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
now!Board (Learning Resources)
Billed as a “portable interactive whiteboard,” the now!Board turns any flat surface into an interactive whiteboard and also lets you control your computer from the front of the room—easily toggling between the virtual whiteboard, the internet, and your applications.
“I am using the now!Board as an interactive whiteboard alternative. I just project onto the wall or my regular whiteboard, and it becomes interactive,” said Ben Curran, a teacher at University Prep Academy in Michigan. “In my fifth grade classroom, it’s been great for annotating websites, note-taking, demonstrations, presentations, and all kinds of engaging, interactive activities. The kids love it. And it costs a fraction of a SMART or Promethean board.”
PlascoTrac (Plasco ID)
With PlascoTrac, a student incident and ID tracking system, schools have an efficient way to track not only tardiness, but also violations like cell phone, dress code, and parking lot incidents. The software also can be used to manage activities such as assembly or field trip attendance, extracurricular activities, tutoring, or various classroom activities that take students off campus.
“This is the fourth year we have been using PlascoTrac 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 receive more than six tardies in a semester. Our students are required to wear IDs. This past school year, we initiated the temporary system as well. Now, a student receives a temporary ID if the ID is not worn or left at home. Again, it goes back to accountability—plus it gives the administration the opportunity to view tardies and temporaries at the end of each day. A great administration tool!”
Powerspeak12 (Middlebury Interactive Languages)
Designed for elementary, middle, and high school students by Middlebury College in conjunction with K12 Inc., powerspeak12 language-learning programs include intuitive games and activities that immerse students in a natural and powerful way to learn language. The content also aligns with state and national standards as defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
“Students pick the language that they would like to study, and they can progress at their own speed,” said Mark Fruehe, a global studies teacher for Community Consolidated School District 93 in Illinois. “The students listen, read, write, and speak the language on a daily basis in a one-on-one atmosphere. Every student has a native-speaking online tutor. Students create an avatar of themselves that completes lessons and earns money. With the money, the students can buy things for their avatar. This motivates them to work on the lessons. Class surveys show that 89 percent of the students like or really like the program. They are very engaged, and they learn a lot.”
READ 180 (Scholastic Inc.)
READ 180 is a comprehensive system of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development that has been proven to raise reading achievement for struggling readers in grades 4-12.
READ 180 “has the flexibility and differentiation components available to reach middle school students who are reading anywhere from one to four grade levels below standard,” 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 their vocabulary, comprehension, and writing and are highly engaged in their learning. I would highly recommend this product.”
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.