PLATO Courses
[PLATO (952) 832-1460, grades 9-12]

PLATO continues to win awards for excellence in design and delivery of its online learning environment, PLATO Courses. The self-paced, out-of-the-box, semester-long courses include Algebra, American History, Biology, Chemistry, English, Geography, Life Science, Physical Science, US Government, World History and Pre-Algebra. Compelling videos and animated lessons promote learning and credit recovery while students work toward graduation.

High school students will enjoy the rich, colorful interface and well-structured, interactive sequences which are aligned to state and national standards. Teachers have access to many classroom management tools, including a built-in comprehensive reporting system that ensures students have acquired knowledge and earned course credit.

Worthy of mention is the fact that, while some competitors' online courses are bogged down with extremely long video download times, PLATO utilizes software that expedites delivery of its comprehensive curriculum.

Gaggle.net
[Gaggle.net (800) 288-7750, grades 6-8]

Gaggle.net (so named when founder, Jeff Patterson, conceived of the website to give teachers an easy way to watch over their gaggle of students) is a powerful, yet easy to use, Internet communication tool that provides a safe environment for classroom, district and even worldwide use.

The primary feature is e-mail--from teacher to student, student to student, including parents as well as other schools and districts that use Gaggle.net. The website provides tools to block and edit e-mail, create blocked word lists, and scan for pornography. There is a blogging tool that provides  a method for promoting writing skills, and both e-mail and blog entries can be instantly translated to and from as many as sixteen different languages, from Arabic to Russian (we were a bit surprised to see Creole included).

Gaggle.net is simple to navigate and, with so many features, teachers may use as few or as many as they choose. The Administrative Guide is well-written and easy to understand.



More reviews