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In
late 2000, Wireless Generation co-founders Larry Berger and Greg Gunn-two
Rhodes Scholars with years of experience in education and technology-set
out to create a company that would give educators technology tools that
made a significant difference in their teaching. They chose to focus
on handheld computers, or personal digital assistants (PDAs). Teachers,
they reasoned, are highly mobile professionals, and it made sense that
teachers' technology tools should meet the demands of their work environment.
The Wireless Generation team studied teachers in
the classroom, paying special attention to the tasks they regularly
perform. It became clear that an easy-to-use technology solution for
conducting observational assessments, collecting and analyzing data,
and helping teachers to link results to appropriate instructional support
and interventions could yield great benefits for educators - saving
them enormous amounts of time and providing them with crucial information
about student learning needs in a timely way.
Wireless Generation has developed mCLASS®
(for Mobile Classroom Assessment) software and created handheld computer
versions of commonly used, paper-based early reading assessments, including
TPRI®, DIBELS®, PALS™
and reading records. The company's product development cycle was described
in an IAETE journal article entitled
"Formative Vision: Using Handheld Computers to Support Diagnostic
Instruction."
This fall, approximately 100,000 teachers in 48 states will use Wireless Generation's mCLASS technology to assess over 1,500,000 preK-6 students. Teachers have been eager adopters of mCLASS software -- even skeptical teaching veterans -- because they find that they can learn to use the applications in just a few hours, and save time by doing the assessments on the handheld instead of on paper. Preliminary studies of mCLASS products show a 50% time savings in assessment administration alone, which adds up to 3-5 instructional days per teacher, per year.
Administrators value the mCLASS solutions because
student performance data is captured accurately, teachers can apply
the data to instruction more easily than they ever could using paper-based
assessments, and student, class, school and district progress toward
achievement goals can be easily tracked. Additionally, mCLASS solutions
help administrators to collect and manage the data required to comply
with No Child Left Behind Reading First requirements and other policy
mandates.
The U.S. Department of Education has recognized
mCLASS software, highlighting it in a virtual town hall meeting on how
rural communities are harnessing the power of technology to help meet
the goals and requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Wireless Generation's rapid success stems from its
identity as an education company first and a technology company second.
The staff immerses themselves in the complex dynamics of teaching and
learning, and listens closely to education professionals - from the
classroom teacher to the state school chief. Its solutions are based
upon the principle that technology should be easy to use, and should
help educators to realize concrete, defined goals and operational efficiencies.
Building upon this foundation, Wireless Generation's
newest offerings help educators to put student performance data and
analysis at the center of their instructional programs. These products
and services include customizable graphical reports that give educational
leaders unprecedented insight into instructional needs and effectiveness
across their districts; professional development workshops on data analysis,
interpretation and leadership; instructional guidance linked to student
data; and tools for reducing special education referrals and implementing
Response to Intervention models. An early math inventory is also currently
in development.
Company
> History
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