2012-13 Fifty ed-tech products and services that are making a difference in schools - eCampus News

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2012-13 Fifty ed-tech products and services that are making a difference in schools - eCampus News
presents…

        2012-13

  Fifty ed-tech products and services
that are making a difference in schools

              Inside this special supplement, you’ll find:
               • Our readers’ top 50 choices for K-12 and
                 higher-education technologies and websites

               • Descriptions of each resource—including
                 what it is and how it has enhanced teaching,
                 learning, or school administration

               • 72 “honorable mentions”: More products or
                 services that are among our readers’ favorites
2012-13 Fifty ed-tech products and services that are making a difference in schools - eCampus News
A note from the editor

      This past spring, we asked readers to give us their top
      picks for school hardware, software, websites, and
      services. Nearly 1,300 readers responded via one of our
      three websites: eSchoolNews.com, eCampusNews.com,
      and eClassroomNews.com.

      In nominating their favorite products, we asked readers
      to tell us how they’re using these products to improve
      teaching, learning, or school administration—and to what effect. We then
      chose the 50 best responses, which appear alphabetically by product name
      and grouped into two categories: K-12 and higher education.

      The result is a list of ed-tech products and services that have proven to be
      effective, as noted by our readers—your colleagues—in schools and colleges
      nationwide.

      We hope you’ll find this information useful as you consider how technology
      can help transform education in your own schools. And watch for our call
      for nominations for the 2013-14 Readers’ Choice Awards in print and online
      early next year.

                                                 Regards,

                                                 Dennis Pierce
                                                 Editor
                                                 eSchool Media

2   Readers’ Choice Awards
2012-13 Fifty ed-tech products and services that are making a difference in schools - eCampus News
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 K-12 winners                                                       Centricity2 (Schoolwires)
                                                                        Centricity2 is a web-
                                                                    site and content man-
                                                                    agement system that
 Aerohive Wireless Access Points                                    brings together all a
 (Aerohive Networks)                                                school system’s information in one place, with group man-
    Aerohive’s distributed,                                         agement capabilities, mobile device support, and a suite of
 scalable wireless architec-                                        Web 2.0 tools. It’s designed to integrate seamlessly with all
 ture delivers enterprise-                                          compatible systems, data, and third-party applications, and
 grade service in a cost-                                           district leaders can measure their community’s engagement
 effective way. It allows for simple, centralized management        through integrated web analytics that help monitor users’
 and delivers unique classroom monitoring capabilities for          online activity.
 better control at the classroom level.                                 “In my opinion, Schoolwires has created the ultimate con-
    “AeroHive provided the hardware to create a school-             tent management environment for digital communication,”
 wide wireless network that has proven to be a rock-solid per-      said George Weeks, director of technology for New Jersey’s
 former,” said Raymond Schlosser, Technology Coordinator            Glassboro Public Schools. “Centricity makes it easy to keep
 for Notre Dame Academy in Kentucky. “[Aerohive’s] intelli-         our sites fresh and continually update the information we
 gent access points and controller-free hosted configurations       present to the public. The backend interface is easy to use,
 have required very little time to manage, and [its] interface is   allowing anyone to edit a page, a section, or an entire site—
 easy to use. [Its] teacher view software allows teachers to        making the traditional webmaster obsolete. Web page edit-
 control when students in their classes have access to the          ing is as simple as creating an eMail. … With this product, we
 internet and LAN, giving them better classroom manage-             have been able to make our web portal the primary source
 ment and helping to keep students on task.”                        for information about the schools. Web statistics show a
 http://www.aerohive.com                                            steady increase in unique visitors every month since we
                                                                    implemented the product five years ago.”
                                                                    http://www.schoolwires.com
 BoardDocs
     BoardDocs’      paperless
 services allow school dis-
                                                                    Doceri (SP Controls)
 tricts to improve how they                                             Doceri is an iPad app and desk-
 create and manage board                                            top software program for control-
 packets and conduct meetings—saving time and money                 ling presentations and lessons
 while enhancing transparency. All BoardDocs solutions are          remotely. It lets users control a com-
 fully supported on most mobile devices, including the Apple        puter (Mac or Windows), launch
 iPad, and include 24-7 technical support with every sub-           any document or application, and
 scription.                                                         annotate over them at any time.
     “Our school district has been using BoardDocs … since          When used in conjunction with SP Controls’ Network Room
 2005. It saves our district a huge amount of money, because        Controller, Doceri also can remotely control projectors, DVD
 everything is done on the computer, and we were able to quit       players, and other AV devices.
 using reams and reams of paper,” said Kristy Rodri, a school           “Doceri is a remote iPad app that I use almost daily in my
 board member for Durango School District 9-R in Colorado.          classroom,” said Jennifer DiPasquale, a teacher at
 “It archives our past board meetings, minutes, and newslet-        Pennsylvania’s North Hills School District. “It has complete-
 ters, as well as our polices—so we can access information at       ly eliminated the use of the [interactive whiteboard] in my
 any time. … The information [that] is only for the board           classroom. I [can] allow my students to write on my iPad and
 members’ eyes can be put into a confidential section, which        project it on my screen. I am able to watch my students
 is password-protected and cannot be accessed by the public.        through Apple Remote Desktop, but I watch them on my
 … The product is amazing, and [BoardDocs] should be rec-           iPad so I am not stuck in one place in the room. Students
 ognized for how responsive they are in the customer service        enjoy writing on the iPad and seeing it on the big screen. …
 area: They listen to their customers and come up with excit-       I love Doceri!”
 ing additions all the time.”                                       http://www.spcontrols.com
 http://boarddocs.com

 3   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 DreamBox Learning                                               interact with whiteboard notes and projected content.
     DreamBox is an intelligent,                                    “I’m in charge of delivering technologies to my teachers
 adaptive learning platform for                                  that can truly make a difference in the classroom,” said
 teaching       elementary-level                                 Danielle     Kazoroski,
 math. Based on whether stu-                                     network/technology
 dents give right or wrong                                       associate for Brevard
 answers to questions, the soft-                                 County Schools in
 ware adapts the level of diffi-                                 Florida. “After con-
 culty, scaffolding, sequencing, and pacing of the problems      ducting        thorough
 they see—ensuring that every student works in his or her        research, my principal and I decided to purchase 30 eBeam
 optimal learning zone, from struggling to advanced.             Edge devices because of [their] open software approach,
     “We are using DreamBox Learning with all of our first       which allows us to make the most out of the tools we
 graders and with some students in kindergarten, second,         already have [and] provides a path to maximize our tech-
 and third grade for intervention,” said Michelle Tomlin, dis-   nology investment for years to come. Our teachers and stu-
 trict facilitator for the Kirkwood, Mo., schools. “We have      dents love the technology, because it is incredibly easy to
 seen growth in our students’ number sense. The students         install and use. Every classroom in grades two through six
 regularly make connections to what they are learning in         has a device, and many teachers use the eBeam technology
 math class from what they are doing in DreamBox. The            to capture lessons and upload content to the class website
 transfer of learning is great.”                                 for continued at-home learning. … Aside from being fun for
 http://www.dreambox.com                                         the students, teachers share that the eBeam technology has
                                                                 measurably improved student interactivity and engage-
                                                                 ment.”
                                                                 http://www.e-beam.com
 Education2020 (e2020 Inc.)
    e2020 provides instruction in virtual and blended learn-
 ing environments for students in grades 6-12. Emphasizing
 instructional content in both core and elective subjects,
                                                                 Edmodo
 e2020’s programs help students recover and accrue credits          A free social
                                                                 network just for
                                                                 schools, Edmodo
                                                                 gives     teachers
                                                                 and students a
                                                                 secure place to connect and collaborate, share content and
 for graduation, participate in Advanced Placement courses,      educational applications, and access homework, grades,
 and prepare for state, end-of-course, and standardized          class discussions, and notifications.
 assessments.                                                       “The entire website has made my life as a teacher so
    “We have used e2020 for credit recovery as well as a         much more easy and stress free,” said Taylor Hopewell, a
 complete school curriculum. It … allows us to customize         theatre arts teacher at St. Bernard High School in California.
 the learning experiences for our students based on prescrip-    “I can connect to my students online, grade assignments in
 tive testing,” said Kenneth Kuczynski, CEO of Christina         a snap, keep track of those grades, making better use of
 International High School, a virtual school based in            paper (helping the environment), and most importantly, I
 Minnesota. “Our students find lectures to be complete and       get my students interacting with each other. They want to
 easy to follow. The assignments are challenging, and each       learn, [and] they socialize with each other, asking important
 course aligns with state core standards. We also like the       questions and having debates. It’s amazing to see the stu-
 selection of teacher tools that allow for very focused diag-    dents get excited about learning. I love Edmodo!”
 nostics. The parent portal and teacher tools are very valu-     http://www.edmodo.com
 able resources.”
 http://www.education2020.com
                                                                 EduVision (JDL Horizons)
                                                                    EduVision is a full-featured video streaming platform
 eBeam (Luidia)                                                  and internet broadcast TV service that allows schools and
    eBeam is a portable device that transforms any flat sur-     districts to upload and run video on their websites.
 face into a dynamic, digital workspace, allowing users to          EduVision “enables districts to easily upload videos and

 4   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 make them available through a user-friendly interface,” said        “FluidMath is the best
 Jeanine Gendron, director of instructional technology for        software for teaching and
 Florida’s Broward County Schools. “In Broward, EduVision         learning mathematics I have
 is being used in two different ways to support the education-    used in my 25-year career,”
 al community. First, the Department of Instructional             said Nils Ahbel, a math
 Technology has used EduVision to upload videos focused on        teacher      at     Deerfield
 classroom practices, strategies, and lessons that exemplify      Academy in Massachusetts.
 how to integrate technology                                      “FluidMath recognizes standard math notation written in
 into teaching and learning.                                      handwriting and brings the math alive. … With FluidMath,
 Teachers then view and share                                     the tablet PC is not used as a substitute for manipulation skills,
 their classroom ideas, which                                     but rather as a tool for investigation. This change in perspec-
 supports professional learn-                                     tive is incredibly important—it helps students be mathemati-
 ing. Second, EduVision is used                                   cians and not just learn mathematics.”
 to stream school board meetings and workshops in real time.      http://fluiditysoftware.com
 The video streams are made available through the district
 website and are accessible via a computer, laptop, or mobile
 device—including iPads, tablets, and smart phones. The
 videos are then stored and can be retrieved immediately for
                                                                  Gaggle Apps (Gaggle Inc.)
 review. … EduVision has enabled Broward to effectively               Gaggle Apps are online tools
 integrate video streaming and video distribution to provide      for students to communicate and
 timely communications to its entire community and has            collaborate in a safe, filtered, and
 resulted in a positive change in how communication occurs.”      controlled environment. Tools
 http://www.eduvision.tv                                          include eMail, digital lockers, dis-
                                                                  cussion boards, chat rooms, blogs,
                                                                  assignment drop boxes, and more.
                                                                      “Our third, fourth, and fifth
 eTeachables (Sublime Learning)                                   graders have safe monitored eMail, social walls, blogs, IM,
    eTeachables are brief,                                        homework drop boxes, digital lockers, and more with this
 on-demand video tutori-                                          online resource,” said Camella Herrin, technology facilitator
 als that model effective                                         for Cabarrus County Schools in North Carolina. “The oppor-
 teaching with various                                            tunity to teach students the ethical and correct usage of such
 technology tools, to help                                        online resources has been phenomenal. We began with eMail
 teachers answer the                                              and have now begun to branch out to social walls for our
 “how and why” of technology-based instruction.                   fifth graders and blogging between teachers and their stu-
    “The eTeachables … help teachers quickly create high-         dents. The levels of control are managed by the designated
 quality, standards-based lessons that utilize 21st-century       school administrator for Gaggle, and this allows different
 tools,” said Anne Callies, assistive technology coordinator      apps within Gaggle to be rolled out as teachers and students
 for the San Diego Unified School District, which uses the        are ready for them—not before! There is even an app called
 product as part of its professional development for teachers     GaggleTube, which is filtered YouTube. Teachers approve
 in the district’s groundbreaking i21 Interactive Classroom       educational and timely videos, and students may access
 program. “Everything you need to create your own cus-            them within GaggleTube in a safe manner.”
 tomized and differentiated lesson is right there. Everyone       http://www.gaggle.net
 who has used these lessons has raved about them and how
 easy they are to implement.”
 http://sublimelearning.com
                                                                  Gooru (Ednovo)
                                                                     Gooru is a free search
                                                                  engine for learning. Teachers
 FluidMath (Fluidity Software)                                    and students can use Gooru
    FluidMath is a teaching and learning tool designed for        to search for rich collections of multimedia resources, digital
 users of pen-centric platforms such as tablet PCs and interac-   textbooks, videos, games, and quizzes created by educators
 tive whiteboards. It features accurate recognition of hand-      in the Gooru community. Collections are aligned with stan-
 written math symbols, allowing teachers and students to          dards and currently cover every math and science topic from
 share concepts and explore ideas electronically.                 grades 5-12, with other subjects coming soon.

 5   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

     Gooru “has been instrumental in our efforts to flip our           “Our         third-grade
 entire school,” said Greg Green, principal of Clintondale         teacher, Ms. Ingrid Oyen, is
 High School in Michigan. “Gooru provides 30,000 free              using the new Insight 360
 resources that enable our teachers to flip our classrooms         system for daily formative
 and to meet our students’ personal learning needs. … We           assessment in her math
 have received so much attention; however, we could not do         class,” said Mark Hupp,
 it without Gooru assisting us. They provide us an invalu-         director of technology for
 able, web-based LMS solution that is unmatched, with plen-        Salt Creek 48 schools in
 tiful resources and collaboration capabilities.”                  Illinois. “Beginning the year
 http://www.goorulearning.org                                      with CPS (eInstruction’s earlier offering), Ms. Oyen has
                                                                   driven math achievement off the charts. Now, Ms. Oyen has
                                                                   seamlessly moved to eInstruction’s revolutionary Insight
                                                                   360 system—providing her even easier, more natural access
 Infosnap                                                          to real-time formative assessment data. The Insight 360 sys-
    Infosnap is a                                                  tem is so easy, so comfortable, and so powerful that Ms.
 provider of online                                                Oyen and I believe it to be the holy grail of response prod-
 admission and regis-                                              ucts. The ability to tag almost any file format—including
 tration solutions for                                             SMART Notebook [content]—means that it is not only plat-
 K-12 schools. It offers secure, customized online forms           form agnostic, but also software agnostic. Now, Ms. Oyen
 based on a school or district’s existing enrollment processes.    can use all of her old digital content with her clickers—a
 Data submitted through these forms are delivered from the         huge plus!”
 infosnap software to the school’s student information sys-        http://www.einstruction.com
 tem, and administrative tools enable school leaders to pol-
 ish the data and run customized reports.
    “The Carlisle Area School District uses infosnap for pre-
 registration and registration of new students, as well as
                                                                   Jing (TechSmith)
 annual student and staff updates,” said Stephanie Douglas,           Jing is a simple and free
 director of technology for this Pennsylvania district.            software program that lets
 “Infosnap has saved our district tens of thousands of dollars     users capture an image or
 in copier, printer, paper, toner and other expenses to create     screen shot of what’s on their
 packets of forms. As important, it has increased the efficien-    computer, as well as record
 cies to gather emergency, medical, demographic, and other         up to five minutes of on-screen video. Two other products
 information from students. Instead of waiting for students        from TechSmith, Snagit and Camtasia, are useful for editing
 to return completed forms over the first few weeks of             screencasts and sharing video and also received several
 school, we hade 72 percent of [the necessary] student infor-      nominations from readers.
 mation before the opening day of school. With the integra-           “This is an amazing tool, both in its simplicity and in its
 tion to our student information system, this information          functionality,” said Jeffrey Getchell, director of learning
 was available for teachers, staff, and administrators imme-       technologies for Regis University. “Faculty use Jing to illus-
 diately—removing the need for support staff to read all           trate processes for students. Rather than an office visit, fac-
 forms of handwriting [and] enter [the data] into our SIS. ...     ulty can record short tutorials and send [them] to students
 Implementing this system was one of the biggest and most          or post into online courses. Administrators use Jing to pro-
 positive changes for our district in recent memory.”              vide the occasional tutorial for faculty. Rather than spend-
 http://www.infosnap.com                                           ing inordinate amounts of time on the phone, support folks
                                                                   can create a short screen video or capture and send [it]
                                                                   directly by eMail. And when a computer issue crops up,
                                                                   employees can send screen shots of error messages directly
 Insight 360 (eInstruction)                                        to the IT help desk that illustrate the problem better than
    Insight 360 is a “formative instruction” system designed       time spent on the phone. And it’s free. This is what open
 to simplify the practice of formative assessment in conjunc-      resources are all about: simple tools providing specific func-
 tion with interactive teaching. Insight 360 enables educators     tions that are easy to use and freely accessible.”
 to obtain instant feedback on student learning through an         http://www.techsmith.com
 easy-to-use suite of mobile devices, software, and instruc-
 tional material that is interoperable with their existing tech-
 nology and systems, the company says.

 6   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 Ko’s Journey (Imagine Education)                                   MyLearningPlan
    Ko’s Journey is a 12-hour                                          MyLearningPlan is a professional development manage-
 middle school math game                                            ment and evaluation system that offers fast and easy plan-
 that takes a targeted                                              ning, tracking, and evaluation of all kinds of professional
 approach to math instruction                                       learning in one comprehensive, online system.
 in a part-time, six-week pro-                                         “Our district uses MyLearningPlan to organize profes-
 gram focusing on the critical                                      sional development activities,” said Jennifer Brucker, coordi-
 areas of the Common Core                                           nator of professional development for Pennsylvania’s
 standards.                                                         Methacton School District. “The activities are displayed in an
    “We are using this exten-                                       electronic catalog for teachers to enroll in for an in-service
 sively in multiple pilot                                           day, flex hours, and/or district training. MyLearningPlan
 schools within the Los                                             then enables an administrator to confirm attendance and
 Angeles Unified School District,” said Scott Spector, career       send the activity to the state for Act 48 credit to be given. The
 and technical education advisor for the district’s Office of
 Curriculum and Instruction. “We have seen dramatic test-
 score improvement with those students using Ko’s Journey
 in their math classes. … Students have been engaged in the
 process of learning math. This has not happened at many of         process is effortless! We also use MyLearningPlan to run dis-
 the schools currently using Ko’s Journey. It has also helped       trict reports to determine where we have spent our federal
 the teachers with classroom management—students spend              funds for professional learning. … Overall, MyLearningPlan
 more time on task.”                                                has changed the way we do business in our district.”
 http://www.kosjourney.com                                          http://www.mylearningplan.com

 LabQuest (Vernier Software & Technology)                           My Big Campus (Lightspeed Systems)
     Vernier’s LabQuest                                                My Big Campus offers a safe, monitored environment for
 2 is a standalone inter-                                           students to blog, hold discussions, and collaborate on group
 face used to collect                                               projects online. A standalone version is available for individ-
 sensor data with a                                                 ual teachers or professional networks, while a district-wide
 built-in graphing and                                              version integrates with Lightspeed’s Web Filter to offer
 analysis application.                                              cross-district sharing
 The large, high-reso-                                              of resources and addi-
 lution touch screen makes it easy and intuitive to collect, ana-   tional management
 lyze, and share data from experiments, Vernier says, and its       and reporting features.
 wireless connectivity encourages collaboration and person-            “We are using My Big Campus in a variety of ways,” said
 alized learning.                                                   Sandy Bader, technology training specialist for the Unified
     “The strongest feature of the LabQuest unit is that it is      School District of De Pere, Wis. “Teachers are using it with
 simple enough for an elementary student to use for experi-         their classes to have online discussions. … Teachers are also
 ments, and the data that it can produce are detailed enough        creating ‘public’ groups as a way of communicating with
 that it also can be used for high school and college inquiries,”   parents, although the communication at that level is provid-
 said Connie Bachmann, principal of a K-5 STEM magnet               ing information to parents (not two-way). It has allowed
 school in the Michigan City Area Schools. “Because it is           teachers to have their own web presence and has given stu-
 handheld, it is easy to use by individuals or in a small group     dents and teachers a way to communicate online that is safe
 setting. … Our students have truly gained a better under-          and controlled.”
 standing of scientific inquiry as they personally engaged in       http://www.mybigcampus.com
 data collection with the LabQuests.” Another reader called
 the LabQuest “rugged and affordable, and customer service
 is top notch.”
 http://www.vernier.com                                             NComputing L300 (NComputing Inc.)
                                                                       The L300 is a virtual desktop client device with a sleek,
                                                                    low-power design that can be mounted on a monitor or
                                                                    secured to a desk. The L300 costs less than other thin- or
                                                                    zero-client options and is a quarter of the cost of a typical

 7   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

                                                                      “I am using the now!Board
                                                                   as an interactive whiteboard
                                                                   alternative. I just project onto
 desktop PC, NComputing says. With the ability to connect          the wall or my regular white-
 up to 100 users to a single NComputing vSpace server, the         board, and it becomes interac-
 product offers a simple, powerful, and inexpensive desktop        tive,” said Ben Curran, a
 virtualization solution.                                          teacher at University Prep
    “We use NComputing products to leverage our budget             Academy in Michigan. “In my fifth grade classroom, it’s
 toward a better student-to-workstation ratio,” said Robert        been great for annotating websites, note-taking, demonstra-
 Haviland, technology coordinator for the Hickman County           tions, presentations, and all kinds of engaging, interactive
 Schools in Tennessee. “For a fraction of the cost [of a full      activities. The kids love it. And it costs a fraction of a
 PC], we can add seats quickly to our network.”                    SMART or Promethean board.”
 http://www.ncomputing.com                                         http://www.learningresources.com

 NetSupport School (NetSupport Inc.)                               PlascoTrac (Plasco ID)
    NetSupport School is a classroom-management solution              With PlascoTrac, a student incident and ID tracking sys-
 for Windows machines that gives teachers the ability to           tem, schools have an efficient way to track not only tardi-
 instruct, monitor, and interact with their students either        ness, but also violations like cell phone, dress code, and
 individually, as a pre-defined group, or as an entire class. It   parking lot incidents. The software also can be used to man-
 includes PC monitoring, presentation and annotation tools,
 a customized testing suite, internet and application control,
 real-time audio monitoring, desktop security, and print
 management capabilities. (A corresponding program,
 NetSupport Assist, can do the same for Mac and Linux-             age activities such as assembly or field trip attendance,
 based devices.)                                                   extracurricular activities, tutoring, or various classroom
    “I use this product every day both to maintain an effec-       activities that take students off campus.
 tive teaching environment when students are spread                   “This is the fourth year we have been using PlascoTrac
 throughout the lab, and when I’m doing maintenance                for tracking tardies. The program is awesome,” said Sharon
                                                                   Logan, a librarian for Brenham Independent School District
                                                                   in Texas. “Not only has it cut down the amount of tardies,
                                                                   but we are able to hold students accountable. Detentions
                                                                   must be served, and privileges are deprived when students
 duties on all the machines when students are not present,”        receive more than six tardies in a semester. Our students are
 said Jerry Jaco, computer lab teacher and technology coor-        required to wear IDs. This past school year, we initiated the
 dinator for Holy Angels School in Los Angeles. “From one          temporary system as well. Now, a student receives a tempo-
 computer, I can oversee all machines and each machine             rary ID if the ID is not worn or left at home. Again, it goes
 individually. I can power on and off the lab with one click,      back to accountability—plus it gives the administration the
 login/logout students, execute programs on all machines at        opportunity to view tardies and temporaries at the end of
 once, send and collect documents, administer tests and sur-       each day. A great administration tool!”
 veys, and so on. … It is an invaluable tool that I consider the   http://www.plascotrac.com
 second most important piece of software a computer lab
 needs after a solid networking OS.”
 http://www.netsupport-inc.com
                                                                   Powerspeak12 (Middlebury Interactive
                                                                   Languages)
                                                                       Designed for elementary, middle, and high school stu-
 now!Board (Learning Resources)                                    dents by Middlebury College in conjunction with K12 Inc.,
    Billed as a “portable interactive whiteboard,” the             powerspeak12 language-learning programs include intu-
 now!Board turns any flat surface into an interactive white-       itive games and activities that immerse students in a natu-
 board and also lets you control your computer from the            ral and powerful way to learn language. The content also
 front of the room—easily toggling between the virtual             aligns with state and national standards as defined by the
 whiteboard, the internet, and your applications.                  American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

 8   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

    “Students pick the language that they would like to study,   information officer for Leslie County Schools in Kentucky.
 and they can progress at their own speed,” said Mark            “We are able to contact every parent in our district within a
 Fruehe, a global studies                                        time span of about 15 to 20 minutes. [And because it’s] web-
 teacher for Community                                           based, we can deliver messages from anywhere there is inter-
 Consolidated            School                                  net service, allowing us to reach out even when our district
 District 93 in Illinois. “The                                   office might not have power.” Through the product’s survey
 students listen, read, write,                                   tool, “we can now get more accurate information on things
 and speak the language on                                       like how many students have computers, tablets, or smart
 a daily basis in a one-on-one                                   phones at home. This has proven to be much more effective
 atmosphere. Every student has a native-speaking online          and reliable than passing out paper surveys to be taken
 tutor. Students create an avatar of themselves that completes   home and retuned by students. It allows us to have more
 lessons and earns money. With the money, the students can       confidence in our decision making.”
 buy things for their avatar. This motivates them to work on     http://schoolmessenger.com
 the lessons. Class surveys show that 89 percent of the stu-
 dents like or really like the program. They are very engaged,
 and they learn a lot.”
 http://www.powerspeak.com                                       Science Starters (Scientific Minds)
                                                                     Science Starters are web-based, multimedia programs for
                                                                 students in grades 3-11 that follow the “5E” instructional
                                                                 model: engage, explain, elaborate, explore, evaluate.
 READ 180 (Scholastic Inc.)                                          “As a first-year teacher, the Science Starters have been a
    READ 180 is a comprehen-                                     lifesaver,” said Kurt Reeves, a high school biology teacher for
 sive system of curriculum,                                      the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School
 instruction, assessment, and                                    District in Texas. “They provide the review and remediation
 professional development                                        that my students need. Teachers in my department say that
 that has been proven to raise                                   science assessment scores in our school improved tremen-
 reading achievement for struggling readers in grades 4-12.      dously when they began using the original Science Starters
    READ 180 “has the flexibility and differentiation compo-     in 2007. They expect an even greater gain with the new, inter-
 nents available to reach middle school students who are         active Biology model.”
 reading anywhere from one to four grade levels below stan-
 dard,” said Steve Rish, learning behavior specialist for
 Wilmette District 39 in Illinois. “The program addresses
 those needs through whole-group instruction, small-group
 instruction, independent reading, and instructional software.
 The students in my class have made tremendous gains in             He added: “I especially like the way the modules give me
 their vocabulary, comprehension, and writing and are high-      teacher-guided and video options. I also like the way the
 ly engaged in their learning. I would highly recommend this     teacher-guided option works with a remote presenter. This
 product.”                                                       allows me to move around the room, keeping my students
 http://www.scholastic.com                                       on task, as I lead them through the lesson. The video option,
                                                                 interactive flashcards, and assessments are ideal for inde-
                                                                 pendent student study from school or home. Great product!”
                                                                 http://www.scientificminds.com
 SchoolMessenger (Reliance
 Communications)
    SchoolMessenger is a suite of communication solutions
 for education, including an automated parent notification
                                                                 Schoology
 service, a survey tool, and an anonymous communication             Schoology is a comprehensive online system for manag-
 service called Talk About It.                                   ing lessons, engaging students, and connecting with other
    “We use the system to alert parents to absences, grade       educators. It combines the functionality of a learning man-
 reporting, school events such as open houses or athletic        agement system with the utility of a social media network,
 events, and school closings,” said Harold Morgan, chief         and schools can import all their documents and course infor-
                                                                 mation from Google Docs, Blackboard, and Moodle into the
                                                                 system.
                                                                    “Ease of use on the teacher side, coupled with the contin-

 9   Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 uous improvement on the company side, make this an out-               “I am a middle school art and health teacher who has just
 standing product,” said Mark Garrison, instructional tech-        been given new technology to use in my classroom. I am
 nology coordinator for White Bear Lake Area Schools in            struggling to learn about what I can do with a document
 Minnesota. “The features—from media alumnus, grading,             camera and projector,” said Holley Smothers of Thomas
 calendar, and discussions to Google integration—make this         Jefferson Middle School in Jefferson City, Mo. “I happened
 the perfect classroom learning hub. It is more than a place to    to find SimpleK12, and it has changed my life! The webina-
 house digital content and host online discussions. It is fully    rs are great. The staff walks you through apps, programs,
 a digital extension of a teacher’s physical classroom.”           how to use different technology, and then there is support
 http://www.schoology.com                                          afterward. I am already up and running with a webpage,
                                                                   new lesson plans, and my students are loving the new
                                                                   things I am trying. … I am improving as a teacher because
                                                                   of this site.”
 Skyward School Management System                                  http://simplek12.com
 (Skyward Inc.)
    Skyward’s School Management System includes a
 Student Management Suite (a web-based student informa-
 tion system with attendance, grading, scheduling, discipline,
                                                                   SmartScope (SmartSchool Systems)
 and more) and a School Business Suite, which encompasses             The SmartScope handheld digital microscope is easy to
 accounts payable and receiv-                                      use for even preschool students. It comes with software that
 able, bid and budget manage-                                      can record still images, videos, or time-lapse videos to view
 ment, employee evaluation,                                        a week’s worth of change in minutes. Its six LED lights are
 payroll processing, inventory,                                    easily controlled with a dial on the device, and it can mag-
 substitute tracking and fulfill-                                  nify objects at up to 200x magnification.
 ment, and more. The software                                         Diana McMillan, a pre-kindergarten teacher for the
 automates reports and other processes, saving administrators      Austin Independent School District in Texas, says the
 time and freeing them from menial tasks.                          SmartScope is facilitating an inquiry-based approach to sci-
    “Our K-12 district uses the Skyward Student                    ence for students at a very young age. “I have three digital
 Management System for attendance, grading, scheduling,
 discipline, fee management, food service, athletic eligibility,
 transportation, keeping up with NCLB requirements, track-
 ing our preschool program, and everything else that is
 required by our state board of education,” said Carolyn
 Grant, technology coordinator for Danville School District        scopes in my class, and the SmartScope is the best because
 118 in Illinois. “Skyward has fantastic, patient, helpful, and    of its flexibility,” she said. “It takes photographs, video
 knowledgeable programming and tech-support staff,                 clips, time lapse, operates as a webcam, and has a measure-
 including a dedicated group who work specifically with the        ment feature. It is so easy to use that my four-year-olds mas-
 state [education] department to make sure the program is          tered it in one day! It is durable, and the price is right. I leave
 always up-to-date and meets the state’s requirements. …           it out and the students are able to use it independently. I
 This is the fourth student data management package our            have other technological tools, such as iPads, [a] projector,
 district has used since I began working in this capacity. This    [an iPod] Nano, flip cameras, and digital cameras—but my
 one is by far the best.”                                          favorite … tool is the SmartScope!”
 http://www.skyward.com                                            http://smartschoolsystems.com

 SimpleK12 (InfoSource Inc.)                                       ST Math (MIND Research Institute)
    SimpleK12 is a subscription-based professional learning            ST Math is a supplemental program that takes a visual
 network in which teachers can share ideas, collaborate,           approach to learning, tapping into the brain’s innate “spa-
 watch live and recorded webinars and how-to videos, and           tial temporal” reasoning ability to visualize and solve math
 learn from one another as they strive to integrate technolo-      problems. Through a carefully engineered sequence of visu-
 gy effectively into their instruction.                            al puzzles, students work at their own pace to solve increas-

10 Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 ingly difficult problems that
 require them to think multi-
 ple steps ahead in space and
                                                                    active curriculum and the digital
                                                                    teaching platform to manage all
                                                                    classroom activities and deliver a
                                                                                                                             ®
 time—and they receive                                              personalized learning experience
 instant feedback about why                                         for every student.
 a solution works or doesn’t.                                          “We are using this product with
     “Over 16,000 K-5 stu-                                          second and fourth grade students,”
 dents in Anaheim City School District are using ST Math,”          said Chris Sosa, principal of Lee
 said Leisha Morton, math curriculum specialist for the dis-        Elementary School in Grand
 trict. “The non-linguistic representation of key mathematical      Prairie, Texas. “Teachers are loving
 ideas provides students, regardless of their language profi-       the results … and students are enjoying the learning that is
 ciency, access to higher-level thinking and problem solving        occurring with the use of this technical opportunity. It is a
 without the hurdle of decoding text. … [Our] school district       great solution that helps many students with the interven-
 has experienced gains in our high-stakes mathematical test         tion process.” Grand Prairie teacher Laura Perry added:
 scores since implementing the program, but more important-         “Students love the program, and we have seen an increase in
 ly, ST Math has made math meaningful and exciting for stu-         student achievement on district assessments.”
 dents.”                                                            http://www.timetoknow.com
 http://www.mindresearch.net

                                                                    TI-Nspire (Texas Instruments)
 Techbooks (Discovery Education)                                       TI-Nspire is a whole family of handheld devices and soft-
     Discovery Education’s Techbooks are inquiry-based digi-        ware that can display math exercises in a more dynamic and
 tal textbooks based on the “5E” model of instruction. Much         interactive fashion, allowing students to manipulate the data
 more than just digitized versions of static textbooks, the         and see what effect these changes have in real time.
                                                                       “I’m using the TI-Nspire CX in my physics and mathe-
                                                                    matics classrooms. It has greatly enhanced my ability to do
                                                                    formative assessment, enabled the students to do hands-on
                                                                    inquiry into the mathematics, and expanded our data collec-
 Techbooks include videos, embedded assessments, and                tion capabilities,” said Sean Bird, a teacher at Covenant
 other interactive features that leverage the power of the
 internet, the company says.
    “The online Science Techbook by Discovery Education
 has been adopted in our district as the core curriculum
 instructional material for our grade 6 students,” said Ed          Christian High School in Indiana. “We have collected and
 Short, elementary science resource teacher for Florida’s           analyzed data for linear motion, rotational motion, force,
 Brevard County Schools. “Our students are digital natives,         temperature, magnetic field, sound, light, and more. The
 and therefore they respond with great motivation and excite-       color and backlit screen has added to the engagement and
 ment when using an online program to learn science. …              ease-of-use of the device. It has also helped students make
 Components such as interactive glossaries, simulations,            connections. This is the best tool for teaching and learning
 Science Sleuths, and Myth Busters support the many online          math and science that has ever come to my classroom.”
 video and reading passages.” Another reader, sixth-grade           http://education.ti.com
 science teacher Sue Turpin of Indiana, said the Science
 Techbooks are “highly recommended by our science teach-
 ers.”
 http://www.discoveryeducation.com                                  ResponseCard NXT (Turning Technologies)
                                                                       The ResponseCard NXT offers the same features as other
                                                                    radio-frequency-based student response systems, but it also
                                                                    includes advanced capabilities such as cell-phone style text
 Time To Know                                                       entry for short answer and essay questions—and a self-
    Time To Know is an innovative digital teaching and learn-       paced test mode for individual assessment. The unit also
 ing platform, designed specifically for one-to-one computing       contains an LCD display that indicates responses have been
 classrooms. It is currently available for fourth and fifth grade   received.
 math and reading/language arts. Teachers can use the inter-           “We have begun using Turning Technologies’ NXT stu-

11 Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 dent response systems in our grade
 this past year and have already
 seen substantial increases in stu-
 dent engagement, participation,
 and test scores,” said Brian                                     formance, and more. Users say it has saved them time and
 Wickenheiser, a sixth-grade teacher                              improved their IT efficiency.
 and elementary technology chair                                     “Web Help Desk has become an invaluable tool for our
 for Minnesota’s Esko School                                      school. Not only has using WHD made is easier for our staff
 District. “By having real-time                                   and faculty to access and track progress on their submitted
 progress monitoring, we have been                                tickets, but our IT department has come to really depend on
 able to help students increase their                             WHD to keep track of all those tickets and better prioritize
 learning [and] self-evaluation dur-                              them as well,” said David Ogden, information and technol-
 ing formative assessments. … Each                                ogy director for Bakersfield Christian High School in
 student is also able to offer [his or                            California. “Unlike other trouble ticket systems we’ve used
 her] opinion during a lesson, thereby prompting better           in the past, WHD is very open to input from its customers
 small-group collaboration and class discussions. This has        and is constantly working to improve the product. I’d rec-
 increased not only participation, but also the quality of        ommend WHD to any educational institution that needs
 work—each student knows [his or her] effort (or lack there-      something that is powerful and flexible, yet easy to set up
 of!) is being observed.” He added: “The potential and value      and use.”
 of this system is incredible—no other one-to-one device can      http://webhelpdesk.com
 give the versatility that the NXTs can give at only $50 per
 student.”
 http://www.turningtechnologies.com
                                                                  webNetwork (Stoneware Inc.)
                                                                      webNetwork
                                                                  is a “unified cloud
 Ubermix                                                          platform” that lets
    The ubermix is an all-free, specially built, Linux-based      you access all your files and applications from any internet-
 operating system designed by educators with the needs of         connected device. It delivers a private data center, public
 education in mind. It takes all the complexity out of student    cloud, and local device resources through a common web
 devices by making them as reliable and easy-to-use as a cell     interface. This “webDesktop,” accessed online, delivers all
 phone, without sacrificing the power and capabilities of a       files, applications, and reports through a single user ID and
 full operating system, its creators say. With a turnkey, five-   password on any device.
 minute installation, 20-second quick recovery mechanism,             “We use this product to permit access to home directo-
 and more than 60 free applications pre-installed, ubermix        ries for teachers and students,” said Reginald Washington,
 turns whatever hardware you have into a powerful device          director of information systems for the Monroe Township
 for learning.                                                    Board of Education in New Jersey. “We also use this prod-
    “We presently use ubermix on about 3,500 netbooks at          uct to electronically distribute and collect documents.”
 our school district,” said Jim Klein, director of information    http://www.stone-ware.com
 systems and technology for the Saugus Union School
 District in California. “The combination of low-cost hard-
 ware and reliable, free software has made one-to-one [com-
 puting] a practical reality for us, enabling us to transform     Higher-education winners
 the learning environment and engage our kids with social
 media tools. For us, netbooks running free software brings
 most—if not all—of the benefits of tablets to netbooks, with-
 out all the sacrifices.”
                                                                  Aplia (Cengage)
 http://www.ubermix.org                                              Aplia is a learning solution designed to increase student
                                                                  effort and engagement. It includes online homework
                                                                  assignments that professors can assign to students; assign-
                                                                  ments can include problem sets, news analyses, tutorials,
 Web Help Desk (MacsDesign Studio)                                and—for economics—interactive market experiments.
    Web Help Desk is an online help-desk solution for deliv-      Assignments are automatically graded and provide stu-
 ering IT support, managing assets, tracking software per-        dents with detailed explanations for every question, and all

12 Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

                                                                   LearnSmart (McGraw-Hill)
                                                                      LearnSmart is an adaptive learning system designed to
                                                                   help students learn faster, study more efficiently, and retain
                                                                   more knowledge for greater success. It assesses and monitors
                                                                   students’ knowledge using adaptive, interactive assessments
                                                                   based on students’ strengths and weaknesses, then maps out
 of Aplia’s courses use multimedia to pique students’ interest.    a personalized plan for each student’s success.
     Ed Lyell, professor and interim chair of the School of           “I’m using this system to provide practice sheets as well
 Business at Adams State College in Colorado, has used Aplia       as online homework assignments,” said Shadrick Paris, an
 for economics and business communication. “It moved my            assistant professor at Ohio University. “Thus far, the system
 student achievement from low Cs to documented 80-percent
 plus on average,” he said, adding that the program is “easi-
 er to use then any others that I have tried.”
 http://www.aplia.com                                              has worked wonders in helping my students better under-
                                                                   stand conceptual concepts in chemistry. I’m hearing from
                                                                   students that it helps them approach problem-solving with
                                                                   more confidence.”
 Canvas (Instructure)                                              http://www.mhhe.com/learnsmart
    Canvas is a simple but powerful learning management
 system that is offered as either an open-source version that
 schools manage themselves or a cloud-based model hosted
 by the company. The software includes predictive analytics
                                                                   LiveText
 that indicate how at risk students are of failing or dropping        LiveText is a web-
 a course. Clicking on a student’s name will take instructors      based        application
                                                                   designed to aid in the
                                                                   development of portfo-
                                                                   lios, course assign-
 to a page where they can see more detailed reports based on       ments, and standards- or outcomes-based projects. LiveText
 that student’s grades, class participation, assignment com-       allows students and instructors to collaborate on classroom
 pletion, and outcomes (whether he or she has mastered the         assignments, as well as track students’ progress toward
 content).                                                         meeting outcomes.
     “My college adopted Canvas recently as we started our            “We use this web-based ePortfolio, assessment, and
 online programs,” said Linda Passamaneck, director of             reporting software to monitor student performance and
 online education for Wright Career College in Kansas. “The        progress, identify opportunities to improve program quali-
 system has a wide open interface … that allow[s] for easy         ty…, and collect and manage key assessment data for
 integration with student information systems and third-           accountability and accreditation,” said Lance Tomei, director
 party tools. On the faculty and student user end, I will say—     for assessment, accreditation, and data management at the
 after working with almost all of the various learning man-        University of Central Florida.
 agement systems for over 15 years—that Canvas has been            http://www.livetext.com
 the easiest system for all end-users to learn, requiring very
 little training for faculty and course developers. … Faculty
 report that they love the ability to quickly and easily record
 personal feedback messages to students, which they say has
                                                                   Mediasite (Sonic Foundry)
 increase communications and responsiveness from students             Mediasite is an online platform for enterprise webcasting,
 and improved communication between students and faculty.          lecture capture, and event hosting. It completely automates
 … All of these tools are already integrated, easy to use, and
 don’t require the large price tags or significant investment of
 IT staff to support and make the system usable as other low-
 cost LMS options do.”
 http://www.instructure.com
                                                                   the recording, distribution, management, and analytics of
                                                                   high-quality video and multimedia presentations.
                                                                       Michael Sutterfield, equipment and applications special-
                                                                   ist for the University Of Cincinnati’s College of Allied Health

13 Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

 Sciences, says his school is using Mediasite for “streaming    Salesforce
 and managing all of our lecture captures.” He appreciates         Salesforce is an enterprise, cloud-based customer rela-
 that “everything is included in one place, with no addition-   tions management program that colleges and universities
 al downloads of materials required.”                           are using to manage their fundraising and alumni outreach
 http://www.sonicfoundry.com                                    programs.
                                                                   “Wayne State University uses Salesforce to (1) manage
                                                                recruitment efforts; (2) provide customer service to prospec-
                                                                tive and current students who call, eMail, or visit; (3)
 Remote Proctor Now (Software Secure)                           enhance communication; (4) develop sophisticated business
    Remote Proctor Now leverages students’ own computer         intelligence to improve recruitment and retention; and (5)
 webcams to prevent cheating on online exams. It gives any-     implement business process improvement,” said Kathleen
 one with a high-speed internet connection and a computer       Lueckeman, senior director of customer relationship man-
 the freedom of on-                                             agement and director of the Office of Graduate Admissions.
 demand test tak-                                               “We currently have significant increases in new freshman,
 ing, and eliminates                                            transfer, and graduate student registration. … Salesforce’s
 the     hassle    of                                           Web-to-Lead and Web-to-Case functions [also] have elimi-
 scheduling web                                                 nated lead cards and paper forms, speeding our service and
 proctors, going to                                             processing times.”
 testing centers, or commuting to campus.                       http://www.salesforce.com
    “About 150 graduate Family Nurse Practitioner students
 are using this product,” said Doug Davis, manager of tech-
 nology services at Samford University’s Ida V. Moffett
 School of Nursing. “This has benefitted the School of
                                                                SoftChalk
 Nursing by allowing our graduate students to take proc-           SoftChalk is a content authoring program that makes it
 tored test from anywhere in the country. Over the course of    easy for users to create interactive online lessons.
 the FNP program, our students will save money and time            “This is a neat, easy-to-learn content producing soft-
 by taking proctored tests on their own computer instead of     ware,” said Becky Bradley, interim library director at Lone
 spending extra money to go to a live proctor site. The effi-   Star College Kingwood in Texas. “I use it in online class-
 ciency of this product … allows us to test our students with   rooms to make lessons [that] are engaging and [that] look
 security and safety. Remote Proctor maintains our integrity    professionally done.”
 of testing while providing convenience and technical assis-    http://softchalk.com
 tance. This allows the students to learn online without hav-
 ing to step into a classroom.”
 http://www.softwaresecure.com

                                        Purchasing Intelligence
                                        = Intelligent Purchasing
  Give your colleagues the benefit of your ed-tech savvy. Nominate your favorite products
  and services for the 2013 school year. Your selections will be featured in a special Readers’
          Choice Awards supplement in our July/August “Back-to-School” issues.

                               Nominate your product of choice at:
             http://www.eschoolnews.com/RCA2013-2014/
                              (Remember: Educators only; sorry; no vendors allowed.)

14 Readers’ Choice Awards
AWAR D WI N N E RS

                                                                                                                                   R

 Tegrity Campus (Tegrity Inc.)                                          WorldWideWhiteboard (Link-Systems
    Tegrity Campus is a fully automated lecture-capture solu-
                                                                        International)
 tion used to record lectures as well as supplementary course               WorldWideWhiteboard is a platform for online tutoring,
 content. Its cloud-based model scales affordably, and stu-             collaboration, and office hours through either live (synchro-
 dents can search the content, collaborate with their instruc-          nous) or asynchronous connections.
 tors and classmates, take notes, set their own bookmarks,                  “We use this product for our online Writing Center,” said
 and more.                                                              Leah Rogin-Roper, English professor and Writing Center
    “As an instructional designer, I have used Tegrity                  coordinator for Arapahoe Community College in Colorado.
 Campus over a dozen different ways,” said Trina Kilty of               “It allows students to work in real-time interactive sessions
 Laramie County Community College. “Since I am responsi-                with tutors. The features of WorldWideWhiteboard are intu-
 ble for faculty training, I use it to record training and work-        itive and easy for students to use, but allow multiple levels
 shops for those unable to attend. As a member of the                   of interaction. Tutors can chat with students, have video or
 Learning Technologies Committee on campus, I’ve used                   audio sessions, and mark up their essays with suggestions,
 Tegrity to record vendor demonstrations of different prod-             highlighting, underlining, typed conversations, and more. …
 ucts so that committee members unable to attend may still              This product is particularly helpful for students taking
 view the demonstration. … As an adjunct instructor, I use              online courses or studying at our satellite campuses, to allow
 Tegrity to record myself explaining concepts missed on the             them access to the same great, professional tutors who work
 exam for students. Tegrity has the ability to create a private         on campus, from the convenience of the student’s own
 link of a recording that is shared just between me and the stu-        home.”
 dent. … [It] has been a part of our college for over five years,       http://www.link-systems.com
 and the options, service, and ease just continue to improve
 every year.”
 http://www.tegrity.com

  Coming this Fall: Powerful new content from the editors of

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                             K-12 and Higher Ed construction boom
                                                      For sales and marketing opportunities, contact
                                                      EAST– Barbara Schrader MIDWEST– Patty Voltz          WEST– Paul Turchetta
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15 Readers’ Choice Awards
HONORAB LE M E NTION S

 ActivBoard/ActivClassroom (Promethean)       Livescribe pen (Livescribe Inc.)
 Aesop absence management software            MicroCareerBursts (Microburst Learning)
 (Frontline Technologies)                     myTrack (eScholar)
 All Abilities ePlayground (Sonokids)         Naiku
 AwesomeStories                               Naviance (Hobsons)
 BlendedSchools.net                           NoodleBib (NoodleTools)
 Boardmaker Studio (Mayer-Johnson)            Nook Touch (Barnes & Noble)
 BrainPOP                                     OnLive Desktop (OnLive Inc.)
 Build Your Own Curriculum (School Software   OPALS: Open-Source Automated Library
 Group)                                       System (Media Flex Inc.)
 Casper Suite (JAMF Software)                 ParentSquare
 CCC! Video On Demand (New Dimension          Pixie (Tech4Learning)
 Media)
                                              PresenceLearning live online speech therapy
 Classmate PC (Intel Corp.)
                                              Prezi cloud-based presentation software
 CompassLearning Odyssey
 (CompassLearning)                            QwertyTown (Second Nature Learning)
 Curriki                                      Raptivity (Harbinger Knowledge Products)
 DaCast Streaming as a Service                ReadWriteThink.org
 Discovery Education streaming (Discovery     Read & Write Gold (Texthelp Systems)
 Education)                                   RealeWriter (RealeStudios)
 Dogo News                                    Science Buddies
 Dropbox                                      Scratch (MIT Media Lab)
 eChalk Anytime (eChalk)                      Sentinel (Kajeet for Education)
 eTrition (Harris School Solutions)           Shakespeare in Bits (MindConnex Learning)
 FastMath (Scholastic)                        SMART Board (SMART Technologies)
 Galaxy tablets (Samsung)                     SmartMoves (FableVision)
 Genius SIS                                   SmartPath Enterprise Wireless System
 Glogster                                     (Black Box Network Services)
 GoClaim (Go Solutions Group)                 Spiceworks network management software
 Google Apps for Education (Google Inc.)      Sqworl visual bookmark tool
 GradeCam                                     Study Island (Archipelago Learning)
 Haiku LMS                                    TAP-it (SmartEd Services)
 HippoCampus.org (Monterey Institute for      TenMarks Online Math Program (TenMarks
 Technology in Education)                     Education)
 iPad (Apple Inc.)                            TIPS (Awareity)
 iRubric (RCampus)                            Turnitin (iParadigms)
 The JASON Project                            U Tip Bully Buster (e2campus)
 Join.me (LogMeIn Inc.)                       VoiceThread
 Kinect for Xbox 360 (Microsoft Corp.)        WatchKnowLearn.org
 Kurzweil 3000 (Cambium Learning)             Wiggio
 LanSchool (Stoneware Inc.)                   Wyse P20 (Wyse Technology)

16 Readers’ Choice Awards
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