SmartScope (SmartSchool Systems)
The SmartScope handheld digital microscope is easy to use for even preschool students. It comes with software that can record still images, videos, or time-lapse videos to view a week’s worth of change in minutes. Its six LED lights are easily controlled with a dial on the device, and it can magnify objects at up to 200x magnification.
Diana McMillan, a pre-kindergarten teacher for the Austin Independent School District in Texas, says the SmartScope is facilitating an inquiry-based approach to science for students at a very young age. “I have three digital scopes in my class, and the SmartScope is the best because of its flexibility,” she said. “It takes photographs, video clips, time lapse, operates as a webcam, and has a measurement feature. It is so easy to use that my four-year-olds mastered it in one day! It is durable, and the price is right. I leave it out and the students are able to use it independently. I have other technological tools, such as iPads, [a] projector, [an iPod] Nano, flip cameras, and digital cameras—but my favorite … tool is the SmartScope!”
ST Math (MIND Research Institute)
ST Math is a supplemental program that takes a visual approach to learning, tapping into the brain’s innate “spatial temporal” reasoning ability to visualize and solve math problems. Through a carefully engineered sequence of visual puzzles, students work at their own pace to solve increasingly difficult problems that require them to think multiple steps ahead in space and time—and they receive instant feedback about why a solution works or doesn’t.
“Over 16,000 K-5 students in Anaheim City School District are using ST Math,” said Leisha Morton, math curriculum specialist for the district. “The non-linguistic representation of key mathematical ideas provides students, regardless of their language proficiency, access to higher-level thinking and problem solving without the hurdle of decoding text. … [Our] school district has experienced gains in our high-stakes mathematical test scores since implementing the program, but more importantly, ST Math has made math meaningful and exciting for students.”
Techbooks (Discovery Education)
Discovery Education’s Techbooks are inquiry-based digital textbooks based on the “5E” model of instruction. Much more than just digitized versions of static textbooks, the Techbooks include videos, embedded assessments, and other interactive features that leverage the power of the internet, the company says.
“The online Science Techbook by Discovery Education has been adopted in our district as the core curriculum instructional material for our grade 6 students,” said Ed Short, elementary science resource teacher for Florida’s Brevard County Schools. “Our students are digital natives, and therefore they respond with great motivation and excitement when using an online program to learn science. … Components such as interactive glossaries, simulations, Science Sleuths, and Myth Busters support the many online video and reading passages.” Another reader, sixth-grade science teacher Sue Turpin of Indiana, said the Science Techbooks are “highly recommended by our science teachers.”
Time To Know is an innovative digital teaching and learning platform, designed specifically for one-to-one computing classrooms. It is currently available for fourth and fifth grade math and reading/language arts. Teachers can use the interactive curriculum and the digital teaching platform to manage all classroom activities and deliver a personalized learning experience for every student.
“We are using this product with second and fourth grade students,” said Chris Sosa, principal of Lee Elementary School in Grand Prairie, Texas. “Teachers are loving the results … and students are enjoying the learning that is occurring with the use of this technical opportunity. It is a great solution that helps many students with the intervention process.” Grand Prairie teacher Laura Perry added: “Students love the program, and we have seen an increase in student achievement on district assessments.”
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