District Administration - September 2011 - (Page 88)

newproducts • • Charlotte Adinolﬁ THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES AND THE INTERNET According to a recent study, 43 percent of students feel unprepared to use technology in college and work life. SOURCE: e Education Development Center and Nellie Mae Education Foundation SUBLIME LEARNING Inquiry-Based Learning for Interactive Whiteboards Price: Individual, site or district-wide subscriptions available Based on Sublime Learning eTeachables, streamlined professional development tools, this new product provides educators timely, problem-based K8 teaching strategies to enable more effective instruction using interactive whiteboards. Created by professional learning experts, the program focuses on integrating technology into instruction and reaching all learning styles—visual, auditory and kinesthetic—through different topical libraries. Each video models effective teaching and learning strategies and includes customizable lesson templates. BLACKBOARD Blackboard Connect 5 Pricing varies by student count Blackboard has updated its mass notiﬁcation system based on its messaging infrastructure and has created a set of multimodal notiﬁcation services intended to provide more targeted and relevant communication. Included in the product is an enhanced Web interface, a smartphone application, a Connect Access Portal (provides customized messaging, access to previously received messages, and content feed subscriptions) and Blackboard Connect platform APIs so clients and third parties can integrate with the Blackboard Connect service. PROMETHEAN AND CHANNEL ONE NETWORK Channel One News InterActiv Price: $100 introductory price per classroom, through 2011 A new partnership between classroom technology maker Promethean and K12-speciﬁc daily news program Channel One has resulted in Channel One News InterActiv. The product enhances the traditional Channel One program by delivering it through Promethean’s ActivBoards interactive whiteboards and learner response system to create an interactive learning experience for students. Assessment activities, pop quizzes and collaborative exercises reinforce concepts covered during each broadcast. Promethean also offers a variety of professional development activities to help teachers improve their skills and effectiveness using the program. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT NETWORK PD 360 v5.0 Price: $3,495 per school site The most recent version of PD 360 has been released with Common Core 360, which provides states, schools and districts with a guide to implementing the Common Core State Standards; expanded community and group functions; greater tracking and reporting capabilities; new thereNow classroom video integration; and high-quality professional learning content. Educators can upload videos to share with others. PD 360 videos are 6 to 12 minutes in length and are easily accessible. ACER Acer S5201M Projector $999 As the ﬁrst short-throw projector from Acer, this unit can project a 77inch diagonal image from 37.4 inches from the screen and promotes interactivity and communication with the Acer SmartPen. With the ability to work from up to 32 feet away, the Acer SmartPen allows presenters and audience members to write on the presentation, and it also acts as a remote when needed. Acer’s eProjection Management includes options that can reduce standby power consumption by up to 80 percent. 88 September 2011 District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2011

District Administration - September 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Tech Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
They Work Hard for the Money
The Road to Rigor
District-Charter Collaborations on the Rise
Designing Safe Facilities
Tony Smith Tackles Oakland
Product Focus
New Products
Research Center
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Professional Opinion
Student Counsel

District Administration - September 2011