A federal appeals court ruled that a high school in Connecticut did not violate a student's free-speech rights by disciplining her because of a blog commented posted from her home. The reason, reports the Hartford Courant, that "her blog post 'created a foreseeable risk of substantial disruption' at the school." The student was barred from serving as a class officer and speaking at graduation. The … [Read more...] about Court rules on student’s blog post
School & Tech
Online high school: Rapid growth
By 2019, half of all courses in grades 9-12 will be delivered online, according to Enrollment in online classes, according to the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. But for data closer to today, "enrollment in online classes last year reached the 1 million mark, growing 22 times the level seen in 2000," the Christian Science Monitor reports, citing figures from the North American Council for … [Read more...] about Online high school: Rapid growth
Classroom surfing ban?
This isn't totally on-topic (kid-tech news), because it's primarily about adults: college students' in-class surfing habits, from a professors slightly angst-ridden perspective. But it could be on the horizon of high school teachers and students too. "I should be clear that there is no good a priori argument against multitasking. The case is at best an empirically-informed hunch about what is the … [Read more...] about Classroom surfing ban?
Second Life at school?
Some high school teachers see virtual worlds more as virtual classrooms. "Second Life pioneer Peggy Sheehy, a New York teacher whose school district owns six islands on a private estate in Second Life, said virtual worlds should be seen as part of the repertoire of tools that can be used to engage this new generation of students," the Houston Chronicle reports. "Over the past two years, Sheehy's … [Read more...] about Second Life at school?
School’s ‘Facebook scandal’
That's the shorthand, but in this New York magazine story about Horace Mann School suggests that students' dissing of teachers in social-networking sites are more about a changing balance of power in the "real world." "Should they be punished? There were, as yet, no rules or codes for how a school should address such issues.... But the questions provoked by the Web postings ran deeper than these. … [Read more...] about School’s ‘Facebook scandal’