Ken Tech Tidbits

Google announced via their official blog that Google + Hangouts will now allow for live broadcasts of Hangouts to the world ( Google + Hangouts On Air  ). This a great feature I experienced this first hand when I attended the Google Apps for Education on Air Event last week. Education technology experts from around the world hosted Hangouts about topics related to the use of technology in the classroom. These Hangouts are now all available in YouTube. This new feature for Google + adds another great tool for teachers who are moving their classroom toward true technology integration. The ability to record a video and post it to YouTube has been a part of many classroom teachers' technology toolkit for a while now. This new feature will now allow teachers to create those videos with guests that can be anywhere in the world, and with the ability to students to look in live. Now if we can just get the ability to use Hangouts for middle school kids...

The creators of the vastly popular and extremely insightful TED Talks have created a new site called TED Ed. This site gives educators and students access to lessons that revolve around TED Talks. It also allows teachers to create their own lessons or "flip" lessons to make their own. Check it out at:  http://ed.ted.com/  .

By Ian Quillen on April 27, 2012 12:11 PM The Carroll County, Va., public school system became the first in the state to operate an independent virtual school Thursday after the state board of education unanimously approved its request to operate its online primary school as a stand-alone entity, according to a report from the Richmond Times-Dispatch . The K-8, Virtual Virginia Academy has already operated for two years as an extension of the rural district's brick-and-mortar schools. The school, managed by Herndon, Va.-based K12 Inc., has reached 400 students since its launch, according to the school's website, including some public school students outside the county district, who have to pay an annual fee to enroll. Carroll County is the first district in the state to take advantage of a law passed in late 2010 allowing dis