Tech Bits Weekly Round-up is back! We hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing holiday season. Back to it…

Ohio House should follow Senate’s lead in updating telecommunications laws. TOT ED Scott Schweitzer pens a letter encouraging the House to pass telecom reform. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

eTech Ohio encourages teachers to do more with technology. eTech Ohio announced that it has submitted a five-year plan to Gov. Ted Strickland and lawmakers to prepare students for jobs and help grow the economy. [Ohio Tech Bits Blog]

Consumer Electronics Show in full swing. [CES]

CES: The Network Is Our Top Priority, AT&T Says. [Digits (Wall Street Journal)]

WSJ: Tech Show Reflects Optimism. A bumper crop of new products, full hotel rooms and respectable crowds at the annual technology conference are some of the most obvious differences from the CES held in January 2009, when the recession still seemed to be deepening. [Wall Street Journal]

New TV Apps Borrow a Page From iPhone. [Wall Street Journal]

NorTech Innovation Awards 2010. Feb. 24 at the LaCentre Conference and Banquet Facility in Westlake. Ticket info here. Award finalist info here. [NorTech/Crain's Cleveland Business]

Ohio Cities Rank Among Best in Country for Employment Opportunities. [Ohio Business Development Coalition Blog]

10 indispensable iPhone apps for IT administrators. [TechRepublic via TechLife Columbus]

From The Columbus Dispatch:

Technology will never replace a good teacher.

But more Ohio teachers could use technology to better prepare students to succeed in school and life, a new state report finds.

“Just as literacy has the power to reduce barriers to success and advancement, technology has the ability to open new doors and opportunities by transforming the learning and teaching environment,” said Kate Harkin, executive director of eTech Ohio.

The state agency, which promotes educational technology in Ohio, announced yesterday that it has submitted a five-year plan to Gov. Ted Strickland and lawmakers to prepare students for jobs and help grow the economy.

…

ETech’s plan calls for the state to provide more training to help teachers use handheld devices, podcasts, social-networking sites and other technology. The report doesn’t provide details about how this might be done because it wants school districts and colleges to create individual programs to deal with their particular needs, Harkin said.

Click here for the eTech Ohio press release announcing the plan.