The Buzz

To keep pace with the fast developing trends of the digital age, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has updated its National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). The refreshed NETS-T, unveiled at NECC, address five core goals, notably, an emphasis on teachers modeling effective use of tech tools, as well as the concept of digital citizenship. Professional development and collaboration are also prominent in the NETS-T, originally released back in 2000. For more information, visit the ISTE site at www.iste.org.

Sure, everything's more expensive, but the price of text messaging is truly out of control. In recent years, all four major mobile carriers have stuck it to consumers, doubling the rate from 10 cents to 20 cents per text message, according to Crave, the CNET blog. As for owners of the new iPhone 3G, they're paying a monthly minimum of $70, plus $5 extra for 200 text messages, which was previously included in the old $60 iPhone plan. Blogger Sam Garfield did the math: on a kilobyte basis, it would cost $6,000 to download a single 4 MB song via SMS. There's not much a modern communicator can do; the fee hike doesn't exceed the law. It's simply what the market will bear.

Destiny Quest, a new graphical search interface, made its debut at NECC. An integrated component of Follett Software's Destiny Library Manager solution, Destiny Quest features virtual shelf browsing, allowing students to view books on either side of the title they've retrieved in a search, and a personalized space for adding bookmarks and other resources. The element “You May Also Like” recommends further reading based on a user's search and circulation history. Destiny Quest is native to Version 8.5 of the Destiny management software, and available to existing customers upon upgrading. www.follettsoftware.com.

After bringing its popular MINDSTORMS toolset to middle grade and high school classrooms, LEGO has tailored a robotics activity just for younger kids. Geared for students ages 7–11, LEGO's new WeDo product strives to meet a range of 21st century learning skills through the building of simple machines. Launched at NECC, the colorful kit includes LEGO bricks, gears, levers, and other elements, and related software. An activity pack offers 12 activities covering various themes, from Amazing Mechanisms to Play Soccer, including animations. www.legoeducation.com/store.

Amazon's Kindle has drawn plenty of comment, but there's more, this time from online marketing guru Seth Godin, who recently blogged his suggestions for enhancing the ereader. They include enabling access to links not only within the book, but across titles and showing the book's best parts as identified by other readers. “Instead of making this a dead end “like a book,” they could have made it a connector (like the web),” writes Godin. sethgodin.typepad.com.

Tom Snyder Productions, a division of Scholastic, has launched Timeliner XE, a new online search tool. An update to existing Timeliner software, the XE product was developed with Adobe AIR technology and allows K–12 researchers to organize information by creating timelines and other visual sequences. In social studies, for example, a user could create a timeline to track chronological events and change over time or, in language arts, trace the arc of a story. A built-in browser allows users to Web surf; jot notes; and snag images, audio, and video, complete with citations. Timeliner XE offers interactive whiteboard support and a library of more than 1,000 media files. www.tomsnyder.com.

A display the size of a luxury liner would be nice, but the corresponding price tag puts this item firmly in the optional purchase category for most of us. At least until now. Viewsonic has introduced a feature-rich, yet affordable 26-inch LCD monitor. At $695, the 1080p full HD panel presents a roomy workspace, with great gaming and movie-watching potential, to boot. The new display, model VA2626wm, sports 2.5 watt stereo speakers and a crisp 1920 x 1200 resolution. www.viewsonic.com.

High noise levels over extended periods of time can compromise hearing, according to studies by the National Institute on Deafness. Providing educators with the means to monitor student listening habits, the Sound Alert Headphone flashes a red warning light when the volume is above the recommended 85 decibels. Califone also offers a Sound Alert Monaural Jackbox and Sound Alert Listening Center that allow monitoring of up to 10 and 8 attached headphones, respectively. www.califone.com.

Online printer MOO now offers full-size business cards. A practical turn on MOO's popular mini-cards, the standard size option lets you print up to 50 different images on each card. Import photos from Flickr and Facebook or upload your own for the back side of the card, add your logo and text for the other, which also prints full color. $21.99 for 50 cards. Sign on to the mailing list for 20 percent off. www.moo.com.

A new LCD screen-equipped handheld receiver for presenters, ResponseCard AnyWhere does not require a projector or computer. Simply pose a question to the group and press a button on the ResponseCard AnyWhere receiver to open polling. Students select from the keypad, and the device tabulates and displays the results. Stores up to 5,000 votes or 100 polls. www.turningtechnologies.com.