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E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y 3 7 W e d n e s d a y, J u l y 1 , 2 0 1 5 enjoy the ease of use and simplicity of paper tests. But we're much more than that, too. We provide complete assess- ment solutions (online and paper-based), from adaptive assessments to flexible assessment platforms to a wide variety of item banks to expert consulting. And we're really taking assessment and its outcomes to a new level with our analyt- ics solutions. ESD: I didn't know you also developed assessments and assessment content. Tell me more about that. No. 2: Valid, reliable assessment content is absolutely critical in the modern assessment environment. With increased emphasis on standards, educators need quality content to measure student progress. We provide that in our assess- ment solutions like Achievement Series. But it's about much more than simply capturing their scores. It's also about pro- viding a context for those scores – our expert consultants work directly with schools and districts to develop and enhance assessment approaches to pro- vide content and context. ESD: But can't teachers and district assessment staff write their own content? Or simply buy it? No. 2: They certainly can – from us, even! But many educators want more specific content than off-the-shelf item banks provide. When they start that work, they often discover that there's a lot more to writing quality items and tests than meets the eye. You have to edit for bias, cognitive complexity and a host of Scantron (Cont'd. from p. 1) other elements. Further, if the items and tests don't support a complete assessment program, all you get is a snapshot of stu- dent performance – you're really missing the power and dynamic view that a com- prehensive assessment program provides. ESD: You mention analytics. Isn't that really just a fancy word for reporting? No. 2: Oh no! Simple static reports only provide a single dimension of the infor- mation you need to build data-driven instruction. They answer one question at a time, when what decision-makers need is a more dynamic approach. Scantron Analytics, our solution, unifies a variety of data sources – without the expense of a data warehouse! – into a single loca- tion. From there, you can use visualiza- tions to really see all the information you have on a student (scores, attendance, discipline, etc.) and how that affects the student's performance. ESD: Pick one thing educators should think about when they think of Scantron. No. 2: Well, me, of course! Seriously, though, they should think "assessment and analytics solutions." Our expertise and decades of experience uniquely qual- ify us to help schools get to the end result of student achievement faster and easier. From simple data capture (where it all starts) to test content and delivery to solutions where you can use the assess- ment data you're collecting, Scantron helps you transform the way you approach student growth. For more information, visit www .scantron.com, call 858.349.9488 or stop by booth #3120. and other staff to this modern LMS built specifically for K–12. The district uses it for its online gradebook, attendance, social classroom, group collaboration, student timetables, report cards and other features. Edsby allows Hillsborough to more easily connect its students, parents and – especially – teachers. Browser plug-ins required by the county's previous system restricted teachers to using the system only in certain places on certain devices on certain platforms. Sixty-Day Rollout Edsby was installed and adopted surpris- ingly quickly at Hillsborough, given that the platform connects hundreds of thou- sands of students and parents and man- ages more than 50,000 classes in the dis- trict every academic quarter. The county had the system set up and ready to go in 60 days. The secret: Edsby's two-way integration with the district's custom student information sys- tem (SIS), the key legacy application used to manage student and class data in the district. Even though Hillsborough's SIS was custom-built, a flexible Edsby structure for integrating with customer systems allowed Edsby to be ready quickly. And that integration is how – a year later – Edsby is able to serve as one of the district's most critical systems, yet without a single full time administrator. "We had Edsby connected to the SIS and up and in use across the whole board in under two months," said Steven Edsby (Cont'd. from p. 1) Asbury, Chief Technical Officer at Edsby. "We didn't open up to parent reg- istrations until halfway through the first quarter of school, but soon afterwards, Hillsborough had about 60,000 parents accounts." Wide Use by Students, Teachers and Parents Every week, some 70,000 to 80,000 stu- dents, teachers and parents log into Hillsborough's Edsby system. About half of them use a web browser. The other half use an Edsby mobile app for iOS or Android. The district has seen an incredible increase in online student participation. Usage statistics show students constantly on Edsby from their phones, iPods and tablets through the day. Edsby manages a massive amount of academic results data entered by teachers at Hillsborough. "We have 25 million Hillsborough student assessments in the system," said Asbury. "We process something like a half-million changes per day for Hillsborough in just the Edsby grade- book alone. That's not including student or parent account information changes, classes being added, comments in classes or anything else." In its first year of use, more than 800,000 student report cards were generat- ed using Edsby, with about half printed right from Edsby on the district's template, and the other half transmitted to the district IT department for centralized printing. For more information, visit edsby.com. department at Mackin works with librar- ians to prepare for and manage these campaigns. Together, they create and tailor promotional materials to advertise the fundraiser, design a custom webpage where individual and corporate donors can contribute to the campaign, and plan how the funds will be used to benefit the library. Campaigns can also be cus- tomized for a specific goal such as acquiring popular fiction eBooks for students, purchasing multi-user nonfic- tion eBooks for classrooms, adding audiobooks to the mix or getting more databases to facilitate student research. Funds4Books & eBooks is also a great way to raise money to update or add new print books to your existing collection Mackin (Cont'd. from p. 4) – cataloged, processed and shipped ready for your shelves. Whatever your objective, a qualified Mackin representative is always available to help with ideas, sug- gestions or assistance whenever needed. To date, nearly 600 schools have already participated in Mackin's Funds4Books & eBooks, with hundreds of thousands of dollars raised and returned to libraries to spend on the materials they need. If you are interest- ed in running a Funds4Books & eBooks campaign, or would like more informa- tion, call 800.245.9540 or email info@funds4books.com. Visit Mackin at booth #2454. For more information, go to www.mackin.com, call 800.245.9540 or email mackin@mackin.com. The most practical and scalable approach to Guided Access utilizes Mobile Device Management (MDM) that doesn't require continuous involvement by IT. This option puts the capabilities directly into the hands of the teachers, giving them the desired power to easily start and stop exams right from the class- room. A More Teacher-Focused Solution With Casper Focus, teachers can quickly – and from their own iPad – select a group of students, choose the app to be used, and initiate Guided Access remote- ly. Students are then switched to and remain focused on that app or website until released by the teacher. This functionality can be used to securely administer high-stakes exams or routine daily quizzes all from within the Guided Access (Cont'd. from p. 4) classroom. At the completion of the assessment period, the teacher can use the iPad to remove the focused app from the entire class, a sub-group or by indi- vidual devices as needed. The Right Answer for Every Exam Casper Focus from JAMF Software helps teachers regain valuable instruction time through improved classroom management. From the mundane tasks of resetting pass- codes to securely preparing students for exams, Casper Focus is turning the iPad into the ultimate testing tool. Exam day is just another day in the modern classroom when the right tools are in place. Learn more about using and managing iPad in the digital classroom with Casper Focus at booth #938. For more informa- tion, visit www.jamfsoftware.com or call 612.677.7075. PRIVO UNVEILS IMPORTANT ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION TOOLS PRIVO is launching a number of excit- ing and important tools to help web- sites, apps, games and other online services comply with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). The new tools include a discovery platform and a simplified online reg- istration solution, called the PRIVO iD, that provides safe interoperable sign-on credentials across apps, sites and games. The tools make it easier for parents to navigate and manage across a host of participating top traf- ficked sites including Toca Boca, Elf on the Shelf, A+E Networks (Planet H), Outfit 7, Garfield (Paws Inc.) and many others. PRIVO's Directory is a compre- hensive listing of hundreds of online sites, mobile apps, and partner profiles where parents can view thorough descriptions of services, privacy poli- cies, and information on member com- panies – like Moshi Monsters, Houston Texans Toro Kids Club, Rocket 21, Marked Private and others. The Directory enables parents to make edu- cated choices on which online services to pre-approve their kids' access by utilizing the PRIVO iD. "Our personal information is something we should be able to share on our own terms with choice," said Denise G. Tayloe, CEO and co- founder of PRIVO. "Creating a safe online environment that respects and protects child privacy is a top priority for so many parents and businesses. By pioneering custom tools like the Directory and PRIVO iD, PRIVO is making that experience easy, simple and safe for parents and companies alike." For more information, visit privo.com.