Category Archives: Educational System

Experience A Celebration Of Diversity With The International Community School

A well-rounded education and dynamic learning experience are what turn young children and teenagers into successful adults. The right choice of school is imperative for a bright future in a chosen academic field.

Many of the quintessential requirements for an educational practice can be found in the London-based International Community School (ICS). ICS is a genuine celebration of diversity – the student body contains more than 65 nationalities. Their international focus helps them stand out from others schools of a similar calibre.

ICS is an independent school that offers English language support. This could be for those with special needs or those struggling to learn the language. All pupils aged between 3 and 18 years old can participate in this programme if required. The passion for inclusion is abundant, as courses like these demonstrate.

Recognised as one of the top IB schools in the country, ICS offers an impressive curriculum. This was designed to have a wide appeal to students of all backgrounds and credentials. A celebration recently took place inside their London walls. The title was ‘International Day’, and the theme – ‘Young People in the 21st Century’. Students participated in various workshops and projects based on the future and the environment.

The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) was developed for pupils aged 11 to 16. This is a complex curricular framework that encourages participants to embrace and understand connections between the subject content and the real world. It places a strong emphasis on the development of reflective thinking skills. The MYP contains 8 subjects and requires all students to participate in the community and service schemes. This helps them to develop a sense of belonging and appreciation.

The Primary Years Program is a good resource for the development of primary life skills. This is for the younger students aged between 3 and 11 years old. The focus is on real life issues, as well as more traditional subjects such as language, mathematics, the arts and social studies.

Via EPR Network
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Promethean Announces Triple Success At 2010 Worlddidac Awards

Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global interactive learning technology, is delighted to announce that it has won three prestigious awards from the Worlddidac Foundation for excellence in education.

Promethean’s specialised ActivInspire education software, ActivExpression Learner Response System and teacher web community, Promethean Planet, were all honoured in the ‘Information and Communication Technologies’ category.

These awards, which are held biannually, were judged by a jury of teachers and industry experts based on educational and didactic capabilities, design and sustainability.

Promethean has a long tradition of success at the Worlddidac awards, recognising its leading global position in interactiveeducational resources and technology. This year’s triple win follows previous successes for Promethean Planet and its ActivPrimary software, the precursor to ActivInspire.

Iwan Streichenberger, Chief Marketing Officer, commented: “We are delighted with this triple success, which is overwhelming recognition for the significant educational benefits Promethean’s ActivClassroom brings to learning. Once again, this demonstrates Promethean’s ongoing commitment, through the development of innovation interactive learning solutions, to improving engagement in the classroom and raising student achievement across the world.”

The Worlddidac Foundation has been presenting Worlddidac Awards internationally for the past 25 years, recognising excellence in educational resources. Worlddidac is the global trade association for companies providing products for education and training at all levels. It has 180 member companies and organisations from 43 countries on 5 continents. The 2010 award ceremony will be held in Switzerland in October.

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Promethean Partners With Bloodhound Supersonic Car Project

Promethean, a global leader in interactive learning technology, has become the official interactive education technology partner of Bloodhound SSC (SuperSonic Car) Project.

Bloodhound team members have held the World Land Speed Record for the past 26 years, however the new Bloodhound project aims to design and build the first car capable of achieving 1,000 mph and smash the World Land Speed Record. The three year project is lead by Richard Noble OBE and Wing Commander Andy Green OBE who set the current record of 763mph (1228kmh) in October 1997.

Promethean will work with the Bloodhound SSC team to support its international education programme and engage young people in the science that underpins this challenge. Supported by an array of global technology companies and universities, a key objective for Bloodhound is to inspire young people to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education and careers.

The project will provide open access to its science and engineering research data and design iterations involved in the development of the Bloodhound SSC. Ultimately this will be the catalyst for a raft of cutting-edge research in fields such as; aerodynamics, materials technology, composite manufacturing and sustainable high-tech engineering.

“In the 1960’s, the goal of putting a man on the moon inspired an entire generation to take interest in STEM. We hope Bloodhound will have the same “Apollo Effect” for this generation” said Jim Wynn, Chief Education Officer at Promethean.

Promethean will be installing its ActivClassroom technology in Bloodhound’s education centres, creating the ‘classroom of the future’ and will be equipping Bloodhound’s education ambassadors with relevant software and educational resources for use in schools.

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Pioneers of the Essay Industry Split with Controversial Brand

15 years ago, Jens Schriver and Maximo Migliari, just youngsters at the time, launched an essay site with the contentious name Cheathouse.com. It instantly caused a commotion within the academic community where the assumption was made that such an initiative was unethical by nature and could only encourage dishonest conduct.

”We should have gone with the name WriteWork instead of Cheathouse from the beginning. But back then we thought it was catchy – we were just kids with no clue of what was in store for us. We’ve grown up since then and so has our business.” Says co-founder Maximo Migliari.

The essay site promptly caught the interest of the international press and all of a sudden Schriver and Migliari were featured on CNN, BBC and NPR.

As a reaction to the poor public labeling, the two founders resolved to find out for themselves whether their members actually were using the essay site for cheating.

Personal interviews were carried out and hundreds of members filled out questionnaires. The results showed clearly that a minor portion planned to use the essay site for plagiarism while the vast majority actually perceived the site as a legitimate academic resource that assisted them in finding primary sources and improving their grades.

What is more, the study showed that the minority with dishonorable intentions were mostly high school students – an interesting aspect when considering that the main audience was university and college students.

“Maximo and I are perfect examples that getting inspiration from essay examples doesn’t necessarily facilitate plagiarism and cheating. We both have university degrees and during the years we spent studying neither of us ever turned in an assignment that wasn’t original – despite the fact that we were running one of the most comprehensive essay resources in the world.” Says co-founder Jens Schriver

Since then, Schriver and Migliari have focused their resources on tuning their site to earnest university and college students – changing the name to WriteWork is an crucial step in the right direction.

Among the new features that will be appear on WriteWork in the near future is a collection of outlines for writing essays, research papers and book reports as well as a guide for citations and bibliographies.

Via EPR Network
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Promethean Planet Is Changing

Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology, has unveiled a new look Promethean Planet to provide members with a faster, easier and more enhanced user experience.

Promethean Planet Is Changing

Available free in 11 languages, this next generation of Planet aims to provide its 600,000 plus teaching members with new functional enhancements. These include a one-click mega-menu and enhanced resource search and filtering, making it quicker to search for and access over 20,000 free teaching resources.

Proving once again that Promethean Planet is all about its members, the new site enables users to personalise their experience by customising their interactive whiteboard community homepage with their favourite content and resources, exchange private messages with other members and create bookmarked quick links to any Planet page. In addition, Planet’s free online storage means each member can save and store up to 1GB of resources securely in their free, personal storage space.

With its enhanced website, Promethean Planet continues to lead the way to encourage the true spirit of community. Promethean Planet’s new innovative private group functionality has been designed to meet the needs of educator groups, schools, districts and education authorities. Planet members can apply to set up a private group that includes private forum, blog and wiki functionality as well as the ability to file-share within the private group environment.

Brent Taggart, Head of Promethean Planet said: “Promethean Planet is the world’s largest online community of its kind and its success is due to its members who span 150 countries. We provide the platform for teachers and educationalists to share lessons and ideas, source training, and interact with their peers. The enhancements and improved functionality unveiled today have been designed with our members in mind in order to further improve their Planet experience and to build on its market leading position.”

Promethean Planet’s popular online store has also been given a new facelift, making it even easier to buy publisher created interactive whiteboard resources from leading names such National Geographic, Dorling Kindersley, Scholastic, the Waterford Institute and Collins. These low-cost, ready-made lessons are completely customisable, aligned to educational standards and can be purchased in US dollars, GBP and now Euros.

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International Community School Offers Global Education with IB Diploma Programme

The International Community School hosts students of more than 65 different nationalities from all over the world. Keeping to its commitment of creating global citizens, it now also offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, among other curriculums. This international learning community offers an exhaustive academic environment for 3 to 18-year-old students.

Students can begin the IB programme from a young age. For those interested in starting right at the beginning, ICS offers the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP). The school’s courses are designed to build upon the skills and international understanding gained by students in the IB Middle Years Programme (IB MYP). The courses are designed to create students with inquiring minds and who are committed learners. Teachers reinforce the attributes of the IB Learner Profile: to be inquirers, thinkers, communicators, risk-takers and to be knowledgeable, principled, caring, open-minded, balanced and reflective.

The IB curriculum teaches your child to look beyond just knowledge. It encourages your child to be more than just another student in the classroom. The degree examines different ways of knowing – perception, emotion, language and reason – and different kinds of knowledge – scientific, artistic, mathematical and historical. It is usually a two-year programme, designed to equip students with academic and life skills. It is also recognised by the world’s leading universities. Students between the ages of 16 and 19 study six courses: three at a higher level and three at a standard level. Besides class assessments, students also take written examinations at the end of the programme.

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Increased Demand for International Baccalaureate Diploma in South Asia

The number of students from the countries of southern Asia that arrive in the United Kingdom for their schooling each year is on the rise. The increasing popularity of a British education and the increasing allure of private schooling in the United Kingdom has resulted in a significant rise in the number of students deciding to go to the country each year. Most of the students that choose to study in the United Kingdom are from either China, South Korea, Taiwan or Japan.

Increased Demand for International Baccalaureate Diploma in South Asia<br />

A recent survey of private schools in the United Kingdom indicates that Chinese students form the largest international groups in most boarding schools. There are over 50 schools across China that now offer courses designed by the International Baccalaureate Organisation. “I went to a well-reputed IB school in Beijing, where I completed my Middle Years Programme. My parents had promised to send me to the United Kingdom in order to complete my schooling and continue my further education there if I earned good grades. I kept my side of the bargain and my parents kept theirs. So, this September, I will be travelling to the United Kingdom in order to begin my IB diploma course at a private school in London”, says 16 year old Zhu Hiyang, with a bright smile on her face.

There are many students just like Zhu Hiyang who will be making a relatively easy transition from life in a Chinese school to life in a British private school this very year. Their host school will offer the strict IB curriculum that places high importance on the quality of teaching and the quality of the courses that are taught. Attaining an IB Diploma has become to schooling what obtaining an Oxford degree means at the university level. Most of the students who perform well at the IB diploma level find it much easier to cope with the rigorous demands of a university education in the United Kingdom.

Trends show that most students from South Asia which choose to move to the United Kingdom for their higher studies seek admission to an Independent school London. Admission to an IB Diploma Residential London school ensures that the students not only receive a world-class education, but they also get to live in one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world.

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Promethean Technology Key To Improved Results At St. Aidan’s

Promethean ActivClassroom solutions help the new £16 million campus at St. Aidan’s Church of England Academy, Darlington, achieve a dramatic turnaround in school attendance and academic results.

Since the implementation of the Promethean ActivClassroom with interactive whiteboards (IWB), the Academy has been transformed from one of the country’s “least effective” schools to a thriving centre of secondary education and beacon of ICT best practice.

Assistant principal, Alan Dick, commented: “We know that technology is a vital part of students’ lives, and we were determined to place it at the heart of our improvement strategy. This approach has paid immediate dividends, renewing students’ enthusiasm for lessons and giving a welcome boost to their results.”

Whereas only 19% of students left the school with five ‘good’ (A*-C) GCSE grades in 2006, this had doubled in 2009, with 39% of students achieving the benchmark – well above the national target of 30%.

Key to this transformation has been the role of classroom technology in addressing student attendance and improving the former school’s ranking as eighth worst in the national truancy league.

Alan Dick added: “Since the opening of the Academy, attendance levels have increased from 81% to over 90% – in a class of thirty, that’s the equivalent of three students turning up to class who were previously disengaged from lessons. The improvement has been influenced by a number of factors but it’s clear that students are more motivated by the use of tools such as electronic whiteboards and learner response keypads, meaning that they look forward to lessons and find it easier to participate.

These results support a recent poll by Becta, the Government agency responsible for promoting the use of ICT in schools. It reported that 95% of teachers now recognise that use of technology is raising standards in schools and colleges (Becta Raising Standards, 2009).

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Promethean Joined By Jim Wynn As Chief Education Officer

Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology, has announced the appointment of Jim Wynn to its senior management team as chief education officer.

Jim has over three decades of experience in education technology across more than fifty countries. He joins Promethean from Cisco, where he led their public sector consultancy for emerging markets, with an emphasis on education. Jim’s previous appointments include head teacher of two secondary schools in the UK where he pioneered the use of ICT, head of research at RM Plc, and partners in learning lead for EMEA at Microsoft.

Jim’s in depth global experience, both in education systems and serving education for highly recognised technology players, will further strengthen Promethean’s leading global position in the interactive learning technology market.

Jean-Yves Charlier, chief executive officer of Promethean, commented: “We are delighted that Jim is joining Promethean. His knowledge of education systems across the world, together with the benefits technology can bring to learning, will be invaluable in further shaping Promethean’s strategy and continued development of innovative products for the classroom.”

Jim’s appointment will help to strengthen Promethean’s pledge to bring to life the promise of 21st century learning, improving engagement and results for learners and teachers alike through the use of interactive whiteboards and other interactive learning technologies.

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IB Diploma, Truly Global!

What is the educational qualification that is accepted in over 138 countries and across all the reputed universities of the world? The only correct answer to this question is the IB Diploma. An IB Diploma in your educational resume ensures a favourable passage through most of the stringent conditions set by the University of your choice for your acceptance. Now you can study for your IB Diploma in London with the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate recognising London school International Community School for delivering the prestigious diploma from September this year

IB Diploma, Truly Global!

“I was very insistent that my children have a truly global education. That is why we decided against sending them to the local public school in York, though it is well-known for providing education of fairly good standards. But I wanted my children to have school diplomas that are head and shoulders above the rest”, says Peggy Thornton, a proud mother whose son is preparing to begin his IB Diploma next term. British parents are increasingly ensuring that their children reap the benefits of a quality private education. “But there is a new category of emerging parents who are globe-trotters themselves. So they want to ensure that if they have to get their children to move around with them, they should be in an education system which is offered in more countries. I think this has been a crucial factor in the popularity of the International Baccalaureate course”, says Rosie Harrow, a Surrey school administrator.

The International Baccalaureate organisation works out of Geneva and has an evolved curriculum that draws from the best practises of educational systems across the world. The course is structured in such a manner that every student passing the IB Diploma course is better prepared than students from other systems for the more challenging academic demands of the University. In fact, there are three IB courses that cater to students between the age group of 3 and 19, ensuring a holistic academic experience through their formative years. An international school London has to offer ensures that the student also gets a taste of metropolitan way of life. Besides, more importantly, an IB Diploma Central London ensures that a student aspiring to continue their University education has access to some of the leading London colleges under the University of London.

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PLH Online Launch NCPLH Personal Licence Holder Qualification And Exam In England & Wales

After a successful first year of delivering online SCPLH training and qualification throughout Scotland, PLH Online have launched an online version of the NCPLH (England & Wales).

PLH Online Launch NCPLH Personal Licence Holder Qualification And Exam In England & Wales

PLH Online enables users to achieve full certification in accordance with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 or the Licensing (England and Wales) Act 2003.

The modules are fully approved by SQA who are accredited to award the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (Off-Sales and On-Sales) and the QCF Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders in England and Wales. PLH Online has been developed in association with who Montpeliers (Edinburgh) LTD have extensive knowledge of training in the UK licensed trade.

The training can be purchased and accessed instantly on-line, and used at a time and a place to suit, helping managers become qualified personal licence holders quickly and conveniently. The training modules – which have been in development for over two years – have been tailored for both on and off-sales operators Director Karen Calvert explains:

“We are extremely pleased with the success of our Personal Licence Holder training in Scotland, so launching the product in England & Wales was a natural progression for us. We have attracted customers from a wide range of businesses across the industry, from large multi nationals to corner stores.

“It is proving to be a very cost effective and practical training solution, and the feedback on the quality and content of the training itself is fantastic. We are also appealing to a wide range of age groups proving that e-learning is for everybody.”

SQA Head of Business Development & Customer Support, Alasdair MacRae said, “SQA are delighted to be working with PLH Online to deliver our Personal Licence Holder qualifications through their innovative e-learning system. This will provide flexibility and choice for our candidates in when and where they undertake the course, benefits which are key in this busy and diverse industry.”

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More Schools Adopt Co-Operative Trust Model

The growing acceptance that the co-operative model offers schools a compelling structure was further underlined when the latest tranche of co-operative trust schools was announced.

Fifteen new co-operative trust schools, which offer all stakeholders an opportunity to be involved in the running of their school, become legal entities today (1 April) bringing the total throughout the country to more than 50.

The new co-operative schools include a Leeds based federation of eight schools with another cluster in South Bristol. Individual school trusts are also being established in Stoke-on-Trent, Oldham, Bradford, High Wycombe and Peterborough.

Anyone with an interest in the school including students, teachers, parents, employers and the local community will be encouraged to become members of the Trust, making the trust a community based mutual.

The members will elect representatives to a school stakeholder forum, which will meet on a regular basis, in order to ensure that those in positions of responsibility remain sensitive to the needs, views and aspirations of the different groups.

This co-operative mutual model is based on open membership, equal democratic participation (one member, one vote) and clear accountability of those in charge to those for whom services are provided is very much in fashion at the present time.

Russell Gill, Head of Membership at The Co-operative Group, said: “The co-operative model, which is very much in vogue with the mainstream political parties, allows all stakeholders greater participation in the running of the school and our values, that date back more than 150 years, offer schools an ethos which we believe can lead to higher standards, aspirations and achievements.”

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Promethean Helps School Host Premiere Of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

Promethean, a global leader in interactive education technology solutions, presented Riverside elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia with an ActivClassroom after the school emerged triumphant over 5,000 other schools competing in a nationwide contest to mark the gala premiere of the motion picture Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Riverside submitted an impressive proposal to convert its auditorium/gymnasium into a movie theater, and promised that its students would generate Hollywood-style excitement for the unveiling of the long-awaited film based on the first of Jeff Kinney’s best-selling books. The prize consisted of an ActivClassroom including an ActivBoard interactive whiteboard, a set of 32 ActivExpressions, ActivSlate and ActivSound and the opportunity to hold the gala premiere of the film.

The premiere event was held in conjunction with the National Education Association’s (NEA) “Read Across America” program, which focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources; the NEA has designated March as National Reading Month. NEA also sponsored the contest, along with 20th Century Fox, School Library Journal, and publisher Harry N. Abrams Inc.

The Riverside Elementary safety patrol had special “security” duties on the red carpet. Also providing key assistance was WRES-TV, where some Riverside pupils – and budding news anchors – served as part of the morning news team.

F r o m its origins as a series of online cartoons, Diary of a Wimpy Kid exploded onto the pop culture scene when Jeff Kinney’s first “novel in cartoons” was published in 2007. Diary of a Wimpy Kid spent almost three years on The New York Times’ children’s best-seller list, and was translated into 33 languages. The book captured the imaginations of an army of formerly “reluctant readers,” and launched countless video reviews, social networking fan groups, and parties celebrating the release of each new Wimpy Kid book.

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Promethean Wins Major Spanish Tender

Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology, has been awarded a multi-million euro contract to install 4,550 of its ActivBoard+2 interactive whiteboards, together with ActivInspire, Promethean’s specialised teaching and learning software, in 1,900 schools in the Spanish region of Andalucia. This represents around a 70% share of the total number of interactive whiteboards available under this tender.

Promethean Wins Major Spanish Tender

With over 8 million inhabitants and over 6,000 primary and secondary schools, Andalucia has the largest population of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions. Completion of this roll-out of IWB systems will see some 8% of the estimated 78,000 classrooms in Andalucia equipped with interactive whiteboards*. This project is being funded through the Spanish Government’s Escuela ICT 2.0 programme, one of a number of financial stimulus
packages targeted at education technology currently being implemented across the EU.

Beyond the classroom, teachers are able to join PrometheanPlanet.com, the world’s largest online community for users of interactive display system technology. Promethean Planet is available in ten languages, including Spanish, enabling more than 530,000 members from around the world to connect and exchange ideas, share new and innovative lesson resources and access a wide variety of professional development materials such as interactive whiteboard tools.

Paul Berry, Promethean’s President of European Sales and Marketing, said: “We are delighted with this significant contract win, which follows a comprehensive tender process and demonstrates Andalucia’s preference for Promethean’s interactive learning solutions. We believe that one of the key reasons for our success was the quality of our integrated ActivClassroom offering, which brings together our ActivBoard interactive whiteboards, ActivInspire educational software and training, and our teacher community, Promethean Planet. This contract is further evidence of the growing adoption of interactive learning technology in Europe, which is a key growth market for Promethean.”

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Centres And The Scottish Qualifications Authority To Deliver The Scottish Personal Licence Holder Exam In A Secure Electronic Environment

PLH Online launched a pioneering e-learning solution to Personal Licence Holder training in April 2009, and since then have provided a huge number of employers and individuals across Scotland with a welcome solution to their licensing training needs.

Centres And The Scottish Qualifications Authority To Deliver The Scottish Personal Licence Holder Exam In A Secure Electronic Environment

PLH Online enables users to achieve full certification in accordance with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 or the Licensing (England and Wales) Act 2003. The modules are fully approved by SQA who are accredited to award the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (Off-Sales and On-Sales) and the QCF Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders.

SQA Head of Business Development & Customer Support, Alasdair MacRae said, “SQA are delighted to be working with PLH Online to deliver our Personal Licence Holder qualifications through their innovative e-learning system. This will provide flexibility and choice for our candidates in when and where they undertake the course, benefits which are key in this busy and diverse industry.”

Pearson VUE are the world’s leading computer-based testing company and have the largest network of owned test centres in the UK. Pearson VUE provide learners with a secure testing environment and are conveniently located throughout the UK. 80% of the population (either at home or work) are no more than 20 miles away from their nearest test centre.

PLH Online has been developed in association with Montpeliers (Edinburgh) Ltd. who have extensive knowledge of training in the UK licensed trade, and helps managers become qualified personal licence holders quickly and conveniently. The training can be purchased and used instantly on-line, and used at a time and a place to suit.

Director Karen Calvert explains “We are extremely pleased with the success of our Personal Licence Holder training so far. We have attracted customers from a wide range of businesses across the industry and from all parts of the country. It is proving to be a very cost effective and practical training solution, and the feedback on the quality and content of the course itself is fantastic. We are also appealing to a wide range of age groups proving that e-learning is for everybody.”

The training modules – which have been in development for over two years – have been tailored for both on and off-sales operators in Scotland. PLH Online are now set to launch the Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders in England and Wales in April.

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Promethean Launches Test Prep Course

Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology, has launched a new programme to help prepare students for college entrance exams.

Promethean Launches Test Prep Course

Created in collaboration with the Chicago International Charter School (CICS), the Preparing for Standardized Tests program is designed to improve student’s performance on the reading and math sections of the PSAT, ACT, and SAT exams.

The Preparing for Standardized Tests program, a collection of interactive whiteboard (IWB) lessons, engages students in mastering essential college readiness and provides them with advanced test preparation. Students can practice how to answer questions from standardized tests using the guided practice lessons and the innovative interactive whiteboard tools of Promethean’s ActivClassroom. Every week, they will complete two essential skills lessons and answer the corresponding practice questions that are presented in a formal testing format.

“This innovative collection of lessons has been carefully designed to support the development of core college readiness skills using our ActivClassroom technology. We believe students will find these unique interactive lessons helpful when preparing for important college-entrance exams,” commented Brent Taggart, Chief Strategy Officer for Promethean.

Preparing for Standardized Tests extends CICS’ ACT Practice Tests, an earlier series of test preparation courses developed by the school. In creating the new program, CICS licensed its intellectual property from their tests and consulted on the development of the core content of the lessons. In keeping with the mission of CICS to prepare all students with a college preparatory education, this new IWB program fully utilizes the interactive power of ActivInspire software and the ActivExpression learner response systems from Promethean.

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Promethean Gets The Scottish Vote

Following the implementation of Promethean’s ActivExpression learner response system, an innovative handheld voting device, Students in Scotland are getting the vote early at the Scottish Parliament’s on-site education centre in the Holyrood building.

Promethean Gets The Scottish Vote

ActivExpression is being used to enhance the Parliament’s education programme, by making activities more interactive, engaging and relevant to the young visitors. Using ActivExpression, students are given the chance to ‘vote’ on key political issues and their responses provide education staff with opinions to encourage, debate and enhance review sessions at the end of the visit.

Alongside ActivExpression, Scottish Parliament chose to implement additional ActivClassroom solutions, including Promethean’s ActivBoard interactive whiteboard solution and accompanying interactive whiteboard tools and ActivInspire software. Bringing topics to life, education staff have used the technologies to create lively resources on the history of Holyrood and daily duties of parliamentary members, incorporating a variety of multimedia, including images, videos and sound.

Margaret Allen, head of European market development at Promethean, commented: “This is a fantastic example of how the ActivClassroom is being used in an alternative learning environment to promote participation and collaboration in a way that appeals to today’s digital learner.”

Beyond the Parliament’s on-site education centre, ActivClassroom technologies have been integrated into Holyrood’s ‘chat room’, a space where visiting students get the chance to question Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). To ensure the effectiveness of these questioning sessions, Parliament staff decided to implement Promethean’s ActivSound audio enhancement system, to make sure that students are fully engaged and involved in the experience.

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Promethean Announce New Collection Of Interactive Grammar Courses

Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology, has announced a new collection of interactive grammar courses designed to help students develop critical language arts and writing skills.

Promethean Announce New Collection Of Interactive Grammar Courses

The new English Grammar II Essential course is being offered through a strategic partnership between Promethean Planet and Core Learning, an innovative publisher of K-12 digital content.

“Our goal is to give teachers a curriculum that encourages student participation and fosters a greater understanding and use of language arts concepts. We are delighted to offer this resource to the hundreds of thousands of teachers who are exploring new ways to make their Promethean ActivClassrooms even more effective,” said Core Learning President and CEO, Douglas Hatch.

The course has forty-one lesson plans which explain sentence structure and development, punctuation and capitalization as well as how to properly use speech when writing. Different course activities allow students to participate in the classroom using the ActivPen, ActivBoard and a Learner Response System, such as ActivExpression or ActiVote. Each lesson includes notes and teacher resources to help guide instruction and pre-built assessments designed for the interactive whiteboard to help teachers gauge how well students understand the concepts as they are being taught.

“As more and more teachers join Promethean Planet, our goal is to provide them with exceptional resources that help make learning more interactive for students. Beyond offering teachers access to a vast collection of quality content, we give them the opportunity to share best practices and ideas on how to build a 21st century learning environment,” commented Chief Strategy Officer Brent Taggart.

A free lesson from the course can be downloaded from the Promethean website. The course can be purchased and downloaded individually or as a complete program at the Promethean Planet Shop, an online store where educators can find a wide variety of digital content, including ActivInspire, the software needed to run this program and interactive whiteboard resources.

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Peoples Education Launches Measuring Up Express for the CST

Peoples Education Launches Measuring Up Express TM for the CST New Quick and Easy Test Preparation Available for English Language Arts, Grades 2-8.

Peoples Education Launches Measuring Up Express for the CST

Saddle Brook, New Jersey, February 4, 2010 – Peoples Education, a leading provider of supplemental educational material for the K-12 school market, today is pleased to announce the launch of Measuring Up ExpressTM English Language Arts, Grades 2-8 materials in California. Measuring Up ExpressTM includes student worktexts, Diagnostic Practice Tests, and Formative Assessments, and boosts students’ test-taking confidence by targeting the California blueprint standards.

“Educators were looking for a short program that would fit into a busy school day,” commented Vince Konoske, the company’s Western Regional Vice President. “This new standards review program and CST preparation is the perfect tool.”

Measuring Up ExpressTM worktexts are a companion to the successful Measuring Up® to the California Content Standards program. In areas where students need extra instructional support, Measuring Up lessons can be selected for in-depth standards coverage. Measuring Up ExpressTM is perfect for quick and easy test review 3-6 weeks prior to the CST. The short lessons provide a brief review of the standards and relevant vocabulary, as well as test practice in the format of the CST. The Grade 7 Measuring Up ExpressTM worktext also includes a special End-of-Book writing prompt review section to familiarize students with the types of writing that appear on the CST.

The Measuring Up ExpressTM program includes free Formative Assessments as blackline masters so teachers can monitor student progress at the end of every chapter. Two free Diagnostic Practice Tests for each student allow teachers to diagnose student weaknesses and prescribe review lessons in the Measuring Up ExpressTM OR Measuring Up® worktexts. This diagnose-prescribe-instruct model in the Measuring Up® program has helped over 1.3 million California students improve test scores.

Via EPR Network
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Peoples Education Launches Measuring Up Express for the NYS Test

Peoples Education Launches Measuring Up Express TM for the NYS Test Quick and Easy Test Preparation Now Available for Mathematics, Grades 3-8.

Peoples Education Launches Measuring Up Express for the NYS Test

Saddle Brook, New Jersey, February 4, 2010 – Peoples Education, a leading provider of supplemental educational material for the K-12 school market, today announced the addition of Mathematics, grades 3-8 materials to the successful Measuring Up ExpressTM for the NYS Test program. The Measuring Up ExpressTM line also includes grade 8 Science materials to prepare students for the NYS Test in Science. The Mathematics, grades 3-8 program, includes student worktexts, Diagnostic Practice Tests, and Formative Assessments, and provides excellent preparation for the 2010 test and beyond.

“Peoples Education has a history of responding to New York educators’ needs promptly and with high-quality NYS Learning Standards and NYS Test-customized content,” commented Brian T. Beckwith, the company’s President and CEO. “This new mathematics NYS Test preparation and review program is no exception.”

The Measuring Up ExpressTM worktexts are a companion to the successful Measuring Up® to the New York State Learning Standards program. The new books address recent changes to the Grade 3-8 Mathematics Testing Program, with lessons on prior year May-June Performance Indicators and exclusive 2010 Transition Lessons that cover March-April review content from the prior year to prepare students for the May test.

“The instructors at Mechanicville Middle School have successfully used the Measuring Up® series to accommodate various classroom situations,” commented Maria Fusco, a retired Mechanicville Middle School teacher. “The versatility of the materials and alignment to state standards allows the instructor and the students to manage the skills that have either been mastered or need further attention.”

In areas where students need extra instructional support, Measuring Up® lessons can be selected for in-depth standards coverage. For quick and easy test review 3-6 weeks prior to the NYS Test, Measuring Up ExpressTM is the perfect tool. The short lessons provide a brief review of the standards, as well as test practice in the style and format of the NY Test.

The Measuring Up ExpressTM program includes free Formative Assessments as blackline masters so teachers can monitor student progress at the end of every chapter. Two free Diagnostic Practice Tests for each student allow teachers to diagnose student weaknesses and prescribe review lessons in the Measuring Up ExpressTM OR Measuring Up® worktexts. This diagnose-prescribe-instruct model in the Measuring Up® program has helped over 1.4 million New York students improve test scores.

Via EPR Network
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