Magazine

November 2012, What’s New

10/30/2012 By:

software & online

Adaptive Curriculum, a Web-based concept mastery solution that boosts student achievement in math and science, has been selected as a key content provider for Alleyoop, the online college prep tutoring site created in conjunction with Pearson. The partnership leverages Adaptive Curriculum’s science activities and is geared toward grades 6-12 with the personalized recommendations and gamebased engagement of Alleyoop.

Adobe has updated Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, photo and video editing tools that help K-12 educators teach 21stcentury literacy, problem solving, collaboration, and communication skills. Available for Windows and Mac OS, the software also lets students showcase knowledge through digital stories that include images and professional-looking movies.

Atomic Learning’s Atomic Catalyst solution has added a new professional development course, “iPod/ iPad Use for Students with Special Needs.” The six-week course runs from November 7 until December 19. It covers techniques for using mobile technology in special education and helps teachers form an implementation plan for a student or classroom.

ClassDojo, the digital character building and behavior management service for teachers, has launched a mobile app for iOS devices. The app is an extension of the ClassDojo platform that helps teachers to create a comprehensive learning environment and reinforce character strengths. The app makes it easier for teachers to monitor and track behaviors in real time through the use of feedback points that are displayed in the classroom with audio-visual cues. Students can see how they are progressing, individually and as a class.

Common Sense Media, a national non-profit organization, has teamed up with Edmodo, the free and secure K-12 social learning network. The partnership provides teachers with a set of student activities based on Common Sense Media’s free K-12 curriculum, “Digital Literacy and Citizenship in a Connected Culture,” for the Edmodo platform. The curriculum introduces the basics of using social networks and other digital technologies safely, responsibly, and respectfully.

e2020 Inc. has released a large selection of interactive courses geared towards today’s tech-savvy students. The courses are built on a new instructional model and designed to meet the state and Common Core State standards to better prepare students for college and career. The courses include enhanced digital tools and an interactive periodic table.

Learning. com’s Easy- Tech Online Safety curriculum is a complete K-12 Internet safety program that provides students with the skills to be safe and ethical as they communicate online. The curriculum encourages safe, educational Internet use, and meets e-Rate requirements. The curriculum includes interactive, self-paced lessons, group activities, guided practice, and immediate feedback.

Edmodo has upgraded its platform to help meet the needs of students, teachers, and administrators. The new platform includes activity streams, group planning, and progress reports. Additionally, students can select from a menu of illustrated icons to indicate their reactions, from “tough or challenging” to “interesting.”

PBS LearningMedia has launched a compilation of election-focused digital resources for K-12 students. The Election 2012 Collection features a student-focused newscast, highlighting issues from the campaign trail, a multimedia glossary, interactive digital games, and lesson plans geared towards high school students and teachers.

ePals Corporation has announced a partnership with Curriki. org, an online education community that provides a vast collection of free, open education resources. The partnership broadens ePals’ content and tools for best-in-class collaboration. Additionally, the allnew ePals offers advanced global classroom matching, and collaborative workspaces with wiki, blog, and discussion thread features.

Archipelago Learning has introduced Newcomers’ Storybooks and a speaking component to ESL ReadingSmart. The ESL ReadingSmart Newcomers’ Storybooks will help students read and interact with literature while the new speaking component will enable students to record themselves reading a text.

Follett School and Library Group (FSLG) has announced the joint release of the Destiny 10.5, the Follett Shelf, and the Follett Digital Reader programs that will provide a simpler Follett eBook mobile reading experience from computers, tablets, and smartphones. FollettShelf, a new, cloud-based virtual bookshelf, can be integrated with Destiny to provide administrators with tools to manage and share eBook collections, increase library usage, and support mobile device initiatives.

GoodReader, the document reader for the iPhone and iPad, now supports Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, making it easier to share documents with Windows PCs and laptops. GoodReader users have already been able to exchange files between their iOS devices and their PCs using other protocols, but supporting SMB simplifies the process because it is the native protocol for Windows.

Educational Resources has released the LearnPad, a customized, school-based tablet solution that supports a wide range of curriculum resources, including tablet apps, Web sites, and Flash-based learning content. It contains easy-to-use tools designed to support effective teaching right out of the box.

Lexia Learning has introduced Lexia Reading Core5, a technology-based reading program developed to meet the Common Core State standards. Students in grades pre-K through 5 work through the program independently. This personalized approach to skill development enables atrisk students to close the gap more quickly and enables on-level or advanced students to continue to progress with limited support from their teachers.

Certiport, the official test delivery solution provider for the global workforce and academic markets, has announced the availability of the Microsoft Office 365 certification exam as part of the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) 2010 certification suite. MOS is the world’s most recognized, standards-based credential chosen by individuals seeking to validate their skills on Microsoft Office. Office 365 offers virtual access to Microsoft Office tools and technology via cloud-based computing.

My Big Campus has been updated with new features and enhancements to the safe, social learning platform. The platform has added ISTE NETS Tech Standards for students. This platform is offered in bundles, which include self-contained,online lessons comprised of related videos, group content, documents, and text that can be shared with other classrooms in the same school or the entire My Big Campus community. Additionally, the Schoolwork interface has been enhanced to provide a better user experience. Upgrades to the interface include access to more quiz options, the ability to attach files to assignments, access to anonymous surveys, and support for ExamView test banks.

Netop has released a new iPad app that gives teachers access to all of the resources on their PCs. With the free Netop Vision Mobile app on their iPads and the Netop Vision Mobile Connector on their PCs, teachers can move around their classroom and access the educational resources on their computers. When used with Netop Vision or Netop Vision Pro, teachers can also monitor classroom computer use.

Observe4success, a provider of classroom observation and walkthrough software, has released a fully customizable version of its teacher observation platform. Administrators can create custom observation forms using observe4success content, their own content, or both. The Web-based Observe4success offers custom form creation in a logical, stepby- step manner.

Odysseyware announces a new, CCSS-aligned, online curriculum in English language arts and math for students in grades 3-12. The online courses use technology and digital media to enhance students’ skill development. They are also adaptable to meet the needs of individual students, schools, and districts. Odysseyware now offers CCSS prescriptive diagnostics and remediation resources.

ASCD has released version 2.0 of its PD In Focus online professional development tool. The Web-based tool provides educators with cost-effective, on-demand access to hundreds of hours of high-impact videos, plus related resources and activities. The program pairs examples from contemporary teaching with insights from some of the most important voices in education.

Rand McNally has launched “Play the Election,” a free, collaborative, online tool that teaches students about the upcoming presidential election and process through games, resources, and competition. Students predict the election winners for each state on an interactive election map and compare their predictions to their class and the country to see where they rank. The program also includes 11 digital mini-games that delve deeper into influential and battleground states like Ohio and Florida.

EducAide Software has developed a new, free tool for test prep and instruction. Through Problem-Attic’s online portal, teachers can search by subject and concept, select individual questions, and reformat their selections into worksheets, homework, exams, or slide shows. The questions, covering math, science, social studies, and language arts, are primarily for high school students, but the company is working toward covering all grade levels.

Hitachi America introduced the Projector Quick Connection app, which allows users to monitor and control multiple Hitachi projectors from a single iPad. Projectors must be equipped with a USB wireless adaptor to connect to the iPad. The app also includes advanced functions such as presenter mode, which enables the user to prevent a projector from connecting to another iPad.

Texthelp Inc. has released Read&Write for Google Docs. Google Docs allows teachers and students to create and collaborate on documents in real time in the Cloud. Users simply open a Google document and use the tools on the Read&Write for Google Docs toolbar to perform a variety of features, including having the document read aloud with dual-color highlighting, the ability to access dictionary and study skills tools, and the automatic creation of vocabulary lists. Now, with Read&Write for Google Docs, Google Documents are accessible.

McGraw-Hill Education has launched McGraw- Hill Reading Wonders, the first K-6 core reading program designed for the CCSS. The program teaches advanced skills and helps prepare students for a new set of common assessments that will be implemented in the 2014-15 school year. McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders offers a differentiated approach to reading that motivates students to exceed their current reading level and provides teachers with lessons and resources to help accelerate learning.

The SAT app by Dictionary.com contains 500 of the most frequently tested words on the SAT. Each day players receive a word mastery goal that takes into account the number of study days left until their test. Students can enjoy the app’s games, earn badges, accomplish goals, and unlock content.

Splashtop Whiteboard (Kindle Tablet Edition) is now available for the Kindle Fire. Now, teachers and students can connect to a computer over Wi-Fi from the Kindle Fire, as well as an Android tablet, iPad, or NOOK. The app enables Flash media with fully synchronized video and audio, control of educational applications, and the ability to annotate lesson content with a full-featured toolbar.

Wanderful has launched a new collection of multilingual, interactive storybook apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, based on classic titles originally published as Living Books by Brøderbund Software. The new apps include Mercer Mayer’s “Little Monster at School,” Marc Brown’s “Arthur’s Teacher Trouble,” and Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

Wowzers has released a mobile version of its flagship math program, along with expanded features and curriculum, for a more robust learning experience. Featuring a full classroom management system, a complete 3rd-5thgrade Common Core curriculum, and a supplemental 6th-8th-grade curriculum, the newest version of Wowzers is now supported on any mobile device, including iOS and Android platforms.

CTB/McGraw- Hill has launched Writing Roadmap 3.0, an expansion of the online writing assessment tool. Writing Roadmap helps students in Grades 3-12 practice and improve their writing skills and guides teachers in measuring and tracking proficiency. The new version contains over twice as many essay questions, as well as a new user interface, an improved scoring engine, and the introduction of text-based writing prompts with associated reading passages.

hardware

BenQ (www.benq.us) has introduced the VW30 Series of vertical alignment LED monitors, offering full MacBook compatibility, LED backlighting, and VA panel technology. The VW30s connect to any MacBook through an M-book mode, recreating MacBook picture quality on either the 21.5-inch or 24-inch displays. Additionally, through the new Reading Mode, the monitors will adjust their settings automatically to simulate the warmth of reading paper. The VW30 Series offers 1080p HD, a contrast ratio of 5000:1, and a 178-degree viewing angle.

ViewSonic (www.viewsonic.com) has released the TD2220, a 22-inch, LED optical touch display. Ideal for classrooms, the display features advanced dual point optical touch technology with a hardened 8H level scratchresistant surface. Other features include a 20,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for blur-free video and SRS Premium Sound. The display is Energy Star and EPEAT Silver certified.

The new iclicker (www.iclicker.com) contains features that make the clicker easier to use, such as an improved keypad that features LED lighting for an improved vote confirmation experience. The new clicker has a longer battery life, making it more convenient for student usage.

Epson America (www.epsonbrighterfutures.com) has announced the DC-20 document camera, featuring 12x optical zoom and HDMI digital connectivity. A new addition to Epson’s document camera lineup, the DC-20 comes equipped with a large imaging sensor that captures more light per pixel than smaller imaging sensors, resulting in brighter images with crisp details.

eInstruction (www.einstruction.com) and the nonprofit New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) have teamed up to provide CTL’s STEM course materials as interactive content, simplifying the integration of instruction and realtime assessment for users of eInstruction’s Insight 360 classroom instruction system. Furthermore, free open-source digital content aligned to CCSS will be embedded with eInstruction’s CueTag technology to eliminate the time required to create and prepare standardized interactive whiteboard lesson content.

Samsung Electronics America (www.samsung.com) has announced the details of its upcoming Windows 8 mobile PC and All-In-One product lines, offering seamless convergence across devices with Samsung AllShare Play. The lineup includes a range of computing solutions, from laptops and Samsung ATIV Smart PCs to All- In-One desktop PCs. The products include the ATIV Smart PC 500T and Smart PC 700T, the Samsung Series 5 Ultra Touch, Series 5 and 7 All-In- One (pictured), Series 7 Notebook, and Series 9 Premium Ultrabook.