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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
Centricity2 (Schoolwires)
Centricity2 is a website and content management system that brings together all a school system’s information in one place, with group management capabilities, mobile device support, and a suite of Web 2.0 tools. It’s designed to integrate seamlessly with all compatible systems, data, and third-party applications, and district leaders can measure their community’s engagement through integrated web analytics that help monitor users’ online activity.
“In my opinion, Schoolwires has created the ultimate content management environment for digital communication,” said George Weeks, director of technology for New Jersey’s Glassboro Public Schools. “Centricity makes it easy to keep our sites fresh and continually update the information we present to the public. The backend interface is easy to use, allowing anyone to edit a page, a section, or an entire site—making the traditional webmaster obsolete. Web page editing is as simple as creating an eMail. … With this product, we have been able to make our web portal the primary source for information about the schools. Web statistics show a steady increase in unique visitors every month since we implemented the product five years ago.”
Click here to download a PDF of the 2012-2013 Readers’ Choice Awards.
Doceri (SP Controls)
Doceri is an iPad app and desktop software program for controlling presentations and lessons remotely. It lets users control a computer (Mac or Windows), launch any document or application, and annotate over them at any time. When used in conjunction with SP Controls’ Network Room Controller, Doceri also can remotely control projectors, DVD players, and other AV devices.
“Doceri is a remote iPad app that I use almost daily in my classroom,” said Jennifer DiPasquale, a teacher at Pennsylvania’s North Hills School District. “It has completely eliminated the use of the [interactive whiteboard] in my classroom. I [can] allow my students to write on my iPad and project it on my screen. I am able to watch my students through Apple Remote Desktop, but I watch them on my iPad so I am not stuck in one place in the room. Students enjoy writing on the iPad and seeing it on the big screen. … I love Doceri!”
DreamBox is an intelligent, adaptive learning platform for teaching elementary-level math. Based on whether students give right or wrong answers to questions, the software adapts the level of difficulty, scaffolding, sequencing, and pacing of the problems they see—ensuring that every student works in his or her optimal learning zone, from struggling to advanced.
“We are using DreamBox Learning with all of our first graders and with some students in kindergarten, second, and third grade for intervention,” said Michelle Tomlin, district facilitator for the Kirkwood, Mo., schools. “We have seen growth in our students’ number sense. The students regularly make connections to what they are learning in math class from what they are doing in DreamBox. The transfer of learning is great.”
Education2020 (e2020 Inc.)
e2020 provides instruction in virtual and blended learning environments for students in grades 6-12. Emphasizing instructional content in both core and elective subjects, e2020’s programs help students recover and accrue credits for graduation, participate in Advanced Placement courses, and prepare for state, end-of-course, and standardized assessments.
“We have used e2020 for credit recovery as well as a complete school curriculum. It … allows us to customize the learning experiences for our students based on prescriptive testing,” said Kenneth Kuczynski, CEO of Christina International High School, a virtual school based in Minnesota. “Our students find lectures to be complete and easy to follow. The assignments are challenging, and each course aligns with state core standards. We also like the selection of teacher tools that allow for very focused diagnostics. The parent portal and teacher tools are very valuable resources.”
8 Responses to Fifty of the best ed-tech products for schools
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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.