New and startling federally funded research conducted over a three year period has produced clear results – the use of technology causes dramatic improvements PROVIDING (and this is a key “if”) the technology is readily and widely available to the students.  July’s eSchool News online article, “States: Ed tech is raising student achievement,” gives a precursor to the findings of the nine states involved, to be presented in the fall.

Astonishingly, the widespread use of technology created improvement in:

• Reading and math scores
• School communications
• Discipline
• Leveling the playing field for low-income students
• High school graduation rates
• Number of high school graduates going on to college
• Student engagement
• Peer interaction
• Technology proficiency   

This study is contradictory to the software effectiveness ED research report released in April 2007.  Findings in the software report were that particular reading and math software applications, when used only about 10 or 11 percent of the total instructional time, during one school year did not result in significantly improved test scores.

Major differences exist between the software effectiveness report and the three year study including:

• Duration, (3yr verses 1yr)
• Professional Development (extensive to the 3yr study verses incidental to the 1yr study)
• Access (ubiquitous access to technology in the 3yr study verses limited access in the 1yr study)

As Mary Ann Wolf, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) states, “without ongoing and sustainable professional development, access to tools and resources, and leadership, technology’s potential in education will not be maximized.”

24/7  -  that’s the technology access that ClassLink provides!

With ClassLink LaunchPad™, your district’s centralized servers can deliver 24/7 access to the technology tools to help students and teachers access files on any computer, anywhere.  Ease of use was the primary focus when we designed ClassLink LaunchPad. Users have easy and consistent access to all of their applications and work files. Teachers and students want reliable access to their software, to be able to save their work and print. We built that system.

Interactions between students and teachers are critical to learning. With LaunchPad, teachers can interact with students and other teachers in several ways including chat, screenshots and even taking control of a student's desktop.

Want to see the full article and the Ed research cited above or learn more about ClassLink LaunchPad? Click here