EdTech Show Daily

SMART Technologies Focuses on New Education Solutions for Everyone

Nancy Knowlton, CEO of SMART Technologies, talks about the company’s diversity and predicts the availability of interactive whiteboards in the classroom of the future.

ESD: SMART seems to be putting a real emphasis on education solutions. What’s this all about?

NK: SMART is best known for its SMART Board interactive whiteboard. However, educators who really know SMART know that we offer so much more to create an engaging learning experience for students and a great teaching experience for teachers. We offer a full range of hardware and software for the classroom, content and resources, professional development, user communities, services and support. It is the sum total of these elements that produces the experience that our customers love.

ESD: Beyond products, tell us what SMART offers.

NK: SMART is committed to providing all the resources and support for teachers to fully utilize SMART products and create dynamic learning activities for students. For example, we recently launched SMART Exchange, an online community that helps educators share information, connect with colleagues and collaborate on various topics. We continue to add to the content and resources available through SMART Learning Marketplace, a Web-based subscription service which provides more than one million pieces of disaggregated content, the largest repository of online education content available in the world. We also offer a variety of free online training options.

ESD: SMART seems to be on a real growth spurt. What’s happening to cause this?

NK: The interest in interactive whiteboards and other interactive products in the classroom are accelerating in the U.S. and around the world. We see adoptions continuing at an intense pace and predictions are that one in six classrooms globally will have an interactive whiteboard by 2011. There is strong evidence about the positive impact that these products are producing in the hands of skilled teachers—increased student engagement, motivation and attendance, better behavior and improved test scores. Teachers are also reporting that they are more productive as they add technology to their classrooms.

ESD: And how is SMART doing as a company?

NK: At the end of 2007, we held just under 47 percent of the global interactive whiteboard category share and our category share rose to just under 57 percent in the first quarter of 2008. In the U.S. our share is even stronger at just under 60 percent. We know that our overall offering is hitting the mark with customers.

We continue to grow the company across all functions. We have more people in the field for great customer support, and we have really been investing in people to create entirely new products and upgrades to our current products. We are upgrading our business systems to allow us to keep pace with the growth for years to come. In short, the company is in great shape.

ESD: What new products is SMART showing at NECC?

NK: Well, we are showing the newest version of our Notebook collaborative learning software, a new version of our Senteo interactive response system software, our new document camera, our new audio reinforcement system and a new application focused on students. There’s something new for everyone.

‘LabQuest Emulator’ Software Brings Handheld’s Functionality Directly to Computers and Projectors

For STEM educators wishing to demonstrate hands-on experiments with probeware using an interactive whiteboard or projection device, Vernier Software & Technology offers its new LabQuest Emulator software.

Now, instead of having a whole class crowd around the handheld or a computer screen to see data analysis, teachers can use the Emulator software to demonstrate lab activities from the simplest to the most complex. Educators can connect the LabQuest interface to a computer and project real-time graphing of scientific phenomena to an entire class. The LabQuest Emulator software has all the critical features of the handheld including data-analysis, built-in labs, on-board periodic table, stopwatch, scientific calculator and the ability to draw predictions before collecting data.

Students can then work in lab groups to examine data on the handheld using the same graphing tools demonstrated by the teacher. They can draw predictions, do curve fitting, perform statistical analysis and more. They can also explore LabQuest Emulator’s built-in curricula, including experiments such as Boyle's law and Acid-Base Titrations.

“Once the LabQuest handheld is connected to the computer, the Emulator software can detect more than 50 sensors attached to the handheld,” said David Vernier, co-founder of Vernier and former physics teacher.  “Then teachers can use their mouse to click on the screen in the same way they would tap the handheld’s screen with the stylus. Our goal is to provide a free resource for teachers that makes science instruction easier and at the same time enhances class participation.”

The LabQuest Emulator software is available for free download and requires either Windows XP or Vista operating systems, as well as 120 MB of hard drive space. The software supports all of the same sensors as LabQuest App 1.1 with the exception of the internal microphone and the USB spectrometers.

For more information visit www.vernier.com.

MAXIMUS Logitudinal Data Systems: The Next Wave in School Reporting

In January 2007, the state of Florida was recognized by the Data Quality Campaign as the first state in the nation to meet the 10 elements required for building a longitudinal-data system. Since then Arkansas, Delaware and Utah have joined Florida on this list, and $52.3 million has been distributed among 14 other states to implement their own systems.

What does all this mean? We are in the early stages of the next phase of state reporting changes attributed to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Since 2001, state reporting has experienced a change from school- and district-level attendance and enrollment reports to the addition of student- and staff-level detail reports on assessment, grades, qualifications and program participation. Longitudinal-data systems are the next and most-logical and challenging step in the progression in meeting NCLB legislation. 

A longitudinal student-data system will support Data Driven Decision Making (D3M) by presenting an opportunity to analyze student data at the student level. The longitudinal-data system will provide data about how each individual pre-K–12 student performs and progresses over time. It will allow state policymakers, educators and administrators to track a student’s progress from elementary school (regardless of location), to middle school, to high school and to college or some other post-secondary location. 

For state reporting coordinators, the impact of this push will be similar to the one experienced with the initial enactment of NCLB. Coordinators should expect to see an expansion of the data collected, reports mandated for submission to the state and aggregation of data residing in disparate systems. In addition, coordinators will encounter a renewed effort to combat substandard data. As with any system, a longitudinal-data system is only as good as the data that resided within it. Data quality management will play an important role in determining the accuracy and usability of these new systems and ultimately the quality of the programs designed to help meet student achievement goals.

For more information, visit www.schoolmax.net.

Forsyth Demonstrates Student Mastery of Standards With ANGEL

Forsyth County Schools (FCS) in Georgia embraces a standards-based approach to instruction and assessment driven by the Georgia Performance Standards. To support this instructional approach, the district needed tools and resources that enabled teachers to assess and report student performance against standards and allowed students to demonstrate understanding and mastery of standards.

The district found the tools it was searching for in the ANGEL Learning Management Suite (LMS).

“In each case ANGEL is a perfect fit for our standards-based approach to instruction,” says Jill Hobson, FCS Director of Instructional Technology.

The ANGEL Learning Management Suite:

• Provides tools to align learning objects and assessments to standards.
• Generates performance data, allowing students to demonstrate mastery of standards.
• Reports identify class and individual student performance against standards.

Download State Standards to ANGEL
FCS’ ANGEL implementation began by downloading the Georgia State Standards to ANGEL. While schools or districts can manually enter standards in ANGEL, FCS used Georgia’s State Standard Pack provided by ANGEL Learning. In either case, teachers access but cannot change standards. 

Align Learning Objects with Standards
With standards in place, as FCS teachers submit content to ANGEL they align content items and assessments with the standards they cover. ANGEL simplifies aligning content with standards by providing:

• A central location for alignment.
• Browse and search functions to locate standards.
• Reports of content items mapped to standards.
• Reports of all mapped standards that identify mapping progress and gaps in the curriculum.

Other ANGEL tools ensure FCS teachers don’t lose any work completed prior to its ANGEL adoption and add value to the district’s curriculum alignment projects. ANGEL’s content templates allow teachers to use familiar process documents and enable collaborative design of instructional units. Learning object repositories allow searching and sharing of content across grade levels and schools

Report Student and Class Performance against Standards
As FCS students complete assignments and assessments aligned to standards in ANGEL, performance data against standards is automatically generated. ANGEL ensures triangulation of data by supporting a variety of assessment types—selected response, constructed response, dialog and discussion.

Hobson calls the data ANGEL generates on selected response items “Incredible. Selected response items can be aligned down to the individual item, so teachers get incredible data as to how a student performs. Not just a raw score, teachers actually see student mastery against individual standards.”

Teachers can generate ANGEL reports against standards in real time, to gain immediate results, or reports can be scheduled to run on a regular basis. ANGEL class reports provide the average score of all graded items mapped to a particular standard and identify content aligned with standards, allowing teachers to quickly determine how students are performing against standards. ANGEL student reports identify individual student progress against standards. Hobson reports individual student reports, “are very helpful in determining student progress and communicating with parents.”

For more information, visit www.angellearning.com or stop by NECC booth 2266.

Classroom Jeopardy! Brings TV Show, Hands-On Experience to Your Class

Winner of numerous educational awards, Classroom Jeopardy!® brings all the sights, sounds and thrills of TV's Jeopardy! to the classroom—from the Daily Double to Final Jeopardy! For any subject area, in any language, Classroom Jeopardy! offers educators a fun and engaging classroom tool for reviewing lessons or preparing students for assessment. With the create-your-own games and questions feature, Classroom Jeopardy! provides educators with the flexibility to focus on specific topics that will help ensure their students success.

From the moment students hear the Jeopardy! theme music, they'll be immersed in an entertaining multimedia experience. Developed in cooperation with the creators of the award-winning quiz show, Classroom Jeopardy! plays just like the television version. Students can participate individually or be divided up into teams for whole-class play that fosters collaboration and teamwork.

Completely wireless, Classroom Jeopardy! is a great tool for motivating the entire classroom and building student confidence. Whether it is used on a classroom TV, an interactive whiteboard or projected onto a screen using an LCD projector, Classroom Jeopardy! provides valuable hands-on learning for every grade level. Even students who may not normally participate in classroom activities are eager to "buzz in" on remotes that work from anywhere in a classroom or auditorium. For larger competitions, additional remotes and scoreboards can be easily integrated.

Simple to set up and play, Classroom Jeopardy! is one of the most versatile test preparation solutions available to educators today. Educators can use either preprogrammed Classroom Jeopardy! cartridges, available in a variety of subjects and aligned to state and national standards, design their own game or choose from hundreds of educator-created games already online. To create a custom game, educators can use the easy-to-follow instruction guide and provided game-creation software. The software is so simple that many educators allow their students to generate custom games. For information on hundreds of educator-created games that can be reviewed and downloaded for no charge, answers to frequently asked questions and information about preprogrammed cartridges, registered users can go to www.classroomjeopardy.com.

Every time game play begins, the system will randomly select which player gets to choose the first question. Game play is then controlled by a host remote, which the educator or host uses to select the categories and clues, that inputs players' responses as "Correct" or "Incorrect." Scores are then automatically updated on the electronic scoreboard.

Retailing for $499.99, the Classroom Jeopardy! system contains everything needed to create, save and play games. This includes three player remotes, one host remote, scoreboard, instructional guide and a preprogrammed game cartridge with five sampler games plus extra storage space for custom-made games. Preprogrammed cartridges retail from $29.95 and are available in a range of subjects including science, math, history and language arts. Classroom Jeopardy! and its components can be found at teacher specialty stores or online at  www.classroomjeopardy.com.

For more information about Classroom Jeopardy!, call 888-591-9334, visit www.classroomjeopardy.com or stop by NECC booth 4024.

eInstruction Introduces Next Generation Workspace Software

Your students are armed and ready with eInstruction CPS clickers in hand. Did they understand what you just taught them? You quickly open Workspace 7.6 and with a click of a button, you select an ExamView question from your database. There is a pause in the class…the students work through the question and anonymously submit their answers. You wait until all the responses are in and…ugh, only 20 percent got the question right.

Thankfully, you are empowered with Workspace 7.6. Using your interactive tablet or whiteboard in concert with Workspace, you circle the right answer on the screen. Then you break down the question just like you would on an overhead projector, showing the class how to answer the question.

With one click, you hit recalculate and another question pops up for your students to solve. They got it this time…They got it! You save the file, upload it to your Web site or email to the students so they have the notes on how you walked them through it—it’s amazing the result when you seamlessly integrate your content with your technology—thank you Workspace 7.6!

Bringing together the best of eInstruction and Interwrite Learning, the new eInstruction is celebrating the launch of Workspace 7.6. This exciting release is the only software solution that allows educators to seamlessly integrate ExamView content with the rest of their assessment and instruction solutions.

Workspace, an award-winning instructional software program, was created to be used in conjunction with the Interwrite Interactive Whiteboard, Interwrite Pad or eInstruction CPS student response system. With this latest version you can use a question from your ExamView test generator, project it on the screen in the Workspace software and use CPS to assess your students’ comprehension. If extra instruction is needed, you can simply annotate on top of the question to show your students how to get the answer. We’ve made it integrated and simple, no more need to go back and forth between applications.

Workspace 7.6 software also boasts many new enhancements, including an enhanced handwriting recognition package with an automatic dictionary lookup and is available in 47 different languages.
“I have been a huge fan of Workspace and the newest edition is nothing short of my dream come true,” says one teacher. “Not only has it reduced the amount of time I need to plan my lessons, it has also provided me with new ways to make my old lessons more interactive and engaging for my students.”

For more information, visit www.interwritelearning.com.

Hitachi CP-A100+FXDuo Bundle Ensures Best Integrated Classroom Experience

Each day of an educator’s life brings new challenges. Countless hours of effort must be put into getting the children to their classes, presenting lessons in the clearest, most current light and trying to ensure the brightest possible future for every single student.

It’s no small task. Any technology that supports these go als while making educators’ work easier is a vital asset. That’s why Hitachi offers its CP-A100+FXDuo Bundle, a one-stop classroom presentation solution for educators and systems integrators.

The CP-A100+FXDuo Bundle combines the Hitachi CP-A100 ultra short-throw projector, the Hitachi FX Duo interactive whiteboard and a custom-designed wall mount into one seamless solution. Hitachi developed the CP-A100+FXDuo Bundle to offer the best possible interactive experience for the classroom. Taken together, the products in the bundle offer a single, sturdy solution that requires only quick setup and brings dynamic presentation possibilities to the classroom.

Schools have many choices when it comes to technology. Classroom tools can come from many different providers and are often not optimized for use with one another. When difficulties arise in getting components to work together, efforts to fix the problem can take precious class time away from students, and add frustration to educators’ already tumultuous days.

To eliminate the guesswork, Hitachi combined its industry-leading short-throw projector and revolutionary StarBoard FX Duo 77 whiteboard with a dedicated, custom-developed wall mount. All three products were designed to work together from inception. By offering a single, integrated solution, Hitachi ensures the very best classroom experience with minimal effort.

The FX Duo is Hitachi’s most advanced StarBoard interactive whiteboard. The board allows two users to work simultaneously on its surface and gives educators a whole new range of possibilities. The FX Duo allows control using multi-touch hand gestures and accepts annotation using a teacher’s finger, an electronic pen or any other object. All electronics on the FX Duo are contained in a pod located at the top of the unit, keeping the actual surface electronics-free and ensuring that the board will continue to function perfectly even with incidental dents and scratches.

The CP-A100 projector boasts an extremely short throw distance of 60 inches at 1.4 feet, preventing shadows from interfering with the image and keeping light from shining in the presenter’s face. Mounted on the wall arm at the top of the board, this short-throw capability greatly reduces the teacher’s shadow cast on the FX Duo and offers a better viewing experience for students.

This versatile projector is mounted in an inverted position on the custom mount, which allows fine-tuning adjustment for perfect alignment with the FX Duo 77. Because the CP-A100 sits at the top of the board, this eliminates the need for a projector located at the back of the class and allows everything to work in a much smaller space. This configuration gives schools more flexibility as to where they can use the equipment.

The CP-A100+FXDuo Bundle can be seen first-hand at NECC 2008, at the Hitachi booth 9048.

Civics & Celebrities: C-SPAN Classroom Helps Students Differentiate Between the Two

Who can the majority of your students identify with: Britney Spears or Nancy Pelosi? While most students can identify the former, a social studies teacher hopes they also know the latter.

If you are looking for a free standards-based resource to help students better connect to public policy makers and civics content as easily as they do celebrities, then look no further than C-SPAN Classroom.

C-SPAN Classroom, www.c-spanclassroom.org, is a free online membership service for educators featuring a wealth of resources that appeal to many teaching disciplines and levels, but focuses on a curriculum centered on U.S. government and civics. C-SPAN Classroom provides weekly, short, downloadable video clips. These clips not only help keep students updated on current events, they enliven the curriculum. C-SPAN Classroom clips adhere to C-SPAN’s mission of presenting information objectively, and each clip is accompanied by discussion questions to help navigate the clip’s content. 

In addition to weekly video clips, C-SPAN Classroom offers resources dedicated to the 2008 Presidential Election. Each week, two video clips center on the election and will do so until inauguration day. There is an entire resource page featuring worksheets and teaching suggestions covering topics such as primary elections, campaign ads and delegates. This resource page continues to grow as the election process unfolds.

When students are first introduced to C-SPAN Classroom, you may receive a few blank stares. Don’t be discouraged. You will find that after teaching them how to “read” C-SPAN Classroom’s material, they will appreciate interacting with a resource that shows their government in action and allows them to make up their own mind on political issues. All you need is a computer and Internet access to join more than 17,000 C-SPAN Classroom members who help students recognize that the Speaker of the House actually affects their lives more than Britney Spears.

Benchmark Scanner Makes Assessment Scoring Quick, Easy & Affordable

Abel Garcia, Vice President of Marketing for Apperson Education Products, talks about Apperson’s new BenchMark™ 3000 test scanner.

ESD: Tell us about your new auto-feed BenchMark 3000 test scanner.

AG: We recently introduced the BenchMark 3000 as the newest member of the Apperson line of test scoring products. The BenchMark 3000 was developed in response to many Apperson customers asking for a test scoring scanner with an auto-feeder. The BenchMark 3000 scans an impressive 3,500+ sheets per hour. It also has an integrated barcode reader, which is ideal for reading pre-slugged answer sheets.

ESD: Aren’t there plenty of other auto-feed test scanners on the market?

AG: Yes, but nothing comes close to the BenchMark 3000. Our scanners offer comparable value, flexibility and superior customer service that Apperson customers have come to know and expect. Competitors’ scanners with comparable scanning speeds and features are likely to cost more than fives times as much, with forms costing almost double. At $1,495, we know we’ve got the perfect scanner for district-wide periodic assessments and it even gives you reports and/or data easily and quickly.

ESD: Tell us more about this barcode reader for pre-slugging.

AG: Pre-slugging, a very popular process today, is a way of pre-printing variable student and test identification information on answer sheets in order to minimize data errors caused by incorrect bubbled forms. Using a barcode is the easiest way to pre-slug information to be read by our BenchMark 3000. The way we designed our BenchMark 3000 scanners and forms is to make it easy for a district to pre-slug their own answer sheets. Apperson also offers pre-slugging services for districts that are more inclined to outsource this process.

ESD: Earlier you stated that you feel the BenchMark 3000 is perfect for district-wide assessments. Can you explain why this is?

AG: Two simple reasons: price and features. The BenchMark 3000 boasts features that are often needed for district-wide assessments [speed, connectivity, bar code reader, etc.] without the extra bells and whistles that are often not needed yet contribute to driving the overall costs up. Because we’ve priced our scanner at $1,495 [including the DataLink™ software, ink, cables, warranty and shipping], many customers have found they can place a scanner at the school, allowing teachers and students to get their test data immediately, instead of having to send the tests to the district for scanning.

We suggest that schools with less scanning volume look at using our GradeMaster™ 600 or Advantage™ 1200 test scoring machines which start at only $525. All Apperson scanners offer a risk-free, 30-day trial.

All NECC attendees are invited to stop by booth 1190 to view a demo of their GradeMaster 600 and DataLink reporting software. Take the “Guess Quiz” for a chance to win a free gift and enter to win one of two free scanners Apperson is giving away following the conference. For more information, call 800-827-9219 or visit www.benchmark3000.com/go/necc.

Engage, Motivate & Collaborate With New mimio Studio 6 Software

mimio Director of Research and Development, Manny Perez, discusses the applications of new Studio 6 software.

ESD: What makes Studio 6 different from earlier versions of the software?

MP: This is the biggest upgrade since we first introduced the software. It focuses on creating and presenting engaging lessons with rich interactive multimedia content. We also streamlined the interface to make it even easier to use.

ESD: How did you improve Studio 6?

MP: Our goal was to create an all-in-one tool to help teachers create, store and share dynamic, interactive lesson plans. Now you can easily add and control rich multimedia content such as video, audio and Flash animations. You can also easily incorporate a variety of document formats, such as PowerPoint, Word and PDF files directly into Studio.

ESD: What is your favorite feature?

MP: It's the content gallery. We preloaded educational content covering a wide range of subjects and grade levels. The live search function means you have quick access to images, movies and lesson plans putting content at your fingertips at all times.

ESD: Do these features make Studio 6 hard to use?

MP: The challenge for any software developer is to make feature-rich software easy to use. With a lot of feedback from our existing users, we tested and refined our application to be intuitive. The software has been designed to have a very small learning curve, but offer a lot of depth. One example of this is our new tool bar, which now offers more functionality, but has been reduced in size to fit nicely on the left side so you can keep tools available without minimizing and resizing. mimio has also put a lot of effort into its training resources.

ESD: How do teachers get Studio 6?

MP: The new version is available free to all Windows users of Studio 5 through the software updates menu.

For more information, visit www.mimio.com or stop by booth 2254.