Woodbury, NY (February 2, 2012) – Learn360, an interactive media-on-demand service for the K-12 education market, announces the addition of more than 200 streaming video titles and clips from publisher The Creative Native to both its U.S. and Canadian customers.

The Creative Native, originally broadcast on Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, offers a fresh repertoire of video content for the social studies classroom. Contributing 41 full videos and 150 video clips to Learn360’s digital library, the acclaimed series features the journey through North America to discover and document the arts, crafts, culture and traditions of indigenous peoples from British Columbia to Mexico.

“The Creative Native series promises entertaining content that will engage students,” said Tamara Bell, Host/Producer at The Creative Native. “Each episode visually showcases thematic issues and allows students to embark on a journey across North America to unearth the roots of the language and traditions they know today—concepts far more tangible when hands-on.”

The series highlights artist profiles, in-depth interviews, traditional and contemporary art projects and historic snapshots that explore Aboriginal cultural contexts relevant to the theme of each episode. Saturated with the crafts and traditions of indigenous peoples, the series also offers instruction for a variety of age-based art projects to be completed in the classroom.

“We’re pleased to be adding The Creative Native to both our US and Canadian libraries,” said Ed Murphy, vice president of marketing and business development at Learn360. “Social studies educators want their interactions with students to not only create a platform for delivering facts and theories, but also to spark a desire to independently learn more about the subject. Learn360’s expanding lineup of video content in these subject areas helps students reach the point at which a more meaningful learning process can begin.”

Learn360 offers thousands of digital video titles, images, articles, audio files and podcasts. These trusted resources are provided by top educational publishers such as Encyclopedia Britannica, A&E Television Networks (which includes A&E, History and Biography), Sunburst Visual Media, and National Geographic, among others. Learn360 continues to build its comprehensive library of full-length videos and clips, teacher resources, lesson plans and multimedia files.

For more information about Learn360 and its extensive library of multimedia and streaming video content, please visit http://www.learn360.com. Free 30-day trials are available.
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About Learn360
With an extensive library of digital video titles and online resources, Learn360 gives educators and students the power to meet and exceed 21st century educational expectations. Setting a superior standard of quality for video streaming, Learn360 delivers the rich resources educators need to bring standards-based and differentiated instruction to students everywhere. Learn360 is a division of AIM Education, Inc. For more information, or to sign up for a free 30-day trial, visit http://www.learn360.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kathy Schroeder
Director of Marketing
kschroeder@atomiclearning.com

Atomic Learning Introduces New Content Including Camtasia 1.2 Training

February 2, 2012 — Little Falls, Minnesota — Atomic Learning has expanded its training collection to include Camtasia 1.2 training as well as adding advanced training series for Illustrator CS5 and PowerPoint 2011, among other software applications. This update to the online edtech training includes several updates to existing training series.

Camtasia 1.2 (http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/camtasia12)
Empower your training by easily creating effective videos using Camtasia 1.2. In this online training series, you’ll learn how to precisely edit screencasts by cutting, splicing, adding transitions, and captions. Also learn how to record PowerPoint® presentations, Web sites, Web cams, and software demos. Learn how to produce your video in many formats to share on video hosting sites such as YouTube™.

Illustrator CS5 (http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/ilcs5_adv)
In the Illustrator CS5 series, you will learn helpful tips and tricks for Live Trace and Live Paint, work with the Pathfinder Panel, create and manipulate blends and set your work apart with powerful 3D effects. Plus, discover many of the exciting new features of Illustrator including variable-width strokes, perspective drawing and the all-new Bristle Brush tool.

PowerPoint 2011 (http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/ppt11adv)
If you’re wanting to be accelerate your PowerPoint skills, this new series demonstrates more in-depth options for working with tables, customizing charts, adding hyperlinks, manipulating photos, adding audio and movies to your slides, working with animations and transitions, understanding slide masters, and creating speaker notes or support materials for your audiences.

New Training:

Camtasia 1.2 Training (Mac)

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/camtasia12

Excel 2010 – Charting Training (PC)

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/ex10chart

Fireworks CS5 Training (Mac)

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/fworkscs5_mac

Fireworks CS5 Training (PC)

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/fworkscs5

Illustrator CS5 – Advanced Training (PC)

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/ilcs5_adv

PowerPoint 2011 – Advanced Training (Mac)

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/ppt11adv

Updated Training:
Google Docs – A Focus on Spreadsheets – Advanced Training (Both) – Fully updated!

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/google_spreadsheets_adv

iPad/iPad 2 (iOS 5) Training – Added 10 new movies!

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/ipad_ios5

Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) – Orientation Training – Added 53 new movies!

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/lion

Moodle 2.0 – Instructor Training (Both) – Added 27 new movies!

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/moodle2instruct

About Atomic Learning
Founded in 2000 by a group of technology educators, Atomic Learning serves over 16 million individuals in more than 45 countries worldwide. Atomic Learning offers a cost-effective just-in-time professional development, technology integration and support solution that empowers educators to effectively utilize technology to positively impact student achievement. As your ed tech training partner, Atomic Learning helps teachers develop college and career-ready students with 21st century skills-based training. Visit us today at www.AtomicLearning.com.

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As he was planning his next unit in English class, ODE teacher Sean Chapman got an email from Melody Stockslager, his long-time facilitator at Berryville High School, located in Berryville, Arkansas. She told Chapman about the Ideas Matter Essay Contest offered by The Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas awarding $2,500 for the best essay about challenges facing the country and how to fix them.

It was a good thing Melody emailed because after a couple of weeks of work and five revisions later, Berryville student Benjamin Harris mailed his in, and a few days after that he received an email from The Clinton Presidential Center informing him that he had won the award. Just before break, Ben and his delighted family drove to Little Rock and had their picture taken with President Clinton. “I owe a lot to ODE, and Mr. Chapman, and Ms. Stockslager. Thanks for helping me win this scholarship, which I needed. This will help a lot.” Ben’s essay was about the dangers and temptations of dropping out of school and how to overcome those pitfalls through learning more about the difficulties that face high school dropouts. Ben plans on attending College of the Ozarks, and after winning this award, he’s become interested in majoring in creative writing.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Super Duper Language LAB™ Response to Intervention (RTI) Program
Aims to Reduce Number of Students in Special Education Classes

Greenville, SC – February 1, 2012 – Super Duper Publications has released Language LAB, a new response to intervention, (RTI) evidence-based program designed to help elementary school students (grades K-4) improve their English language skills. Language LAB provides struggling students with 15 hours of focused, intensive and systematic instruction to assist them in acquiring strong language, listening and reading skills that are consistent with state educational standards. The goal of the program is to help students so that they would not need special language therapy and could remain in their regular classroom settings. http://sdpubs.com/7s2pt

Language LAB provides Tier II or Tier III language intervention for groups of 2–4 students prior to making a special education referral. This RTI program consists of five learning stations—Skill Drill Station, Listen and Learn Station, Talk Aloud Station, Story Station, and Homework Connections Station. Over a 30-minute session (2–3 days per week), students rotate through all four stations. The first three stations teach specific grammar and vocabulary skills and the fourth station targets narrative, story-telling and retelling skills. In addition, a Homework Connections workbook provides homework for all of the skills. http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=LANG22&view=HowToVideo

JoAnn Weichmann, Special Education Coordinator of Evaluation in the Pasadena Independent School District in Texas and co-developer of the program, states, “Each session of Language LAB provides the opportunity for the child to mass practice his target language skills and move quickly into activities that allow for use of the target skills in connected speech… The bottom line is that Language LAB is effective because it is fast-paced, fun, children love stories, and improved language skills translate into stronger performance in the classroom.”

Language LAB targets the following language skills: Verbs (regular & irregular tenses), Adverbs, Nouns (regular & irregular plurals), Adjectives, and Connected Speech (clauses, conjunctions, negatives, direct & indirect objects). In addition, students learn narrative skills through scripted lessons, helping them to use the grammar components while retelling, creating, and adding creativity and cohesiveness to the stories they create.

Language LAB’s comprehensive program includes:
o Resource Guide with printable CD-ROM (for all books)
o Homework Connections Workbook
o Skill Drill Workbook
o Five Language LAB Station Signs
o 120 Talk Aloud Cards
o Six Audio CDs with 5,000 sentences
o 90 Story Station Cards
o Three Language Screener Cards

Super Duper Publications has created additional RTI programs such as Artic LAB for articulation enhancement http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=ARTIC33 and START-IN for reading improvement http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=START11.

Super Duper has over 1,000 creative, unique educational materials for children with special needs and communication or language delays. The Super Duper website offers a wide variety of products for teachers, therapy professionals, and parents to use with children in a classroom, therapy setting, and at home.

For more information and to see the full line of Super Duper products, visit www.superduperinc.com

Media Contacts:

Kati Elliott Katherine Russo
KEH Communications KEH Communications
410.975.9638 410.975.9638
kati@kehcomm.com katherine@kehcomm.com
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"We're getting calls now, and we're more than happy to share," said Superintendent Lance Bagstad. "We've made mistakes, and we've done things right."

The sign in the hallway tells Renville County West fifth-grade students what they’ll need in class: social studies book, pencil, folder, iPad.

In another classroom, Quick Response codes on the bulletin board can be used to download assignments directly onto an iPad.

They are visual reminders of how much things have changed this year for students and staff at RCW, which has provided Apple iPads for all students in grades 4-12. Nearby MACCRAY Schools has provided iPads for students in grades 7-12.

There have been bumps in the road—the devices need better cases, because they break too easily, and there have been occasional issues with kids downloading unauthorized software.

But the positives have outweighed the negatives, school officials said recently. While this is still a transition year, they say they can see ways the iPads will help the district contain costs in the future.

As they need new textbooks, for example, they expect to use digital versions where possible.

For more news about iPads in the classroom, see:

Apple unveils interactive textbooks, revamped iTunes U

Tips and success stories for effective mobile learning

Schools see rising scores with iPads

Many U.S. schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks

Textbook-free schools share experiences, insights

Their experience also has stirred interest around the state. RCW representatives were mobbed at a January school board convention, where people had to be turned away from their presentation.

“We’re getting calls now, and we’re more than happy to share,” said Superintendent Lance Bagstad. “We’ve made mistakes, and we’ve done things right.”

School Board member David Hamre said the board has been pleased with the progress seen this year.

“They are above and beyond what we ever dreamed of,” he said, “and it’s only the beginning.”

The Chicago Teachers Union on Friday stated that a report finding that Chicago Public Schools, since 2006, paid out $265 million to ex-employees due to their unused vacation and sick days “unfairly characterizes teachers and paraprofessionals as abusing the system,” the Huffington Post reports. The finding that some 19,000 former CPS employees were paid out an average of just less than $14,000 upon their departure from the school system were the result of a joint investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and Better Government Association. Some former CPS employees have received six-figure payments as high as just more than $250,000 under the policy, including more than 300 principals and administrators who received more than $100,000. The BGA claims that some ex-employees used the payouts to boost their pension benefits…

Click here for the full story

Lowndes County Schools students in Georgia can relax a little–3rd through 8th graders can no longer receive zeros on assignments, the Huffington Post reports. Under a new policy, report cards and progress reports will reflect a 60 out of 100 as the lowest grade, and teachers must offer students opportunities to retake tests and redo assignments until a passing grade is earned. The highest grade earned will be recorded, and teachers cannot record zeros, but can give an “incomplete” for work not turned in after insisting that the assignment be completed…

Click here for the full story

I just found a book review I wrote for The Elementary School Journal in 1986. The book I reviewed was McDonogh 15: Becoming a School by Lucianne Bond Carmichael, says Joanne Yatvin, a longtime public school educator, author and past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, for the Washington Post. (If you’ve never read it, you should get a copy, read it, and hold it close to your heart forever.  Better yet, buy several copies and send them to your federal and state legislators.) Reading it reinforced and expanded my own idea of what a truly good school is and the specific things it does to empower its students and strengthen its teachers. I will quote one section of my review: a definition and description of a good school based partly on Carmichael’s experience as a principal and partly on my own.  Because I am taking the quoted section out of context and because educational terminology has changed over the years, I have altered some of it but the meaning remains the same…

Click here for the full story

Parents are outraged after nearly two dozen 5th graders at Washington Elementary School in New Ulm, Minn., were caught playing a game called “rape tag,” WCCO TV reports. In the game, children “tag” each other by grabbing other students’ private parts, according to the report. Greg Diehl of a Rape & Abuse Crisis Center told WDAY TV he’s shocked by the game.

“So much of it is inappropriate for their age, their stage of development,” Diehl told the station…

Click here for the full story

Getting young children to eat their servings of fruits and veggies, particularly in school, has been a long and hard struggle for parents, schools and lawmakers over the years. But a new study suggests that a quick fix could be as simple as showing kids some pictures, the Huffington Post reports. In the first move of its kind in over 15 years, the government last week announced new guidelines to ensure students are given healthier options for school meals. The new standards call for more whole grains and produce as well as less sodium and fat in school meals. While the measures mark a step forward from previous years, they still compromise amid push-back from Congress to keep pizza and french fries on the menu–counting both the tomato paste on pizza and the potatoes that make fries as vegetables. But children might not have to be forced by the law or school to eat their fruits and vegetables. According to research published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, students who were given visual hints were more likely to choose and eat their vegetables…

Click here for the full story

Rick Shaw, President and CEO of Awareity, has been selected as a speaker at the National Conference on Youth Cyber Safety to be held in Dallas, March 2-3rd.

In the digital world, it is alarming how quickly new threats are emerging and spreading and causing direct and indirect harm to young people. Youth are vulnerable to many of these dangers and they, along with adults, need to be better equipped with tools they can use for intervention, prevention and support as alarming situations arise.
This conference will provide attendees with insights, practical strategies, best-practices, model prevention/intervention programs, information on legal issues, and resources related to youth cyber-safety.
Shaw and Tenna Whitsel, the student services director for Tulsa Public Schools, will share real-world strategies to help and equip school leaders with the tools to build a safe learning environment for all students and prevent preventable incidents. Attendees will learn how Tulsa Public Schools is equipping individuals to report, intervene, prevent and document incidents with cyberbullying, bullying, harassment, violence, suicide and other alarming trends.

Who: Rick Shaw, CEO, Awareity
When: March 2-3, 2012
Where: Dallas, TX
Registration: Registration for the National Conference on Youth Cyber Safety can be accessed online at

http://www.youthcybersafety.com

About Awareity:
Awareity helps leading organizations prevent the preventable and transform the status quo. Awareity is reinventing the way schools improve safety and helping organizations prevent regulatory failures, compliance fines, lawsuits, privacy breaches, safety disconnects, operational challenges, ethical lapses, incident reporting failures, workplace violence and more. Awareity offers an innovative and cost-effective platform to connect the dots, eliminate embarrassing gaps and realize a better bottom line. For more information visit www.awareity.com or contact Awareity at info@awareity.com.

Contact Information:
Katie Johnson
Awareity
402.730.0077
info@awareity.com

Barracuda Labs Unveils New Research Study Analyzing Facebook Profiles

Campbell, Calif. (February 2, 2012) – Barracuda Networks, a leading provider of security, networking and data protection solutions, today released findings from Barracuda Labs’ most recent study, Facebook: Fake Profiles vs. Real Users. The study analyzes a random sampling of 2,884 active Facebook accounts to identify key differences between average real user accounts and fake accounts created by attackers and spammers. The results of the study are being presented today at the 2012 Kaspersky Threatpost Security Analyst Summit in Cancun, Mexico.

Facebook, which filed for IPO this week, has become an important part of personal and business communication. The company consistently fights to keep attackers out of its network, most recently announcing its lawsuit against a marketing firm accused of “spreading spam through misleading and deceptive tactics”. The Barracuda Labs study provides yet another example of this “arms race” as an increasing number of attackers move to social networks to carry out their wares.

Highlighted findings from the Barracuda Labs study include:
• Almost 60 percent of fake accounts claim to be bisexual, 10 times more than real users
• Fake accounts have six times more friends than real users, 726 versus 130
• Fake accounts use photo tags over 100 times more than real users, 136 tags per four photos versus one tag per four photos
• Fake accounts almost always (97 percent) claim to be female, as opposed to 40 percent for real users

“Likes, News Feeds and Apps have helped lead Facebook to its social network dominance and now attackers are harnessing those same features to efficiently scale their efforts,” said Dr. Paul Judge, chief research officer at Barracuda Networks. “These fake profiles and apps give attackers a long-lived path to continuously present malicious links to innocent users.

“Also, researchers have shown how friending malicious accounts can lead to account takeover using Facebook’s trusted friend account recovery,” Judge continued. “We have analyzed thousands of fake accounts to determine features and patterns that distinguish them from real users, and created a feature-based heuristic engine to distinguish real users from fake profiles.”

The study analyzes data collected from Barracuda Profile Protector, a free tool that analyzes and blocks malicious activity on Facebook and Twitter, along with public data collected from streams and network crawling to demonstrate how users typically operate. The study illustrates how attacks on Facebook are structured to exploit the “friendship” concept and trust of widely-used applications. A variety of machine learning techniques are used to analyze shared URLs, profile images, profile information, and connections with other users to reveal associations, weak and strong, between malicious users.

Resources:
• Download the Infographic: Facebook: Fake Profiles vs. Real Users at http://www.barracudalabs.com/fbinfographic/.
• View the Barracuda Labs security research portal at http://barracudalabs.com.
• Install Profile Protector at http://ProfileProtector.com.
• Follow Barracuda Labs on Twitter at @barracudalabs

About Barracuda Labs
Barracuda Labs is a global multi-disciplinary research and threat analysis team that fulfills a critical role in developing innovative technologies across Barracuda Networks’ business areas. The team evaluates the threat ecosystem and creates security intelligence to defend Barracuda Networks customers. Barracuda Labs’ threat research areas, which include email, Web, network and cloud security and technology, are designed to improve the world’s security posture by promoting security awareness and education, developing and innovating new defense technologies, and working with government and law enforcement agencies to reduce cybersecurity crime. For more information, please visit www.barracudalabs.com.

About Barracuda Networks Inc.
Barracuda Networks combines premises-based gateways and software, virtual appliances, cloud services, and sophisticated remote support to deliver comprehensive content and network security, data protection and application delivery solutions. The company’s expansive product portfolio includes offerings for protection against email and Web threats as well as products that improve application delivery and network access, message archiving, backup and data protection. Coca-Cola, FedEx, Harvard University, IBM, L’Oreal, and Europcar are among the more than 150,000 organizations protecting their IT infrastructures with Barracuda Networks’ range of affordable, easy-to-deploy and manage solutions. Barracuda Networks is privately held with its International Headquarters in Campbell, Calif. For more information, please visit www.barracudanetworks.com.

Alexandria, VA (02/02/2012)—Now off press, Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools by ASCD authors William Parrett and Kathleen Budge supports education leaders in changing school processes to help students living in poverty succeed. Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools is a guide that principals, teacher leaders, and district leaders can use to help close the achievement gap between students living in poverty and their more privileged peers.

High-poverty, high-performing schools do not arrive at success by chance; a crucial factor common among them is effective school and district leadership. Designed to empower education leaders who are ready to make change and bring success to their schools, Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools lays the groundwork for planning and action while offering valuable information about poverty and its shocking, far-reaching effects.

This book not only helps spark informed conversations among colleagues, it also explores research-based practices that high-performing, high-poverty schools have turned to—as well as those that they have abandoned. The book zeros in on what successful, high-poverty schools began doing or improved on in three areas of performance: building leadership capacity; fostering a healthy, safe, and supportive learning environment; and focusing on student, professional, and system learning.

In addition to exploring research on what hundreds of high-poverty, high-performing schools have done, the authors present lessons learned and practical advice from seven truly remarkable schools:

Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School in St. Paul, Minn.;
Lapwai Elementary School in northern Idaho;
Molalla High School southwest of Portland, Ore.;
Osmond A. Church P.S./M.S. 124 K–8 School in Queens, N. Y.;
Port Chester Middle School north of New York City, N.Y.;
Tekoa High School in the farmland of eastern Washington State; and
William Howard Taft Elementary School in Boise, Idaho.
“There is much to be learned from schools that are helping young learners living in poverty succeed,” said ASCD CEO and Executive Director Dr. Gene Carter. “In this book, William Parrett and Kathleen Budge make clear that any school can become high-performing if its leaders are willing to refocus efforts on effective, research-based strategies.”

About the Authors
William H. Parrett is the director of the Center for School Improvement & Policy Studies and a professor of education at Boise State University. He has received international recognition for his work in school improvement, small schools, and alternative education and for his efforts to help youth at risk.

Kathleen M. Budge is the coordinator of the Leadership Development Program at Boise State University. She has led the development of this innovative, nontraditional preparation program, the purpose of which is to develop leaders who have the commitment and capabilities to lead schools where all students succeed.

ASCD offers educators a free Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools study guide available on the ASCD.org website.

For more information about ASCD, please visit www.ascd.org. To learn more about our books program or to read sample chapters from past publications, please visit www.ascd.org/books.

Contact Information
Julia Liapidova, communications specialist, 1-703-575-5607 or by e-mail.
Stephen Wakefield, communications director, 1-703-575-5764 or by e-mail.

ASCD is the global leader in developing and delivering innovative programs, products, and services that empower educators to support the success of each learner. Comprising 150,000 members—superintendents, principals, teachers, professors, and advocates from more than 145 countries—the ASCD community also includes 58 affiliate organizations. The nonprofit’s diverse, nonpartisan membership is its greatest strength, projecting a powerful, unified voice to decision makers around the world. To learn more about how ASCD supports educators as they learn, teach, and lead, visit www.ascd.org.

2012 NAB Show Product Preview
Matrox Video Products Group
Las Vegas
April 14-19, 2012
Booth SL5115

Matrox
1055 St. Regis Blvd.
Dorval, Quebec, Canada
H9P 2T4
Matrox Video Products Group website: www.matrox.com/video
Matrox Graphics Inc. website: www.matrox.com/graphics

Matrox Video Products Group Contact:
Janet Matey
Marketing Communications Director
Matrox Video Products Group
Tel: +1 (514) 822-6037
Email: janet.matey@matrox.com

Agency Contact:
Sarah Schraad
Wall Street Communications
Tel: +1 (303) 567-4048
Email: sarah@wallstcom.com

Company Overview:
Matrox(R) Video Products Group is a technology and market leader in the field of HD and SD digital video hardware and software for accelerated H.264 encoding, realtime editing, audio/video input/output, DVD/Blu-ray authoring, streaming, A/V signal conversion, capture/playout servers, clip/still stores, and CGs. Matrox’s Emmy award-winning technology powers a full range of content creation and delivery platforms used by broadcasters, post-production facilities, project studios, corporate communicators, videographers and A/V professionals worldwide.

Matrox Graphics Inc. is a leading manufacturer of graphics solutions for professional markets. In-house design expertise, top-to-bottom manufacturing, and dedicated customer support make our solutions the premier choice in industries that require stable, high-reliability products.

Founded in 1976, the Matrox group of companies is privately held and headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Matrox at the 2012 NAB Show:
Matrox(R) Video Products Group and Matrox Graphics Inc. will be sharing Booth SL5115 at NAB 2012. Matrox Video Products Group will be showcasing H.264 encoding accelerators; A/V input/output/monitoring devices for use with Adobe(R) Creative Suite(R) 5.5 Production Premium, Apple(R) Final Cut Studio(R), and Avid(R) Media Composer(R); and cost-effective HD-SDI scan converters and versatile mini-converters. The latest updates to the Matrox DSX developer products will also be on display. In addition, Matrox Graphics Inc. will be presenting KVM extenders and graphics expansion modules. Several new product announcements and updates to existing products are expected at the show, so please stay tuned for further details.
Matrox Products on Display at the 2012 NAB Show:

Matrox Avio
Matrox Avio(TM) is the ideal fiber-optic KVM extender for graphics-intensive design, visual effects, and editing applications. Avio lets users separate the computer from the working environment and place it in a secure, climate-controlled machine room. Matrox Avio consists of a transmitter and receiver pair, which captures dual digital video, keyboard, mouse, analog stereo audio, and USB from the host system and extends them uncompressed up to 2,000 meters over a single fiber-optic cable. Matrox Avio maintains the system’s performance and delivers exceptional image quality and smooth HD video playback without any frame rate drops or color degradation.

Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Matrox/Avio.zip

Matrox Convert DVI Plus
Matrox Convert(TM) DVI Plus is a cost-effective HD-SDI scan converter that lets broadcasters easily and economically take to air the computer-based content that is quickly becoming an integral part of the nightly news. The solution is ideal for creating broadcast-quality video from computer applications running on Mac(R) computers or PCs such as Skype(TM), YouTube(TM), and Google Earth(TM), as well as video games and web browser sessions. In addition, Matrox Convert DVI Plus can be used to drive projectors and large displays at live events.

Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Matrox/ConvertDVIPlus.zip

Matrox DualHead2Go DP Edition
Matrox DualHead2Go(TM) DP Edition external multi-display adapters represent must-have productivity gear for any video editor, design artist, or compositor. DualHead2Go DP Edition lets users add two monitors to a Mac(R) notebook, doubling desktop space to spread out projects, better organize a Final Cut Pro timeline, and multitask effectively. The Thunderbolt-compatible Matrox DualHead2Go DP is simple to set up and connects to the video output of the notebook, working with the system’s existing GPU to deliver a solid platform for any content creation and multimedia application.

Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Matrox/DualHead2Go.zip

Matrox MC-100
The award-winning Matrox MC-100(TM) mini-converter meets the diverse needs of broadcast engineers and A/V professionals in managing SDI signals within their environments, whether for monitoring, distributing, switching, multiplexing, or converging 3D. Eliminating the need for different devices to perform these tasks, MC-100 addresses all these challenges in one easy-to-use device. The portable unit supports a wide range of display resolutions through 3G, Dual Link, HD, and SD-SDI and can be used as an HD-SDI switcher, a distribution amplifier, a multiplexer, and a 3D processing unit, making MC-100 the most versatile mini converter on the market.

Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Matrox/MC100.zip

Matrox Mojito MAX
Matrox Mojito MAX(TM) provides broadcast-quality input and output for leading editing apps and turbocharges H.264 encoding for deliveries to the web, mobile devices, and Blu-ray — in a single ¾-length PCIe card.

Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Matrox/MojitoMAXcard.zip

Matrox MXO2 Family
The Matrox MXO2(TM) family is a full range of HD/SD input/output devices for editing, H.264 encoding, and streaming workflows. These affordably priced units allow users to get the most from industry-leading applications, including Adobe(R) Creative Suite(R) 5.5 Production Premium, Apple(R) Final Cut Studio(R) and Final Cut Pro(R) X, and the new Avid(R) Media Composer(R) 6(R). Matrox MXO2 units are also the only I/O solutions on the market that enable lightning-fast creation of H.264 files for Blu-ray, the web, and mobile devices. In addition, Matrox MXO2 devices can be used to stream from any camera, anywhere, making them ideal for internet broadcasts of live events such as news, sports, concerts, religious services, and corporate meetings. They work with Mac(R) and PC laptops and desktop systems — in the studio, on the set, in the field, and in OB vans.

Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Matrox/MXO2.zip

Company Quote: “The 2012 NAB Show will see the introduction of exciting new features for our award-winning lines of digital video I/O hardware, H.264 encoders, and A/V signal converters,” said Alberto Cieri, senior director of sales and marketing at Matrox Video Products Group. “Designed specifically for the broadcast, pro A/V, and post-production communities, our products allow for the editing, streaming, and monitoring of content in virtually any format and from any location, making them ideal for field and studio productions as well as live news programming and events.”

Press Release – February 1, 2012:
For more information please contact Superintendent Dr. Rocco Tomazic
rtomazic@linden.k12.nj.us or call 1-908-486-2800
Dr. Rocco Tomazic would like to extend an invitation to everyone to attend the official opening of the Confucius Classroom
Linden High School located at 121 W. St. Georges Ave. will officially open its Confucius Classroom with a plaque unveiling ceremony in the school auditorium on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. The ceremony will start at 10:00am and will be followed by a reception and tour of the classroom. Faculty and staff from the supervising Confucius Institute at Rutgers University will be in attendance, along with other local dignitaries.
The Confucius Institute at Rutgers University promotes quality Chinese language and culture education, and serves as a resource center for Chinese studies in New Jersey. The Confucius Institute at Rutgers was formed in partnership with Jilin University in China, with the support from the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban).
Linden High School and Xiamen Foreign Language School in Xiamen China are partner high schools and joint Confucius Classrooms under the Confucius Institute at Rutgers University. Together they have carried on a host of activities including joint student exchanges, teacher training in China and the United States, as well as hosting joint exchanges of educators. The Linden Public Schools is also a model district for the use of the Great Wall Chinese Program in the United States, an educational program endorsed by Hanban.
The Linden Public School District is in its fifth year of teaching Chinese, providing instruction at all levels from grades 1 to 12, including the high school International Baccalaureate Program. Twenty-five percent of the students in grades 1 through 12 are currently studying Chinese, which represents nearly 975 students. There are four Chinese teachers in the district.
The unveiling ceremony will feature the Linden High School Chinese dragon teams and Chinese lions from the school’s Navy Junior ROTC unit. The Chinese drum team from the school’s band will also be present. Linden High School recently held its celebration ceremony for Chinese New Year during the visit of twenty-six visiting Chinese high school students from the Xiamen Foreign Language School and Fuzhou High School No. 3 of Fujian Province, China.
Activities of the Confucius Classroom are fully funded through grants from Hanban. Future activities will include support for the teaching of Chinese in the schools, assisting with cultural celebrations and student-to-student Chinese-American exchanges. There is also an initiative planned to conduct free Chinese classes in the evening for adults.

The Linden Public School district has signed an official agreement with The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) for Linden to be a model K-12 school district for the new Great Wall Chinese instructional program. Linden is the first model Great Wall Chinese K-12 school district in the United States. Two Great Wall Chinese Center teachers have already visited the district to set up the computer support and student accounts necessary to implement the program.
Great Wall Chinese is a new Chinese teaching and learning system based on cutting- edge network and multimedia technology. Great Wall Chinese mixes direct instruction with courseware technology, and uses a new management system for teachers to electronically monitor student progress over the Internet.
As part of the agreement, the Linden Public School district has already conducted its first workshop for Chinese teachers from around the Northeast held on October 22, 2011. The workshop attracted Chinese teachers from New Jersey, New York and Delaware. Attendees were introduced to the Great Wall Chinese system, andGreat Wall Chinese- trained teachers then demonstrated the various techniques using Linden students at the high school and middle school level.
The Linden Public School District is now in its fifth year of teaching Chinese, providing instruction at all levels from grades 1 to 12, including the high school International Baccalaureate Program. The district has over 6,000 students with 4,773 in grades 1 to 12. Of those students, 25%, or 1,195, are studying Chinese.
The Linden Public School District is designated as a model district for Bilingual and ESL education by the New Jersey Department of Education. The District teaches six world languages including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian and Chinese. At the high school level, students regularly participate in exchange visits to the language country of origin, and host return visits to Linden. Linden High School has a formal partnership with the Xiamen Foreign Language School in Xiamen, China. Students from Linden have visited Xiamen three times, and students from Xiamen have visited Linden twice. Mutual exchange visits are again scheduled for this school year.
Quality Education for All
1Great Wall Chinese is a systematic curriculum divided into entrance, primary, intermediate and advanced stages. Great Wall Chinese includes comprehensive Chinese, the main course, as well as core communicative courses, resource courses and skills training. The program integrates learning, administration, testing, resources, and a virtual community.
Great Wall Chinese provides support and service to learning, academic research and administration for all learners, tutors and Chinese teaching institutes. The online courseware creates a flexible time schedule, a voice recognition system to refine pronunciation, and classroom tutorials to meet individual needs. The computerized learning management system monitors the entire teaching and learning process.
“The Great Wall Chinese partnership is extremely important for Linden,” states Rocco Tomazic, Linden’s Superintendent of Schools. “It allows us to implement a state-of-the- art teaching program in our district at minimal cost, while providing quality support for our students over the Internet as they study and practice Chinese at home.”
The study of Chinese as a world language in Linden, a city with few heritage Chinese residents, grew from a 2007 visit to China by Mrs. Alphonsina Paternostro, Linden’s Supervisor of World Languages/Bilingual/ESL. Mrs. Paternostro attended the government sponsored “China Bridge” tour in 2007 visiting with key governmental and educational leaders seeking to promote the study of Chinese in the United States.
The following year, Rocco Tomazic, then Linden’s Assistant Superintendent, traveled to China on the 2008 “China Bridge”. It was on that visit that the initial contacts were made with Xiamen Foreign Language School that eventually culminated in a formal exchange partnership. Then Linden Superintendent Mr. Joseph E. Martino authorized the expansion of the Chinese program and appointed Ms. JuPing Chen as a Program Advisor to help guide the program forward.
Great Wall Chinese has taken five years to develop and has been used for Chinese teaching in 15 colleges and universities in China. Over 80 college Confucius Institutes around the world have applied for account numbers for the Internet version or for the stand-alone CD version. Great Wall Chinese has released its network version in English, Korean and French, as well as its stand-alone CD version in English and French. Network versions in Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian, and Thai are currently under development.
The Great Wall Chinese program consists of eighteen levels and covers three development stages of language learning – surviving communication, expanding communication and free communication. Great Wall Chinese popularizes survival communication as a learning objective so that the learners achieve the primary level in listening, speaking and reading. The content of Great Wall Chinese is embedded in the multimedia software of language teaching. The products cover Internet, local area network, stand-alone CD version and printed teaching materials.
In January 2009 Dr. Rocco Tomazic became the Superintendent of Schools in Linden and pushed forward with the expansion of the Chinese program, including supervising the first exchange visit of Linden students to Xiamen in April 2009. Annual visits to
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Xiamen followed in 2010 and 2011. Xiamen students visited Linden in the summer of 2010 and in February 2011. Linden High School and Xiamen Foreign Language School made a joint application to The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) to become Confucius Classrooms under the guidance of the Confucius Institute at Rutgers University. Approval has been obtained and the grand opening of the Linden High School Confucius Classroom is being planned.
The decision by the Linden Public Schools to initiate the teaching of Chinese has been guided by the U.S. Department of State National Security Language Initiative for Youth, which advocates K-12 language instruction in critical languages including Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Russian, Hindi, Persian and Turkish.
“Linden is a diverse community with a clear educational vision for our students’ future. Global understanding is a critical skill to learn in school and mastering it should serve our students well in their future,” says Mrs. Alphonsina Paternostro, Supervisor of World Languages/ESL/Bilingual. Mrs. Paternostro was recently honored by the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, earning an award as the Visionary Supervisor of the Year for 2011.
Involvement with the Great Wall Chinese initiative marks a positive step to improve the teaching and learning of Chinese in the district. Linden currently has four Chinese teachers and all have taken advantage of free training provided by Hanban in China and the United States. Selected Linden Chinese teachers and Linden’s Chinese Program Advisor traveled to China in November 2010 and again in June 2011 for free training sponsored by Hanban and Beijing Normal University. It was at these sessions that interest in the Great Wall Chinese program was developed.
Fascinated with the Great Wall Chinese program speech recognition capability, handwriting character recognition technology and the combination of multimedia teaching materials, Great Wall Chinese seemed a natural approach for Linden. Working as a team with other teachers associated with the Rutgers Confucius Institute, the team from New Jersey won two prizes at the June 2011 Beijing conference for Best Power Point and Best Creativity in using the Great Wall Chinesesystem.
This proficiency in using the Great Wall Chinese program caught the eye of Beijing Normal University professor Dr. Song Jihua, the head developer of the Great Wall Chinese program. Discussion between Dr. Song and Ms. Chen, Linden’s Program Advisor, developed the idea that Linden would be an ideal learning environment to further test the Great Wall Chinese program in the United States.
The technology of Great Wall Chinese shows a language environment through characters, situations and talk topics by using flash animation, and by combining speech recognition technology into Chinese character recognition technology. It provides a strong system for teacher-student interactivity. Its training patterns encompass overall understanding of language, reading imitation, recording comparison and simulating communication. The product cover 973 Chinese characters, more than 1,300 words, 156 grammar points, 240 scenes, 262 key points of communication, all distributed throughout the 60 units and 180 lessons.
In the management of teaching, the Great Wall Chinese program provides a system of to support the teacher and a student’s learning. On the Internet version, whenever
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registered users are logged on, the students can complete all teaching tasks arranged by a teacher, and students are able to get teacher guidance online.
The Chinese Multimedia Workshop conducted on October 22, 2011 in Linden marked a key cooperative effort. Combining resources from the Linden Public Schools, the Linden High School Confucius Classroom, the Great Wall Chinese Center and Hanban, the workshop took advantage of the two visiting Great Wall Chinese teachers to introduce the Great Wall Chinese program to area Chinese teachers. Mr. Ke Yonghong and Ms. Chang Hongling presented the features of the Great Wall Chinese program.
During the second part of the workshop, Great Wall Chinese-trained teachers Ms. Tsun- Ju Lin of Lawrence High School (Lawrenceville, NJ) taught a demonstration lesson with high levels of teacher-student interaction using Linden students. Later Ms. Liang Yin (Celia) Liu of The College of New Jersey presented material on how to use digital teaching tools to link classroom and after-school language learning. She encouraged participants not to be satisfied with traditional teaching methods, but to make full use of computers, mobile phones, Facebook and other media. Hanban officially sanctioned the workshop as an authorized Great Wall Chinese training event. Approximately thirty teachers from New Jersey, New York and Delaware attended the workshop.
Linden has greatly benefited from its association with Hanban, the Great Wall Chinese Center, and Xiamen Foreign Language School. Hanban has provided thousands of dollars in free educational materials in each of the eleven schools in Linden. By being designated a model Great Wall Chinese district, Linden has obtained over $15,000 worth of educational hardware and software free of charge, together with the services of highly trained specialists from China that has provided high quality professional development at no cost. The association with Xiamen Foreign Language School has allowed Linden students a safe and secure environment to interact with Chinese students and experience Chinese culture first hand.
As a key project of the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban), Great Wall Chinese is the core textbook used in Confucius Institutes.
“In these tough economic times, public school districts are challenged to do more with less,” says Linden Superintendent Rocco Tomazic. “Great Wall Chinese is a perfect example of how a school system can partner with outside organizations to obtain high quality support at low cost, all with the object of significantly helping students move confidently into their future.”

Announcing Read&Write 5 GOLD for Mac!

Powerful new features and enhancements enhance both the teacher and student experience with Read&Write GOLD for Mac

Orlando, FL, January 26, 2012 – Texthelp Systems announced Read&Write 5 GOLD for Mac, the newest release of its award-winning literacy support software program, at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference in Orlando, FL. Read&Write 5 GOLD for Mac is an easy-to-use customizable toolbar that integrates with common applications, including Microsoft® Word, Apple® Pages®, Apple Safari®, and Adobe® Reader and provides students of all ages, especially those with reading and writing difficulties, learning disabilities, and English Language Learners, with the support tools they need to be successful.

Read&Write 5 GOLD for Mac’s expanded toolbar includes exciting new features and enhancements to provide even more support for the variety of learning styles and abilities found in today’s schools, colleges and universities, and the workplace.

“When we released Read&Write 10 GOLD for Windows, the response to the new features was overwhelmingly positive. We are very excited to now offer them in our new release of Read&Write GOLD for Mac. Students can take advantage of these innovative features, regardless of which platform they are working on, to help them independently and confidently succeed in their learning.” states Jack Dolan, President, Texthelp Systems Inc.

New features include:

• Picture Dictionary – An online Picture Dictionary is available to display images from Widgits Symbols library for a selected word. Pictures can also be automatically inserted into a document next to the associated word. Visual images help many students better understand a word’s meaning.
• Verb Conjugation Checker – The Verb Checker can be used to help determine correct verb conjugation. The student selects a verb and indicates the tense (past, present, future) they wish to see. Multiple verb conjugation options are then provided and the selection can be inserted into a Word or Pages document.
• Vocabulary List Builder – Teachers or students can easily create a vocabulary list by selecting words in a document or web page or by entering words manually. A Word or Pages document is then automatically created with the vocabulary words, dictionary definitions, and images representing the words. This time-saving tool helps improve and expand students’ vocabulary skills.
• Paragraph Translator – In addition to the single word Translator, students can now have full paragraphs or blocks of text translated to or from English and their language
• Confusable Word Checker – Confusable words, such as “through” and “thorough”, are now identified in addition to homophones.
• Integration with Apple Pages – All of the Read&Write GOLD features available for Microsoft Word can now be used with Apple Pages.

Enhancements to existing features include: ability to reread a selection of inaccessible text with Screenshot Reader, option to add custom imagery to the Fact Mapper, support for importing and reading poorly formatted DAISY books, improved scanning support including ability to scan multiple pages and support for HP scanners, and so much more!

Read&Write GOLD for Mac users can also benefit from having Read&Write GOLD features available in the Cloud for instant accessibility and mobility! Texthelp Web Appswork within browsers on iPads, iPod Touches, iPhones, and other mobile devices as well as PCs, and Macs.

Martin McKay, CTO and Founder, Texthelp Systems, adds: “The Web Apps are the perfect solution for students who have busy lifestyles and wish to access these support tools on the go. The Apps can be used not only to assist students with their studies but also for day-to-day activities such as sending emails or text messages from a mobile phone.”

Pricing and Availability

Read&Write 5 GOLD for Mac is available now. Pricing options include single user licensing (DVD or USB) and unlimited or concurrent site licensing for use at school and at home. Pricing starts at$645. $295 single user pricing is available for students/schools with unlimited site licenses. For more information, to order, or to request a free 30-Day Trial DVD, call Texthelp at 888-248-0652, email u.s.info@texthelp.com, or go to www.texthelp.com.

About Texthelp Systems Inc.

Texthelp Systems provides literacy software solutions for individuals, K-12, higher education, and publishers. Texthelp’s products include: Read&Write GOLD, Web Apps, Fluency Tutor, Lexiflow, and SpeechStream. Read&Write GOLD is a customizable easy-to-use toolbar that seamlessly integrates with mainstream applications allowing students to access reading, writing, studying, and research support tools from within programs they use everyday. The Texthelp Web Apps bring Read&Write features to the Cloud and work on iPads, iPhones, iPod Touches, and more! Fluency Tutor is an online solution for developing and measuring oral reading fluency and comprehension. Lexiflow and SpeechStream allow publishers to deliver digital talking ebooks, assessments, and online content with support tools.

Teachers from the troubled Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvania made the news when they opted to continue teaching for free, after the district revealed that it could no longer to afford to pay its staff, the Huffington Post reports. Now, the poster teacher for the initiative can bring something home to her school: Ellen Degeneres has presented Columbus Elementary School — where Ferguson teaches math and literacy — with a $100,000 check from JCPenney. Ferguson also received a personal gift card while a guest on The Ellen Degeneres Show…

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The nation’s leanest state is taking aim at junk food in school cafeterias as it considers the nation’s toughest school trans-fat ban, the Associated Press reports. A Colorado House committee was scheduled to hear a bill Thursday to forbid any trans-fat in school food – not just the food served through regular cafeteria lunches. That would mean vending machines, after-school bake sales and popular “a la carte” items on lunch lines such as ice creams or pizza would have to be produced without artery-clogging trans fats. Several states already limit trans-fat in school cafeterias, but none has a trans-fat ban that extends before and after school. Delaware and California, for example, both ban school food with trans-fat, but not at all after-school activities…

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I’ve taken the liberty of dreaming up the court transcript ahead of time (using Q for the defense attorney’s questions and A for the plaintiff’s answers). Enjoy this cross-examination, says David B. Cohen, teacher and associate director of the Accomplished California Teachers group, for the Washington Post.

Q: You are demanding that LAUSD [Los Angeles Unified School District] use measures of student growth in teacher evaluations, is that correct?

A: Yes.

Q: And you believe that student test scores are a measure of growth that would reflect teaching quality, correct?

A: Yes.

Q: If LAUSD were to adopt a policy that attributes the growth or lack of growth in student test scores to the student’s teacher, and uses the scores of all students to evaluate the teacher’s effectiveness, you would drop this lawsuit, is that correct?

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The state has denied the unemployment claim filed by the ousted former head of Philadelphia’s public school system after she received a $900,000 contract buy-out, the Associated Press reports. Arlene Ackerman says she had her claim denied last month and she won’t appeal that decision. Ackerman had requested the state maximum of $573 a week, based on her former salary of about $350,000. She was fired in August after clashing with community members, the teachers’ union and elected officials…

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