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EdTech Show Daily 2 5 Wednesday, February 7, 2018 benchmarks instead of questions to cre- ate tests. When students take tests in Focus, there are a number of resources that teachers can activate, like scratch pads, calculators and time clocks. In addition, videos, images, audio recordings, tables and other multimedia files can be imported directly into the questions. The tests can be administered either online in Focus or printed and scanned back into Focus after completion. When the tests are taken online, the scores and grades automatically populate the Gradebook. Focus understands that there is sometimes a lack of quality resources available to teachers so having the abili- ty to share these resources is important. Teachers often collaborate on lessons, activities and tests within both school and district wide, to improve the quality of their teaching, and easily create more thorough course instruction. With Focus, teachers and district-level administrators can share test questions and lessons with Focus School Software (Cont'd. from p. 1) each other. This improves the quality of work in the classroom, easily allows for more standardized lessons, tests and assessments across schools and districts, and offers teachers a larger pool of test questions for faster test creation. Once the tests are created, taken and graded, teachers and school administra- tors need an assessment tool that allows them to make informed decisions based on accurate student performance data. Focus provides several tools and reports for teachers and administrators to ana- lyze student performance. Item analysis is available for individual test questions, and the Standard Test Report and Analyze Test features provide an overview of student performance on tests. Teachers and administrators can also analyze student proficiency in spe- cific standards. From test creation to student per- formance reporting, the Focus Assessment Component is the solution to meet your districts' needs. For more information, stop by booth #235 or go to www.focusschoolsoftware.com. ESD: How is Cue different than Dash? DS: There is a quite a bit of difference hidden behind Cue's matte and Dash's shiny exteriors. Cue immediately hooks middle schoolers with its four different avatars – Charge, Zest, Smirk and Pep. With what we call "emotive AI," each avatar has a unique personality with dif- ferent likes, dislikes and behaviors. Cue can tell interactive stories, sing rock bal- lads, recite poetry and tell very witty jokes. Plus, Cue's enriched recording capabilities, sensor sensitivity and mem- ory capacity draw students deeper into the possibilities of robotics. The com- pletely new software allows Cue to be programmed using visual block icons, state machine commands or text-based code – we like to say Cue is multilin- gual! ESD: What kind of coding and robotics background does one need to use Cue? DS: None at all. Cue can be programmed by 'newbies' and experts alike. For those students new to coding, they can gain practice with the in-app demo programs and coding adventure stories, which can help them get up to speed on the basics. For those ready for a bit of a challenge, they can delve into the sandbox experi- ence of toggling between block-based coding to text-based coding; a great introduction to writing in JavaScript. The creative possibilities are endless with the state machine interface; consider it fin- gerpainting with code. ESD: How does Cue take robotics to the next level when it comes to computer sci- ence? DS: Cue has extensive robotics capabili- ties within its two different programming environments. Download the Cue app for free. Then with Create, you can use a node-based interface that lets you control the flow of your program with a system of linked icons. Create lets you program Cue (Cont'd. from p. 1) Cue very precisely based on the sensor data that its constantly reading, and Cue can perform multiple commands simulta- neously. With Code, built off of Microsoft's MakeCode platform, you can program Cue using block-based code or text-based JavaScript. Simply drag and connect the blocks together and then tog- gle over to text mode; add some text and toggle back to the block-based code. This scaffolded experience guides students who are eager to learn JavaScript. ESD: What core skills does Cue help teach? DS: While students can begin to master physical coding and applied robotics skills, as with all of our CleverBots, Cue helps cement those fundamental skills that encourage lifelong learning: critical thinking, design thinking, problem-solv- ing, collaboration, growth mindset and digital citizenship. In this day and age, it's crucial that students understand the importance of technology. In addition to knowing how to use technology, students must also learn to create technology, apply technology and understand the social impacts of technology. ESD: What will teachers and students be surprised by? DS: The endless possibilities! Both you and your students will be captivated by Cue's witty personalities and then drawn into the depth and variety of experiences. Cue not only fits into tech centers, com- puter labs and makerspaces, but the everyday classroom! Take a cross-curric- ular approach when introducing Cue to your students. Enhance your daily teach- ing and students' daily learnings with this award-winning CleverBot. Find more resources for Cue (and Dash & Dot!) at education.makewonder.com, and follow us on our social channels for the best classroom practices from our community of educators worldwide. For more information, go to www.make wonder.com or stop by booth #2312. flowing efficient learning environment. Students can present their ideas and share their screen to the entire class with teacher permission. The ability to easily take control of the screen empowers the students to show their own work and receive real-time feedback from peers and teachers. Vivi is easy to set-up and install. The Vivi solution begins with the receiver – a small, easy-to-hide device which once installed allows any screen to become Vivi- enabled. The Vivi receiver is connected via Ethernet cord to the school's internet and the classroom's screen via an HDMI cable. Vivi also allows the user to play high-quality videos straight from the Vivi receiver, meaning the video is streaming directly from the hard-wired internet, and not slowing down the Wi-Fi network. Vivi is a BYOD platform, allowing any device or operating system to con- nect to the display directly through the school network. The Vivi App gives the user access to all of Vivi's features and gives them the ability to manage their screen. It is easy for both students and teachers to Vivi (Cont'd. from p. 1) use, allowing the focus to be on what's important – engaging the students. Vivi is monitored and managed cen- trally through Vivi's Admin portal. The Admin portal is an intuitive cen- tralized platform designed to help admin- istrators easily access and configure the schools Vivi environments. This portal is where administrators can manage all account settings, room names, boxes and user settings. Curriculum and E-Learning Managers will be able to see the partici- pation and engagement levels of Vivi users in their schools. Through ease of access and simplic- ity of use, the Vivi platform supports 21st Century learning – creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communica- tion. A Vivi-enabled school allows teach- ers and students to walk into any class- room and present from any screen regardless of device or platform. This strips away the thinking around 'how to connect' and allows people to focus on the thoughts they want to visually com- municate to the classroom. Visit Vivi and Education 2000 at booth #1738. For more information, go to www.edu2000plus.com. devices. Mackin is continually updating and expanding its proprietary product, most recently to include the ability for teachers to assign materials to students and give direct access to digital materials pur- chased from other companies from with- in the MackinVIA platform. MackinVIA has also been certified as Section 508 compliant, recognizing its ability to pro- vide access to the resources for those with disabilities. "MackinVIA has been gaining in popularity and usage as more and more MackinVIA (Cont'd. from p. 4) schools are discovering its wide-reaching capabilities aligned with its user-friendly interface," states Mackin's Director of Digital Services, Mesa Heise. "To receive the recognition by the profession- als at Tech & Learning who review edu- cational technology products all the time has been added affirmation." Mackin is providing ongoing presenta- tions of the MackinVIA platform, with classroom and library experts demon- strating how they use MackinVIA in their schools, throughout the conference. Stop by booth #1155 in the exhibit hall and dis- cover how MackinVIA can change your approach to digital product management. STEM is critical for today's students and shares several ways to harness STE(A)M learning's potential for promoting critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, col- laboration, inquiry and teamwork. Links throughout the guide give readers easy access to a host of resources and supple- mentary information. Additionally, the guide includes an at-a-glance infographic on the current state of STEM professions and a collection of top 10 STEM lists for a variety of topics including apps, tech products, software solutions, blogs and online communities, websites, events, funding and resources for girls. Several educators with first-hand knowledge of how to integrate STEM into the classroom participated in the development of "The Big Guide to STEM." And they bring that expertise in what resources and techniques work in real classrooms to this guide. Each has included contact information so that readers can ask for more information or Boxlight (Cont'd. from p. 4) ideas via Twitter or email. Those educa- tors are as follows: elementary school principal Kelly Bielefeld; teacher Kristy Nerstheimer; assistant high school prin- cipal Travis Rink; and award-winning high school science teacher Denise Scribner. Boxlight's commitment to STEM education has been documented through it's recent honor in being named a final- ist in the sixth annual Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-ED) STEM Education awards program. The company was a nominee in the Corporate Outreach category following the successful Boxlight STEM Day ini- tiative it launched in 2016 and due to it recently becoming the convening agency for the Georgia Girls STEM Collaborative formed under the auspices of the National Girls Collaborative Project. For more information, go to www .boxlight.com or stop by booth #717.