June 2005 — Product Focus
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Administrative & Management Tools
Designed for Mac
OS X users,
Collaborative-
Class from Near-Time
(www.near-time.com)
combines the company’s
Near-Time Flow (a tool
for teachers to publish
and distribute courses)
with its Near-Time
Current tool (which
allows students to
receive coursework, do
research and word
processing, and publish content to any Web server or iDisk). Flow’s
version management system keeps up with changes to content, and
tracks all application files and Web pages. It also allows teachers to
author, gather, organize, publish, and share their curriculum with
students, as well as create Weblogs and RSS feeds. With Near-Time
Current, users can access assignments and take advantage of its
publishing and export options to submit their work. Both tools
feature built-in Internet connectivity, though all of their authoring
and organizing capabilities are available offline, which means users
can work anytime, anywhere. Prices start at $49.95 per classroom.
EDmin.com Inc. (www.edmin.com) has released its Exceptional Student Education Center featuring the IEP Manager, an application that greatly reduces the efforts of district special-education staff to complete student individualized education plans. Housed in a Web environment, the IEP Manager can be accessed from any location, at any time, without the need for the kind of intranet connection that often is required of paper-based forms or other electronic documents. It also enables school districts to prepare student IEPs online and develop customized forms, as well as allows multiple special-education staff members to work on different parts of an IEP simultaneously. Average price is about $5 per student.
Questionmark Corp.’s (www.questionmark.com) Word Authoring Templates provide a familiar and easy-to-use authoring environment for teachers ,trainers, and subjectmatter experts (SMEs). The templates enable an SME using Microsoft Word to produce questions that can be delivered, tracked, and managed with Questionmark Perception. The templates provide an excellent solution for SMEs who may lack easy or direct access to Perception. In addition, this new tool empowers non-technical SMEs (those who might lack the confidence or desire to create computerized assessments) to author various online tests and surveys. The Word Authoring Templates are free with the purchase of Perception.
Austin Sky Technology’s (www.austinsky.com) TESA (Teacher Evaluation Software Assistant) software allows principals to easily create more robust teacher evaluations directly from their handheld or mobile devices. The program can also cross-connect to a school’s or district’s student information system when used with EVA (Educational Virtual Assistant), the company’s mobile student information interface, enabling administrators to access student schedules, attendance, and even discipline records. TESA features customized drop-down menus, and can also be used to evaluate various staff, departments, school programs, or campus groups. Prices vary by factors such as the size of a district.
