November 2006 — News/In Brief

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:: Industry News

GLENCOE/MCGRAW-HILL, HOTCHALK OFFER FREE PD COURSES. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, the Columbus, OH-based provider of educational solutions for secondary schools, has partnered with HotChalk, a web 2.0 community software application for connecting teachers, students, and parents. Through this new alliance, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill will offer its professional development courses to all secondary school teachers who are members of the HotChalk community, including one free professional development course of each teacher’s choice. The online, video-based courses cover a range of subjects and teaching strategies for grades 6-12.

Teachers can log on to HotChalk at any time to access the course offerings, which include continuing-education credits. After the free trial course is completed, additional courses may be purchased. For more information, click here.

NEW GRANT FUNDS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE STUDY. The Lexington, MA-based Research Institute for Learning and Development (ResearchILD) has received a grant to fund a new, yearlong pilot and research study to measure the efficacy of two of its software applications designed to help improve academic performance. The Cisco Systems Foundation cash grant of $78,000, courtesy of the Cisco Systems New England Civic Council, will fund the entire study being conducted at Douglas Elementary School in Acton, MA, which will span the full 2006-2007 school year.

The two software programs the study will look at are BrainCogs and Essay- Express, co-produced by ResearchILD and FableVision, an educational media technology developer and publisher. The study will also include a new peer-mentoring program, as well as ongoing professional development and support for educators at Douglas Elementary School.

The project is part of a bigger initiative called “Drive to Thrive: Fostering Persistence, Effort, and Resilience,” which is designed to identify predictors of life success in students, especially those who have learning and attention difficulties.

PROMETHEAN PARTNERS WITH EXPLORE LEARNING FOR MATH AND SCIENCE LESSONS. Promethean, a provider of interactive learning technology, has teamed with ExploreLearning to allow users of Promethean’s Activclassroom to utilize ExploreLearning’s catalog of modular, interactive simulations in math and science for students in grades 6-12. Activclassroom enables teachers to deliver animated and sound-enabled content in their classrooms.

ExploreLearning’s simulations, called Gizmos, are supplemental curriculum materials that use scientific research to show that the use of computer-based manipulatives impacts student achievement. Gizmos are correlated to state and national standards and to most leading textbooks.