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 »

For those accustomed to reading our blog, it should come as no surprise how we feel about online curriculum. From engaging students to allowing flexibility, online curriculum provides an excellent opportunity to reach students in an individualized manner that meets their certain needs. Picture a golfing instructor who taught a proper swing to a class by showing how he or she approaches the maneuver. Helpful, right? The sort of insight that the individual could give would certainly help people attempting to learn the game. Now picture a one-on-one tutorial that allows golfing students to learn the mechanics of their swing by an instructor dedicated to one student’s particular need. That is the dynamic online curriculum like ours provides.

Taking this understanding and expanding it to the real world, Education Week spotlights a school in New York City which is serving as a useful example of how technology — and, in fact, online curriculum — is engaging students and improving grades where many thought it couldn’t happen. From the story:

“The pilot program at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Middle School in Chinatown provided math lessons that were customized every day to meet the individual needs, and progress, of the 80 incoming 7th graders who volunteered to attend the five-week session this past summer. The School of One combined face-to-face instruction, software-based activities, and online lessons designed to move each new 7th grader through a defined set of math benchmarks at his or her own pace.”

The School of One is a summer school pilot program that uses technology, more particularly individualized classroom instruction, that combines teacher-led instruction with software and online tutors that are customized to each student’s needs. This is not some fantasy dream out of a sci-fi movie; this is a real initiative in New York City that is focused on students who have typically struggled in a traditional classroom setting and is being received with wide applause. In fact, TIME Magazine ranked it as one of the 50 best inventions of 2009. This is a very interesting and novel approach to education, one we’ll keep our eye out for in the future.

Tell us how you are integrating education and technology in your classroom to engage students. We’d love to hear your stories!

The results are in and the future is digital, say teachers, at least according a recent survey completed by Grunwald Associates LLC for PBS. Key findings of Digitally Inclined are not surprising for tech-savvy educators who recognize the benefits of providing digital learning tools to students living in a digital world. 

Survey results include the following: 

• Teachers are becoming more strategic in their media use and savvier about integrating it into their repertoire of instructional strategies and resources. 

• Teachers value many different types of digital media, with games and activities for student use in school topping the list. 

• Increasing numbers of teachers are joining virtual professional communities, and many are comfortable using social networking tools in their personal and professional lives. 

This all bodes well for students who function best in a wired (or wireless) world and could usher in changes in both the pre-K and K-12 education. These changes include more “engaging, creative, and collaborative learning environments,” the implementation of more specialized individual learning plans for students with different learning styles and abilities, more teachers actively engaging in their own professional development, and increased opportunities for students to take charge of their own learning. 

At ODYSSEYWARE, we know how important it is for teachers to have access to the digital tools that support academic achievement. Our curriculum not only offers students a media-enriched curriculum that engages the mind, but offers teachers effective and efficient tools for providing individualized instruction that most suits each learner. 

As our schools become increasingly technology-driven, the tools teachers use in their classrooms continue to evolve, driving individualized learning and promoting 21st century skills. What digital tools are you using in your classroom to keep students connected to their own learning?