The Royal Treatment

The Vovici Community Builder Module for Education

The Vovici Community Builder Module for Education
Educational pricing is available.

I interviewed Vovici's Dean Wiltse (left), Chairman and CEO, as well as Jim Ivers (right) CMO about what Vovici offers education leaders and K12 districts. -- www.vovici.com

The Community Builder Module is a secure, hosted software service that makes it easy to build, manage and engage educators and students by using custom-built online communities to take surveys and provide feedback. Vovici’s online solutions enable best practices in recruiting and managing panel relationships and provides the highest possible data quality.
School districts looking to find answers to problems in areas that they want to investigate further will find the Community Builder Module provides that interactive community online to engage in a dialog via a survey that makes it simple to get questions answered quickly. It involves staff in forming a community, getting information, in forums and blogs, sharing ideas, and also invites them to take a brief short survey for gathering data in a school or a district gives administration decision making power they haven’t had in the past.
Features include forums, blogs, suggestion box capabilities, video sharing, and ability to post media, as well as answer surveys.
Furthermore, the Community Builder can be used to measure student satisfaction between different schools or across an entire district. The results can be gathered and shared quickly, in much less time and at a lower cost.
Additionally, as an ongoing HR feedback device it could lead to better retention of teachers, a balancing of curriculum and organization of new budget needs.

Week of May 5th K12 Product News Video

Products Featured in the Week of May 5th Product News Video
(located in the top, right sidebar)

Tripp-Lite Power Protection -- www.tripplite.com

Toshiba Portégé M700-S7002 Convertible Tablet -- www.toshiba.com/us

Lenovo ThinkCentre M57 Eco Computer -- www.lenovo.com

Sony VPL-E Series Projectors -- www.sony.com

NEC VT800 Projector -- www.necdisplay.com

Lexmark x502n Network Color Laser Printer,Scanner, Copier, and Fax -- www.lexmark.com

Visit www.cdwg.com for more information and best prices on these products.

Study Buddy is a Real Gem!

www.hamiltonelectronics.com

Study Buddy is a real teaching gem.
Low tech, easy to use and gets the job done.
This is great for those students needing a bit of individualized instruction, reading and vocabulary skills practice, multiplication facts drill, or my favorite -- a learning center. Educators use their own voice and images to create the practice lessons.
Study Buddy runs on 3 AAA batteries, and I'm assuming rechargeable batteries are the way to go with this baby.

Hamilton Electronics' Study Buddy priced at $69.75.

Here's more:

The Study Buddy allows educators and students to record and play practice lessons with the ease of one-touch operation. Using the battery operated (3 AAA) interactive Study Buddy educators can create a lesson in minutes for individuals or small groups. Using dry-erase pens, photographs and other graphics, including artwork on reusable electronic cards, educators can record an accompanying voice instruction that is unique for each study card. Simply by slipping a photo into one of the cards, inserting the card into the reader and then recording up to 10 seconds of audio creates a unique learning activity. The lesson remains as created until the card is changed. Study Buddy comes with 36 two-sided reusable, laminated cards providing up to 72 individual 10-second recordings. Study Buddy can be used to assist with learning a foreign language, for learning center activities, learning math facts, and reading skills, such as learning new vocabulary.

Toshiba’s Portégé M700-S7002

Toshiba’s Portégé M700-S7002 gets The Royal Treatment.

While waiting for the new line of Satellite’s to be released, I had a chance to take a look at Toshiba’s Portégé M700-S7002 convertible tablet. I had recently looked at other tablets, so was anxious to compare. The Portégé at first look seems a bit chunkier than others, but it didn’t seem as heavy as it appeared, and it had an optical drive, something I’ve found missing in higher-priced competitor models. Priced at $1,799 the M700-S7002 had all the usual attributes I’ve come to expect from Toshiba’s, including multi-media readers, fingerprint reader, and integrated Webcam. It weighed in at 4.6 pounds, with a 12.1 inch diagonal widescreen. Our review model was running Windows Vista.

 

Granted my review time was short, but I didn’t notice any difficulty opening multiple applications, including the Webcam at the same time. Boot time was fairly quick as well. I was very impressed with the touch screen and the digitized pen operation, which I though more responsive than others I’ve tried.

Access Smart's Power Logon Customized Identity Smartcards

Power LogOn is a security and identity solution.

Pricing for the starter kit is $129.99.

Using Power LogOn, schools can now customize individual smartcards for identity management, cashless transactions, and secure building and network access, providing a wide array of security and amenities for students and administrators. Smartcards protect valuable information, such as logon passwords and student ID and credit card numbers, while securely accessing personal accounts from computers running the software. Administrators can run the program with the school’s network authentication codes stored on a primary server like Active Directory. Students and faculty can also be assigned variable access privileges to appropriate department files and information sources.

www.access-smart.com

Elluminate's Product Manager Gary Dietz Gets The Royal Treatment

Elluminate's Product Manager Gary Dietz Gets The Royal Treatment
by Ken Royal, Products Editor for District Administration Magazine
Produced by ProMedia Group Promotions Designer Brian Kelly
Check out vRoom at www.elluminate.com/vroom for unlimited use of a 3-user Elluminate room.

To get The Royal Treatment for a K12 product, contact Ken Royal, District Administration products editor.

The Futuristic-Looking Lumens DC260 Visual Presenter's

My review of the new Lumens DC260 Visual Presenter.

The Two lamps featured on the futuristic-looking DC260 visual presenter by Lumens -- www.mylumens.com -- certainly solve the problem of low-lighting in a document camera. The DC260 is simple to set up and use. I tested it using my notebook and a projector after I had installed the DC260's software from the CD. After a couple of computer restarts, I was off and running with the easy USB connection. I was able to operate the presenter from a tiny remote as well as from the touchpad on top of the DC260's base. Auto-focus worked like a charm. Naming this a visual presenter was a good choice, because it does more. I was able to take still image and even video with sound. The DC260 also came with every wiring hook-up anyone could need. I did notice a bit of glare from shiny surfaces, like glossy book covers, but that's to be expected. The DC260 is a perfect fit for any education document projection needs. The Lumens Visual Preseter is priced at $1,299

Here's more:
Lumens
DC260 Visual Presenter
$1,299

The new, lightweight (5 pounds) Lumens DC260 Visual Presenter at 17” x 8.3” x22” is HD capable with features including a 1080p HDMI output for large screen flat panel high definition display, audio and video processor for full frame video recording to an SD card (up to 4GB), and ultra sharp 3x optical zoom. Additionally, the DC260 has a 22-inch gooseneck to capture larger or wide-angle images and two cold-cathode lamps that can uniformly illuminate objects from any angle. Furthermore, with “Half-page” mode educators can toggle from full page to half page without moving the actual document, and by using “Picture-in-Picture” mode teachers can compare and contrast images side-by-side. The DC260 is equipped with a built-in microphone, supports USB 2.0 in both Windows PC and Macintosh, and has 240 JPEG internal image memory. Included accessories include a VGA cable, power cord, USB cable, video cable, credit card-sized remote, and microscope adaptor.

The New NEC VT800 Projector: Bright Solution at a Great Price

NEC's VT800 bright projector solution gets The Royal Treatment.

I set up the new NEC -- www.necdisplay.com -- VT800 in a very busy area at DA. Everyone who passed by commented on the brilliant clarity of the screen, which confirmed my opinion that the VT800 projects the brightest image I'd seen in recent projector releases. I have to admit that the 2,700 lumens surpass what most of the projectors I review are packing. This one could certainly easily handle larger room projection needs. Set up was easy and I was projecting brilliant images, in moments, from my laptop and even a document camera.

The VT800 at $999 is at a very affordable price range for education. Besides its 2,700 lumens, features include XGA native resolution of 1024 x 768, contrast ratio of 500:1, up to 3,000 hours of lamp life, and a 5-watt speaker. Users will really like 3D Reform, which squares the image by adjusting horizontally, vertically, or diagonally when the projector cannot be place parallel or perpendicular to the screen. Additionally, the VT800 features HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) technology for improved video and data display, and Advanced AccuBlend, which ensures detailed images when using non-native resolution sources.

Fourier's MultiLab Software Modified for Beginners

Fourier systems -- www.fourier-sys.com -- has modified the MultiLab CE data analysis software for its Nova5000 for use with elementary school students. The software features brightly colored bar, analog, digital, and color meters designed to enhance displays for beginner users. Check the Fourier Systems site for more.

Key Curriculum Press Launches New Online Service

Key to Tracker

Key to Tracker -- www.keypress.com -- is a new online subscription service, which is a companion to Key to... Workbooks. The Key to... Workbooks are designed for grades 4-12 math supplement and practice in fractions, percent, decimals and algebra. The Key to Tracker has an online assessment allowing immediate feedback. A free trial is being offered through August 1, 2008.

New Pokemon Learning League Focuses on Cyberbullying

Pokemon Learning League Internet Safety Program

The new Pokemon Learning League lessons help students understand what cyberbullying is and offers strategies for dealing with it. Enlisting a trusted adult's help is key to the process. Visit www.pokemonlearningleague.com/internet for more information on the Pokemon Learning League Internet Safety Program.

Dynamic Literacy Offers Free ELL Guide

Dynamic Literacy has publish a supplemental ELL guide for educators.To download a free copy visit www.dynamicliteracy.com/resources.php.

Epson's 6110i

Today Epson -- www.epson.com -- released five new projectors, of which two PowerLite models may fit K12 needs.

The PowerLite Pro models are the G5150NL (4,000 Lumens), 5350NL (5,000 Lumens), G5200WNL (4,000 Lumens), and the PowerLite models are the PowerLite 1825 (3,500 Lumens) and the 6110i (3,500 Lumens).

The PowerLite 1825's estimated street price is $2,299 and the 6110i is estimated at $2,899. These are much more than your classroom models. They are designed for auditorium and larger room purposes.

My Epson representatives felt that the 6110i was the best bet for the K12 market, offering easy out-of-the-box networking technology for monitoring and controlling the projector, as well as a 5-watt speaker. Furthermore, the 6110i has closed caption capabilities, up to 4,000 hours lamp life and dust resistance. Long-lasting air filter and air flow sensors provide efficient operation.

PTC's Pro/ENGINEER, Windchill, and Mathcad

At the recent 2008 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition -- http://www.usfirst.org -- many teams used PTC's (The Product Development Company -- http://ww.ptc.com) Pro/ENGINEER -- www.ptc.com/products/proengineer --, Mathcad and Windchill technologies.
20 percent of the contestants used PTC's Windchill -- www.ptc.com/products/windchill -- to process and manage software. The Web-based system provided teams with the capability to securely control CAD data, calculations, and documents.

Team "839, "Rosie Robotics", from Agawam, Mass. placed 28 out of 51 and received the Regional Chairman's Award at the Boston Regional competition and will move on to compete against regional award winners for the National Chairman's Award.

LeapFrog's Interactive Tag School Reading System

Tag School Reader Lets Characters Speak

The Tag School Reading System includes the Tag School Reader, which is a pocket-szed pen/stylus that interacts with the specially printed words in the Tag stories. Students can actually hear the characters in the stories talk, respond to questions, and participate in skill-building activities.
For educators, there is a desktop application, which allows teachers to download the audio for the Tag books and manage the Tag School Readers.
The Web site -- http://www.leapfrog.com/tag is a great way to get more information.