|
December 15, 2002
Awards of Excellence (cont'd)
Additional Award Winners
Assessment and Accountability
Classwell Online (Classwell Learning Group)
While navigating among the six resource areas at the Classwell Web site, educators will find an innovative service that integrates standards-aligned instruction, assessment, and professional development resources. Teachers can access lesson plans and student activities, and then assign a variety of assessments that can be completed by the student either on- or offline. The judges' favorite feature was the streaming videos of master teachers conducting their favorite lessons.
Web-based. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (K-8 Teachers)
LearnerLink (HOSTS Learning)
Designed to make classroom resource alignment and management easy, LearnerLink takes the results of students' online reading assessments and builds customized standards-based lesson plans using a comprehensive, proprietary database that includes materials most teachers already have in their classrooms. Our reviewers welcomed the way LearnerLink answers instructional needs using the print, online, or basal materials familiar to most teachers. As one judge wrote, "Being able to have all relevant tools in one spot is more efficient than scouring my bookshelves and flipping through book after resource book. The program does it all for me!"
Web-based with Mac and Win CD. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (Grades K-12)
Computer Literacy
EasyTech (Learning.com)
Appropriately named for the ease with which it teaches basic computer skills, EasyTech delivers online lessons to teach inexperienced computer users how to use a mouse, keyboarding basics, and navigation skills. More advanced students will learn how to create databases, word process, graph in spreadsheets, and code in HTML. Teachers can preview lessons and access support materials to determine the best ways to integrate technology into the curriculum.
Web site. Price: Approximately $12 per student per year. (Grades K-8)
Cross-Disciplinary
AOL@SCHOOL 2.0 (America Online, Inc.)
AOL@SCHOOL's unique online service features six age-appropriate learning portals. Each portal delivers media-enhanced educational content, daily fun facts, and news on current events, as well communication tools, filtering options, and even a spell-checking search engine. Middle and high school students will especially like AOL@SCHOOL's access to Advanced Placement test prep resources, study skill guides, and note taking and research tips. Our judges were particularly keen on the teacher tools and professional development resources.
Web site. Price: Free. (Grades K-12)
Early Learning
KnowledgeBox (Pearson Broadband)
A rich multimedia-enhanced resource for delivering core curriculum, KnowledgeBox caught our judges' attention for its learning style-sensitive math and reading lessons. This Web-based application sits conveniently on a school or district server, making the KnowledgeBox library of standards-based digital media resources, including thousands of video clips, self-paced software activities, printable resources, screened Web links, and multimedia lessons, easily accessible from any networked computer.
Web-based. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (Grades K-6)
Guidance
ECOS: Education and Careers Opportunity System (The Princeton Review)
Judges said this online guidance counselor equipped students with the tools needed to organize their college application materials, assess career interests, explore schools, and practice their SAT and ACT test-taking strategies-and keep this password-protected information in an online portfolio. With this timesaving solution, counselors can focus on helping students make the right decisions about the future. Students can also browse ECOS databases of post-secondary school profiles.
Web site. Price: $795 per year for 300 students. (Grades 8-12)
Information Management Systems
EZ Compliance Forms & SETS (4GL School Solutions)
Designed to help kids with special needs get the high-quality, consistent level of support demanded by today's federal and state laws, EZ Compliance Forms & SETS digitize IEP forms and assessments used by special education teams. By creating customized electronic versions of required forms, the program streamlines data collection and communication of vital student information to all stakeholders by storing student information in a database that can be accessed by any authorized users within a district.
Server-based for Win CD. Contact publisher for individual pricing options.
Language Arts
Exploring Literary Worlds: Early American Voices (SAS inSchool)
With its media-rich design, Early American Voices invites students to experience literature in the context of the culture from which it was born. Tracing major historical and literary landmarks from the 1500s through the 1800s, the program encourages students to learn about specific literary themes and devices by studying representative texts, interactive maps and time lines, and then testing their critical thinking skills by comparing representative works from the period.
Server-based with Win CD. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (Grades 10-12)
Lightspan Reading Center (Lightspan)
Our judges were impressed by the Reading Center's "well-organized, age-appropriate, and easy-to-navigate format." Evaluators also responded to its content-rich curriculum designed to boost K-3 student achievement in reading, and judges welcomed the program's teacher resources, including pre- and post-tests, lesson planning strategies, learning links, and comprehensive training and support.
Web-based. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (Grades K-3)
Reading A-Z (Reading A-Z)
"A fabulous use of the Internet" and "a resource that puts everything a teacher, parent, or home schooler needs at the click of the mouse" were just two of the rave reviews Reading A-Z received for its downloadable, printable books. With 150 readers categorized into 27 levels of graduated reading difficulty, this comprehensive online offering is designed to teach reading skills, alphabetic principles, and phonics. In addition to its well-developed curriculum, a key attribute of this guided reading program is its extensive library of books.
Web site. Price: $49.95 for annual subscription. (Grades K-6)
Reading for Meaning (Tom Snyder Productions)
Reading for Meaning teaches core reading skills covered by most standardized tests, from reading for the main idea to writing to demonstrate understanding. With over 60 lessons targeting a range of literacy skills, the program is flexible enough to be used with a whole class, small groups, or by an individual student. As one judge wrote, "This type of software illustrates a good use of technology in the classroom. It allows teachers to achieve learning that could not occur using paper, pencil, and chalk."
Web-based or Mac/Win CD. Price: $99.95. (Grades 3-8)
Mathematics
PowerOne Graph 3.0 (Infinity Softworks)
The latest version of Infinity's graphing calculator software transforms your Palm OS-based device into a comprehensive, fully functioning calculator with an intuitive touch-screen interface. Judges welcomed the program's sophisticated capabilities, such as performing calculus functions, statistics operations, and unit conversions, as well as its more practical applications like the helpful tip calculator. Eighteen advanced worksheets come standard with the program, and over 100 worksheet templates are free for download at Infinity's Web site.
Palm OS with Mac/Win CD for the desktop. Price: $49.99. (Grades 8-12)
StudyWorks! Online (MathSoft Engineering & Education)
Our judges found the StudyWorks context-based approach to teaching math and science hard to resist. Topics range from basic algebra and geometry to statistics and calculus, and even include a section on science fiction to get kids thinking about the science and math behind everyday activities. StudyWorks! Online also links up to other Web resources, including MathSoft's Collaboratory, an online community and diagnostic testing center, and The Physics Classroom, a popular online tutorial.
Web site. Price: Free. (Grades 6-12)
Professional Development
TaskStream: The Tools of Engagement (TaskStream)
TaskStream's online professional development offering got high marks from our judges for its ease of use and high-quality teacher resources. This collaborative Web environment optimizes integrated communication tools to build productive mentoring relationships among both experienced and novice teachers. Web Folio and Web Page Builders give teachers a head start in publishing portfolios and class home pages, while Instructional Design Tools help educators develop standards-based curriculum and assessment rubrics. Judges' favorites included the lesson plan database and instant messaging tools.
Web site. Price: Approximately $50 per teacher per year.
Science
Cyber Ed Chemistry: States of Matter (PLATO Learning)
Well-designed graphics, video, and animation build the foundation for this electronic introduction to the states of matter and the chemical transitions that occur among them. Cyber Ed Chemistry also clarifies difficult concepts, such as how chemical bonding and intermolecular forces keep particles in condensed states of matter close to each other, while the section on energy explains why particles separate and form liquids and gases. Pre- and post-tests, access to a periodic table, and interactive lessons that reinforce key concepts made this an all-around favorite with our judges.
Mac/Win CD. Price: $119.95. (Grades 9-12)
Graphical Analysis 3 (Vernier Software & Technology)
From a company widely known for its extensive list of sensor offerings, Vernier's graphing software stood on its own this year to take home an award. Judges found the program "cost-effective and well-designed, with excellent tutorials." Ideal for graphing, analyzing, and presenting data, it allows students to generate graphs instantly from data input manually or collected via a TI graphing calculator. Data can then easily be imported into other applications, such as Excel and Word, for lab reports.
Mac/Win CD. Price: $80 (site license included). (Grades 6-12)
ImagiProbe 2.0 (ImagiWorks, Inc.)
One of our judges heralded ImagiProbe's powerful software system and sensor interface because of the "great mobility it affords during data gathering." When combined with temperature and distance probes and a Palm or Visor handheld computer, this sensor-based data acquisition system lets students collect, graph, annotate, and analyze data. The information can then be transferred to a desktop computer for further analysis or to create presentations. For a wider range of applications, many Vernier sensors are supported by the ImagiWorks platform.
Palm OS with Mac/Win for the desktop. Price: $279 (does not include probes). (Grades 4-12)
Ology: The Gene Scene (American Museum of Natural History)
If your students are asking why the tomatoes on their BLT are genetically modified or wondering how scientists study molecules smaller than the human eye can see, then take a trip to the American Museum of Natural History's Ology Web site. Here, students can explore the complex world of genetics by pretending they're a DNA detective, participating in online polls and quizzes, and even making DNA in a blender. As one judge remarked, "This site should be bookmarked in every classroom!"
Web site. Price: Free. (Grades 4-6)
Visual BioLibrary: Basic Cell Mechanisms (SAS inSchool)
Praising its "meticulously architectured, well-organized, and easy-to-use interface," our judges all agreed that Visual BioLibrary deserved an award for the way it enriches traditional science instruction. Three standards-based science units-on enzymes, membranes, and cell divisions-simulate biological processes and cause-and-effect relationships in a safe, efficient digital environment.
Server-based with Win CD. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (Grades 9-12)
Security And Utility Programs
eSafe Gateway (Aladdin Knowledge Systems)
Combining antivirus and filtering tools into one network-based program, eSafe impressed our judges by its promise of easy implementation and maintenance. A content inspection server that offers protection against malicious Internet traffic, the program performs real-time data inspections and proactively removes malicious code, while filtering school networks for inappropriate messaging and reporting unauthorized use.
Server-based with Win CD. Price: $1,500 for 25 users.
Social Studies
Taxes, Tea and Tyranny (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
"Cost-effective, interactive, and an interesting way to learn about colonial America," peppered judges' comments on this online field trip that immerses kids in the excitement and tension that defined colonial America's protest of British taxation. The site was designed for use in tandem with a live PBS television broadcast, but won an award on its own as a Web adventure where kids direct their own inquiry by asking questions of online historians and posting opinions for other students.
Web site. Price: $100 per school. (Grades 4-8)
Views and Voices: The Progressive Era (SAS inSchool)
Excited by the program's open-ended learning design, our judges were anxious to see their own students experience the early 20th century with this engaging and age-appropriate offering. Views and Voices introduces kids to the shaping of our nation's democratic foundations in a manner that invites an understanding of its complexities. Three standards-based units offer highlights of the people, concepts, and events of the period, while video-based case studies and writing activities engage students in a deep examination of the issues that defined the age.
Server-based with Win CD. Contact publisher for individual pricing options. (Grades 9-12)
World History (ABC-CLIO Schools)
This subscription-based Web site brings the past to today's social studies students and educators. Judges liked the site's customization options, which let them post announcements, syllabi, and homework assignments, in addition to daily updates to the site's rich collection of modern history information. World History's multimedia tools optimize video, discussion forums, and self-tests to introduce students to the historical documents, maps, and biographies of key figures who define the modern era. Judges also praised the site's "easy and flawless" design and ancillary resources, including standards-based content, an online cybrarian for reference help, and current-events articles.
Web site. Price: $599 per year. (Grades 6-12)
< < < Return to Intro
Read other articles from the December Issue
Send a letter to the Editor in response to this article.
|
