Find the Latest Resources in Education Today
Fifty of the best ed-tech products for schools
These 50 educational technology products and services are the winners of our 2012-13 Readers' Choice Awards
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 a personalized plan for each student’s success.
“I’m using this system to provide practice sheets as well as online homework assignments,” said Shadrick Paris, an assistant professor at Ohio University. “Thus far, the system has worked wonders in helping my students better understand conceptual concepts in chemistry. I’m hearing from students that it helps them approach problem-solving with more confidence.”
LiveText is a web-based application designed to aid in the development of portfolios, course assignments, and standards- or outcomes-based projects. LiveText allows students and instructors to collaborate on classroom assignments, as well as track students’ progress toward meeting outcomes.
“We use this web-based ePortfolio, assessment, and reporting software to monitor student performance and progress, identify opportunities to improve program quality…, and collect and manage key assessment data for accountability and accreditation,” said Lance Tomei, director for assessment, accreditation, and data management at the University of Central Florida.
Mediasite (Sonic Foundry)
Mediasite is an online platform for enterprise webcasting, lecture capture, and event hosting. It completely automates the recording, distribution, management, and analytics of high-quality video and multimedia presentations.
Michael Sutterfield, equipment and applications specialist for the University Of Cincinnati’s College of Allied Health Sciences, says his school is using Mediasite for “streaming and managing all of our lecture captures.” He appreciates that “everything is included in one place, with no additional downloads of materials required.”
Remote Proctor Now (Software Secure)
Remote Proctor Now leverages students’ own computer webcams to prevent cheating on online exams. It gives anyone with a high-speed internet connection and a computer the freedom of on-demand test taking, and eliminates the hassle of scheduling web proctors, going to testing centers, or commuting to campus.
“About 150 graduate Family Nurse Practitioner students are using this product,” said Doug Davis, manager of technology services at Samford University’s Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing. “This has benefitted the School of Nursing by allowing our graduate students to take proctored test from anywhere in the country. Over the course of the FNP program, our students will save money and time by taking proctored tests on their own computer instead of spending extra money to go to a live proctor site. The efficiency of this product … allows us to test our students with security and safety. Remote Proctor maintains our integrity of testing while providing convenience and technical assistance. This allows the students to learn online without having to step into a classroom.”
8 Responses to Fifty of the best ed-tech products for schools
You must be logged in to post a comment Login
peejs66
July 24, 2012 at 12:16 am
DreamBox is thrilled to be included in eSchool News 50 Best Edtech Products for Schools. Thank you! We do want to correct the description of the underlying technology, though, because the intelligent adaptive learning platform evaluates much more than right and wrong answers. The engine evaluates the strategy used to solve the problem, the pace at which the student interacts with the software, the number of hints requested, and more. In fact, the adaptive learning engine collects, analyzes, and responds to about 48,000 pieces of data per hour, per student. The adaptivity is extraordinarily fine-grained.
tfrantz
July 24, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Thank you, eSchool News readers! Lightspeed Systems is honored to have My Big Campus recognized as one of the Top 50 Edtech Products. We encourage you to log on, create a free account, and start creating an engaging, collaborative learning experience for your students. See you around Campus!
britmullins
July 25, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Thank you! SoftChalk is proud to be one of the 50 Best Edtech Products for Schools. As readers of eSchoolNews and eCampusNews, as well as professionals with roots in higher education, we couldn’t be more honored. We know how hard it can be to find the right tools to meet the ever-changing needs of the higher ed classroom, and we’re proud to offer a content authoring solution that meets the mark!
zanepub
July 30, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Zane Education wants thank everyone that voted for them.
We appreciated being the only company selected for actually delivering K-12 curriculum content as opposed to the various platforms and support tools.
Using online video and the innovative use of subtitles (The Missing Piece) to enable all students to study a wide range of curriculum subjects AND improve their reading and literacy skills AT THE SAME TIME, is important to us and we appreciate the support of all those that share our belief in providing equal access for all students.
And for those of you in schools and classrooms that have yet to experience the benefits and positive results of Visual Learning in the classroom supported by online testing for each topic, the use of free Lesson Plans and the interactive study tools provided to help each student to fully explore each topic, you can view out free Curriculum Topic of the Day at the following link:
http://www.zaneeducation.com/Videos/freevideo.php
We believe that enabling each child to study at their own speed is key to helping each child achieve their greatest potential.
And thank you again!
cortboulanger
August 1, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Thanks to eSchool Media readers for including Middllebury Interactive Languages on this list. We are proud to be among the 50 products making a difference in our schools. But this is only possible working with our partners – teachers, administrators, parents and students – to provide access to superior world language instruction for all students.
We hope you’ll visit the Middlebury Interactive Facebook page to keep up to date on our activities. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Middlebury-Interactive-Languages/141015515949753
Thanks again.
presencelearning
August 7, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Thank you so much to eSchoolNews readers! PresenceLearning is honored to be chosen for this esteemed list of ed-tech solution providers. PresenceLearning (http://www.presencelearning.com) is the leading provider of live online speech therapy services to K-12 schools. We are delivering over 5,000 live sessions a month and helping kids master the language and speech skills they need for success in school and life. We are growing rapidly by helping school districts overcome critical shortages of SLPs and serve their special needs students better. See a video of a real online speech session at:
http://presencelearning.com/online-speech-therapy-videos
chris.buecksler@schoolwires.com
August 9, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Thank you eSchoolNews readers for selecting Centricity2 as a Top 50 Ed Tech Product for Schools. Schoolwires sincerely appreciates the selection and is proud to serve more than 10 million users with our website, content management and safe social learning solutions to drive engagement in the classroom and K-12 community.
angiecasteel89
August 14, 2012 at 5:24 pm
Scientific Minds is excited to be included in the Top 50 Ed Tech Products for Schools. Thank you to all who voted for us! At Scientific Minds, we take great pride in making quality, online products for grades K-12 that provide practical, easy-to-use solutions for classroom success. Both teachers and students benefit from the brain research used to develop our main product, the Science Starters, which deliver science content in small “chunks” accompanied by vivid, memorable images and graphics. We invite you to check out our new online professional development for elementary teachers at https://www.scientificminds.com/ProfessionalDevelopment.aspx.