November 2005 — Product Focus
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Product::FOCUS
ULTRAKEY VERSION 5 from Bytes of Learning Inc. systematically teaches children touch-typing and safe keyboarding through voice accompaniment, 3-D animation, video, and virtual reality. It also gives teachers the ability to customize themes and content to match their current curriculum, and provides extensive class reports to aid student assessment. In addition, the optional UltraKey 5.0 Data Server tracks student progress data to a central server in real time through any Internet or network connection, whether students are working from home or at school. And it allows administrators to store records, options, and content for all schools, classes, and students districtwide. Price: Site licenses for UltraKey 5.0 start at $695; the UltraKey Data Server software costs $500; and district pricing plans are available. http://www.bytesoflearning.com.
AVAILABLE WITH an 8KB or 64KB memory capacity, Onset Computer Corp.’s wearable HOBO Pendant is a value-priced temperature and light-intensity data logger that can be used for a variety of hands-on science projects both in and outside of the classroom. Roughly half the size of an iPod shuffle, the up-to-100-foot waterproof Pendant can link to PCs through an Optic USB Base Station and Pendant Coupler, which allows users to print and share colorful graphs and analyses of their collected data with classmates and teachers by using the HOBOware software package. Teachers and students can download more than 300 classroom labs to use with the Pendant from the company’s iScienceProject Web site (http://www.iScienceProject.com). Price: HOBO Pendant kits are available for $139, and include two Pendant temperature/light loggers, the HOBOware software package, and the direct-USB interface.
