2016 THE Journal Readers’ Choice Award Winners Announced

USA - English

• USA - English

Vienna, VA (PRWEB) October 31, 2016 -- THE Journal, published by 1105 Public Sector Media Group, is pleased to announce the winners of the second annual Readers’ Choice Awards.

For THE Journal’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards, education technology professionals voted for the software, hardware and services they consider most vital to the job of educating and supporting America’s 50 million K-12 students.

“More than 1,000 of our readers — technology-using educators — selected the gear, software and brands they see as most valuable to the mission of education,” said David Nagel, editor-in-chief of THE Journal. “We congratulate all the winners and thank them for having such a positive impact on K–12 schools.”

2016’s Readers Choice Award Winners:

• Most Valuable in Your Schools

Platinum: Lexia Learning
Gold: Google Chromebooks
Silver: Edsby

• Best Reading Program

Platinum: Lexia Learning
Gold: Renaissance Learning Accelerated Reader 360
Silver: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Read 180

• Best Math Program

Platinum (tie): IXL Math and Renaissance Learning Accelerated Math
Gold: DreamBox Learning
Silver: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt GO Math!

• Best Science Program

Platinum: Discovery Education
Gold: Delta Education’s Full Option Science System (FOSS)

• Best Robotics System/Curriculum

Platinum: Lego Education
Gold: Vex Robotics
Silver: Wonder Workshop Dash & Dot Coding Robots

• Best Coding Tool/Curriculum

Platinum: Code.org/Hour of Code
Gold: Tynker

• Best Formative Assessment

Platinum: Renaissance Learning Star 360
Gold: Kahoot!
Silver (tie): Houghton Mifflin Harcourt GO Math! and NWEA

• Best Summative Assessment

Platinum: Renaissance Learning Star 360
Gold: NWEA MAP

• Best Learning Management & E-Learning

Platinum: Google Classroom
Gold: Schoology
Silver: Edmodo

• Best Education Networks/Professional Communities

Platinum (tie): Discovery Educator Community and Twitter
Gold: LinkedIn
Silver (tie): simpleK12 and Teaching Channel

• Best Adaptive/Personalized Learning Tool

Platinum: Lexia Reading Core5
Gold: Renaissance Learning
Silver (tie): Edgenuity and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Read 180 and Scientific Learning Reading Assistant

• Best Intervention & Remediation Software

Platinum (tie): Renaissance Learning STAR Early Literacy
Gold (tie): Achieve3000 and Scientific Learning Fast ForWord
Silver: Read Naturally

• Best ePortfolio

Platinum: Blackboard Learn
Gold: Moodle
Silver (tie): Instructure Canvas and Seesaw

• Best ‘Other’ Education Tool

Platinum: Khan Academy
Gold: Discovery Education Streaming Plus and Discovery Education Science Techbook
Silver: Learning.com

• Best Student Response Systems & Classroom Clickers

Platinum: Kahoot
Gold: Socrative
Silver: SMART response 2

• Best Collaboration Tool

Platinum: Google collaboration tools (Hangouts, G Suite for Education and Classroom)
Gold: Microsoft collaboration tools (Skype in the Classroom, Office 365 Education and Classroom)
Silver: Nearpod

• Best Classroom Management System

Platinum: ClassDojo
Silver: Google Cast

• Best Student Information Systems & Data Management Tool

Platinum: PowerSchool
Gold: Skyward
Silver: Infinite Campus

• Best Lecture Capture/Screen Recording

Platinum: Screencast-O-Matic
Gold: TechSmith Snagit
Silver: TechSmith Camtasia

• Best Document Camera

Platinum: Elmo Visual Presenter
Gold: AVer
Silver: Smart Document Camera

• Best Projector Maker

Platinum: Epson
Gold: Hitachi
Silver: InFocus

• Best Interactive Whiteboard, Display, Flat Panel or Kiosk

Platinum: Smart Technologies
Gold: Promethean
Silver: Epson

• Best Videoconferencing & Web Conferencing Tool

Platinum: Google Hangouts
Gold: Microsoft Skype in the Classroom
Silver: Cisco WebEx

• Best Virtual Classroom/Meeting Software

Platinum: Google Hangouts
Gold: Citrix’s GoToMeeting
Silver: Microsoft Skype in the Classroom

• Best Classroom Audio Distribution/Sound Enhancement System Maker

Platinum: Lightspeed Technologies
Gold: Smart audio
Silver (tie): Califone and FrontRow

• Top Educational Game or Gaming Tool

Platinum: Kahoot
Gold: Minecraft and Minecraft Education Edition

• Top Non-education Game Used for Instruction

Platinum: Minecraft and Minecraft Education Edition

• Best Gaming Platform

Platinum: Apple iOS
Gold (tie): Sony PlayStation and Windows Xbox
Silver: Microsoft Windows

• Best Virtual/Augmented Reality Headset or Hardware System

Platinum: Google Cardboard
Gold: Samsung Gear VR
Silver (tie): Facebook Oculus Rift and Sony PlayStation VR

• Best Virtual/Augmented Reality Software/System

Platinum: HP Aurasma

• Best Classroom Presentation Software

Platinum: Microsoft PowerPoint
Gold: Google Slides
Silver: Prezi

• Best Office/Productivity Suite

Platinum: Microsoft Office/Office 365 Education
Gold: Google G Suite for Education
Silver: Apple iWork

• Best Multimedia Authoring Suites & Creative Software

Platinum: Adobe Creative Cloud
Gold: Apple creativity apps

• Best E-Learning Authoring Tool

Platinum: Google G Suite for Education
Gold (tie): Apple iBooks Author and Adobe Creative Cloud

• Best Media Tablet by Maker

Platinum: Apple
Gold: Google
Silver: Samsung

• Best Chromebook by Maker

Platinum: HP
Gold: Dell
Silver: Lenovo

• Best Windows Tablet by Maker

Platinum: Microsoft Surface/Surface Pro
Gold (tie): Dell, HP and Samsung
Silver: Lenovo

• Best Convertible Notebook/2-in-1 Notebook by Maker

Platinum (tie): HP and Lenovo
Gold: Dell
Silver: Asus

• Best Education Notebook by Maker

Platinum: Apple
Gold (tie): HP and Dell
Silver: Lenovo

• Best Virtual Desktop and Thin Clients

Platinum: VMware Horizon
Gold: Lenovo ThinkCentre
Silver: Dell Wyse

• Best Wireless Access Point or Hotspot

Platinum: Cisco Systems
Gold: Netgear
Silver (tie): Aerohive Networks and HP Aruba Networks

• Best 3D Printer

Platinum: Stratasys MakerBot

• Best Network Management, Analysis and Monitoring Tool by Maker

Platinum: Microsoft
Gold: Cisco Systems

• Best Mobile Device Management Solution

Platinum: Google Mobile Management
Gold: AT&T AirWatch

• Best Anonymous Reporting Tool

Platinum: MySafeSchool
Gold: CyberBully Hotline

• Best Emergency Notification System

Platinum: SchoolMessenger
Gold: Blackboard Connect

• Best Firewall Software

Platinum: Kaspersky
Gold: Symantec Norton 360
Silver: Windows Firewall

• Best Firewall Hardware/Appliance

Platinum: Cisco Systems
Gold: MacAfee/Forcepoint

• Best Antivirus Tool

Platinum: McAfee AntiVirus
Gold: Microsoft
Silver (tie): Avast and Norton AntiVirus

• Best Classroom Furnishings by Brand

Platinum: Steelcase
Gold: Bretford
Silver: Childcraft

• Top 10 Favorite Technologies Currently Used

    1. All things Apple, most especially iPads, but also MacBooks and iPhones; and all things Google, particularly G Suite for Education, Classroom and Drive
    2. Interactive whiteboards, particularly from Promethean and Smart
    3. Lexia
    4. More computers, tablets, desktops and carts
    5. Renaissance, especially Star 360 and Accelerated Reading and Math
    6. Google Chromebooks
    7. Microsoft Office and Office 365
    8. Projectors, particularly Epson’s; and Mimio Boxlight interactive solutions
    9. Edsby and Schoology
    10. Document cameras

Detailed winner profiles will be featured on THEJournal.com, and will appear in the November issue of THE Journal.

About THE Journal
THE Journal is the premier resource for K-12 senior-level district and school administrators, IT administration and instructional technologists who make decisions and influence technology purchases for their districts, schools and classrooms.

About 1105 Public Sector Media Group
1105 Public Sector Media Group, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., provides information, insight and analysis to the Government IT and Education IT (FED/SLED) sectors. Our content platforms include print, digital, online, events and a broad spectrum of marketing services. http://1105publicsector.com

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Emily Jacobs, 1105 Media, Inc., http://campustechnology.com, +1 703-876-5052, [email protected]