Aventa Learning World Language Survey Course for Middle School, Aventa Learning

Aventa Learning's World Language Survey Course is an online, multimedia-based course that introduces middle school students to several world languages to give them an opportunity to gain understanding of a language that they may want to further study in the future. It meets young adolescent students' needs to explore and discover, and teaches them basic foreign language skills and world cultures.

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ePals Global Learning Community, ePALS, Inc.

The ePals Global Learning Community is the largest K-12 social network for meaningful learning, enabling more than half a million educators and millions of students across 200 countries and territories to safely connect and collaborate. It is a safe environment for building and exchanging knowledge based on protected connectivity tools, evidence-based curricula and authentic learning experiences.

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Gaggle.Net Student Email and Collaboration Tools, Gaggle.Net, Inc.

Gaggle.Net is the leading provider of student email and Web 2.0 Collaboration tools. These tools increase teacher productivity and provide a platform for creative expression by students. The Gaggle collaboration suite consists of blogs, message boards, digital lockers, homework drop boxes, chat rooms, web profile pages and more.

The Gaggle system is designed specifically around student safety and educator controls. For example, Gaggle is the only system with an Anti-Pornography Scanner to meet the requirements of CIPA. Gaggle’s APS inspects all attached and embedded images and can tell the difference between students in bathing suits and pornographic content.

In Fall 2008, Gaggle introduced the new Velocity interface. Velocity is a dynamic AJAX driven system that works just like an application inside of a web page. It reduces bandwidth and provides a rich Internet experience to end users.

Gaggle also provides built in language translation and an auditory feedback system. The AFS allows students who are auditory learners to hear their written work read aloud and can help them catch mistakes. These are just a few of the tools and features that Gaggle provides to integrate advanced 21st century technology into the classroom.

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Kidspiration 3, Inspiration Software, Inc.

Kidspiration® 3 is the visual way to explore and understand words, numbers and concepts. The new version of Inspiration Software®’s visual learning software for young learners supports students in kindergarten through fifth grade as they strengthen reading and writing skills, build conceptual understanding in math, and develop thinking skills across the curriculum.

Kidspiration 3 extends the proven principles of visual learning to mathematics with five visual math tools. Combining the hands-on learning power of manipulatives with technology, students use Kidspiration to build problem-solving and reasoning skills in counting, place value, computation and geometric thinking.

With its expanded library of more than 3,000 symbols, students use Kidspiration 3 to create graphic organizers including webs, concept maps and Venn diagrams. The visual learning software’s new Word Guide helps young learners build vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, with nearly 13,000 words with definitions, recorded speech, synonyms and antonyms, parts of speech and sample sentences. Hundreds of activities and lesson plans are available free with Kidspiration 3 to help teachers as they use the software with their students.

Used by millions of elementary teachers and students worldwide, Kidspiration 3 inspires students to learn while building 21st century skills.

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BrainWare Safari, Learning Enhancement Corporation

Award-winning BrainWare Safari builds learning capacity by incorporating neuroscience with video-game technology to strengthen foundational cognitive skills, including attention, memory, visual and auditory processing, sensory integration, and reasoning and logic. It comprehensively develops the underlying skills most critical for learning, benefitting users for a lifetime, not just for the next test, and giving them a stronger foundation for academic and workplace success.

In a peer-reviewed published study, students using the program experienced over 4 years intellectual growth on average in 12 weeks vs. 4 months for the control group, and almost 2 years improvement in academic skills vs. 1 month for the control group. Cognitive growth of up to 6 years in 12 weeks has been shown in a school setting.

The real basics are not reading, writing and math, but the mental functions that enable those processes to become acquired, that empower the acquisition of knowledge across the curriculum, and that foster critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. BrainWare Safari's engaging video-game format makes learning truly fun for students of all ages. BrainWare Safari is the most comprehensive, scalable, cost-effective cognitive skill development program in the world.

BrainWare Safari -- it makes you smarter.
www,MyBrainWare.com

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SIRS Discoverer, ProQuest

Discoverer delivers safe, kid-friendly online learning resources selected for students in elementary and middle school. Discoverer helps students develop their research, writing, language, and computer skills via an intuitive interface and engaging content. Resources include thousands of articles, images, and websites—all carefully selected for their educational content, age-appropriateness, and readability.

Discoverer includes 100% full-text articles and images from more than 1,900 domestic and international newspapers, magazines, and government documents, along with 9,000+ educational weblinks. More than 29,000 graphics, photos, maps, and charts are available, connected to associated articles create context for the article text. Topics cover typical school curricula, as well as personal hobbies and interests. Multiple search methods like topic tree, keyword, and subject make it easy to find relevant information.

Plus, curriculum and learning tools help educators extend and reinforce student achievement at all levels. Standards search quickly locates content aligned to key curricula subjects. Reading levels match resources to individual learners, with every article assigned a Lexile score and reading level. Supplemental materials also include an educator's guide, middle- and elementary-level student workbooks, citation guidelines, research strategy worksheets, and more.

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