EdTech Show Daily

Live From TCEA: Texas Instruments' Jamie Alexander

From DLP-based projection systems to cutting-edge calculators and student response systems, Texas Instruments offers TCEA attendees an unmatched variety of products and learning solutions. Here, the company's Manager of Exhibits and Events Group, Education Technology, Jamie Alexander, details what TI is showcasing at the TCEA Expo.

Download Texas Instruments Podcast

For more information, stop by booth 2670 at TCEA or visit www.education.ti.com.

RM Education Acquires Classroom Technology Leader Computrac

For more than 35 years, RM Education has been a worldwide leader in improving the technological demands for the 21st century in order for students to be competitive in this global society. RM delivers outstanding educational products and services that help teachers to teach and learners to learn. Their award-winning products are not only changing the face of schools, but are also sure to transform the educational experience for learners and teachers for years to come.

On November 4, 2008 RM announced the acquisition of U.S. specialist education technology business Computrac. Computrac is a leading provider of interactive classroom technology solutions to schools in the Southeastern United States. The acquisition of Computrac brings a successful and profitable business into the RM Group and a solid platform to launch and further the expansion of RM’s education products and services.

Computrac already sells RM’s whole-class teaching software and its extensive customer base makes it an excellent channel for other RM Group products and intellectual property. It will be integrated with RM Educational Software Inc., the group’s established and profitable U.S. subsidiary, with RM’s current International Managing Director Kevin Pawsey to oversee the integration and to run the new combined business.

“The combined business will be substantially larger than the group’s current U.S. Operation,” Pawsey says. “It also provides an excellent platform for further expansion in the Southeastern U.S. and beyond by working direct with school districts implementing more strategic RM solutions such as Kaleidos Learning Platform and RM Ranger Education Network Management Software and by further supporting key technology OEM Partners and focused K–12 resellers with RM Easiteach and educational resources such as the RM TTS line of classroom technologies.”

Computrac designs, supplies and installs sophisticated interactive teaching solutions, comprising electronic whiteboards, interactive pads, student voting devices, whole-class teaching software, digital projectors and other audio/visual products. Based in Georgia, Computrac has well-developed relationships with School Boards in the Southeastern United States and has supplied more than 10,000 K–12 classrooms.

Visit RM booth 1445 and see all their new interactive products being released at TCEA.

Discovery Education: Digging Deeper to Bring You the Best Training, PD Services

Article courtesy of Discovery Education

Andy Hargreaves in *Teaching in the Knowledge Society: Education in the Age of Insecurity* (Teachers College Press, 2003) argues that our students must possess a deep understanding of various subjects, be inventive problem solvers, function in teams as well as independently and care about others so that they can make meaningful contributions to society. To meet these goals, Hargreaves aptly contends that teachers and all school stakeholders must intentionally pursue deep and continuous professional learning.

So what makes for deep and continuous professional learning that will have this degree of impact on student learning? The professional development team at Discovery Education is committed to these ideals by ensuring that adult learning is continuous, taking a job-embedded approach that starts with a needs assessment to define measureable goals and ends with evaluation at all levels of implementation. 

At Discovery Education, we don’t stop at a simple satisfaction survey and pat ourselves on the back when teachers state they “liked” the training. Depending on the size of the implementation, we dig much deeper, constantly surveying participants at multiple points along the training continuum to determine teachers’ acquisition and comfort with new skills and knowledge. We respond throughout the professional development process to ensure that participants are receiving the organizational support they need to succeed and finally, we design a plan to know whether students actually have increased capacity to be inventive problem solvers and team players that care about their peers. 

Everything we do as professional developers is intentional and research based. Teacher training at Discovery Education often begins with a Day of Discovery to build buy-in and excitement about teaching across the curriculum with technology. This full day of fun and hands-on exploration introduces participants to new possibilities; a world of engaging and researched based instruction and student engagement like none other.

Next, the Discovery Education professional development team works closely with site based facilitators learning to successfully implement and scale the use of the award-winning Discovery Education *streaming*, Discovery Education Science and Discovery Education Health services. School site facilitators acquire tangible skills and develop the presentation tools necessary to implement lunch-n-learns and strategy-of-the-month clubs. These learning opportunities provide the best chance at expanding the systemic use of technology in teachers’ direct instruction and ultimately the use of technology by students to express their learning. 

Moving way beyond site based training our team offers a host of instructive webinars to reinforce learning on an as needed basis and just in time. Not only that, with more than 88,000 educators on board, the DEN (Discovery Educator Network) sports one of the largest professional learning communities ever. Teachers can learn and ask each other questions on a multitude of forums and blogs and interact with thought leaders like science futurist Dr. Michio Kaku through Webinars hosted by the DEN.

For the Discover Education team, training is about continuous well supported change, transformation, and learning. Let’s face it, teachers know their digital natives are restless and yet as digital immigrants, many teachers feel daunted by the call to significantly change their teaching practice even though they know they must. Have your teachers reached their growth spurt? Call Discovery Education today to learn more about how our professional development team can meet your educators’ needs today. 

Live From TCEA: Calypso Control Systems' Terry Gordon

Terry Gordon, National Sales Manager at Calypso Control Systems, gives an overview of the company's A/V control solutions for schools, including the new ezRoom 5000.

Download Calypso Controls Podcast

For more information, visit www.calypsocontrol.com

Live From TCEA: eInstruction Introduces the Dual Board

Samir Joglekar, Senior VP of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at eInstruction, introduces the company's new Mobi products and Dual Board system, while teacher/presenter Tony Scherrman talks about how easy the products are to use and what teachers like him can do with eInstruction in the classroom.

Download eInstruction Podcast

For more information, visit www.einstruction.com or stop by booth 1049 here at TCEA.

Live From TCEA: Faronics

Dennis Boulter, Vice President of Sales at Faronics, talks about the company's evolution, and it's revolutionary new products -- Power Save and Insight.

Download Faronics Podcast

For more information, visit www.faronics.com or stop by booth 2149 here at TCEA.

Live From TCEA: School Web Lockers

We're podcasting live from TCEA 2009 in Austin, talking with Kelly Agrelius of School Web Lockers. Kelly gives an overview of the company and their product -- My Web Lockers.

Download School Web Lockers Podcast

For more information, visit www.schoolweblockers.com or stop by booth 2150.

Conterra, WTTC/Regiona 14 ESC Partner to Provide Telecom Network for Students

Three years ago, the wide area telecom network serving schools in West Texas Telecommunications Consortium/ESC-14 consisted of mostly slow and unreliable T-1 connections. Technical Director Steve Simoneau and the WTTC decided to request proposals in 2006 to upgrade their aging wide area network (WAN). Despite the challenging distances and bandwidth requirements between participating district offices, they got both the response and the price they were looking for.

In 2008, more than 40 school district offices in ESC-14 were connected to a new 100 Mbps per location, microwave radio-based WAN. Now the students in these linked locations can enjoy fiber optic speed Internet, distance learning, video field trips and Voice-over-IP communications in their classrooms. All of this new service capability is largely funded through the federal E-rate program.

Conterra Ultra Broadband, an eligible service provider for Priority 1 E-rate services, submitted the winning bid to provide the WAN service upgrade for the WTTC. Conterra is based in Charlotte, N.C., with an office outside of Dallas, and is the largest provider of licensed microwave radio-based WAN services to schools in the United States. Conterra is also deploying a similar WAN for the Region 10 ESC.

Simoneau had this to say about the project: “There is always hesitation and doubt when beginning a new project with this scope and complexity. Questions arise as to whether or not you have made the right decision. After dealing with Conterra for the past three years and working closely with them for the seven months of this project, I can confidently say that the WTTC made the right decision in choosing Conterra Ultra Broadband to help build our new wireless WAN.”

NECTAR Offers Unique NE Educational Software

Who are these people that are making a huge splash in the education world? They are NECTAR - New Era Classroom Technology and Research Foundation (www.nectar.ca), derived from a school district to market educational software.

Creators of Trek Software, including Math Trek, Language Trek and Science Trek, their award-winning, innovative software is being used in classrooms and homes all over the world.

 “Teachers like our products because they are curriculum based,” says Rheal Dumont, elementary school teacher and Executive Director of NECTAR Foundation. “Teachers of students in kindergarten to 12th grade utilize the products to compliment their classroom teaching. Each product provides the theory for each topic, problem solving exercises and student tracking. The activities provide the teacher with the ability to know how his or her students are progressing and know which areas and which students require additional attention. Using the products at home allows parents to gain an understanding of what is being taught and provides them with an opportunity to work with their child.”

NECTAR recently released a new product called Preparing for Mathematics Assessment. The multimedia program assists grade 7–10 students prepare for Algebra and Algebra 1 mathematics assessment tests by providing tutorials for learning and review purposes, and by replicating the types of questions that appear on tests.

“An ongoing problem that we have observe is that many students do not master an understanding of some of the basic skills,” says John Bradley, developer of Preparing for Mathematics Assessment. “There are key skills that students should have a handle on coming into the 9th grade, therefore a number of the questions and tutorials in Preparing for Mathematics Assessment are geared towards the mastery of these skills.”

About John Bradley
Bradley graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Honors B.Math degree and a masters M.Math degree. He has taught mathematics for 33 years and served as a mathematics department head for 19 years. He has taken a leading role in many school district mathematics initiatives over the past 20 years. Bradley was awarded the Prime Minister's Award for teaching excellence in 1997. He now serves as one of NECTAR’s prime product developers and advisors.

To learn more about NECTAR’s products, visit them in booth 2249.

Carnegie Learning Announces 24/7 Math Help

Carnegie Learning, Inc., the leading publisher of research-based math solutions, today announced the availability of Carnegie Learning™ 24/7 Math Help, a service that provides on-demand assistance from live tutors. Carnegie Learning 24/7 Math Help provides tutoring support for students using Carnegie Learning™ Textbooks and Cognitive Tutor® software for Bridge to Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Integrated Math curricula.

“The addition of Carnegie Learning 24/7 Math Help expands upon the differentiated instruction model at the heart of Carnegie Learning’s pedagogy,” said Dennis Ciccone, Chief Executive Officer of Carnegie Learning, Inc. “On-screen instruction, hints, and interactive examples are designed into our software, and the addition of a certified tutor available 24/7 allows the student to ask as many questions as needed to gain understanding. The combination of these highly responsive tools helps engage the student and minimize frustration which, ultimately, leads to more effective learning.”

Carnegie Learning 24/7 Math Help extends learning for secondary schools and postsecondary campuses seeking tutoring services, and offers students the ability to receive one-to-one mathematics help as needed.

For more information, visit www.carnegielearning.com.