Upgraded Mimio software now available

District Administration

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

To help students and teachers meet the increased rigor of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the impending Common Core Assessments, Mimio is releasing the updated versions of its MimioStudio™ classroom software and MimioMobile™ application. Both products include new features that enhance collaborative learning and support formative assessment practice, and are now available for use on Apple devices and Android tablets.

New MimioStudio
The platform for creating and presenting interactive lessons on all MimioClassroom™ products, MimioStudio software now allows students to practice for the open-response test items that will be part of the upcoming Common Core Assessments in 2014. Teachers can create open-response, short-essay, and numeric-response assessment questions, and students can respond using mobile devices equipped with the MimioMobile app. The MimioStudio software will automatically grade the multiple-choice, short-answer, and numeric responses, saving teachers’ time.

Unlike any other interactive whiteboard software platform, the MimioStudio platform facilitates student-centric and collaborative learning opportunities by enabling students to work on any existing interactive MimioStudio activity using Apple devices or Android tablets and MimioPad™ wireless pen tablets. This new capability expands the way students can learn during group instruction, supports collaborative learning sessions, and allows teachers to use existing interactive lessons.

The MimioStudio software lets teachers leverage content created with other interactive whiteboard software and the PowerPoint application. Users can now edit PowerPoint files, moving individual objects. And, unlike other interactive whiteboard software, MimioStudio software even carries over any embedded audio and video into interactive lessons and activities.

Teachers already enjoy flexible lesson delivery due to MimioStudio software’s compatibility with both Mimio and other interactive whiteboards and displays that use pens, touch, multi-touch, and gestures. With this latest version of the classroom software, teachers can also integrate content libraries built with other interactive software and use third-party grade-book systems, exporting grades and student answers directly from MimioStudio Gradebook to a comma-separated value (CSV) report format. The software also allows users to share any existing interactive MimioStudio Notebook page collaboratively.

New MimioMobile
While the previous version of the MimioMobile app works on the iPad, the new version also works on iPod touch devices, iPhones (4 and up), and Android tablets. Now educators can make the most of mobile devices in classrooms, whether the devices belong to students or the school district. Once equipped with the app, various mobile devices can work in concert for collaborative learning opportunities, as well as for formative assessment.

The MimioStudio Collaborate feature lets up to nine students collaborate on a MimioStudio activity using any mix of new MimioPad tablets and mobile devices running the MimioMobile app. Each individual collaboration space is shown on the interactive whiteboard at the front of the classroom. Teachers can hand off control of the interactive whiteboard to any mobile device equipped with the app, and can unilaterally retake control. Students can work individually or in small groups, while each controls his or her own MimioStudio Notebook page, expanding use of the interactive activities and lessons already created by the teacher.

While MimioStudio software facilitates the creation of test questions for formative assessment and test practice, the MimioMobile app simplifies the delivery of those questions and the collection of student responses. Students can use mobile devices equipped with the app for assessments that call for short-answer, short-essay, multiple-choice, or numeric responses.

The MimioMobile app is cost-effective and easy to implement. Schools simply purchase one annual license for a teacher’s classroom computer or laptop, and every student with an Android tablet or Apple device will be able to interact with the lesson being taught on the interactive whiteboard, at no additional cost. Connectivity is made easy through the MimioMobile app, which links within seconds to the teacher’s MimioStudio software through Mimio’s QR Connect process (patent pending).

“Our updates to the MimioMobile app and MimioStudio software facilitate in-depth learning by moving educators away from multiple-choice assessments only and toward more multifaceted evaluations,” said Manny Perez, president and chief operating officer, Mimio. “At the same time, we’ve kept the creation and delivery process quick and simple to ensure that the assessments will be ongoing. The updates also support the requirement of the CCSS for more student-centric learning environments by making it easier than ever for students to participate in collaborative group instruction.”

About Mimio

Mimio is a global leader in interactive teaching technologies that offer a better way to learn and an empowering way to teach. Our award-winning, innovative, and affordable hardware, software, and curriculum increase teacher effectiveness and student engagement in K-12 classrooms. For more information, visit mimio.com.

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