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October 15, 2001
What's New
Hardware
Mobile Computing
Low-cost portable device maker AlphaSmart has announced that it has licensed the Palm OS platform and will be expanding product offerings to include Palm OS-based devices that will address specific curriculum areas. The new product line will be aimed at high school, community college, and university users.
AlphaSmart, 20400 Stevens Creek Blvd., Ste. 300, Cupertino, CA 95014; (888) 274-0680
Handspring recently released two new handheld models: the Visor Neo, which has 8MB of memory, and the Visor Pro, which features 16MB of storage space and runs on lithium ion batteries. In addition, the company has introduced the Handspring eyemodule, a full-feature digital camera module that works with the Visor to capture, view, and send images-including 8-second mini-movies-to other devices. Visor Neo: $199. Visor Pro: $299. Eyemodule: $199.
Handspring, 189 Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043; (888) 565-9393
Desktop Hardware
The new Gateway E-3600 can be tailored to users' needs and budget, with either a five-bay desktop or a seven-bay tower; 1.7GHz or 1.5GHz Pentium 4 processor; 20GB or 40GB hard drive; 128MB RAM, expandable to 512MB; and a CD-ROM drive, upgradeable to DVD-ROM or CD-RW. Also included is a standard 17-inch monitor, 32MB 4X AGP graphics, and a 3-year warranty. Systems start at $1,199.
Gateway, P.O. Box 2000, 610 Gateway Dr, N. Sioux City, SD 57049; (800) 846-5211
MicronPC's ClientPro CG desktop PC comes with 128MB RAM, 20GB hard drive, 17" monitor, CD-ROM port, video card, built-in Ethernet, as well as Microsoft Office XP Professional. In addition, the ClientPro is now equipped with an Intel Pentium 4 processor, which delivers 2GHz of processing power. $2,399.
MicronPC, 906 East Karcher Rd., Nampa, ID 83687; (800) 249-1179
Web Sites
Classroom Cash offers Toshiba digital cameras and educational software products such as Young Writer's Workshop, Number Plan, and Multimedia Lab. Registered teachers receive a 15% rebate from every purchase made by students' families.
Developed by leaders from Children's Television Workshop and Hanna Barbera, Clever Island offers more than 80 educational activities for kids ages 3-8. The animated lessons focus on math, phonics, geography, social studies, and more. $49.99 per year; a free trial is available.
Subscription-based Edventures offers a new platform designed to provide subscribers in after-school labs and at home fast access to content at its Web site. The platform enables the expansion of PCS Edventures, project-based online curricula for grades K-12, by giving users the choice of either narrow or wide bandwidth services in their Internet connection.
Educators Publishing Service has launched subscription-based Lesson Logic, an extensive online library of exercises and activities that educators can customize to create targeted, grade-specific lessons. Subscribers can select material based on subject, difficulty level, and other criteria; and can save, create folders, and add comments to lessons using a personal "filing cabinet." The resource includes materials from a variety of publishers, including TIME for Kids and Scientific American Explorations. Available now are grades 3-6 language arts materials with math, science, and social studies due out in the future. Subscriptions are $119 for general education and $159 for special education resources.
Scholastic just released "Authors and Books," a free searchable online database of over 2,000 pre-K-8 children's titles, accompanied by grade-appropriate teaching materials. The "Authors and Books" section of the site will also offer live interviews with and biographies of authors of popular Scholastic titles as well as book discussion guides.
Time.com now offers a fully indexed and searchable content archive of TIME magazine, which houses more than 25,000 articles. A special "Student Center" area will list frequently researched topics and corresponding TIME articles. A range of subscription options is available. Users can purchase individual articles for $2.50 or an unlimited day pass for $4.95. Individual annual subscriptions cost $49.95. TIME print subscribers receive a discount at $29.95 for the annual subscription.
Vivendi Universal Publishing announces education.com, an online destination designed to support teachers, build parent involvement, and impact long-term student achievement. Content includes selections from sister companies Houghton Mifflin, Knowledge Adventure, and Universal Studios.
Yahoo! has announced Yahoo! Education, a free resource enabling educators at the middle school and higher levels to create a virtual classroom environment and communication center for students. Educators can post rosters, calendars, and syllabi and use private classroom message boards and e-mail to connect with students, who can access messages from school or home. Bartleby.com, Britannica.com, Houghton Mifflin, American Heritage, and others provide reference resources for the site.
Call for Entries
T&L Announces 2001 Ed Tech Leader of the Year Program
Technology & Learning's long-running Teacher of the Year contest has a brand new name-the Ed Tech Leader of the Year program-and an expanded mission: to recognize K-12 teachers, technology specialists, and administrators who demonstrate leadership, vision, and creativity in using technology to advance teaching and learning. Finalists will be featured in a spotlight article in the December issue and invited to serve on the magazine's advisory board, among other honors. The entry form, which is due October 15, is available now.
Software
Christmas comes early this year with Montparnasse Multimedia's The Secret World of Santa Claus: The Magical Night. Cartoon animation and karaoke Christmas cards join dozens of puzzles, brainteasers, templates for coloring, and a memory game. The Mac/PC CD-ROM retails for $29.95.
Montparnasse, 21, rue de Choiseul 75002 Paris - France; 33 1 40 07 87 87
FinePrint Software now offers pdfFactory, a downloadable appli-cation designed to let users convert documents to PDF files with any printing-enabled Windows software program. Priced at $39.95, pdfFactory is for non-expert users, allowing them to combine multiple documents into a single PDF and send as e-mail. Other features include a preview function, international font support, and page insertion and deletion.
FinePrint Software, LLC, 16 Napier Lane, San Francisco, CA 94133
Management
Computer Admin Pro from CG Software is designed to help your IT department track all information about your school's or district's software and hardware to ensure license compliance, regular maintenance, and troubleshooting. Customizable features include variable levels of security for different users, a variety of report topics, and user-defined fields in the categories of software, computers, peripherals, and trouble calls. Computer Admin Pro replaces Computer Admin 2.2 and runs under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000 or Mac OS 8 or higher at a cost of $149 per single user.
CG Software, 22 East 67th St., Savannah, GA 31405; (912) 354-0861
Computrace Plus from Absolute Software features a tracking agent that automatically transmits information on PC use and location whenever the computer is attached to a phone line or Internet connection. Information on equipment use can help management of inventory for upgrades, retirement, and lease returns; PC location transmission aids recovery of stolen PCs. $49.95 for a one-year license.
Absolute Software, Ste. 304 - 1212 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6H 3V1, Canada; (800) 220-0733
EDmin.com has released the latest version of its Virtual EDucation 4.0 software, a suite of twelve integrated Web-based applications for online assessment, accountability, and communication. New features include a lesson-planning tool that allows educators to create and archive lesson plans, and enhanced student performance tracking tools.
EDmin.com, 3033 India St., San Diego, CA 92103; (800) 748-6696
Industry News
Textbook and test publisher Harcourt Education has acquired Classroom Connect, provider of resources for Internet use in K-12 education. The transaction promises to marry Harcourt's curriculum content with Classroom Connect's online professional development resources.
Dates & Events
October 18-20: SchoolTech Expo, Chicago, Ill. Learn from the country's leaders and trailblazers in this show for technology-using K-12 educators. T&L-sponsored event.
November 7-10: Synections 2001: Building Success for Struggling Students, Chicago, Ill. (800) 889-5236
November 8-10: National School Boards Association's Technology + Learning Conference, Atlanta, Ga. (800) 950-6722
November 18-20: New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education Conference, Albany, N.Y. (800) 479-4830
January 24-26, 2002: Technology, Reading & Learning Difficulties, San Francisco, Calif. (888) 594-1249
Read other articles from the October Issue
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