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The Official Podcast Channel of Cable in the Classroom!

The Spring 2007 issue of Cable in the Classroom's Threshold: Exploring the Future of Education features articles focused on taking educational innovation to scale, produced in partnership with the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF).

In this podcast [MP3, 39MB], Christopher Dede (Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education) with the assistance of Threshold's Ellen Ullman moderates a panel that explores the current state of 'scalability,' educational change, and how to get where we need to be - a topic of critical importance to the government, grantmakers, and all those seeking to spread successful educational practices to other classrooms, school, districts, and states. Panel participants include:

• Kathleen Fulton, Director for Reinventing Schools, NCTAF;
• L. McLean King, Superintendent of the Encinitas (Calif.) Union School District (and a Cable in the Classroom National Education Advisory Board member);
• Trish Millines Dziko, Executive Director, Technology Access Foundation; and
• Josh Zoia, Principal, KIPP Academy Lynn (Massachusetts).

An edited transcript of this conversation appears as one of several excellent articles on this same topic.

The full text of Threshold editions is available free online at www.ciconline.org/threshold. Past issues explore topics such as the future of math and science education, high school reform and 21st century skills, emergency preparedness, and much more.

Be sure to comment (below) or on iTunes to let us know what you think of this podcast (or the series)!

Actor and director LeVar Burton recorded this video podcast [MPEG-4, 89MB] focusing on the role of the mini-series Roots and educational television in the classroom. Burton addresses how television programming is a powerful learning tool for teachers to use in schools across the country. The podcast was recorded in conjunction with the cable network TV One, which is bringing Roots to a new generation of viewers, beginning Sunday, April 8 at 8 PM ET.

For more information about this exciting classroom resource, be sure to read the accompanying press releases from TV One and from Cable in the Classroom.

The Education Technology Director for the National School Boards Association (NSBA), Dr. Ann Flynn, discussed the NSBA’s 2007 Education Technology Site Visits during this short podcast interview [MP3, 6MB].

NSBA has been hosting site visits in districts across the country for nearly twenty years. Education leaders return from the visits with specific, realistic strategies for meeting their own districts’ and schools’ challenges and needs. This year’s districts – in South Carolina, Virginia and Minnesota – showcase innovative programs that integrate technology into the learning process and boost student achievement within diverse settings. They represent three distinctly different districts, but each has met their challenges with unique and comprehensive technology initiatives.

Cable in the Classroom is proud to be the national sponsor of the NSBA Education Technology Site Visits again this year!

You can find more information on the site visits and additional NSBA educational technology resources at www.nsba.org/tln.

The 2008 election cycle has already begun, so it's time to start thinking about how to use the election season as a way to engage students in learning about our political system. For this episode [MP3, 15MB], Cable in the Classroom executive director, Dr. Helen Soulé, discusses cable’s exciting historic, civic and news resources available to teachers and students with three cable executives:

• Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer, BET News Washington Bureau
• Dr. Libby O’Connell, Chief Historian & Senior Vice President, Corporate Outreach, A&E Television Networks
• Joanne Wheeler, Vice President, Education Relations, C-SPAN

And, for those looking for more information about the web resources mentioned in this episode, please be sure to visit:

• The History of U.S. Presidential Elections, a free History Channel resource that explores the origins of the U.S. electoral system and looks at some famous presidential contests over the years
• C-SPAN Classroom, which offers free resources for teaching civics and U.S. government
• Campaign Network, which offers video, news, and analysis on the 2008 presidential race from C-SPAN and Congressional Quarterly
• eLECTIONS: Your Adventure in Politics, a free, nonpartisan election simulation game - suitable for use in the classroom - developed by Cable in the Classroom in partnership with CNN and The History Channel.

Finally, for those interested in the state of civic education in our nation's schools, be sure to peruse the fall 2004 edition of Threshold, produced in partnership with the National Council for the Social Studies.

UPDATE (3/20): Be sure not to miss C-SPAN's new Campaign 2008 Bus!