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John Blackard, Media Specialist Liberty School, Randolph County, NC blackard@asheboro.com Colleagues, I received quite a few responses from you who believe that EBS is worth the extra money. I'm impressed with the reasons stated. Maybe you will be as well. The HIT follows: Colleagues, Is Electronic Bookshelf so much better than Accelerated Reader that it justifies almost twice the money? I am media specialist at a K-5 school, and we are comparing the two programs. > WITHOUT A DOUBT-----YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > > When you look at the features it has to offer for the teachers plus > the fact that the process for testing is so superior, there is no > question which program you will decide upon. That is IMHO. > > We recently studied EBS and AR, going to schools which had the programs. > EBS was the clear winner. We wanted to be able to modify the tests for > special needs students, which EBS allowed, and particularly wanted more > variance in the tests than AR gives. There are 15 tests per disk, BUT each > test has 30 questions rather than AR's ten. That factor sold us. > > As a librarian, I liked the quality of EBS books better. I felt that some > AR books had been written for the program. > having used both programs, I can honestly say NO! > The differences do not justify the price. > > My school had EB when I came 4 years ago and it was not being widely used > because it was the old Apple II version and they had only a couple of > computers they could test on. It took forever to get a class done. > > With our school network available, I spoke with a colleague at another > middle school in our county about what she did. She traded her EB program > and title disks for the AR program because tech support for EB on the > network was not at all good. She got a great deal from AR and says her > tech support with the program has been super...and SHE was a personal > friend/acquaintance of the person who developed EB and was a long-time > user of the program. > > I followed her lead, switched my disks with the AR company, installed the > program on the school network and am in the process of identifying all my > titles with spine labels so we can do a big kick-off next fall. > How do you find it to be twice the money? Are you buying one stand alone or > a network version? I am in the process of purchasing EBS and did not think > it was double. The Value Pak disks, and the fact that they will replace > tests on books that go out of print is a real plus. > I can't say much about the AR program, but we have had EB at our school > prior to my arrival 5 years ago. Our tech support for EB is fabulous! EB > has the advantage of a variety of questions for each book interview. Our > students are quite bright and would easily memorize all the answers if > the questions were not rotated. We have been very pleased with the > service,the quality of books provided by the EB system, the flexibility > of reporting data to teachers, etc.,etc., etc. We would highly recommend > EB to anyone! > > Our students are in grades 7 - 12. > EBS is that much better than AR, but the good news is that EBS doesn't cost any >more than AR. How are you calculating the two? There is a web-site at >http://www.electronic-school.com/0198f3.html that compares EBS, AR, and That's >Fact Jack. It puts the program cost as just about the same. > --- > in my opinion it is worth more; the books arevary well chosen, and > the students get more than one chance to take the test, with the questions > being randomized so that noone can memorize them. It actually does teach > students to read for detail so it is a real teaching tool rather than a > testing one. We are using it in lots of our ninth and tenth grade classes > and it is a great improvement on boring (and cheat-able) book reports. > You probably don't want to hear an old English teacher rant about > programmed instruction, but consider yourself warned. > > IMHO, any professional educator who relies on a prescribed reading list > simply because they've purchased a computer program that tests whether a > kid read the books or not INSTEAD OF using the skills s/he (I hope) > picked up in college to make these decisions for themselves . . . has > spent four + years and thousands of dollars preparing themselves for > the wrong career. I apologize for ranting so, but REALLY! I would > bristle if someone told me that I had to stock this list of books in my > library, or push these books in my classroom. Big Brother does not know > better than I do what my children need to become better readers. A > computer program will never replace caring interaction between a teacher > and a student. > > So, in answer to the question you posted (and now you're probably > regretting having posted it, but really, I have nothing personal against > you or your school--I'm just the messenger with bad news!) I would say > that Accelerated Reader and Electronic Bookshelf are just evil twins. I > refuse to go so far as to say they are designed for lazy or unmotivated > teachers. However, I know personally of several teachers who have as > much as said how much easier reading is now that they don't have to do > anything! > > Okay, I'll quit now. But do encourage your staff to remember the > ultimate objective: what is truly best for the KIDS? > Kids can quickly learn that they can "cheat" by getting anwers from their > friends who've read the books because AR gives identical questions every > time that title is tested. EBS draws from a pool of 30 questions per title, > so each test is different. Bottom line: How honest are your kids? > > (I've been told that) AR selects titles not only on literary merit or > student interest, but because they have agreements with publishers to sell > particular titles whether they are of quality or not. EBS (I've been told) > DOES NOT make a deal with publishers on particular titles, instead they > select the titles they create tests for based on the merits of the book. > > My advice: compare titles and see if there is a difference in the "quality" > of the titles on the discs you'd be purchasing, now and in the future. If > the list includes a lot of "trendy" titles that won't be popular (Goosebumps > are on their way out, for example) in a few years, this may be of concern > for you. > > Just for the record, I went with EBS. > AR may have more tests on a disk, but my experience has been that you = > can't locate about half of the titles. I think Electronic Bookshelf = > replaces a title on their disks when it is no longer available. They = > also draw from a pool of 30 questions to use on tests where AR moves = > around the 10 or so they have. I also like the fact that EBS allows a = > child to take a test more than once (remember it will not be the same = > test). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= To quit LM_NET (or set NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send an email message to listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST * NOTE: Please allow time for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=