was "embarrassed for Apple. The event was over-hyped to say the least." Rob was looking for Power Mac improvements and suggested the new iMac is simply a reshaped G4 Cube with a flat panel display screwed to the top of it. Henry Norr, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle in TECH21, takes a more gentle view of the 2002 iMac, saying:
New Microsoft Announcements Just so I don't lose my stripes as a sorta cross-platform site...sometimes...I'll mention that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates also gave a keynote speech this week. Gates keynoted the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday. CNET reports Gates announced the expected Mira initiative. Mira is "software for a wireless flat-panel display that connects directly with a PC but also can be carried around the house as a Web pad or a home entertainment control center while communicating wirelessly with a main PC." Also announced was Freestyle, which Computerworld says "would allow users to use a TV-like remote control on their PCs for playing and swapping home video, pictures and music files." New Freeware Grading Tool for Mac and Windows Do you ever wonder what drives those wonderful folks who give away their computer programs as freeware? Alphabetically, maybe altruism, ego, fame, 
As to the jitters, you'll have to download the Mac and Windows compatible freeware to get the skinny from Travis's Read Me. Download URLs (filched from Travis's site) are: Congratulations, Travis and Erika! SchwabLearning.org Weekly Postings The SchwabLearning.org returns from their holiday break with an excellent column about how we, as teachers, can motivate and inspire special learners. Dr. Robert Brooks Speaks with SchwabLearning.org about Strategies For Teachers concludes:
The remainder of the SchwabLearning.org's highlighted items this week deal with ADHD:
A final link the the SchwabLearning.org site is one I've run before, but certainly fits with the articles above, My Story: Gifted and ADHD. This article is an excellent first person account by a sixth-grader with ADHD. 
New and Updated Software Jeff Gordon has updated the AppleSpec database and released the January, 2002 version in three different downloadable versions. One version requires FileMaker Pro 5.5, a second larger download contains the runtime version of FileMaker and the database, and a third contains the runtime engine and database for Windows. Nicholas Pyers has a good posting describing Jeff's efforts to update the database from its original form as supplied by Apple Computer. Good Columns MacDirectory has an interesting in-depth report, Enter the Classroom of the Future: An Apple for the Teacher. Author Noah Kravitz looks at where Apple Education has been and might be going without pulling any punches. This one's a really good read. Science teacher and Low End Mac columnist, Jeff Adkins, played hooky from school this week and went to MacExpo. His experiences are recorded in his Mac Lab Report column, Macworld and the new iMac. Jeff took a bunch of digital photos of the new iMac but with a twist, "I decided that instead of the usual beauty shots everyone is doing, I would put the arm through its paces and see what the maximum extension of the arm and monitor would be." WiredNews' Lot to Learn About School Laptops by Katie Dean is a good look at one Maine school that got a head start on the laptop initiative. Oh, my! President Bush is quoted in No more excuses,' Bush says as he signs education bill as saying, "There are no more excuses, as far as I'm concerned, about not teaching children how to read. We know what works. The money is now available, and it's up to each local district to make sure it happens." Others, such as Kansas State Board of Education member, Val DeFever, are less than thrilled with the new legislation. DeFever is quoted in a CNN/AP article, More mandates than money in ed bill? as saying, "We are being held more accountable than ever. But we are not getting that promised funding, so we are suspicious." Microsoft Settlement Blocked District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz Friday refused to accept the settlement proposed by Microsoft to resolve private antitrust lawsuits against the company. Motz said the foundation proposed by Microsoft "is not sufficiently funded," and that "the donation of free software could be viewed as constituting 'court-approved predatory pricing.' "
Free Software 4D Software is now offering their 4D Academic Standard Edition suite of cross-platform database development tools as a free download for teachers and students. Offered in both Mac and Windows formats, educators and students will need to complete a request form to access the download page. The 4D download page says:
Each download runs around 24 MB, so you may want to do the download wherever you have a fast connection. I'm waiting until I get back to school with its T-1 line before downloading both versions. The 4D Academic Program.PDF (427K) gives a pretty good quick look at the software suite. Trade Show Wrap-ups Jeff Adkins has written another Mac Lab Report about his experiences this week at Macworld Expo. In Expo Wrapup Jeff gives an interesting and humorous summary of the things he found from a teacher's point of view. CNET has good links pages for their columns covering the two major computer trade shows this week: Good Column
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Just so I don't lose my stripes as a sorta Mac site...sometimes...I'll mention again that I've posted the Educators' News 
While the keynote featured Steve Jobs as 
Probably the real "sleeper" of the Macworld announcements for education was the $100 decrease in price for the entry-level iBook. That model still retains an acceptable 500 MHz G3, 66 MHz system bus, 128 MB RAM, and a 15 GB hard drive. Not too shaggy a deal at $1099 (school price). That's the model I got to play with last spring for a couple of weeks. (See 
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