Tech & Learning - September 2019

VOLUME 40 / NUMBER 2

TECHLEARNING.COM

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IDEAS AND TOOLS FOR ED TECH LEADERS

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Desktops and Laptops and more Page 16

TOP 5 TOP TRANSFORMATIONAL TECH TRENDS See page 11 for more.

HOW TO MANAGE SCHOOL THREATS See page 34 for more.

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CONTENTS FEATURES

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THE BEST BACK TO SCHOOL DESKTOPS AND LAPTOPS FOR 2019

By Frank Pileiro The best desktops and laptops for the new school year.

20 PLAYING TO WIN: VIDEO GAMES FINALLY MAKE A

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LEGITIMATE MOVE INTO THE CLASSROOM

By Chris Aviles Students learn critical skills through engaging game-based learning.

20 SITES/APPS EVERY TEACHER SHOULD TRY FOR BACK TO SCHOOL

By David Kapuler Outstanding tools to add to classrooms this fall.

40TH ANNIVERSARY —THE KIDS CAN’T WAIT—EXCERPTS FROM AN ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH STEVE JOBS Our year-long 40th anniversary launches with a return to Steve Jobs.

REPURPOSING SCHOOL LIBRARIES AS VIBRANT HUBS AND CENTERS OF CHANGE

By Annie Galvin Teich Changing pedagogy finds a home.

PRODUCTS

36 WHAT’S NEW: TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS 4 EDITORS DESK Back to the Future

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TRENDING FCC’s new rural broadband proposal; parents and teachers agree about edtech; high school students changing the face of tech; mobile and broadband in 2019; and top 5 digital transformation trends for 2020.

12 BIG IDEAS • Fake news • #NYCSchools tech conference Tech & Learning (ISSN-1053-6728) (USPS 695-590) is published monthly (except July and December) by Future US, Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036-8002 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tech & Learning, PO Box 8746, Lowell, MA 01853 Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices.

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EDITOR’S

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BACK TO THE FUTURE

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VOL. 40 NO. 2

www.techlearning.com FOLLOW US

twitter.com/techlearning Group Publisher Christine Weiser christine.weiser@futurenet.com CONTENT Managing Content Director Kevin Hogan kevin.hogan@futurenet.com Contributing Editor Annie Galvin Teich Advisors Carl Hooker, Andrew Wallace, Marianthe Williams, Steve Baule, Jean Tower,

ime flies when you’re having fun! 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of Tech & Learning, which is a pretty good run for a magazine, especially one focused on technology. It’s a genuine thrill to go back into the archive and read how far edtech has come since the pre-Internet 1980s. Even in my relatively brief 12 years with T&L, we have seen enormous change—anyone remember life without an iPhone, or Twitter, or Fortnite?

To mark the occasion, we’ll highlight writings each month that cover seminal moments in edtech, both from the magazine and elsewhere. This month we selected a snip from a historic interview with Steve Jobs by the Smithsonian Institute and Computerworld in 1995. I encourage you to listen or read the entire conversation online but the excerpt on page 27 specifically details many aspects of the possibilities and restrictions of integrating technology into teaching and learning.

We are also planning to launch a series of podcasts related to the history of edtech, which you will be able to find at techlearning.com. Beyond edtech luminaries, we’ll also be interviewing former editors and writers, as well as educators with stories about how tech affected their careers. Of course, we won’t be just looking back. We’re planning a series of esOF COURSE, WE says that look forward to the next 40 years—what transformaWON’T BE JUST tive techniques are out there on the horizon? Have a story or LOOKING BACK. idea to share? Reach out to me at kevin.hogan@futurenet.com.

WE’RE PLANNING We want to hear it!

— Kevin Hogan Managing Director, Content kevin.hogan@futurenet.com

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A SERIES OF ESSAYS THAT LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT 40 YEARS—WHAT TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNIQUES ARE OUT THERE ON THE HORIZON?

Hank Thiele, Jenith Mishne, Frank Pileiro, Patricia Brown, Phil Hintz, Ken Wallace, Rick Cave, Chris Aviles, Diane Doersh, Mike Jamerson, Rico D’Amore, Todd Dugan, Grace Magley, Andrew Marcinek, John Marcus, Laura Chesson, Jon Castelhano, Karen Fuller

Production Manager Heather Tatrow, heather.tatrow@futurenet.com Managing Design Director Nicole Cobban

Senior Design Director Lisa McIntosh ADVERTISING SALES Sales Managers Allison Knapp, allison.knapp@futurenet.com SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.techlearning.com and click on About Us, email futureplc@computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 8692, Lowell, MA 01853.

LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS Tech & Learning is available for licensing. Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities. Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com MANAGEMENT Senior Vice President, Content Chris Convey Vice President, Sales John Bubello Head of Production US & UK Mark Constance Head of Design Rodney Dive FUTURE US, INC. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036

All contents © 2019 Future US, Inc. or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press.

Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information.

You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/ all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.

NEWS TRENDING ANDTRENDS THE LATEST NEWS & STATS AFFECTING THE K-12 EDTECH COMMUNITY

top10 WEB STORIES

From techlearning.com

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10 Back to School Tips

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for an Awesome Year!

Ideas and resources—from engaging parents to integrating technology effectively—get your year off to a great start.

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Five-Star Game-Creating

Tool Shines.

The drag-and-drop programming environments allow new game developers to jump right in to create 2D games.

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Makerspaces 101.

This video covers the basics of a makerspace and includes helpful tips to start your own makerspace.

How to Make the Best Use of a

Professional Learning Network (PLN).

Use these five suggestions to put your PLN to work for you right away at the beginning of the year.

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National Study: Which

Apps Work Best?

A review of aggregate data determines which programs students are using, how much they’re using them, and how the investment in programs correlates to improved student learning.

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Six Super-Sweet Social Studies Strategies for Back to School.

Fun social studies activities to kick off the new school year.

Top Research Websites, Search

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“Relationships are the most important factor in your effectiveness as a teacher and your student’s success! Knowing students and them confiding in us and working with us and their peers helps us figure out their interests, strengths, insecurities, struggles, and passions.”

—Shelly Terrell “In a world filled with so much instant information, it is important to teach students to ask even more questions as they seek possible answers.”

—Michael Gorman

Engines, and a Research Choice Menu for K–2 Students.

Recommended search engines and websites help your students become skilled internet searchers.

Tech Tools for Active

Learning Classrooms.

The benefits of developing active learning skills include improved critical thinking skills, increased retention, and transfer of new motivation, more motivation, and improved interpersonal skills.

How to Use Video Portfolios

This School Year.

Use video portfolios to encourage students to reflect on their own learning and showcase their accomplishments.

Digital Well-Being—Tools to Balance Tech and Life.

Check out this collection of digital well-being resources, including online training, apps, settings, and more.

F I N D L I N K S AT W W W.T EC H L E A R N I N G .CO M

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BLOG BITS

TOP TWEETS Amy Fast, Ed.D. @fastcrayon: What we test (and thus teach) in schools vs. what actually leads to personal, professional, and societal success in life. It’s time to measure what matters instead of what’s easiest to measure.

Lisa Nielsen. @InnovativeEdu: Did you know that in the future government agencies will no longer work with tech platforms that discriminate against people with disabilities? What is your timeline for fixing your lack of #accessibility?

TRENDING

APPS OF THE DAY FROM TECHLEARNING.COM

FCC’S NEW RURAL BROADBAND FUND PROPOSAL COULD ALLEVIATE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education.

The FCC has proposed a new fund to further efforts to bring broadband service to rural communities. As part of the Universal Service Program, this new proposed fund would allocate $20.4 million to subsidize broadband infrastructure projects in areas where broadband is not yet widely available.

If adopted, the new proposal will raise the bar for rural broadband deployment, making more areas eligible for support, requiring faster service speeds, and reducing the overall service cost.

Top-Rated App Teaches Character Development Peekapak is a resource that offers complete teaching units for 10 social and emotional learning (SEL) topics as well as the MyPeekaville interactive game (in beta).

Survey Measures the Success of the E-Rate Program 94% of applicants say that E-Rate support is mission critical 70% of applicants see lower prices 84% of applicants depend on and trust the E-Rate program

Sky Guide is a beautiful app filled with easy-to-understand reference material on astronomy and the night sky.

Which of the following services should qualify for E-rate support?

Funds for Learning survey respondents vote on preferred E-Rate support for 2018–19.

SOURCE: FUNDS FOR LEARNING

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Top Astronomy App Invites Kids to Explore Universe

This App Makes Testing Fun

Kahoot!, a free student-response tool for all platforms, allows teachers to run game-like multiple-choice quizzes.

TRENDING

BOOST IN HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES COULD CHANGE THE FACE OF TECH

COMCAST EXPANDS INTERNET ESSENTIALS PROGRAM TO REACH ALL LOW-INCOME AMERICANS

The Conversation shared newly released data from the College Board that suggests more girls and students from groups that are usually underrepresented in computer science are taking Advanced Placement Computer Science courses. The number of girls in these courses has increased 136 percent over the last three years. The number of minority students has increased between 116 percent and 125 percent, depending on ethnicity, since 2017. Diversity in tech fields is important so that new technologies work for everyone and not just for some. As students see more people like themselves taking computer science courses, they’ll feel encouraged to become the software engineers and tech innovators of the future.

Comcast is expanding eligibility for Internet Essentials, which is the nation’s largest, most comprehensive, and most successful broadband adoption program in America, to include all qualified low-income households in its service area. The company estimates that more than three million additional low-income households, including households with people with disabilities, are now eligible to apply. It estimates that a total of nearly seven million households now have access to their low-cost Internet service. To be eligible to apply for the program, low-income applicants simply need to show that they’re participating in one of more than a dozen different government assistance programs. A full list of these programs can be found at www.internetessentials.com.

GETTY IMAGES/DJANGO

New data show more girls and minority students are taking advanced computer science courses in high school.

SOURCE: CNET

PARENTS AND TEACHERS AGREE: TECHNOLOGY IS CRUCIAL FOR LEARNING

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has released its Technology in Education: Parent and Educator Use and Sentiment report and found 79 percent of educators and 86 percent of parents believe that technology—including laptops, video content, and STEM products—is becoming a crucial part of classroom education at every level.

In addition, 89 percent of parents and 87 percent of educators agree that technology helps students develop technological skills for the future.

The study also identified the top technology used for learning by parents and educators:

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SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

Tech that parents say their children use most frequently for learning

Educators indicate the tech they use most frequently in their classrooms

Video content (82%)

Email (79%)

Mobile phones (76%)

Laptops (69%)

Tablets (73%)

Web-based software (67%)

Laptops (62%)

Video content (58%)

Email (49%)

Smart boards (56%) SOURCE: CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

TRENDING

TOP 5 Digital Transformation Trends in

Education for 2020

GETTY IMAGES/WESTEND61

Forbes reports on the overall shifts in how we’ll be learning and connecting through technology moving forward.

Smartphone vs. broadband internet access at home

THE STATE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND BROADBAND 2019 The Pew Research Center reports that 37 percent of Americans now go online primarily using a smartphone, and these devices are increasingly cited as a reason for not having a high-speed internet connection at home. This percentage has nearly doubled since 2013, when Pew last asked the question.

58% of adults aged 18 to 29 primarily use a smartphone to access the Internet 47% of adults aged 30 to 49 primarily use a smartphone to access the Internet It’s not just that mobile devices are being used more often to go online than in previous years—some Americans are forgoing traditional broadband at home altogether in favor of their smartphones.

27% of adults do not subscribe to home broadband 45% of non-broadband subscribers use their smartphones to connect to the Internet 80% of non-broadband subscribers not interested in high-speed home broadband 17% of US adults are smartphone-only Internet users

TRENDS Customized Learning Experiences New digital transformation trends in technology make it easier for students with different learning styles to learn in the way most appropriate for them. Multimedia, AI, and machine learning all play a role in analyzing individual student learning.

ACCESSIBILITY Technology is making information and knowledge available to everyone, including voiceto-text and text-to-voice transcription technologies.

The increasing volume of video and audio also helps to ensure that learning is no longer limited to those who can read.

INTERNET OF THINGS Saves money on energy and lighting usage.

Also, it keeps schools and students safer and more connected with sensors and other security features like lighting and cameras. Real-time communication tools and time-stamp technology keep parents and educators in the information loop.

SECURITY Parents will continue to push for greater transparency and parental controls in online learning. We’re likely also to see an increase in twofactor authentication to keep students safe, as well as digital credentialing through blockchain.

LACK OF FUNDING Another growing trend is lack of funding in many states, which puts stress on public schools. New technologies and parental desire for customized learning will result in more parents choosing homeschooling and charter schools.

SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER

SOURCE: FORBES

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BIG IDEAS

FAKE NEWS:

3 THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM FINLAND (and 3 Cool Tools from Right Here in the US of A)

By Glenn Wiebe

W

e all get smarter when we all get smarter.

It’s a pretty simple concept, and it’s the whole idea behind PLCs, #sschat, and school in general. Learning together makes sense.

I recently read an article highlighting how Finland is working to combat fake news. I got smarter. Then I had a quick conversation with some Stanford History Education Group (SHEG)

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folks about their Civic Online Reasoning Assessments—and it was like I took a genius pill.

Back in 2014, Finland began noticing misinformation campaigns focused around immigration, the European Union, and whether Finland should become a full member of NATO. These campaigns ramped up in 2015, and a year later the Finnish government rolled out a multipronged, cross-sector approach designed to give its citizens the tools they needed to be effective digital info users.

As the US continues to experience intentional attempts by both international and internal

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groups to manipulate the digital world we live in, can Finland’s experience help us we get smarter?

I think it can.

IT’S A WHOLE SOCIETY THING The Finnish government has identified these campaigns as direct attacks on democracy. Jussi Toivanen, chief communications specialist for the prime minister’s office, explains: “It’s not just a government problem, the whole society has been targeted. We are doing our part, but it’s everyone’s task to protect Finnish democracy.”

When facts are intentionally warped and

BIG IDEAS

twisted, then spread because of ignorance and a lack of civic literacy, bad things will happen.

Teachers need to be proactive in providing our students with strong online civic reasoning skills.

IT’S A K–12 THING We’re all busy and have a specific scope and sequence. But in 2019 we need to realize that these skills are essential for protecting democracy.

It’s not just the job of government or middleschool civic teachers. It’s all of our jobs. “The first line of defense is the kindergarten teacher,” says Toivanen. Teaching kids to ask questions and think critically can never start too soon.

IT’S A CRITICAL THINKING THING Finland revised their critical thinking curriculum in 2016 to prioritize the skills students need to spot the sort of disinformation that plagued recent (and will surely attack future) election campaigns in the US and across Europe.

The director of Helsinki’s French-Finnish School, Kari Kivinen, says: “What we want our students

to do before they like or share in the social media is to think twice—who has written this? Where has it been published? Can I find the same information from another source?”

Many state and local standards documents here in the US have been revised to do the same thing. Our Kansas state standards have focused on process and historical thinking skills since 2013.

But we need to be much more intentional about following these standards so that students are able to distinguish between accurate and factual information and stuff that’s incorrect and manipulated.

Where can you find tools and strategies to help you do that?

Stanford History Education Group’s Civic Online Reasoning assessments are useful, easy to use—and free. Posted about a year ago, these newest tools provide 21 lessons / assessments that focus on making sense of information from a variety of digital tools. Half of these lessons download as Google Forms you can copy and use, the other half as PDFs. All of them include detailed rubrics and examples that help you and your students make sense of the results. You sign up for a free account to access the lessons.

Everything in One Box 24/7 Support

SHEG is the gold standard, but there are other tools out there: ■■ Factitious. This accessible, easy-to-play game, developed by the American University Game Lab/JOLT, helps kids sort fake news from real.

■■ Newsfeed Defenders. This challenging online game from iCivics engages players with the standards of journalism, showing them how to spot a variety of methods behind viral deception. Users join a fictional social media site focused on news and information and can level up from guest user to site admin by spotting dubious posts that try to sneak in through hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting.

■■ Library of Congress Civic interactive projects provide engaging and meaningful opportunities to learn civic participation using primary sources.

When we all get smarter, it’s always a good day.

Glenn Wiebe is an education and technology consultant with 15 years’ experience teaching history and social studies. Visit glennwiebe.org to learn more about his work.

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BIG IDEAS

#NYCSchoolsTech 2019 Conference Focuses on Digital Inclusion “One out of every 300 Americans will attend a New York City school,” said NYCDOE Chancellor Richard Carranza (@DOEChancellor) in his opening welcome at the #NYCSchoolsTech Conference, held at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (https://www.laguardiahs.org/ ) on July 31.

“Ensuring all of these students have access to technology is crucial.”

This pledge was evident in the day’s robust program that focused on digital inclusion and kicked off with a spirited performance of the prologue to Little Shop of Horrors by the EPIC Players, a neuro-inclusive theatre company.

VICTOR CALISE: MAYOR’S OFFICE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

KEYNOTE: JASON GREEN

Keynote Jason Green

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The Summit began with a performance by EPIC Players a nonprofit, neuroinclusive theatre company dedicated to creating professional performing arts opportunities and supportive social communities through the arts for person living with developmental disabilities.

The program kicked off with a keynote from Jason Green, CEO of Learning Innovation Catalyst (LINC) and author of Blended Learning in Action. Mr. Green asked the audience of about a thousand New York educators about their own experiences with learning. He noted that “most teachers model their classrooms not by how they learned, but by how they were taught.”

“Your students might be the first generation to never finish college,” he said. How do schools prepare this new generation for jobs that don’t yet exist? He outlined three key elements: • Teachers must become the 21st-century learners they are trying to create.

He noted that most professional development models don’t work, and he highlighted the Stanford “model of generative change” (https://edpolicy. stanford.edu/library/publications/93) that outlines a PD timeline to help teachers become agents of change.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMY MILSTEIN

Victor Calise, the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities, shared that they are working to make New York City the most accessible city in the world. He told the audience that each and every person needs to think about accessibility and how it affects us, our students, and their families. We can do this by ensuring people with disabilities are included.

There are two ways to ensure we include people with disabilities: 1. Ensure we have truly inclusive education and inclusive classrooms: We can do this through technology in classrooms. We must provide the technology tools that students need.

2. Include people with disabilities in the workforce: 79 percent of people with disabilities are jobless. It’s the job of schools and educators to help prepare students who can be employed.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMY MILSTEIN

By Christine Weiser

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• Teachers must create classrooms where students love learning.

To achieve this, Mr. Green recommended the “PAACC” approach.

This includes: personalization,

agency, authentic audience, connectivity, and creativity.

• Schools must become cultural catalysts for change

Mr. Green suggested these tenets to help change school community cultures: equity, trust, agency, collaboration, and risk taking.

He asked the audience the following questions: How are you embracing these tenets?

Do you invite colleagues to visit your classroom? Do you visit theirs?

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

The dozens of breakout sessions throughout the day offered deep dives into a multitude of topics. Many of them focused on how to support digital inclusion. Each session included links to helpful resources. There were classes for those starting their journey, such as “Get Going with Digital Accessibility & Inclusion” and “My Journey to an Inclusive Website.” There were also workshops for those ready to dig in and begin creating inclusive content, such as “Writing for Effective Translation” and “Having a Broader Vision for Screen Readers.”

There were also workshops from Google and Microsoft on how to “Dig in to Accessibility.”

inclusive content.

“We need to embed accessibility into everything we offer,” Mr. Kirkwood said. The district is using school webmasters who are often a school’s

PHOTO CREDIT: AMY MILSTEIN

to change that—not just for their own schools, but also to become a model for other districts around the country.

“To achieve accessibility, we must think digitally,” said Nica Lalli. Once content is digital, it can be accessed by screen readers, translated, captioned, and much more. This is why it’s Commissioner of the New York City important to inspire and teach Mayor’s Office for People with staff how to create content that’s Disabilities, Victor Calise digitally accessible to those with a wide range of disabilities.

The Office of Digital IncluNYCDOE Walks the Walk sion helps staff learn to create digital content with I had the pleasure of talking with staff memthese three easy ways to get started: bers from the Office of Digital Communication 1. Make sure your content … and Inclusion—including John Kirkwood, Digital • Is written at a grade 6–9 reading level Inclusion Director; Nica Lalli, Senior Director • Reflects the correct reading level (find out at of Digital Communications; and Patty Paddock, Tinyurl.com/MSReadingLevel) Director of Digital Communications and Inclu • Is written in short sentences using common, sion—about New York City DOE’s digital inclueveryday words. sion initiative.

2. Check to see if you have...

After entering into an agreement with the • Headings (formatted from a style ribbon) United States Department of Education, Office • Bulleted lists for Civil Rights in 2016, the New York City • Descriptive hyperlinks (no “click here”) Department of Education vowed to create a fully • Proper contrast accessible website. This spurred the department • Contact information. to engage in intense research to figure out what it 3. Give all of your images… would mean to make their website accessible.

• Alternative text (alt text) Offering accessible websites has been an ADA requirement since 2008, but until recently, most Once the district launched the accessible agencies hadn’t held public institutions accountwebsite, they began teaching staff at central offices, able. The NYCDOE knew they had an obligation districts, and schools about how to create digitally

Companies displayed new tech at the Summit Technology Single Point of Contact (SPOC) or a Parent Coordinator to help them learn how their school community can be digitally inclusive. “We want to change the cultural mindset around accessibility,” he continued.

“Once you start down the road of accessibility, you will keep going down that road,” said Ms. Lalli. “We’re okay doing this slowly, as long as we keep moving.”

The NYCDOE has generously assembled Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Guidance that any district can use: Schools.nyc.gov/DigitalInclusion.

SPECIAL THANKS PHOTO CREDIT: AMY MILSTEIN

PHOTO CREDIT: AMY MILSTEIN

BIG IDEAS

NYCDOE’s Digital Inclusion Table

Special thanks to Lisa Nielsen, Senior Director Digital Literacy and Inclusion, Jane Pook, Chief Digital Communications Officer, and JoJo Farrell, Ed Tech Program Manager, for their hospitality throughout the conference.

It was inspiring to see a district the size of New York City not just take on the complex issue of digital inclusion, but also position itself as a model to districts of all sizes around the country.

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BEST

of

DESKTOPS AND LAPTOPS FOR 2019

By Frank Pileiro One of the best ways to measure the latest and greatest gear for the classroom each fall is to roam the exhibition floor in June at the annual International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference and Expo, which took place in Philadelphia this year.

There were over 600 exhibitors in the expo hall, featuring everything from projectors and 3D printers to robots, apps, online curriculum, and more. Laptops are always a popular product—they may not be the most exciting products in the expo hall, but they’re one of the most essential. What follows are some of my choices for standout products:

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DESKTOPS AND LAPTOPS For Creators

For Esports

MICROSOFT SURFACE STUDIO 2

Esports has made a big push into the education arena. One of the current “top dogs” in the gaming computer sector is Acer, Inc. The Acer booth at ISTE featured a giant screen for watching esports teams battling it out against each other just below. In this booth, the gaming devices of choice are the Acer Predator laptops and desktops.

These machines are made specifically for gaming. Acer has carved its niche in esports by offering a variety of different configurations and options Acer also offers a variety of price points so schools can get started in esports without breaking the budget. If a school district doesn’t have the luxury of a dedicated room for esports, the Predator gaming laptops are very capable. Prices start as low as $729 for desktops and $1,299 for laptops—all the way up to over $6,000 for desktops and $2,499 for laptops.

The Surface Studio 2 is designed for creation and gaming as well as for mixed and virtual reality.

It sports a 28-inch, beautifully vibrant touch screen that can be adjusted at an infinite variety of angles due to the innovative Zero Gravity Hinge. Like any Surface device, it’s also compatible with the Surface Pen for creating art or virtual worlds. If you want to add to your creativity and productivity tool kit, you can add the Surface Dial. The Surface Dial gives users the option to create a customized radial menu of tools that fit their work and business productivity style. Just place the dial on the screen, and this menu appears.

The user simply rotates it to change their tool choices and options. These features make this device a versatile standout.

ACER PREDATOR HELIOS 300 GAMING LAPTOP PH315-51-71FS RETAIL: $1,299.00 CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-8750H processor Hexa-core 2.20 GHz | Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6 GB Dedicated Memory | Display: 15.6” Full HD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 IPS | RAM: 8 GB, DDR4 SDRAM | Storage: 1 TB HDD

STARTING AT $3,499.00 CPU Intel® Core™ i7-7820HQ | Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 memory (with i7/16/1TB configuration) | Display: 28” PixelSense™ Display Touch: 10 point multi-touch Resolution: 4500 x 3000 (192 PPI) | RAM: 16 or 32 GB | Storage: 1TB or 2TB solid-state drive (SSD)

Auto-Switching HDMI, VGA and USB Extension System

UHB-SW2 HD MI, VG A, and US B inpu ts on w a ll p l at e 18 G bps HD MI inpu t for 4Kx 2K 6 0 H z wi t h H DR Vi deo automatica ll y swit ch es to t he l a st p lu gge d (VG A o r HDM I) Bu tto n to ove rride th e aut omat ic in pu t s el ect i on VG A in put acco mmod ates re solu ti o ns to 108 0 p Use ch nol ogy o re a ch 40 m @ 4K or Usess HDBase HD Base T 2.0 te tech no lo gy tto r ea 4 0m or 70m @ 1080p

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DESKTOPS AND LAPTOPS ACER NITRO 50 GAMING DESKTOP - N50-600-UR11 RETAIL: $799.00 CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-8400 processor Hexa-core 2.80 GHz | Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti with 4 GB Dedicated Memory | RAM: 8 GB, DDR4 SDRAM | Storage: 1 TB HDD

device—one at the top of the screen and the other right above the top row of keys on the keyboard. The 5MP webcam has an 88-degree wide viewing angle so users can watch the Chromebook screen to see what’s being recorded. Finally, this unit comes with a substantial hinge that will last a very long time.

Chromebooks

type cover and a wireless mouse and you have a complete Windows 10 laptop.

RETAIL: $399 CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615 | RAM: 4GB – 8GB | Screen: 10-inch, 1,800 x 1,200 (217 ppi; 3:2 aspect ratio) PixelSense touch display | Storage: 64GB eMMC – 128GB SSD

RETAIL: $352.11 CPU: Intel® Celeron® N3350 1.1 GHz | Display:11.6” AHVA Touchscreen (1366x768) (HD) | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 32GB eMMC

This device category continues to feature more rugged and affordable designs for students and 1:1 programs, all the way up to business-class portable workstations. Convertible Chromebooks with pens are giving educators and students the best of both platforms.

DELL LATITUDE 3300 The 13.3-inch Dell Latitude 3300 for Education laptop is a well-designed and rugged device for users who still prefer to use Windows devices but don’t want to break the bank. The Latitude 3300 is designed and built to withstand the day-to-day needs of today’s modern learners who need a rugged device for various environments, yet it’s powerful enough for collaboration, creating, and consuming content. The Latitude 3300 has an advertised battery life of just under 17 hours (time varies with usage), so it can definitely fit into any school’s 1:1 program for a full day’s use.

RETAIL: STARTING AT $619.00

DELL CHROMEBOOK 3100 EDUCATION

ASUS C204 CHROMEBOOK The Asus Chromebook C204 is a rugged, thinner, replacement for the Chromebook C202. It looks the same and still features the durability and rubberized chassis with corner bumpers. It’s rated to exceed military-grade MIL-STD-810G durability standards so it can withstand the pressures of the backpack as well as drops of 48 inches. The spilland tamper-resistant keyboard is responsive and has good key travel. The screen is crisp and bright with an optional anti-glare, 178-degree viewing angle touch screen. The four-part modular construction makes this Chromebook very easy to self-service, especially if you qualify for the Asus Self-Maintainer Program.

RETAIL: $269.99 CPU: Intel® Celeron® Dual-Core N4000 Processor, 1.1 GHz (4 M Cache) | Display: 11.6” (16:9) HD+ (1366x768) 60Hz Anti-Glare Panel 45% NTSC (Touchscreen Optional) | RAM: 4GB | Storage: eMMC 16GB/32GB

ACER CHROMEBOOK SPIN 11 The Acer Chromebook Spin 11 is a great Chromebook for both students and teachers. It’s a rugged and capable convertible Chromebook that comes with a Wacom EMR (Electro-Magnetic Resonance) Stylus that delivers impressive accuracy and pressure sensitivity. There are two cameras on the

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Dell’s 3000 series Chromebooks are durable and have configurations that can meet a variety of needs and budgets. Like many Chromebooks, they’re tested to meet or exceed MIL-STD ruggedness standards. The tamper- and spill-resistant keyboards are mounted from the top so they can be replaced easily. These units also have an advertised battery life of 14 hours to get users through an entire day. There are two USB-C ports to support both battery charging and high-speed data transfers. All ports are ruggedized with internal brackets to withstand the rigors of the school day.

STARTING AT $249.00 CPU: Intel® Celeron™ N4000 Processor (2 Core, 2.6GHz, 4M cache, 6W) | Display: 11.6” HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare Non-Touch (touch available) | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 16GB eMMC

Laptops MICROSOFT SURFACE GO A standout laptop at ISTE was the affordable, but very capable, 10-inch Surface Go. Starting at $399, the Surface Go is an excellent balance between tablet and laptop. The pen is just as good as the one that comes with its “big brother” the Surface Pro, including pressure sensitivity and programmable buttons. The Surface Go is a great solution to use as an interactive SMART Board replacement when used in conjunction with a wireless projector connection or flat-panel display. Add the

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CPU: Intel® Pentium™ 4415U Processor | Graphics: Intel® Pentium® 4415U Processor w/Intel® HD Graphics 610 | RAM: 4GB DDR-4 Non-ECC | Screen: 13.3-inch HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare Non-Touch | Storage: 64GB eMMC

HP ENVY 13T The HP Envy 13t is lightweight and has a stylish allmetal chassis and very good performance. The Envy 13t can be configured in a variety of ways to support both staff and students. A recent update includes the option to kill the webcam for privacy, as well as a fingerprint reader for extra security. Although this is a relatively thin device, it’s not short on ports. There are two standard USB 3.0 ports and two USB-C ports, one on each side. There’s also a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card slot. Another great feature is the quality and action of the keyboard. The key travel is excellent for a thinner device. These features make the Envy 13t a very versatile laptop.

RETAIL: STARTING AT $779.00 CPU: Intel 8th Gen. Core i5 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.3-inch, 1080p | Storage: 256GB

PLAYING TO WIN: VIDEO GAMES FINALLY MAKE A LEGITIMATE MOVE INTO THE CLASSROOM

By Chris Aviles Quick: Name the most popular educational video game of all time. Chances are, you said either Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? or The Oregon Trail.

Those games are classic—created last century.

Due to the lack of production and depth of gameplay, the edutainment industry has never really taken off. Where the edutainment industry has fallen short, large studios with big budgets, or triple-A (AAA) video-game companies, have started to step in. Game-based learning—where teachers teach and assess through video games—is being found in more and more classrooms. For those looking to incorporate game-based learning in the classroom, here are the top 10 video games that put the quality of the game first but also offer some educational value.

to explore. It comes with a host of lessons to incorporate into your classroom. Using the new camera and portfolio, students can capture all their learning in Minecraft and export projects to use in a variety of cool ways.

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Assassin’s Creed is a long-running, popular series of video games in which players go back in time as members of the Assassins’ Guild to stop the Templars from exerting control over history. The core games in the series are probably not appropriate for school, but the game’s developer, Ubisoft, has creating a non-violent, educational version of the game with Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

Origins takes place in Egypt and features 75

1

Minecraft: Education Edition is the reigning champion of game-based learning. The game retains the open-world, sandbox charm of traditional Minecraft while incorporating educational tools and lessons that are very engaging.

Minecraft first added lessons in their Chemistry update, which challenges students to “discover the building blocks of matter, combine elements into useful compounds and Minecraft items, and conduct amazing experiments with new lessons and a downloadable world.” Their most recent update, Aquatic, added a new underwater biome

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historical tours that range from five to 25 minutes long. They’re set in the game’s open world and cover mummies, cultivation, the Library of Alexandria, and more.

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Cities: Skylines is like SimCity on steroids.

Cities: Skylines is a highly detailed, in-depth city building simulator that encourages system thinking as students have to balance wicked problems brought on by systems—such as taxes versus citizens’ happiness, waste management, traffic, zoning, pollution, and much more. Beyond system thinking, Cities: Skylines is great at teaching civil engineering, civics, and environmentalism.

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Offworld Trading Company—Congratulations! You’re now the CEO of your very own trading company on Mars. The problem is, the other CEOs want to drive your company into the ground so they can control all of Mars’ valuable resources. Can you defeat the competition as you refine basic materials into more complex sellable goods and take control of the market? Offworld is a real-time strategy game that’s great for teaching the basic principles of economics like supply and demand, markets, finance, and opportunity cost.

It comes with a fun tutorial that helps students get started on the road to economic success.

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SiLAS—SiLAS is an innovative video game that helps students with social-emotional learning through digital role play. First, students

VIDEO GAMES pick an avatar and then act out a social situation in the video game with a teacher or peer. The interaction is recorded live as students play it out. Students and teachers can then play back the interaction to analyze their performance. SiLAS’ onboard curriculum aligns with Universal Design for Learning and Multi-Tiered System of Support standards, but SiLAS is also flexible enough for teachers to use it with their own curricula. SiLAS’ patent-pending technology and focus on active learning separate it from other social skills programs, which are typically paper based and consumed passively. SiLAS’ active lessons have been shown to promote greater engagement, resulting in the development of social skills that carry over into the real world.

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Rocket League—I recently started the nation’s first middle-school esports team. My students compete against other schools in Rocket League. While Rocket League may just be cars playing soccer, the game can be used to teach students all of the lessons they would learn from traditional sports such as leadership, communication, and teamwork. Rocket League is a great game for schools looking to start an esports team.

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DragonBox Math Apps—One of two edutainment video games on this list, DragonBox Math Apps are the best math-as-avideo-game offerings out there. From basic math

through algebra, these apps offer the most fun students will have while learning math.

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CodeCombat, the second edutainment video game on this list, stands out as the best game to come out of the Hour of Code movement. CodeCombat teaches basic Python through a traditional roleplaying game (RPG) format.

Players level up their character and equipment as they defeat enemies through coding. Fans of RPGs will be delighted by CodeCombat.

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Civilization VI—Civ VI is a turn-based strategy game where players control one of dozens of civilizations—such as the Romans, Aztecs, or Chinese—that are trying to carve out their place as the greatest civilization ever. To go along with the riveting, award-winning game play, Civ VI does a masterful job working in educational content around each civilization. Because players can play out historical events on top of the educational game play, Civ VI is a history teacher’s dream game. Civics, religion, government, political science, economics, and math teachers would also get a lot of mileage out of the game.

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Fortnite—Yes, Fortnite. Teachers can try to fight Fortnite’s popularity, or they can embrace what students love and use it to engage them with what they need to learn. This can be done without even using Fortnite in school.

Fortnite-themed writing prompts may reach the most reluctant learner. And those who know a little bit about the game can create some great math problems. For example: a topic of debate in Fortnite is the best way to land. The faster you land, the more likely you are to live because you’ll get a weapon sooner. Want to start an engaging debate with your students? Ask them: “Once you jump out of the Battle Bus, what’s the best angle of approach to take if you want to land at Tilted Towers first?” It may sound obvious (a straight line), but it’s not. There are game mechanics, like gliding and fall rate, that need to be taken into account. Another example: Fortnite is played on a 10 x 10 grid, 100-square map, with 100 players.

Each square on a Fortnite map is 250m x 250m, making the map 2500m x 2500m. It takes 45 seconds to run across a single square horizontally and vertically, and 64 seconds to run across a single square diagonally. With this information, how many math problems can you create for students? You could even teach them how to use this information to calculate when they should start to run for a safe zone.

Chris Aviles is a teacher at Knollwood middle school in the Fair Haven school district in Fair Haven, New Jersey. There he runs the renown Fair Haven Innovates program he created in 2015.

Chris presents and blogs about a variety of topics including gamification, esports, and passion-based learning. You can keep up with Chris at TechedUpTeacher.com.

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20 SITES/APPS EVERY TEACHER SHOULD TRY FOR BACK TO SCHOOL

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30hands Learning

Answer Pad

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A fantastic Student Response System that educators can use to assess students seamlessly, differentiate instruction, and turn their classrooms paperless.

An excellent Learning Management System as well as a digital storytelling app for the 21stcentury learner. www.30hands.com

Are you thinking about making a New Year’s resolution to integrate new, more, or better technology into your teaching in 2019? With school right around the corner, here are a few outstanding tools to consider: *In alphabetical order

Answerables

An innovative cross between Learning Management System and game-based learning that can be integrated into any curriculum to teach any subject.

www.theanswerpad.com

www.answerables.com

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4

By David Kapuler

BoomWriter

BoomWriter is a Google for Education Partner that lets teachers conduct fiction, nonfiction, and vocabulary-focused group writing activities. In addition to motivating students with an interactive platform and highly engaging online environment, BoomWriter provides teachers the perfect vehicle to deliver individualized feedback and writing instruction. Teachers can also select from BoomWriter’s wide range of offerings from quick and easy to create homework assignments in any subject to class story-writing activities resulting in each student becoming a published author!

Book Creator The world’s leading ebook creator for education that can be used in a wide variety of ways.

C

www.boomwriter.com M

Y

www.bookcreator.com

CM

MY

6

Buncee

CY

Buncee is a fantastic learning tool and digital canvas that educators are using in a wide variety of ways (e.g., flipped classroom, project based learning, digital storytelling, etc.). Educators are loving new features such as: Ideas Labs, Boards, and Immersive Reader. Best of all, the educational portal allows teachers to create and manage students and also offers a wide variety of educational resources and templates to help educators integrate Buncee into their curriculum. app.edu.buncee.com

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CMY

K

Chronicle Cloud With this cutting-edge all-in-one iOS app, teachers can take notes, assess students, provide feedback, and more. www.apps.apple.com

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EDpuzzle

EDpuzzle is a wonderful website that educators around the world are using to “flip” their classroom or lesson. With this tool any user can take a video and make it their own by adding questions or voice to assess their audience’s learning. This makes it easy to differentiate instruction. Also, EDpuzzle has a fantastic online curriculum that makes it easy for educators to find resources to meet their needs.

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www.edpuzzle.com

ClassHook One of my favorite sites around for finding educational videos and video clips for the classroom. www.classhook.com

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Education Galaxy

A new site for grades K–6 that uses game-based learning to help students in a wide variety of subjects. Education Galaxy is also great for assessing students’ needs and for integrating self-paced learning.

IFP AV Tech Ad - Aug 2019 Bleeds.pdf 1 8/13/2019 11:09:09 AM

11 GooseChase A wonderful new site that makes it easy to create digital scavenger hunts for the classroom. www.goosechase.com

www.educationgalaxy.com SITES/APPS, CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 ❱

Connect to an interactive world.

Introducing Optoma Creative Touch interactive flat panels.

Packed with useful annotation tools, Optoma Creative Touch interactive flat panels combine 4K UHD resolution and 20-point multi-touch capabilities to make interactive collaboration easy in classrooms, lecture halls, boardrooms and other shared spaces.

86”

Product features: • • • • • • •

4K UHD resolution Up to 20-point multi-touch capabilities Ready-to-use whiteboard and annotation tools Blue Light Filter, anti-glare glass and wide viewing angle Plug and play compatibility with Windows, Mac and Chrome OS devices BYOD collaboration—wireless content sharing via iMirror and ScreenShare Built-in Cloud Drive with easy access to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive

Learn more about Optoma Creative Touch interactive flat panels at Optoma.com. © Copyright 2019 Optoma USA

75” 65”

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20 SITES/APPS

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I Know It

A fantastic site for interactive math practice for grades K–5.

Also, educators can assign lessons, assess students, and differentiate instruction.

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www.iknowit.com

Oodlu An innovative new app/site that lets educators create “arcade” style games for their students.

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Otus

An excellent all-in-one mobile learning solution for schools that combines the best features of a Learning Management System and a Database Management System. www.otus.com

www.oodlu.org

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Storyboard That

Storyboard That is a popular website that teachers are using to integrate technology in their classrooms. It’s great for project-based learning, graphic organizers, digital storytelling, writing prompts, and much more. Teachers will also find lots of lesson plans, assignments, and templates to choose from. www.storyboardthat.com

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Socrates

A great new site where educators can assess students and differentiate instruction through a unique game-based learning system. www.unbouncepages.com

19 TypeTastic

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Super Teacher Worksheets

This is one of my favorite sites for finding educational resources, worksheets, printables, puzzles, and more, in a wide variety of subjects.

ThinkFluency

ThinkFluency is an innovative new iOS app that lets teachers easily assess students’ reading fluency. Best of all, the scoring is done in real time and ThinkFluency generates detailed reports that can then be shared with others. ThinkFluency helps create individualized instruction plans for students, saves teachers time, and makes assessment super easy.

www.superteacherworksheets.com

www.thinkfluency.com

An excellent K–12 site for educators integrating keyboarding/typing into the curriculum. Best of all are the wide variety of resources and the ability to track student progress. www.edu.typetastic.com

20 YoTeach YoTeach is one of my favorite new sites for creating a backchannel chat. This is a great way to gauge your student engagement and increase student participation. www.yoteachapp.com

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Much has changed since the first issue of T&L, then called Classroom Computer News, was printed.

From the Altair 8800 and dot matrix printers, to 2400 baud modems and the Oregon trail, to the Internet, the iPhone and Twitter, the editors and writers have covered it all. In honor of this anniversary, we will be looking back at some pivotal writings that mark important moments in the history of education technology.

This month, we picked an excerpt from an interview with Steve Jobs and how education was an essential part of the mission of Apple, which was mentioned on the cover of that first issue.

GETTY IMAGES/ MICHAEL L ABRAMSON

THE KIDS CAN’T WAIT Excerpts from an Oral History Interview with Steve Jobs

Interviewer: Daniel Morrow, Executive Director, The Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program. April, 1995 For the full interview, go to www.americanhistory.si.edu/comphist/sj1.html SJ: There were two kinds of customers. There were the educational aspects of Apple and then there were sort of the non-educational. On the non-educational side, Apple was two things. One, it was the first "lifestyle" computer and, secondly, it's hard to remember how bad it was in the early 1980's. With IBM taking over the world with the PC, with DOS out there; it was far worse than the Apple II. They tried to copy the Apple II and they had done a pretty bad job. You needed to know a lot. Things were kind of slipping backwards.

You saw the 1984 commercial. Macintosh was basically this relatively small

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company in Cupertino, California, taking on the Goliath IBM and saying, "Wait a minute, your way is wrong. This is not the way we want computers to go. This is not the legacy we want to leave. This is not what we want our kids to be learning.

This is wrong and we are going to show you the right way to do it and here it is.

It's called Macintosh and it is so much better. It's going to beat you and you're going to do it."

And that's what Apple stood for. That was one of the things. The other thing was a little bit further back in time. One of the things that built Apple II's was

WE SAW THE RATE AT WHICH THIS WAS HAPPENING AND THE RATE AT WHICH THE SCHOOL BUREAUCRACIES WERE DECIDING TO BUY A COMPUTER FOR THE SCHOOL AND IT WAS REAL SLOW. WE REALIZED THAT A WHOLE GENERATION OF KIDS WAS GOING TO GO THROUGH THE SCHOOL BEFORE THEY EVEN GOT THEIR FIRST COMPUTER SO WE THOUGHT THE KIDS CAN’T WAIT.

DM: That's a great story.

SJ: That's part of what Apple was about.

GETTY IMAGES/JUSTIN SULLIVAN

schools buying Apple II's; but even so there was only about 10% of the schools that even had one computer in them in 1979, I think it was. When I grew up I was lucky because I was in Silicon Valley.

When I was ten or eleven I saw my first computer. It was down at NASA Ames (Research Center). I didn't see the computer, I saw a terminal and it was theoretically a computer on the other end of the wire. I fell in love with it. I saw my first desktop computer at Hewlett-Packard which was called the 9100A. It was the first desktop in the world. It ran BASIC and APL, I think. I fell in love with it. And I thought, looking at these statistics in 1979, I thought if there was just one computer in every school, some of the kids would find it.

It will change their life.

We saw the rate at which this was happening and the rate at which the school bureaucracies were deciding to buy a computer for the school and it was real slow. We realized that a whole generation of kids was going to go through the school before they even got their first computer so we thought the kids can't wait. We wanted to donate a computer to every school in America. It turns out that there are about a hundred thousand schools in America, about ten thousand high schools, about ninety thousand K through 8. We couldn't afford that as a company. But we studied the law and it turned out that there was a law already on the books, a national law that said that if you donated a piece of scientific instrumentation or computer to a university for educational and research purposes, you can take an extra tax deduction.

That basically means you don't make any money, you lose some but you don't lose too much. You lose about ten percent.

We thought that if we could apply that law, enhance it a little bit to extend it down to K through 8 and remove the research requirements so it was just educational, then we could give a hundred thousand computers away, one to each school in America, and it would cost our company ten million dollars, which was a lot of money to us at that time but it was less than a hundred million dollars if we didn't have that. We decided that we were willing to do that.

It was one of the most incredible things I've ever done. We found our local representative, Pete Stark over in East Bay and Pete and a few of us sat down and we wrote a bill. We literally drafted a bill to make these changes. We said "If this law changes we will do-

nate a hundred thousand computers at a cost of ten million dollars to us." We called it "the kids can't wait bill.” Pete Stark introduced it in the House and Senator Danforth introduced it in the Senate, and I refused to hire any lobbyists and I went back to Washington myself and I actually walked the halls of Congress for about two weeks, which was the most incredible thing. I met probably two-thirds of the House and over half of the Senate myself and sat down and talked with them.

It was very interesting. I found that the House Members are routinely less intelligent than the Senate and they were much more knee jerk to their constituencies--which I found initially quite offensive but came to understand later to be a really good idea. Maybe that's what the framers wanted. They weren't supposed to think too much, they were supposed to represent. The Senators are supposed to think a little more. The Bill passed the House with the largest favorable majority of any tax bill in the history of this country. What happened was it was during Carter's lame duck session, and Bob Dole who was then Speaker of the House, killed it. He would not bring it to the floor and we ran out of time. We would have had to have started the process over in the next year, and I gave up.

However, fortunately something unique happened. California thought this was such a good idea they came to us and said "You don't have to do a thing.

We're going to pass a bill that says 'Since you operate in the State of California and pay California Tax, we're going to pass this bill that says that if the federal bill doesn't pass, then you get the tax break in California.’ You can do it in California, which is ten thousand schools.” So we did. We gave away ten thousand computers in the State of California. We got a whole bunch of the software companies to give away software. We trained teachers for free and monitored this thing over the next few years. It was phenomenal. One of my great experiences and one of my biggest regrets was that we really tried to do this on a national level and got so close. I don't think Bob Dole even knew what he was doing, but he really unfortunately screwed up here.

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GETTY IMAGES/KLAUS VEDFELT

Repurposing School Libraries As Vibrant Learning Hubs and Centers of Change

By Annie Galvin Teich

O

ne of the issues that district leaders tackled in Philadelphia at the June Tech & Learning Leadership Summit was how to change pedagogy to support new kinds of learning that technology has enabled. Changing ideas about technology, instruction, and learning have expanded our learning expectations. This has led some district leaders to repurpose the role of school libraries as learning hubs and centers of change.

Leaders in Dallas (TX) ISD have created a road map for changing pedagogy by reorienting school libraries and restructuring how they support new

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types of learning. Planning teams began with the following question: How do we create an infrastructure that assigns value to learning anywhere/ anytime? Also, how do we use professional learning experiences to shift culture? They saw that they could use school libraries to animate both of these opportunities.

Shannon Terry, Dallas ISD’s executive director of professional and digital learning, says they have expanded their digital ecosystem to accommodate shifts in pedagogy and personal learning. “We now have the language that allows us to speak about the core competencies required to move the needle for instructional coaches,” she says. “This provides the lever for change.” Dallas district leaders view libraries as a key component of building capacity

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for new types of learning experiences for both students and teachers.

FINDING A WAY TO TAKE ON CHANGE TOGETHER Wake County (NC) Public Schools had been struggling with their libraries. For six consecutive years, they retired 12 librarians a year and replaced them with technology staff. Most school libraries have a librarian, space, and a program, but the district has had to redefine what a strong library looks like today, choose appropriate tools, and determine how to integrate technology to support new types of learning for students and teachers.

Fear of change and dated ideas about how libraries should function were initial impediments.

“We had to find a way to work together by focusing on the beliefs we have about kids,” says Margo Gaddis, Wake County CTO. Using Title IV monies and professional development as levers, the district established a media/library committee at each school and went through an assessment process.

The teams assessed school needs and determined how to use new shared capabilities provided by professional learning opportunities to create a strong library program for shared learning. The district created a new librarian/media specialist evaluation and built training to showcase what this reimagined role would look like.

Linwood (NJ) Public Schools is also working to rebuild their libraries as learning hubs, says Lori Care, supervisor of curriculum and instruction.

“Our libraries had been victims of multiple budget cuts, but thanks to a strong community push, we’re now working to rebuild our program,” she

REPURPOSING THE LIBRARY AS A HUB FOR TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND STUDENT-DRIVEN LEARNING GIVES STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TOOLS AND A COMMON EXPERIENCE TO MANAGE CHANGES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING.

says. Their first step was to find the appropriate modern-day librarian to be housed in the space. In one school, they pulled a teacher from the classroom who had been working toward her library media specialist certification.

“This has been quite successful,” says Care.

“Because she’s been a classroom teacher, she has a firm understanding of how to support curriculum goals.” Care says the district intends to continue rebuilding the library program to create new learning hubs that support ongoing changes in teaching and learning.

There is definitely a role for technology in reimagining libraries as learning commons and centers of innovation. Repurposing the library as a hub for teacher professional development and student-driven learning gives students and teachers tools and a common experience to manage changes in teaching and learning.

BACK OFFICE BUSINESS Leader in Project Based Learning Offers Expanded Resources Shifting from traditional instruction to project based learning (PBL) is a journey of professional learning and reflection for a teacher—one that can be tough to navigate without the right support. So PBLWorks, the leader in project based learning professional development, is introducing a new, free step-by-step ebook called “Your Project Based Learning Journey: A Guide for Teachers.” Based on educational research and the experience of guiding tens of thousands of educators through the process over the past decade, this guide covers questions teachers are likely to have about PBL as they start out.

The guide covers the following stages: Stage 1: Discover the what and why of PBL Stage 2: Learn how to design and implement PBL Stage 3: Implement your project in the classroom Stage 4: Reflect on lessons learned and plan next steps Stage 5: Share and lead to help others on their PBL journey.

To view the downloadable guide, visit http://go.pblworks.org/pbl-journeyguide-teachers.

Swing Education Expands to Chicago to Help Schools Address the Substitute Teacher Shortage Swing Education, an on-demand marketplace for substitute teachers, has expanded its services to Chicago and surrounding areas in Cook County, bringing a much-needed solution to schools and districts grappling with the substitute teacher shortage. According to a 2018 report from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, 85 percent of Illinois superintendents reported

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that the teacher shortage was a problem—an increase from the previous year. About 65 percent—or five out of every eight superintendents— also reported a “serious problem” with substitute teacher shortages. Many were unable to fill positions with qualified personnel, resulting in numerous classes being cancelled. Swing Education relieves schools and districts of the burden of substitute teacher recruiting, support, and payment. The company also makes it easy for schools and districts to cover absences quickly and easily—it takes schools between 30 and 60 seconds to post a request on Swing’s platform, and substitute teachers can accept assignments via text message or the company’s web-based app.

Clayton County (GA) Public Schools Awards Boxlight with PD Contract During the 2019–20 academic year, EOS Education (EOS), a K–12 professional development subsidiary of Boxlight, will provide a comprehensive program of training, professional development, and ongoing support for educators in Clayton County (GA) Public Schools (CCPS). The comprehensive professional development program has a multi-method approach for online, onsite, and consultancy training within its whole-class learning solution. These three programs will facilitate the effective implementation of Boxlight classroom solutions and provide teachers with the necessary skills, knowledge, and best practices to implement these technologies in their classrooms. In the spring of 2018, CCPS chose Boxlight for an $18 million digital classroom refresh project, which involved installing its innovative MimioClassroom solution suite in approximately 3,200 classrooms in 38 elementary, 15 middle, and 12 high schools. The installation was completed at the end of February 2019.

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING Schools around the country have been setting up teams to assess threats posed by students who display signs of violence. Despite consensus on the benefits of the approach, school officials say they’re limited in what they can do by privacy concerns, a lack of resources, and limits on what they can communicate once a student leaves school. The goal of screening programs at a growing number of schools is not only to flag and address threats raised by students, but also to track and manage any risk they might pose to themselves and others. Under protocols endorsed by the Secret Service and the US Department of Education, school districts are encouraged to set up a threat assessment team that includes at least a school administrator, a mental health professional such as a school psychologist, and a school resource officer or another law enforcement representative. Schools are coming under pressure to have threat assessment systems in place because of new state laws and court rulings that have held school systems liable, according to Stephen Brock, a professor at the School Psychology Program at California State University, Sacramento. Students who engage in threatening behaviors need to face consequences, but any disciplinary response must also be accompanied by intervention to address the root causes, Brock says.

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SETDA’s New Educational Resources Tool Gathers Reviews across States

Thanks to a new tool designed by the State Educational Technology Directors Association, education leaders across America can now view detailed reviews of educational resources targeting various subjects. The tool, which SETDA calls its instructional materials dashboard, contains reviews from 12 states participating in the program and focuses on secondary math and language arts materials—from textbooks

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Managing School Threats Is an Ongoing Struggle

by established publishers to open educational resources. The association says this is a pilot program and resources for other subjects and from other states will eventually be added. While many states already publish reviews on their own websites, SETDA’s dashboard enables leaders to use a single search to access evaluations made by multiple states and to find vetted resources quickly. This can help educators make better and faster decisions about which materials their schools use.

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FCC Changes Rules and Puts Educational Spectrum Up for Auction

Rural school districts had hoped to close “homework gaps” via access to wireless spectrum set aside for educational use 50 years ago. Those hopes were dashed recently when the FCC revised its rules and decided to sell licenses to that bandwidth at open auction. At issue is a small slice of electromagnetic spectrum—the frequencies that carry wireless signals for everything from remote controls to radio—that the government had carved out for instructional television and later designated Educational Broadband Service, or EBS, for the internet age. Now, on the cusp of issuing a bunch of new EBS licenses that

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will cover huge swaths of rural America, the FCC decided to turn EBS over to the free market. Even after the Department of Education urged the FCC commissioner to “maintain and modernize the current educational priority of EBS,” the decision remained unchanged.

“It’s surprising to me that the Commission says to the Department of Education and to the representatives of rural America, ‘We don’t care about your perspective,’” says Reg Leichty, a legal and policy consultant for CoSN. Backers of the FCC’s decision, however, call it an overdue fix for an antiquated program that tied up a valuable resource with red tape and never lived up to its educational mission.

Today’s CTE Investments Help Boost Student Success

There is a renewed focus on CTE amid broader debates about the value of college and the student debt crisis as well as the need for viable postsecondary alternatives. In 35 states, manufacturing remains the top industry for workers without a bachelor’s degree, according to the most recent statistics from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, the federal government provides almost $1.3 billion a year for CTE through the US Department of Education, supporting instruction for elementary and secondary students as well as adults. The Education Department’s Pathways to STEM Apprenticeship program is another example of a broader interest in CTE. The ED awarded a share of $3 million to six states to improve high school CTE students’ access to post-secondary education and STEM careers. State departments of education and private foundations also provide funding and program content for CTE. These efforts, along with other significant investments in CTE, enable students to enter college better prepared or to graduate with technical skills that can offer solid footing for a viable career.

WHAT’SNEW TECH & LEARNING ROUNDS UP A SUMMARY OF NEW TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Maxell, Ltd. (maxellproav.com) launched three 3LCD laser projectors. The Maxell MP-WU5603 and MP-WX5603 feature 6,000 ANSI lumen brightness, while the Maxell MP-WU5503 features 5,000 ANSI lumen brightness. These projectors offer 20,000 hours of maintenancefree operation, and up to 50,000 hours with Long Life 2 mode.

BenQ (www.benq.com) hosted live demonstrations of its family of RP Series Interactive Flat Panels (IFP), Blue Core 4K UHD HDR laser projectors, PointWrite interactive technology, and the newly launched secure and software-free WDC10-C USB-C InstaShow wireless presentation system at ISTE 2019, all designed to make collaboration and learning exciting and intuitive.

POWERUP Toys (www.poweruptoys.com) released STEM kits POWERUP RACERS and POWERUP 4.0. With POWERUP RACERS, students learn the principles of flight while sharpening their problem-solving skills as they fold their own paper vehicle out of a sheet of paper, clip on the POWERUP motor, and drive, float, or fly their creations.

Boxlight Corporation’s (www.boxlight.com) MimioClarity, includes either a two-speaker or fourspeaker configuration. It is designed to deliver sound proportionally for students not only in the front of the classroom but seated in the back, while amplified front-ofclassroom audio will also no longer be carried into adjacent classrooms.

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM.

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hardware

The Pilot X, the mobile addition to HoverCam’s Pilot (www.hovercam.com) series, is a tablet-based, battery-operated, wireless digital teaching station that’s designed for ultra-mobility.

The tablet can be charged while docked in the station or be removed to grant teachers more flexibility around the classroom.

WHAT’S NEW

Dremel DigiLab (digilab.dremel.com) partnered with Mosaic Manufacturing to bring multi-color and multi-material 3D printing to the Dremel DigiLab 3D45 3D printer. The Mosaic Palette 2 Pro S enables the Dremel DigiLab 3D45 to combine flexible materials, soluble materials, ridge materials and a different colored materials in a single print.

Promethean (www.prometheanworld.com) announced the next-generation of its awardwinning ActivPanel. Following extensive user research, Promethean designed the ActivPanel Elements Series to deliver innovation and easeof-use that matters to teachers and students, as well as the security and manageability trusted by IT professionals and administrators.

Epson (www.epson.com/education) introduced the BrightLink 1485Fi and the BrightLink 1480Fi ultra short-throw interactive laser displays.

Leveraging a virtually maintenance-free laser light source, these ultra short-throw, 1080p Full HD laser displays offer new 16:6 ultra-wide display options for turning virtually any flat surface into an instant, ultra-wide interactive digital whiteboard.

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM. WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM

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WHAT’S NEW

hardware

The da Vinci Color Mini Printer uses CMY inkjet technology and offers printing in millions of colors, free 3D modeling software, 3D model gallery, and more. Additionally, XYZprinting (www.xyzprinting. com/en-US/product/da-vinci-color-mini) launched its STEAM 3D Education Program to give away 300 printers to select K-12 schools.

They will accept applications until September 5th.

DFRobot (www.dfrobot.com) creates comprehensive learning kits for students to engage with in the classroom. DFRobot’s robotics kits , created using Arduino/ micro:bit/Raspberry Pi and DIY robots, offer pupils a coding-free method of developing skills associated with STEM subjects and bridge the gap between theoretical and practical coding and electronics knowledge.

Epson (www.epson.com). The

Moverio BT-300FPV Drone Edition first-person view (FPV) smart glasses are ideal for STEM classroom activities that leverage a drone. Providing a transparent display that makes it easy to view a drone’s video feed and key flight statistics, the Moverio BT-300FPV Drone Edition helps students keep the aircraft in sight.

After two years of competitive evaluations, the New Zealand Ministry of Education awarded Edsby (edsby.com) a contract to build and run the country’s Te Rito National Learner Repository and Data Exchange, formerly the Student Information Sharing Initiative (SISI). Edsby will be rolled out to all 2,500 public schools countrywide.

Casio America, Inc. (www.casio.com) announced the new Superior Series of LampFree Projectors. Ideal for the education market where WUXGA projectors are becoming the standard, Casio’s Superior Series of LampFree projectors offers brightness up to 4000 lumens, full HD resolution with crisp images and vibrant colors and a 1.7X zoom lens.

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM.

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hardware & software

WHAT’S NEW

BACK TO SCHOOL

PRODUCT SHOWCASE Check out the latest back-to-school offerings from our Tech & Learning partners.

(www.powergistics.com) With PowerGistics, schools save time, gain valuable classroom space and save on repairing and replacing devices. The open concept allows teachers to confirm devices are plugged in and accounted for while the unique cord management allows students to manage their own pick up and drop off. Teachers can spend their time teaching rather than worrying about managing devices. Solutions available in multiple sizes and number of shelves in desktop, mobile, stationary or wall mount units.

(www.catchon.com) CatchOn is an expansive data analytics tool that compiles real-time data on schoolowned devices, both inside and outside the classroom, enabling districts to make data-informed decisions about the apps and online tools their educators and students are using. CatchOn’s customizable dashboards allow district and school leaders to see the information that is relevant and actionable for their role.

Providing data down to the class level, CatchOn delivers actionable insights that boost achievement and inform ROI.

(www.netsupportsoftware.com) NetSupport is a market-leading developer of award-winning education IT solutions for schools and districts. Discover how our complete IT Network Management suite, NetSupport DNA, can help you manage school-wide IT, maintain a safe learning environment, and boost digital citizenship; or how our Classroom Management solution, NetSupport School, can help enhance the quality of instruction with real-time management of and collaboration with any student device in the classroom including Windows, Chrome, iOS, Mac, and Android.

(www.gale.com/product-enhancements) Gale, a Cengage company, is making enhancements across its portfolio of products, improving the functionality and user experience of its research tools to make its content more discoverable.

These updates support Gale product users with new, user-driven features that promote exploration and discovery—all within a consistent platform experience.

For more information visit: gale.com/ product-enhancements.

(www.typingagent.com) Typing Agent is the leading online K12 keyboarding and technology program for schools and districts. Offering an engaging interface for students, keyboarding curriculums for K-2 and 3-12, that meets Common Core State Standards and reinforces common blends, gradelevel words and is completely adaptive, enriching typing videos and exciting gamification features that boost students learning! Typing Agent also offers a Digital Citizenship Curriculum, a Learn to Type Code app, Spanish curriculum, best in class reporting, ADA features and more.

(www.discoveryeducation.com) Introducing Discovery Education Experience, a simple-to-use K-12 learning platform that combines dynamic curated curriculum resources with on-demand teaching strategies, personalized for your needs as an educator. This collection of real world educational content brings excitement and relevancy to the topics you teach, so all students have opportunities to unlock their true potential.

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM. WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM

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WHAT’S NEW

software & online

ACHIEVE3000 DIFFERENTIATED FICTION

(www.achieve3000.com/ differentiatedfiction) Achieve3000’s Differentiated Fiction is designed for K-8 students.

Each story is precision differentiated and contains five to seven engaging “episodes” to inspire and spark a joy of reading in all students. Reading fiction is an effective method of improving vocabulary and language skills while boosting emotional intelligence and social skills.

ADOBE SPARK EDUCATION (spark.adobe.com) Adobe Spark now supports live collaboration through the web application.

Students and educators can begin a project and invite others to work on it by adding their email and collaborating to make edits. By collaborating in Spark, students have the opportunity to cultivate creative problem solving and visual storytelling skills.

AGE OF LEARNING

(www.ageoflearning.com) Age of Learning launched Reading Level Assessments and other enhancements to its award-winning digital library and literacy platform ReadingIQ, which helps match children 12 and under with the right books for their level and interests from nearly 10,000 expert-curated titles and includes Accelerated Reader, Lexile, and Guided Reading.

ALIVE STUDIOS CLASSROOMS ALIVE!

(alivestudiosco.com) Alive Studios has unveiled Classrooms alive! for pre-K and kindergarten classrooms.

This researchbased supplemental curriculum provides a multi-sensory learning experience where 26 animals come alive in 3D and interact with students to help them learn foundational skills for reading and math. Classrooms alive! promotes knowledge retention and improves student outcomes.

BYTES OF LEARNING ULTRAKEY ONLINE

(www.bytesoflearning.com/ultrakey-online) UltraKey Online is a media-rich experience using 3D graphic animation, voice-supported instruction and video, all achieved using HTML5 and JavaScript – no installs or plugins. The software has been engineered and proven effective on iPads with keyboards and Chromebooks, during extensive classroom use.

CLASSCRAFT STORY MODE SEASON 1

(www.classcraft.com) Classcraft: Season 1 is a part of Classcraft’s new “Story Mode,” which is designed to help teachers improve student engagement, foster a positive school climate, and promote social emotional learning (SEL) through a series of stories set within the Classcraft world. Season 1 explores themes of selfdiscovery and human relationships.

CODE WITH GOOGLE

(edu.google.com) Code with Google combines Google’s free curriculum and programs that build coding skills—from beginner level to advanced—to help students succeed. Teachers can integrate CS First into their classroom, guide their high school students to the free code learning app Grasshopper to learn Javascript, or share CS scholarship opportunities with students.

ED LEADERSHIP SIMS

(www.edleadershipsims.com) Ed Leadership Sims offers online simulations that allow school leaders to make decisions and experience consequences in risk-free scenarios ranging from supporting transgender students to budget crises. Their newest simulation scenarios were developed in collaboration with the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, Gwinnett County Public Schools, and other institutions.

FRESHGRADE NEXT

(www.freshgrade.com) FreshGrade launched FreshGrade Next.

The platform gives administrators, teachers, students and families access to a communication system that simplifies interaction and emphasizes engagement.

FreshGrade Next is a learning network for the age of instant access, combining elements of lesson planners, portfolios, communication systems and gradebooks into a seamless experience.

GAGGLE AND CONTENTKEEPER

(www.gaggle.net) & (www.contentkeeper.com) Gaggle has partnered with ContentKeeper Technologies to create Gaggle Safety for ContentKeeper, a solution that empowers districts to provide a stronger digital safety net to protect students on and off campus.

Gaggle Safety for ContentKeeper integrates ContentKeeper’s Web Filtering and Security Platform for schools with the Gaggle student safety solution.

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM.

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software & online GATHERIQ

(www.sas.com) GatherIQ is a free app and website that teaches students about the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals) for 2030 and inspires them to take action to make the world a better place. The Global Goals address many critical challenges, including poverty, hunger, gender inequality, lack of water and sanitation, and education inequality.

GOODREADER 5 ENHANCEMENTS

(www.goodreader.com) GoodReader 5 delivers an interface that makes viewing documents on an iPhone or iPad even easier. Users can now view two documents or different sections of the same document simultaneously. This feature is useful for comparing documents such as drafts of contracts or researching for homework assignments.

ITSLEARNING UPDATES

(itslearning.com) The newest release of the itslearning learning management system (LMS) has improved the workflow for OneDrive and G Suite users, added more security features such as password protection for tests, and made text easier to read. It also adds new functionality for communication and for viewing event details.

JAMF PARENT IOS

(www.jamf.com) Jamf announced that the Jamf Parent iOS app is now available. The free app empowers

parents to manage their children’s schoolissued devices, if they’re managed with Jamf Pro or Jamf School. With Jamf Parent, parents can schedule homework, manage one or several kids on the go, and more.

ILLUMINATE ENHANCEMENTS UPDATE

(www.illuminateed.com) Illuminate Education announced significant enhancements to its eduCLIMBER, DnA, SchoolCity SUITE, Achievement

Dashboard and Inspect PLUS products.

To better support data-informed decision making, interoperability, efficiency and engagement, Illuminate Education added features such as an enhanced item bank, deeper integration with Google, assessment building, and more.

ILLUMINATE AND FASTBRIDGE LEARNING

(www.illuminateed.com) Illuminate Education has acquired FastBridge Learning, a research-driven assessment platform that transforms the way teachers measure and monitor student progress. The company provides effective formative assessments and assessment platforms, data that informs instruction, and the ability for educators to build strong systems of support within their districts.

LEXIA LEARNING

(www.lexialearning.com) Lexia Learning added volumes of new content to accelerate literacy from phonological awareness to comprehension. With three additional levels of activities for grades

WHAT’S NEW

3–5 and over 100 new Lexia Lessons and Lexia Skill Builders, the expanded version of Core5 has increased focus on advanced literacy skills for upper elementary students.

LITTLEBITS CLASSROOM

(classroom.littlebits.com/welcome) littleBits Classroom is a new platform to make lesson planning easy and turn-key for teachers, ensuring more engaging, hands-on STEAM fun for ALL students. The platform includes lesson plans and activities across a wide-spectrum of subject areas, from computer science and math to art design and music.

KINDERLAB ROBOTICS ADVANCED CODING EXTENSION SET

(shop.kinderlabrobotics.com) KinderLab Robotics announced the Advanced Coding Extension Set, and an accompanying curriculum guide, Ask and Imagine, are now shipping. The Advanced Coding Extension Set creates a bridge between KIBO’s core pre-K to 2nd-grade curriculum and the computer science and engineering work students will do in upper elementary and beyond.

MIND RESEARCH INSTITUTE ST MATH CHATS

(www.mindresearch.org) MIND Research Institute announced a suite of lessons within its flagship solution ST Math. ST Math Chats are 25- to 30-minute lessons that utilize 1:1 or 2:1 technology to create an interactive learning and sharing experience that begins with visual models or puzzles.

MICROSOFT EDUCATION RELEASES

(educationblog.microsoft.com) Microsoft Education announced new

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM. WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM

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software & online

ON DEMAND

technology to support inclusive, student-centered learning in the classroom. Windows 10 and Office365 accessibility features including new voices in 50 different languages for Narrator; Immersive Reader is now available in Minecraft: Education Edition; Presenter Coach in PowerPoint gives on-screen guidance on pacing, and more.

Check out the following resources from our partner sites:

WEBINARS How to Launch an Instructional Technology Strategy Sponsored by: OverDrive Education

Strategies for Building Proficient K-12 Writers Sponsored by: Voyager Sopris

NEARPOD

Content, patience and a plan: How to launch an instructional technology strategy

(nearpod.com) Nearpod launched Time to Climb, a new game-based activity that allows students to compete across various subjects through interactive visualizations to assess comprehension and increase engagement in the classroom.

The activity asks students to answer multiple choice questions against the clock, visualizing their progress and understanding through interactive simulations.

Sponsored by: OverDrive Education

Strategies for Delivering Required ESSA Reporting and Supporting Student Success Sponsored by: BrightBytes

8 Ways Teachers Can Incorporate Technology into the Classroom Sponsored by: Voyager Sopris Check techlearning.com for updates

OVERDRIVE EDUCATION SORA

(company.overdrive.com/education) OverDrive Education released data detailing a dramatic increase in reading

by K-12 students. Ebook and audiobook reading increased over 240% when students connected their Sora classroom reading app to their local public library versus students solely accessing their school collection.

AD INDEX COMPANY PAGE Boxlight 13 Gale 44 Hall Research Lightspeed Systems

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OZOBOT CLASSROOM

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(ozobot.com) Launching this fall, Ozobot Classroom is a STEAM learning management system that will enhance the classroom experience and help teachers manage lessons and student engagement. This new platform offers teachers a more effective path to introducing coding skills to their

MERGE 9 NetSupport 26 Optoma Technology

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Peerless-AV 5 Powergistics 2 Securly 31 SJSU School of Information

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Typing Agent

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Vernier Software

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students and creates more opportunity for collaboration in the classroom.

PITSCO EDUCATION & SMARTGURLZ SMART BUDDIES

(info.pitsco.com/ smart-buddiesnotifications) Pitsco Education, in collaboration with SmartGurlz, announced the launch of Smart Buddies – the newest addition to its K-12 coding and robotics continuum. Smart Buddies is a new coding solution accompanied by a curriculum that focuses on increasing diversity awareness for third- to fifth-grade students throughout the US and Canada.

PUBLICSCHOOLWORKS

(corp.publicschoolworks.com) PublicSchoolWORKS announced several enhancements to its Staff Training System that will enable school administrators to easily monitor training progress and make decisions based on data to ensure teachers and staff are prepared to meet today’s school safety challenges. The latest enhancements available make training completion data more accessible and actionable.

SQUIRRELS LLC. DITTO CONNECT

(goditto.com) Squirrels LLC released Ditto Connect for Chrome OS, an app that enables Chromebook screen mirroring to a number of receiver types that are not natively compatible. Ditto allows hardware from competing technology companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft to wirelessly connect for screen and audio sharing.

FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM.

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