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E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y Fri d a y, Fe b ru a r y 7 , 2 0 1 4 4 Lee M. Oser CEO and Editor-in-Chief Kim Forrester Paul Harris Jeff Rosano Associate Publishers Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director Jeanie Catron JoEllen Lowry Associate Editors Yasmine Brown Vicky Glover Graphic Designers Ruth Haltiwanger Traffic Manager David Lopez Account Manager Enrico Cecchi European Sales EdTech Show Daily is published by Oser Communications Group ©2014 All rights reserved. Executive and editorial offices at: 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300/Fax: 520.721.6300 www.oser.com European offices located at Lungarno Benvenuto Cellini, 11, 50125 Florence, Italy. STUDY SHOWS HIGHER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG STUDENTS USING DISCOVERY EDUCATION TECHBOOKS A recently released study found that usage of Discovery Education's digital science textbook is associated with high- er achievement scores. Specifically, the research suggests that the Discovery Education Science Techbook™ increases student science achievement and bolsters the effectiveness of instruction when teachers with one or more years of expe- rience use it in classroom practice. Conducted by independent research firm Merola Research, LLC, the study reviewed results on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in science for fifth and eighth grade stu- dents in Collier County, Fla. During the 2011-2012 school year, Collier County Public schools partnered with Discovery Education to implement Discovery Education Science Techbook, a digital t e x t b o o k for their science cur- r i c u l u m . Included in the implementation was in-depth, cus- tomized professional development from Discovery Education's professional development team, which supported edu- cators as they integrated the Science Techbook into classroom instruction. The researchers concluded that students whose teachers had one or more years of teaching experience and used Science Techbook for instruction scored higher on the FCAT than students whose teachers BOXLIGHT CUSTOMIZES DALLAS ISD PROGRAM In June 2013, the Dallas Independent School District completed the installation of a 300-mile, state-of-the-art fiber-optic network, billed as the biggest and best IT network of any school district in the country. The 20Gbps network is 200 times faster than the previous one. As part of the upgrade, 17,000 wireless access points were added, creating the largest K-12 wireless network in the state of Texas. While preparing for the major under- taking, Dallas ISD knew it would need to replace its interactive projectors in the classrooms so they could connect wire- lessly to the new network, as well as be compatible with the Microsoft Surface Pro tablets to be used by teachers. Six months prior to the infrastructure upgrade, the district began researching options, attending trade shows and meet- ing with vendors for demonstrations. "We were looking for wireless interactive functionality, high resolution and the ability to connect the projector across the building's wireless infrastruc- ture," said DISD's Director of Network Services Gary Shuman. With 11,000 c l a s s r o o m s , which have individual wireless access points, the challenge was in finding a product that could work seamlessly with the LAN connection while allowing the tablets to connect through the WAPs. The Dallas Independent School District found a solution in BOXLIGHT's ProjectoWrite6™ WX31NST interactive projector, which Continued on Page 45 Continued on Page 45