Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/137888
34 Wednesday, June 26, 2013 WHYVILLIANS INVENT THE FUTURE By Dr. James M. Bower, CEO of Numedeon Inc. and one of the founders of Whyville.net In 1440, in Strasbourg, Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg unveiled for the first time his invention of movable type. The company he started in 1450 to print the official Bible of the Catholic church went bankrupt within six years. However, the technology he invented went on to change the world, playing no small part in both the Reformation and the Renaissance as the ability to print and distribute written text provided a new and powerful way to provide information and engage humans. Now, 573 years later, society once again finds itself grappling and being challenged by a new technology, once again fundamentally changing both our access to information as well as how we interact with that information and each other. We are likely only beginning to understand how that technology will change our political, cultural and perhaps especially our educational institutions. Fourteen years ago, Numedeon Inc. launched Whyville.net as a platform specifically intended to explore how learning could be approached using this new technology. Whyville.net became the first on-line multi-player virtual world, the first using games for learning, the first to engage young people in safe social networking within a strong community structure supporting learning. Now, having engaged literally millions of children, Numedeon continues GOV CONNECTION: BYOD IS HERE TO STAY Most schools consider smartphones and tablets essential productivity tools, but educators want the flexibility to bring their own mobile phone, tablet, or notebook to work and use it to access the network. In fact, many likely have devices that are newer and faster than the school's own assets. If an organization would like to leverage these outside tablets, photos or notebooks―with the same level of management and control as its own products―it should consider a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model. Schools that rely on wireless devices for critical activities must provide enough bandwidth to keep applications, faculty and students productive. A BYOD model can help them be more efficient while saving your organization money. But IT can lose control by embracing BYOD, and BYOD raises legitimate concerns about security. Schools must address governance, policy, process, procedures, management, and legal issues when considering a BYOD model. Where should school staffs begin? Make a plan today for BYOD with advanced network and mobility solutions. Prepare networks to handle the demands of secure mobility to deliver a BIG DATA HAS COME TO EDUCATION By Vineet Madan, Senior Vice President, New Ventures, McGraw-Hill Education At education conferences throughout the year, teachers, educational leaders and companies in the education industry will gather to explore just how technology can be―and in many cases, is being―used to improve elementary and secondary education. And while many different types of technology will be on display, there's one important trait that almost all of them share: the ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of student data. We can see the ability of data to revolutionize industries and areas of our lives every day, but only recently has data begun to change how we approach Hitachi (Cont'd. from p. 1) now, more than ever, looking to incorporate gestures and annotation to every facet of their lessons and presentations. ESD: Why do you think people are gravitating towards touch displays? KR: While interactive whiteboards will continue to become more streamlined, we've seen a large demand for K-12 education, a trend that's been made possible by the proliferation of technology in our classrooms. It's certainly true that the best teachers have done a remarkable job of managing data innately, from contextualizing student test scores to using more informal assessments. However, these processes have always been hard to scale. Now, thanks to technology, particularly digital assessments and adaptive learning systems, a new door has opened to gather data in an expanding number of areas and efficiently put it to use on a large scale to drive a meaningful improvement in learning. Why is data so valuable in education? For one, it will advance us beyond the primarily aged-based sysHD touch displays because of the crystal-clear image quality that they present. Also, many of these devices contain built-in computer units, thus eliminating the need to have a remote desktop computer. ESD: Does Hitachi Solutions offer products with these types of capabilities? KR: Yes. We recently launched a new line of StarBoard Certified Products, Ed Tech Show Daily to be driven by the opportunity to develop innovative approaches that address subjects that improve children's lives, from nutrition, to social responsibility, to mental health, and, of course, to learning itself. Over 14 years, Whyville has also seen a steady increase in use by teachers and schools, and accordingly is now more and more focused on working with teachers and educators as well as leading educational organizations to use our on-line game-based social world to support, extend and enhance classroom instruction. As one example, Whyville is working on a new interactive and social game-based approach to teaching core concepts in mathematics in collaboration with the Educational Development Center (EDC). In another case, Whyville is collaborating with ACT to use Whyville's gaming structure to rich, seamless experience for users. Here are some important considerations: 1) Balance security, compliance, legal liability, and cost concerns with a positive user experience, 2) Engage faculty early and keep them involved throughout the project, 3) Acquire and test all devices, and only allow those that meet your requirements as well as 4) Measure and demonstrate the results and value of the BYOD program to the organization and on the bottom line. When developing a BYOD plan, it is important to take a look at the latest advanced networking technologies available today such as wireless LAN, highperformance networking switches and security software. Understanding these options and making the right decisions can be challenging at best – but this is engage children in understanding and participating in career development. New projects soon to launch include partnerships with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Chicago's Field Museum. Working with our diverse set of partners, Numedeon continues to invent and imagine new ways to engage children in learning. While the Internet and its underlying technology, including technology for learning, continues to evolve, and for certain nobody can predict the eventual consequences for society, including schools, we invite you to join the 7.5 million children and thousands of teachers who are already helping us understand and invent that future. We look forward to meeting you and hearing your thoughts at our ISTE booth 13206, or you can email us at info@whyville.net, or better yet join us with your students at Whyville.com. It's free. where GovConnection comes in. What can GovConnection do for K-12 Education? GovConnection employees are experts at helping school IT departments. With GovConnection, you and your department have the support you need! Both GovConnection's In-house team as well as their nationwide network of service partners are available to help you through every stage of project deployment. Offering multiple procurement solutions through multiple contract vehicles such as E&I, TCPN, PSS and NCPA, GovConnection can provide a low cost BYOD solution tailored to anyone's needs. For more information visit www.gov connection.com. tem of educational advancement that has been in place for the past century. By generating and enabling access to consistent streams of data from different parts of the classroom, we are no longer limited to simply knowing what students know at a point in time – we can now get a sense of when and how they learned it and how likely they are to retain and apply that knowledge. This type of insight into learning is invaluable as we think about designing new tools and approaches to improve educational performance. With data-driven insights in hand, educators are provided the information to tailor their instruction based on the knowledge, skills, and learning styles of students in each classroom. Increased access to data also provides parents with a clearer picture of their child's academic performance, enabling them to direct their efforts to help their children improve areas of weakness and reinforce areas of strength. When students receive immediate, specific feedback on their performance, they are more likely to be motivated to drive their own learning. This type of empowerment is critical to improving performance. As the use of technology in K-12 classrooms continues to proliferate, we must pay more attention to how these technologies and systems communicate with one another, and those of us creating this technology must take it upon ourselves to make sure that we are providing schools with solutions that embrace the type of openness that is in the best interests of schools, parents, and students. which range in size from 22" monitors, all the way to 70" high-definition displays capable of multi-user input. tive whiteboard. StarBoard Software enhances the built-in capabilities of these touch displays and introduces multi-level annotation and collaboration features. Stop by booth 10238 for a chance to enter one of our raffles and win interactive technology for your school. ESD: How does Hitachi technology interact with these displays? KR: While these monitors do not necessarily bear the Hitachi name, each display utilizes Hitachi's Interactive StarBoard Software to transform the monitor into a high-definition interac- For more information, visit www.mh education.com. For more information visit us.hitachisolutions.com/starboard or stop by booth 10238 at ISTE.