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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
Skyward School Management System (Skyward Inc.)
Skyward’s School Management System includes a Student Management Suite (a web-based student information system with attendance, grading, scheduling, discipline, and more) and a School Business Suite, which encompasses accounts payable and receivable, bid and budget management, employee evaluation, payroll processing, inventory, substitute tracking and fulfillment, and more. The software automates reports and other processes, saving administrators time and freeing them from menial tasks.
“Our K-12 district uses the Skyward Student Management System for attendance, grading, scheduling, discipline, fee management, food service, athletic eligibility, transportation, keeping up with NCLB requirements, tracking our preschool program, and everything else that is required by our state board of education,” said Carolyn Grant, technology coordinator for Danville School District 118 in Illinois. “Skyward has fantastic, patient, helpful, and knowledgeable programming and tech-support staff, including a dedicated group who work specifically with the state [education] department to make sure the program is always up-to-date and meets the state’s requirements. … This is the fourth student data management package our district has used since I began working in this capacity. This one is by far the best.”
SimpleK12 (InfoSource Inc.)
SimpleK12 is a subscription-based professional learning network in which teachers can share ideas, collaborate, watch live and recorded webinars and how-to videos, and learn from one another as they strive to integrate technology effectively into their instruction.
“I am a middle school art and health teacher who has just been given new technology to use in my classroom. I am struggling to learn about what I can do with a document camera and projector,” said Holley Smothers of Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Jefferson City, Mo. “I happened to find SimpleK12, and it has changed my life! The webinars are great. The staff walks you through apps, programs, how to use different technology, and then there is support 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.”
SmartScope (SmartSchool Systems)
The SmartScope handheld digital microscope is easy to use for even preschool students. It comes with software that can record still images, videos, or time-lapse videos to view a week’s worth of change in minutes. Its six LED lights are easily controlled with a dial on the device, and it can magnify objects at up to 200x magnification.
Diana McMillan, a pre-kindergarten teacher for the Austin Independent School District in Texas, says the SmartScope is facilitating an inquiry-based approach to science for students at a very young age. “I have three digital scopes in my class, and the SmartScope is the best because of its flexibility,” she said. “It takes photographs, video clips, time lapse, operates as a webcam, and has a measurement feature. It is so easy to use that my four-year-olds mastered it in one day! It is durable, and the price is right. I leave it out and the students are able to use it independently. I have other technological tools, such as iPads, [a] projector, [an iPod] Nano, flip cameras, and digital cameras—but my favorite … tool is the SmartScope!”
ST Math (MIND Research Institute)
ST Math is a supplemental program that takes a visual approach to learning, tapping into the brain’s innate “spatial temporal” reasoning ability to visualize and solve math problems. Through a carefully engineered sequence of visual puzzles, students work at their own pace to solve increasingly difficult problems that require them to think multiple steps ahead in space and time—and they receive instant feedback about why a solution works or doesn’t.
“Over 16,000 K-5 students in Anaheim City School District are using ST Math,” said Leisha Morton, math curriculum specialist for the district. “The non-linguistic representation of key mathematical ideas provides students, regardless of their language proficiency, access to higher-level thinking and problem solving without the hurdle of decoding text. … [Our] school district has experienced gains in our high-stakes mathematical test scores since implementing the program, but more importantly, ST Math has made math meaningful and exciting for students.”
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.