eChalk Expands Safe and Secure K-12 Online Learning Community
Version 9.0 Enhances Educational Alternative to Social Networking
San Antonio, Texas (June 30, 2008)—eChalk today unveiled at the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) major enhancements to its online learning community, which provides K-12 schools a safe and secure alternative to social networking that appeals equally to students, parents, teachers, and administrators. The eChalk system, customized to meet the goals and standards of districts in every state, enables everyone to stay connected to the classroom and actively participate in the education process.
“We create transparent online learning communities in which students feel empowered, teachers extend curriculum beyond the classroom, parents stay informed, and administrators build coalitions around key initiatives,” said Torrance Robinson, eChalk’s President and Co-founder. “Schools want much more than websites, content management tools, and class pages—and so our solution will continue to expand a range of academic opportunities online within protected parameters, thereby enabling on-topic discussions about curriculum, instruction, assignments, and progress to occur with increased frequency.”
This alignment between the physical and virtual means that no student is ever without encouragement, guidance, or intellectual stimulation. Such a support system is a motivational force and makes education exciting—an urgent mission in which achievement becomes an adventure no student wants to miss.
With eChalk, the thrill comes from having constant access to a vast network of people and resources that makes it easier to develop new points of view and pursue collaborative decision-making when solving problems. Peer pressure is replaced by peer reinforcement—all community members have an incentive to embrace the value of democratic dialogue and mutual respect. When preparing for a big exam or tackling a tough assignment, students can quickly leverage the shared knowledge and insight of their school or district—a level of cognitive collaboration whose scale and size can make any subject easier to manage. These conversations among students help inform instruction and assessment—teachers can more easily identify gaps in understanding and build upon the collaborative work of students when delivering lessons.
Included in eChalk version 9.0 are academic blogs that can introduce interactive writing into all fields of study; a translation tool that can convert all public content into any one of 23 supported languages; an emergency alert service that sends warnings via email or text message; classroom email alerts and academic calendars for parents; and the capability to integrate the eChalk system fully with a school or district’s Active Directory.
“The purpose of this product update is to extend and deepen the benefits of eChalk so that our web-based system continues to play a front-and-center role in driving academic results and boosting success,” said Charlene Noll, eChalk’s Vice President of Product Development. “We give school districts a number of options for managing interactions among all the various groups within their communities—and this flexibility is crucial because it allows age-appropriate public and private areas to coexist harmoniously. Students are given a certain level of freedom within limits, exactly as they are in the physical classroom. The norms that guide behavior during the school day are the same norms that guide online conduct.”
About eChalk www.echalk.com
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in New York City, eChalk offers K-12 schools web-based systems that transform teaching, learning, and leadership by creating communities in which all stakeholders can easily work together. Students are given a new way to learn, teachers a new way to teach, parents a new way to participate, and administrators a new way to lead. Each community is customized to meet the needs of each school and district.