ISTE Must See Product Guide

Tech & Learning's Best of Show Awards at ISTE20 celebrate the products, and businesses behind them, who are transforming education in schools around the world. Here is just a sampling of the products showcased at ISTE20 live. 

Digital book with penguins

(Image credit: Tools For Schools)

Tools for Schools: Book Creator 

Education is changing. Book Creator offers a simple way to infuse creativity throughout the curriculum, motivating students to become published authors and helping them develop future-ready skills.Book Creator is a simple tool for creating awesome digital books. Create your own teaching resources or get students authoring. 

A few things that set Book Creator apart:

  • Simplicity - an incredibly intuitive interface allows students as young as 4 to add text, images, drawings, video, maps, or even record their voice.
  • Making a book is a familiar concept - and becoming a published author is a sure-fire way to engage students.
  • It’s versatile enough to be used in any subject to demonstrate understanding, promote collaboration and prioritize creativity over consumption.

Reading Plus logo

(Image credit: Reading Plus LLC)

Reading Plus LLC: Reading Plus 

Reading Plus is a research-proven personalized intervention and instruction program that improves comprehension, vocabulary, motivation, and reading efficiency. It is the only adaptive intervention that addresses inefficient reading. Readers who are inefficient expend energy and attention simply trying to take text into the brain for processing, diverting attention from the critical step of information processing and understanding. As a result, inefficient readers may struggle with both comprehension and motivation to read, they tend to read slowly and laboriously, and their reading level is well below grade level.

Reading Plus begins with an online assessment that provides baseline data to provide a clear picture of every student as a reader. Students are placed on personalized learning paths, working in the Reading, Writing, Vocabulary and Visual Skills components. The program uses formative data from each student to continually adapt instruction, and provide teachers with actionable reports and resources for additional teacher-directed instruction."  

Edge•U Badges logo

(Image credit: Forward Edge)

Forward Edge: Edge•U Badges 

Edge•U is a powerful, instruction-focused professional learning system that adapts to the needs of educators. Edge•U builds teacher capacity by offering concise, just-in-time learning to support educators with the challenges they face every day. With more instruction online and an ever increasing number of edtech tools, our program can make a real difference for teachers in utilizing necessary tools for learning. Edge•U received the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Seal of Alignment for the Educator Standards in February 2020. Our solution is shown to consciously, purposefully and meaningfully support best practices for digital age teaching and learning. For more information, visit: www.forward-edge.net/edgeubadges  

Gale In Context: For Educators Learning Center screenshot

(Image credit: Gale, a Cengage company)

Gale, a Cengage company: Gale In Context: For Educators Learning Center 

Building on the foundation of Gale In Context student resources, Gale In Context: For Educators is a lesson planning tool that enables all educators to find and personalize digital learning content, plan learning activities that work well for remote or in-person environments, and provide equity for all students. Its new Learning Center is a professional learning hub that’s the base of operations for finding, organizing and learning how to teach (virtually or in-person) using the content created within For Educators. Teachers can access information in the Learning Center on how to get the most out of For Educators, such as a step-by-step “Build and Teach a Lesson” walk-through; sample content sets; on-demand videos, targeted resources for specific functionality and more. The Learning Center was developed to help teachers take the lead on their own learning and find support as they work to use For Educators to drive learning outcomes.  

Discovery Education Experience screenshot

(Image credit: Discovery Education)

Discovery Education: Discovery Education Experience 

Discovery Education Experience is a flexible K-12 learning platform that connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.

Discovery Education’s team continues adding, contextualizing, and organizing exciting new content and timely resources to Experience each month in response to current events and the ever-evolving needs of educators. These resources, sourced from trusted partners, are aligned to state and national standards, and help educators bring the outside world into teaching and learning every day. 

Finally, Experience is designed to work within school systems’ existing infrastructure and workflows. Through expanded partnerships with Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, and now Clever, integrating Experience into existing IT architecture is easier than ever.