As the World Turns

Why try to simulate how the earth spins and night and day on earth with a static globe when the MOVA Globe moves under its own power. The 4.5-inch globe comes in five styles, has a clear acrylic base, but doesn’t require batteries. Instead, it gets its power from light, so it will run as long as the room lights are on. The $100 globe comes with a one-year warranty. Check out this YouTube video of the globe to see how it works

Power Mad

What teacher hasn’t wasted precious teaching time with dead batteries in a digital audio player or remote control? IOGear’s Battery Tester puts an end to guessing about how much juice a battery has and bizarre techniques like licking the two metal ends of a 9-volt battery to see if it tingles. The jaws of the $7 tester quickly attaches to the cylindrical AA, AAA, C, D or N cells as well as contacts for checking a rectangular 9-volt batteries. The easy-to-read gauge has a needle that points to the green zone (for full power), yellow zone (for a struggling battery) or red for (you guessed, dead). It’s small enough to fit in a desk drawer and comes with a three-year warranty, a lot longer than most batteries last.
Why put up with dead batteries when the free power of the sun can be recharging them when they’re no in use. Look for Energizer to start selling a cool solar charger later this year along with a set of AA batteries. Just leave the charger on your desk or a nearby window sill with the fold-open photovoltaic panel for a few hours and the cells are good as new. It only works with AA and AAA batteries, but these are the most used in the classroom. There’s also a USB port that can power a small gadget, like an iPod or video player. It’ll cost $50 with a pair of AAs.

The Write Label

There’s nothing that makes a student respect and take care of a homework folder or find the right drawer in the art room than when it has a printed label on it. Forget about writing them with a Sharpie because there’re a multitude of label printers out there that make putting together creative labels as easy as typing a name. Here’re my favorites.

When speed is of the essence (and when isn’t it?), Dymo’s $300 LabelWriter 4XL does the trick by pumping out 53 labels per minute in an easy-to-read 300 dots per inch. Because it uses 4- by 6-inch labels, the 4XL can perform many roles in the classroom and office, from first-day name tags to marking storage boxes. The system comes with software for Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Mac’s OSX.

Rather than using a computer to type or import names for your labels, Brother’s PT-9600 has its own mini keyboard so you have the choice of tapping out a label on the fly or connecting it to either a PC or Mac. With the ability to put a super-sharp 360-dots per inch onto an adhesive label, the PT-3600 has a wide variety of fonts, type sizes built-in and can print images alongside words and numbers. It has a handy preview screen, can work with labels that are between 0.25- to 1.5-inches wide and weighs just 4.4 pounds. It costs $500, but unlike the other two which use thermal technology and don’t need ink, the PT-9600 uses a transfer ribbon that adds to its costs, but allows the use of a variety of different colors.

It may be small and light but Seiko’s SLP 450 printer can churn out labels that are 2.1-inches wide at about 30 per minute in sharp 300 dots per inch. It works with PCs and Macs and the SLP 450 can grab data from a variety of programs, like Goldmine, Word as well as importing lists from just about any database program.

Fold And Go Keyboard

Even large elementary schools are increasingly stressed for space, and music and art usually get squeezed into ever smaller rooms. Infinite Response’s VAX77 folding keyboard puts a full six octave MIDI keyboard in a very portable format so it can be pulled out when needed and stowed in a closet when not. Players can use the VAX77 to shift the octave, add special effects, perform a pitch blend and modulate the tone. The best part is that the system can connect with a teacher’s notebook via a USB port.

Like other high-end MIDI keyboards, the VAX77 measures 46.6 by 14.5-inches. Unlike other keyboards, it can fold up to occupy to just half that size. Inside is an ADI Blackfin DSP 400 MHz processor and 300KB of flash memory to store instruments, sounds and full music.The key weight can be adjusted so it’s comfortable for use by teachers and students. It weighs just 25 pounds and has a wheeled cart available. The keyboard can be had in five colors.

Keeping Your (Notebook’s) Cool

Is your notebook overheating? Burning the little laps in your class? Or are your notebooks just losing their cool? All these are symptoms of older systems with clogged or worn-out cooling fans. You have two choices: open the system up and clean out all the dust bunnies and maybe replace the fan so it works like it did when new or get a notebook cooler, like Xbrand’s Lap Lounge. At $50, it’s the quickest and easiest way to deal with a hot notebook because its 11-blade fan runs on USB power and can cool even the largest 19-inch laptop. Lap Lounge also adjusts to provide a comfortable tilt to the system and comes with a 1-year warranty.

Kid-Sized Headphones

Why struggle with ill-fitting headphones made for grown-ups or ear-plugs that always seem to be falling out, when you can get ones that are designed and sized exactly for smaller heads? Kidz Gear turns classroom audio on its ear with headphones that are lightweight, comfortable and perfect for children two years or older. They have soft ear muffs, can reproduce sound between 20- and 20,000 hertz and have an individual volume control. The $20 headphones fold flat for easy storage.

The Big View

If you see kids squinting at the classroom’s big-screen monitor to keep up with the class, it may not mean that they need glasses. It might be a case of using a monitor that’s too small for the size of room and number of children. While most experts say that a 40- or 42-inch display is plenty for the typical class of 25 students, I say bigger is always better. And, with 47-inch monitors, like Vizio’s SV47OXVT, selling for at little as $1,300, it’s never been cheaper to make sure every child has a good view.

At 44- by 29.8 by 10-inches, the SV47OXVT is roughly the size of many 42-inch displays, but it has a 47-inch screen, making it perfect for teachers who want to make the most of their valuable wall space. Capable of showing 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, the screen can display full high definition programming as well as display more than 1 billion individual colors. In other words, everything looks great on it.

The monitor can connect with just about anything that a teacher or administrator can throw at it. On top of four HDMI, a computer connection, S- and composite-video jacks, the screen has component video plugs. It’s just as good for showing a Web site or the output of a document camera as a digital microscope or camcorder. Plus, it has an analog and digital TV tuner so it can handle either broadcast or cable programming.

Even though it competes with budget displays, the SVO47XVT is one of the first TVs with a 120-hertz imaging engine that puts images on screen twice as fast as conventional displays. This makes it perfect for showing quick moving scenes in movies, classroom software or videos.

Starting the SV47OXVT takes an interminable 8.2 seconds, more than enough time for the class clown to make a joke about the school not paying its cable bill. The class is rewarded, however, for waiting with close to pinpoint perfect images and smooth motion, regardless of whether it’s showing a DVD, computer screen or analog and digital TV.

Ironically, there are so many adjustments that it’s best to leave most alone, and works fine out of the box. On top of brightness, hue and contrast you can change the color temperature and set it in a host of specialized modes for different types of video. About its only shortcoming is the screen’s inability to show the deepest shades of black.

All can be controlled with the SV47OXVT’s slim remote control, but after about a month several of its buttons stopped working. Unplugging and restarting the monitor solved this problem.

While the TV is bright enough to keep the lights on for lessons, the SV47OXVT doesn’t waste electricity. When in use, it consumes 235 watts of power, which is normal for a 42-inch display and downright stingy for a 47-inch display. In other words, the extra display space comes for free when it comes to power bills. That level quickly drops to 4 watts when turned off, less than other monitors. That translates into an estimated annual cost of $21 a year – about half that of comparable monitors – based on 4 hours of use a day.

Although the system’s pair of built-in speakers should be plenty for most classes, Vizio sells a set of wireless speakers and subwoofer for surround sound. The satellite speakers need to be within 35 feet of the TV and it adds $200 to its price tag.   

Never heard of Vizio? You’re probably not alone, but the company’s products are sold primarily at discount warehouses, Sears and Circuit City stores. Vizio is the number 3 seller of flat screen HDTVs in the U.S. All told, the SV47OXVT is the rare TV that offers more screen and performance for less money while using less power, making it a good fit for schools looking for a bargain.

A-
Vizio SV47OXVT
$1,300

+      Excellent price
+      Same size as 42-inch monitor
+      120-hertz imaging engine
+      Low power use
+      Optional wireless speakers

-      Long start up time
-      Can’t show deep black

White Board Where it’s Needed

Most interactive whiteboards are mounted on a wall for convenience safe, but what about those schools that can’t afford to outfit every class with a board and projector. Try pulling a wheelie. That’s right, eInstruction’s Interwrite board with its optional floor stand is on wheels and can be rolled from room to room as needed. Sure, it’ll take some time to set up and align the projector, but it’s time well spent. Available in 60-, 71-, 77.5-, 85- and 95-inch models, every Interwrite board comes with software and works with either Windows, Mac and Linux computers; wireless Bluetooth communications is an option.

The Fast and the Quick

Just as 120-hertz LCD flat-screen monitors and TVs become commonplace, Sony speeds things up a bit with the first 240-hertz LCD TV. With the power to make even fast-changing scenes flow smoothly, the Bravia KDL-52XBR7 monitor-TV actually displays images four-times faster than conventional TVs. Capable of showing 1,920 by 1,080 resolution, the KDL-52XBR7 can display full high-definition 1080p programming on its 52-inch screen, measured diagonally and can show every detail of a dissection or lab experiment. The system has three HDMI, one PC, two component-video connections as well as an Ethernet port. The display just went on sale and costs $4,200.

Password Protector

You can remember the PIN code for your debit card, the password for your PC and maybe even a few Web sites, but what about all the different PCs in your school. Printing them on paper and locking them up is a good idea for when teachers or students forget their passwords, but it isn’t exactly secure. Enter Atek’s Secure Password Organizer, a credit card sized gizmo that can hold up to 200 passwords that are protected by AES data encryption. It’ll even generate random passwords and then save them for future use and has an identifying screen if it’s lost. The card costs $30, just don’t forget its master password.

Get the Word Out, Fast

Using a school’s public address system, digital phone screens and instant messages are all good ways to hasten a school evacuation, but there’s nothing like having several well placed information screens to get students, teachers and staffers out quickly, safely and efficiently. Inova Solutions’ On Alert is a complete system that can not only show that an evacuation is in progress but route occupants to the nearest and safest exit. The signs measure 31- by 7- by 2.3-inches, can be seen from 100-feet away, are self powered and use Ethernet for their data. When they’re not being used to assist in an evacuation, the screen can show the time, date, period and even post a reminder to buy the school’s yearbook.

Tomorrow’s Tech Teaching, Today

How tough a sell is a high school science and technology lab lesson these days? Despite how important these subjects are to our country’s future, it rates a loud yawn by many students more interested in YouTube videos, FaceBook strangers and GameBoy bouts. Fourier Systems Nova5000 handheld data acquisition and analysis computer can change all that by giving kids hands-on experience with labs and experiments.

At 2.4 lbs with a 7-inch touch screen and full school day battery life, the Nova5000 can capture a kids imagination while being easier for small hands to work with and costing much less than full PCs or Macs. The key is that these small devices have the power to work with a wide variety of sensors – from acceleration and magnetic field strength to temperature and humidity – that can make the basics of science and technology accessible and as easy as zapping aliens on a Nintendo DS Lite. So, instead of writing the formulas for Newton’s laws of motion on the board, why not strap a Nova5000 to a bicycle and take it for a ride. The best part is that as small as the Nova5000 is, it has a word processor, spreadsheet and a full Web browser built in. With its wired and wireless networking, kids and teachers can get the background information they need to write up an interesting lab. Tulsa Oklahoma’s McLain High School of Science & Technology magnet school is building a curriculum around the Nova5000.

Classroom Power Saver

It’s hard to believe but the typical notebook computer uses about 40-watts of power – about as much as a small light bulb -- even when its battery is fully charged. This phantom power drain is a waste of resources and money as well as an increasingly important source of climate changing greenhouse gases. Belkin has an answer with its 8-outlet Energy Saving Surge Protector with Remote Switch. The white plastic surge protector can be turned off at the end of the day with a flick of its tiny remote control. Or, better yet, attach the switch to the wall next to the classroom’s light switch to power down at the end of the day. The surge suppressor can accommodate 8 independent power connections, although 2 of them are always powered while protecting the equipment against 1,000 joule power jolts. It comes with a $100,000 warranty against damage. Belkin has a video showing how the surge protector works.

 

Keeping Your Notebook’s Cool

Is your notebook running hot? There’s help because there are dozens of cooling pads that can take the heat off of your computer so you can concentrate on your classwork. But, if you really want to make your notebook cooler, Brando has a twin-fan pad that does more. With a three-port hub and the ability to plug in up to a 250GB hard drive, it does it all. The good news is that the Notebook Cooling Pad costs just $33 and comes with its power cord and USB cable. The bad news is that Brando is based in Hong Kong, although the company ships internationally at no extra charge.

Old Book, New Drive

Got a bunch of older MacBooks and MacBook Pros that are perfectly good for a few more years but have older, slower or broken optical drives? There’s help because Other World Computing now has a variety of Super Drive upgrade kits for 13-inch MacBooks and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks that work with most portable Macs sold before October, 2008. The drives are not only capable of reading and writing DVDs and CDs but can work with the latest dual-layer discs. Each drive by itself costs $160 or $175 with 10 DVD-R discs, back-up and disc creating software. The best part is that each drive comes with throughful instructions on how to swap the new drive for old.

Just Loud Enough

Ever wonder how much damage children do to their ears by cranking the volume of their music players to full blast while wearing headphones? Well, audiologists agree that it’s a major problem, but Ultimate Ears is doing something about it with its Loud Enough Earphones. The in-ear phones work by limiting the output by 40 percent to prevent hearing damage. Even thought they’re small and light, the Loud Enough earphones can accurately reproduce a variety of audio and are excellent at isolating outside noise. A set weighs half an ounce, comes with a plastic case as well as three sets of earplugs. The earphones cost $35.

Big Screen, Big Sound, Small Power Bill

If you think that a bigger monitor will mean outsized electricity bills as well, Vizio’s 55-inch XVT TV-monitor has the power to change your mind. In spite of having one of the largest LCD displays available, a double-speed 120Hz imaging engine and the ability to show full HD programming, the monitor is Energy Star 3.0 compatible and uses 15 percent less power than comparable products. It even uses less than a watt when it’s turned off. With nine input jacks, including 5 HDMI connections, it can host a variety of devices.

With SRS Labs surround sound and volume control technology built in, it sounds great. While you’re at it, complete the set up with Vizio’s VSB210WS Sound Bar and Wireless Subwoofer, which can fill a classroom with rich and accurate audio. Inside are four 3-inch high efficiency mid-range bass drivers and a 1-inch high performance aluminum dome neodymium tweeter for each channel. The best part is that the external sub-woofer can stay connected without wires or cables as far as 30-feet from the sound bar. Look for these products to be introduced in January with the 55-inch monitor-TV selling for $2,000 and the sound bar adding $ 350.

Refill Time

When I first started looking at the Bedol Eco Friendly Water Clock, which runs on nothing other than salt and water, I was told that it would keep time for a couple of weeks. In fact, it has kept excellent time for nearly two months and then slowly lost power. At first, the digital display started to flash and then the whole thing went dead. All it takes to revive the clock is to pour in some fresh tap water to the fill line. Oh, I did need to reset the clock to the current time, and it’s good for another month or more of keeping perfect time under its own power. On Bedol’s suggestion, I’m adding a little lemon juice to make the battery solution a little more acidic and more efficient.

Performance on a Budget

When you need to edit video or teach how to create a complex Web site, there’s nothing like having the performance of Intel’s new i7 processor. But, how to outfit a computer lab with top-notch PCs without breaking the bank? Dell’s Studio XPS desktop packs in power at the budget price of $950 or $1,100 with 6GB of RAM and a 24-inch monitor.

Make the Class Gyrate

If fiddling with the keyboard and a mouse during a projected lesson are coming between you and your students, think about gyrating instead. Rather than using a clunky table mouse, the Gyration Air Mouse can move move anything on screen without taking your eyes off the class. Basically, a handheld gyroscope, Gyration Air Mouse controls the cursor on-screen and cn make right- and left- mouse clicks. The air mouse is surprisingly easy to blend into a digital classroom because oif the the GyroTools program that lets you customize what the air mouse does. For example, simple hand gestures can translate into actions in presentation and educational software. With a range of 100-feet, the air mouse and teacher can navigate anywhere in the typical classroom or auditorium. The device costs $99.99.

Listen to This

I know that this is going to go against the grain for teachers, administrators and district purchasing managers but for years you’ve been needlessly buying two different kinds of headsets for kids. The time has arrived for a rethink because one device can handle playing high quality audio as well as have a microphone for videoconferencing or adding a voice-over to a video clip. Phonak’s Audeo ably combines the two into one earphone/microphone set that works as well for speaking as for listening.

Based on Phonak’s digital hearing aid technology, the Audeo earphone not only sounds great but comes with a variety of accessories for fitting to just about any ear in the class. The package comes with three different sets of silicone and one pair of foam earplugs as well as two ear loops so that every kid will be able to listen and talk in comfort.

In addition, the earphones come with 6 sets of audio filters as well as a tool to remove and install them. It all fits into a small canvas bag, so nothing should get lost. Unlike other headsets, Phonak sells all the tips, filters and loops separately as replacement.

The Audeo earphones weigh only half an ounce and have a standard 3.5-milimeter jack. This lets it work with a wide variety of devices, from MP3 and DVD players as well as notebooks and media players.

The sound is nothing short of phenomenal, with balanced low, high and mid-range tones, particularly compared to the typical headsets that most schools provide. Capable of reproducing between 5- and 17,000-hertz, the Audeo earphone’s output is accurate, even at low volume. The big payoff is that kids no longer have to turn up the volume on cheap headsets into the danger zone in order to hear what’s going on.

After using the microphone with Skype’s videoconferencing service, it’s sensitive to a small voice without picking up too much background noise. On the downside, the earphone’s wires tangle easily, something that might prove frustrating to a room of kids.

While the $159 price tag for Phonak’s Audeo may make administrators and district buyers blanch, they’re worth it because they not only perform two classroom tasks but do them extremely well.

A-
Phonak Audeo
http://pfe.audeoworld.com
$139 for audio only; $159 with microphone

+ Excellent audio and microphone
+ Light weight
+ Includes several different ear plugs and loops
+ Comes with canvas case

- Expensive
- Wires easy to tangle

Bright Idea

Have you ever noticed that too many interactive smart-boards are a compromise between showing the projector’s output and what you’ve written on the board? Elite Screens has an answer by creating an interactive board out of a highly reflective material that allows white board ink to show up prominently. Called Starbright4, the material uses a multi-layer design that is four-times as reflective as a traditional screen, but has been designed to resist showing hot spots. It’s used in the company’s new StarBright Whiteboard, which is available in traditional 4:3 and wide screen 16:9 aspect ratios. The board can be ordered in sizes from 60- to 106-inches with pricing starting at $399. They come with a 2-year warranty and will be on sale in December.

USB, Without the Cable

What if you could get rid of all those annoying USB cables for connecting a PC to a DVD drive, printer and external hard drive? Be truthful, wouldn’t you? Cables Unlimited has the perfect device that makes USB data travel back and forth over thin air. The Wireless USB Adapter squeezes Wisair’s wireless USB chips into a pair of tiny radios that have a range of 30 feet, allowing PCs to be virtually cable free making for a less cluttered classroom. Just plug one into the computer and the other into a USB hub or peripheral. A kit with a pair of radios and software costs $130.

Banners to Go

Why waste an hour at a Kinkos or Staples print shop and too much money to print banners and posters and make them yourself quicker and for less. OKI Data’s C830 printer can put anything on paper up to 11- by 52-inches. Think of it as an inkjet printer that can work with paper that’s 11-inches wide and you get an idea of its potential as a school- or district-wide resource for teachers and administrators. The C830 has LED print heads and a resolution of 1,200 by 600 dots per inch for sharp, colorful output. Depending on which model you get, the C830 family sells for $2,200 for the base printer with networking, $2,430 with two-sided printing and $2,740 with duplexing and a large paper tray. It may sound like a lot when printers sell for $100 or less, but this specialty device can pay for itself after printing 30 or 40 posters.

The Printer that Saves on Paper

If the cost of printer paper has you – and your budget – down, why not use both sides of every sheet when it’s appropriate. It won’t help with the exorbitant cost of ink and toner, but at least it’ll save some money and a few trees. Lexmark’s C543DN color laser printer is the rare device in its class that has a built-in duplexer for double-sided printing and is just about the perfect size for a hallway, classroom or a school’s office. With a 1,200 dot per inch engine, its output is sharp and clear, and the printer can work with PCs and Macs. It can pump out 21 pages per minute and will sell for $400 when it sales start later this fall.

Zoom in on Learning

Many science classrooms may have projectors, document cameras and networking, but still have old-school optical microscopes, if any at all. School and Science Technology Resources has a package that’s just as appropriate for a fourth grade science class looking at the texture of common items as for dissections in a 12-grade AP biology course. The digital microscope kit includes the ProScope, four lenses, a resource CD and a slew of accessories. Set up is quick, the microscope is easy to focus and all the images and videos can be saved for students to use in presentations, reports and labs. The equipment works with both PCs and Macs and sells for $1,250, which can be reduced by $100 if a school buys 10 or more.

Sights and Sounds

How many of you have loved the video on a new monitor bought for your school, but hated the cheesy integrated speakers that sound more like an AM radio? Vizio’s new line of mid-sized monitors are not only reasonably priced but have surround sound audio and high quality 12-watt speakers built in. The VOJ320F and VOJ370F are 32- and 37-inch screens that can show full 1080p programming and make it sound great. The displays can show 1,920 by 1,080 resolution and have a wide 178-degree viewing angle so they're perfect for small groups of kids or teachers huddled around the screen. On top of the expected monitor inputs and digital TV tuner, the VOJ family features a pair of HDMI connectors for DVD players or high-end PCs. The displays will be available later this month and sell for $650 and $850 for the 32- and 37-inch models.

Caching in

If you’ve recently upgraded a bunch of PCs to Windows Vista in your school and are disappointed that they’re slower and less reliable than when running Windows XP, you’re not alone. It’s true that Vista requires more resources than its predecessor, which can lead to slow and unreliable computers that get in the way of digital learning. But, instead of complaining, do something about it.

There’s a trick to squeezing some extra performance and stability out of an older PC running Vista. Called ReadyBoost, it allows a simple flash memory key to be used as a data cache to boost the PC’s speed. Memory keys have never been cheaper with many actually ending up costing the school nothing or close to it after a rebate.

By providing a place to temporarily store the most frequently used pieces of programming code and data, ReadyBoost can streamline the PC’s operations. The result is a computer that runs faster and is more reliably but not every memory key can be used for this task. Unfortunately, I have found no online place that lists which keys work and which don’t. The best bet is to look over the memory key’s specifications and make sure it has an access time of 1 millisecond or less.

It’s not a miracle but ReadyBoost can make things work just a little more efficiently and older PCs more responsive. Using some SanDisk flash memory keys, I upgraded an Acer notebook with 2-, 4-, 8- and 16GB of ReadyBoost flash memory. To see its effect on performance, I used Passmark’s Performance 6.1 benchmark, which not only measures the speed of every major aspect of a computer but produces an overall score that indicates the system’s potential to perform typical tasks that schools require. 

The best part is that it’s about the easiest upgrade to perform. After you insert the memory key into an unused USB slot, click on the Speed up my System icon in the AutoPlay box. Alternatively, go to the drive’s Properties page, open the ReadyBoost tab and select how much memory you want to apportion to this technique. All told, it takes about 30 seconds to upgrade a PC. This is even something a computer neophyte or student intern can do.

Without any ReadyBoost cache, the system scored a 236.3, which rose to 243.8 with 1.9GB of cache and 258.6 with 3.7GB of cache. Due to ReadyBoost’s overhead, these are the maximum amounts of cache you can get out of a 2- and 4GB flash key. That’s about a 10 percent increase in overall performance, which may not sound like much but it’s the equivalent to using a faster processor or more system memory. For many processor and storage tasks, the increase is even higher. But, for other tasks, like graphics, there’s either no effect or the cache actually slows these operations down.

CACHE IN A FLASH
Memory Key Size              Actual Cache     Performance score
No ReadyBoost cache        None                   236.3
2GB ReadyBoost cache      1.9GB                 243.8
4GB ReadyBoost cache      3.7GB                 258.6
8GB ReadyBoost cache      4.1GB                 233.3
16GB ReadyBoost cache    4.1GB                 236.6

Too much of a good thing can be quite a lot of fun, but ReadyBoost reaches its limit at about 4GB. In fact, the software doesn’t allow more than 4.1GB to be used. More to the point, the extra flash memory in a larger key actually slows the system down and is a waste. So, if you want to make Vista run better, keep your eye on the electronics’ stores Sunday ad circulars and buy a bunch of 4GB memory keys when they go on sale.

Put it on the Big Board

Some teachers start off using interactive white boards without a clue as to what software works and what doesn’t on the big screen. Others use it as nothing more than a way to project slides or write on a white board. Panasonic shows the potential of this technology for the classroom by including RM Educational Software’s Easiteach software with three different classroom boards. Easiteach uses flash animation and inventive instructional ideas to help teach a variety of classes by showing and doing. For instance, Panasonic’s Panaboard UB-T780EW 77-inch front-projection interactive board with Easiteach for Windows and Mac sells for $2,295.

The Green Machine

Are your school’s electricity bills out of control? Turning off lights and getting fluorescent bulbs can help but computers are a growing power drain. So, when you’re shopping for new PCs, think green. HP’s Pavilion Verde Special a6655f computer, can have an impact with AMD’s energy-efficient Phenom X4 Quad-core processor and can cut power use by up to 45 percent. The system comes with 5GB of system memory and 640 GB hard drive. Look for the system to be available in early November and will sell for $659. 

Digital Test Prep

Why waste valuable instruction time with drilling students for upcoming tests? LeapFrog’s latest educational gadget gives kids the test preparation and individual attention they need with the Crammer Study and Sound System. The 4.6-ounce handheld comes with 1GB of memory and students can download their choice of 16,000 questions in math, science and social studies. Aimed at grades three-through-eight, kids or entire classes can make their own flash cards and the device has a 10,000 word Spanish-English translator, a digital music player and thousands of new quiz questions can be downloaded. The system works with Macs and PCs and costs $60.

The Quiet Leader

The two things I look for in a large venue projector, like that for a lecture hall or auditorium, are lots of light and quiet operation. Mitsubishi’s FL7000U excels at both and can fill a 20-foot screen with brilliant 1,920 by 1,080 resolution and 5,000 lumens. With all that light at its disposal, the FL7000 runs at a remarkably quiet 29dB of fan noise.

Livening Up Wireless Dead Spots

Every school with a wireless network has dead spots where the routers and access point fail to reach. Some are too far from the transmitter, others are surrounded by thick walls and some appear to be possessed. Hawking Technology’s HWREN1 300N Range Extender can fill these dead spots in with live data by re-broadcasting the wireless signal. It is compatible with any 802.11b, g or n equipment and works best if placed halfway between the router and the edge of the school’s dead zone. At $100, the HWREN1 could easily be the cheapest and most reliable way to liven up a dead zone.

RAID Magic Makes Data Fail-Safe

What school or district hasn’t suffered a catastrophic loss of data due to a bad hard drive swallowing a school’s information? Along with it often goes the records of countless school children, accounting data and a bunch of lesson plans. It doesn’t have to that way because using a RAID array of hard drives can save your data, and maybe even your job.

I know it sounds like magic, and in a sense it is, but RAID can reliably resurrect vanished data because each of the system’s drives contains error checking data that can rebuild what’s on one or even two of the drives. RAID stands for redundant array of independent (or sometimes inexpensive) drives and can make the system as close to immune to failure as can be had.

If a drive dies on you, just pull it out and replace it with a fresh one. The RAID set up does the rest. Don’t be in a hurry, however, because it could take an hour or overnight to recreate the lost data, depending on how much was on the drive and what the current data flow.

Whether you need room for four, five or six drives, there’s a RAID device that’s sure to fit your school or district’s needs. Here are three of my favorites.

LaCie’s 5big Network is brand new and perfect for a high school or small district. Its aluminum enclosure is so stylish that it’ll be a shame to put it in a closet. With space for up to five drives, it can be ordered with 2.5-, 5.0-, or 7.5 terabytes and connects to a Gigabit Ethernet network. The base system with 2.5TB of space costs $900. Because the drives are hot swappable, after a failure, a fresh drive can be quickly installed without slowing down access to data.

If you want to save some money and build your own RAID system, it’s easy to do with Intel’s SS4000E NAS Network Storage System. At $389, it’s an inexpensive and safe place to stash up to four drives that can hold a maximum of 2TB of data but doesn’t include any drives. It works with PCs, Macs and Linux clients and connects with a gigabit network. Setting up something like this can be intense, but the SS4000E comes with a step-by-step wizard that streamlines the process.

Netgear’s ReadyNAS Pro system pulls out all the stops for those wanting an error-free school storage system. It may be more industrial looking than the LaCie or Intel units, but it can take advantage of several different RAID specs and works with Windows, Macs and Linux clients. There’s room for six drives and the enclosure can hold up to 9TB of data. It can be a big step forward beca use the system can even recover from two disk failures, making it the best place to stash a school’s worth of data. With 1.5GB of storage space, the device costs $1,500.

Macs, Still Too Expensive?

One thing I’ve noticed, and I’m sure many of you have as well, is that there are scores of competent PC and Linux notebooks for less than $500, but MacBooks still bottom out at more than twice as much. Sad to say, despite rumors of an inexpensive Apple notebook, the next generation MacBook is actually $200 more expensive than its predecessor. While they excel in design and have some unique features and abilities, schools will find it hard to afford them for anything but specialty uses with the economy – and tax revenues – tanking and their budgets getting tighter and tighter.

The new MacBook that Apple announced today will have a rugged aluminum case that will be available in shiny silver, white or black. The base system uses a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 160GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, a LED-lit 13.3-inch wide screen and nNvidia GeForce 9400M graphics. Next up the MacBook ladder is the MacBook Pro, with its 15.4-inch screen and $1,999 price tag. It uses a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics.

Router Two-For

No doubt about it, modern schools and districts live on data. Whether it’s school records, Web research, a school’s Web page or just taking care of its bills. In other words, data is here, there and everywhere. D-Link’s DIR825 Xtreme N router can put data in its place. It’s one of the most capable 802.11n routers because it can blast data wirelessly on both 2.4- and 5.0GHz bands, doubling its throughput. Perfect for heavy data lifting, like video, the $189 router has four wired gigabit ports and has a USB connector for a printer or hard drive. The best part is that the router is smart and green (actually, its case is white) enough to shut down components and functions that are not in use and powers up its ports based on how long a cable the signal has to travel through. In other words, it can cut your school’s electricity bill by as much as 80 percent compared to other products.

Simple Calculator for Small Hands

While most of the attention about new calculators focuses on the high-end graphing pocket powerhouses that middle- and high-school students use to explore complex math equations science experiments, the smaller and less capable ones that younger students need to use are just as important. At $6, HP’s Quick Calc is cheap enough for every student in a class, but it does all the basics, including the arithmetic functions and percent. The calculator comes in four colors and it’s got a magnetic back, so it’ll stick to a locker or classroom file cabinet. 

Time for Eco Power

Looking for a way to demonstrate pollution free energy without the expense and complexity of getting a fuel cell? At $16, Bedol’s Eco Friendly Water Clock is an inexpensive classroom aid for a science or social studies lesson on everything from climate change to electrochemistry.

The spherical clock is available in four colors and remarkably simple. Inside are copper and zinc electrodes that react with salt water to coax electrons to flow between the two metal plates. This creates enough current to power its digital clock.

The directions spell out how to put it together, how much salt to use and how to set the clock’s time, making it perfect for a substitute teacher or chemistry lab project. It took a group of 11 year olds five minutes to put the clock together. They were amazed that it actually worked and kept accurate time on just salt water.

A big bonus is that if you remove the clock face, the teacher can attach a voltmeter to see how much electricity the cells are producing. Together, the clock’s two cells created 1.6 volts. As good as it is, the only thing it’s missing is a good explanation of the process that’s occurring behind the scenes, although there’re plenty of Web sites that can help create a lesson plan.

The best part is that in a few weeks as the battery starts to wear out, refilling the water tank can refresh it to the way it was when it was new. This allows a class to monitor it over months or a school year or the teacher to reuse it year after year. I’ll report back in a few weeks when it starts to run down.

Mini Projectors, Maxi Brightness

Are your school’s projectors looking more like flashlights than beacons of learning? Can they barely hold their own against room lights or a window on a sunny day? The good news is that over the past five years, the designs and imaging engines of small classroom projectors have improved to the point where they put out much more light. The latest projectors from Epson and Viewsonic are both small and can just as easily be used on a cart as mounted on the ceiling. They take different approaches, however, but both create bright and sharp images, showing that there’s no shortage of freedom of choice when it comes to classroom projectors.

At $900, Viewsonic’s PJD6220 uses Texas Instruments’ latest Digital Light Processing (DLP) engine to pump out 2,300 lumens of light, yet the projector has an enviable 2,000:1 contrast ratio for lights-on lessons. On top of the expected computer input, the PJD6220 has composite and S-Video connections so that it works just as well with a DVD player as a teacher’s notebook. With a pair of 5-watt speakers, it can’t compete with a boom-box but should be OK for most classroom uses. A big bonus is the inclusion of a networking jack so that the projector can be controlled, monitored and diagnosed remotely, and the projector’s lamp can have a life that’s as long as 4,000 hours in Eco mode. That’s about four years of five hours of use a day.

By contrast, Epson’s $550 EX30 uses three tiny LCD panels to create a lower resolution 800 by 600 (SVGA) image and 2,200 lumens of brightness, but with an enviable 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Its E-TORL lamp not only costs less than conventional lamps but produces more light per watt of electricity for efficient operations. It matches the PJD6220 on lamp life in Eco mode. The projector can be connected via a computer connection, S-Video or composite plugs, but adds the ability to either lift images off of a USB memory key or connect to a notebook via a USB cable.  It, however, doesn’t have a networking connection. The single 7-watt speaker should be fine for all but the largest classrooms and the projector can be wired to a wall switch to be turned on and off at a single flick.

Desktops and More

Are monitor’s overwhelming your school’s furniture? NEC’s latest desktop monitor is so slim that it’s perfect for even small desks, lab benches and work tables bought before the digital age. The jet black EA191M display is just 2.6-inches thick yet provides 19-inches of viewable space, can show 1,280 by 1,024 resolution and comes with a four-way stand. The built-in speakers and headphone jack are augmented by the monitor’s four-port USB hub that makes connecting a DVD drive or mouse to a PC much easier.  The monitor sells for $380.

Enter the Network Document Camera

Rather than using a computer’s USB port for connecting a document camera to a projector, AVerVision’s SPB370 Platform Visual Presenter opens up new teaching possibilities because it can connect via a school’s network. The key is that on top of the SPB370’s 5-megapixel camera and 8- by 11-inch light base, the presenter has an Ethernet jack. This allows teachers to open up controlling what’s on the screen to anyone in the class with a connected computer and a recent Web browser. The range of activities includes annotating, zooming in and out and capturing a screen shot. The SBP370 sells for $3,000.

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