Best Education Community Solution

Recognizes the online system designed to provide social networking and education community support for K-12 or postsecondary students, teachers and administrators. Includes teacher communication, collaboration and planning tools, wikis and other interactive solutions.

Products nominated here are eligible for the Best Non-Traditional Education Solution supercategory.

BrainPOP Educators - BrainPOP BrainPOP Educators is an online professional community more than 100,000 members strong. It offers free resources like lesson plans, webinars, video tutorials, graphic organizers, best practices, professonal development tools, and more. Go To BrainPOP's Web Site Go To Product Site
ClassLink OnTrack - ClassLink, Inc. ClassLink OnTrack is the premier curriculum and lesson planning solution. *Unifying curricula, lessons and classroom instruction *Built in differentiated instruction and Moodle integration *Alignment to Bloom�s critical thinking skills *Empowering professional learning communities *Premium content to support: credit recovery, academic intervention, advanced placement, test prep and more Go To ClassLink, Inc.'s Web Site Go To Product Site
MyVRSpot - FTC Family of Companies MyVRSpot allows all users, including administrators, teachers, parents, and students alike, to share multimedia projects within their own school and/or school district; this includes video, graphic, and audio files. Each user has their own personal webspot to upload and archive all of their multimedia in one centralized location, giving students that online presence they strive for. Having work published online gives students instant gratification and recognition from their peers, and when paired with the 'Hot List' and 'Rating System,' engages and inspires students. When combining MyVRSpot's 'Buddy List' feature with class, school, and district-wide Group Pages, students are given the key tools to collaborate and network with both their teachers and classmates, all within the district's "safe backyard." In addition, this revolutionary system creates a social learning network allowing participation by all members of a school and/or district. Students are able to share their work with other students, empowering them to become the teacher as they explain key curriculum concepts and ideas through their uploaded multimedia. On this same note, teachers are able to upload and share their daily lesson plans, presentations, and lectures with students as well as other educators within their school or district, working to extend the school day past the 3 o'clock hour. Another key collaborative feature of MyVRSpot is the Group Pages, which can also be utilized to create an environment where users can access additional resources specific to that subject or curriculum. In addition, Group Pages provide a place for virtual discussion related to the subject matter through the use of MyVRSpot's bulletin board. Another exciting use of the MyVRSpot system is to provide districts with a technology-rich professional development platform for the sharing and collaboration of videos, presentations, graphics, audio files, text files, and more. In addition, the video tracker function allows administrators to document which users accessed or watched the professional development content, a definite value-add to the MyVRSpot system when utilized in this way. No matter the use of MyVRSpot, the end result is an amazing, customized, interactive social learning resource, created by students and faculty. With MyVRSpot, student as well as teacher collaboration has never been more exciting! Go To FTC Family of Companies' Web Site Go To Product Site
www.gaggle.net - Gaggle.Net, Inc. At Gaggle, we strongly believe that every child deserves to learn to communicate effectively using 21st century methods, but we also realize that student safety must be a priority for schools to use these tools. Therefore, we host these resources in a safe online learning environment with the highest degree of CIPA compliance designed specifically for K-12 education. Gaggle is a pioneer in this area and has grown from being a safe student email provider to the leader in safe technology tools for the K-12 market. Today we provide Web 2.0 collaboration and productivity tools that engage students through personal and group communication, organization, creativity, and networking. As early as 2002 we began releasing new tools to complement our email including Profile Pages, Chat Rooms, Message Boards, Blogs, Digital Lockers, and Homework Drop Boxes. We are constantly listening to the needs of teachers and students to continue to expand our solution to meet their needs. 2010 was an exciting year for Gaggle, with the release of our new online tools collectively referred to as Gaggle Apps. Gaggle Apps includes Gaggle Office, a Social Learning Wall, Safe Teacher-Student SMS Texting, GaggleTube, Gaggle Mobile, and Integrated Calendars. These tools help educators foster a true 21 st century, safe online learning environment. Full internet safety is best accomplished with a combination of both filtering and monitoring. However, monitoring students can be time consuming for busy educators. To solve this problem, Gaggle began offering our Human Monitoring System in the fall of 2005. HMS puts monitoring of blocked messages in Gaggle's hands, eliminating the need for teachers to review questionable communications. In addition, it greatly improves the safety and security of students in both the online and the real world. For example, Gaggle's HMS team has uncovered bullying, drug use, threats of school violence, teen depression, suicide intentions, abusive domestic situations, and inappropriate activities between students and teachers. Gaggle realizes today's students are social learners. Rather than pushing against the tide, schools can embrace the benefits in a safe and controlled environment. One forward-thinking Associate Superintendent in a large urban district wanted to introduce social networking in his middle schools as a means to engage those students in a cross-district community. The goal was to improve student success when moving into high school (based on research that middle school students are more successful long-term if they have strong connections and peer groups in place before high school). Originally that was to be accomplished using Gaggle's message boards, but our CEO and founder, Jeff Patterson, was so inspired by this vision, he decided to create our own Social Wall. The response has been tremendous, and the use of the Social Wall and its Social Groups continues to grow. Gaggle's response to the ever-evolving needs of K-12 educators and students has allowed us to create a safe and nurturing community where technology can engage learners and support curriculum. Go To Gaggle.Net, Inc.'s Web Site Go To Product Site
Promethean Planet - Promethean Inc. (USA) Promethean Planet is an open, global community of teachers using interactive technology and digital content. Designed to support teachers looking for inspiration, Planet provides lesson ideas and free resources for all curriculum subjects and school ages. Communication, collaboration and planning tools guide teachers on how to engage and inspire their class. Planet also gives access to a range of Go To Promethean Inc. (USA)'s Web Site Go To Product Site
journ(i)e - TH(i)NQ Ed journ(i)e is a cloud-based online student-centered learning network that cultivates student engagement by putting digital natives at the center of their own learning experiences. journ(i)e engages this breed of next generation learners by enabling them to connect, contribute, produce, and collaborate using Web 2.0 tools in a structured, safe and productive learning environment. Go To TH(i)NQ Ed's Web Site Go To Product Site

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