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EdTech Show Daily Wednesday, February 8, 2017 4 WHY PEG WRITING? By Marilyn Beaver, Marketing Manager, PEG Writing One of the questions I always get when talking to educators about PEG Writing is: why? Why PEG Writing? I could expound on all of the features and bene- fits of the program, but in short, the answer is: it works. Let's take a look at some of the research. Students who use PEG Writing revise a lot, and much more than traditional paper-and-pencil writing or even when using GoogleDocs. Practice is imperative to improve student writing, so it's great to find out that students who are using PEG Writing are regularly revising their essays. With repeated exposure to PEG Writing's automated feedback, students demonstrate strong improvements in the quality of their writing from first draft to final draft, and reduce the number of spelling and grammar errors they make. Another exciting development in our research shows that students with learn- ing disabilities who are using PEG Writing appear to close the gap with their non-disabled peers. Students who use PEG Writing demonstrate significant gains in writing motivation and writing confidence. This is an exciting development, especially for students who are reluctant writers or who feel overwhelmed by their writing assignments. When teachers use PEG Writing for a number of writing assignments, stu- dents demonstrate improvements in their independent writing performance from pre-test to post-test. This means that PEG Writing helps make a lasting, positive impression on a student's writing ability. Writing is prevalent throughout life, and good writers are able to express them- selves confidently in any personal, edu- cational or professional setting. Teachers who use PEG Writing report that giving students feedback takes about half the amount of time it takes when they are the sole source of feedback, and these time- savings do not come with a reduction in the overall amount of feedback given. We know that teachers are busy, and with an increased focus on writing more, it can be overwhelming to think of all the feed- back that needs to be given in a timely manner. PEG Writing helps with that and gives teachers a solid foundation of auto- matic feedback to build on with sugges- tions of their own. These findings are only a portion of what was published by Dr. Joshua Wilson, an assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, in the peer-reviewed journal, Computers and Education. Learn more about PEG Writing at booth #1552. POWERING CARTS 101: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW This article will take a look at the differ- ent types of charging: basic, standard, advanced, intelligent and wireless. Basic Charging This involves a PDU on each shelf that you plug each device into. Because the cart doesn't include a timer, it's up to you to physically plug each PDU into a power outlet, one after another. If all 36 (or so) devices are plugged in at once, you'll probably experience a power overload and the circuit will shut off. This can result in very inconveniently uncharged devices in the morning. Standard Charging with Timer Like basic charging, standard charging schemes come with a PDU on each shelf, but these are connected to a timer which cycles power to each shelf in a round robin fashion, typically for 15 minutes per shelf. First, all of the devices on shelf one are powered. Then the power shifts to the next shelf, and so on. The benefit with this system is that it prevents the devices from drawing too much power at once and causing a cir- cuit overload. A drawback is that this system takes longer to charge all the devices than some other methods, and not all the devices in the cart will have the same battery level until the cart is done charging. Another drawback with some timers is that they have to be man- ually set, which can result in errors and uncharged devices. Advanced Charging This is similar to standard charging with a timer, but enables the user to pre-con- figure the time each shelf will charge, ranging from five minutes to 60 minutes as opposed to only 15 minutes. The user can also configure which group of shelves should be timed or always on, and which shelves can charge together. This configuration greatly improves the charging of the devices by speeding up charge time of the entire cart and having devices charged more evenly. It is also future- proofed to work with different devices if the user should change in the future. Intelligent (Smart) Charging Intelligent charging also features a PDU on each shelf, and like standard charging with a timer, it will also power one zone or shelf at a time to prevent you from tripping a circuit breaker. But these sys- tems have sensors designed to detect and charge low-battery devices first before moving on to the next zone. They are also capable of charging as many devices as possible while staying under a certain power draw. One advantage of an intelli- gent charging system is that it can actual- ly reduce total energy consumption by discontinuing power when devices reach a full charge. This system is also benefi- cial for environments where devices are checked in and out of carts for different time periods. This way, they can start charging as soon as they are returned. Wireless Charging for Tablets This is a newer innovation in charging. You put the tablet into a protective case that snaps into a port in the cart that is pre-wired into the PDU. There's no need to fuss with plugs and wires. The units are then charged wirelessly. There's noth- ing to program and it makes charging tablets incredibly easy. For more information, visit booth #327, go to www.blackbox.com/tabletcarts or call 877.877.2269. AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION NOT AFFILIATED WITH TCEA Kimberly Oser Publisher Jules Denton Senior Associate Publisher Carlos Velasquez Associate Publisher Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director Jeanie Catron JoEllen Lowry Karrie Welborn Associate Editors Yasmine Brown Jonathan Schieffer Graphic Designers Caitlyn McGrath • Sarah Glenn Customer Service Managers Stacy Davis • Steven Taylor • Hannah Stefanovich Show Logistics & Distribution John Pechota Sales Floor Manager Marcos Morhaim Senior Account Manager Adrian Chacon • Cami Jimenez Account Managers Tara Neal Director of Operations Enrico Cecchi European Sales EdTech Show Daily is published by Oser Communications Group ©2017 All rights reserved. Executive and editorial offices at: 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300/Fax: 520.721.6300 European offices located at Lungarno Benvenuto Cellini, 11, 50125 Florence, Italy www.osercommunicationsgroup.com Lee M. Oser Founder STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS NEED TO INTEROPERATE WITH OTHER EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS Over the years, districts have discussed the benefits of having an "all-in-one" stu- dent information system versus a "best- of-brand" student information system that has the ability to work with other educational systems. While an "all-in- one" student system can combine many aspects of school business, often these systems leave little room for flexibility to meet the custom needs of districts. It is not uncommon for an all-in-one solution to handcuff certain districts to a substan- dard product. In fact, many student infor- mation systems will often purport to be a jack of all trades, but find themselves lacking mastery of any one product in the product line. With the educational mar- ketplace continually growing, if schools choose to select multiple systems to com- plete their educational management sys- tem, student information systems need to demonstrate the ability to coexist with other systems. With the ever-changing marketplace, many school districts have opted to use multiple educational products to com- plete their full school digital ecosystem. Aeries, as a preferred SIS, is dedicated to interoperability with other systems. As Aeries SIS is at the center of all student data management, Aeries believes it is important to focus on those core compo- nents, while making it simple and seam- less for districts to integrate other prod- ucts into their educational ecosystem. This allows schools to eliminate dual data entry while also allowing the strongest possible solutions for all their needs. The Aeries team encourages schools to choose solutions to meet their full business and academic goals. While Aeries does use traditional interoperability frameworks such as Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF), Aeries has also found that most educational systems do not comply with interoperability standards. Moreover, Aeries takes an immense amount of pride in its open data architecture and the Application Programming Interface (API) it provides to other school systems to push/pull information dynamically. Aeries Single Sign-On (SSO) API pro- vides seamless authentication for educa- tors between systems, saving IT account management time and improving user participation between systems. Additionally, Aeries Software is adopting One Roster framework to further enhance Aeries inter- operability options. Ultimately, suc- cessful multiple sys- tem interoperability allows educators dynamic capability to push and pull stu- dent data with a single click. In addition to digital data integration, advanced inter- operability can provide single sign-on (SSO) that reduces IT (Help Desk) account management costs, improves compliance and security capabilities and improves teacher efficiency in the enhanced products. True interoperability, such as that provided by Aeries, will undoubtedly provide districts with the flexibility to select products capable of meeting its needs, allowing for the cre- ation of a powerful and productive educa- tional ecosystem. Visit Aeries Software at booth #322. For more information, go to www.aeries.com, call 805.610.4823 or email scott@aeries.com.