Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/446933
E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y 2 5 F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 3 , 2 0 1 5 KL: Without consideration of these four considerations, schools are likely to experience difficulties with the roll out of the technology. 1. Ensure the technology provides classroom control. Introducing tablets into any classroom results in a dramatic change for a classroom teacher's way of interacting with students. I can't stress enough the importance of an inclusive classroom management system to support this powerful teaching dynamic. The inability to monitor activity or check for understanding in real-time is a challenge for most device arrangements, and can leave teachers feeling at a loss for control. Ensuring that any 1:1 includes effective management by incorporating a classroom management tool from the onset is imper- ative for a successful roll out of tablets. 2. Will this technology help differen- tiate instruction? Managing content on multiple devices to achieve personalized instruction is a complex task, especially in large classes. Schools using tablet technology should consider a system such as LearnPad Connect, which comes with our tablets. The ability to individu- LearnPad (Cont'd. from p. 1) ally target materials and pace of instruc- tion becomes possible with this tool. We strive to create utilities that support instruction rather than offering technolo- gy for technology's sake. 3. Curriculum-aligned learning con- tent. The content offered on some devices can often be described as "edutainment" rather than curriculum-aligned resources. The supplier of your chosen device should be working with familiar educa- tional publishers to provide high-quality content. A proper 1:1 offers well thought out tools for device, instruction and con- tent management. 4. Available training, support and professional services. The final consider- ation for a successful tablet implementa- tion in schools, and ultimately the most important, is the quality of training and support. Our measure of success is how positively we impact learning outcomes. Students come and go each year, as do teachers. The ability to remain dedicated to ongoing services is essential in some- thing as complex as 1:1. For more information, visit www.learn pad.com, call 800.624.2926 or email sales@learnpad.com. regularly blocked needs to be accessed for a specific class, for instance, instead of calling the main administrator, a system operator can be empowered to make that change. Small tweaks and changes like this can be delegated out to the schools. ESD: How is Netsweeper different from the filtering products offered by other vendors? PR: Netsweeper's categorization process is different from most. Our software uses dynamic categorization that's granular right down to the URI, so that blogs, pic- tures, links etc. that are on a website can be filtered separately. Some of those could contain viruses that should be blocked. Others would not be able to do that; Netsweeper can. In addition, Netsweeper has enhanced scalability that offers advan- tages if you're trying to install content filtration into a network with more than 30,000 users. A lot of products out there are fine when you're filtering for a few users, but they don't have the bandwidth to handle requests for enterprise-level numbers of users. As traffic levels increase, other vendors require you to buy another appliance to handle the traf- fic, unlike our software application which can filter very large bandwidth using standard Intel servers. Netsweeper (Cont'd. from p. 1) Schools are finding that they're becoming miniature Internet service providers because they are demanding more and more bandwidth, which chal- lenges many of the products out there because of the amount of throughput involved. We've been in education for 15 years, but because we're coming from the enterprise side, we have the capabili- ty to handle large throughputs. ESD: What other issues or trends does Netsweeper see in the education and library sector? PR: We're seeing more schools setting up Wi-Fi access to accommodate stu- dents who are bringing their own devices. That prevents new challenges for monitoring what students and library patrons are accessing through the school's systems. Netsweeper software allows the school or library to set up a separate guest policy, so that students or guests who bring their own devices either sign in so that the administrators know who they are or that simply restricts all guests to a reduced level of capabilities. When they sign in, we know who they are, and there can be a separate policy that restricts what they can do on the net- work. Visit Netsweeper in the Ontario Delegation booth #1237. After the con- ference, visit www.netsweeper.com. integrator that would completely revamp his school's communications. "First of all, its important that the equipment and the idea are relevant to what's going on in the industry. Second, it has to be powerful to the students. Lastly, the quality of the training that accompa- nies the product," Sanders explained. EDCO's engineers went to work on the project. South Broward was equipped with a state of the art broadcast studio that gives students the ability to create while simultaneously streamlining the school's communication system. Their K–12 Broadcaster simplified the video production and made streaming the video easy and practical for K–12 use. Finally, the School Studio Suite brought in the editing and broadcast software necessary to create a professional final product. "We are looking towards a point where we will be able to eliminate the PA system altogether. We are working on getting all of our athletic and academic EDCO (Cont'd. from p. 4) events broadcast. And the kids will all run this – from the production to the edit- ing and creating that final product." Sanders is following the trend of more and more in the K–12 industry. But with new technology comes the inevitable troubleshooting. That is where Sanders says EDCO stands out from the crowd. "Unfortunately, you can run into companies where there is no follow up. They don't provide you with anyone you can check in with and that will trou- bleshoot your problems. But EDCO is always available. It is about the follow through." For school system leaders working to keep on the leading edge of communi- cation technology and considering a dig- ital makeover, Sanders says choosing a company with the industry knowledge and expertise like EDCO is vital to a suc- cessful integration. For more information, visit www.edco education.com or stop by booth #1121. Reflection Nureva Troove encourages students to think about and reflect on their learning. Students are able to examine not only what they are learning but why and how they are learning it. These metacognitive skills help increase students' self-awareness and understanding about how they learn best. Evaluation Student work can be evaluated in Nureva Troove with rubrics that are aligned to the Common Core and other state stan- dards. This provides teachers with a meaningful way to assess student's mas- tery of a variety of standards and skills. Sharing Students can share their work in Nureva Troove with their teachers, parents and peers and receive feedback on their accomplishments. Teachers can provide parents with a clear picture of their child's progress and teachers can get a Nureva (Cont'd. from p. 4) more holistic view of each student. Showcasing Nureva Troove gives students the oppor- tunity to showcase their best work and share with a larger audience of family and friends. Students learn important self-evaluation skills as they review and assess their own work. It provides teach- ers with a more holistic view of their stu- dents and helps them to better understand each individual student's strengths and needs. As we move ahead in an increasingly digital world, Nureva Troove provides a cloud-based solution that will support the best practices of developing student portfolios as a means of authentic assessment. Nureva Troove digital portfolio supports deeper learning and encourages the development of lifelong learners. For more information, visit Nureva in booth #1401 during FETC. After the show, visit www.nureva.com. CHARGEHUB CHARGES UP TO SEVEN DEVICES FROM ONE POWER SOURCE The ChargeHub™ from Limitless Innovations is a seven-port USB charg- ing station. It plugs right into the wall through its own cord and can power up to seven devices. The hub itself sits on a desk or table, and then the devices plug into it with their own USB cords. Another great feature is that the ChargeHub includes patent-pending SmartSpeed™ Technology to allow any port to charge the connected device at its maximum charging speed, regardless of whether it is an Apple iOS or Android device. Limitless Innovations is a licensed Apple MFi Developer, which ensures that their CableLinx™ USB cables are fully compatible with Apple devices. For users who don't have the origi- nal USB cords that came with their devices, CableLinx from Limitless Innovation are 3-1/2-inch charge and sync cables that are sold as an accessory to the ChargeHub. They're available in the four most common types on the mar- ket today, including Lightning™, 30-Pin, Micro and Mini to USB, so they'll accommodate the widest possible vari- ety of devices. ChargeHub is a descendant of Limitless Innovations' CableHub ® , which organizes up to seven cables, cords or wires at once while keep- ing them stabilized, pro- tected and tangle-free! CableHub reduces exposed cords for safety and convenience – up to 10 feet of cables wrap around the weighted disc, which then snaps shut. Both CableHub and ChargeHub are easy to personalize. Either Limitless Innovations can print a name or logo to be added to the top of the product, or the user can print what- ever they like on paper and insert it into the top of the device. The ChargeHub sells for $59.95 and is available for immediate shipment and its CableLinx accessories start at $7.95. The CableHub retails for $14.95. For more information, visit www.limit lessinnovations.com, www.thechargehub .com and www.thecablehub.com.