Lesson Planet Wins 2014 BESSIE for Best Educational Software
Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) May 21, 2014 -- Lesson Planet has won a BESSIE in the best teacher tools category in ComputED Gazette’s 20th Annual Best Educational Software Awards.
“Lesson Planet has started offering video courses to help teachers integrate educational technology into their classrooms,” judges noted in the award review, which highlights only four of 14 winners in the teacher tools category. “The website is expertly produced and highly motivating.”
Launched in mid-2013, Lesson Planet professional development boasts 21 courses (25 by mid-2014) on topics identified by the 2012 New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report as most relevant for K-12 education now: mobile devices & apps and tablet computing.
Lesson Planet PD courses align to ISTE/NETS standards and address topics including Digital Citizenship, iPad and Google tools, and social media for teachers. EdTech Tuesdays, informal five-minute video reviews focused specifically on teachers’ needs, highlight a different digital tool, app, or trend in educational technology each week.
The awards’ prestige is rooted in ComputED Gazette’s non-biased process. “BESSIEs are a great independent review of the best and most innovative products for education,” said edtech insider Kevin Custer, founding principal of Arc Capital Development, a private equity firm focused on education and healthcare. “Selections are based on the quality of the program,” he added. “[ComputED's] reviewers work from an objective perspective not influenced by corporate contributions.”
About ComputED Gazette
ComputED Gazette is an award-winning online service that reviews and awards premier educational software. These annual awards, known as BESSIEs (Best Educational Software Awards) and EDDIEs (Education Software Review Awards), target innovative and content-rich programs and websites that provide educators with the technology to foster educational excellence. ComputED Gazette selects winners from titles submitted by publishers worldwide.
About Lesson Planet
Founded by educators in 1999, Lesson Planet (http://www.lessonplanet.com) provides award-winning online curriculum search for PreK-12 educators, enabling teachers to find teacher reviews and links to lesson resources targeted by grade, subject, Common Core State Standard, and more. Teachers can also find on-demand EdTech tutorial videos, and, for schools and districts, blended live, on-site and online professional development programs.
Judith Smith-Meyer, Lesson Planet, http://www.lessonplanet.com, +1 (888) 909-9035, [email protected]
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