Unique partnership between Espresso and Crick provides video-based learning for all!
16th October 2005
Learners of all abilities will be able to use TV-quality video, sounds and animations in new educational software modules which combine the skills of two of the leading British educational software companies.
Crick Software and Espresso Education have together produced a range of new and exciting products for schools. For the first time, the skills of both these innovative multi-award winning companies have been focused on creating video-rich resources to support pupils of all abilities.
ClickerVision provides subject-specific resources delivered on CD, which combine high-quality video clips – both TV library footage and specially created material – with both new and traditional Clicker-style frameworks and applications.
The first two in the series are ClickerVision: Food and ClickerVision: Weather. Powered by Clicker 5 each CD is packed full of video clips, newspaper articles and curriculum activities.
The video clips are all viewed within Clicker, making them accessible for all pupils. There is news footage, carefully edited to make it easy to understand; and video clips of children giving their views, specially shot for the series.
Original newspaper articles have been simplified to enable early readers to access real-world printed media. As the articles are presented within Clicker, children can hear the text spoken with the words highlighted as they are read, developing reading skills.
The video and newspaper materials are supported by a wide range of differentiated Clicker activities, which enable children to respond to the stimulus materials. There are activities at pre-reading, word, sentence and text levels.
The credit for the idea for this collaboration goes to Mike Kendall, now the Chief Executive of the East Midlands Broadband Consortium. Mike is aware that many special schools find it difficult to locate appropriate resources over the web, and he is also keen to ensure that the benefits of the broadband investment are fully inclusive. He brought Crick and Espresso together and funded a trial project for the two companies to work together. This has resulted in the new ClickerVision range, and schools in Mike’s former county, Northamptonshire, will be the first to benefit as they will all be receiving the resources free of charge.
Editors Notes
Crick Software , based in Northampton, UK, and Seattle, Washington, is solely focused on producing innovative educational software. The company concentrates particularly on software tools for literacy.
Crick’s most well-known product is Clicker, which has been sold to over 30,000 UK educational institutions. Clicker is a powerful and incredibly easy-to-use writing support and multimedia tool, which enables you to write with whole words, phrases or pictures. It has won five BETT Awards, the 'Oscars' of British Educational Software - as voted for by teachers. It can be used to support any area of the curriculum.
Crick Software promotes the inclusion of children of all abilities by creating flexible products that can be tailored by teachers to the needs of individuals. Most products have the option of switch access, for users with a disability who are unable to use a mouse or keyboard.
Espresso Education , based in Hammersmith, is the UK's leading educational digital content company . Formed in 1997, it was the first company to introduce full-screen video and media-rich content into a browser-based network solution in classrooms.
Espresso combines instructional video and audio clips, interactive news articles, multi-media games, websites and worksheets, all categorised into modules that support learning objectives. The service updates on a weekly basis, giving access to fresh, relevant resources that draw on topical events to bring learning to life.
Today, Espresso is making an impact on teaching and learning in schools all across the country, with about 33% of English primary schools subscribing to its unique weekly updating resources service.
Between them the companies have won twelve BETT awards.
For further info, and for review copies, Lina Howarth at Crick Software
Email inquiries: lina.howarth@cricksoft.com
Tel: 01604 671691
