ODYSSEYWARE

Students at Newberg  High School are spending at least part of their summer online. While many are gaming or logged onto social networks, others are recovering credits with ODYSSEYWARE.

Recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s Best High Schools, Newberg received a bronze medal for providing a good education across the entire student body and preparing students for postsecondary opportunities. Read more »

Busy teachers everywhere appreciate streamlined processes. That’s why ODYSSEYWARE created the batching feature. Anytime you wish to allow a student to skip an entire unit, enter the course for that student by selecting the Student tab on the left, locating the student and, moving to the right of the student’s name, click on the Grading link for the desired student. 

This opens the course view for the teacher. Read more »

In our last post, we explored a recent report by The New Media Consortium, Horizon Report, 2010 K-12 Edition, and its proposed timeline for the adoption of emerging technologies. In today’s post the exploration continues with trends that are beginning to surface and will, in all likelihood, impact education over the next five years.  Read more »

I venture to guess that if people over 25 toured most of today’s public schools, they would look very familiar to the very place they met Dick and Jane, learned the sounds made by long and short vowels, and experienced their first fire drill. We’ve been hearing a lot about technology in the classroom and asking what classrooms of the future will look like. When will things not only begin to look, but actually be different? We may finally have an answer.  Read more »

At ODYSSEYWARE®, we understand that moving forward into the high-tech world of online learning can be a challenge, yet teachers across the country are using the latest tools, online resources, and innovative ideas to help students connect to their own education.

Do you know an ODYSSEYWARE teacher that has embraced the use of technology in the classroom to enrich the learning experience of his students? Do you have a story to share about the impact one teacher can have on the lives of her students?

If your answer is yes, nominate this first-rate facilitator to be honored as ODYSSEYWARE’s Teacher of the Month. The winner will be featured in an upcoming issue of the ODYSSEYWARE iQ eNewsletter. Just complete the nomination form to submit your nominee.

Some restrictions apply.

Whether they’re a fan of veteran ski racer Bode Miller, charismatic snowboarder Shaun White, or elegant and perky figure skater Sasha Cohen, your students are gathered around a screen of some size, somewhere watching Olympic athletes go for the gold. Once every four years you have the opportunity to capitalize on this midwinter enthusiasm by creating teaching moments as they arise.

Read more »

Grants, incentives, and initiatives for innovative education reform have budget-conscious administrators blazing trails into new technology-rich territory. For some teachers, the terrain is fraught with hidden dangers, instilling fear in the hearts of heroes who could once, with only textbooks and a chalkboard to defend them, handle a whole classroom full of teenagers without a bead of sweat on their brows. What is it about embracing instructional technology that makes knees knock and anxiety shift into overdrive?

While the details may be different, the simple answer is fear.

Read more »

With one decade of the century under our belts, it seems surprising that educators, scientists, and parents continue to struggle to define those skills that should be taught in schools to prepare K-12 students for their future in the Information Age. There seem to be as many opinions as there are students, but more and more often, the phrase “21st century skills” is used to identify a specific and progressive list of skills that are necessary to ensure a successful future for today’s students.

Read more »

E-rate has made a name for itself in schools with telecommunications funding, especially in rural areas that need access to technology but all too often are consumed by budget needs to purchase computers. E-rate becomes an asset in this manner and can give a much needed boost to technology budgets through the help of federal funding. The problem, however, is that the program is often too onerous to navigate for school administrators who spend much of their day dealing with the day-in, day-out tasks of maintaining order in school to sit down and put pen to paper and apply for funding. According to The Education Week:

Such frustrations have become synonymous with the E-rate. The program is credited with helping most of the nation’s schools move into the Internet age—just 14 percent of K-12 classrooms had access when the program was created in 1996, compared with more than 95 percent today.

But confusion over which services qualify for discounts, the extent of the requirements for addressing Internet safety and access, and a paper trail laborious enough to frighten even the most seasoned of bureaucrats, have hindered plans in some districts to expand the use of digital tools, experts say.

Read more »

There’s nothing more frustrating than buying something revolutionary, only to find out tomorrow that it’s yesterday’s news. This is never the case with ODYSSEYWARE. Our online learning environment for students in grades 3-12 is constantly being updated and improved, keeping your learning program on the cutting edge.

One of our most recent curriculum updates allows teachers to add students to their courses. This is a big time-saver for administrators, but it is a privilege recommended only for “superteachers” who are also able to add courses.

To access this new feature, administrators should log in as admin using their admin password, then follow these simple steps:

To add this privilege to an existing teacher:

1. Click on the “teacher” tab.
2. For the selected teacher, select “edit.”
3. Check the “add students” box.
4. Click “submit.”

To add this privilege to a new teacher:

1. Click on the “teacher” tab.
2. Click “add teacher.”
3. Select all the appropriate boxes.
4. Click “submit.”

The ability for teachers to add students simply and efficiently is only one of the recent updates available from ODYSSEYWARE. Other exciting updates include

• Course customization – re-sequence, delete, or add your own lessons; create a course
• Text-to-speech – highlight any text to hear audio
• Reformatted CSV grade report – new name sequencing
• Updated security – students cannot reenter completed assignments with “back” button

Regular and real-time updates set ODYSSEYWARE apart from other computer-based curriculum. We can quickly respond to a changing world and the requests of our customers, which keeps our online learning environment revolutionary.