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HEADLINES
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to find summaries and links to the articles
FEB
01 - 07, 2005
* Livonia, Plymouth, Canton:
Technology funds dry up
* Grand Rapids:
'Captain Video' to the rescue
* Southwestern Michigan:
Grant will help take computer lab to seniors
* Eastpointe:
Court launches online ticket payment
* Kent County: Commission
waits for Web site bids
* Jackson: Teaching
device leaves chalkboards in the dust
* Ann Arbor: U-M
wants Ann Arbor's economy on tech map
* Flint: Computers
take students around world for history lessons
* West Michigan:
Survey finds increased IT hiring in West Michigan
* Ann Arbor: Teachers
start to get laptops
* Madison Heights: Madison
students get Internet safety lesson
* Genesee County: Finances
zap JASON participation
FEB
08 - 14, 2005
* Zeeland Township:
Zeeland Township to test Web-based tax, assessor info
* St. Clair Shores:
Seniors turning trash into cash
* Highland: Students
learn long distance using technology
* Bowne Township: Kids
create Web sites after school
* Middleville: Virtual
AP classroom creator wins award
* Oakland County:
Patterson touts wireless Internet
* Eaton Rapids: More
parents monitor their student's progress online
* Hamburg Township: Hamburg
gets high tech
ANNOUNCEMENT
Cyber-state
releases guidelines for all-literacy websites
Individuals with low levels of literacy are unable to
fully participate in economic and civic opportunities for
they are constrained by their inability to access
information on the Internet, which is often written at a
reading level that is too advanced. In Michigan, nearly one
out of five residents functions at the lowest level of
literacy, comparable to reading at below an eighth grade
level. To address this problem, Cyber-state, a member of the
nonprofit Altarum Institute, has released a set of
guidelines to help website developers in Michigan learn how
to create all-literacy websites. Targeted at individuals who
create websites for nonprofit, government, and education
institutions, the document explains the importance of
developing all-literacy sites. Specific guidelines are
offered to help the reader understand how to make
modifications to the text, navigation, design, and
interactive features of a website so it can be made
accessible to persons of all reading levels. These
guidelines can be found on Cyber-state's website at http://www.cyber-state.org/2_0/Literacy.html.
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Cyber-state
3520
Green Court, Suite 300
Ann
Arbor, MI 48105-1579
phone:
(734) 302-4755
fax:
(734) 302-4996
Cyber-state,
a member of the Altarum family, is a non-profit, nonpartisan
organization that is committed to ensuring that all Michigan
residents are able to benefit from information technology
(IT). One of our priorities is to assist state and local
policymakers as a resource for their creation and
deliberation of IT policy. With these email news briefings,
we hope to increase the awareness of the importance of
information technology for Michigan's local
governments, schools, health care, nonprofits, and the
economy as a whole.
OTHER
IT NEWS SOURCES
*
Detroit
Free Press / tech
*
Detroit
Tech News
*
Michigan CrainTech
*
Great
Lakes IT Report
*
Michigan
Technology News
*
Federal
Computer Week
*
Government
Computer News
*
Government
Technology
*
New York Times: Technology
*
Washtech.com
(Washington Post)
*
eGovernment
Resource Centre
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FEB
01 2005
* Livonia, Plymouth, Canton: Technology
funds dry up
Livonia district officials say the fund used to
upgrade technology installed after voters approved a $62
million technology bond in 1992 is drying up -- estimated to
be gone by the end of the year -- as a result of the
statewide school funding crisis that has caused districts
across Michigan to cut expenses. Plymouth-Canton
Community Schools, like Livonia, will eventually need to
replace its computers. But Jim Casteel, technology director,
is not sure how the district will pay for it.
"(Our computers) will need to be looked at in the next
year or year and a half," Casteel said. "We
continue to service them, keep them updated, increase memory
and shut them down at 6 p.m. in order to increase the cycle.
"We try to extend the life of all the equipment -- it's
a fact of life until we can resolve the school funding
issues."
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2005/wayne/0502/01/B03-75468.htm
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Grand Rapids: 'Captain Video' to the
rescue
The time or place doesn't matter. It can be
an overnight bus ride through Ohio, an afternoon at the
office, or a quiet evening at home. Chances are good in any
setting that Griffins coaches Danton Cole or Greg Ireland
will be studying video, breaking down the finer points of
the latest game to help players advance their careers. Video
has become a mandatory teaching tool in hockey and occupies
20 to 30 hours a week for Cole and Ireland.
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1107272707202990.xml?grpress?SPGR
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Southwestern Michigan: Grant will help take computer
lab to seniors
Seniors throughout southwestern Michigan will be traveling
on the Internet superhighway in a mobile computer lab
beginning in March as a result of a $30,000 grant presented
Monday to New Genesis Inc. by the SBC Foundation. The mobile
lab will offer courses in Internet basics, e-mail and
computer programs to seniors ages 55 and up at six to eight
senior centers and apartment complexes throughout
southwestern Michigan. New Genesis has partnered with the
Beaumont Foundation, which will provide 15 wireless laptops,
and AARP, which will help identify training sites. The
Oakwood Neighborhood Association in Kalamazoo and Dillon
Hall at Nazareth have been identified as training sites so
far.
Source: Kalamazoo Gazette, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1107274849267860.xml?kzgazette?NEKP
FEB
02 2005
* Eastpointe: Court launches
online ticket payment
Getting slapped with a traffic ticket is always a
pain in the neck, but paying the fine just got a little
easier for Eastpointe residents. As the latest in a series
of improvements, the 38th District Court recently announced
the addition of eTicket, an online ticket payment system
that allows most people to pay their fines at home in their
socks and underwear. Judge Norene Redmond said she was
thrilled the court could add online ticket payment to its
system of e-filing lawsuits, which began in November. “We
have a duty to the public to ensure that the court is as
service-oriented and efficient as possible,” she said.
Source: Eastsider, http://www.candgnews.com/editorial/2005/february/2/eastsider/etickets.html
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Kent County: Commission waits for Web site bids
Kent County commissioners have put the brakes on a
lucrative contract for running their popular "accessKent"
Web site. Some commissioners Tuesday questioned why the
$282,000-a-year deal was set to go to a company just formed
by the site's current general manager, instead of competing
with proposals from other firms. Their concerns led Finance
Committee members to hold off on a recommendation from the
county's technology department.
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1107360942114690.xml?grpress?NEG
FEB
04 2005
* Jackson: Teaching device
leaves chalkboards in the dust
New technology is erasing classroom blackboards. A
new device called an interactive whiteboard allows some
Jackson-area teachers to project a computer screen onto a
whiteboard and manipulate everything on the board. It's a
technological step up from the regular whiteboards prevalent
at newer schools and a generational leap ahead of chalk and
erasers. And it's opening options for teachers in how they
present their lessons.
Source: Jackson Citizen Patriot, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1107536746182620.xml?jacitpat?NEJ
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Ann Arbor: U-M wants Ann Arbor's economy on tech map
After more than a year of private discussion and
planning sessions, the University of Michigan is taking its
most significant step yet to cultivate the local economy in
a public/private collaboration to firmly place Ann Arbor on
the nation's technology map. U-M is shopping around the
concept of an "innovations clearinghouse," an
unnamed project that's informally dubbed Ann Arbor Tech
Central. The center would be specifically designed to lure
and retain technology-based businesses, attract talented
workers and balance the events and networking circles of a
medley of tech trade groups - all while marketing the region
to the rest of the world.
Source: Ann Arbor News, http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1107531744322510.xml;
Related stories: Ann Arbor News, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business-3/110768822919422.xml?aanews?BUB,
http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business-3/110829316895710.xml?aanews?BUB
FEB
05 2005
* Flint: Computers take
students around world for history lessons
Flint Southwestern Academy teacher John Davidek's
students have regular Internet chats and joint projects with
peers in Armenia, a country near Russia, and are in the
process of getting linked to youth in Rwanda, an East
African country, Davidek said. Learning how to communicate
with students from around the world has been a year-long
project for students in Davidek's world history class at
Southwestern. The hope is by linking students across the
globe they can learn from each other while studying history.
Source: Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-26/1107615001212050.xml?fljournal?NEF
FEB
06 2005
* West Michigan: Survey finds
increased IT hiring in West Michigan
Over half of West Michigan's small companies say
they will hire new information technology staff before July,
according to a recently released survey by Paragon
Recruiting, a Holland-based technology recruiting firm.
Paragon's semi-annual Technology Employment Forecast for the
first half of 2005 measured the responses of more than 100
firms of varying sizes and industries. During 2004 about 28
percent of small companies, those under 50 employees,
expected to hire new IT staff; now 52 percent of them plan
to hire. Among companies of all sizes, 27 percent expect to
increase their IT staffing.
Source: Holland Sentinel, http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/020605/bus_020605060.shtml
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Ann Arbor: Teachers start to get laptops
James Grant said it won't be long until his geography
students are able to see the sights and sounds of India
without leaving the classroom. The first step came Saturday
when Grant and other teachers began receiving laptop
computers from the Ann Arbor school district. In the next
few weeks, 1,200 teachers and support staff will get their
own computers. In time, Grant will be able to download
educational videos from a state Web site and show them to
his class. "It increases the quality of the software
that I can use, and I can use it all the time as a geography
teacher," Grant said.
Source: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-11/110768824119420.xml?aanews?NEA
FEB
07 2005
* Madison Heights: Madison
students get Internet safety lesson
Strangers are strangers, whether walking through
the neighborhood or lurking in cyberspace. So, when it comes
to using the Internet, children should follow one safety
rule most already know by heart: Don't talk to strangers.
That's the central message of an SBC Internet Services
program aimed at protecting kids from online predators,
sexual content and computer viruses while accessing the
Internet. SBC representatives visited Simonds Elementary on
Thursday to talk with students in grades 2-5 about how to
respond to the "bad guys" they might encounter
online.
Source: Daily Tribune, http://dailytribune.com/stories/020705/edu_20050207016.shtml
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Genesee County: Finances zap JASON participation
The days of thousands of students crowding around
large-projection televisions to watch JASON Project
explorers in a South American rain forest or Alaskan outpost
are dwindling in classrooms in Genesee County and throughout
the nation. School districts, struggling to stay afloat
financially, have cut field trips, and this has
significantly affected the once-popular JASON program, which
uses technology to connect students to scientists in the
field. In Genesee County two years ago, more than 1,300
students came to the Genesee Intermediate School District to
watch JASON Project broadcasts. About 300 to 400
students will participate in this year's program, called
JASON Expedition: Disappearing Wetlands. Students will learn
from researchers studying the Louisiana wetlands, said Larry
Casler, director of the GISD's math and science center.
Source: Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-26/1107793219298920.xml?fljournal?NEF
FEB
08 2005
* Zeeland Township: Zeeland
Township to test Web-based tax, assessor info
Those looking for assessing and tax information for
properties in Zeeland Township will soon have a new tool an
Internet-based Web site with all of the township's public
assessment records. The data will be available on the
Web 24 hours a day and seven days a week, allowing users to
look up equalizer, tax, and tax history data at any time.
The measure is being viewed as a time-saver.
According to Supervisor Brad Slagh, two members of the
office staff spent two-and-a-half hours on the phones
answering property tax questions one morning last week.
Slagh said that on average, staff answers 15 to 30 calls
each day for the information. "From a dollars and cents
perspective, if it's 15 calls we get a day, we're not going
to cover our costs," said Slagh. "But when
we're spending two hours a day on these calls, there's a lot
more time involved."
Source: Advance Newspapers, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1107889216197930.xml?advancenewspapers?NEGV
FEB
09 2005
* St. Clair Shores: Seniors
turning trash into cash
Cellular phone companies upgrade their models on an
almost regular basis. This leaves users holding onto idle
phones, and the thought of one sitting at the bottom of a
garbage can, possibly leaking toxins into the environment,
is disheartening for some seniors in St. Clair Shores.
That’s why the Senior Center of the Shores, a 501c3
non-profit volunteer group from the St. Clair Shores Senior
Activities Center, will be collecting those unused
communication devices for the next three months. The donated
cellular phones will then be handed over to the American
Cellular Donation Organization, a nonprofit organization
based in Warren. ACDO teams up with individuals, businesses
and organizations that want to start a cell phone collection
campaign as a means of both raising funds and “ensuring
that landfills don’t get polluted by the toxins found in
the phones, their batteries and chargers,” according to
Vincent Serio, ACDO’s founder and CEO.
Source: St. Clair Shores Sentinel, http://www.candgnews.com/editorial/2005/february/9/shores/donate%20phones.html
FEB
10 2005
* Highland: Students learn long
distance using technology
Last week students from Spring Mills Elementary School took
a field trip that didn’t require permission slips,
entrance fees or even a bus. All they needed was the chance
to try out some new technology. The students were able to
visit the Columbus Science Institute with the help of video
conference technology available with new video production
carts. Every school in the Huron Valley School District has
at least one video cart, which were purchased with funds
from the 2001 bond issue.
Source: Milford Times, http://www.hometownlife.com/Hometownlife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=85111
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Bowne Township: Kids create Web sites after school
Skye Thebo was one of 11 fifth-graders who signed up for a
four-week, after-school computer Web design class that
wrapped up last week. It's part of my goal this year
to provide more after-school opportunities for computer
learning," said Alycia Meyers, technology coordinator
for the Lowell district school. The students created
Web sites about what they know best: being in the fifth
grade. The sites include sound, pictures, buttons and video.
"It allows the children to have a lot of creativity,
while at the same time practice their computer skills,"
Meyers said. "The world's just becoming more and more
technologically advanced. It's key that these kids get
experience at a very young age."
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1108050313244110.xml?grpress?NEG
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Middleville: Virtual AP classroom creator wins award
An idea intended to motivate students in Advanced
Placement classes has earned a Thornapple Kellogg High
School teacher a state award. Social studies teacher Miriam
Taylor created a virtual classroom for students and parents.
It gave students constant information and updates on
assignments as well as informing parents what was expected
from the class. Taylor received one of 25 Technology for
Authentic Problem Solving Awards from the Michigan
Association for Computer Users in Learning for her idea.
Each winner receives $1,000 and will be honored during the
organization's annual conference next month.
Source: Grand Rapids: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-20/110805236017060.xml?grpress?NEG
FEB
11 2005
* Oakland County: Patterson
touts wireless Internet
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has
joked about his own challenges in learning to use a
computer. On Thursday, he announced plans to offer free
wireless Internet access to businesses and residents in
Oakland County as part of a jobs attraction strategy built
around technology. "Technology is the glue that holds
together much of what we do here in Oakland County,"
Patterson told a crowd of 400 friends and supporters at his
annual invitation-only State of the County speech. The
initiative, called Wireless Oakland, is part of the county's
three-prong strategy to attract companies with jobs that can
replace lost manufacturing employment. The other two are
Automation Alley and emerging sectors, an effort to bring
the newest technology companies to Oakland County.
Source: Oakland Press, http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/021105/loc_20050211020.shtml;
Related stories: Oakland Press, http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/021205/loc_20050212014.shtml,
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/021405/opi_20050214007.shtml;
Detroit Free Press - http://www.freep.com/money/tech/wired11e_20050211.htm
FEB
13 2005
* Eaton Rapids: More parents
monitor their student's progress online
Increasingly, more parents are monitoring the
academic progress made by their students from the comfort of
their own homes, said Lyne Roberts, Eaton Rapids Public
Schools technology director. "Information about
attendance and disciplinary referrals is available for
students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth
grades," Roberts said. If parents have a student in
fifth through twelfth grades, they can also check up on
their student's grade or assignment in any given
class." Parents, of course, are only able to access
records specific to their own student. This is accomplished
through a student information network, accessed by parents
who are assigned a username and secure password. High school
students have their own individual password so they can
access their grades electronically themselves.
Source: Eaton Rapids Community News, http://www.hometownlife.com/Hometownlife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=86158
FEB
14 2005
* Hamburg Township: Hamburg
gets high tech
When students at Navigator School have to write a
report about storms, they don't grab a fistful of colored
pencils and head for the library. They reach for video
cameras and head for the Internet. "We're working on a
tornado report," said fifth-grader Thomas Orginski, 10.
"We're interviewing a victim. Everyone in our group
liked the interview. It's really cool. You can put special
effects on it. You can cut off stuff you don't want. They
even have noise special effects, and you can download movies
of your tornado." Technology integration
specialist Christopher Ozias spends his days helping
classroom teachers at Navigator figure out ways to
incorporate technology into their lessons. From a
simple two-day lesson on word-processing skills to the
three-week multimedia weather project, Ozias comes up with
ways to teach technology while enhancing students' knowledge
in the core curriculum.
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2005/schools/0502/14/C05L-88845.htm
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