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EdTech Show Daily Monday, June 24, 2019 6 The Benefits of Educational Technology By Liana Li, Vice President, QOMO Technology has completely transformed everyday life, from the way we keep in touch with friends and family to the way we shop for clothes or order dinner. With each technological advancement, our world gets more efficient and more indi- vidualized to our specific needs and pref- erences. This is the world the children of today have been born into. It's natural, then, that many kids are struggling to fit into the traditional learn- ing model. The experience of being in a traditional classroom is at odds with the almost constant stimulation and fast pace of a technologically-advanced world. The typical school day, for some kids, is almost unbearably rigid. Incorporating even a few education- al technology devices in the classroom can help acclimate today's students to the learning environment. With classroom technology, teachers can level the play- ing field for students with different learn- ing styles, make project work more effi- cient, increase overall student engage- ment and accommodate students with disabilities. 1. Making learning more individualized. One of the greatest advantages of educa- tional technology is the ability to cater to multiple learning styles at the same time. Every kind of student, from creatives to problem solvers and visual to kinesthetic learners, can benefit from an interactive touchscreen display. Whether you use an interactive whiteboard, interactive laser projector, or interactive panel, QOMO's touchscreen displays can instantly foster a collaborative and equitable learning environment. When you implement a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) strat- egy in your classroom using wireless screen sharing, students are able to inter- act with the content at their own pace and make personalized annota- tions on individual interactive moni- tors or their personal smartphones or tablets. 2. Improving student engagement and classroom participation. Student engagement is rarely (if ever) at 100 percent. Teachers too can have a hard time keeping personal prob- lems, wandering thoughts and just straight up sleepiness at bay during school hours. One method to improve classroom engagement and focus is offering indi- vidualized attention, something the QOMO wireless tablets and interactive monitors make possible. With wireless devices in hand, teachers are free to roam and make eye contact, without having to turn their backs on students while refer- encing the material on the projector screen or whiteboard. QOMO's audience response sys- tem can balance your classroom partici- pation strategy, allowing introverted stu- dents to demonstrate that they're following along without being singled out. In fact, audience response devices can generate an even livelier discussion by giving a voice to every student. Curious about how to get started with technology in your classroom? Once you've decided to take advantage of the numerous benefits of educational technology, you'll need help determining which strategies and devices are best for your particular classroom. That's where QOMO comes in. Get in touch with a member of our team to request a demo, or give us some details about your educational technolo- gy needs so we can reach out to you. For more information, go to www.qomo.com, call 866.990.7666, email hello@qomo.com or stop by booth #2446. Ease Your Mind, Save Time & Money with TIPS The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) is a National Purchasing Cooperative that provides a proven, streamlined process that eliminates purchasing stress for edu- cation organizations. TIPS is housed and managed by the Region 8 Education Service Center. Membership in a purchasing cooper- ative offers public agencies: access to competitively procured contracts with over 2,000 quality vendors; savings of time and financial resources necessary to fulfill bid requirements; enables mem- bers to purchase on an "as needed" basis; assistance with purchasing process by qualified TIPS staff; and access to pric- ing based on a "national" high-profile contract. Member entities can view all of the compliance documentation for each ven- dor and each contract they hold on the website. This information is located under the Due Diligence tab for every TIPS Awarded Vendor. EDGAR, DMWE and HUB Vendors are also available and searchable on the website for your con- venience. TIPS Understands Purchasing TIPS understands your time, your budget and regulations you are required to fol- low. The contracts are written by the General Counsel, Rick Powell. As a for- mer Director of Purchasing, he used to be in the same position you are in, asking himself, "Is this compliant?" "Can this satisfy all of my bid requirements?" "Will I pass my audit?" Let TIPS help ease your mind and save you time and money by joining as a member. Membership with TIPS is complete- ly free with no purchasing obligation or liability. TIPS prides itself on its "Purchasing Made Personal" mantra while further ensuring compliant pur- chasing from high performance vendors. Join TIPS for free at www.tips- usa.com/membership.cfm. TIPS Seeks to Meet Members' Needs TIPS also works dili- gently to meet the needs of its member entities. In doing so, its General Counsel, previously a purchasing director for many years, cre- ates RFP categories specific to those needs. TIPS is continuously approving high quality vendors that provide their products and services to members nationwide. If you would like to view open RFP categories and have the opportunity to join TIPS as an awarded vendor, enroll in the eBid system at tips.ionwave.net. Email TIPS your suggestions or inquiries to tips@tips-usa.com or call 866.839.8477. Genius Plaza's Path to Democratizing Education Do you remember your time in school? Do you still keep in touch with class- mates from middle school or high school? Do you still talk to your friends from college? You might have answered these questions without giving it a sec- ond thought, but it's not the case for many kids around the world. According to the United Nations, over 265 million kids around the world do not have access to education or are currently not enrolled in school. Twenty- two percent of those 265 million kids are of primary school age. What are the rea- sons? Some children live in conflict zones; others live in impoverished com- munities; some children might not be allowed to go to school because they're girls; others don't attend school because their families need them to work to bring that additional income to support the family; there might not be a teacher or a school, etc. The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) indi- cates that it might take up to 70 years in some areas for children to have access to primary schools. Genius Plaza thinks children must have access to quality educa- tion regardless of their geographical location. Genius Plaza is first and foremost an educational platform that is available for everyone, but it aims to connect with the underserved. Technology is already revo- lutionizing the way we interact with one another, but Genius Plaza is using tech- nology to connect and reach many stu- dents around the world. Genius Plaza's goal is to level the playing field with Ed Tech and make quality educational experiences available to every child around the world. It shouldn't matter if the school district doesn't have enough resources or can't afford text- books. Education shouldn't be out of reach for the economically disadvan- taged. Genius Plaza offers a curated STEAM curriculum in more than 30 lan- guages, including tribal languages, to provide a quality learning experience from primary education to middle school and high school. Genius Plaza believes that innovation in education is the answer to empowering young people so they can become effective and productive mem- bers of society. For more information, visit booth #1200. ASHA Continues to Promote Healthy Use of Popular Technology Recently, the American Speech- Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) launched the Healthy Communication & Popular Technology Initiative (www.communicationandtech.org), which encourages moderate use of popular technology. It focuses on providing practical advice to individuals and fam- ilies to develop responsible popular tech habits; conducting communication health awareness campaigns that pro- mote balanced use of popular technolo- gy; and exploring the impact of popular tech- nology usage on healthy speech, lan- guage and hearing. These efforts are not anti-technology nor are they the first time ASHA has been a national leader in the area of safe usage of popular technology. For the next decade, ASHA encour- aged safe listening through its award- winning "Listen to Your Buds" campaign. Using a variety of tactics, includ- ing its safe listening con- cert series, which took place in elementary and middle schools across the country, the Buds campaign promoted simple preventative messages, such as keep the volume down, take lis- tening breaks and model good listening habits.