District Administration - September 2010 - (Page 86)

THE LATEST IN HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, BOOKS & MATERIALS, FACILITIES, AND THE INTERNET NewProducts • • Kurt Eisele-Dyrli • • SOFTCHALK SoftChalk v6, CONNECT $595 per education license, with discounts available TYLER TECHNOLOGIES Telematic GPS, Starts at $179 Public sector software developer Tyler Technologies has added this new product to enhance its Versatrans school transportation solution. The Telematic GPS system uses a Geotab global positioning device (pictured) and new Tyler software to enable administrators to see the real-time locations of each equipped school bus, as well as gain access to important diagnostic information such as engine problems, battery voltage, gas mileage, oil pressure and urgent alerts. In addition, the system reports driver behavior such as harsh braking, rapid acceleration or extended engine idling. www.versatrans.com SoftChalk’s latest version of its Web-based e-learning lesson design program includes several new features. Teachers can create interactive online lessons in any subject using the program’s simple tools to add, edit and annotate text, images, audio or video, as well as create ﬂash cards, games, activities, review questions in a variety of formats, and more. CONNECT is a new, free SoftChalk user community and learning object repository where educators can search for, share, “mash-up” and reuse learning activities and content from other SoftChalk users. A premium-level CONNECT Pro account is also available for a fee, which enables users to publish full lessons or courses and control access via privacy and group settings. www.softchalk.com • PEARSON NovaNET, $699 to $999 per annual license Pearson has dramatically expanded NovaNET, its online credit recovery program for grades 6-12, with over 300 new lessons in ﬁve content areas. A new two-semester geography course includes interactive maps and slide shows in 77 core lessons. The new American and British literature two-semester courses offer 86 lessons each along with audio excerpts, illustrations and activities. Integrated Math 3 combines content from algebra I and II and geometry courses into 78 lessons, and a Biology Investigating Lab includes 14 video-based lab lessons to complement the NovaNET biology course. www.pearsonschool.com/novanet DistrictAdministration 100 PRODUCTS TOP Nominate products for the Readers' Choice Top 100 by September 13 at: www.DistrictAdministration.com 86 September 2010 2 0 1 0 View our blog and videos at: blogs.DistrictAdministration.com/productsblog Contact products editor Kurt Eisele-Dyrli at: kdyrli@DistrictAdministration.com District Administration http://www.versatrans.com http://www.softchalk.com http://www.pearsonschool.com/novanet http://www.DistrictAdministration.com http://blogs.DistrictAdministration.com/productsblog

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2010

District Administration - September 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Inside the Law
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
A Salary Recession for School Administrators?
Working Hard in the Big Easy
School Safety Gets the Ax
Keeping Schools Safe during Challenging times
Google and Microsoft Go to School
A Bull Market for Financial Literacy
Problem/ Solution
Tech Disruptions
Student Counsel
Product Focus
New Products
Superintendent’s Insights

District Administration - September 2010