EdTech Show Daily - Feb. 9, 2011

AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT AFFILIATED WITH TCEA

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

Oser Communications Group

COMPASSLEARNING CEV’S CURRICULUM BRINGS 21ST CENTURY SAVES TEACHERS TIME SKILLS TO THE CLASSROOM IN THE CLASSROOM

By Melanie Pritchett, Director of Education Policy for CompassLearning

Austin

‘CHILDREN SHOULD BE EDUCATED, NOT SCORED,’ SAYS COMPANY FOUNDER

BRITANNICA UNIQUE IN ITS ABILITY TO ADDRESS MANY EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Michael Ross, Senior Vice President/Education General Manager, reveals Britannica’s new learning tools.

In an era characterized by an indisputable crisis in American education, few topics generate more excitement and diverse

Between designing assignments, creating lesson plans and materials, developing learning activities, and correlating them back to state standards, one of the biggest challenges today’s teachers face in the classroom is not having enough time.

Eugene Galanter, Ph.D.; Co-founder, Children’s Progress; Emeritus Professor, Columbia University; Quondam Director, Psychophysics Laboratory talks about what makes Children’s Progress unique.

ESD: Tell our readers a little about your company. What’s your main line of business?

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SMART INTRODUCES NEW INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD AT TCEA

EdTech Show Daily talks to Nancy Knowlton, CEO, about how SMART Technologies can help teachers in the classroom.

STATE FUNDED ONLINE COURSES AVAILABLE

ESD: What new products is SMART showing at TCEA?

Senate Bill 1788 of the 80th Texas Legislature established a state virtual school network to provide supplemental, online courses for Texas students in grades 9-12. The Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) courses are provided

by Texas school districts, open-enrollment

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ADAPTIVE CURRICULUM FOCUSES ON TEXAS SCIENCE STANDARDS

Jim Bowler, CEO of Adaptive Curriculum, discusses the Texas Science adoption and education trends.

ESD: Tell our readers about Adaptive Curriculum. What is your main line of business?

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TEACHING ESL WITH ĒNO™

BY POLYVISION

EdTech Show Daily talks to Angela Brotherton, ESL Teacher at Pittsburg Primary School (Texas), about how ēno™ by PolyVision helped her overcome classroom challenges.

ESD: How can you best describe Pittsburgh Primary?

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ENGAGING LEARNERS WITH WHITEBOARD RESOURCES AND TALKING E-BOOKS

CREATING HARMONY IN THE CLASSROOM WITH WACOM

Douglas Little, Senior Public Relations Manager for Wacom Technology Services, discusses the innovative company’s revolutionary line of digital creation devices.

content

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BRIGHTEN TECH OFFERS MIMIO TO HELP TEACHERS IMPROVE LEARNING

Joseph Duzgun, President and CEO of Brighten Technology Solutions, talks about how the company helps schools achieve the technology.

ESD: Tell our readers a little about your Continued on Page 63

Benchmark Education Company is leading a new age of innovation with technology resources for learning, teaching and assessment that will engage students in increasing their achievement. Through the Benchmark Universe™, Benchmark Continued on Page 77

VST SERVICES, LLC: WE DO THE WORK AND YOU GET THE ‘CREDIT’

We do the work and you get the “credit.”

This is the motto Russell Neal established when he opened his E-Rate consulting and management business six years ago. Russell obtained his technical background and E-Rate knowledge while Continued on Page 62

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FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS TEACHERS HAVE TURNED TO LEARNING RESOURCES TO SUPPORT CLASSROOMS IN MEETING AND EXCEEDING EDUCATIONAL GOALS An Interview with Etienne Veber, President and CEO of Learning Resources, Inc. ESD: Tell our readers a little about your company.

EV: The business answer is that Learning

Resources® is the global leader in providing hands-on educational products for the classroom, but the heart of Learning Resources is in its role as a teacher’s partner. Each day, educators touch lives and inspire children. Our mission is to assist them in reaching beyond traditional

E-PORTFOLIOS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN TEXAS LAMAR CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT E-Portfolios are fast emerging as the new technology trend to watch for in K-12 schools, and School Web Lockers is leading the drive with new digital portfolio capabilities that give students and teachers an easy and convenient way to maintain a library of their best and most important work through the years.

Available as a standard feature in School Web Lockers’ Web-based file sharing and storage platform, E-Portfolios allow students to build a portfolio of

projects that can travel with them year to year as they move up through elementary, middle and high school.

“School Web Lockers E-Portfolio will help our students track their best work through the years, giving them, as well as teachers and administrators, an easy and convenient way to view their progress and success,” said Jeff Peterson, Campus Instructional Technology Specialist for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, based in Rosenberg, Texas.

EdTech Show Daily methods and provide engaging learning experiences that meet each student’s individual needs, thus helping all children to reach their full potential.

ESD: What is Learning Resources’ main line of business?

EV: We provide a wide range of hands-on items that facilitate the learning process for children aged 2 to 10. Our products cover language arts, math, science, early childhood as well as classroom management.

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AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT AFFILIATED WITH TCEA

Lee M. Oser

CEO and Editor-in-Chief

Steve Cox Kate Seymour

Senior Associate Publishers

Kim Forrester Lyle Sapp

Associate Publishers

Lorrie Baumann

Editorial Director

Carrie Bui Brandon Derrow Justyn Dillingham Associate Editors

According to Kelly Smith, Manager of Sales and Marketing for School Web Lockers, ”E-Portfolios offer an easy online way for students to store the cream of the crop of their projects in a single, centralized location. Students are already saving and storing everyday class files in the School Web Lockers system. Now they have a special digital portfolio that’s conveniently located within that system, with the capability to access and share favorite projects and review their progress through the years.”

School Web Lockers E-Portfolios are also accessible to teachers and administrators, who can make use of a Continued on Page 62

Valerie Wilson Art Director

Yasmine Brown

Graphic Designer

Selene Pinuelas Traffic Manager

Paul Harris Billy Lolos James Martin Joe Matteson Bill Morris

Account Managers

Enrico Cecchi

European Sales EdTech Show Daily is published by Oser Communications Group ©2011.

All rights reserved.

Executive and editorial offices at: 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715 520-721-1300/Fax: 520-721-6300 www.oser.com / www.edtechshowdaily.com European offices located at Lungarno Benvenuto Cellini, 11, 50125 Florence, Italy.

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily

ADOBE: SOLUTIONS FOR K-12 EDUCATION Adobe K-12 Education academic and administrative solutions can help schools educate students in a wide variety of subjects and prepare them for future academic and career success.

Adobe’s solutions are uniquely positioned to open new avenues for engaged student learning and achievement.

Career and technical education: Help students develop the workforce skills and

industry-standard software proficiency they need to succeed in higher education or on the job.

Cross-curricular education: Integrate technology across the curriculum to improve learning, problem-solving, critical thinking and 21st century skills.

Collaboration and administration: Deploy online professional development and enable richer, more interactive

INTRODUCING THE KINEO What will handhelds look like in classrooms this year? Are they powerful learning devices for learning, or just fancy entertainment distractions that may drive classrooms into chaos from texting and surfing?

Brainchild’s Kineo 7-inch tablet device preserves the benefits of mobile technology while eliminating potential problems.

“With 15 years of manufacturing devices exclusively for school improvement, we’ve learned how to maximize the effectiveness of the individualized instruction they can provide.

To hand out handheld devices in a

school without first providing an action plan is very distracting.

First we look at the educational outcome. Then we design the technology, not the other way around,” said Jeff Cameron, President. “Our Kineo tablet puts educators in control. Kineo does not let students message, take pictures, visit unauthorized websites, or add or delete applications. Brainchild provides awardwinning, standards-based software for school improvement. For implementation, teachers can call on Brainchild’s experienced customer service team.”

CONCEPTUA FRACTIONS BRINGS TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TOGETHER TO SOLVE NATIONAL PROBLEM OF FRACTIONS INSTRUCTION Fractions are hard to teach, and difficult for students to learn. At the same time, fractions are a pivotal topic in mathematics education. Conceptua™ Fractions software was developed by teachers, ed.tech leaders and professional development experts to give teachers the tools and support they need to help students

succeed at fractions.

Conceptua Fractions begins with a visual approach, building students’ conceptual understanding before moving to solving problems using procedures. More than 400 scaffolded practice activities apply multiple concept models to encourage flexible thinking and linking

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distributed learning experiences. Improve administrative processes, facilitate collaboration and save valuable resources.

Award-winning Adobe tools support engaged learning across the curriculum, whether in core subjects or as part of career and technical education courses.

Learning is transformed into an exploration that can strengthen student communication skills across all media. For example, using Adobe solutions, handwritten history reports can become interactive, historical timelines complete with video, text and narration, while complex physics problems can be more accessible

by creating and exploring dynamic 2-D and 3-D images.

By providing industry-standard software, educational resources, curricula and standards-based certification, Adobe helps teachers create an active learning atmosphere that can improve student performance. Integrating digital images, video, animation, Web design and multimedia design into classroom projects helps build crucial technology and critical-thinking skills, preparing students for the kinds of communications activities that will enrich their work and personal lives.

Visit Adobe at booth 1317.

utilizes Achiever!, Kineo Brainchild’s award-winning, standardsbased assessment and instruction program. Achiever! automates data-driven instruction with pre-tests and post-tests, multimedia instruction, and a “Study” mode for self-paced learning. Data from the program can be shared between teachers, administrators and parents so they can monitor student progress and provide intervention and differentiated instruction as needed.

Kineo addresses specific school needs. Significant features include Administrator control of web access and loading of applications, a huge battery for long operating times, and a flash

player for multimedia. Physical buttons for commonly used functions augment the touchscreen, making Kineo an assistive technology device for Special Education. Teachers are also able to use the Kineo’s HDMI output with whiteboards or LCD projectors for group instruction. Designed with students in mind, Kineo boasts a high quality 7-inch touchscreen, eBook reader and a sturdy case to fully protect the product.

For a hands-on demonstration of Kineo, visit Brainchild at booth 1835. You may also visit their website at www.brainchild.com, e-mail questions@brainchild.com, or call 800-811-2724.

concepts to procedures.

The software never gives away the answer. Instead, strategic feedback helps students identify their errors and think through solutions. For students who need extra language support, the instructions and feedback can be read aloud and highlighted.

Unlike some educational software, which tries to be a substitute for teacher interaction, Conceptua Fractions puts its faith in teachers’ experience and knowledge of their students. Every activity ends with a formative assessment and is immediately followed by a review screen. If a student is struggling, the teacher can review the student’s responses and decide what path is best: practice

something similar, practice with more support, or work on a preskill. Each fractions topic is supported by rich lesson resources describing how to identify misconceptions and elicit conversations with students.

In just two to three sessions per week, students can build new understandings in fractions or review for testing. The software is Web-based, so there’s no installation. It can be used in a computer lab, with laptop carts, or in classroom computer banks. Students and parents can even log in from home.

Activities are aligned to leading math curricula as well as the TEKS. Visit booth 310 and enter to WIN a PolyVision interactive whiteboard. Learn more online at www.conceptuamath.com.

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NETSUPPORT SCHOOL— A CENTRAL APPROACH TO CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, WHEN LESS EQUALS MORE Often, classroom management products are perceived as being a ‘teacher only’ tool–a single application aimed at delivering greater control and interaction within a classroom environment. That’s understandable, given the wealth of instruction and monitoring tools included, but with education budgets continuing to face increasing pressures, more robust and innovative functionality is being demanded along with economies of scale, where one solution performs a range of tasks traditionally managed by multiple applications.

NetSupport School v10.5 offers the secret to classroom management with its centralization–one product offering many solutions. Of course it includes those features you’d expect, including the ability to view active thumbnails of each student, control and manage the applications they use and the Internet sites they visit, as well as exhibit the teacher screen or just a specific application on that desktop to the class. It will even reduce your costs by controlling class printing activity, preventing duplicate print jobs and setting individual

DON’T FEAR THE DATA How Fort Osage School District Achieved A Guaranteed, Viable Curriculum And Satisfied Teachers Through Standards-based Grading

It goes without saying that transitioning to a standards-based approach to student performance involves much more than implementing technology and new processes: training and cultural considerations must be made as well. Teachers in particular have legitimate concerns about such transitions, from how it will affect the way they teach to will it create extra work, or will it actually result in improved student achievement.

Fort Osage School District in Independence, Mo., is an example of a school district that successfully made the transition, and not only achieved improved student performance districtwide but also saw a positive response among teachers.

Administrators at Ft. Osage School District set out to alter their curriculum so that it could be taught adequately in the time allotted for instruction. They wanted to ensure that each teacher knew exactly what content their students

should learn and that they had the tools to monitor and assess their students on a daily basis.

With more than 5,000 students to oversee, a team of administrators began the search for the right technology to support their district’s unique and ambitious standards-based approach to assessment.

“First and foremost, we were looking for a tool that would help us link our assessment to our curriculum,” said Jeff White, former Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services to the Ft. Osage School District.

After reviewing several tools, the committee selected Pinnacle, developed

by GlobalScholar.

“To begin implementing Pinnacle in our district, we agreed to ‘think big and start small,’” said White. “We started with a pilot program in one of our elementary schools, led by a technology savvy principal who was willing to use performance data to inform future decision-making.”

After administrators from the elementary school shared their first year results, other schools in the district jumped at the chance to implement the solution the following year. While

TURN AN ORDINARY WHITEBOARD INTO AN INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD WITH THE NEW MIMIOTEACH The new MimioTeach makes interactive learning easy and practical. The Mimio Interactive Whiteboard Solution, MimioTeach, transforms already existing whiteboards into interactive whiteboards.

Doug Pennekamp, CEO of Education 2000, an authorized Mimio reseller, says that technology should not get in the way of instruction.

“Technology should be welcomed into the classroom and should be easy to integrate into the classroom for lessons and activities,” Pennekamp said. “The MimioTeach makes it easy.”

While other interactive whiteboards require an installation of an actual board,

MimioTeach is a bar that is placed on an existing wall or board. Because the MimioTeach can adhere to any whiteboard, teachers do not have to sacrifice their whiteboard space and can still use the area for teaching when the interactive whiteboard is not in use.

Installation for the MimioTeach is simple; it is ready to use straight out of the box. The MimioTeach has magnetic strips built-in and is easily placed on a magnetic whiteboard. If the board where the MimioTeach will be used is not magnetic, magnetic plates can be attached to the MimioTeach bar to place on the board or wall.

EdTech Show Daily student printing thresholds, as well as remove the need for expensive whiteboards with the inclusion of its standard virtual alternative.

But where NetSupport School really expands its appeal is with its nontraditional feature set, such as Student Journals. During a typical class, all appropriate items relating to the topic being discussed can be captured and automatically included into a PDF file for post-lesson review by each student.

Furthermore, NetSupport School can now act as an effective language laboratory tool, allowing student microphone and PC audio output to be listened to, monitored and recorded to file.

Recognizing the level of investment being made into offering the latest IT infrastructure, NetSupport School ensures that equipment is available at all times and when most needed.

Utilized by lab technicians or network

managers, the unique Technician Console allows all computers across the school network to be monitored in a single view, including their Internet and application usage. With the ability to transfer files, view processes and applications running, power on/off/ reboot as well as perform diagnostics by generating full hardware and software inventory reports, NetSupport School minimizes equipment downtime and classroom distractions.

Offering flexible levels of platform support for traditional Windows environments including Win7, as well as full optimization for wireless environments and virtual desktops/thin client computing, NetSupport School rises to the challenge of the modern classroom. To take the first step to centralizing your classroom IT efforts visit www.netsupportschool.com, stop by booth 2027 at TCEA 2011 or call 888-665-0808.

rolling out the program across the district, administrators were able to develop a model that supported the strengths of each individual teacher, allowing for creativity and a level of independence in the classroom. Teachers have the authority to differentiate instruction for each of their students, but in the end, their students will have learned the same content as all other students in the same grade level.

Fort Osage School District has now been using Pinnacle for several years.

“Our teachers constantly tell us how they are now using performance data to identify where students are doing well and where they may need additional guidance,” said Carrie Luttrell, the Director of Curriculum and Assessment for Ft. Osage School District spearheading the effort. “It is now possible to have real, in-depth conversations about student learning with all the stakeholders.”

Combined with the district’s model, Pinnacle has given administrators and teachers the data they need to engage in conversations about the whole student, including learning patterns, attendance and discipline records. In addition, parents are able to monitor their child’s grades and attendance in real-time via the Internet, and students can access their

grades to track their progress.

“Ultimately, the data we can now access demystifies student learning,” White said. “Our teachers don’t fear data any longer—they’re using it to make better decisions for their students every day.”

Luttrell added, “Our teachers feel comfortable using the results to ask their colleagues to share what strategies they’ve used to teach a similar subject, and then make changes to their own methods of instruction. We are learning so much more about our students and ourselves as educators.”

The results of this transition are astonishing. A few years ago, Fort Osage School District scored just high enough to retain its state accreditation.

Since implementing Pinnacle districtwide, Ft. Osage School District saw scores jump to 92 percent: a dramatic improvement. District administrators anticipate that results will continue to improve, as their efforts to provide students with quality instruction—and teachers the tools to make formative assessments throughout the grading period and to learn from the collected data—continue to prove successful.

For more information, call 800-4734572, visit www.globalscholar.com or stop by booth 2529.

Along with the built-in magnetic strips, the MimioTeach is compact and lightweight in size, and therefore can be easily moved to a different classroom.

“The MimioTeach is portable, and can be moved easily from classroom to classroom if needed,” Pennekamp said.

“It does not take up a lot of space in a classroom, it does not get in the way of instruction and there are no legs or stand for students or teachers to trip over.”

Since the MimioTeach adheres to a regular whiteboard, the dry-erase marker is still a valuable tool.

“With the MimioTeach teachers can still walk up to their whiteboards and use a dry-erase marker without worrying about damaging an expensive interactive whiteboard,” Pennekamp said.

“Sometimes it is more efficient and convenient to take a dry-erase marker to

write on the board or point something out than it is to go through all the steps with the interactive whiteboard tools to highlight, underline and erase something.”

A new feature for the MimioTeach that was not included on the previous model is that the MimioTeach comes with wireless capabilities already builtin. There is no cord required to connect the MimioTeach to the computer.

The stylus that comes with the MimioTeach has also been revamped from the previous Mimio Xi model. The stylus pen is used to control information on the computer from the whiteboard.

The MimioTeach stylus is a slender, ergonomic pen that is shaped to fit comfortably in hands of all sizes.

For more information, visit www.edu2000plus.com, call 866-2904646 or contact mimio@earthlink.net.

Visit Education 2000, an authorized Mimio reseller, in booth 730.

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INDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY FORT WAYNE TURNED TO NOVELL TO SPEED USERS ACCESS TO APPLICATIONS, ELIMINATE APPLICATION CONFLICTS AND REDUCE OVERALL SUPPORT COSTS Indiana University-Purdue University (IPFW) Fort Wayne is the largest public university in northeast Indiana, offering nearly 200 prestigious Indiana University and Purdue University degrees.

IPFW wanted to give students in computer labs access to the applications they need, but wanted to avoid granting them administrator rights to download applications since this could introduce stability issues. “In the past, anytime a student needed something new on their system, we either had to physically go to the machine, or give

them administrator rights,” said Jacob Networked Application Pitcher, Specialist for Indiana UniversityPurdue University Fort Wayne.

As with most complex IT environments, IPFW struggled with applications that were a challenge to deploy.

“Problems can arise when applications are sharing DLL files, for example,” said Michael Mourey, Manager of Infrastructure Engineering for Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. “Likewise,” he added, “some applications like Adobe Creative Suite

HITACHI INTRODUCES NEW SHORT-THROW PROJECTOR Hitachi is introducing the new CPAW250N short-throw projector at TCEA. The CP-AW250N features a throw distance of 22 inches at an 80inch screen when displaying content in its native WXGA resolution. It offers a high brightness of 2500 ANSI lumens

at a weight of 8.5 pounds and also achieves a contrast ratio of 2000:1. It features a 4,000-hour hybrid filter, which requires less frequent cleaning and makes longer operation possible.

The lamp door is on top while the air filter cover slides toward the top,

REORDED BOOKS OFFERS SCHOOL LIBRARIES ONE-CLICK AUDIO TECHNOLOGY One-Click Audio from Recorded Books K-12 offers school libraries access to a wide selection of downloadable audiobooks. Users can download audiobooks to a computer and then import the files to an mp3 player, which allows users to listen on the go. The newest version features several upgrades, including a new download manager, an improved holds system and faster search and download capabilities. Accessible by patrons inside or

outside of a subscribing school or library, One-Click Audio serves as a digital alternative to cassette and CD audiobooks.

“Today’s students are used to downloading their favorite songs, so it only makes sense to give them the option to download their favorite books,” explained Scott Williams, CEO of Recorded Books. They desire content immediately at their fingertips and are skilled at multitasking. With One-Click

CHANGING THE WAY TEACHERS INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY: DOCERI FROM SP CONTROLS MAKES IT SIMPLE AND AFFORDABLE At this year’s TCEA show, SP Controls (booth 614) introduces the Doceri™ System. Doceri gives the instructor the mobility to teach and interact with all their classroom technology tools from one simple to use interface—the Apple iPad. They can present lessons by taking control of the classroom computer, annotate (similar to the functions of an interactive whiteboard), and control the AV gear in the classroom, such as play the DVD player or

document camera—all from anywhere in the room.

The interface starts with Doceri Remote, allowing teachers to see and control a computer desktop on their iPad from anywhere in the room. Run a presentation, select applications, bring up a Web browser—anything the computer can do can be done wirelessly via the iPad. AV control is also simple, with a tap of the screen bringing up a control panel for selection of media,

EdTech Show Daily are very picky about processes running in the background when they’re installing. We knew that deploying these applications in a virtualized, contained environment would resolve these issues.”

The university was also looking to enhance its user provisioning capabilities, which required a series of manual processes that were both time consuming and prone to error. The university evaluated several solutions, including VMware* ThinApp and Microsoft* SoftGrid*, but ultimately selected Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization.

“We found that Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization provided the functionality we needed, and cost significantly less than other products,” said Mourey. “The GUI interface, which is quite user-friendly, was also very appealing,” said Pitcher.

IPFW now uses Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization to virtualize applications, such as Adobe* Creative Suite*, Mathematica* and Macromedia*, and then deploy them to

workstations across the campus. IPFW can now run virtualized applications in a contained environment that’s immune to conflicts with other applications. “By virtualizing and isolating applications, we can effectively avoid installation headaches,” said Mourey.

By investing in these Novell solutions, IPFW has been able to improve application delivery without adding more IT staff. “Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization allows us to better serve the needs of our students without creating an administrative burden on our team,” said Pitcher.

simplifying maintenance and replacement of these parts. The CP-AW250N features wired networking, allowing for simultaneous control and monitoring of multiple projectors as well as image translation. In addition, Hitachi’s Messenger function enables users to transmit text data to multiple projectors on the network.

The projector is equipped with a

microphone input, which in conjunction with a built-in 10W loudspeaker eliminates the need for external audio equipment. The CP-AW250N also includes new USB connectivity and HDMI connectivity.

Learn more online at www.hitachi.us/digitalmedia, call 800HITACHI or stop by booth 635.

Audio, students can search and download books directly to their media player or computer. Audio support is an important element of fluency strategies for struggling readers, and now students have that extra support at their expediency.”

The One-Click Audio Academic Collection offers over 800 downloadable titles, including 320 that are iPodcompatible. Each month, seven new titles are added to the collection, as well as an additional 130 titles available for individual purchase. This extensive listing includes contemporary works by authors such as Anthony Horowitz, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Megan McDonald and Walter Dean Myers and classics from Mark Twain, William

Shakespeare, Jack London and much more. Several titles are available for multiple users and supplement required reading for classroom curriculum.

One-Click Audio is available through yearly subscription plans. Its Media Center features an easy-to-use interface with streamlined navigation.

Fast downloads, automatic software updates and support for a wide range of portable devices provide a unique user experience.

buttons for playing, pausing, etc., along with volume controls. The iPad interface is rounded out by free-form annotation that can be done over any presentation. Doceri allows teachers to draw, circle, graph and write on the iPad screen using a “what you see is what you get” interface, with the results going out in real-time over the classroom projector. Doceri automatically saves your annotated images, which can be edited and replayed at any time.

“Doceri gives you an amazing amount of freedom while keeping your class engaged,” said Gary Arcudi, SP Controls’ Director of Marketing.

“Teachers love the technologies that are available to enhance the learning experience, but they’ve been frustrated by the actual use of those technologies.

For a chance to win a Nike VR STR8FIT Tour Driver, come visit us at booth 409. Find out more at www.novell.com Copyright © 2011 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. Novell, the Novell logo, the N logo and ZENworks are registrered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *All third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information about One-Click Audio, call 800-638-1304, or visit Recorded Books K-12 online at www.recordedbooks.com/school or at TCEA booth 2555.

Interactive whiteboards tether the teacher to the front of the room, frequently with their back to the class as they make notes or annotate content.

The teacher usually has to move back and forth to activate devices or launch a software application. With Doceri, the teacher can access all digital resources in the classroom, annotate the content that students are viewing, and always remain in control of the technology in the room.”

SP Controls’ mission is to make classroom technology simple and intuitive. Said Arcudi, “Doceri takes the use of technology to the next level.

We’re extremely excited about this product and what it represents for seamless classroom flow.”

For more information, stop by booth 614.

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EdTech Show Daily

ELIMINATE COMPUTER MISCHIEF! REDUCE HELP DESK CALLS! USE FORTRES 101 TO SECURE CLASSROOM COMPUTERS. Keeping computers free of accidental or mischievous changes is an ongoing battle. Fortres 101 is powerful, restrictive security that limits computer access to only programs and files you allow.

Fortres 101 desktop security can easily lock down your Windows computers.

Fortres 101 prevents users from altering the appearance of Windows, downloading dangerous programs, altering or deleting important files, changing printer configurations, accessing unnecessary programs, and installing or removing software.

Computers are always consistent

and virus-free.

Prevent Unwanted Downloads With Fortres 101 installed, programs and viruses cannot be downloaded or installed. Fortres 101 locks down the desktop so when a user tries to download a game, unwanted program or virus, Fortres 101 blocks the action.

Keep your computer free of unwanted downloads with Fortres 101.

Save Time And Money Protecting not only the software and hardware applications, Fortres 101

NOVALINKED SYSTEM COMBINED WITH THE TROLLEY E-CLASS ALLOWS COMPLETE CONTROL OF CLASSROOM COMPUTERS EFFINGHAM, IL, December 15, 2010 – NOVA Solutions has introduced NOVALinked™–a networking system that provides complete control of NOVA’s Trolley™ E-Class units in a classroom or training room setting.

When in “networked” mode, NOVALinked allows the instructor or presenter to raise or lower every Trolley unit in the classroom simultaneously. When in “local” mode, NOVALinked relinquishes control of the Trolley units to each workstation, allowing individual students the ability to raise or lower their own computer screens.

The Trolley E-Class is an automated

monitor lift system that raises a user’s computer screen from beneath a work surface. When computer work is complete, the Trolley lowers the display beneath the work surface into its fully enclosed housing.

NOVALinked is compatible with Crestron, Extron, AMX, and other major brand controllers. The system requires the installation of one Control System Interface Module (CSIM) located at the instructor’s lectern or desk, and one Linking Control Interface (LCI) located at each individual student’s workstation. The modules are connected via standard CAT5 patch cables with RJ45 jacks. One CSIM

THE SWARM IS APPROACHING According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a swarm is defined as: a large number of animate or inanimate things massed together and usually in motion : throng That is exactly what is approaching most K-12s, but rather than insects the “things massed together” are Wi-Fi™ enabled devices that the typical student is carrying multiples of—not to mention teachers, parents, and guests. In brief, not only do the users of these devices face potential issues, but more importantly the entire network can be negatively impacted. When Apple released the iPhone 4 at Moscone Center in June 2010, it wasn’t only the multiple “live bloggers” and other media people who were impacted by network failure—it was also Steve Jobs, who was left hung out to dry.

While there are many other examples of large groups of Wi-Fi clients causing network failures, the iPhone 4 launch Wi-Fi “meltdown” brought visibility and attention to this problem.

Keeping to the swarm analogy, the key things that educators and IT administrators need to keep in mind is that it is both density and mobility that must be accommodated when the swarm approaches. In classroom environments, there is often density without much mobility, but elsewhere on campus (cafeterias, libraries, performing arts and sports facilities, locker areas) that many wireless clients exist with both density and mobility at stake. Meru Networks was founded in 2002 just as these issues in Wi-Fi usage were becoming apparent, and their message to the K-12 community is that with the right technology, planning these problems can be easily solved.

First, let’s look at the root cause of client mobility issues. When clients are connected to an older microcell wireless network, it is the client that makes decisions as to when to switch from one access point (AP) to another. Microcell networks require that each access point

also protects time and money by preventing damage to files and programs. You will no longer waste time re-imaging, ghosting or reinstalling software because of accidental or mischievous deletions and errors.

Achieve Complete Control Over Your Computers Fortres 101 provides complete control over every aspect of Windows operations. Prevent users from interrupting the boot process; exiting Windows; accessing a command prompt; adding, moving or deleting icons; altering anything about the appearance of Windows; installing, copying, or downloading software; running any programs not specified by the administrator; using low-level system tools; changing printer configurations; changing screen saver configurations; accessing unauthorized websites; erasing important system files; saving files

unit, in tandem with individual LCI’s at each workstation, can control up to 30 Trolley E-Class units. Independent Switching Interface (ISI) modules are also available, and take the place of major brand controllers.

Instructors/presenters now have complete control over technology use within the learning environment.

Teachers can control all computer use by raising and lowering computer displays with the touch of a button.

This is an ideal solution for multi-use classrooms where both computer and non-computer classes are conducted. When it’s time for computer class, the teacher can raise all of the computer screens via the Trolley E-Class.

When computer time is over, the instructor can simply lower all the computer screens to their resting position beneath the work surface.

Additionally, testing centers can use the NOVALinked system to maintain strict controls during examination sessions.

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on the hard disk; and even accessing files on the hard disk. Fortres 101 will eliminate any fear you have of malicious or inexperienced users.

You can achieve 24/7 security. Never again leave computers vulnerable.

With Fortres 101 installed, your computers will be secure, consistent and trouble-free.

Learn more about using Fortres 101 and other robust Fortres Grand products to protect your computers. Visit www.fortresgrand.com, call 800-3310372, or stop by TCEA booth 514.

About Fortres Grand Corporation Fortres Grand Corporation helps maintain secure, clean, consistent and virusfree computers for education, business, law enforcement, emergency services and government in all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide.

About NOVA Solutions, Inc. NOVA Solutions, Inc. has been manufacturing a variety of laminate furniture for the learning and working environments since 1988.

NOVA’s patented visual display Options, including The Trolley and The Downview solutions, provide for easy integration of technology into high quality desks, workstations, lecterns, tables, and more.

NOVA’s world headquarters, corporate offices and primary manufacturing facility are located in Effingham, Ill., with a metal fabrication plant in Greencastle, Ind. NOVA Solutions, Inc. employs approximately 70 employees with some 75 independent sales representatives and more than a thousand independent dealers located around the globe.

For more information, call 800-7306682, visit www.novadesk.com or stop by booth 2658 at TCEA.

be on a different client making that channel than any decision in isolation. of the adjacent Additionally, the APs; if any nearby wireless network AP appears on the should avoid consame channel, stantly changing siginterference will nal strengths in order occur and cause to avoid co-channel connectivity and interference. signal quality One solution to issues. To address Virtualized WLAN maintains connectivity while mobile these problems is this, microcell Meru’s virtualized APs dynamically adjust their power WLAN technology, which allows all levels to avoid “co-channel interferAPs to be on the same channel (thus no ence.” When an iPad or other device co-channel interference), and can contries to hand off from one AP to anothtrol client hand-offs to avoid the user er, this dynamically changing signal experiencing connectivity issues. Not strength creates tremendous confuonly can a virtualized WLAN then hansion—making the client either unable to dle the mobility needs of “the swarm,” connect, stick to an AP that is getting but also the density needs, as there is out of range, or “ping-pong” between full power on each AP and the network APs. The root causes of constantly can manage resources to keep many changing signal strengths and clients more devices simultaneously connectdeciding when to hand off are what ed than older microcell networks can. make the user experience poor.

To dig deeper into these issues, To address this, schools should please visit merunetworks.com, where implement networks that intelligently educational videos and case studies can make hand-off decisions based on the be found from K-12 schools that have overall network activity, instead of the successfully overcome these issues.

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LUNA INTERACTIVE PROJECTION CAMERA: A SIMPLE IDEA BRINGS TECHNOLOGY AND INTERACTIVE LEARNING TO EVERY CLASSROOM Do you want to incorporate truly interactive learning into your classroom? New from Learning Resources®, the global leader in providing hands-on educational products for the classroom, is Luna™: a remarkable 3-in-1 technology tool incorporating a portable document camera, webcam and photo/video camera. Its technology allows educators to demonstrate

manipulatives in action, student work, real life objects or book pages at a fraction of the cost of any other document camera currently on the market. Luna is simple to use for both teachers and students and, at less than $200, is an essential and affordable technology made for every classroom.

Luna captures photos and videos to

WHY EVOLVING MALWARE NOW REQUIRES A LAYERED SECURITY APPROACH There was once a time when IT professionals relied exclusively on one technology to protect their computers and networks. With the number and complexity of malware threats steadily increasing, relying solely on an antivirus solution to ensure IT security is no longer enough. A layered security approach is absolutely necessary now to effectively protect an IT environment.

Faronics, winner of multiple educational software awards, provides workstation security solutions that can help educational facilities achieve a more comprehensive security approach. As the core layer, Deep Freeze delivers enterprise-wide protection against accidental or malicious damage without restricting user access. As the application layer, Anti-Executable’s whitelisting technology

ensures only approved applications run. As the fundamental layer, Faronics Anti-Virus ensures proactive, resourceefficient malware protection without compromising system performance.

Faronics Deep Freeze is widely recognized for protecting and preserving original computer configurations and eliminating routine IT maintenance while allowing complete, unrestricted workstation access. Faronics Deep Freeze helps eliminate workstation damage and downtime by making computer configurations indestructible.

Once Deep Freeze is installed on a workstation, any changes made to the computer are automatically erased upon a simple restart.

Anti-Executable ensures total endpoint security by scanning a workstation’s

OZARK R-VI SCHOOL DISTRICT CHOOSES TYLER PULSE FOR COLLECTING, MANAGING AND INTERPRETING DATA DISTRICT-WIDE With vast amounts of student data coming through the door at any given moment, organizing, managing, interpreting and appropriately using the information presented a constant challenge for Ozark School District in Missouri. There was an abundance of information, but administrators and teachers had no easy way of using the data to make informed decisions.

“We were back in the day of spreadsheets. Data was in pockets around the district and in hundreds of spreadsheets on desktops,” explained Dr. Chandra Clayman, Assistant Director of Special

Services. “We used a hodgepodge of approaches to make that data available to instructional decision makers.”

Already a Tyler Technologies transportation, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and student information system (SIS) software client, Ozark turned to Tyler to help manage data and facilitate student achievement initiatives. The solution: Tyler Pulse, an advanced analytics and data warehousing tool.

Easy Data Management And Analysis Facilitates Student Achievement Today, Tyler Pulse has made a huge

ADDRESSING THE PRINCIPAL SHORTAGE More than 40 percent of the nations 93,000 principals are expected to retire in the next five years. To address a potential shortage of leaders, Walden University recently partnered with Texas Harris

County Department of Education (HCDE) to launch a program that combines HCDE’s Texas Principal Certification Program with a two-year master’s degree program from Walden.

EdTech Show Daily document students’ thinking and assess learning. It has a USB direct plug to upload files to a digital portfolio to share with other educators or parents. Luna is fully compatible with all interactive whiteboards and projectors, and features easy “plug and go” functionality. At just 20 inches high, it is designed for ultimate portability. Transition time from one object to another is quick, making Luna ideal for busy teachers. Bendable gooseneck and autofocus capability make the Luna easy to position and able to view hard to capture objects. Luna projects from anywhere in a classroom when connected to a PC, and the 8 LED lights illuminate dark settings or images, eliminating the need for replacement

hard drive and creating a whitelist of all authorized programs, thereby preventing unwelcome applications from executing or installing. Any other programs— whether they are unwanted, unlicensed, or simply unnecessary—are blocked from ever executing. Organizations benefit from productive user sessions each and every time, while IT personnel are guaranteed that desktop computers, notebooks and servers are compliant with acceptable use policies, regulatory requirements and software deployment schedules.

Faronics Anti-Virus provides highperformance, proactive endpoint malware protection without the sluggish performance and resource drain that can plague traditional anti-virus solutions. Its most innovative feature allows it to integrate seamlessly with Faronics Deep Freeze, so anti-virus

difference for the district. After less than a year, Ozark has seen significant results in the way employees use data. Dr. Clayman cites the ease of drilling down to the student level to analyze state and local assessments, discipline and attendance data in order to paint a comprehensive picture of a student and his or her learning.

With this analysis, teachers and administrators are now able to look at a variety of factors that might be contributing to a student’s success or lack of success, helping teachers be more responsive. “The data wasn’t readily available [a year ago] and what was there wasn’t looked at on a consistent basis. Now everything is in real time with data at our fingertips,” she commented. “Data flows nicely from Tyler SIS to Tyler Pulse, and having information in one spot is a real time saver.”

With Tyler Pulse, teachers can also access prior data on new students before the start of the new school year. Because they can prepare ahead of time, teachers The unique collaboration approved by the state of Texas as a program leading to initial principal certification offers future administrators an opportunity to further their education, enhance learning for their students and fulfill the growing need for principals.

Texas educators accepted into this program complete a master’s program at Walden, which uses the Leadership

lightbulbs. For students with special needs, Luna has a SEN switch jack to accommodate an adaptive device.

Its ease of use combined with diverse usability, portability and affordability make Luna the next great addition to your classroom. Get it today and watch Luna help your students learn on an interactive level they have never seen before.

For more information, stop by the TCEA Learning Resources booth 435, visit them online at www .learningresources.com/tcea or call 866-374-8124.

updates can be applied even while computers are protected in a frozen state.

Faronics Anti-Virus has been developed as an integrated solution that combines anti-virus, antispyware and anti-rootkit technology to provide a coordinated, pre-emptive response to advanced malware.

Schools everywhere are quickly recognizing that the threat of day-zero attacks and information theft are simply too costly to risk permitting gaps in security. Invest today in a comprehensive solution to safeguard your vital resources.

To see how Faronics Deep Freeze, Anti-Executable, and Faronics AntiVirus can simplify your workstation software management tasks and help you achieve an additional layer of security, visit them at booth 2145.

Attendees can also download a free, fully functional 30-day evaluation version at www.faronics.com.

can develop effective lesson plans that help to advance student achievement.

“Teachers want to do what’s best for kids, and if we can get the data in their hands in real-time it just facilitates that goal,” said Dr. Clayman.

What’s more, through comprehensive dashboard views, teacher homepages and analysis tools, teachers, building principals and the central office can see trends and turn them into action.

As the district brings more local definitions to the system, discovers the right queries to reduce time searching for data and customizes displays for frequent users, they’ll continue to reap benefits in return on effort and investment. And for Ozark School District, that means being one step closer to reaching district student achievement initiatives.

For more information visit www.tylertech.com, e-mail info @tylertech.com, call 800-772-2260 or visit them at booth 2259.

for Learning curriculum developed with the American Association of School Administrators. They then choose either an online course option or attend five weekend education sessions to help them prepare for the Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES) Principal Test.

For more information, visit www.waldenu.edu.

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BRITANNICA’S SMARTMATH PERSONALIZES LEARNING For schools and districts looking to help students improve their math skills, Britannica Digital Learning offers SmartMath, an online math practice and formative assessment tool. Britannica SmartMath encourages math practice by making it enjoyable, and adapts to each student’s performance for truly individualized instruction.

Dealing with differences in student skill levels has always been a challenge particularly in math. But SmartMath’s adaptive platform builds differentiation into every question by adjusting content difficulty based on each student’s practice performance. In this way, teachers reach

all students, even those who are falling behind and those who are well ahead. The result is that students achieve success in math by moving through each topic at their own pace until the material is mastered.

A highly interactive program, Britannica SmartMath uses amusing characters and an award system to create a fun, game-like environment that engages students. Students have fun practicing math problems, meaning more time-on-task and a greater mastery of the subject. SmartMath is designed around NCTM focal points, and correlated to each state’s curriculum standards and the common core standards.

WHAT DOES SOFTWARE LICENSING HAVE TO DO WITH SERVER VIRTUALIZATION? HINT: IF YOU WANT TO STREAMLINE AND SAVE, THE ANSWER IS EVERYTHING. The benefits of server virtualization are easy to see—reduced costs, increased hardware and application availability, greater deployment agility, as well as time and energy savings. But is there a price to pay for those gains? While virtualization makes it almost effortless to deploy new servers, it also creates a unique challenge for software licensing.

The Smarter Way To Simplify As organizations move their Microsoft server environments to virtual models in order to take advantage of all that cloud computing and virtualization have to

offer, its important to be aware of potential issues that software costs and licensing can present. Virtualization has drastically changed the way organizations license their software. While there are more options to choose from, its now easier to find a licensing program that complements the advantages of virtualization.

By adapting your licensing structure to the needs of a virtual environment, you can realize a number of benefits, namely ease of operation and a reduction in the total number of licenses you need to purchase, track and manage. One of the greatest benefits of virtualization is that

RAMPING UP FOR T3 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Former Astronaut Dr. Sally Ride To Deliver Keynote

Building on more than two decades of successful runs, Texas Instruments Inc. convenes the 23rd annual T3™ International Conference to bring together math and science teachers from across the globe to discuss and learn about leading edge innovations in education and technology used in teaching.

The professional development conference takes place Feb. 25-27 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Registration information is available at education.ti.com.

The T3—Teachers Teaching with Technology™—International Conference features Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel in space, as the conference keynote speaker. Her address, “Reach for the Stars,” opens the event.

“Speaking in front of thousands of dedicated math and science teachers about the importance of math and science education is a real honor and privilege,” Ride said. “More than anyone, they know

how important it is to educate and support young students who will become tomorrow’s high-tech workforce.”

Melendy Lovett, President of Texas Instruments Education Technology, said, “We are thrilled to have Sally Ride as the keynote speaker. We are hosting thousands of excellent math and science teachers from across the U.S. and around the world, and Sally is the perfect person to inspire them as they return to the classroom with new ways to engage and interact with their students.”

The T3 International Conference includes more than 500 sessions covering math, science and other special topics.

Individual math sessions focus on algebra, geometry, calculus, precalculus, statistics, and elementary and middle school math. Science sessions break out into biology, chemistry and physics. Other sessions provide the latest innovations in technology integration, assessment and effective teaching.

A special all-day Calculus Conference-in-a-Conference, the second annual, examines a variety of topics on the

EdTech Show Daily Formative assessment is also an integral part of SmartMath. Teachers and administrators have access to reports to inform subsequent instruction according to an individual student’s academic needs or the progress of entire classes and grades. These assessments drive differentiation and maximize what each student learns without putting an extra burden on teachers. There is less grading to be done and more time for teachers to really analyze and respond to student results.

“This is the future of math instruction,” said Michael Ross, a Senior Vice President at Encyclopaedia Britannica and General Manager of Britannica Digital Learning. “It’s fun and engaging for students and a powerful, easy-to-use formative assessment tool for teachers. It’s on the cutting edge of incorporating feedback into the learning process. Educators, it has leveled the playing field between small and large schools. It has brought the power of the data center within reach of the little guy, but in doing so it has introduced the complexities of software licensing into organizations of every size. For schools that don’t have a dedicated licensing expert to deal with those issues, acquiring the right mix of software can be a challenge.

More Options, More Opportunity The good news is that Microsoft has created a variety of licensing options to choose from, so you can get the coverage you need without wasting resources.

They’ve even added a new version of Windows Server, called Datacenter, to their product line-up. Datacenter is specifically designed to meet the needs of virtualized environments. It allows you to license your machines on a per-socket basis, giving you the option to run an unlimited number of virtual machines (VMs) as long as you’ve licensed all of your sockets.

subject, including teaching advanced placement, or AP*, calculus and an international panel discussing perspectives on calculus instruction. The Mathematical Association of America President-Elect Paul Zorn presents a tailored address during the Calculus Conference-in-a-Conference. The closing session of the mini-conference promises an electric discussion on “Calculus or Statistics: Which is more important for mathematical literacy?”

“Advanced mathematics is fundamentally important to getting students ready for college and for educating them for the science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM] careers of the future. Our Calculus Conference-in-aConference centers on helping educators have a forum for thinking about issues, innovations and ideas that can inform and improve the learning and teaching of calculus,” said Tom Dick, professor of mathematics, Oregon State University, and T3 International Calculus Conference-in-aConference organizer and speaker.

Another all-day session specifically designed for pre-service teachers helps prepare future teachers for the rigors and rewards of a profession in education. The conference and associated T3 resources for pre-service teachers help emerging education professionals transition

parents and students now have real-time measurable results of student performance and a way to track student progress.”

SmartMath joins the companys portfolio mathematics-instruction alongside the Mathematics in Context middle school core mathematics curriculum. Ross said that the two initiatives exemplify Britannica’s intention to move beyond its historical focus on reference and provide more products that are highly useful in classrooms.

Schools interested in Britannica SmartMath or any of Britannica’s products can go to http://info.eb.com or call 800-621-3900. Visit them at booth 2334.

Microsoft licensing for virtual environments includes several different options to help you get the most value for your investment. These options include: Licensing by Instance, Licensing by Processor, Unlimited Virtualization Rights and Application Server License Mobility.

The Right Software Licensing Starts Here The key to finding the right licensing program for your school is knowing how your virtual data center operates, and choosing a licensing option that lets you capitalize on the efficiencies you’re already pursuing. While the large variety of licensing programs and complex rules may seem daunting, talking to an expert who understands how your data center is set up and knows what you’re trying to accomplish with virtualization can help.

Call 800-800-0019 to speak to a dedicated Account Manager at GovConnection, or stop by booth 223 today and we can help you get started.

successfully from learning in a classroom to instructing in a classroom.

Ashley Thurnau, a first-year mathematics teacher at Pontiac Township High School in Pontiac, Ill., attended the Preservice Teacher Track during last year’s conference. She credits the conference with placing her at the top of the hiring list.

“It was an incredible experience,” she said. “My principal told me that my background and expertise with T3 and the TI-Nspire technology was one of the determining factors in my being offered a job. He also mentioned that my willingness to teach other teachers about technology, which I learned from the T3 resources, put me high above the rest of the other interviewees.”

The T3 International Conference also places a spotlight on special interest topics, such as successful grant-writing strategies and techniques, engaging atrisk students through classroom technology, and the most recent innovations of TI-Nspire technology.

For more information, visit education.ti.com. *AP is a registered trademark of The College Board which was not involved in the production of and does not endorse TI products.

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily

THE eTRITION DIVISON OF HARRIS SCHOOL SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF eTRITION 7, AN ENTERPRISE SOLUTION FOR SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS More than just a new product, eTrition 7 was developed with a revolutionary new approach: it is the very first school nutrition solution designed with the idea that a school nutrition department is a business that requires the best business tools, and is therefore built with the best technology. It utilizes Microsoft’s .NET multi-tiered architecture and a centralized SQL Server database. This platform

allows eTrition 7 to support the data security procedures in place by school districts, rather than requiring workaround procedures.

At the heart of eTrition 7 is a robust point of service system with a complete back office, including profit and loss reporting. The eTrition 7 development team recognized that the accounting needs and methods of school nutrition

NEW LITERACY PROGRAM ATTRACTS ATTENTION OF EDUCATORS Electronic textbooks are a new innovation for some teachers. However, there are other teachers, especially those who use interactive whiteboards daily in their classrooms, who readily embrace these accessible textbooks.

They find programs like AWARD Reading to be a powerful resource that connects with their students. They are able to share hundreds of carefully graded stories with their students and extend instruction with vocabulary,

comprehension, fluency and writing tasks. The technology behind AWARD allows students to progress at their own pace and practice until the essential literacy skills are learned.

One of the strengths of AWARD Reading—recently listed as one of a limited number providing electronic textbooks in Texas—is that it offers interactive extension activities in all the reading skills, as well as a range of software packages, useful across

COMIC LIFE FOR IPAD: COMING SOON TO CLASSROOMS AROUND THE WORLD Plasq, creator of the award-winning Comic Life, has announced the forthcoming release of Comic Life for iPad. The user interface has been completely reworked to take advantage of touchbased interaction, and new features have been added to make creating and sharing comics in the classroom super easy.

Comic Life for iPad takes the core of the photo comic desktop application and wraps it in an easy to use touch interface.

Users familiar with Apple’s iWork applications for iPad will feel right at home in

Comic Life for iPad, as it implements many of the iWork conventions. And users will be excited when they find the features that take the application beyond just creation; drag and drop capability between iPads and support for VGA projection mean students can easily share and present their work during class.

Robert Grant, CEO of plasq LLC, said, “We know teachers love Comic Life, and we thought hard about how to make Comic Life on iPad an app that really lets students get fully engaged

ISIP MATH IDENTIFIES STUDENTS IN NEED OF HELP ISIP™ (istation’s Indicators of Progress) Math is a computerized, Web-delivered assessment designed for fourth through eighth grade students. Aligned to national content standards specified in the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Curriculum Focal Points published in 2006, ISIP Math consists of quick, student-friendly, easy to administer tests that identify students in need of intervention.

While supporting RTI as a benchmarking assessment, ISIP Math helps teachers identify students’ needs within a three-tier model of instruction.

Assessments and immediate scores are provided for an entire classroom in approximately 30 minutes. Student performance data is accessible to educators online in real time. These reports group students by need, make recommendations for additional targeted, differentiated instruction, and provide teacher-directed lessons in specific skills for use in small groups. Reports are specially designed to allow for instructional decision making.

Information will be presented for individual students, classrooms and schools three times per year.

departments are unique, and they designed the system with these requirements in mind.

The system is Web-based for administrative users, while allowing school site personnel to conduct cafeteria service in a full disconnected environment in times of network failure.

During normal operations, each school has a real-time synchronization to the central database.

The centralized database provides a higher level of control of administrative tasks and setup items, while relieving school site users of any responsibility for these tasks.

Flexibility is a key attribute of eTrition 7. It is scalable for any size of school nutrition operation, from 1 to 1,000 serving lines. It can be utilized as a self-hosted application, or it can

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be deployed as a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, in which users are not required to install or maintain any software. eTrition 7 supports multiple languages and is Section 508 compliant.

The system includes point of service, patron management, free and reduced applications, inventory, purchasing, menu planning, nutritional analysis, accounts payable, general ledger, state reporting and online payments as part of a parent information portal.

Harris School Solutions is a leader in providing technology solutions for the business of K-12 school districts. For more information visit Harris School Solutions at TCEA booth 2375, contact K12solutions@harriscomputer.com or visit www.harrisschoolsolutions.com.

the K–2 curriculum.

One example is “Snappy Slide Show.” This open-ended software allows students to use illustrations from the text and then write captions, add visual effects and music to create an individual interpretation of the story. This activity encourages a range of writing experiences and highlights for the teacher a student’s understanding of the text. Or students can create their own science or social studies presentation using images sourced from personal picture libraries or downloaded from the Internet.

Another example is “Newspaper Front Page.” Students write a newspaper

story based on a text they have read in class or they can create their own story.

Illustrations from the texts and a choice of headlines are provided or students can source their own. The finished story can be printed and filed in the student’s digital portfolio.

These are just two examples of the hundreds of activities and games featured as extensions to the 200 electronic textbooks available from AWARD Reading where content and technology integrates diverse media tools to reinforce traditional learning and expand comprehension.

Learn more about AWARD Reading at TCEA booth 202.

with their classroom projects. We think we succeeded.”

At the end of 2010, Plasq also introduced Comic Life 2 for Mac OS X with a host of new features that bring even more excitement and engagement in the classroom. Many of these features were specifically designed with educators in mind.

User-generated templates provide a focused launch pad for a project. Now you can design a template with all the elements you need—title, panel layout, captions, balloons—and let the students complete it. Comic Life 2 comes with a number of templates to get you and your students started, and you can easily create your own.

Shapes such as arrows let students point out key features of interest in their

work (or identify flow direction through the comic panels). A new free-form line tool lets them get totally creative by drawing any shape directly on the page.

These shapes can also be turned into comic panels for further layout options.

With Comic Life 2’s new drawing engine, your comics look better, too.

Balloons are sharper and text fits complicated shapes better. Plus, you can bend and warp balloon tails and other shapes to really let your creativity go wild.

Improved camera support means you’re more likely to get the picture you want the first time.

Comic Life 2 is available now for Mac OS X and later this year for Windows.

Visit Plasq at TCEA booth 2621 and online at www.plasq.com.

Items in the ISIP Math bank align with research presented by the National Research Council (NRC) Adding It Up Report and the Institutes for Education Science (IES) Practice Guide for Struggling Students in Math (K-8). ISIP Math measures conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and problem-solving, using cognitive engagement levels that students must develop to gain proficiency in mathematics.

Because formative assessments and intervention programs are most frequently designed to support students who struggle, addressing the needs of these students in the design and delivery of these materials is of the utmost importance for making valid decisions.

ISIP Math was built on the principles of universal design to create an assessment

that is optimally accessible to students with disabilities.

ISIP Math is authored by Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Ph.D. Dr. Geller is an Associate Professor in Education Policy and Leadership at Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on the development and validation of formative assessment systems in mathematics that provide instructionally relevant information to support students with diverse needs.

Her work is centered on using technology to provide accessible assessment systems through the integration of accommodations and principles of universal design.

For more information, visit www.istation.com or stop by booth 1327.

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COMPUTER SOLUTIONS: OFFERING PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS THROUGH EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY Founded in 1978, Computer Solutions is a leading provider of complex technology business solutions. They are headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and have built their reputation by forging long-time relationships with customers and offering broad technology expertise combined with a wealth of industry-based knowledge. Their industry experience and the strength of their strategic alliances with key manufacturer partners—Cisco, Dell, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lenovo, and Microsoft—enable them to deliver sophisticated information and technologybased business solutions that span a wide range of industries, with the performance, reliability and scalability that growthoriented companies demand.

What Computer Solutions Does Computer Solutions focuses on helping organizations develop quick, practical solutions to improve efficiency through effective use of technology. At Computer Solutions they put three distinct divisions to work developing specialized solutions to fit customer’s individual needs.

1. Managed and Outsourced Services takes over the burden of systems maintenance in a cost-efficient way with round-the-clock monitoring, on-site management as needed, and improved system security.

2. The Technology and Infrastructure Solutions team helps design and implement streamlined hardware solutions. They help

MAKE EVERY LESSON MEMORABLE WITH ESPRESSO ELEMENTARY What Is Espresso Elementary...?

Espresso Elementary is a cross-curricular, multimedia learning site with a wide range of interactive, video-rich resources that inspire children to learn.

Espresso is new to the U.S.! It comes to us from the UK, where it is loved by teachers and students in more than 10,000 elementary schools—that’s 60 percent of all its schools.

Espresso …

Is More Than Just Video Clips Espresso is built around learning modules, a unique combination of full-screen video clips, multimedia activities, games, photos, printable worksheets, interactive fact files and fun lively characters all working in conjunction towards curriculum objectives.

Weekly ‘News Roundup’ videos and USA Today articles bring the real world into the classroom through topical, ageappropriate stories, helping your students understand the world around them.

What’s more, each week fresh curriculum material is added to Espresso Elementary, saving teachers time by having a large bank of resources at their fingertips.

Espresso … Supports Differentiated Instruction And Personalized Learning The flexible nature of Espresso means that it is perfect for supporting all your learners. The Route Creator tool provides directed learning opportunities by enabling you to quickly and easily create a personalized learning path through the site for any or all of your students. In the UK, Espresso won the 2008 premier BETT Award for ‘Inclusion,’ which recognized the accessibility of Espresso’s design for use with a wide range of learners. With Espresso, children can take control of their own learning.

Espresso … Is Designed With Both The Teacher And Child In Mind

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT ACQUIRES THE LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING CENTER Global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s (HMH) Educational Consulting Services group has acquired The Leadership and Learning Center, a world-class professional development research and solutions provider, to expand its core capabilities with experienced professionals and proven practices that provide measurable and sustainable school improvement and student achievement gains.

“By investing in groundbreaking practices and technologies, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has been the trusted name in educational leadership,” said Barry O’Callaghan, Chief Executive

Officer of HMH. “This breakthrough partnership with The Leadership and Learning Center is a significant investment into revolutionizing how teachers teach and students learn.”

The HMH Educational Consulting Services group offers professional development training, comprehensive services and school turnaround solutions under the banner Insight into Action: an Informed Approach to Transforming Education. HMH’s partnership with The Leadership and Learning Center offers unique integrated solutions that combine the best learning resources available today with services that support deep

EdTech Show Daily customers evaluate and deploy network routing and switching, IP telephony, information lifecycle management and data security technologies.

3. Their Procurement and Sourcing team helps customers source technology products at the lowest prices available and leverages a virtual distribution model to offer best-ofclass availability. Computer Solutions adds significant value through project management, staging/rollout services and local warehousing.

Computer Solutions has thrived, despite the turbulence of the technology industry, to become one of San Antonio’s highly regarded business success stories. Today, the company is the city’s largest systems integrator and a preferred business partner for technology solutions among its many long-time customers. The company is regularly recognized as one of the Top 50 Private Companies in San Antonio

Espresso has been built specifically for education and has evolved over the last 13 years to ensure that it continually meets the needs of teachers and students.

Intuitive site navigation means there is a quick learning curve for new users. A simplified interface, including larger graphics and a text reader, means that even the very youngest learners can engage with the resources.

Espresso is a unique combination of resources that enrich the learning experience. All resources are selected and customized to ensure they are both educational and age appropriate, delivering a rich experience for children within a safe environment, supporting the development of 21st Century IT skills.

Espresso … Includes Cross-curricular Links And Correlations To Standards Espresso has already made the crosscurricular connections for you, helping you to easily support a multi-disciplinary

implementation. These include learning resources that are supported with effective professional development in classroom assessment, teacher effectiveness and high impact leadership, which are all proven to have a measurable and sustainable impact on student achievement.

“One of HMH Education Group’s key strategic imperatives is to extend its value proposition beyond providing world-class curriculum, assessment and technology solutions through consulting services that position HMH as a partner with school districts in a shared goal of increased accountability for improvement,” said Mike Lavelle, President, HMH Education Group. “Partnering with The Leadership and Learning Center enables the HMH Educational Consulting Services group to provide deep implementation of professional development services that become part of that shared accountability model.”

and was among those listed as best places to work in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Carolyn Labatt was recognized by the San Antonio Business Journal as the Outstanding Small Business Leader in San Antonio in 2005 and in 2006, she was inducted in the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was one of six professional women in San Antonio to receive the annual Ford Tribute to Business Women Leaders Award.

Contact Computer Solutions at 814 Arion Parkway, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas 78216, call 210-369-0300 or visit www.comsoltx.com. approach to teaching.

For example, teach the cross-curricular element of the Common Core standards for Language Arts. All resources are aligned to national, state and local curriculum standards and the ‘curriculum search’ tool allows you to easily locate resources that meet your specific standards.

Espresso … Is Perfect For Your Whiteboard With interactive activities and full-screen video, Espresso is the perfect complement to your interactive whiteboard.

Watch children instantly engage! The flexible nature of resources mean that it can be used for whole class, small group or individual instruction as well as extending individual learning opportunities into the home, involving parents in the learning process.

Visit Espresso Education at booth 115 for your very own ‘sip’ of Espresso and to sign up for a FREE 30-day trial. Learn more online at www.espressoeducation.com.

The Leadership and Learning Center has devoted the last 15 years to building a suite of outstanding services, unique research and successful solutions. The Center’s Professional Development Associates comprise experienced superintendants, principals, administrators and educators who address standards, assessment, accountability, data analysis, collaboration, leadership and school improvement with their clients.

“Together, HMH Educational Consulting Services and The Leadership and Learning Center can satisfy school districts’ unprecedented demand for critical service and training capabilities,” said Dave West, Senior Vice President, HMH Educational Consulting Services. “By aligning our respective strengths, HMH and The Leadership and Learning Center can support school districts as they Continued on Page 52

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily

DISTRICTS SAVE MONEY WITH TOOLS4EVER’S SELF SERVICE RESET PASSWORD MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE James Lozano-Byerly, Enterprise Sales Manager with Tools4ever, discusses how the Self Service Reset Password Management (SSRPM) software is being used by school districts to create savings.

ESD: How does the Self Service Reset Password Management software enable districts to save money?

JLB: You can read any market research or browse tech help forums on password management and quickly see that the process for resetting or unlocking directory passwords is both time-consuming and cumbersome for end users and help desk personnel alike. The process is a drain on resources and opportunity for district staff. The Self Service Reset

Management (SSRPM) Password empowers end users to reset their own passwords without having to call the help desk for support.

ESD: What are some of the concerns with an elevated volume of help desk calls?

JLB: Districts face security concerns along with costly employee downtime, increasing frustration and an underutilized support staff. The help desk resources should be tackling more critical issues rather than resetting or unlocking accounts. SSRPM provides a simple ‘Forgot My Password’ button on the Windows login screen and/or an ASP Web Interface, prompting the end users

SCHOOLWIRES CENTRICITY2 GIVES TEXAS SCHOOL A MORE EFFICIENT OPTION Getting the biggest bang for the buck will be a catchphrase often heard in school board meetings across Texas this year, as the state of Texas is facing a severe budget shortfall in this legislative session. At the direction of the Legislature, the Texas Education Agency is evaluating districts in order to determine their levels of efficiency so they can do more with less in this crucial time of budget shortfalls. The Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) is expected to provide a method for equitably comparing districts of all sizes. An important requirement is that the state receives input from practitioners who strive every day to allocate their resources to efficiently improve student performance.

In tough economic times, districts often look internally at their various

processes and associated technology solutions that make up a modern educational institution’s suite of applications.

Smart districts recognize that there is an opportunity to save costs by looking for areas of overlap, consolidating where possible, and leveraging any solution that has the capability to unify the disparate systems, thereby increasing efficiency while reducing operating costs.

Schoolwires delivers a cost-effective solution. Centricity2 delivers these cost-saving efficiencies while fostering stronger communications and connections between districts and their constituents. Schoolwires has been connecting K-12 communities since 2000, and has recently extended its platform to create a more open Technology

WEEKLY READER CONNECT BUILDS BETTER READERS … ONLINE In our ultramodern 24/7/365 world, one ancient skill still matters. Whether words are presented on a whiteboard or a billboard, an iPad or a memo pad, a computer screen or in a magazine, understanding what those words mean is absolutely essential.

That’s one explanation for the success of Weekly Reader Connect. In less than a year since it launched, this online readingcomprehension program for students grades K-6 is already being used in hundreds of schools across 44 states. It has been named one of the Top 100 products of 2010 by District Administration magazine. The Massachusetts Innovation Technology Exchange proclaimed the digital editions one of the most innovative, effective and compelling achievements in the development and implementation of interactive technologies.

Weekly Reader Connect is a superb tool for teaching children to understand what they read. It presents hundreds of high-interest nonfiction stories enriched with meaningful multimedia that deepens students understanding. WR Connect complements those stories with 129 on-screen lessons that teach reading comprehension in a clear, concise and consistent way.

“Weekly Reader Connect brings together elements that teachers have told us are crucial: easy-to-use 21st century technology; compelling, newsworthy nonfiction; exciting multimedia; and engaging, curriculum-rich lessons,” said Ira Wolfman, Senior Vice President of Weekly Reader. WR Connect enables schools to integrate technology seamlessly into the classroom and reach today’s tech-savvy kids directly where they live.

to answer a series of challenge questions to reset or unlock their accounts. It is a very simple process.

ESD: What do other school districts say about how SSRPM and how it helped them?

JLB: Well, SSRPM really touches many areas within an organization. For example, SSRPM helps with password fatigue and end-user frustration. There are fewer instances of users placing sticky notes under their keyboards.

Support for the reset is instant, which means they do not have to wait to be productive especially when the staff or teachers need access to conduct classroom activities. I often hear how nice it is at the beginning of each school year or after a holiday not to have to reset as many passwords.

ESD: How do SSRPM and Tools4ever differ compared to similar solutions?

JLB: We have a very solid niche with the educational market. Tools4ever has been

Ecosystem for unifying the key technologies that support school districts.

Centricity2 is the leading communitybased solution that encompasses the strategic technologies that are essential to district success. Its open integration framework allows easy and seamless integration of district technology systems, data and third-party applications into the platform.

Administrators, teachers, parents and students gain single sign-on access to the information, content, tools and people that are integral to their success.

“Districts will gain extraordinary operational efficiency, as well as unmatched flexibility and extensibility with Centricity2,” emphasized Jeff Windsor, Product Manager of Schoolwires Website and Community Management Solutions. “Additionally,” Jeff added, ”with the Schoolwires Builder™ and access to a library of apps, templates and more, districts will be able to extend and customize the functionality of their platform in order to meet their needs.”

Another valuable part of the

WR Connect requires no additional software or tech expertise. Developed by Weekly Reader—the innovative, 108year-old educational publishing company that virtually invented current events coverage in the classroom—Weekly Reader Connect brings the following elements to all subscribing schools: • Exclusive interactive Weekly Reader digital editions presenting timely, highinterest, and grade-specific nonfiction content that has been carefully crafted to align to state curricula.

• Downloadable companion Teacher’s Guides that incorporate wide-ranging background information, informal assessments, and other engaging extension activities, along with practical tips and techniques on how to broaden the lessons.

• 129 onscreen Concepts of Comprehension© Skill Builder lessons, with teacher tips and additional reading passages specifically designed to build reading skills and scores while improving students’ understanding of texts.

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called nimble, responsive and focused on the client’s needs and expectations.

SSRPM meets a very specific need, setting the stage for immediate ROI. It also has optional plug-ins to extend functionality for multi-platform support such as Google Apps or Live@edu password sync or other systems.

We are entrepreneurial in nature, which allows us to be incredibly responsive to our clients’ technical needs. With this elevated level of customer service coupled with value-based price point, Tools4ever is considered the company of choice for school districts seeking user management and password management solutions.

ESD: Is it possible to test or review this solution? If so, how?

JLB: Network Administrators that are interested can visit our website at www.tools4ever.com. We offer a 30-day evaluation period and conduct WebEx demonstrations. You can also see us at booth 2516.

Technology Ecosystem is the Schoolwires Developers Network, a thriving community of clients, partners and developers that adds even more value for clients. “Through the Schoolwires Partner Program we work with companies to integrate third-party software solutions within our unifying platform to offer our clients increased ease of use, improved data sharing and more robust functionality,” said Andrew Vincent, Product Manager for Schoolwires Community Network Solutions.

Centricity2 enables districts to connect their key technologies, engage students and create active communities through a single, unified platform that can be fully customized and extended to meet their needs.

Centricity2 is truly the revolutionary platform of the possible. To learn more about Schoolwires Centricity2, visit Schoolwires at booth 2429.

Weekly Reader Connect is built on the Concepts of Comprehension, a researchbased framework of 21 inferential thinking skills developed by the nonprofit Urban Education Exchange. This framework enables students to expand their reading skills from year to year, and uses proven methods that teach kids to read for understanding.

Ease of use is another outstanding feature of WR Connect. Subscribing schools simply log on to www.wr connect.com for full access to the program. Teachers can project the content onto a screen or use an interactive whiteboard for group instruction. The program is also appropriate for individualized use on a single computer.

With a simple password, instructors can also provide off-premises access to all students.

Want to know more? If you’re a principal, school district leader, media or technology specialist, or classroom teacher, visit www.wrconnect.com and get a preview at TCEA booth 1822.

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily

ALL IN LEARNING, INC. ANNOUNCES REVOLUTIONARY CLOUD-BASED INSTRUCTION CENTERS In a first of its kind, every teacher can have their own cloud-based instruction center. What constitutes a cloud-based instruction center? Each instruction center provides an unprecedented assessment evaluation system to support each teacher’s classroom assessment activities in ways never before possible.

Using assessment instruments maintained in the instruction center, teachers can retrieve these instruments to their

iPhone/iPod/iPad or Web-enabled smartphone/tablet to deliver and collect student outcomes. These outcomes are deposited on a frequent basis to the instruction center to form frequent and continuous evaluation of student academic progress.

Each instruction center has access to all major publishers’ book assessment content realized in the Assessment Maps (Blueprints). Using

PANDA SECURITY REMOVES COMPLEXITY OF SECURITY FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Panda Security, the Cloud Security Company and one of the leading security vendors in the world, is exhibiting at TCEA (booth 2392) and represents the best choice for educators who need security solutions for districts of all sizes.

Working with schools ranging from 50 all the way to 70,000 seats, Panda Security is a completely scalable and customizable solution that ensures that the PCs of school administrators, district IT networks, teachers and students are protected from today’s vast and

sophisticated malware environment.

In today’s educational environment, it is an unfortunate but widely known fact that budgets are continually decreasing.

As such, greater responsibility is being put on network administrators to manage the security of entire districts, even multiple districts, in the most cost-effective and efficient manner. In addition, as more servers and workstations are added to growing networks, these managers are finding that traditional security solutions can no longer scale effectively to support

FLEXIBILITY WITH POWERED TABLES Now more than ever, educational environments are multi-purpose spaces used by students, staff, and the community.

One solution to consider is powered tables. Powered tables offer an economical and flexible power solution to help schools increase productivity and stay connected. Tables with power provide a flexible solution that is easy to specify, install, and reconfigure. Versatility is important for educational facilities, and powered tables allow them to be ready and waiting for laptops, smart phones, computer terminals, lights, or anything else requiring power.

What To Look For Not all powered tables are equal.

Ensure safety by confirming that the tables feature a power system that is UL Listed as a manufactured wiring system. The power system should also be able to connect multiple tables together for ease of use, and the tables should be simple to disconnect and rearrange as needed.

Reduce Building Costs Using powered tables can help reduce costs during the building/construction phase of a school. Powered tables can

EINSTRUCTION INTRODUCES MOBI VIEW The First Mobile Interactive Whiteboard With Touchscreen Control!

eInstruction, an educational technology pioneer, is meeting market demand for interactivity and mobility with the release of Mobi View™, the industry’s first mobile interactive whiteboard with an interactive touchscreen display. At $449, Mobi View delivers the same functionality as a fixed interactive whiteboard while providing a number of additional teaching and learning benefits through its interactive touchscreen display and mobile platform.

An independent survey conducted by Creative Research Services, Inc. shows

that 9 out of 10 educators prefer to move around the classroom while they teach, something they can’t do with a fixed interactive whiteboard. Mobi View’s enhanced features allow teachers to be 100 percent mobile without accessing a fixed whiteboard or computer for the duration of their lessons. This mobility enables seamless, efficient and engaging lessons, creating more teachable moments and more interactivity with students.

According to a research analysis by Interactive Educational Systems Design, Inc., fixed interactive whiteboards have been, in some cases, associated with teacher-centered instructional methods

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our ASSIST app and a camera-ready iPod/iPhone, teachers can scan the reusable bubble sheets on a daily basis to engage students frequently while eliminating the tedious and timeconsuming grading activity. Once these frequent assessments are scanned, they are immediately graded and visible within the ASSIST app. These student outcomes can then be uploaded to the teacher’s instruction center for analysis. If one believes in the power of assessment for instruction, then the cloud-based instruction center is a clear solution to effectively realize these research compelling benefits.

For teachers using “clicker” systems, ALL In provides a mechanism for

directly placing student results into the teacher’s instruction center. Once clicker data is resident within the instruction center, it can be aggregated and evaluated along with outcomes collected via ALL In’s scanning app or outcomes collected by tapping in results on the ASSIST app or on a Web browser.

Common assessments form the basis for identification of campus and district academic issues that can be diagnosed and solutions timely enacted.

The results are available to campus and district administrators.

Come visit ALL In Learning at booth 1235, on the Web at www.allinlearning.com, or call 877637-5353.

the growing infrastructure.

Panda Cloud Protection (PCP), one of the company’s flagship products, is a highly robust solution for managing e-mail, endpoint and Internet security from an easy-to-use console. Since PCP is entirely cloud-based, network administrators can eliminate the need for complex and expensive servers, yet still give individual school staff access rights while retaining global management control at the district level.

Cloud-based security is especially important in the educational setting because malware samples are immediately identified and remediated, which should be a crucial requirement for any school district security solution. Virus updates are exponentially faster with cloud-based security, happening in

minutes, as opposed to traditional client-server solutions, which can take up to 48 hours for updated protection.

PCP is also becoming a top choice for school districts across the country because hardware is no longer needed to be maintained and additional cost savings are realized, which is always a boon for educational institutions.

With expedient threat resolution and instantaneous malware identification and remediation, along with the security-as-a-service delivery model, Panda’s solutions are quickly becoming the de facto choice for educational institutions.

For more information on Panda Security products, please visit www.pandasecurity.com/usa or stop by booth 2392.

be used in various environments and can reduce or eliminate unsightly floor outlets. The elimination of power blocks may offset the cost of the tables.

warranty. When considering sustainability, product lifecycle is often overlooked.

Tables with a longer lifecycle are replaced less often, lowering consumption of natural resources.

Questions To Consider When considering powered tables for a multi-purpose environment, a few questions to consider are: Is mobility a concern? What is your definition of flexibility? How many people does the space need to accommodate? Will people be seated on one or both sides of the table?

Warranty And Sustainability Always look for a table with a lifetime

Visit Interior Concepts in booth 404 in the TCEA exhibit hall to learn more about table solutions, call 800-678-5550, or visit www.interior concepts.com. Interior Concepts tables’ come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, leg options and wear-resistant finishes to fit any environment nimbly, aesthetically and economically.

Interior Concepts tables can be purchased easily through the TX Buyboard purchasing contract.

that reduce student involvement in instruction. Mobi View affords the same benefits as fixed interactive whiteboards, while removing the tendency of the fixed board to result in lecture-style teaching.

Mobi View is the only interactive whiteboard technology that focuses more on facilitating student-centered learning and direct student interaction with the technology. Pairing Mobi View with the Mobi Student-Centered Learning Pack™ transforms classrooms into student-centered collaborative environments where students can project their work simultaneously, or one at a time, to learn from one another. The combined technologies also enable teachers to actively collaborate with multiple students.

“We are continuing to innovate based on feedback we receive from

educators. In the year since we launched the original Mobi™, we have heard time and time again that mobility and collaboration are changing the classroom experience for both students and teachers,” said Steve Kaye, CEO of eInstruction. “Now we want to do more for teachers by enabling them to move around, to involve their students, and to quickly and easily access the content they need.”

“Using the Mobi has allowed teachers to come out from behind the desk and move freely through the classroom, truly creating a studentcentered learning environment,” said Andy Kuhl, Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction in WilkesBarre Area School District. “We are observing that students are more engaged in the learning process.”

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SCHOOLCITY PROVIDING STATE DATA REPORTS FOR FREE SchoolCity Inc., a Silicon Valley-based K-12 technology firm, is pleased to annouce SchoolCharts™: a free state data reporting tool for all public schools, districts and county offices of education in the states of Texas, California and Washington. Access is free for districts in these states.

Users in California, where SchoolCharts began, have come to rely on these reports to plan for the upcoming year. With ready access to state reports,

determining instructional challenge areas is simple. “With our Principals and students coming back, this is perfect timing for us to use our [last year] assessment results in order to plan for [this year],” said Marcy Lauck, San Jose Unified School District’s Director of Continuous Improvement Programs. “SchoolCharts gives us this information during this critical timeframe, allowing us to compare results with other schools, the district and the state,” continues Lauck.

THE FUTURE OF INSTRUCTION: DEFINED BY TODAY’S STUDENTS How does one define quality education? The College of Information (COI) at the University of North Texas (UNT) deems that students define the quality of education. Here, students’ character, diverse backgrounds, goals, and accomplishments continue to define the College of Information.

“COI students are not only intelligent and capable, but experienced and successful,” said Dean Herman Totten.

“We embrace the complexity of a generation of students who are established achievers, knowledgeable in their fields, and looking for a challenging learning environment; COI is up for the challenge.”

The College offers programs in Applied Technology and Performance Improvement, Computer Education and Cognitive Systems (CECS), and Library and Information Sciences. The CECS master’s program provides tracks in Instructional Design and Systems

Technology and Teaching/Learning with Technology. Students are prepared for dynamic roles in instructional systems design, research and technology development and integration in diverse settings. This online program is tailored for students seeking a foundation in today’s technologies that are used to enhance the learning experience, from traditional learning management systems like Blackboard to emerging systems like games and multi-user virtual environments.

Dedicated to creating opportunities for students, the faculty is comprised of some of the nation’s most respected and recognized experts in their fields.

Each brings years of experience and are able to tie in real world knowledge to the class work. While students study in their chosen program, they learn from faculty’s knowledge and have opportunities to research alongside them, shaping their individual success.

TRACK BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS WITH ASSESSTRAX AND EDCO

EDCO (Education Consultant Specialists) has partnered with EduTrax to provide a better management solution for assessing and measuring student/ teacher progress. AssessTrax is a Webbased, flexible test management solution used to monitor student performance on standards-based benchmark and unit assessments. Test results are instantly available to teachers and staff allowing for the immediate development of intervention strategies.

Districts are using this new technology to better manage and gauge the results of assessments, and to make it easier for teachers to focus on teaching their students. By eliminating bubble sheets, which need to be manually scored by teachers, and then sent to be scanned and analyzed by the school system, this new technology allows for an immediate response to improve student achievement.

AssessTrax is available to any school district which utilizes benchmark test scores, standardized test scores, surveys, etc., to gauge student performance.

EduTrax stores the data, offers analysis options, and produces easily understood reports and graphs suitable for the school

district, school or teacher use.

Because AssessTrax is a Web-based tool, test results are instantly available to teachers and staff, allowing for the immediate development of intervention strategies. AssessTrax aims to target the needs of each individual student by pinpointing proficiency levels across a range of subject areas.

With AssessTrax, school systems can monitor student performance on standards-based benchmark and unit tests; target instruction to address any needs prior to state and federal assessments; and test as desired (benchmark, unit, or pre-/post-test).

EDCO efforts focus on partnering with school systems to plan and implement solutions that will improve student achievement. Whether implementing a comprehensive assessment plan, managing district benchmark testing or providing a wide range of data analysis programs, EDCO along with EduTrax is committed to helping school systems improve student achievement.

Please visit www.edcousa.biz to learn more about assessment solutions.

EdTech Show Daily SchoolCharts was initially developed in 2006 by SchoolCity Inc. along with a California County Office of Education to help educators quickly view their status and facilitate required planning and reporting activities. The ease of use and more than 200 instant charts available has made it a favorite of principals and administrators as a way to communicate with parents and the community.

Vaseem Anjum, SchoolCity’s CEO, states, “Our goal in building SchoolCharts was to simply help educators use data to inform instruction and make effective decisions. Providing SchoolCharts at no cost is our way of putting our money where our mouth is.”

About SchoolCity Inc. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., SchoolCity Inc. (www.schoolcity.com) is a leading provider of educational software products services to K-12 public and charter schools. SchoolCity’s comprehensive product line includes school improvement planning, curriculum management, assessment, analysis and reporting solutions. SchoolCity’s client base includes hundreds of schools, districts and service agencies across the United States.

Take for example Jenny Wakefield, a student in the Computer Education doctoral program. Wakefield’s major professor, Dr. Scott Warren, Assistant Professor in the department of Learning Technologies, guided her as she developed an instructional design program for undergraduate students to volunteer in a virtual world.

“I have Dr. Warren to thank for it being such a positive experience and success, leading me to want to continue in the doctoral program and engage in further research,” said Wakefield. “I was able to conduct real world research as I studied the feasibility of engaging volunteer undergraduates in starting up and building a campus Community of Practice in a virtual world.”

Wakefield and Dr. Warren are conducting computer-mediated discourse analysis research on one of his courses that utilized Second Life to engage students in immersive learning experiences. These research efforts will be reported in a chapter titled Instructional Design Frameworks for Second Life Virtual Learning in a 3D

virtual world’s learning handbook.

UNT’s commitment to developing critical thinkers and problem solvers leads students and alumni like Jenny to discover the power of ideas and change the world for the better. The future of instruction will be defined by today’s student; their success comes from working closely with faculty to expand their prospective, and this is how COI leads in innovation. To be a part of this discovery process, contact a personal academic advisor today.

To learn more visit www.lt.unt.edu, call 877-275-7547 to speak with an advisor today or stop by booth 1941.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Con’t. from p. 42)

navigate the unchartered course toward more rigorous academic standards, data and accountability demands, teacher and leader effectiveness measures, and student achievement levels relative to international benchmarks.”

The Center’s founder, education thought leader Dr. Douglas B. Reeves, is the author of more than 20 books on education and an internationally recognized expert in teaching, leadership and student achievement. Commenting on the partnership with HMH, Reeves said, “The research is clear: improved student achievement depends upon the best combination of teaching, leadership, curriculum and technology. This new partnership will help educational systems do just that. The time and resources of school systems are under unprecedented pressure right now, and we are going to help schools get the greatest value possible to support student achievement.”

Reeves authored the landmark case study for The 90/90/90 Schools™, which examined the high academic performance of schools where 90 percent or more of the students were eligible for free and reduced lunch, 90 percent or more of the students were members of ethnic minority groups, and 90 percent or more of the students met

A free SchoolCharts account can be set up at http://stars11.sccoe.org/school chartstexas/SignUp/Step1.aspx.

district or state academic standards in reading or another area. He added that he is committed to continuing his active schedule of travel, speaking, research and writing and will maintain personal connections with the educational systems served by HMH and The Leadership and Learning Center.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global education and learning company that is leading the way with innovative solutions and approaches to the challenges facing education today. The world’s largest provider of educational products and solutions for pre-K–12 learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt develops and delivers interactive, resultsdriven learning solutions that advance teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Through curricula excellence and technology innovation, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt collaborates with school districts, administrators, teachers, parents and students. Today, HMH education products and services are used by 57 million students throughout all 50 U.S. states and 120 countries. With origins dating back to 1832, the company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. For more information, visit www.hmhpub.com.

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INNOVATIONS FROM MERU NETWORKS IMPROVES WIRELESS NETWORKING FOR EDUCATORS Ram Appalaraju, Sr. V.P. of Marketing, Meru Networks, shares what makes his company unique.

ESD: Ram, what makes Meru unique amongst wireless networking vendors?

In other words, what makes you different than Cisco, Aruba, or others?

RA: There are three things that make us unique in the wireless networking [WLAN] space; simplicity, scalability and service assurance. Our competition uses an older architecture [microcell] where there is significant cost and effort in both the setup and ongoing maintenance of the network. We were founded in 2002, and took a different approach based on virtualization technology. Just as virtualization has brought simplification and scalability to servers and storage, we deliver those same benefits to VST Services (Con’t. from p. 1)

working for a Fortune 500 telecom company for more than 17 years.

Having this experience enabled him to master the E-Rate process, which enabled school districts to get welldeserved federal reimbursements.

School districts, in turn, were able to use the extra funds to leverage their budget, enabling them to expand and update their telecom and technology.

Russell then chose to leave his corporate position and open his own consulting and management business. This Texas Virtual School Network (Con’t. from p. 1)

charter schools, Education Service Centers, and institutions of higher education. All TxVSN courses pass a rigorous review to ensure alignment with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the iNACOL National Standards of Quality for Online Courses. All high school courses are led by a Texas-certified instructor trained in best practices in delivering online instruction.

House Bill 3646 of the 81st Texas Legislature created a state virtual school allotment to fund courses provided through the TxVSN during the fall and spring semesters. When a student successfully completes an online course provided through the TxVSN, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) provides a payment of $400 per semester course to the district providing the course, and $80 to School Web Lockers (Con’t. from p. 4)

comments section to offer insight on individual files or even the portfolio as a whole. As students approach their college years, they can use the E-Portfolios to reflect on a document posted three years earlier to see how their writing style has progressed.

E-Portfolios Provide Stepping Stone to

our customers for WLAN. Taking a different approach allows us to do things that microcell can’t—probably the best example of that is our service assurance platform which can deliver 99.99 percent uptime for the WLAN.

ESD: Why does Meru have a focus on the education market, specifically K-12?

RA: When it comes to wireless networking, Meru and educators have been closely collaborating ever since our inception. Education is the largest market for wireless networking, and when we were first founded we saw unsolved WLAN issues in education that we could address—namely supporting 30 or more students in a classroom simultaneously accessing the network, or the mix of video, voice and data traffic on a single network. We remain unchallenged in our

decision gave his clients the ability to obtain unbiased advice on which telecom services and future technology infrastructure plans would best meet their needs.

Although E-Rate benefits can be substantial, the process to receive reimbursements can become overwhelming if a district does not have a knowledgeable person processing the forms and overseeing the details.

Russell has obtained the business and confidence of multiple districts that previously had lost thousands of dollars due to lack of either E-Rate

EdTech Show Daily solutions to those problems. We also see a natural fit between Meru and education because of how easy it is to install and manage our network. Many schools are ‘IT-lite,’ so by freeing up network administrators to work on educational experience instead of network management, schools gain unique benefits from us.

ESD: Are WLAN vendors, including Meru, continuing to innovate?

RA: There are a lot of opportunities for companies in this space to innovate, both to solve ‘big problems’ and also to make the experience better and easier for our customers. In this past year we’ve launched new innovations including the AP1000i, which brings a dramatically lower price point for schools to deploy 802.11n, as well as additions to our security and service assurance capabilities. I can’t predict the future, but I am certain you will continue to see new breakthroughs happening within the WLAN industry.

ESD: To what do you attribute Meru’s success?

RA: We have enthusiastic customers, especially in the K-12 space; to date we have well over 1,000 education customers. That brings many positive benefits, most importantly being we can leverage the insights and needs of educators to develop products we know are wanted and needed. We have also been successful because when we were founded, it was clear that new problems were emerging, such as supporting 1:1 computing initiatives and campuswide network security, which the incumbent networking companies would not find easy to solve given their legacy microcell architectures. The other success factor is focus—we are explicitly an enterprisegrade WLAN company, and by not diluting our efforts across both consumer and enterprises we are better able to serve education as well as other markets.

For more information on Meru Networks, visit their website at www.meru networks.com or call 877-952-6725.

knowledge or missing critical filing timeframes. Russell has always maintained the belief that when representing his clients, up-to-date knowledge is crucial for accurate advising. He also insures the E-Rate process will be done ethically and efficiently.

Russell has grown his client base, enabling him to bring on additional consultants who share his vision of excellent customer service and keeping current on the telecom industry and ERate processes. The VST team believes client referrals are the best compliment we can receive, and are proud to say

the majority of our growth has come strictly from current client referrals and word of mouth.

We look forward to seeing our existing clients and are excited to speak with potential clients that may have any questions. Please stop by booth 117, call 817-430-5842 or visit www.vstservices.com to get information on our company and services.

the student’s district. District participation in the TxVSN grows significantly each semester, so to ensure equitable access students may take no more than two TxVSN courses each semester.

TxVSN encourages all districts and open-enrollment charter schools to complete the registration process in order to be prepared for any future student or parent requests.

A: All Texas public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools have been asked by the Commissioner of Education to complete the TxVSN registration process. According to Section 26.0031 of the Texas Education Code, a school district or open-enrollment charter school in which a student is enrolled as a full-time student may not unreasonably deny the request of a parent of a student to enroll the student in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A.

A: No upfront payment is required for TxVSN courses taken by students enrolled in public school districts or open-enrollment charter schools.

student and accept payment for the course(s). After registering the student and collecting payment, the student is not entitled to any right, privilege, activities, or services available to a student enrolled in a public school, other than the right to receive the appropriate unit of credit for completing the TxVSN course. Information on when home schooled students may begin to enroll in TxVSN courses is located at www.txvsn.org/LinkClick.aspx?file ticket=IKKR8aMU_bY%3d&tabid=39.

ESD: Are home schooled or private school students eligible to take courses through TxVSN?

A: Home schooled or private school students may access TxVSN courses through their attendance zone school district. The school district will register the

Stop by booth 2361 in the exhibit hall to speak with TxVSN Central Operations staff members about how to get your school connected with TxVSN. Give your students the opportunity to participate now in the learning environment that is rapidly becoming a standard in higher education and advanced workforce training.

College, Future Opportunities Offering easy 24/7 access to student and teacher data from any Internet location, School Web Lockers provides each user with a secure, passwordprotected Web locker or digital drop box. Students and teachers can start their work on one computer at school, and then stash it in their web locker to finish at home or elsewhere.

The software offers a calendar; fold-

ers categorized by class; teacher blogging capabilities; message boards; and other features to keep instructors organized and to improve communication.

With a single click, teachers can distribute an assignment to an entire class, giving them a quick and paperless way to share documents.

“The E-Portfolios will soon also provide a stepping stone toward facilitating college applications processes,”

said Smith.

Kelly also noted, “Our plan is to set up the software to allow users to share a link to their E-Portfolio. It will be password protected and designed for use with college admissions, scholarship programs and even potential employers.”

For more information, contact School Web Lockers at 866-499-6527, www.schoolweblockers.com or stop by booth 1143.

ESD: Are districts and open-enrollment charter schools required to participate in TxVSN?

ESD: Are districts or open-enrollment charter schools required to pay upfront for these online courses?

The VST Team Russell Neal – President Tracy Neal – V.P. of Operations Maryann Staab – V.P. Marketing of Sales

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily PolyVision (Con’t. from p. 1)

AB: Pittsburg Primary is located in a small town in northeast Texas. Our school is comprised of over 400 prekindergarten through first grade students.

With several bilingual classrooms and four English as a second language (ESL) classrooms, the population at Pittsburg Primary is representative of our community’s diversity.

ESD: What type of technology is employed in your school?

board and the school principal was concerned about the long-term costs of repairs and replacements. She decided to move forward with ēno when she learned that our school can count on the boards for a lifetime, thanks to PolyVision’s Forever Warranty™.

ESD: Before implementing ēno, what challenges did you face as an ESL teacher?

ESD: Why is PolyVision technology the best choice for Pittsburgh Primary?

AB: My ESL class is comprised of 15 Spanish-speaking students. I face the same challenges as other teachers, such as: maintaining student engagement, creating strong lesson content and managing classroom time efficiently. However, as an ESL teacher, I have to tackle the additional challenge of communicating in a way that students and parents can comprehend. Although my students are intelligent and academically motivated, they were performing poorly on learning assessments because of their limited understanding of the English language.

With comparable whiteboards, all of the technology resides inside the white-

AB: My students struggled specifically with social and academic vocabulary. I spent years explaining the definitions of words and showing pictures to illustrate concepts, but I knew deep down that my

AB: Our district utilized state technology allotment funds and a Rural Schools grant to purchase ēno™ interactive whiteboards and ēno mini slates. All kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Pittsburg Primary are equipped with ēno interactive whiteboards.

AB: Our school’s principal and several members of our IT staff felt PolyVision ēno interactive whiteboards’ features and ease of use were important and second to none.

Adaptive Curriculum (Con’t. from p. 1)

JB: Adaptive Curriculum creates award-winning middle and high school math and science instructional solutions that combine multimedia software and professional development.

Our online, digital Activity Objects— or lessons—build middle and high school math and science mastery through dynamic, interactive learning.

Students acquire core mastery through active participation in an immersive, differentiated and exciting learning environment that provides real-time feedback and assessment.

ESD: How does ēno help you overcome challenges in your classroom?

standards is an important aspect of the adoption and we fully meet that requirement. But it is our student engagement and flexibility that set us apart. No other solution provides the breadth of rich multimedia and real world examples that are intentionally created with engagement in mind.

ESD: How can Texas science educators use Adaptive Curriculum with their existing science curriculum?

ESD: You have applied to be an approved vendor for the Texas Science Adoption. What differentiates you from other products?

JB: We have created Activity Objects, visualizations and animations that allow educators to teach the new TEKS science standards. Our content complements the district curriculum and is flexible enough to support whole group instruction, small group instruction or individual, differentiated instruction. We also provide online correlations to both the standards and science textbooks so teachers can easily implement our solution.

Brighten Tech Solutions (Con’t. from p. 1)

Xerox, Epson, Meraki, Untangle, LifeSize and Mimio.

JB: We are very excited about the Texas Adoption. Alignment to the TEKS and coverage of the new science

company. What’s of business?

your

main

line

JD: Our main line of business is focused on technologies that schools need the most, starting off with the infrastructure design and installation for voice, data and video communications. We provide a wide range of products and services such as computers and peripherals, servers, networking devices, phone systems, classroom audio visual, Internet security, IP surveillance systems, interactive teaching technologies and video conferencing from leading technology manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo, IBM, Cisco,

ESD: What would you say makes your company unique?

JD: I think it’s the quality of care for education, the fact that the company started off the business with a team that brings over 10 years of educational experience to the table integrated with a compassion for education to the core foundation of the company.

Also I believe that being able to offer a wide range of all-in-one solutions has great benefits for schools that are looking for a single point of contact to accomplish their information technology objectives.

students needed visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning experiences to make memorable connections to the English language.

With ēno, I can utilize websites and interactive tools to bring vocabulary lessons to life for the entire class to see, hear and touch. I check for progress and understanding by passing the ēno mini slate around and asking individual students to circle the word that matches the picture. Now my students are mastering new vocabulary words in minutes rather than days!

ESD: How do you use ēno to improve classroom efficiency?

AB: In our district, ESL teachers are required to post daily objectives, so that when students arrive to class they can view the words, math facts or historical figures they will learn about.

With ēno, I create electronic objectives by linking all of the vocabulary pages, websites, songs, etc. that I will use in my lessons into one document. I have everything organized that I am going to need throughout the day, so I can move with ease from one task to the next with a simple click of the stylus. I am absolutely amazed at how much content I can teach effectively in one day. This strategy has been so successful in my classroom that all of the first grade teachers at my school are using ESD: STEM is a national focus now.

How can Adaptive Curriculum support STEM initiatives?

JB: Considering the challenges this nation faces and the need to encourage careers in science and technology, we fully support districts as they launch STEM initiatives. In fact, Adaptive Curriculum is ahead of the curve on STEM content. Our pedagogy aligns powerfully and mirrors many STEM objectives, such as problem-based learning, critical thinking and a transdisciplinary approach to learning. We are also fortunate enough to work closely with Dr. Helen Padgett, President of ISTE, to ensure our professional development incorporates the latest thinking and best practices of STEM.

ESD: Districts have made significant technology investments, as seen with the proliferation of interactive boards.

ESD: Are you introducing any new products in 2011?

JD: Yes. We’ve recently added the Mimio product line in our solutions group as our ‘Interactive Teaching Technologies’ solution. Mimio is one of the leading manufacturers of interactive teaching tools. During the TCEA conference, we will demo Mimio’s new product line that has recently been released. Please stop by booth 309 during the TCEA conference. We might also demo some of the new hottest tablet PCs if released before the TCEA conference.

ESD: What products do you see as being hottest this year?

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the electronic objectives I created as a template to deliver their lessons.

ESD: How has PolyVision technology impacted teaching and learning in your classroom?

AB: As soon as ēno was installed in my classroom, I noticed a change in my students’ behavior. During lessons, every child was excited and engaged at a higher level than ever before. Many of my students come from low-income households and they do not have access to technology outside of school. The high tech skills and increasing confidence they are gaining through their interactions with 21st century technology will benefit them throughout their lives.

Just as I was wondering if I had chosen the right career, ēno transformed my classroom into a completely different learning environment and motivated my students and in ways that I never realized were possible. With ēno, my classroom has become exactly what I have been trying to build for the past five years—a seamless, efficient and fun learning environment!

Meet Angela and other educators using PolyVision solutions and experience a day in the life of an ēno classroom at booth 2335.

How does Adaptive Curriculum leverage these technologies?

JB: Adaptive Curriculum has accreditation with SMARTBoard compatible content and at the ‘Power’ level with Promethean. Adaptive Curriculum truly leverages the functionality of interactive boards. We’ve received incredible feedback from teachers on the effectiveness of our lessons delivered on interactive boards. Many say it is exactly the whole group instructional tool for which they have been looking. Our integration with clickers provides even more opportunity for cooperative learning and feedback. So, high quality, aligned and engaging content is just a click away with us.

For more information, visit Adaptive Curriculum at booth 317, go to www.adaptivecurriculum.com, or call 800-999-9319.

JD: Tablet PCs will definitely dominate the consumer tech market in 2011. We’re in the process of adding the hottest tablet PCs in our product line as they become available in the first quarter of 2011.

ESD: What distinguishes your products from the competition?

JD: As a DELL certified partner, we’re able to offer DELL branded products to educational customers at great discounts.

I believe that our pricing on DELL is even better than what the state contract offers. Please give us a shot before purchasing a DELL product.

Visit Brighten Technology Solutions at booth 309 during the show.

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily Encyclopedia Britanica (Con’t. from p. 1)

MR: Britannica serves the entire Pre-K through university market with a variety of educational websites throughout the world and in multiple languages— including Spanish, French, Korean, Chinese and Japanese. Under the umbrella of our online marketing division, Britannica Digital Learning, we are pleased that more than 75 million students and faculty members have access to Britannica’s subscription products and are finding Britannica indispensable for their research and daily classroom needs. We are proud that 13 states have adopted Britannica products for their entire state, and that we even have national agreements with Ireland, Finland and South Africa. Last year, the government of Brazil commissioned Britannica to create a learning portal for their K-8 students in Portuguese, all based on Britannica’s existing websites. We believe that the interaction we have with our global customers and partners improves all of our product offerings and benefits our customers everywhere.

ESD: What would you say makes your company unique?

MR: Britannica is unique in its breadth and depth of product content, its editorial approach and its ability to address the needs of a variety of markets across the globe. First, we have unparalleled products for all age ranges, particularly with our two flagship products, Britannica Online School Edition and Britannica Online Academic Edition. We address the specific needs of preschoolers with our Learning Zone feature; elementary students with our young learner’s database; middle schoolers with our Compton’s branded database; and high school through university users with the senior Britannica database. All of these sites are edited and maintained daily by our own in-house staff of editors, who work with experts around the world, including Pulitzer Prize winners Wacom Technologies (Con’t. from p. 1)

ESD: Mr. Little, would you mind giving our readers a little background on Wacom?

DL: Sure. Wacom was founded in 1983, and revolutionized computer input by introducing the first pressuresensitive, battery-free and cordless pen. Wacom’s vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world’s leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions.

Creating harmony between humans and technology is what we are all about, and Wacom’s intuitive input devices have been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashions and designs around the world. We are providing educators, business owners and home users with the ability to explore digital content creation in a comfortable, natural way.

and Nobel laureates. This ensures that all of our content is best of breed, upto-date and meets the highest standards possible. We revise or add more than 1,000 articles a month to our sites, which is by far the largest output of any English-language reference and elearning publisher. As a further benefit to our users, we have our own in-house staff of programmers who are responsible for innovative site development and performance.

ESD: Are you new products?

introducing

any

MR: In the last two years we have launched several exciting products that complement our flagship products.

SmartMath is our new elementary, online formative assessment product, which uses wonderful animated characters and a fun and engaging interface to help young learners master important math skills. The program is unique in its ability to adapt to the learners’ levels so that they never get frustrated and continue to make progress. It’s perfect for both struggling learners and gifted learners, and an ideal product for differentiated learning. SmartMath is part of Britannica’s groundbreaking line of math programs, which includes the highly acclaimed Mathematics in Context, a reform math program for middle school that has been adopted and used successfully in many districts across the country.

ESD: Where is your current product emphasis?

MR: There is a great need for differentiated learning across the curriculum, and last year we addressed that need with our 21st Century Explorer online product. 21st Century Explorer is a two-tiered general reference product that is geared to the reading level of struggling readers but that has an interface that will appeal to older learners.

It has a very readable font and uses Britannica’s read-aloud feature so that learners can follow along with the text

ESD: Wow! Sounds like you keep busy. Can you give us a short explanation of your product line?

DL: We offer solutions to consumers, professionals, vertical markets and OEMs. Our Bamboo line of tablets delivers pen and touch input to consumers seeking an alternative input method and a way to have more fun interacting with their computers. The Intuos4 professional tablet family is used by professional creators of digital content to edit and retouch existing art or photos, as well as create new pieces of work from scratch. There’s also the Cintiq―Wacom’s flagship interactive pen display―providing the very best in creative control, comfort and productivity with the ability to work directly on the color-accurate LCD screen with Wacom’s pressuresensitive pen. In addition to some vertical market displays for GIS, medical, and presentation, Wacom also manufactures the bulk of digitizing technology for the major tablet PC providers.

as they hear every word pronounced. It also has all of Britannica’s standard reference features, including the Merriam-Webster dictionary, our very popular workspace and a multitude of multimedia. 21st Century Explorer will be part of a growing line of e-learning products from Britannica that will address the needs of students at different learning and reading levels. Right now we are developing a science product for middle school that will also have a strong differentiated learning component that will be available next fall.

ESD: What products do you see as being hottest this year?

MR: We have just released a fantastic new product called Image Quest. This product addresses the need for students at all levels, and teachers as well, to have instant access to educational images—photos, illustrations, maps and in the near future, video clips— that they can use freely in all of their projects, presentations, websites, lesson plans and interactive whiteboard activities. We have over a million images available now and will soon have 2 million. All image rights have been cleared for use for education and the database is searchable by key word, subject or image provider. We have brought together more than 50 of the best image providers in the world, and have provided important metadata for each image, including captions, full copyright information, keyword and related subject areas and citation information. Image Quest is a unique product and should have broad appeal— from elementary school through university.

ESD: What distinguishes your products from the competition?

MR: Britannica today is distinguished among reference and e-learning publishers in a variety of ways. Our mission is to make sure that our customers have access to the highest quality

ESD: Will Wacom products work with all types of computers? What about software?

DL: All Wacom products are both Mac and PC compatible. Our driver software is very powerful, allowing users to customize their workflow in a personal way.

Wacom products work with all software applications, including the 100-plus that support pressure sensitivity.

ESD: Have Wacom products found a home in the education space?

DL: Indeed! Our pen tablets and interactive pen displays can be found in grade schools, universities and specialty schools. Our products are being used to control classroom presentations. You will find our pen displays in higher-ed helping students to learn animation or industrial design.

The popularity of distance learning has helped place our consumer tablets in the limelight by allowing teacher and student to collaborate through

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content on any format they prefer, including print, e-books, websites, mobile devices and apps. Through our unique ‘universal Access’ technology, our school and public library users have access to Britannica Online content through any search engine. In addition, Britannica Online is easily integrated into popular federated search systems, learning management systems and other innovative technologies. We make sure that we are everywhere our customers are and break down any barriers to learning. We believe that we have a unique value proposition, which provides best-of-class content at all levels with technical best practices to make our content intuitive and rewarding.

ESD: What’s next at Britannica?

MR: We are constantly innovating, changing and improving the experience that our customers have with all of our products. Our editors work with more than 3,000 experts in their fields in order to keep up with the latest scholarship, to separate fact from fiction, to maintain neutrality and to appeal to a variety of reading levels. Our designers and media specialists are constantly updating our video offerings, interactivities, maps and other illustrative content so that our users benefit from information provided in multiple forms. Moreover, we are responding to the need for more interactive products in the classroom that are curriculumfocused, like Student News Network, a social studies product with crosscurriculum links; Discover English with Ben and Bella, for preschoolers through grade two; and Science Pathways, a middle-school science supplement tied to the state standards.

Our goal is to make sure that we are meeting the needs of students and teachers alike with engaging, trustworthy content that is easy to use, accessible to all learning styles, and that provides the best value on the market.

Learn more about Encyclopedia Britannica at booth 2334 during the show. the Wacom pen.

ESD: We had no idea your reach was so extensive. Where do you go from here with your education initiatives?

DL: Wacom will continue to boost its presence in education by working with software vendors and education visionaries to help build the value of pen (and touch) input within the classroom. For example, Fablevision’s (animation software) recent work with the Boston Public School system has helped elevate the need for tablets as a way to get students out of their creative shell and into a world of discovery. Finally, we will also continue to concentrate on providing products to schools that are creating the professional artists, animators, designers and photographers of tomorrow.

For more information, please contact Douglas Little, Sr. Public Relations Manager for Wacom Technology Services, Corp. at 360-896-9833 ext. 174 or via e-mail at douglas.little@wacom.com.

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Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

CEV Multimedia (Con’t. from p. 1)

“The Business Computer Technologies Pathway includes resources to meet all the standards needed to teach the course,” said Maggie Bigham, MOS certified instructor, former BCIS teacher and current production manager at CEV Multimedia, Ltd. “This product is specifically designed to give teachers the tools they need to customize their curriculum, which ultimately saves teachers valuable time.”

Time-saving aspects for teachers of the Business Computer Technologies Pathway include: pre-designed student note sheets, detailed project instruction sheets, correlations of each lesson to TEKS and detailed lesson plans.

Additionally, unlike traditional business SMART Technologies (Con’t. from p. 1)

NK: The featured product will be our new SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard. We’re calling it a new class of interactive whiteboard because it enhances collaboration by supporting multi-user writing and common multi-touch gestures. It offers features such as freestyle interactions, touch gestures and full object awareness, meaning that the whiteboard recognizes whether a user interacts using a finger, fist, pen or an eraser and responds accordingly. This series includes the 880 and 880i models and the widescreen 885, 885i and 885ix models. The fact that two people can work anywhere on the 800 series interactive whiteboard at the same time will help teachers make effective use of class time, engage in meaningful collaboration and motivate all types of learners.

Another product that will be shown is the SMART Table interactive learning center. Although not new, it continues to garner considerable interest from educators and be very popular. We are excited, and think our customers will be too, about CompassLearning (Con’t. from p. 1)

opinions than that of 21st century skill development. Proponents herald it as the necessary step to recovering American students’ global academic competitiveness. Critics fear positive steps toward accountability and academic rigor will be replaced with “fuzzy” pedagogy and vague standards.

In 2008, only 74.9 percent of American high school seniors received their diplomas*; the figures are even bleaker for students in poverty and students of color. In addition, the gap is widening between what colleges require and graduating high school seniors’ proficiency. College professors across the country say high school does not prepare students for college and indicate that most of their students require some form of remediation after admission.

In his exploration of educational inconsistencies, Harvard researcher Tony Wagner identified “Seven Survival Skills for the 21st Century.”

Based on Wagner’s conversations with corporate CEOs about the skills

EdTech Show Daily

computer instructional materials which focus primarily on Microsoft® Office® skills, CEV’s Business Computer Technologies Pathway engages students through the use of real-world business applications while allowing them to use software to which they are accustomed.

The Pathway also includes the 2003 and 2007 versions of all Microsoft Office programs and will soon include the 2010 version. Furthermore, it is designed to be directly correlated to the TEKS for Business Information Management (BIM) I and II and the Achieve Texas education initiative.

This multimedia-based approach to learning is enhanced through the use of Atomsville, an online tool comprised of a broad spectrum of businesses which

encompass the 16 career clusters.

Students can choose the business which best fits their career interests and can shape their Microsoft Office projects to fit the needs of that company.

CEV recently released a server version of the Business Computer Technologies Pathway, which allows entire classrooms to access Atomsville, worksheets, projects, activity sheets, vocabulary activities and chaptered videos right on their own computer desktops. Bigham said students can review videos while taking notes on the provided worksheets simultaneously on the same screen, allowing students to have a more focused and personalized style of learning. Bigham said the server version along with Atomsville is not only flexible and

ESD: Your company recently went public. How is that affecting how SMART operates, and how has it affected the way you offer your education solutions?

NK: Some articles in the media tend to talk about our products and other classroom technology products in isolation. At SMART we have consistently said that simply putting our products in the classroom is not the answer— it’s how they are put to use. We believe SMART products are a valuable tool that, when combined with effective teaching and appropriate pedagogy, can help transform the learning experience. There is a considerable body of research posted on our website from national and international sources indicating that our products, when properly used, can increase student motivation and engagement and improve learning outcomes and teacher effectiveness.

our recently announced addition of more than 250 activity packs which can be downloaded at no charge via the SMART Exchange website (www.exchange .smarttech.com). These new resources mean teachers now have access to thousands of multi-touch, multi-user SMART Table activities. There will be many other exciting products at our booth, so I encourage people to drop by for a visit.

NK: It was an interesting step for SMART, but also just another along the growth path of our company. It means some changes for the way we do things internally but what hasn’t changed is our commitment to our customers. We remain passionate about providing our customers with education solutions that will enable them to better engage and motivate students.

ESD: There have been recent reports in the media about SMART products and other classroom technology being used

and competencies they seek in new employees, Wagner outlined the following as critical for 21st century learning: • Critical thinking and problem solving.

• Collaboration across networks and leading by influence.

• Agility and adaptability.

• Initiative and entrepreneurialism.

• Effective oral and written communication.

• Accessing and analyzing information.

• Curiosity and imagination.

In addition to Wagner’s Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the Metiri Group are among the organizations defining 21st century learning.

However, in addition to strong guidelines defining 21st century skills, educators must learn how to transform education to follow those guidelines.

How do we make the major changes to assessment and instruction and the philosophical shift necessary to ensure that America’s students are both college and career ready? The following

more as a fad rather than having positive results for students. What is your take on that?

ESD: Beyond products, tell us what SMART offers.

NK: SMART is committed to providing a wealth of resources and support for teachers to fully utilize SMART products and create dynamic learning

five recommendations provide direction to schools and districts wondering where to start.

1. Elevate the quality of teaching and learning—aligning with 21st century skills and competencies—through a balanced assessment program, including formative and summative assessment measures to inform instruction and professional development.

2. Implement instructional programs that are based on world-class academic standards; provide relevant, engaging curriculum based on current and confirmed research and best practices; and ensure instructional delivery in stateof-the-art learning environments.

3. Cultivate digital-expert educators who can translate realistic college and workforce expectations into meaningful, substantive learning activities that mirror life experiences beyond high school graduation.

4. Provide rigorous instruction for students who have fallen behind their grade-level peers—and options for students whose lifestyles or circumstances are not aligned with the traditional school day—that build deep

customizable, it also provides students with comprehensive portfolios of which they can be proud.

“The server version not only saves teachers time and printing costs, it empowers students through their own personalized, digital student workbooks,” Bigham said.

Customers can purchase the Business Computer Technologies Pathway for $3,022 and can upgrade their Pathway to the server version for additional licensing fees.

Visit www.cevmultimedia.com/ atomsville to learn more about CEV and all the resources needed to integrate Atomsville with the Business Computer Technologies Pathway. For a hands-on demonstration of Atomsville and the newest CEV products, stop by booth 217. activities for students. For example, SMART Exchange, an online community that helps educators share information on various topics, now has almost 50,000 classroom-ready resources.

Teachers are also able to connect with educators around the world to exchange ideas. We’ve announced a new, free membership program to SMART Exchange that will mean even more exciting features for users.

SMART also believes strongly in supporting our customers after their purchase, so we offer a variety of online training options, certification and professional development opportunities.

ESD: Any final thoughts on SMART in 2011?

NK: Engage with us regularly to learn what is new in our product offerings and other materials supporting the use of our products. With over 400 people on our R&D team, we are and will continue to be very active in new product releases and upgrades.

Find out more on SMART Technologies at www.smarttech.com or go to booth 1431.

understanding of the critical skills and concepts required for success in college and 21st century careers.

5. Develop meaningful ways for students to feel connected to their school communities, concentrating on relationship-building with students who have no significant personal or educational ties to adults.

There is no magic bullet. Student success requires a strong commitment from students, parents, educators and community. One step is to implement instructional programs and materials, such as CompassLearning Odyssey®, that ensure mastery of critical academic content—and ensure these programs are implemented with fidelity.

CompassLearning supports the goal of providing every child with a worldclass education. To do less would ignore one of our most basic civic and moral responsibilities. Visit us at booth 717 and at www.compasslearning.com. *Statistics Source: U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics, June 2010

Wednesday, Februar y 9, 2011

EdTech Show Daily Children’s Progress (Con’t. from p. 1)

ESD: What is Children’s Progress and why did you start it?

EG: I cofounded Children’s Progress to help educators instantly pinpoint what each student needs and respond with relevant instruction, without having to waste time waiting for results.

For too long, assessments were about shading in bubbles to get numerical scores. I called them ‘scarlet numbers.’

I wanted to give educationally valid and actionable information to teachers to help them erase specific learning problems. I believe children should be educated, not scored. What we do at Children’s Progress is build formative, computer-adaptive assessments to help teachers do exactly that. The computer format helps students stay motivated, and lets them show what they really know.

ESD: Why did you decide to focus on early education [Pre-K to Grade 3]?

EG: The early years form a foundation for future learning. Countless studies

Benchmark Education (Con’t. from p. 1)

Education Company reaches the 21st century classroom with digital content through Interactive Whiteboard Resources and Talking E-Books. In 2010 Katy ISD purchased subscriptions to Benchmark’s Interactive Whiteboard Resources and Talking E-Books for use with their population of more than 8,000 ESOL students.

Shalon Thomas, Director of Technology at Benchmark Education Company sits down with Linda Shepherd, Instructional Officer for Elementary ESOL at Katy ISD to discuss the decision to subscribe to Benchmark’s Interactive Whiteboard Resources and Talking E-Books. They also discuss the effectiveness of using the interactive resources in the classroom and independent reading by students.

ST: Tell us about your population of LEP Students. How many LEP students are in your district?

LS: Katy ISD has over 8,000 LEP students. Eighty-five percent are at the Learning Resources (Con’t. from p. 4)

Everything we do is designed to support state and national standards.

ESD: What would you say makes Learning Resources unique, and how does that contribute to your company’s success?

EV: Our passion, focus and commitment to our mission guide our every decision. We believe teachers and children need hands-on learning products, so every year we develop about 80 new items across many subjects.

We’ve been doing this consistently since our beginning, more than 25 years ago; it is what we love to do! We go to great lengths to ensure every product is safe, of the highest quality and of real educational value.

ESD: What is your current product

have shown that this is the prime time to help students get on the right track. I believe empowering early educators with effective tools to identify and teach to individual needs is the single most important thing we can do to improve our nation’s [indeed, any nation’s] educational outcomes.

ESD: Why did you decide to use technology?

EG: With technology we can individualize assessment and instruction in previously impossible ways, in a fraction of the time. For example, our assessment software adapts to each student at every question. If we tried to cover the same material with a paper and pencil test, we would need a booklet with thousands of pages.

ESD: What makes the Children’s Progress assessment unique?

incorrectly, we ask a follow-up question to pinpoint the nature of his or her misunderstanding. We then report this to the teacher and suggest activities she can use right away to help that student [and others] make progress. This analysis is immediate, leaving more time each day for instruction.

ESD: Who can benefit from the Children’s Progress assessment?

EG: Since it adapts to every learner, this assessment is appropriate for the general, the special education and the gifted population. It is used by schools, districts, state agencies and early childhood centers nationwide. I recommend it for any institution serving students in Pre-kindergarten through third grade.

ESD: How do you see the role of technology in education evolving over the next 10 years?

EG: A typical test merely tells you whether a student got something right or wrong, but not WHY. Our assessment uses a patented procedure to dig deeper. When a student answers

EG: There’s no limit to what we can accomplish if we combine technology, our imaginations, and our will to help students. I believe we’ll continue to 1) make material better tailored to indi-

elementary level, and 15 percent are at the secondary level. The prevalent language is Spanish. In addition, we have a large of number of Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Urdu speaking English Language Learners. We also have a large immigrant population in Katy ISD. We have over 2,200 immigrants. The LEP and immigrant population in Katy ISD represents over 70 diverse languages.

Resources and Talking E-Books from Benchmark Education Company be used in your district?

ST: What are the special needs of the LEP students in your district?

LS: The Katy ISD Elementary ESOL program seeks to provide a quality content-based ESL program that differentiates instruction according to each student’s level of language proficiency in order to scaffold instruction across all content areas while supporting the affective, linguistic and cognitive needs of each elementary ESOL student. Katy ISD focuses on a balance of social and academic language commensurate to each student’s language proficiency.

ST: How will the Interactive Whiteboard

emphasis, and what benefit does it provide for your customers?

EV: Every year, our new products emphasis is on bringing innovation to teachers in order to have a positive impact in classrooms. Specifically for 2011, we are excited to introduce our new Simple Technology line.

ESD: How does your Simple Technology line compare to what is currently available?

EV: With the increasing importance of technology in our childrens’ lives and in the classroom, we felt there was an unmet need for a simple to use, engaging and low-cost product range that leverages technology as a means to enhance classroom activities.

ESD: What distinguishes your products

LS: Teachers will be able to assign books to groups of students to differentiate instruction commensurate to the student’s proficiency level. The interactivity will build fluency and comprehension. The resources are also advantageous because they can view, listen and read at school and at home. Because of the search feature, teachers can search for specific academic concepts aligned to their grade level curriculum. This will allow English Learners to build and expand their knowledge of the vocabulary they will encounter in the content areas.

ST: Are your teachers already using interactive whiteboards in the classroom?

LS: Yes, all of our elementary campuses are equipped with interactive whiteboards. Last year, the Director of Other Languages, MayDell Jenks, initiated the purchase of Smartboards™ for all campuses to be used with immigrant students. The Department of Other

from the competition?

EV: This Simple Technology line is truly unique in the marketplace. Many of the product concepts have already been successfully applied in the UK over the last several years, and now we’re bringing them here to the U.S. One terrific aspect of these products is that they are so simple to use, no professional development is required—teachers and children will know instantly how to use them! They are designed to support content instruction and existing classroom activities, promoting and managing what is already happening in the classroom, but doing it more effectively. Nothing comes close in terms of value for their competitive price points. With these Simple Technology products, every classroom in the country can truly be a 21st century classroom!

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vidual needs, 2) make the learning process more collaborative and immersive, and 3) make non-instructional tasks more efficient. We’ll never see technology replace a teacher. These techniques are all enablers to help teachers spend more time on what matters most—quality instruction.

Learn more about Children’s Progress at the Measured Progress booth 116 or visit www.measuredprogress.org.

About Eugene Galanter Professor Galanter has authored more than 150 books and articles on psychophysics, perception, motivation, memory, early learning, and computerdriven pedagogy. His publications on education include The Ideal Teacher, The Mechanization of Teaching, and Two Models of a Student. His book Plans and the Structure of Behavior, co-authored and published in 1960 with a second edition in 1986, is generally held to have sparked the cognitive revolution in the psychological sciences with significant implications for modern educational technology. It has been cited more than 2,500 times.

Languages provided each elementary campus with two SMART Boards through the use immigrant funding. This fall, ESOL teachers were trained on the use of SMART Boards in the classroom, and had an opportunity to expand their knowledge on activities that would increase language acquisition.

ST: What other resources do they use with their interactive whiteboards?

LS: Many of our teachers are using SMART Exchange to create and share SMART Board lessons aligned to the curriculum objectives.

ST: How are the students in Katy ISD responsive to instruction on the interactive whiteboards?

LS: Students are energized, and they are more actively engaged in learning when technology, such as an interactive whiteboard, is utilized.

Learn how Benchmark Education Company can help your district at booth 2150.

ESD: What is your outlook for this new product line?

EV: Our outlook is very positive! With the current national emphasis on STEM and other far-reaching initiatives, we believe our line of products provides tangible, successful and practical solutions for many schools facing tough budget decisions.

Our Simple Technology products will help schools move forward in creating a new classroom environment that provides teachers—tech-savvy or not—a chance to leverage technology with the goal of raising standards of achievement.

For more information, stop by the TCEA Learning Resources booth 435, visit them online at www.learningresources.com/ TCEA or call 866-374-8124.