Monday, February 16, 2004 (Coverage: February 3, 2004 - February 16, 2004)

More than 30 classrooms in West Michigan participate in the JASON Project, a worldwide program that teaches students about the far reaches of the planet. The JASON Project sends multi-media learning tools, including videos and Web casts from regions of the world that the students are studying, to each classroom. The videos show what scientists are doing in the region in real time.

Source: Advance Newspapers

Bronson Methodist Hospital has made the cost- and time-saving decision to make medical records available online to physicians in a highly secured and encrypted form. Physicians who have opted to participate need only a high-speed Internet connection and a series of passwords. They can see a variety of medical records, ranging from X-ray, MRI and other images to hand-written notes by physicians. The result, Dr. Don Batts (one of the participants), said, "is a seamless flow of information" that benefits not just physicians but patients.

Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

Public objections and council questions Monday thwarted a City of Monroe proposal to provide Internet access to certain property, tax and utility records. A proposed $7,500 contract with a software firm to put the public records in a searchable format on the city's Web site died for lack of backing during the regular city council meeting. In contrast, nearby Bedford Township is spending about $6,000 a year to put public records online and officials say the system appears popular and seems to be working well. "I hear a lot of people talk favorably about it when they come in here," Bedford Township Supervisor R. LaMar Frederick said.

Source: Monroe Evening News

Ever wonder what kind of soil is beneath your house and yard? Or the zoning of the property surrounding your house? Soon, all that information and more will be available, as workers in the county's Information Technology Department finish drawing parcel lines for the entire county into its computer system. The project began in 2000, and Dawn Siegel, geographic information systems manager, said the final entries will be made sometime this year.

Source: Daily Press & Argus

120 teachers attended a four-day technology training session, designed to train teachers in high-needs schools to integrate technology tools into the classroom. The training is funded by a $25,000 Excelerator competitive technology grant from the SBC Foundation in partnership with eight educational organizations, including the ATA Technology Academy, the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning, the state Department of Education and Michigan Virtual University.

Source: Flint Journal

The Plymouth-Canton Board of Education approved the purchase of a new telephone system that's expected to save the district $225,000 in each of the next five years. "The Internet Protocol Telephony phone system uses the same data network that computers use," said Jim Casteel, director of the district's integrated technology systems.

Source: Canton Observer

A total of 163 middle and high school students and their teachers from East Lansing, Eaton Rapids, Haslett, Pewamo-Westphalia, Webberville and Williamston will get the palmOne Zire 71 devices and detached miniature keyboards.The hand-held computers are being provided through a pilot program aimed at improving students' science knowledge, organization skills and test scores.

Source: Lansing State Journal

Two years after receiving a $180,000 grant from the Michigan Supreme Court, Eaton County’s court system is on the cutting edge of technology. That technology will ultimately put court records at the fingertips of the public by the end of this year. Mike Kutas, Circuit/Probate Court Administrator, said by June, two kiosks will be in place in the Eaton County Courthouse that will allow public, touch-screen access to court records.

Source: Charlotte Shopping Guide

Webberville public school students will be using 85 new computers as phase one of a technology plan for the district gets under way. "We’re in the process of completely rebuilding our network," said School Superintendent William Skilling. "Our goal is to have a one-to-one computing ratio between computers and students in both buildings and we’ll be close to that goal in the fall."

Source: Holt Community News

More students across the state are exploring the educational opportunities made possible by distance learning.

Source: Bay City Times, Kalamazoo Gazette

Local government officials joined Intermediate School District superintendents across Upper Michigan Friday to celebrate the release of the U.P. Telecommunications Report, along with 15 supplemental reports for each county in the U.P. The findings of the report detailing the availability of high speed Internet services in the U.P. were discussed during a videoconference from Northern Michigan University in Marquette to various locations in the U.P.

Source: EagleHerald

The purchase of a radio tower from the state will allow the county to wirelessly connect its airport, the Michigan State University Extension Service and other remote departments to its computer network.

Source: Daily Press & Argus

A group of high school students are the chief designers of a new Freeland Area Chamber of Commerce Web site. Not only are these html-junkies putting the business association on the Web, but they are ushering in a new era for the Freeland chamber, which disbanded in 2002.

Source: Saginaw News

Up to 80 five-foot antennas will be allowed to sprout up throughout Grand Haven, following a 7-1 decision Tuesday night by the city's Planning Commission. Ottawa Wireless Inc. has been given the go-ahead to start up a new wireless Internet service in the city.

Source: Grand Haven Tribune

Seven computers, an antivirus package and membership in a state-sponsored computer purchase program are the first in a series of requests from the newly-formed Wexford County information technology committee. Commissioner Laura Lee Smit said the computer purchase and the IT committee budget was necessary. "I don't think you can run a county on bad computers. If it saves time and money, then OK," she said.

Source: Cadillac News

Jackson Public Schools dedicated a $95,000 federal technology grant to McCulloch Elementary School, a school that has been transformed into a magnet school for technology and the arts. Each classroom in McCulloch is equipped with a technology cart including a computer with Internet access, projector, digital camera and DVD and video player. The carts are just the first sign that the prekindergarten through third grade school is revamping its image from the edge of extinction to the cutting edge of technology.

Source: Jackson Patriot

A new in-car computer system that was installed in the township's patrol fleet last year has been brought closer to full implementation. The township's 23 police cruisers have been outfitted as high-tech information centers that are hooked up by wireless to CLEMIS - the Courts, Law Enforcement Management Information System -- based in Oakland County. The system has been in operation in Oakland County and, because of a federal grant, is now available to law enforcement in neighboring counties.

Source: Source Newspapers

Brown City is working with Great Lakes Internet to bring high-speed, broadband wireless Internet service to the city. City Manager Darcy Long said Brown City is finalizing an agreement with the company to put an antennae on the city's water tower that would be used to provide this high-speed service. Long said he is unaware of any service in the city other than dial-up.

Source: The Times Herald

Sick of waiting in line for high-speed Internet access at Herrick District Library? Bring your laptop to the library's lower level cafe for what may be the only free public wireless Internet access in Holland.

Source: Holland Sentinel

Salt truck and pothole crews dispatched along county roads in Wayne County are being aided by a program that uses global positioning technology. Expected to be fully operational in 2008, the Road Infrastructure Management System (RIMS) ultimately will organize layers of information about pavement dimensions, utility placement, building positions, drains and community profiles — all overlaid on an interactive map.

Source: Detroit News

Source: Dearborn Press and Guide

Outdoor enthusiasts interested in exploring 450 acres of land acquired under the Washtenaw County Natural Areas Preservation Program last year will soon have guidance. Maps will be made available by early spring, but they won't be in the form of folded brochures. Instead, they can be downloaded from the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Department's Web site.

Source: Ann Arbor News

The computer software program, which operates through use of the Internet, is called NovaNET, and it offers standardized curriculum for middle and high school grades, according to Lynn Johnson, alternative education coordinator for the school district. Johnson is recommending that the computer curriculum be offered to alternative education students, but said it can be useful for students taking adult education courses, homebound students, and teen parents.

Source: South Haven Tribune