Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/255541
E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y Th u r s d a y, Fe b ru a r y 6 , 2 0 1 4 4 4 quickly become complex. Is the infrastructure in our system sufficient to handle the online initiatives we are putting in place? If it is inconsis- tent, how do we manage providing equiv- alent education while still leveraging the advantages that come along with technol- ogy? What is the best method and timing for transitioning from paper-based to online classroom assessments and cur- riculum? How do we keep an increasing- ly digital native student population engaged? How will emerging standards (Common Core or otherwise) change the tools needed in the classroom and what is the path to implementation? These are just a few of the challeng- ing decisions facing educators today. As Lance Matus, a veteran Elementary school teacher said, "These are the types of questions that we have been grappling with in the classroom for years, but con- tinue to struggle with in terms of making the best decisions for our students and what the future classroom will look like." Similar to individual student learning paths, each educator requires a different, individualized transition plan for getting them from where they've been historical- ly in their everyday activities to where they need to go. There are many solutions on the market that provide great resources for when we live in a fully wired, high-tech Scantron ( Cont'd. from p. 1) environment. Very few are helping edu- cators and school systems with the digital transition. To be successful in meeting the transition goals of educators, a sup- port system of collaborators to help them with their journey is critical. "If a district is not yet technological- ly ready, it is important they have a part- ner who can help assess the technological needs of that district and plan for the changes that come along with the digital transition to get them to the point where they want to be," said Dr. Caryn Ward, Education Consultant at Scantron. Scantron prides itself on being a col- laborator with its customers on these types of journeys. The company has been a leader and innovator in K-12 assess- ment solutions for more than 40 years. Its focus is to provide the most reliable, simple and effective solutions that inform decision making, improve educational outcomes and support long-term success. Scantron's experience with both paper- based and online assessments distinctive- ly qualifies the company to help educa- tors in schools early in their technology journey, in the middle of their digital transition or those that are technological- ly advanced. Scantron meets you where you are. Visit Scantron at booth 1739. For more information, visit www.scantron.com, call 800-SCANTRON or email events@scantron.com. media and voice sound reinforcement, and video at the push of a button. Students and parents will be able to review recorded lessons at home. Technology staffers will be able to monitor, control and troubleshoot from anywhere in the district. Superintendents will be able to direct- ly control doors, security, mass notifi- cations and more over the district net- work. In short, we envision a class- room, a school, a district and a com- munity connected whenever and wher- ever it's needed. As you evaluate your classrooms, realize the options for basic AV control are many and varied. However, we encourage you to look beyond the tradi- tional classroom and consider current needs, future flexibility and comprehen- sive management. It should go without saying that building 21st century class- rooms around 20th century technology makes little sense. FrontRow ( Cont'd. from p. 1) Your districts can build a single integrated technology platform to improve communication within and between classrooms – and even with students at home. A brilliantly simple and powerful audio system in every classroom can be controlled, along with every other device, via a clean, tamper-free LCD touch screen. What's more, your school and district office personnel can quick- ly communicate with any portion of any school, including bells, paging, doors, emergency alerts and equipment monitoring, over the district IP net- work. Finally, your district can be a leader in flipped classrooms, distance learning and other breakthrough educa- tional strategies by using FrontRow's superior-quality integrated communi- cations platform. Learn more at booth 1229. For more information, visit www.masterav.com, call 800-256-2754 or email cliff smallwood@masterav.com. learning. These products include Mimio and Naiku. ESD: What new products are you excit- ed about for 2014? DP: I am very excited to be introducing Naiku in the state of Texas. Naiku is a web-based assessment tool that can turn any web-enabled device – tablets, smart- phones, laptops – into a virtual clicker system. I am also excited for the latest addi- tion to the MimioClassroom family, the MimioMobile application. MimioMobile works with Apple and Android devices. Student tablets and phones can be used in multiple ways that makes classroom par- ticipation fun. ESD: Tell us more about Naiku. DP: Naiku would be a great fit for schools that are doing one-to-one initia- tives or bring your own device initiatives. With Naiku students can log in from any device to respond and give the teacher immediate feedback. Also, students can log in from home to complete homework assignments, and the teacher will know the results before class even starts the next day. ESD: Why is Naiku a unique product? DP: Naiku allows for students to reflect on their answer choices. Students can rate their confidence in their answers and provide justification for their answer choices. Students can see their scores right away, and this gives them the Education 2000 ( Cont'd. from p. 1) opportunity to review and reflect on the material. ESD: Education 2000 also represents Mimio. What makes Mimio products unique? DP: Mimio has a whole line of interactive classroom products that are intuitive and that enhance the learning experience. We have represented Mimio products for more than 10 years because Mimio prod- ucts, like MimioTeach and MimioMobile, are practical and user-friendly. ESD: Tell us more about MimioTeach. DP: MimioTeach turns any dry-erase whiteboard into an interactive white- board. It is portable and can be moved easily from classroom to classroom if needed. When schools realize the bene- fits of MimioTeach along with the more affordable price when compared to other interactive whiteboards, MimioTeach becomes the ultimate interactive white- board solution. ESD: Tell us more about MimioMobile. DP: The MimioMobile application allows teachers to send an interactive work page to students on their mobile devices and the teacher can monitor the work of each student. Teachers can also control their desktop from their mobile device, share control of the desktop with student devices and turn student devices into student response pads. Visit booth 623 for more information, or go online at www.edu2000plus.com. FREE EDUCATIONAL GAMES FROM ABCYA.COM An interview with Alan Tortolani, Founder, ABCya.com. ESD: Tell our readers about your compa- ny. AT: ABCya.com is a teacher-created company that provides educational games and activities for kids in elemen- tary grades. The website has over 175 activities, categorized by grade level and content area, and is completely free to use. We also have a number of top-sell- ing, award-wining apps available in the iTunes App Store and Google Play. Millions of people visit the website annu- ally, and several of our mobile apps are best sellers. ESD: What would you say makes your company unique? AT: I think the story of how the company came to be makes it unique, in that it was never intended to be a business. In 2004, during my first year as a computer teacher in an elementary school, I had a difficult time finding good, free educa- tional games on the web to be used in my computer lab. Frustrated by the lack of available resources, I began creating my own. I developed about one educational game a week, and ended up with about 20 by the end of the school year. A year or so later, I was searching on Google for a new keyboarding activity and ABCya.com was the first result in the list! That was the moment I knew that the resource I created for my own classroom had the potential to reach students out- side of my school. ESD: To what do you attribute your com- pany's success? AT: I learned to value a feedback loop very early on, and many of the most successful decisions I've made were rooted in sug- gestions received from visitors. My very first feedback email was a criticism, and yet I felt it was a gift to have someone else help me to improve the website. As a small business or startup, crowdsourcing is a very powerful asset. ESD: Explain the name 'ABCya'? AT: I am often asked how I came up with the name, and how to say it correctly. In 2004, I needed a domain name to direct my young students to the site. Having taught kindergarten for a while, I knew that a typing in a long URL could take half the class period, and so I tried to get something really simple like "ABC.com" or "123.com." Everything I tried was already taken, and the website automati- cally generated suggestions; one was 'ABCYA.COM'. I thought it was easy enough to remember, and so I took it! I've always pronounced it 'AB See-ya,' but you can pronounce it however you like. ESD: What has been the highlight of your business so far? AT: Fortunately, there have been many highlights over the past few years. One that sticks out was when my five-year- old daughter and I were at the Apple retail store this past holiday season. She picked up one of the demo iPads and yelled out, 'Daddy, this is your game!' To my surprise, one of my apps, Math BINGO, was installed on all of the iPads in the store. That was pretty cool. For more information, visit www.abcya.com or email info@abcya.com.