Website: imagineeasy.com/scholar

What does it help with?

Scholar develops students’ active reading and writing skills by providing opportunities for practice and authentic application of key skills, including:

·       Engaging with the text and evaluating content

·       Paraphrasing information to generate new ideas

·       Constructing new knowledge

·       Communicating what they learn in multiple formats

·       Accurately citing sources

Students can use Scholar’s Annotation Tool to highlight and capture key text as they read.  Highlighted content is immediately saved to students’ Notecards, along with citations in the format students select (MLA, APA, etc.). Each Notecard has a field for students to paraphrase key information to ensure their understanding, and a field to enter their new ideas, allowing them to build new knowledge as they progress.

All Notecards are housed in the student Notebook, where students can color code the information into categories that make the most sense. When they’re ready, students use Scholar’s Outline tool to create a detailed outline they can export to a Google doc or copy and paste into another format. Students can also export their full notebook, as well as a bibliography when they’re ready, creating a framework for their final project.

What grade and age range? 

Scholar is flexible enough to be used at every grade level. Teachers can create assignments that range in complexity from visual and text word prompts to multi-step, media-rich projects students complete over time.

Is this core/supplemental/special needs/extracurricular/professional development or what?

Scholar integrates into content area instruction, and can be used with any subject to develop students’ informational reading and writing skills.

What subject, topic, what standards is it mapped to?

Teachers create assignments that support their instructional goals, as well as the standards on which students will be assessed.

What lesson time does it use?

Scholar is designed to be implemented using a variety of instructional models. Teachers can model assignments as part of whole class instruction, or have students complete them independently as fits their goals. Teachers will always have full visibility into students’ work, monitoring their progress as they complete assignments.

What is the pricing model?

Scholar’s pricing is dependent upon the number of licenses purchased. Although the price generally ranges from $7 to $9 dollars per license, discounts will be applied for higher volume purchases

Are there services around it?

The Imagine Easy Professional Development team provides customized training designed to meet the needs of each implementation. 

Trainings include, but are not limited to:

·       Web-based and onsite “getting started” and “best practices” workshops

·       Classroom Coaching and Modeling sessions

·       Customized Consulting Services

What makes Imagine Easy Scholar unique?

Scholar gives educators tools to create engaging assignments that specifically support their instructional goals, providing authentic application of key informational reading and writing skills. Assignments can be crafted to scaffold instruction, guiding students from early acquisition of active reading and writing skills to in-depth application via multi-stage, media-rich projects they complete over time.

Early elementary educators may decide to create assignments that incorporate graphics and videos to teach these skills, with most of the instruction taking place within the classroom. High school educators may create complex assignments, with multiple links to authentic texts and other media, acting as a “guide on the side” as students complete projects independently.

At every stage, educators can monitor student progress, and intervene where students need it most. 

How is it designed for user interface, user experience? What instructional design principles are at work here?

Scholar’s intuitive design was intentional, to ensure both teachers and students can access and benefit from all resources. The interface and embedded tools are engaging and easy to navigate, allowing users to get started with minimal training. Scholar’s seamless integration with GAFE tools and other resources allows for powerful instruction and application with minimal effort required of users.

Teacher review:

“Scholar is going well. Honors students love it. They immediately see the benefits. Low achieving students do better with Scholar than without it. I’ve noticed that these students have more confidence when they return to the library to use Scholar again. Scholar is providing a vehicle for professional discussion about reading and writing.”

Maren Nielsen, Media Specialist, Clovis Unified School District