District Administration - October 2008 - (Page 68)

NewProducts CURRIKI Curriki.org, Online Curriculum Community Internet, free Curriki, an open source, collaborative curriculum Web site, was originally founded by Sun Microsystems in 2004, but today it operates independently as a nonproﬁt. The organization has recently redesigned its site with improved functionality, to help educators, students and parents better utilize this online community for creating and sharing K12 curricula. New features include an easy-to-use home page with three navigational tools—Find, Contribute and Connect—and new tutorial videos to help users access nearly 16,000 free assets including lesson plans, student activities, assessments and complete courses. Curriki has also recently partnered with Sesame Workshop, the nonproﬁt education organization behind Sesame Street. The Sesame Workshop’s new content contribution, titled “Panwapa,” is a collection of educational resources designed to introduce and model the skills needed for global citizenship by sharing the stories of real children and their experiences around the world, intended for grades K-2. COMPASSLEARNING Odyssey High School, Online Intervention Program Internet, $250 per user per year The Odyssey High School online credit recovery and intervention program is now fully designed in-house by CompassLearning staff. Based on current and conﬁrmed brain research, Odyssey High School utilizes video and Flash-based activities, rather than solely text, to create a high level of student engagement. Each course includes a master teacher’s video lessons followed by engaging and thought-provoking activities. Following each activity is an assessment designed to move students with mastery forward, or to review for students needing additional instruction. The program includes eight core subjects: English I, English II, Algebra I, Geometry, Physical Science, Biology, U.S. History 1850-present, and U.S. Government. www.curriki.org VMWARE VMware Fusion, Virtualization Program Software, $79.99 Award-winning desktop and server virtualization software maker VMware has recently released Fusion, a program that enables Mac users to run PC applications seamlessly side by side with Mac applications. An intuitive Mac-native interface makes integrating PC programs simple and straightforward. Users can easily ﬁnd, launch and run PC applications with Fusion’s Unity and Expose functions, and minimize each program to the Mac OS X Dock when not in use. Fusion also enables Windows games to be played on Macs, and the creation of Windows-based virtual machines that complement Apple’s Boot Camp partition, of which the Snapshots function can store copies as a backup in the event of a system crash. www.compasslearning.com www.vmware.com SCHOLASTIC WiggleWorks, Early Reading Program, Software, each edition $5,900 Scholastic has re-released its technology-based early reading program, WiggleWorks, with new content and other upgrades. A supplemental program for pre-K through third grade, WiggleWorks uses leveled, interactive e-books, reading and writing activities, and speciﬁc instruction to develop motivated, proﬁcient readers. It is now compatible with Windows Vista and Mac OS X and is available in two editions, one for pre-K to ﬁrst grade and one for grades 2-3. Students are able to have any of the program’s 84 included e-books read aloud on the computer, or they can record themselves reading the stories and hear the playback. Students can then write and draw responses to what they have read, create their own versions of the story, and play phonics games. A built-in classroom management system allows teachers to customize lessons or activities, track individual progress, monitor time spent on software, and record messages to the class. Each edition includes 84 books, audio CDs, teacher plans and guides, and each is able to support up to 300 students. www.scholastic.com/wiggleworks District Administration 68 October 2008 WW07_Worm_Reading.ai http://www.Curriki.org http://www.curriki.org http://www.vmware.com http://www.compasslearning.com http://www.scholastic.com/wiggleworks

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - October 2008

District Administration - October 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology
Facilities & Construction
Inside the Law
District Profile: Englewood (N.J.) School District
Choose to Stay
A Cure for Monolingualism
Virtual Worlds for Educators
DA Web Seminar Leadership Series
School Libraries Renewed
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Curriculum Books
Professional Opinion
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - October 2008