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When comparing editorial presence across three of our education clients, it popped up that each (eChalk, Qwizdom and PolyVision) have been recently featured in Scholastic Administrator Magazine’s “Best in Tech” section. Here are the summaries:

PolyVision eno

Jim Wolff
Director, Information Technology
Tustin Unified School District
Tustin, California

Response: Our staff has embraced the technology and new tools, developing and sharing best practices.
Learning Curve: The most novice user can interact with the board in less than 20 minutes. Teachers can integrate all classroom resources with a basic understanding of the Crestron control system. PolyVision’s eno has a lifetime warranty and open platform for software.
Usage: It doesn’t require an application to work—it’s driver-based with no cords or cables. The interactivity allows teachers to capture and reuse information, as well as collect and assess that information.

Qwizdom Q4 and Connect

Rob Stratton
Technology Specialist
Gulf Elementary School
Cape Coral, Florida

Goal: To provide every teacher with a system that offers specific, immediate feedback.
Response: The classroom voting system allows assignments, quizzes, and tests to be scored efficiently. Teachers can make real-time decisions that positively affect student achievement.
Learning Curve: Qwizdom provided training that helped us develop in-house training materials.
Usage: All of our classrooms have Qwizdom Q4 remotes. The system delivers content, reinforces basic skills, and aids in assessment.
Future Plans: We will begin introducing Qwizdom Connect, which offers online resources.

eChalk

Dr. Dana T. Bedden
Superintendent
Richmond County (GA) School System
32,000 students

Problem: RCSS needed a way to communicate with parents, students, educators, and the community in a timely manner. We also needed a solution that would allow collaboration between the students, teachers, principals, and other stakeholders. We needed to utilize Web-based tools for our students to stay abreast of trends in technology.

Goal: The mission of the RCSS is to educate students to become lifelong learners and productive citizens. We want our students to be prepared for the future, and the life that they will face when they leave the Richmond County School System. It is important for them to learn how to use e-mail, blog, and use discussion boards within a safe environment.

Response: eChalk is a comprehensive tool that provides websites for districts and schools. There are teacher pages with calendars, announcements, and resources for parents to be kept in the loop of their child’s learning. There is file storage and sharing that all educators can utilize to get needed information. The website provides a public view and a private view. The private view allows us specify exactly which users have rights to things such as special education forms and tribunal information. Our students can also use the e-mail, blog, and discussion areas in a safe network. Finally, we can communicate with the community. We can recognize our sponsors and partners. Through our system homepage, we can show the exciting things going on within the system.

Lesson(s) Learned: As with other software products, eChalk had some quirks in the beginning. The nice thing about this company is the willingness to work through the problems. The customer support is excellent. Each release brings about a resolution to issues and a commitment to honor suggestions.

Usage: eChalk is used daily. Our analytical reports show how much our homepage is utilized. We also know which pages get the most “hits” and we can make changes accordingly. We use the survey tools often—from textbook voting to public opinion. The pages are used for communication and collaboration. We can add audio and video files to the pages. The system supports many formats, such as Flash, Windows Movie Maker files, and Quicktime.

Learning Curve: The support is phenomenal. The training sessions are customized for the needs of the system. eChalk is willing to work with our system to integrate the website with other technologies. There was nothing to install and the pages are very user-friendly and easy to create.

Future: There will be an upcoming release of eChalk, which will allow our users to have more flexibility in design. We are looking forward to the added levels of creativity while keeping a consistency throughout the system.

Cost: Approximately $221,000, but now 94 percent e-rateable.

Bottom line: A powerful web solution.

[READ THE ARTICLES HERE AND HERE]

After 4.5 years acting as the agency of record for Promethean in North America, Sensible City withdrew its services as of September, 2009. Today we have signed on with PolyVision, makers of the eno interactive whiteboard. eno offers a lifetime guarantee and dozens of classroom specific features that you can get with no other provider. But here’s the best part for Sensible City’s environmental commitments: this is the only IWB to achieve the coveted Cradle 2 Cradle Certification. As well, eno reaches Gold Standard under the SCS Indoor Advantage Certification. This makes eno the most environmentally sustainable classroom technology product we’ve found on the market in the USA.

For SRS/LRS, we are now proud to represent Qwizdom - the company that gave birth to an entire market segment over 25 years ago and continues to produce the most enriching interactive experience available for classrooms worldwide. We’re positive that between these two values-driven companies, we now represent the most promising technology available for today’s classrooms. Check them out:www.polyvision.com and www.qwizdom.com.

Mark Robinson head of Promethean’s global head of education product strategy took some time out to speak with me and get The Royal Treatment before heading back to the U.K. He has been with Promethean about 5 years and and bridges the R & D and marketing departments. He travels a lot and gets to meet customers as well.

Robinson was a U. K. primary grades teacher until about eight years ago, so his leadership fits right in with Promethean’s game plan to zero in on teachers, professional development, lessons and educator sharing. Mark still brags about his teacher Web site in Northern England and proud of his work in the area of Internet safety. “I’ve been in educational technology ever since I was a teacher,” says Robinson. “I think one of the big differentiators is that many—about 40 percent of Promethean’s staff have been teachers and it gives us sort of a conscience around what we are doing.”

Robinson gives a lot of credit to founder and former chairman Tony Cann for this and the legacy he wants to leave. Cann started the company as Terminal Display Systems in the early 70s. “There’s a lot of feel good confidence when Promethean approaches the market.

Robinson said that he visited a classroom recently to experience ActivSound , Promethean’s classroom sound enhancement system, and could “crystal clear” hear the teacher speaking—”the voice enveloped the children—and they weren’t missing a thing.” What’s unique, although not new, according to Robinson, is that what’s said can be recorded using their software.

[Read the rest of this story at Scholastic.com]