The 2009 C-SPAN Student Cam competition is open to students in grades sixth through 12 who produce a five- to eight-minute documentary that includes C-SPAN video.

This year’s topic asks what the most urgent issue is for the new president to address after taking office, and why.

Jenks High School students Scott Mitchell and Nick Poss won the national competition last year for their video, “Leaving Religion at the Door.”

Union High School students Bryant Hunter and Bryce Culhane also took a third-place prize for their video, “Same Sex Marriage.”

Entries must represent more than one point of view and must be uploaded to www.studentcam.org by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

A total of $50,000 will be awarded to students and teachers. The grand prize is worth $5,000. Winners will be announced March 10.

The competition is sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom.

Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter

Lunchbox with hidden note from Mommy? Check.

Pink Backpack? Check.

Notebook computer able to run Windows, Word and Webkins? Ummm…. not yet. After all, my child is only 5.

So I didn’t get her a computer this year — nor was I asked to. But there could be a time when elementary school children tote laptops to school as easily as they now pack lovenotes and lunchables.

Already, many high school students rely on laptops to keep up in class, and you’d never dream of sending a college student to campus without a computer.

What do you think? Will old-fashioned “paper” notebooks become a relic someday?

Comment here or e-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com

Susan Simpson, Education Writer 

Lamar County school board members say casual contact between teachers and students is unprofessional.

What do you think? Is this a good policy, or do you think these methods of communications are OK? How do you think teachers and students should communicate in this high-tech era?

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

But instead of visiting news sites for the papers in Washington, Boston, Atlanta and other cities individually, I get them all through RSS feeds via my Google Reader.

This blog also has an RSS feed you can subscribe to by entering this URL in your reader of choice: http://Blog.newsok.com/educationstation/feed (or click the “subscribe” button on the right-hand side of the homepage).

Also, here are some education blogs I check in on. Neither I nor The Oklahoman endorse any of the opinions expressed on the following pages.

Blogs by newspaper reporters:
Dallas ISD, Dallas Morning News
Get Schooled, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Gradebook, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
Get on the Bus, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News
Meranda Writes, (Lafayette, Ind.) Journal & Courier

Organization-based blogs:
Education Election, Education Writers Association
Flypaper, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Roy’s Account, Oklahoma Education Association
There are also many blogs targeting particular interests at Education Week.

In the spirit of sharing, please use the comments section to share any education-related sites you like, and what you like or would like to see improved on the Education Station.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter

The 7th & 8th Grade Center there began the incentive program Feb. 18 and will end it this Friday, according to a school newsletter. The school plans to run two more similar incentive periods before the end of the school year.

Students must be in attendance and not tardy to be entered into a drawing for the electronics, which are paid for through local donors and other activities, according to the newsletter.

Do you think schools should offer incentives to attend school? What would you consider to be appropriate incentives?

Share your thoughts with me and with other readers on the Education Station blog at NewsOK.com.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter

The popular search engine is asking schoolchildren to design a Google logo for its homepage that is inspired by the question “What if…?”

Already, students from five Oklahoma campuses have submitted entries, Google spokesman Eitan Bencuya said.

The five schools are Southern Hills Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Christ the King Catholic School and Francis Tuttle Technology Center — Reno Campus in Oklahoma City; and Victory Life Academy in Durant.

The winning design of the “Doodle 4 Google” competition will be displayed at www.google.com on May 22, and the student who sketches it will win a $10,000 college scholarship plus a $25,000 technology grant for his or her school.

Schools must be registered by March 28 and entries must be postmarked by April 12. To participate and for more information, visit www.google.com/doodle4google.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter

Portraits of graduating students from the past decades hang proudly on the walls of a hallway in the nursing building. They show a chronology of the school’s growth, and hair style fads through the ages.

But more has changed in the nursing profession than follicle fashion. Training has changed as dramatically as technology, and advanced education is more important than ever.

A few things have remained constant. It’s still mostly women — white women — seeking nursing credentials, although more minorities and men are entering the profession.

What’s your story? When did you become a nurse and why? I want to know more about the many pathways to education, jobs and maybe now, even retirement.

And maybe you can also explain the engineering of the bee-hive. It’s making a comeback, ala Amy Winehouse. But that’s another story altogether.

E-mail me at ssimpson@oklahoman.com

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

This morning, 60 Dells were unveiled in a refurbished lab at the KIPP Reach College Preparatory School in Oklahoma City. Hopefully those computers will help the students get to college.

The KIPP School serves 280 fifth- through eighth-grade students in a building on NE 13.

“This computer lab truly was a community effort,” said Mautra Staley Jones, director of development and marketing for KIPP, in a press release. “From Flintco’s ceiling tiles, StapleGun’s graphics and Dell’s employees who painted the room, polished the floor and installed computers, this lab will bring a world of opportunity to the fingertips of KIPP students for years.”

In the same way the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust works to get technology into more schools, the new Dell Community Computer Lab is another example of how community establishments in the state pool their time and resources to give students more.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Staff Writer

Sir Ken Robinson, a creativity expert knighted in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth, spoke about reforming education systems to encourage more innovation and imagination. It was a good speech, filled with lots of funny asides in his lyrical British accent.

About moving to the United States and enrolling his daughter in American History: “We don’t study American History. We suppress it. Get over it really. We’ve apologized, what do you want? We stay indoors on July 4th, draw the shutters and look at pictures of the queen and think about what might have been.”

About the technology revolution: “There are scientists studying ways to use our own bodies as broadband receivers. You could exchange files by holding hands, really, or whatever method you prefer. It all depends on the size of the file anyway.”

Of course, those quotes didn’t quite make it into the story I wrote for tomorrow’s paper. All in all, he was an entertaining speaker that created quite a bit of laughter.

Susan Simpson, Education Writer

Now, Shvoong.com, a site that offers abstracts and other schoolwork help, is launching a tool called Shvoong Homework. The program will allow classmates to post class notes and assignments. It also alerts classmates when a peer adds notes or answers a homework question.

Says the company: “Class materials are available online at all times. … Catch up by reading fellow classmates’ summaries and homework assignments.” It also says “there’s no need to ask for permission if the writer already chose to share the content.”

Perhaps it’s a way to allow students to have group study time from their individual homes. But it also sounds like it could be a way for students to see who’s doing the homework first and get a hold of their answers – in essence, cheat.

Do you think technology in schools can go too far? Do you think it would be good for your child to use Shvoong? Tell me why, at wkleinman@oklahoman.com.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter