We are exhibiting at the INTO Annual Congress 2010 which is being held at the Salthill Hotel in Galway City, from April 5-7.
Many thanks to all who visited us at the EdWare stand (25B) at the IPPN, it was great to meet our existing customers and our new customers. It was great to showcase our geography software: Know Your Ireland, Know Your Europe, Know Your USA and Know Your World over the three days of the conference.
A special thanks to Lennox Labs for providing us with an interactive whiteboard and projector for the conference.
Over the past few weeks I have been trying our software on a selection of Interactive Whiteboards. This week I will post a few videos I took using Know Your USA, Know Your Europe and Know Your Ireland on a Promethean Interactive Whiteboard.Labels: Interactive Whiteboard Series, News
EdWare Learning has teamed up with Seomra Ranga (www.seomraranga.com) to bring you a competition on their website for the month of November. We are sponsoring prizes for the competition and providing a number of copies of Know Your Ireland and Know Your Europe to the winners. To be in with a chance of winning one of these prizes, all you have to do is upload a resource to the Seomra Ranga website during the month of November. Simply attach the resource, in any format (.doc, .pdf, .xls, .pub, .jpg etc) to an e-mail and send it to info@seomraranga.com, visit the Seomra Ranga website and blog for further details.
Come visit the EdWare stand at the IPPN (Irish Primary Principals' Network) Conference from January 28-30, 2010 at the Citywest Hotel & Conference Centre, Dublin, Ireland. We will be at stand number 25, drop by and try our award winning geography software for schools.
EdWare joined the LEAP programme in June 2009, hosted at the EAC in Limerick. LEAP is a one year enterprise development platform that will enable EdWare to grow and take the business to the next level.
Labels: News
Update of Know Your USA, version 1.6 is now available. This is a free to all current users. There are a few minor and major improvements and features:
Labels: Know Your USA, News
We have some interesting announcements over the coming months, just in time for the back to school rush.
Labels: News
Texan seventh grader Eric Yang wins the 2009 National Geographic Bee on Sunday in Washington D.C., congratulations Eric, watch the winning question.
Labels: News
Between 4-7 June of 2009 (Friday, 5 June in Ireland), registered voters in the EU's 27 Member States will use their votes to elect 736 members of the European Parliament or MEPs.
Labels: Know Your Europe, Know Your Europe 2.0, News
Know Your Europe, Know Your USA and Know Your World were reviewed this week at anseo.net today, and it's another great review from anseo.net. Our software was again awarded their "Top of the Class" award and I am very pleased with the feedback, thanks again Simon.Labels: Know Your Europe, Know Your Europe 2.0, Know Your USA, Know Your World, Media, News
Mexico is being featured in the news the past week regarding the H1N1 influenza A outbreak. I created a map of Mexico that will help greatly the teaching of geography, the printable Mexico PDF is available to download and print, and is ideal for copying.Labels: News, Promotion, School Resource
Know Your Ireland was reviewed at anseo.net today, and it's a really great review. Know Your Ireland received their "Top of the Class" award and I am very pleased with the feedback, thanks guys.Labels: Know Your Ireland, Know Your Ireland 3.0, Media, News
The INTO Congress 2009 is taking place this Easter; April 13-15 in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny. EdWare will be there, so make sure you come visit us in the exhibitors area and try out our latest software, and to say hello. I look forward to meeting everyone.
Photograph: Irish Coast Guard
The spill was picked up by the European Maritime Safety Agency’s (EMSA) CleanSeaNet satellite monitoring system on Saturday, above is the satellite photo from the agency, learn more.Labels: News, School Resource
We will be exhibiting at the 2009 CESI National Conference, the exhibit hall will be held on February 14th: Coláiste de h-Íde, Castle Tymon Road, Tallaght, there is also a series of presentations being held on Friday evening at the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght.Labels: CESI, Exhibit, News, School Resource
January 20, 2009 is inauguration day for the new president of the United States, Barack Obama. To celebrate the inauguration we have created a nine page worksheet (1.0 MB) about the United States, perfect for school. If you want to learn more about the United States please consider our awarding winning Know Your USA software.
Labels: Know Your USA, News, School Resource
We will be attending the CESI Conference this February 13th and 14th in Tallaght, Co. Dublin. This is a great opportunity to visit our stand and try out our latest software.
The CESI National Conference, in association with NCTE, is Ireland's leading conference addressing ICT and learning. It has a long and proud tradition of foregrounding good practice in ICT usage from primary, second level and third level teaching settings as well as engendering critical debate on key issues of interest to practitioners in all areas and levels of the Irish education system.To find out more information about the conference and to register please visit the CESI National Conference website at: http://www.cesi.ie/conference-2009
Labels: CESI, Exhibit, News, School Resource
If you want to receive our software in time for Christmas, in Ireland you will need to order by:
Labels: News
I am very happy to say that Know Your Europe 2.0 will be available in December, it took longer then expected but we have added many new topics and think it was worth the wait:
We have also added the following features which greatly improve the learning experience:
Once the CDs are ready we will being mailing them to customers, please be patient as we have a large number of CDs to mail.
Labels: Know Your Europe, Know Your Europe 2.0, News
Dublin has been selected as the City of Science for 2012. Dublin will host the Euro Science Open Forum (ESOF) in 2012.
Labels: News
November 4th, 2008 is election day in the United States. To celebrate the election we have created a five page worksheet (0.6 MB) about the United States, perfect for school. If you want to learn more about the United States please consider our awarding winning Know Your USA software.
Labels: Know Your USA, News, Promotion, School Resource
We had a number of issues with our phone after switching over to the Three network. I am now glad to say we have switched back to O2 and everything is back working again. Sorry for any customers or potential customers who had difficulties calling me, as it only affected incoming calls I was not aware of the issue until customers informed me.
Labels: News
The Irish Examiner today reported that "school managers have issued an urgent appeal to the Government to raise spending on their schools amid fears that further financial cutbacks could cause huge damage to the education of future generations.", read article online.
Labels: News
Know Your USA was featured in The E-Report on The Wall Street Journal Tech News Briefing on Wednesday, 17 September podcast (click to listen).
Labels: Know Your USA, Media, News
Know Your USA 1.5 was reviewed in the September 2008 issue of Children's Technology Review and received the Editor's Choice Seal.
Version 1.5 [Know Your USA], released Summer of 2008, includes more content (60 photos, better maps of each state with more details, better puzzles, and a direct link to both Google Earth and the Wikipedia entry on the United States). With these new tweaks, the program provides a straightforward and effective way to practice geography facts by way of a series of lessons and timed quizzes.
About CTR:
Children's Technology Review (CTR) is an ad-free, subscriber-supported web and print-based publication. It is designed to keep educators, parents and librarians informed on commercial interactive media products designed for children, aged birth- to 15-years. These are the products that children use for both fun and learning, either at home and/or at school. They include software, video games, interactive toys, web sites that a child might visit, and so on. From a theoretical perspective, CTR exists in the space between child development and interactive media. The Children's Software Finder(TM), our database of more than 8,000 reviews, has become a critical step in our core subscribers' purchasing-making decisions. It is published on the first business day of each month.
Labels: FETC, Know Your USA, Media, News
As mentioned in my previous post Northern Ireland invests a great deal more in ICT for schools then we do. The Irish technology website SiliconRepublic has an interesting article about the differences between north and south.
Labels: News
As reported in the Irish Times the TUI has called on the government not to cut the ICT budget for schools set aside under the 2007-2013 NDP, Batt O’Keeffe, T.D. has so far not made a commitment to proceed with the investment.
Labels: News
Know Your USA was reviewed in the June 2008 issue of the School Library Journal magazine. The School Library Journal has a circulation of 38,000 subscribers and over 100,000 readers. The review was based on version 1.0, so many of the new great features of version 1.5 were not covered, learn more. The entire review is below, you can read it on page 81 of the magazine too.
Know Your USA: Discover the Geography of the United States. CD-ROM. Systems: Win 98 & later. Prod. by Edware.Interested in reselling or distributing Know Your USA in North America, get in touch.
Gr 3 Up -Here's a fun way to test your general knowledge of the 50 states including location, capitals, major cities, rivers, mountains, lakes, and National Parks. The "Study" section provides basic information about each state such as the area, population, nickname, and other statistics. Political and physical maps are included. The major flaw is the direct link to Wikipedia when more information is desired since there is no guarantee that all the material provided on that site is reliable. In the "Teach" section, users take a quiz and if they give an incorrect response, they are first given a hint and if their response is incorrect again they are given the correct answer. In the quiz section, the player is given the state name and must click the correct state on the map. Hints are given until the state is identified correctly. This game may be accessed for free at knowyourusa.net/quiz. The "Examine" section presents a test on all the topics covered. User progress is tracked and stored in a database to monitor future progress. An additional purchase. -Lisa Hardey, Sprague High School, Salem, OR
Labels: Know Your USA, Media, News
ICT investment in Irish schools worth €252 million is now in jeopardy as the government manoeuvres to cut spending under the NDP.
ICT Ireland has expressed concern following the statement by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe that he was unwilling to make any firm commitment that the EUR252 million, allocated in the National Development Plan for the development of information and communications technology in schools, would be spent. Speaking on Wednesday in the Dail, Minister O'Keeffe said that a final decision remained outstanding. Speaking at the Internet and Experience in Education Conference in Tipperary, Director of ICT Ireland Kathryn Raleigh said: "Technology in Irish schools has been grossly under-funded for years and this has left Irish students at a major disadvantage compared to many of their European counterparts." Raleigh has called for for the Government to commit to spending in this area as a matter of urgency. Read more from ENN.ie
Labels: News
Interactive Whiteboards are a great way of using technology to aid teaching in the classroom. We highly recommend their use and encourage schools check them out. We have ensured that our software works seamlessly with the latest white board technology.Labels: News, School Resource
Thanks to all who visited our stand in the exhibit hall at the INTO Congress 2008, which was held at the Hotel Kilkenny in Kilkenny City this past week. We received great response from our software, teachers loved Know Your Ireland, it was a pleasure meeting you all and we look forward to fulfilling your geography educational software needs.
Today, 20 March 2008, The Irish Times features an article on the lack of funding for ICT in schools and that the current spending plan is not sufficient. The article is free to read on Ireland.com but I will post below too.
€252m school computer plan lags behind EU, study reveals
SEÁN FLYNN, Education EditorTHE GOVERNMENT'S €252 million plan for computers in schools is insufficient and will leave Irish schools lagging behind their EU counterparts, according to a confidential report commissioned by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin.
In recent months, the Minister has resisted pressure from the Irish National Teachers' Organisation and Fine Gael to publish the report.
But a draft copy - seen by The Irish Times - is scathing about the current level of information and communications technology (ICT) in schools. And it is not optimistic about the future.
The report, Investing Effectively in Information and Communications Technology for Schools 2007-13, was prepared by a strategy group headed by Jerome Morrissey, the director of the National Centre for Technology in Education.
It questions whether the €252 million to be invested under the National Development Plan over a seven-year period to 2013 will be enough to close the gap on other countries.
While this will enable schools to update existing facilities, the strategy group states: "We suggest that this sum is inadequate to fund progress beyond the merely functional levels of ICT. Further investment will be required to bring our schools to an EU average level."
The report says overall confidence in ICT among teachers has been dented by years of underinvestment.
The Republic, it says, still "falls well behind the EU average" when it comes to ICT use in the classroom.
This, it says, has resulted in "insufficient and ageing equipment in schools, no provision for technical support and very inadequate levels of broadband internet".
Last night, the general secretary of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, Peter MacMenamin, said the report provided further evidence of the Government's "shameful" lack of commitment to ICT. Thousands of teachers, he said, had gone to the trouble of getting ICT training: "It is like learning to drive - and then sitting into a car with no wheels."
The main recommendations of the report include:
- A "truly high-speed" nationwide broadband network available to every school;
- A new national policy for the development and distribution of digital content for learning;
- Centralised arrangements for the purchase of school-ready computers and a national plan for equipment renewal;
- Schools retaining some autonomy and choice in their purchase of computers;
- A new national framework for teachers' development in ICT;
- New levels of inter-agency co-operation to drive the e-learning agenda forward.
The report was commissioned to examine how best to allocate the €252 million budget.
The most recent survey of computers in schools found that one in five cannot be used and more than 50 per cent are at least four years old.
The Republic has one of the lowest rates of ICT usage in education in the developed world.
The hardware currently available to teachers and students for use in the classroom is inadequate, the report found.
In conclusion, it states that, "It is not possible to create an e-learning culture and to embed ICT in the curriculum without having appropriate and adequate information and communication technology tools available in schools."
Labels: News
Please visit our stand at this years INTO Congress which will be held at the Hotel Kilkenny in Kilkenny, from Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 March 2008.
This months INTO InTouch magazine (Issue 92 / March 2008) features a great article by Robbie O'Leary on software for the classroom. Know Your Ireland is featured and gets an excellent write up, "[Know Your Ireland] is another superb example of home-produced software that attains the highest professional standards".
The same article was also featured in the March 2008 issue of the IPPN Magazine Leadership+, issue 43. This is great exposure for Know Your Ireland and we greatly appreciate publicity.Labels: INTO, Know Your Ireland, Know Your Ireland 3.0, Media, News
RTE's Prime Time last night had a segment on school funding, if you missed the show you can watch it online: http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0228/primetime.htmlLabels: News
We exhibited at this years CESI Conference and received great response to our software from teachers and all who attended. Thanks again for those who visited us at the conference.
We will be exhibiting at the 2008 CESI National Conference which is on at Coláiste de h-Íde in Tallaght on the 8th & 9th February 2008.
We attended the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) last week (January 22nd to 25th, 2008) in Orlando, Florida and had a great week promoting Know Your USA which was extremely well received.Labels: Exhibit, FETC, Know Your USA, News
We got a very nice e-mail today from Robbie O'Leary regarding our newest software title, Know Your Ireland 3.0. Robbie was extremely impressed with it, "simply superb piece of software, highly professional, fully comprehensive, easy to use, engaging and interactive. It deserves to be in every school in Ireland." Robbie O’Leary, Sacred Heart SNS, Tallaght.
Thanks for the kind words Robbie.
Labels: Know Your Ireland, Know Your Ireland 3.0, Media, News
A very interesting article in the Irish Times today regarding ICT investment in education. This brings some well needed press attention to the delay in the investment of €252 million allocated in the NDP 2007-2013 for primary and secondary schools.
On the Irish technology website SiliconRepublic.com there is a very interesting article on the progress, or lack of progress on ICT in the Irish education system. There is still no news on the progress of the ICT grants which were earmarked in the National Development Plan (2007-2013) to a sum of €252m. Although €252 million appears like a large sum of money when spread out over five years and amongst the 4,000 schools (850,000 students and teachers) it quickly dwindles.
Labels: News
Math Week begins today, 15th - 19th October 2007. There are many events organised around the country and you should visit http://www.mathsweek.ie/ for further information about an event near you.
Labels: News
As part of the celebrations of the International Year of the Planet Earth, which begins on 1st January 2008, Minister Eamon Ryan today announces the launch of a Schools’ Competition: “How Erratic is Your Block?” The competition is being organised within his department by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), Departments Website.
Labels: News
Today the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued their annual report on education among OECD countries, Education at a Glance 2007. The report found that Ireland spends less on education than most industrialised countries with class sizes among the largest, at 25 student per class.
Labels: News
Today we updated our website with a fresh new look to the home page, this should make it easier for you to access the information you want. It is also quicker now to access our free online games from the home page via the new Free Online Games section, we hope to add some more mini games over the coming months.
Labels: News
Today siliconrepublic.com, has an excellent article on ICT in schools and the lack of progress and funding that has been made over the past decade, "Educating the educators".
Labels: News
We are currently working on a number of new projects and additions to current titles for the new academic year 2007/08. We hope to introduce these in September / October 2007 so please check back then. We will of course look after our current customers and offer discounts for any product updates to current users.
Labels: News
Know Your USA is featured in the highly popular Parade Magazine across the United States in their back-to-school technology special edition.
A new school year brings both challenges and opportunities to make learning fun. As you stock up on back-to-school basics, consider some ways that technology can help your favorite students succeed.
Master the Map
Anyone who has survived the fifth grade knows you can’t graduate until you can name the capital of North Carolina. A new software application called Know Your USA ($25) helps kids learn geography through games, tutorials, timed quizzes and even a virtual jigsaw puzzle. The program also drills students on regions, states, major cities, rivers, mountains and lakes. For ages 8-14.
Labels: Know Your USA, Media, News
Know Your USA was awarded the highly respected Editor's Choice for the month of July by the Children's Technology Review magazine. We our honored to receive such an award from one of the most respected educational review magazines in the world.
Review from the July issue:
It provides a straightforward and effective way to practice geography facts by way of a series of lessons and timed quizzes. For example, in the State Capitals section, students can explore the answers by simply rolling the mouse around the screen which, it turn, pops-up the name of each state's capitol city. In the Quickfire quiz, a capital is named, and students must select the right answer. Unfortunately, the interaction is clunky--students must click "OK" to continue to the next question, which gets repetitive.
The next step is Exam, where they must type the name of the capital. Individual student progress is stored on your hard drive, providing students sign in. There is no use limit as to the number of students, making this a viable consideration for elementary or middle school classroom use.
Other topics include regions, states, state capitals, major cities, rivers, mountains and lakes. There is also a states jigsaw puzzle. If you are looking for clean, affordable geography practice, this is a good choice. Note that the developer's previous titles include Know Your Ireland and Know Your Europe. A "Know Your Earth" is planned. You can download a seven-day trial version, and purchase a download key if you like the program.
Know Your USA was awarded 4.4 stars out of 5 stars.
Labels: Know Your USA, Media, News
Thanks again for everyone who visited our stand at the Education Show, we received great feedback and hope to be back again next year.
Come visit us, Stand 13 at the Education Show Ireland in the Main Hall of the RDS from the 6-8 April, 2006.
Our flagship products here at EdWare are Know Your Ireland and Know Your Europe both have been hugely successful and aid the teaching of Irish and European geography throughout schools in the Republic of Ireland. Maps are used extensively to help the user learn about key features of each country/county, cities/towns, mountains and rivers. We are currently at the late stage of developing Know Your USA which will be the most advance K-School targeted geography software package available in the USA. The title will include extensive teaching resources including worksheets and quizzes which can be modified to suit the class needs.
Labels: News
EdWare visited BETT 2006 at the Olympia in London yesterday to check out what's new for ICT and Education. The show was very interesting and massive when compared to similar shows here in Ireland. We came away with a lot of new ideas and contacts which we hope to put to use over the coming months and launch some new products to the Irish market.
