DreamBox Learning®» ed tech

The 16th annual EDDIE Awards

Alice Y — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:18:53 +0000

DreamBox Learning is excited to announce the results of the 2011 EDDIE Awards. To bring everyone up to speed: The EDDIE Awards target the bright, innovative programs and websites that aid teachers in doing what they do best—teach. We are thrilled to be recognized in the Early Elementary category as the math website of choice. Thank you for the recognition. DreamBox is excited to be part of a community that shares our vision of fostering educational excellence.

Educator Tools, Courtesy the Digital Literacy Initiative

Tracy H — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:53:04 +0000

On May 13th, 2011, the Department of Commerce unveiled a new website aimed at increasing computer and internet skills in America. www.DigitalLiteracy.gov provides librarians, teachers, and others a central location to share digital literacy content and best practices. Search by skill type, topic, or general search. What's great about this site is that users can suggest resources for inclusion. Check the site out today and if you see a great resource missing, request it be added! What resources can you not live without in the classroom? Share your favorites with us!

Are You Attending TCEA 2011 in Austin, February 9-11?

Tracy H — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 16:28:28 +0000

Are you attending the TCEA 2011 Education Conference in February? If so, make sure you visit DreamBox Learning in booth 1350! We'd love to meet you, and you could win some great giveaways for your classroom. Join us in our booth for:

Hourly demos

FREE Teacher Tools

A FREE 30-day classroom trial!

You could win!

We hope to see you in Austin!

Tech & Learning Award of Excellence to DreamBox Learning

Tracy H — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 23:38:32 +0000

Tech & Learning has announced their 28th annual Awards of Excellence winners, which honors products that help educators teach and manage classrooms with technology.

“Now that the use of technology in schools is no longer a novelty but a reality, it’s no longer about the promise of what a product can do; it’s about the proof," says Kevin Hogan, Editorial Director for NewBay Media’s Tech & Learning Group.

DreamBox Learning K-3 Math has won the Tech & Learning Award of Excellence for the second year in a row! We are honored to have been included as a winner – thank you to the more than 30 educators who reviewed our product and found it among the best of the best. Read more about the 28th Annual Awards of Excellence by Tech & Learning Magazine. View a list of our awards and honors!

DreamBox Learning vs. Other Math Programs

David G — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:26:57 +0000

I received the following letter from a parent who is not yet a customer. She writes:

I recently tried the DreamBox free trial, and feel it is a great program! However, my husband thinks that there are better programs out there. Can you help me explain to him why DreamBox is better than other math education programs on the market?

Many of our customers find DreamBox Learning as part of their research into math educational software, and I think this is great! As a parent myself, I strive to understand, as completely as possible, the goods and services that I give to my daughter, and I expect nothing less from our customer base. That being said, this blog post would be quite long if I did a side-by side comparison. Therefore, I’ll highlight was makes DreamBox stand out from the rest – then you be the judge.

Conceptual Understanding and Fluency

Our curriculum helps students simultaneously develop conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and problem-solving ability. We provide children with opportunities to develop the full range of skills and logical thinking, from learning the basic facts for computation, to developing problem-solving strategies.

Individually Adaptive

The key word is "adaptability". Unlike many educational programs, DreamBox Learning’s differentiated instruction looks beyond right or wrong answers. DreamBox is uniquely adaptable, offering each student an appropriately-challenged experience, tailored to their individual instructional level. We track every mouse click in order to offer the appropriate hints and instructional feedback, pacing, sequence, and level of difficulty of the lessons.

Self-Adjusting Lesson Placement

DreamBox Learning also offers a highly individualized response to student errors, making adjustments based on a wide range of variables. Instead of simply marking answers as "wrong", DreamBox analyzes the full range of each student’s online behavior, doing real-time assessment to determine if a student should skip content he already knows, or if reinforcement in a particular area of the curriculum is needed. By combining the latest educational research, with the expertise of our board-certified teachers, we’ve developed a unique and intuitive technology that constantly adapts, to optimize learning for each child.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

DreamBox Learning’s curriculum s with the Common Core State Standards, and matches their deep focus on developing student’s conceptual understanding and fluency in key curriculum areas. You can get more detailed information on how our curriculum aligns to the Common Core State Standards (as well as a detailed description of the concepts covered in each grade level) by going to http://www.dreambox.com/curriculum.

Detailed Progress Reports

DreamBox Learning also sends you updates on your children’s progression. The Parent/Teacher Dashboard reports on each student’s progress in real time, offering both summarized and detailed progress bars for easy analysis, and descriptions in plain English of what your children is currently learning. Parents also receive e-mail reports when their child meets new goals and milestones. We make every attempt to take the guesswork out of assessing your child's instructional level.

Engaging for Children

Finally, DreamBox is fun! The user interface (what the child sees) is designed to engage young students and keep them playing, by offering incentives such as award certificates and tokens. They can choose from a variety of themes, ranging from pirates to pet friends, and completion of lessons is rewarded with progress in their chosen stories. Students also get to personalize their experience, but here's the best part - none of these aspects affect the curriculum, meaning that the student gets the personalized engagement they want, AND the personalized math lessons they need. There certainly are a lot of great reasons to give DreamBox a try, but if you need one more, then here it is: a free 14-day trial! Signing up is quick, easy, and completely safe. At no cost to yourself, you can see, firsthand, what DreamBox Learning can do for your children's fluency in math. So... Is DreamBox Learning the best math education software on the market today? We'll let you be the judge of that. Do you have a question about DreamBox? Well, what are you waiting for? Use the “Send Feedback” button in the lower right hand corner of the DreamBox Learning game window, and let us know what’s going on. We can also be contacted about this, or about any other DreamBox questions you may have, at support@dreambox.com. We’re always more than happy to help you!

Do You Support Funding for EdTech?

Tracy — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:05:07 +0000

An issue has arisen that may be of interest to educators and parents. According to the EdTech Action Network (ETAN), the 2011 federal budget eliminates funding for Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT). We'd like to ask our readers if you agree, disagree, or don't have strong feelings either way. If you support a separate funding source of at least $500 million for education technology in the schools, you can express your opinion through social media. ISTE Connects has some suggestions for how to get involved.

Support EdTech. Here's how:

On Wednesday, May 12, send a tweet, write a blog, update your Facebook status or do all three to show you support Enhancing Education Through Technology. Here's a sample EdTech tweet:

As a principal/teacher/parent I know our kids need #edtech in the schools. Fund #EETT at $500m

We welcome your comment below -- please let us know how you feel about this issue!

EdTech Resources:

Write your representative through ETAN. Read more about EETT Funding. Learn more about the ISTE social media campaign.

Support Teachers by Supporting Technology Funding in Schools

Sue — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:03:14 +0000

Every spring school boards across the country must make tough financial decisions for their districts. The majority of school budgets are personnel, so when budgets are cut that usually means cutting staff. With more students in the classroom and less support staff for remediation or enrichment, educational technology can be an important and effective tool for classroom teachers. Technology has the ability to give each student differentiated instruction and practice that meets their needs, and allows teachers to track students’ progress and recognize their needs. Join us in support of Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, proposed to be eliminated in the federal budget for FY2011. Find out more and write to your representatives today. Investing in educational technology is good for our schools, our students, and our teachers.

How Technology is Changing Math Classrooms for the Better

Tracy — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:55:15 +0000

Guest Post by James McConville, as part of the EdTech Blog Swap Math is everywhere, there really is no escape! Sounds ominous, but there are so many opportunities to see math that is readily available in the world around us. This blog post looks at all the opportunities there are to discuss math with students and how technology supports they way we do that. Mind-mapping Making connections to what we already know. Mind mapping the big ideas. I’m been thrilled to see recently published math textbooks include a mind-map for each chapter to graphically show how the concepts in that chapter related to information that students already know. Take for example the mind-map below. Imagine if a student was to keep a year-long journal of things they learned in math as a mind-map. They could then ‘connect-the-dots’ to make sense of what they have learned. By the way, this mind-map was created in bubbl.us 2.0 beta. bubble.us has a great interface and is a free online mind-mapping site.

mind mapping

Virtual Manipulatives The latest breed of math textbooks are so much more than just a paper resource. If you haven’t checked the CD or website that is linked to your school’s math textbook, here are some nifty features you can expect:

note taking –ebooks have a way to store notes in the student’s version. The can personalize the book and make notes of the ah-ha’s in a way that we would never want them to do in a paper book.
virtual manipulatives – these are typically java or flash-based interactive learning objects that reinforce the concept. My favorite site for these is the Library of Virtual Manipulatives. (Editor's note: DreamBox Learning also has virtual manipulatives that any teacher can access for free!)
videos – watching someone else solve a math program can really help students. The great thing about online videos is that they can be watched over and over again. Of course YouTube has lots of math humor, here is one of my favorites with Ma & Pa.

Thinking about math The two photos in this post are from the creative commons on flickr and they do a great job of getting us to think about shapes in our environment. With all the cell phones in students' pockets, what if they all had to capture a 'math’ photo each day and shared them with a common tag on flickr. There would be a lot of math to discuss! Post a comment, how do you thing technology has changed the way we think about math? Wall photo from eworm on flikr, mind-map by James McConville, pear shapes from Kaptain Kobold

Here's Why I Love Working at DreamBox Learning

Neil — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:36:20 +0000

I've been in the software biz for 22 years or so, not counting high school and university. (If you want to add that, call it 28 years!) Of the companies I've worked for, this is the most balanced, professional, and most oriented towards shipping product. I love the way we have combined software, creative, teaching, marketing, and business professionals to make a real product. Other companies have meritocracies or cults which exclude whole groups of people. DreamBox is different -- we listen to our customers and to each other, and it shows! Lots of people can write software code, but if it doesn't get out to the real world and doesn't affect real people -- well then, you're just doing it for yourself.

Making a Difference in E-Learning

I have ALWAYS preferred companies and projects which will have a REAL impact in the world. I have been lucky to work on a couple of such projects in the past, and I think this one will truly make a difference. We have worked incredibly hard for almost 3 years now to get to this point. We will continue to work hard, making improvements and adding more grade levels, but it's worth taking a moment to appreciate our unusually collaborative culture, which has enabled us to create a product with the potential to help so many kids.

An Inauguration of a Different Sort

Lou — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:23:01 +0000

Dear Mr. President, A week ago you stood in front of the nation and spoke the following words: “That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood . . . our schools fail too many . . . [But] we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.” We at DreamBox Learning welcome your words. In fact, DreamBox Learning exists to be a key agent of transformative change in education, such that every student enjoys an individually-tailored, world class learning experience. We are doing our part by providing a web-based curriculum that is incredibly effective, fun, and highly individualized to a student’s particular learning needs. Our product will first be offered in the homes of some students, later in the schools for all students. In order to achieve that latter goal, we need your help. By ensuring that every student has access to a quality computer, thick broadband connectivity, a teacher that is trained to use technology, and a school system that embraces the power of software both in spirit and in budget, we are certain a difference can be made. In short Mr. President, if you provide the infrastructure and access, we will do our level best to bring innovation and entrepreneurship to meet the “demands of the new age.” Mr. President, you also stated: “In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom." Again, those words resonated for the DreamBox team. Today we celebrate the inaugural launch of our first product – DreamBox Learning K-2 Math. After three demanding and determined years, we stand ready to take our first step, not our last, in delivering on our promise so that children can take hold of theirs. We were humbled by the challenge but no less deterred. It was a simple recognition that someone had to; why not us? But as the hard charging and willful team here knows, any far-reaching goal needs to be grounded in bare-knuckled execution and a united ethos. We hope that these are the hallmarks of yours and our journey to success. Lou Gray CEO, DreamBox Learning, Inc.