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com Capstone Goes Digital

Capstone (Minneapolis), a leading publisher of childrens books, is going digital as the company looks to expand beyond the school library into the classroom. Since joining Capstone in April 2009 to build the companys digital business, Todd Brekhus has built a new marketing team, a new sales force and overseen a large investment in product development. Capstone has about 13,000 books in print and publishes 1,100 to 1,200 books per year for school libraries and classrooms. With all our great fiction and non-fiction content, we are moving rapidly and aggressively toward a digital model, Brekhus told EER. Capstone digitals first efforts were to build digital books where multimedia
See Capstone on p. 4

Districts Look for FacebookLike Learning

School districts are interested in bringing the student engagement that Web 2.0 tools like Facebook can bring to learning, but still struggle with issues of privacy and security. Some educators who believe they have found a way shared details of their initiatives at last months T+L conference. The Katy (Texas) school district is partnering with the social learning network Edmodo (Mountain View, Calif.) to provide free classroom communication for teachers, students and administrators on a secure social network. Edmodo provides a place to post classroom materials, share links and videos, and access homework, grades and school notices. Edmodo is accessible online or using any mobile device. This year, Katy
See Social Networking on p. 6

Vol. 17, Number 21 | Nov. 1, 2010

CONTENTS 1 Capstone Goes Digital 1 Districts Look for Facebook-Like Learning 1 Third-Quarter Results Mixed in Challenging Market 2 Renaissance Revenue Up in Q3 3 Scientific Learning Revenue Down 5 Survey Finds Stimulus Funds Hardware and PD 6 T+L Comes to an End 6 Follett Software Expands with Aspen Acquisition 7 People 7 News Briefs 8 Partnerships EER DATABANK 2 Renaissance Learning, Q3 & First Nine Months Financial Results 4 Scientific Learning, Q3 & Nine Months Financial Results 5 T+L Attendees Survey 7 EER Stockwatch

Third-Quarter Results Mixed in Challenging Market

The third quarter, traditionally a high point for educational materials providers as districts buy for the opening of school, delivered mixed results in 2010 amid a weakness in state and local funding and uncertainty about the impact of new Common Core State Standards and the coming election. Third quarter sales at Renaissance Learning (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) were $32.6 million, up 2.7% from the prior year as the company generated growth across all software product lines. With a high price point and a long selling cycle, Scientific Learnings (Oakland, Calif.) third quarter sales dropped 49.6% from the prior year to $10.2 million.

EER Pulse
Top Districts for Implementation of Technology Benchmarks
Districts with more than 15,000 students: Clark Co., Nev; Prince William Co., Va.; Frederick Co., Md. 2,500-15,000 students: Howell Township, N.J.; Chapel Hill-Carrboro, N.C.; Oconomowoc, Wis. Less than 2,500 students: Springfield, N.J.; Springville-Griffith, N.Y.; Hanson, S.D.

Source: Digital School Districts Survey; October 2010 e.Republics Center for Digital Education and the National School Boards Association

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Electronic Education Report 6

November 1, 2010 Students think it looks like Facebook, but we tell them its not Facebook, we are going to use it for learning,Katy technology integration specialist Robin Hrivnatz said. While teachers can send messages to groups or individual students, students can only message the teacher or the group, she noted Rachel Bannister, an eighth-grade teacher at Katys WoodCreek Junior High School, said Edmodo has revolutionized her classroom in terms of student engagement and time saved. By the time she logs on to answer student questions, other students have already answered them. Joseph Taylor, academic technology coordinator at Buffalo Grove High School in Illinois High School District 214, used to oppose Facebook for educational purposes, but has changed his mind. If kids are using Facebook and we dont teach it at school, how can they learn to use it safely, he asked. While District 214 students are not permitted to use Facebook at school, students do access it on campus via their phones, he said. Teachers are connecting with their students via Facebook groups after school, he said. Inside the classroom, District 214 educators are finding tools from Google (Mountain View, Calif.) Education Solutions for group learning. They use Google Docs for collaboration in classrooms and create spreadsheets for projects that can be updated and sorted. We need to speak the language of our students, said Gabriella Stutz Jackson, academic coordinator at District 214s John Hersey High School. They dont have short attention spans, they are just not engaged by traditional methods. Jackson said Web 2.0 tools, by nature collaborative and inquiry-based, can bring engagement. The tools are free, and if you have questions on how to use them, you can Google it, she said.

T+L Comes to an End

The 24th annual Technology+Learning Conference, held in Phoenix last month, will be the last standalone technology conference presented by the National School Boards Association. NSBA president Earl Rickman said technology programming will be enhanced at the groups annual general conference, next scheduled for April in San Francisco, to ensure that all educational leaders are well informed about the power of technology to transform education. Technology tools and solutions touch every aspect of Americas public schools and can no longer be considered optional in the delivery of a 21st century education, he said. The NSBA will continue advocacy efforts around topics like e-Rate funding and broadband connectivity and will continue to showcase best practices in education technology through site visits, award programs and professional development opportunities.

will likely be the device purchased in the greatest volume to implement those programs. Twenty-two percent said they are leveraging students personal devices by allowing them to access the school network. More than three-quarters of survey respondents said their district is using wikis, blogs and other interactive web tools for learning in the classroom. Asked if their district had the capacity to deliver state assessments online, 41.2% of respondents said they were doing so, while an additional 18.6% said yes, but with struggles with scheduling and sufficient hardware.

Social Networking, contd. from p. 1

changed its acceptable use policy to allow for the use of mobile devices under teacher direction. Katy, which has its own branded Edmodo, has some campuses that mandate the use of Edmodo, while others let teachers decide to use or not. Whats the first thing students do when they leave school, asked Katy technology integration specialist Carisa Karwowski. They whip out their phone. Edmodo allows teachers to communicate with their students in 140-character alerts about upcoming assignments or tests that mimic the tweets and texts they receive from friends, she said.

Follett Software Expands with Aspen Acquisition

Follett Software (McHenry, Ill.) in Oct. acquired student information system provider X2 Development Corp. (Hingham, Mass.) for an undisclosed sum. X2 will continue to operate in Massachusetts as a wholly owned subsidiary of Follett Software.

2010 Simba Information, Stamford, CT 06902 www.simbainformation.com 203-325-8193. Copying Prohibited.

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