What's New and Cool for You

Although school budgets have continued to decline, it didn't dissuade hundreds of hopeful hardware and software companies from displaying their latest products and services. Here's a sampling of the most innovative offerings:

InFocus (www.infocus.com) dazzled show goers with two eye-grabbing data projector products. The new LP120 projector ($2,399), about the size of a shoe and weighing two pounds, is perfect for peripatetic librarians offering PowerPoint, software, or database presentations. For an additional $499, InFocus offers a "LiteShow" wireless device that plugs into the data projector and enables librarians to set up the equipment almost anywhere in a room.

Electrovaya (www.electrovaya.com), a new computer company based in Ontario, introduced the Scribbler Tablet PC ($2,300), an innovative tablet computer that weighs less than four pounds, comes with a 10.4-inch screen, and runs up to 16 hours on an advanced lithium-ion battery. Electrovaya operates on Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, which allows users to create documents using a microphone, writing stylus, or keyboard. The device works particularly well in libraries, special education classrooms, and other environments in which mobility is important.

Evan-Moor Educational Publishers (www.evan-moor.com) is one of many companies trying to create new technology for primary-grade students. "Take It to the Computer," for grades K–3, ($299 for a class of 10 and $499 for up to 30 users) includes a "My Toolbox" program, which encourages open-ended creativity. There's also a "Look, Listen, & Speak" series ($29.99 each) for young learners in grades 1–3 that uses electronic posters of familiar scenes, like a school or a park, to reinforce English vocabulary skills.

Chicago Public Schools now has a "Virtual Pre-K" series of videos, CDs, and recipe cards for those interested in helping at-risk families. The two sets of materials—"All About Me" and "Taking Care of Me"—are available in English and Spanish. The products are designed for parents with low literacy skills. The videos and CDs ($10 each) feature five-minute lessons that offer youngsters instruction on the concepts they'll need when they begin kindergarten. A Web site, www.virtualpre-k.org, reinforces the lessons.

PLATO Learning (www.plato.com) has added two new software products for middle schoolers to its PLATO Instructional Solutions Library. PLATO Life Science features interactive multimedia biology lessons and quizzes and is of particular interest because nationwide science testing is scheduled to begin in 2007 under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. PLATO Intermediate Writing Process and Practice offers courses on writing persuasively and with proper grammar. Both products emphasize state and national standards and build skills that are assessed in statewide achievement tests.

Palm (www.palm.com) has unveiled Palm eBook Studio ($29.95), software that lets anyone create e-books. Users can format text documents from a word processor into an e-book, edit the copy, create chapters and a table of contents, and add illustrations. The software works with Macs and PCs, and includes an editing feature that allows users to see the e-book on a Palm or Windows Pocket PC screen.

TriBeam Technologies (www.tribeam.com) has created the BeamCast ($1999 and up), a new wireless product for educators using Palms in their classrooms or labs. The device, which hangs on the wall, lets educators simultaneously beam quizzes, assignments, e-books, software programs, and other documents to students' Palms. Up to 32 Palm users can simultaneously send messages to the teacher, or to each other, with the teacher in control of the process.

MentorMate's (www.mentormate.com) latest Web-based software program, iQpakk, lets educators create their own assessment and instructional programs. It includes a "generator" that creates lessons in all subject areas, designed to teach students state-required skills and then test for mastery of those skills. The software also creates assessments (such as practice drills for state tests) that keep track of students' answers, and then customize lessons based on their instructional needs. IQpakk is priced starting at $3.30 per student, with a minimum of 30 students required.