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E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y Th u r s d a y, J a n u a r y 3 0 , 2 0 1 4 4 In June 2013, the Dallas Independent School District completed the installa- tion of a 300-mile, state-of-the-art fiber-optic network, billed as the biggest and best IT network of any school district in the country. The 20Gbps network is 200 times faster than the previous one. As part of the upgrade, 17,000 wireless access points were added, creating the largest K-12 wireless network in the state of Texas. While preparing for the major under- taking, Dallas ISD knew it would need to replace its interactive projectors in the classrooms so they could connect wire- lessly to the new network, as well as be compatible with the Microsoft Surface Pro tablets to be used by teachers. Six months prior to the infrastructure upgrade, the district began researching options, attending trade shows and meet- ing with vendors for demonstrations. "We were looking for wireless inter- active functionality, high resolution and the ability to connect the projector across the building's wireless infrastructure," said DISD's Director of Network Services Gary Shuman. With 11,000 classrooms, which have individual wireless access points, the challenge was in finding a product that could work seamlessly with the LAN connection while allowing the tablets to connect through the WAPs. The Dallas Independent School District found a solution in BOXLIGHT's ProjectoWrite6™ WX31NST interactive projector, which uses wireless USB for interac- tivity, instead of a standard USB cable required by most other vendors. The one-of-a-kind LCD projector features integrated whiteboard technology with very accurate, easy-to-calibrate and durable metal pens. "BOXLIGHT had better picture quality and a more accurate pen than other vendors we looked at," said Shuman. "But what set BOXLIGHT apart was their ability to set the teacher free in the classroom with a tablet, and be able to connect with the projector while being in control of the audio and video wirelessly." Before the technology could be deployed, however, Dallas and BOX- LIGHT had to solve the network connec- tivity challenge. The projector's software was originally designed to work with smaller networks instead of one like D I S D ' s , which has controllers on different s u b n e t s . The robust n e t w o r k required a n o n t r a d i - tional solution to work in the 223 schools. With the new school year just a little more than two months away, the BOXLIGHT engineers got to work. "Our software didn't have the ability to work for their specific need. So we had to customize the program so the projec- tors could work on the district's net- work," said BOXLIGHT's Business Development Manager Art Davis. To date, BOXLIGHT interactive projectors have been deployed at elemen- tary and middle school levels. Dallas ISD plans to make interactive projectors stan- dard technology in all 11,000 classrooms, which serve 158,000 students. "BOXLIGHT's willingness to step in and be a partner and make changes to their product lines to meet our needs was impressive," said Shuman. "That's what made the difference." Visit BOXLIGHT at booth 136. For more information, visit www.box- light.com, call 360-464-2119 or email sales@boxlight.com. BOXLIGHT CUSTOMIZES DALLAS ISD PROGRAM K12 BROADCASTER SOLVES DIGITAL BROADCAST DILEMMA EDCO presents the K12 Broadcaster™, an IPTV solution for schools and cen- tral administration. For many years, schools have relied upon VCR/DVD units with analog tuners to send video to a television or data pro- jector via a connected computer as a means to broadcast live morning announcements to the classroom. In 2009, the FCC passed a law that requires the transition from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting. In accordance with regulations, cable and satellite TV providers have transi- tioned to digital broadcasts. This change requires a new set-top box for each television to receive a digital broadcast signal and decode it for viewing. Since the ruling, most schools continued to use the analog tuners in their VCR/DVD units for rebroadcasting in the classroom. However, as time has progressed, VCR/DVD units with analog tuners have ceased production, functionality, and in many cases, have broken beyond repair. Due to strict budgets, schools cannot afford to buy new equipment for each classroom, there- fore districts have relented to outdated methods, using the intercom for announcements, and computers for playing videos instead of broadcasting live throughout the school. EDCO has engineered the solution for the digital broadcast dilemma. Its K12 Broadcaster IPTV solution is a scalable solution that combines video broadcasting, morning announcements, live remote broadcasting and control of what is viewable in the classroom, all with a clean graphical interface. Working closely with manufacturers and educators, EDCO has created a cost-effective solution for this problem by utilizing the school's existing net- work infrastructure (LAN) to send the video signal into the classroom. Through the use of the fast net- work backbone and multicasting (avail- able in most network switches), the K12 Broadcaster uses very low band- width even while used simultaneously by several thousand classrooms. The broadcaster box digitizes, compresses and delivers the audio/video stream where it is picked up and decodes it anywhere on the IP network such as classrooms, auditoriums and entrance- ways using the TV LaunchPad soft- ware. It is fully scalable to the size of the school and/or school district and customizable to needs and budgets. The K12 Broadcaster boasts a 30fps video quality, which is only one example of many features the solution provides. The K12 Broadcaster takes the has- sle out of dealing with failing VCR/DVD units, end-of-life analog tuners, shelving for the equipment, wall mounted TVs that take up valuable classroom space and the restricted tech- nology of the existing coax system. Why spend limited and valuable resources on these archaic technologies when you already have the framework for the K12 Broadcaster installed throughout your schools? EDCO is proud to offer a complete, easy-to-operate IPTV solution for your school district with a lower total cost of ownership than any of the coax solutions currently in place today. For more information, visit EDCO at booth 1131. ENCOURAGE STUDENT INTERACTION WITH CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE NetSupport School provides instruc- tors with the power to centrally instruct and interact with student devices delivering engaging real-time instruction and support. NetSupport School v11 helps teach- ers to continually and instantly evaluate student progress. With the present model of BYOD gaining force in many schools, features such as managing roaming devices, monitoring and interaction, and managing web activity are must-have ingredients when choosing a classroom management software. Built around current teaching practices for continual assessment of learning, NetSupport School includes components such as instant Student Surveys and the customizable Test Designer, joined by a unique Question and Answer module. This module allows teachers to verbally ask questions to the whole class, gauge student answers and understand- ing, introduce new questioning styles to the lesson, develop peer assessment opportunities as well as track rewards against both the individual and, where appropriate, teams. NetSupport School also delivers a number of key features to further expand its capabilities for today's classroom, including the digital jour- nal feature that allows an instructor to electronically record key information content that has been covered during a lesson, real-time audio monitoring that permits the teacher to monitor all audio activity on students' computers, plus a range of cost-saving features, including print management that gives instructional staff an overview all of student print activity and USB control to reduce the risk of virus introduction and increased system downtime. The Technician's Console, designed to allow district support staff the ability to discretely connect to any device and provide remote support, has been signifi- cantly expanded to provide a range of additional systems management tools and the hand out and collect work feature along with file distribution now offers 10 times the performance of other solutions in the market while requiring lower net- work usage. Visit NetSupport at booth 845 to speak to an education specialist, as well as to enter NetSupport's daily drawing for a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. For more infor- mation visit www.netsupportschool.com. Lee M. 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