PLATO Learning Acquires Award-Winning Education Technology Firm EdOptions

November 15th, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – November 9, 2011– PLATO Learning, a leading provider of online education solutions for kindergarten through adult learners, announced today that it is acquiring Educational Options, Inc. (EdOptions™), an award-winning education technology firm based in Falls Church, Va., to enhance its comprehensive portfolio of education solutions. PLATO Learning is backed by leading middle market private equity firm Thoma Bravo, LLC.

“EdOptions’ commitment to providing secondary online courses for students in need of credit recovery, acceleration, and alternative learning options fits with our mission to provide inspired solutions for teaching and learning,” said Vin Riera, PLATO Learning chief executive officer. “This acquisition expands the education solutions we offer and positions the combined companies as powerful partners to better meet our customers’ wide array of program needs.”

Founded by educators, EdOptions is a family-owned business that provides schools with online solutions focused on drop-out prevention, adaptive curriculum, and virtual instruction. “Providing educational opportunities to struggling students is the cornerstone of EdOptions. The merger with PLATO Learning ensures our ability to reach a broader group of students and teachers and continue our commitment to helping learners catch up and become college and career ready ,” said Bettina Callaway, co-founder of the company along with her late husband, Dr. Thomas Sawner. “PLATO Learning has a strong history of supporting student achievement. We are excited to have these two companies come together to ensure student success.”

“We believe the combination of PLATO Learning and EdOptions creates a unique offering in the education technology market,” said Holden Spaht, a partner at Thoma Bravo. “This acquisition better positions PLATO Learning to deliver leading edge products to an even broader customer base. Thoma Bravo will continue to support the company’s growth organically and through additional strategic acquisitions.”

About PLATO Learning, Inc.

PLATO Learning is a leading provider of high-value, comprehensive education technology solutions with a focus on learner achievement leading to academic and career success. With more than 50 years of experience driving significant advances in the industry, PLATO offers a wide variety of innovative solutions spanning a multitude of program areas to facilitate 21st century teaching and learning. For more information on PLATO Learning, visit www.plato.com, like our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.

About Educational Options, Inc.

EdOptions has helped thousands of students stay in school and become lifelong learners. Our mission is to create outstanding web-based educational products that support students and teachers inside and outside the traditional classroom. For more information on EdOptions, visit www.edoptions.com.

About Thoma Bravo, LLC

Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity investment firm that has been providing equity and strategic support to experienced management teams building growing companies for 30 years. The firm originated the concept of industry consolidation investing, which seeks to create value through the strategic use of acquisitions to accelerate business growth. Thoma Bravo applies its investment strategy across multiple industries, with a particular focus on the software and service sectors, and works in partnership with management to implement its operating and consolidation expertise to build long-term value. In software, Thoma Bravo has completed more than 46 add-on acquisitions across 18 platform companies with total annual earnings of approximately $1 billion. For more information, visit www.thomabravo.com.

 

 

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ASCD Conference Validates Digital Direction of Education

November 2nd, 2011

Two representatives, myself included, from the curriculum department here at EdOptions had the pleasure of attending the ASCD’s 2011 fall conference on teaching and learning. Enhancing Student Effectiveness = Improving Student Learning attracted hundreds of curriculum developers and educators from across the nation for a weekend in none other than Sin City at the Rio All-Suites Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Setting the tone for the conference’s emphasis on keeping up with today’s digital natives in the classroom, Center for Teaching Equality President Barnett Berry opened the conference with a presentation on TEACHING 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools Now and In The Future . In the book, Berry and 12 top teachers bring “expert pedagogical know-how and fresh and provocative policy ideas to the national debate on school reform.”

TEACHING 2030: Video Book Preview

Guiding the 21st Century Learner Down the Digital Path, presented by Education Consultant Carol O’Connor and Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District’s Kristi Thaemlitz, reiterated a need for educators to digitally adapt. Several websites introduced in the session – Animoto, Linoit, Poll Everywhere, Search Cube, and Museum Box – all offer incredible, and mostly free, tools that teachers can use in order to engage students through at-home projects, group classroom learning, and more. O’Connor, touching on the importance of technologically adapting, said that studies show “many of today’s students power down when they arrive at school only to power back up when they come back home to play on their computers.”

Animoto, for example, is one user-friendly tool teachers can use to introduce books to a class by creating a visual book preview. The site can also be used to ignite students’ excitement at home by asking them to create their own Animoto presentations on narrowed topics, such as the book’s theme, climax, or the characters as a homework assignment. Though Animoto can be used in a variety of ways to explore new lessons and test student understanding, the book trailer below for The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was created by a student using Animoto.

The Hunger Games Animoto Book Trailer

Stressing the importance of continuous assessment, Poll Everywhere offers teachers an informal way to determine students’ readiness. It can also be used to drive instruction and ask critical-thinking questions to the class as a whole. The easy-to-use audience response system allows students to anonymously text in their responses in real time. Nameless answers will appear instantaneously on the teacher’s SMARTboard or computer projector. With sensitivity toward equality, teachers are advised to assign cell-phone-owning partners to students without cell phones to foster peer engagement.

Introduction to Poll Everywhere

The biggest advantage of Poll Everywhere is that it allows quieter students to shine, as well as encourages students to be honest about what they know or don’t know without feeling embarrassed or possibly bullied. I urge to explore the other websites mentioned above to see how you can use them to engage your students. Most websites that aren’t free are sometimes willing to negotiate free or reduced-rate subscriptions with educators, so don’t be afraid to ask!

Not only did this weekend’s conference validate the growing need for technology in the classroom, but also the mission that EdOptions has already embarked on.

Still not convinced? See what one young student has to say about the old ways of teaching and today’s digital natives.

~ Natalie Bedell, Curriculum Editor

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Learning and Earning Diplomas in Correctional Institutions

October 26th, 2011

San Quentin State Prison, a facility with a reputation for violence, is making a new name for itself as a model for reform. The Prison University Project is an on-site, degree-granting program staffed by teacher volunteers from around California. Enrolled inmates are working toward associate’s degrees offered through a partnership with Patten University in Oakland, Calif.

There are many types of educational programs offered in incarceration facilities or juvenile centers–special education, study release programs, vocational training, secondary education, basic adult education, and college courses. The most common educational opportunity provided to inmates is secondary education or high school coursework. The Bureau of Justice states that “while 18% of the general population has not graduated from high school, this percentage is 27% for Federal prison inmates, 31% for those on probation, 40% for state prison inmates, and 47% for those held in local jails.”

When it comes to education in the juvenile justice system, the opportunities for education are greater and critical components of rehabilitation. According to the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice, “one of the most effective ways to help young people in juvenile justice get back on track is by advancing their educational skills.” The majority of juveniles in the juvenile justice system perform below grade level and roughly 40 percent have educational disabilities.

There are centers, schools, and facilities serving as models for remediating kids who have found themselves involved with the courts. The Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C. began as a school only serving youth in the juvenile justice system and uses traditional curriculum, part-time jobs, electives, and study hall to reach these students that didn’t succeed in traditional settings—30 percent of whom have faced the courts.

AMIkids West is a non-profit residential facility and EdOptions client that provides rehabilitation services to juvenile offenders in a wilderness camping setting. In addition to using practices to develop socially acceptable behavior and providing opportunities to earn certifications and training in outdoor activities, the students are given chances to recover course credits through online course work using Stars Suite®.

Do you know of a success story in your area helping young people in juvenile justice get back on track and graduate from high school?

~ Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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The Flipped Classroom

October 18th, 2011

A trend in education is reverse instruction or “flipped classroom.” This technique swaps the traditional method of teaching lessons through lecture at school and assigning homework on the lesson to be done at home. Instead, students watch videos covering topics at home and then come to school and work on assignments and projects that address the content they watched.

Proponents of the “flip” say that it’s the challenge of applying the learning that students are often tripped up by and this reversal allows for educators to coach and troubleshoot with students having problems. The method also provides for opportunities to collaborate with others—an increasingly important skill for students to develop.

What does this do to the controversy surrounding homework? We tackled the homework issue previously and it seems that the “flipped” method would mean that there would be lessons to watch every night and a significant amount of them. But, is watching something set at a certain time limit different then executing 25 Algebra problems from lessons learned at school?

Have you tried reverse instruction in your classroom? What was your experience? How did your students fair in executing projects based on what they learned?

~ Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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Homework: The Great Debate

October 12th, 2011

This summer, the Los Angeles Unified School District put a cap on the percentage of an overall grade that homework can account for. The reasoning behind the change came from a need to help out students in low-income families that have limited Internet access or have trouble studying in overcrowded houses. This is just one of numerous reasons that many districts across the country have cited for paring down or eliminating homework for students.

We’ve blogged about the stress caused by homework before. This issue isn’t new but it continues to get parents and educators riled up and districts are continually battling with how best to handle the homework issue.

Strategies for limiting homework’s intrusion into family/down time ranges from elimination to homework-free days and/or holidays to homework alternatives like “goal work.”

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to the issue and school districts will continue to tackle the subject their own way but we are curious: Does your school district have a “homework” policy? Are school officials considering one? What is your opinion on the issue of required work completed outside of school hours?

~ Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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Blog: Twitter as a Time Machine

September 30th, 2011

I came across a website that has taken Twitter and the manner in which users communicate through it to an interesting place—back in time. Twhistory’s process is simple:

  • Pick an event.  From the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the capture of Bin Laden, there is no shortage of historical happenings that can be explored.
  • Pick a person. Choose historical figures that were at the event.
  • Do the research and prepare the Tweets based on original documentation.
  • Then watch history unfold via the most modern of experiences.

For examples, peruse the “reenactments,” which include John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the Battle of Waterloo, the sinking of the Titanic, and more.

What a cool way to relive history while teaching it in a manner that students can relate to!

What other applications can this example lead to? Development of an Algebra problem? Forming a hypothesis for a Science experiment? Posing a grammatically incorrect sentence for correction? What ideas do you have?

~ Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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Taking Your Teaching to the Streets (or the Internet)

September 21st, 2011

The iPad app ShowMe boasts the tagline: “Learn and teach anything.” This app gives teachers and experts a place to share and show what they know by creating whiteboard presentations or tutorials with recorded voice-overs. Educators post their tutorial online and voila, their students, colleagues or anyone interested in learning about the topic may access the presentation.

Tutorial categories range from Science to Art. You may search by popular topics, use a search field with your own search term, or take a look at the “tag cloud,” which notes all tags used to categorize tutorials and indicates the most popular tags with an increased font size.

Take a look at a lesson I found on The Rule of Thirds used in photography: http://www.showmeapp.com/sh/?i=559.

Here’s one that covers the topic of gerrymandering as part of Social Studies: http://www.showmeapp.com/sh/?i=14960.

The app’s website suggests ways to use  ShowMe in the classroom but we’d like to hear from you! How would you incorporate this app into your curriculum?

-Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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Blog: Listen to Your Elders

September 12th, 2011

The Legacy Project, an organization that functions as a “big-picture, multigenerational education project,” kicked off their annual Listen to a Life Contest yesterday on Grandparents’ Day. The contest is “a team effort—a young person between the ages of 8 and 18 years interviews a grandparent or grand friend 50 years or older about their life and writes a 300-word essay.” The goal of the contest is to create new and renewed bonds between young and old as they get to know one another through this experience.

Prizes for winners of the contest include software and curriculum from EdOptions and an all-in-one computer from Lenovo ThinkCentre.

Share this contest with students in your English, Journalism, Creative Writing, or Social Studies classes.

Here’s this past year’s winning essay: http://www.legacyproject.org/contests/winnersgp.html.

2010-2011 Runner-up Contest Winners

Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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Google+: The Possibilities for Educators and Schools

August 29th, 2011

Google is currently testing out a new project known as Google+. They describe it as a way to “share more on the Web as you do in real life.” It includes five features known as Circles, Hangouts, Instant Uploads, Sparks, and Huddles.

Here’s a brief description of each feature and our take on how it could be applied in the classroom. Join in the conversation and share ideas on ways to transform education with this “plus.”

Circles: File away contacts, friends, family members, and other people in your life in to “circles” or groups. By doing so, this functionality allows you to share information with sets of people based on appropriate content.
-Share lesson plans with coworkers or colleagues, project resources with students, and education news with administrators. Students may communicate directly with team members on group projects rather than all their friends.

Hangouts: Set up impromptu meetings with groups of friends, colleagues, or team project members. Let friends or “circles” know you’re “hanging out” and they can join in your conversation.
-Get together with off-site coworkers for meetings. Chat with colleagues that are away at conferences. Use with student work and take things like team projects to a new level.

Instant Uploads: Take photos and videos and upload them to a private album that can later be shared with certain “circles” or groups of people.
-Out and about on the weekend and see something related to a lesson you taught last week? Snap a photo and share with your class. Discover a tool or resource that other educators would dig? Capture and file the source for your colleagues. Students, too, could file away pictures for team projects instead of sharing with all their friends using this tool.

Sparks: The above features seem to be a way to combat the blending of different groups of people in your life that may occur with applications like Facebook. Sparks, on the other hand, appears to have an unlimited number of applications in the classroom. In the same vein as Google Alerts, you indicate interests that you’d like to be alerted about but the tool culls the Web for actual materials that you can check out at your convenience—videos, links, articles, etc.—that can then be shared with your various “circles.”
-The list of uses seems endless with lesson plans, projects, hot topics, and various technologies that could be categorized as interests, the results of which can be used right in the classroom or shared with “circles.” Planning an upcoming lesson on Egypt? Add it as an interest. Looking to incorporate iPads in your classroom? Try “iPad lesson plans” as a topic.

Huddle: Multiple party texting or “group chatting” is the best way to describe Huddle. This tool gets all parties involved in on the conversation so everyone can participate with real time feedback.
- Ideas that come to our mind… class scavenger hunts, research projects, and other group activities such as field trips.

Interested in trying Google+ out? Check in on Google+ trial availability.

Are you an educator that is lucky enough to be a Google+ guinea pig? Tell us what it is like, how you see it being used, and if you’d add it to the plethora of other tech tools in your education toolbox.

~ Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director

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New Science Standards in the Works

August 22nd, 2011

A framework for the new Science standards in development and spearheaded by the National Research Council has been established. Their work now is going to be focused on expanding the framework to set of standards to be released by fall of 2012.

The following has been established in the new framework:

• Eight key practices in Science and Engineering that students should learn
• Seven crosscutting concepts that students need to know
• Four disciplinary areas of concern: Life Sciences; Physical Sciences; Earth and Space Sciences; and Engineering, Technology, and the applications of Science

The changes to the Science standards from those currently in place include:

• A different approach to learning in Science with a focus on core ideas
• A shift to teaching students how to look at and solve a problem rather than memorization
• Incorporation of Engineering

Here are a few pieces of Science inspiration we came across:

• Online Resources

- Succeeding With Science is a great resource for games, videos, and other activities for teaching and learning Science.
- Free Tech 4 Teachers also shares 11 Science Resources to Try in 2011
- U.S. Government Science Information

• Students Doing Real Work with Science

- Discover what students were cooking up in their labs for Google’s Science Fair 2012

• Science in the News

- Time Magazine: Science
- Science News for Kids

As you begin the new school year and await the standards that will be released next fall, how can you spark excitement in your students with Science? Any out of the box ideas you use when tackling problems and experiments? What technology do you use to teach science concepts?

~ Erin Kampelman, assistant marketing director
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