EdTech Show Daily

AbleNet, TI Partner for K-12 Math Curricula for Students with Disabilities

AbleNet Inc., a leader in content and curriculum development paired with assistive technologies that support differentiated learning for students with disabilities, is now in development for a new K-12 math program in cooperation with Texas Instruments.

Designed for use in special education classrooms, curricula are the first and only math programs to address the unique learning requirements of students with moderate to severe disabilities in grades K-12, the companies said in a statement today. Additionally, each program in the AbleNet K12 math series will incorporate use of Texas Instruments calculators, a skill that promotes independent living as students prepare for life after graduation.

The partnership gives AbleNet permission to modify content and activities found in TI's EXPLORATIONS™ Series books and Getting Started Series booklets in order to create uniquely-adapted editions for moderately to severely disabled students.

For more information, visit www.ablenetinc.com.

Capella Makes Online Academic Writing Center Available to the Public

A comprehensive online academic writing center developed by Capella University, primarily for graduate level students, is now available to the public at www.capellawritingcenter.org. Capella, which is an accredited, online university that focuses on master's and Ph.D. degrees, created the Online Writing Center to provide its 23,000-plus students with instruction, resources, and strategies to help them navigate the writing process and develop clear and effective academic writing.

"We decided to make this writing resource available to the general public because, first, it's the nature of writing centers to share resources, and second, we have some unique resources to share that are a result of the collaboration among faculty, staff and our incredible Web and instructional designers," says Leslie Olsen, Coordinator of Capella's Writing Center. "There is so much information on this site that people seeking help with their writing won't find on other writing resource Web sites. What we have developed truly makes the writing process much more manageable, efficient, and enjoyable."

According to Olsen, the multimedia modules and animated handouts are very unique among writing resource Web sites, and are a very effective way to, "help these concepts come to life and really sink in."

Some of that unique information includes a writing handbook organized around the writing process and embedded with multimedia modules, animated handouts and easily downloadable documents on topics such as the philosophy behind APA writing guidelines, writing a literature review and pre-writing techniques that can be used to help facilitate the writing process.

For more information, visit www.capella.edu or www.capellawritingcenter.org.

SANYO Projectors Offer AMF System for Easy Filter Management

SANYO is now offering two new LCD portable projectors, the PLC-XC55 (3,100 lumens) and the PLC-XC50 (2,600 lumens), to their line of high brightness projectors for the education and business markets. Both are equipped with SANYO’s Active Maintenance Filter (AMF) system, allowing easy filter changes, and several security features to prevent theft.

This is the first time SANYO’s exclusive AMF system has been integrated into a portable projector. This unique filtration system consists of a filter cartridge with 10 lengths of filter material and an airflow sensor that detects when the airflow is obstructed by dust and advances a clean section of filter as needed. When the last section of filter material becomes obstructed an onscreen graphic appears telling the user to change the cartridge. Each filter lasts approximately 3,000 hours.

"Thanks to SANYO's AMF these new high brightness projectors significantly lower a school system’s cost of ownership by reducing filter maintenance costs by a factor of ten, “says Mark Holt, Vice President and General Manager for SANYO’s Presentation Technologies Division.

General maintenance is kept at a minimum with other features such as the transparent lens cap that prevents the accumulation of dust on the lens and the ability to replace the lamp from the top cabinet, which doesn't require removal from permanent installations.

The PLC-XC55 and PLC-XC50 will be available in July 2008 and sell for $1,995 and $1,495 respectively.

For more information, visit www.sanyoprojectors.com.

ELMO’s P30S Projector Boasts a Wide Array of Perceivable Capabilities

ELMO USA is adding to its line of P30 document cameras with its new P30 “S” model, which will be displayed at InfoComm 2008 in Las Vegas, June 18–20.

ELMO will provide eyes-on demonstrations, showing off all of the P30S’s exemplary attributes including greater image power and clarity through full-motion video of 30fps, XGA/SXGA/720P HD selectable output and 16x optical zoom.

The P30S’s easy operation and portability set-up combined with its wide range of capabilities makes it the presenter of informative and/or persuasive presentations ideal for a diverse range of applications utilized by higher-education, corporate, legal, government, houses of worship and other institutions

"The P30S combines the highest standards in design, number and types of features and effective and efficient use of technologies,” says Howard Winch, ELMO USA Vice President of Sales. “Equally important, we’re offering the P30S at a very attractive price point. The P30S is an exceptionally affordable tool for users who want to add impact to presentations and boost interest, comprehension and retention."

Popular features include an advanced progressive scan camera system and 16x optical zoom capabilities; a free-angle camera arm and lamp for flexible, custom positioning and lighting; lightweight design for portability and confident handling and a user-friendly interface. The convenience of a built-in LCD monitor allows presenters to view information while continuing to address an audience. In addition, the P30S’s SD memory card-ready port has the ability to store presentation data on a removable high-capacity SD memory card. And, last but not least, the P30S comes with a slide adapter to display conventional slides.

For more information, visit www.elmousa.com or call 1-800-947-ELMO.

Faronics Debuts Power Save 2.0

Faronics is now shipping the much-awaited release of Power Save 2.0. This latest release of Faronics’ non-disruptive computer energy management software now introduces Windows Vista support, a new enterprise console and enhanced reporting capabilities.

Power Save makes computer energy management that is non-disruptive to IT and end-users a reality. It provides tangible financial savings to organizations by reducing computer power consumption, and proves its rapid return-on-investment through enterprise-wide tracking and reporting.

By strengthening IT control over network systems while promoting user productivity at all times, Power Save enables IT to achieve feasible environmental responsibility that is easy to deploy and manage, and is the only computer energy management solution that analyzes CPU, disk, keyboard, mouse and application activity before taking power management actions.

On average, Power Save provides organizations with a savings of $25 per computer, per year, for every computer deployed.

A free, fully functional 30 day evaluation version of Power Save can be downloaded from www.faronics.com for both Windows and Mac computers. Power Save users with a valid maintenance package can download this latest version from Faronics Labs, Faronics’ customer care portal.

Solution Tree Draws 4,000 Educators to Assessment Institute

Solution Tree Education Canada recently partnered with Halifax Regional School Board to host one of the single largest professional development events ever held in Canada. More than 4,000 educators from Nova Scotia attended the Halifax Assessment Institute, a two-day training that focused on how best to use formative and summative assessments to significantly improve student learning.

At a time when all eyes are on educators to be accountable for ensuring high levels of learning for all students, assessment has been identified as one of the most effective tools available for shaping guaranteed, viable curriculum. Renowned experts Drs. Douglas Reeves, Robert Marzano, Thomas Guskey, and Linda Gregg delivered both the latest research and current best practice for practical application of assessment strategies and tactics.

Donald "Stubby" McLean of Solution Tree Education Canada described the intent of the event. "The Halifax schools are good to begin with, but their vision is to become Canada's most improved school system as far as measurable student achievement by the end of the 2008-2009 school year." According to McLean, HRSB Superintendent Carole Olsen and HRSB Program Director Geoff Cainen, were "absolutely determined to host an event of the highest quality professional development to help make this vision a reality."

Solution Tree is a leading provider of educational strategies and tools that improve staff and student performance. For more than 20 years, Solution Tree resources have helped K-12 teachers and administrators create schools where all children succeed. For more information, visit www.solution-tree.com.

ShareStream Named 'Best Rich Media Solution' at Learning Impact

ShareStream's Rich Media Environment on display at Georgetown University was named by the IMS Global Learning Consortium the 2008 winner of the Best Rich Media Solution as well as a Bronze Award recipient at the annual IMS GLC Learning Impact Awards held recently in Austin, Texas.

"ShareStream's innovative platform at Georgetown was judged by our distinguished panel of judges according to eight criteria of impact, including improving access to learning, improving affordability of learning and improving the quality of learning," Rob Abel, CEO of IMS GLC, said in a statement today. "ShareStream's finish as the Best Rich Media Solution means that they are the best in show in this important emerging category."

ShareStream is an enterprise digital media asset-management platform for streaming, downloading and podcasting media services designed specifically for the unique needs of higher education. ShareStream is integrated with universities' data services and is interoperable with other internal systems, such as learning management systems, library catalogues and university Web pages. With ShareStream, users can automate the process of encoding content, provide lecture capture with slide synchronization, catalogue and archive media with the appropriate metadata, secure and control access to content, and audit user access and use of particular media objects.

ShareStream's digital media management and delivery solution was initially developed in collaboration with Georgetown University at its Sun Center for Scholarly Information. Today, the ShareStream platform is used to manage, secure and deliver media for over 220 courses, in addition to providing mandatory orientation content to all students studying in its satellite campus in Qatar. ShareStream serviced roughly 220,000 on-demand requests for digital media during the past year.

For more information, visit www.imsglobal.org or www.sharestream.com.

NC Schools Add Walling Data, AVG Protections to 6,000 PCs

As Network Administrator for Randolph County Schools in the Asheboro, N.C. area, Mark Uhl and his six colleagues are responsible for managing the IT requirements of 29 schools with 6,000 workstations and multiple servers.

Uhl has been with Randolph County for nine years and has seen many changes as the school system's demands have evolved. Some three years ago, the county switched from Novell to Microsoft servers, and Uhl chose to lock down the majority of workstations at that time to maintain a secure environment.

"When we switched to Microsoft, we locked down our group policies, which basically prevents users from making any changes to the C-drive," Uhl said. "This protects workstations from the majority of inbound threats."

However, it was not practical to require all workstations to be locked down; administrative staff -- principals and some teachers -- retained the ability to make changes to their local hard drives. The downside was that this flexibility for users also resulted in flexibility for malware to get into those systems.

Uhl researched his options and found that AVG was being widely recommended for educational environments as a low-impact, easy-to-use solution. Uhl's next step was to find a local supplier they could work with. "However easy AVG looked, I really wanted to buy from a local distributor who could provide us with product support as we got to know the system in detail," added Uhl. "That's why we chose to purchase our licenses through Walling Data Systems. We were also attracted by their experience in the educational sector."

Walling Data Systems is the country's longest-standing distributor of AVG Technologies solutions and the highest-volume distributor in North America. Walling specializes in the education and nonprofit sectors, and is the only distributor to offer all customers free, unlimited, U.S.-based support as part of every sale.

"I love the new AVG 8.0 -- it's reliable and effective, doesn't get in the way of productive work on the computers, and is very, very effective at catching threats," Uhl said. "We were using version 7.5 and that was great -- but 8.0 is even better because it also includes anti-spyware and a whole slew of protection against web-borne threats."

For more information visit www.avg-antivirus.net or www.avg-antivirus.net.

ShowMyPC Beta Version for Mac Now Available

For all the Mac users who feel left behind because there are no reasonably priced Web meeting services available for the Mac, ShowMyPC.com has the ultimate solution. A beta version of their software released this month lets users seamlessly conduct Web meetings between a Mac and a PC (or a Mac and a Mac). And the best part is -- it's absolutely free.

Ideal for online learning and collaboration needs, two users simply visit www.showmypc.com and click on the "Desktop Sharing for Mac OSX" link. The application automatically starts, and with one click, you are on your way to viewing their computer screen or sharing your screen with them. Your security is ensured by 128-bit encryption and a random meeting code which only you and the remote user are provided before you initiate the meeting.

The service was originally started as a free alternative to more expensive services from Webex and Gotomypc. Today, it's being used by thousands of users to conduct Web meetings and provide remote support. For more information on how to use the service free of charge simply visit www.showmypc.com.

RedVector Arrives at 1,000th Reason Why It Is the E-Learning Leader

A significant milestone was reached today as RedVector.com, Inc., the top provider of online education for the engineering, architectural, interior design, construction, land surveying, building inspection and landscape architecture industries, celebrated the publication of its 1,000th online course.

Since October 1999, RedVector, starting with just two online courses, has continued launching between five and 10 new online courses every month into its ever-growing online catalog that offers webinars, a popular license management service, annual total access subscriptions, several certificate programs and a variety of e-learning solutions for enterprise clients.

Victoria Zambito, Vice President of Content Development, says, "Not only has our online course library grown, but our format has become more refined, and we have introduced carefully chosen interactivities that foster enhanced student engagement. Many of our instructional course designs have evolved to include games, audio, animations and other devices specifically targeted to reinforcing learning processes. We've become quite adept at turning highly technical content into effective learning tools. This progress and attention to quality really sets us apart from typical course developers and providers of online education."

RedVector continues to ensure that their existing student body of 41,000 architects, engineers and contractors as well as new clients always has something new to choose from. Courses are developed to meet state licensing board and professional organization continuing education requirements and are e-taught by more than 100 subject matter experts.

For more information, visit www.redvector.com.