J Harrison Public Relations

x2VOL Video Contest

2011-08-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

DALLAS- August 29, 2011 -- High school students can win a $1,000 scholarship for creating a short video explaining why community service is important. The x2VOL Video Contest, sponsored by Texas-based intelliVOL—which developed the x2VOL volunteer tracking and reporting system for high schools—runs through September 30, 2011.

What: x2VOL Video Contest
Prizes: One $1,000 scholarship and two $500 scholarships
Who: U.S. students in grades 9-12 in any public, private or home school
Guidelines: Submit a 2-minute video explaining why community service is important
When: Videos must be posted to YouTube by midnight on Friday, Sept 30, 2011. Be sure to follow these simple guidelines intellivol.com/videocontest.

School Webmasters and eBackpack Partnership

2011-07-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

PHOENIX and DALLAS — JULY 12, 2011 — eBackpack (eBackpack.com)—a secure, cloud-based location for teachers to store files, distribute assignments, and collaborate with students and colleagues—has partnered with School Webmasters (SchoolWebmasters.com), which builds and maintains highly professional websites for schools and also offers hosting and content management.

Brainchild Offers Professional Development for Tablets

2011-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

PHILADELPHIA — June 27, 2011 — Brainchild is offering new professional development options to K-12 schools implementing Kineo® tablet-based learning solutions. The PD offerings help schools successfully use tablets to deliver individualized, data-driven instruction.

Texas School Gives 35,000 Volunteer Hours Via x2VOL

2011-05-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

HOUSTON and Katy, Texas—May 12, 2011 — Seven Lakes High School students in the “Spartans Out Serving” or SOS club, gave nearly 35,000 hours to serving the local community this school year. Over 1,500 students belong to the voluntary club, which tracks hours and connects with local service organizations via x2VOL —an online system developed by a Texas-based company, intelliVOL (intelliVOL.com).

Brainchild Kineo Tablet With GlobalSYNC™, Just for Schools,

2011-05-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

NAPLES, Florida— May 16, 2011 —Kineo, the seven-inch tablet and eBook Reader from Brainchild, has been shipped to ten states since being introduced at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in February. The Kineos being deployed are all equipped with Brainchild’s standards-based curriculum, Achiever!, and GlobalSYNC™ technology.

Read MORE on BusinessWire.

Clark County pilots Right Back on Track to tackle truancy

2011-05-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

CBS affiliate in Clark County, Nevada reports on the Right Back on Track Mentoring Program being piloted with 25 students. RBTM is from the Dropout & Truancy Prevention Network http://DTPNetwork.com

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/14622030/courts-offer-new-tool-in-fight-to-keep-truant-kids-in-school

Experts Available to Discuss GPS Puts Truants on Track for Class (From BusinessWire)

2011-02-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

TOPIC:
As reported by the Orange Country Register, the city of Anaheim, California is taking truancy seriously. The Anaheim Union High School District has become the first in California to test GPS technology as a means of ensuring that students come to class.

Seventh- and eighth-graders with four or more unexcused absences during the school year are assigned to carry a hand-held GPS device and check in several times a day. Automated phone calls each morning remind them to come to class, and an adult coach calls them at least three times a week.
The policy has generated some interesting commentary, including these observations in the Washington Post and at MSNBC:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2011/02/should_schools_use_gps_to_trac.html
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/18/6081656-schools-use-gps-to-track-students-who-skip

Experts include Peter Gudmundsson of the Dropout & Truancy Prevention Network (www.DTPNetwork.com)

Technology & Learning Magazine - Kineo on Cover

2011-02-25T11:04:00.001-08:00

Kineo from Brainchild (www.Brainchild.com) is a hot topic in K-12 education right now. This is the latest coverage by a respected education trade magazine, Technology & Learning. Coverage of Kineo (page 40) focuses on the security features that make Kineo school-safe and student-safe.

Send in the Slates! FETC (Ken Royal, Scholastic Administrator)

2011-02-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

The Royal Treatment, Scholastic Administrator Magazine

By Ken Royal

Send In The Slates! FETC

There is certainly a puzzle to solve for school and district leaders—whether to jump on the iPad wagon, wait for Android’s Honeycomb and take advantage of Aps, stick with Win7 familiarity, especially if your environment is already Microsoft, or try something completely different. The few slates/tablets I did see at FETC 2011 in Orlando were pretty impressive, each offering something different, played Flash, and there were a few surprises as well. I expect to see more at TCEA 2011 in Austin.

KINEO

I think one of the show hits was the new KINEO by a company called Brainchild. It is unique in the slate and handheld space. While it has WiFi, this touchscreen for kids is administratively controlled and built for student safety. Aps, tools, and video are there, but it’s specifically only what the teacher and administrator want there. By design, it doesn’t have a camera, which may have a lot of education administrators sighing relief. KINEO is Android, but looks nothing like any of the other traditional slate platforms. I like that it has function buttons along with touch and stylus. It has a day's worth of battery life, and it is replaceable. This looks to be a sturdy, appropriately sized, safe computing device for kids. My feeling is the only problem will be keeping up with production—Brainchild should sell a lot of them.

Kiineo: Like an iPad but made for students (eSchoolNews)

2011-02-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

eSchoolNews

by Dennis Pierce

As more school leaders look at using iPads and other tablet computers as learning tools, the Florida-based company Brainchild has developed an iPad-like device that is designed specifically for elementary and middle school students.

Built on Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices, the Kineo—which is Greek for “to excite”—acts as an eBook reader with internet access and Flash capability. Its replaceable battery reportedly lasts for up to 12 hours on single charge, and at $299 it costs far less than Apple’s iPad.

Perhaps best of all for educators, the Kineo enables school leaders to specify the applications that students can use on the device by “locking down” apps they don’t want students to use.

Technology & Learning Magazine - TUNEin to READING on Cover

2011-02-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

TUNEin to READING (www.TUNEintoREADING.com) is shown on the cover and in the What's New section (page 64).

USF Researcher Finds Significant Improvement with TUNEin to READING

2011-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Susan Homan, distinguished researcher on adolescent literacy from the University of South Florida, released a fifth and sixth year of research data reporting impressive literacy gains for struggling readers who used TUNEin™ to READING. Dr. Homan found that over a six-year period, struggling readers using TUNEin to READING — from Electronic Learning Products (www.elpcorp.com) — significantly outperformed their peers (who were using other reading intervention programs) on the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). The year-over-year gains ranged from 27% to 214%.

Read More on BusinessWire.
Link to study here.

WAMS Tech Tips: Which tablet (slate) device is truly best for educ...

2011-01-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

WAMS Tech Tips: Which tablet (slate) device is truly best for educ...: "Our previous 3 year technology plan provided all (or at least most) secondary teachers with a Tablet PC and a wireless projector in their cl..."

Kineo mentioned among tablet ebook readers. Note: Kineo does not have a camera and there is a good reason for that.

How to Set Up a Volunteer Club at School by Michele Pitman of intelliVOL

2011-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

"Volunteering close to home and with your friends can be especially rewarding. A Volunteering Club at school is a great way for a group of teens to work on projects together and have fun. Members get to socialize, improve their leadership skills and learn how to coordinate their efforts as a team."

Get more tips from the article at http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Set-Up-a-Teen-Volunteer-Club-at-School&id=5702992
Administrators: Visit www.intelliVOL.com to learn how x2VOL manages service learning in schools.

First Look at Kineo by Ken Royal, Scholastic

2011-01-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

Click here for the first images of Kineo by Brainchild.

Kineo is an Android tablet designed exclusively for education. It is flash-enabled, has no messaging (on purpose) and only accesses the Internet when teachers or administrators pre-load those sites. Kineo is for kids and for learning!

Kineo interfaces with Brainchild's award-winning Achiever! for standards-based instruction and test prep. Kineo is a powerful learning device paired with Achiever!, as a book reader, or for other Web-based learning resources (and so much more).

Formal launch on February 1 at FETC 2011. Limited quantities will ship on March 1. Pre-orders will be taken soon www.Brainchild.com

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e54faaf86b88330147e1836656970b

Mentoring Teens (by Peter Gudmundsson of Dropout & Truancy Prevention Network)

2011-01-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

"An important goal of mentoring is to get teens to think about ways they can affect better outcomes from different courses of action. For example, what will result from remaining on a current course of behavior versus taking a different approach? Help teens identify new and positive strategies for getting what they want or need...."

Abbreviated list of tips:

Be Authentic
Be Reliable
Focus on Your Mentee
Be Open
Show Respect
Ask Questions and Listen!
Set Clear Expectations (and follow through)
Recognize Success
Know the Community Resources

2010-12-29T10:13:00.001-08:00

3 brain facts every educator should know. WashingtonPost http://ping.fm/FaxBz

Learning Plans on Demand Named to Top 100 Education Products

2010-12-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

STUART, Florida – December 10, 2010 – Learning Plans on Demand™ is among the Top 100 Products for 2010 recognized by the long-standing educational leader’s magazine, District Administration. Learning Plans on Demand (http://www.learningplansondemand.com/) is a powerful vertical assessment and instruction tool that determines 1) what concepts a student has missed in earlier grades and 2) provides the instructional materials needed to fill in the student’s knowledge gaps. Its companion-product, Skills Pointer™ (http://www.skillspointer.com/), is a computer-adaptive assessment resource that is also used to inform and individualize instruction.

Struggling Readers Sing Their Way to Reading Success with TUNEin™ to READING Version 5.0

2010-12-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Struggling Readers Sing Their Way to Reading Success with TUNEin™ to READING Version 5.0
Patented Method Engages Both Sides of the Brain and Leads to Reading Gains

TAMPA, Florida – December 8, 2010—In classrooms around the country, students are singing through their reading lessons with TUNEin™ to READING and they are loving it. Electronic Learning Products (www.elpcorp.com), the publishers of TUNEin™ to READING, today launched version 5.0 of their award-winning reading intervention program that uses music to help struggling readers in grades 3-12. Students who have been frustrated with reading are now learning to love reading because of TUNEin to READING.

2010-11-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

I'm proud to report winning a Platinum Award, a Gold Award and two Honorable Mentions for the 2010 MarCom Awards.

Platinum Award for Pro Bono Marketing Campaign - Friends of NICU, Celebration of Miracles
Gold Award for Writing/News Release - ECO:LOGIC iPad News Release (recently placed on the cover of Public Works Magazine)
Honorable Mention for Ads/Banner/Sign - Be Careful with Pesticides (City of Auburn)
Honorable Mention for Social Media, Small Public Agency Website - Donner Summit Public Utility District

Florida’s Best Teachers Receive TUNEin™ to READING

2010-11-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

TAMPA, Florida – November 1, 2010 — Last weekend, Florida’s 100 best teachers received special recognition from the Foundation for Excellence in Education, an organization founded by former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush. All of the exemplary teachers received TUNEin™ to READING (
http://www.elpcorp.com/)—a reading intervention program that uses music to help struggling students.

Best Time to ReTweet- Social Media Guide

2010-09-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

I love short bulleted articles. Here is one that suggests the best times to use Twitter. My simplified version:

What is the best single time to Tweet?
ANSWER: 9:00 a.m. PST
What is the best time to get retweeted?
ANSWER: 4:00 p.m. EST
Should you retweet your own tweets?
ANSWER from Guy Kawasaki: Yes! Every 6 hours!

Read the entire post to fully understand the content of the article, especially the part from Guy. http://thesocialmediaguide.com.au/2010/04/04/when-is-the-best-time-to-tweet/

The Littlest Redshirts Sit Out Kindergarten (NYTimes quote)

2010-08-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to talk with a New York Times writer about holding back kids for kindergarten. She quoted my reasons for keeping our son, Elliott, out until he was almost six. Now that he is a third grader, we realize we made a perspicacious decision four years ago. For the first time, he is not having too much trouble sitting through class. He is making good decision about his behavior and self-regulating when necessary.

Here is the link to the article. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/fashion/22Cultural.html

Feature Story: At-Risk School Earns Exemplary Status in Texas

2010-07-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

Texas School with High At-risk Population Finds Success
with Brainchild Achiever!

DALLAS— July 22, 2010 — Forty-five percent of the students at Barbara Jordan Elementary School in Ector County ISD are considered at-risk. Teachers have to contend with more than 25 percent turn-over each year and yet, Barbara Jordan Elementary School is one of the best schools in Texas.

Read More on BusinessWire

Case Study

ECO:LOGIC Develops iPad Application for Wastewater Treatment Plants

2010-07-15T09:32:00.001-07:00

ROCKLIN, Calif. — July 15, 2010 – Wastewater treatment plants and sewage systems cost millions of dollars to design and build so maintenance is important not only for preserving public and environmental health but also for sound fiscal stewardship of expensive and critical public resources. ECO:LOGIC Engineering (www.ecologic-eng.com) an engineering firm located in Northern California—has developed an Interactive Operations Manual (IOM) for the iPad™ mobile digital device that helps keep plants online and operating efficiently. (VIDEO link)

“This is just what we needed. If we discover that a piece of equipment needs an oil change every two months instead of four, we can log that here and turn it into a work order.”--

Steve Schimp, district manager and plant operator at San Andreas Sanitary District where the first IOM is in use.

Read more

Auburn Journal: FOG and e-Waste Pickup Started

2010-07-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Pick-up program to keep food waste out of sewer
Auburn Journal, July 11, 2010

The city of Auburn adopted a new program that will allow residents to get rid of their pipe-clogging fats, oil and grease through a curbside pick-up program...

It's All Water: Water Banking in Nevada

2010-07-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

From the Nevada Water Environment Association's newsletter Silver State Water Environment News, July 2010:

IT’S ALL WATER: DEMONSTRATION OF AN INNOVATIVE TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR WATER BANKING IN NEVADA
Vijay Sundaram, P.E. and John P. Enloe, P.E., ECO:LOGIC Engineering

...In Nevada and other states, an under-utilized water resource is municipal effluent. Adequately treated municipal effluent, or reclaimed water, is a reliable, high quality, drought-proof water resource. A critical question is how this resource could be saved (i.e. “banked”) for future use...

read more

Schoot Town wins Distinguished Achievement Award

2010-06-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

School Town (www.Schooltown.net) won a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers. This is a significant award in our industry. Category: Tech Innovations-Social Media for grades 9-12. See the list of winners here. More about the Awards (http://www.aepweb.org/awards/index.htm)

Brainchild Achiever! Selected as a Top Assessment Product for Helping Students Learn Essential Skills

2010-06-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

June 02, 2010 10:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time via BusinessWire

DALLAS--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) selected Achiever! from Brainchild (www.Brainchild.com) as a finalist in the Distinguished Achievement Awards for K-5 assessment and instructional products. Achiever! assesses standards-based performance in school and then delivers targeted learning tutorials that help students improve their performance on state assessments. (Read more)

Tale of Two Students (from the Wall Street Journal)

2010-06-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Wall Street Journal had this great article on Saturday, May 30, 2010.

...This fall, Ivan will enter the University of Oklahoma, armed with a prestigious scholarship. "I want to be the first Hispanic governor of Oklahoma," declares the clean-cut 18-year-old, standing on the steps of Santa Fe South High School, the charter school in the heart of this city's Hispanic enclave that he says put him on a new path.

Laura, who is 17, rose to senior class president at Capitol Hill High School, a large public school in the same neighborhood. But after scraping together enough credits to graduate, Laura isn't sure where she's headed. She never took college entrance exams. ...more...

Link to the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704717004575268752238805736-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwMTEwNDEyWj.html (Valid for 7 days for non-subscribers)

Online newsrooms in the digital era: PRSA

2010-05-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Online newsrooms in the digital era: PRSA

Great short article about how to enhance an online news room. One key element (similar to how you make Twitter and blogs more visible and useful): be a reference source not an egotist. Yes, you should tell your own story and promote you product/services but also think bigger by adding content from other sources.

School Town Earns 5 Stars from Multimedia & Internet @ Schools

2010-05-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.blogger.com/://www.mmischools.commagazine gave School Town a Five Star review for their May 2010 issue. A summary of the review:

"...Recommendation: School Town offers many resources that can aid in the development of teaching materials that integrate content from textbooks, multimedia, online resources, and much more. This collaborative platform can help educators take advantage of the growing amount of material available in today’s explosively expanding world of knowledge..."

Read the full review here (may require a free log in at MMIS to read the full review)

New Virtual High School Opens at Horizon Charter School for Students in Sacramento Region

2010-04-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

ROSEVILLE, Calif. — April 28, 2010 —Teens in Placer, El Dorado, Sacramento, Sutter, Nevada, and Yuba counties looking for a cyber school now have a new option from Horizon Charter School (www.HorizonCharterSchool.org). Horizon is opening a new Virtual High School for the 2010/11 school year and will hold an informational meeting about the program for prospective students on Tuesday, May 4.

(more)

Individualizing Instruction with Technology (from District Administration Magazine)

2010-04-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

Don Tylinski inherited a challenge when he became superintendent of the Seneca Valley (Pa.) School District in 2004. The 7,363-student K12 district located 30 miles north of Pittsburgh was under strain because of the arrival of large new industries in the area, including a new facility of global nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse. “The growth in student population had everyone in the district scrambling. We lost consistency in the curriculum,” says Tylinski.

(more)

TMCnet article: Brainchild Products Aid Educators and Students Alike

2010-04-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

Education Technology News: Brainchild Products Aid Educators and Students Alike
By Mini Swamy, TMCnet Contributor

Brainchild was founded in 1992 when it created the first handheld tutor for students, the PLS-1000. In 1999, Brainchild's online summative assessment for state standards was introduced.

Since then, Brainchild has been constantly innovating, making multimedia education more interesting for students.Since then, it has come a long way.

Brainchild’s TAKS Achiever! online assessment program and Study Buddy handheld tutors have been approved by the Texas Education Agency Multi-regional Purchasing Cooperative Awards Committee for use in schools in Texas regions 9, 11, 14 and 15,

Haitian Students in FL Schools Have Help with Brainchild

2010-03-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

MIAMI, Florida -- March 23, 2010 - Florida schools are seeing significant numbers of Haitian students file through their doors and some of the schools, like Miami-Killian High School in Miami are better equipped to help those students than others.

Miami-Killian High School has resources on hand to help Haitian students feel some sense of control despite the upheaval in their lives and the language barrier that exists in a new country. The school has dozens of Study Buddy hand-held learning devices on hand which are manufactured by a Florida-based company called Brainchild (www.Brainchild.com). Study Buddies look like small game devices but they are used by students to reinforce instruction in mathematics, language arts, math and science. And, for the Haitian students, Study Buddies already come with content in their native language, Haitian Creole.

more: BusinessWire or PitchEngine (with photos)

From WSJ - The Case for Saturday School

2010-03-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is a great article to keep in your library for future reference. Mr. Finn writes about the US lag behind other countries and suggests that maybe this is happening because we spend 30% less time in school. However, he also makes a strong point that we waste a lot of instructional time getting prepped, going to recess, enforcing classroom rules, (you teachers know what he means!).

The Wall Street Journal only allows these links for seven days to non-subscribers.
The Case for Saturday School

Horizon Charter School Open Enrollment for College-pre Academy

2010-03-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

On March 22, Horizon Charter School begins open enrollment for 2010-11 school year of the Roseville Academy of Math, Science and Engineering. The Academy is a free, high-rigor, college-prep academy for students in grades 7-12. Students attend classes three days a week. Non-classroom days are designed for elective instruction including music, athletics, fine arts, foreign language, robotics, computer programming and other areas of individual interest to the student.

“I love the personalized, individualized learning and individual concern of the teachers,” said Gina Morgan whose son attends seventh grade at Horizon Charter School. “We send our son here because this site gives him an opportunity to learn where there are lots of positive influences.”

Parents interested in learning more about the Academy or who wish to submit a letter of intent to enroll their child are invited to an open house:

DATE: Monday, March 22, 2010
LOCATION: Horizon Charter School, Roseville Learning Center, 911 Reserve Drive in Roseville
SCHEDULE: 4:30-5:00 – Presentation for grade 7-9
5:00-5:40 – School Tour and chance meet the teachers
5:45-6:15 – Presentation for grade 10-12
INFO: Carolyn Bakken at 916-408-5232 or cabakken@hcs.k12.ca.us

Horizon Charter School is known for its unique programs and small class sizes that foster connections with community and peers. Students learn in small groups using a project-based approach that encourages students to explore topics in great detail while building their skills in mathematics, language arts, science and social studies. Students take frequent field trips and participate in community service projects in area businesses and organizations.

As a publicly funded charter school, Horizon adheres to the same academic standards as public schools but in a creative, more individualized manner. Parents are urged to submit their applications early as space in each academy is limited.

Jeff Cameron of Brainchild Interviewed by Scholastic Administrator Magazine

2010-03-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Jeff Cameron is interviewed by Scholastic Administrator magazine at the 2010 Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando.

Jeff talks about how Brainchild Achiever! and the Study Buddies work together to help students improve their performance on standardized assessments.

School Town Gives Teachers a New Way to Manage Digital Content and Curriculum

2010-02-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

AUSTIN, Texas — February 10, 2010 — School Town (www.schooltown.net) introduced a powerful new K-12 student-centric collaborative learning platform at the Texas Computer Education Association conference in Austin this week. Teachers use School Town to create and manage dynamic, media-rich learning communities with any of their digital resources including multimedia, files, URL links and third-party curricula. Students use School Town to manage their homework, set goals and interact with their peers in a secure and private learning community.

"School Town lets me teach twice as much,” said Tom Samorian, middle school teacher at Shepard Middle School in Deerfield, Ill. who has used School Town for the past two years. “[School Town] extends the learning day and allows for students to advance topics from home. The next day we hit the ground running.”

Bill Tudor Interviewed by Scholastic Administrator

2010-01-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

See below for an interview of Bill Tudor from Learning Plans on Demand by Scholastic Administrator magazine's tech editor, Ken Royal.

Bill discusses how his diagnostic tools are integrated into Learning Plans on Demand and now make it easier to pinpoint the exact skills students are missing on the learning ladder. Bill talks about how learning is a step-wise process. If a rung on the ladder is missing, then it is very difficult for students to stay up with their peers. Learning Plans on Demand is specifically designed to locate that missing skill (or skills) and provide all the tutorials and remediation necessary to get students back on track.

Writing Traffic-driving Tweets -- From PRSA

2010-01-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

As a member of the Public Relations Society of America, I receive an excellent newsletter, Tactics. If you are even remotely connected to PR or marketing, you should belong to this association if only to have a subscription to its two monthly publications.

An article this month is about the key words that will increase the pass-along rate for tweets. A summary is linked here.

The key point is not to focus on yourself. Use key words like: retweet (duh!), post, blog, social, FREE, media, help, great, 10, follow, how to, top, check out. The losers? game, going, haha, lol, work, home, sleep, gonna, hey, tired, bored, and a few others.

Gee, seems like the difference between professionalism and egotism.

If you would like to see the entire article, send me a message or email. Or better yet, join PRSA!

Brainchild's Jeff Cameron Interview at Scholastic Administrator

2010-01-22T09:51:00.001-08:00

Ken Royal, the senior technology and products editor for Scholastic Administrator magazine, interviewed Jeff Cameron of Brainchild while we were at the Florida Educational Technology Conference. Click here for a four-minute introduction to Achiever! and the Study Buddy.

News Release - Brainchild Academy Concept Employs Multimodal, Data-driven Instruction for Struggling Students

2010-01-13T07:14:00.000-08:00

ORLANDO, Florida — January 13, 2010 — With 24-30 students or more in the typical classroom, it is tough for teachers to give students individual attention, especially struggling students. Brainchild (www.brainchild.com)—an educational publisher of assessment and intervention programs— today launched the Brainchild Academy Concept, which combines its technology resources with direct teacher observation into a three-station instructional plan.

Related case study
Full-text of release on BusinessWire

See Brainchild in booth 323 at the Florida Educational Technology Conference this week.

News Release - Brainchild Achiever! Habla Espanol

2010-01-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

ORLANDO, Florida — January 12, 2010 — Brainchild (www.brainchild.com) announced today that Achiever! —an online assessment and instruction program used to evaluate student performance on state standards—now offers test questions and tutorials in Spanish or English. Students may change the text on their screen or select audio narrations in either Spanish or English and then may toggle between to the two as needed.

“If we hand a teacher a report that tells what each student needs to work on, she might be able to differentiate instruction for one or two students but an RTI program is about doing this for every student. It is only possible to do this with a total package like Achiever! where the assessment automatically jumps the student into the activities they need.” Dr. Geeta McMillan, Cassville Elementary School, TN

Read more on BusinessWire.
See Brainchild in booth 323 at the Florida Educational Technology Conference this week in Orlando.

Learning Plans on Demand Enhanced With Quick Diagnostic Assessmen

2010-01-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

Learning Plans on Demand Enhanced With Quick Diagnostic Assessment

Assessment Helps Teachers Differentiate Instruction and Tie Into Embedded Tutorials

STUART, Florida – January 8, 2009 – Learning Plans on Demand™ (www.LearningPlansOnDemand.com) today announced the release of new diagnostic assessments that make the system easier to use and more helpful to teachers. With these new features, LPOD is a more powerful assessment tool that ties directly into hundreds of embedded tutorials for individualized learning.

Learning Plans on Demand (LPOD) is known by teachers for its ability to quickly make differentiated instructional plans based on individual student needs such as those required for “Response to Intervention” (RTI).

Education Week: Is Education News Falling Off Front Pages?

2009-12-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

Education Week: Is Education News Falling Off Front Pages?

Great story about the shrinking coverage of substantive education stories. A reporter with multiple beats has a hard time keeping up with the complexities of education and education policy. Yet, all other topics are losing coverage as well. New York City has a good option with GothamSchools. Politics aside, we are going to see more explorations into uncharted "reporting" waters.

My 500 words: News Releases are DEAD!

2009-12-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Someone told me “The day of the news release is long gone!” Here’s my preferred statement: The day of the news release used in the traditional way is long gone.

When starting off in PR in the late 80’s, we wrote news releases, put them on the wire and called the newspaper reporters or beat editor. When faxes became ubiquitous, we started to broadcast faxes. When email became the preferred mode of communication, we started using emails.

Throughout all this, we still relied on the wire especially when the news was of a timely nature. We could always be sure that the most respected wire services were feeding into nearly every news room. However, there are a few distinct changes in today’s PR that has made the traditional use of the news release obsolete.

More companies exist and more people can use the wire services. With more companies come more PR people and suddenly, there is so much “news” that newsrooms are simply awash in irrelevant information.
Newspaper (and broadcast news) staff are shrinking faster than glaciers in the northern hemisphere. Ink is shrinking, too (i.e. editorial space). Wires keep spilling out news releases and emails keep coming into the editors’ and reporters’ desks.

With so much “news” and so little “ink”, a news release used in the traditional way is truly dead. Someone without a clue writes it and sends it out hoping that somewhere, someone will take an interest and call them because their phone number is on the bottom.

If you are Apple or GM or Microsoft or Intel or another highly visible entity, that might work. Sadly, I don’t represent those companies. My clients are small companies and we have to be scrappy.

News releases now are used with multiple aims:

Sometimes we PR people use them in the traditional manner by pitching them to a specific reporter who we think may be interested in our story idea. We pitch these stories carefully, research our target and make sure we have a REAL story to pitch. The good ol’ phone call and hard work gets that story going, not what went out on the wire.
We use the news release for social media. A well-crafted news release with accompanying multimedia might be passed along because of some interesting tidbit or a cool video. We have to get creative about distributing these (see a future post about the wire service offerings).
We issue news releases on the wire because they now feed into thousands of online news outlets. The best wires feed to Wall Street Journal, CNBC and the like). Wires also reach our local newspapers and broadcast news and we get “reprints” because they take the release verbatim.

The strategy is to get that news release on as many online sites as possible so that when someone searches on your company or your keywords, the release pops up.

Darn…I’m out of space…but I promised!

My 500 words: News Releases are DEAD!

2009-12-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

Someone told me “The day of the news release is long gone!”

Here’s my preferred statement: The day of the news release used in the traditional way is long gone.

When starting off in PR in the late 80’s, we wrote news releases, put them on the wire and called the newspaper reporters or beat editor. When faxes became ubiquitous, we started to broadcast faxes. When email became the preferred mode of communication, we started using emails.

There are a couple of distinct changes in today’s PR that has made the traditional use of the news release obsolete.

More companies exist and more people can use the wire services. With more companies come more PR people and suddenly, there is so much “news” that newsrooms are simply awash in irrelevant information.
Newspaper (and broadcast news) staff are shrinking faster than glaciers in the northern hemisphere. Ink is shrinking, too (i.e. editorial space). Wires keep spilling out news releases and emails keep coming into the editors’ and reporters’ desks.

With so much “news” and so little “ink”, a news release used in the traditional way is truly dead. Someone without a clue writes it and sends it out hoping that somewhere someone will take an interest and call them because their phone number is on the bottom.

If you are Apple or GM or Microsoft or Intel or another highly visible entity, that might work. Sadly, I don’t represent those companies. My clients are small companies and we have to be scrappy.

News releases now are used with multiple aims.

Sometimes we PR people use them in the traditional manner by pitching them to a specific reporter who we think may be interested in our story idea. We pitch these stories carefully, research our target and make sure we have a REAL story to pitch. The good ol’ phone call and hard work gets that story going, not what went out on the wire.

We also use the news release for social media. A well-crafted news release with accompanying multimedia might be passed along because of some interesting tidbit or a cool video. We have to get creative about distributing these (see a future post about the wire service offerings).

We also issue news releases on the wire because they now feed into thousands of online news outlets. The best wires feed to Wall Street Journal, CNBC and the like). Wires also reach our local newspapers and broadcast news and we get “reprints” because they take the release verbatim.

The strategy is to get that news release on as many online sites as possible so that when someone searches on your company or your keywords, the release pops up.

Darn…I’m out of space…but I promised!

My 500 Words

2009-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

I’m starting a new series: My 500 Words. These will be essays tackling PR issues and they get to the point quickly! I’ll write them when something irks, interests me or needs to be explained. I’ll write them as I gain new insight into this chaotically changing world.

I promise to keep them at 500 words or less.

Give me your feedback and your comments. With 500 words, I can’t say everything I’d like to and have to leave some holes but it will force me to be succinct.

EDUBLOG Awards Nomination

2009-12-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy this blog by Ken Royal. He has a number of interesting authors including an 11-year-old girl whose insight astounds me!

So, for the 2009 Edublog awards, I nominate The Educator's Royal Treatment for best group blog

http://www.educatorsroyaltreatment.com/

J Harrison Public Relations

x2VOL Video Contest

School Webmasters and eBackpack Partnership

Brainchild Offers Professional Development for Tablets

Texas School Gives 35,000 Volunteer Hours Via x2VOL

Brainchild Kineo Tablet With GlobalSYNC™, Just for Schools,

Clark County pilots Right Back on Track to tackle truancy

Experts Available to Discuss GPS Puts Truants on Track for Class (From BusinessWire)

Technology & Learning Magazine - Kineo on Cover

Send in the Slates! FETC (Ken Royal, Scholastic Administrator)

The Royal Treatment, Scholastic Administrator Magazine

Send In The Slates! FETC

Kiineo: Like an iPad but made for students (eSchoolNews)

Technology & Learning Magazine - TUNEin to READING on Cover

USF Researcher Finds Significant Improvement with TUNEin to READING

WAMS Tech Tips: Which tablet (slate) device is truly best for educ...

How to Set Up a Volunteer Club at School by Michele Pitman of intelliVOL

First Look at Kineo by Ken Royal, Scholastic

Mentoring Teens (by Peter Gudmundsson of Dropout & Truancy Prevention Network)

Learning Plans on Demand Named to Top 100 Education Products

Struggling Readers Sing Their Way to Reading Success with TUNEin™ to READING Version 5.0

Struggling Readers Sing Their Way to Reading Success with TUNEin™ to READING Version 5.0 Patented Method Engages Both Sides of the Brain and Leads to Reading Gains

Florida’s Best Teachers Receive TUNEin™ to READING

Best Time to ReTweet- Social Media Guide

The Littlest Redshirts Sit Out Kindergarten (NYTimes quote)

Feature Story: At-Risk School Earns Exemplary Status in Texas

ECO:LOGIC Develops iPad Application for Wastewater Treatment Plants

Auburn Journal: FOG and e-Waste Pickup Started

It's All Water: Water Banking in Nevada

Schoot Town wins Distinguished Achievement Award

Brainchild Achiever! Selected as a Top Assessment Product for Helping Students Learn Essential Skills

Tale of Two Students (from the Wall Street Journal)

Online newsrooms in the digital era: PRSA

School Town Earns 5 Stars from Multimedia & Internet @ Schools

New Virtual High School Opens at Horizon Charter School for Students in Sacramento Region

Individualizing Instruction with Technology (from District Administration Magazine)

TMCnet article: Brainchild Products Aid Educators and Students Alike

Haitian Students in FL Schools Have Help with Brainchild

From WSJ - The Case for Saturday School

Horizon Charter School Open Enrollment for College-pre Academy

Jeff Cameron of Brainchild Interviewed by Scholastic Administrator Magazine

School Town Gives Teachers a New Way to Manage Digital Content and Curriculum

Bill Tudor Interviewed by Scholastic Administrator

Writing Traffic-driving Tweets -- From PRSA

Brainchild's Jeff Cameron Interview at Scholastic Administrator

News Release - Brainchild Academy Concept Employs Multimodal, Data-driven Instruction for Struggling Students

News Release - Brainchild Achiever! Habla Espanol

Learning Plans on Demand Enhanced With Quick Diagnostic Assessmen

Education Week: Is Education News Falling Off Front Pages?

My 500 words: News Releases are DEAD!

My 500 words: News Releases are DEAD!

My 500 Words

EDUBLOG Awards Nomination

Struggling Readers Sing Their Way to Reading Success with TUNEin™ to READING Version 5.0
Patented Method Engages Both Sides of the Brain and Leads to Reading Gains