Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/455140
E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y 9 F r i d a y, F e b r u a r y 6 , 2 0 1 5 TURN AN ORDINARY WHITEBOARD INTO AN INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD WITH MIMIOTEACH MimioTeach makes interactive learning easy and practical. The Mimio Interactive Whiteboard Solution, MimioTeach, transforms existing white- boards into interactive whiteboards. While other interactive whiteboards require an installation of an actual board, MimioTeach is a bar that is placed on an existing wall or board and interacts with a projected computer image. The MimioTeach bar uses infrared and ultra- sound technology to communicate with a stylus pen. Because the MimioTeach can adhere to any whiteboard, teachers do not have to sacrifice their whiteboard space and can still use the area for teaching when the MimioTeach is not in use. Doug Pennekamp, CEO of Education 2000, a trusted Mimio partner, says that technology should not get in the way of instruction. "MimioTeach is easy to integrate into everyday classroom lessons and activities," Pennekamp said. "Teachers should be able to work with technology, but often times teachers find themselves working around technology." Since the MimioTeach adheres to a regular whiteboard, the dry-erase marker is still a valuable tool. "With the MimioTeach, teachers can still walk up to their whiteboards and use a dry-erase marker without worrying about damaging an expensive interactive white- board," Pennekamp said. "Sometimes it is more efficient and convenient to take a dry-erase marker to write on the board or point something out than it is to go through all the steps with the interac- tive whiteboard tools to highlight, underline and erase something." Education 2000 realizes that schools often have tight budgets. "One of the things I really emphasize to schools is that the MimioTeach interactive whiteboard solution will do the same thing as other interactive whiteboards but for a more affordable price," Pennekamp said. "The lower cost allows schools and districts to buy more and can therefore impact more students." Schools can also save money on installation fees with the MimioTeach. Installation for the MimioTeach is simple, it is ready to use straight out of the box and can be installed by the teacher. The MimioTeach is easily placed on a magnetic whiteboard with built-in magnets. If the board where the MimioTeach will be used is not magnet- ic, magnetic plates are included that can be attached to the board or wall. Along with the built-in magnetic strips, the MimioTeach is compact in size and lightweight, making it easy to use in multiple locations. "The MimioTeach is portable and can be moved easily from class- room to classroom if needed," Pennekamp said. "The MimioTeach works with any projector and the interactive space can get larger or smaller depending on the projected image. MimioTeach does not take up a lot of space in a classroom, it does not get in the way of instruction and there are no legs or stand for students or teachers to trip over. When schools real- ize the benefits of the MimioTeach along with the more affordable price when com- pared to other interactive whiteboards, the MimioTeach becomes the ultimate inter- active whiteboard solution." For more information visit Education 2000, a trusted Mimio partner, in booth #623. Also visit www.edu2000plus.com to learn more. EMBRACE A PHILOSOPHICAL CHANGE Most technical personnel feel that engag- ing a managed service equates to relin- quishing control and that any self-pro- claimed managed service is just the "same old thing." But it's time for dis- tricts to step away from the idiom and embrace a philosophical change. Instead of the old-school tradition of break-then-fix, Impulse operates on the belief that it is better to proactively man- age the life cycle of the system. Its BYOD solutions, coupled with this proactive service, work in a seamless manner with little to no management. For example, when a new iPhone is intro- duced to the market, Impulse fingerprints the device months in advance and updates the district's system. When this new device shows up on a campus, it is automatically recognized and assigned the appropriate access. The value provid- ed is significant because users do not experience any disruption of service, there are no frantic calls to the help desk, and management can focus on other areas. Impulse provides continuous (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) proactive monitoring and support, including hard- ware appliance and software mainte- nance and future feature enhancements. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits is problem determination and resolution ownership; network managers are not left on their own to research and solve any problems. Impulse's Standard Service Delivery and Support Services include the follow- ing: Daily Updates to the System At the rate mobile technology is chang- ing, it is imperative that systems are updated frequently. Impulse delivers a 48-hour or less SLA for new devices, operating systems and AV version soft- ware, where other BYOD security providers take weeks or months to deliv- er and require the cus- tomer to apply the updates. Free Hardware Refreshes Forever Impulse will never require a customer to ever purchase replacement hardware as part of its managed services offering. It will refresh the hardware for free as new features are rolled out. There is no End of Life (EOL) concept with Impulse. If a hardware device no longer supports the most recent application requirements, Impulse ships out a new hardware appli- ance to the customer and facilitates the upgrade at no-charge. Free Software Updates and New Versions Impulse provides customers with new versions of software at no charge, and owns the task of upgrading customers. Unlimited Bursting Licenses SafeConnect allows cus- tomers to temporarily burst beyond their exist- ing device license tier with no financial penal- ties. This allows for the spikes in users and devices (especially around special events). A well maintained, proactively serviced system will always run better than the alternative. In the simplest of terms, the biggest benefit of embracing Impulse's Managed Services is the pre-emptive nature of correcting problems before they can negatively affect your network. It's time to look beyond the typical definition of managed service. For more information about BYOD security solutions and managed services, visit Impulse at booth #2023, call 863.802.3738 or email tevans@impulse.com. ABBYY FINEREADER DELIVERS ACCURATE TEXTBOOK CONVERSIONS FOR TRUE ACCESSIBILITY How accurate are your school's textbook conversions? As you know, educational institutions are required by law to offer digital ver- sions of the textbooks they use so that stu- dents with learning exceptionalities and visual impairments can access the content using text-to-speech technologies. However, as many students have found, not all textbook conversions are equal. That's because there are a number of optical character recognition (OCR) software products on the market, and their text recognition capabilities vary. When OCR software can't recognize par- ticular words, phrases or formatting stan- dards in a scanned document, the result- ing digital version will include errors. Those errors will make it difficult for stu- dents to understand and benefit from the content when accessing it using text-to- speech software. So how can you ensure that your school is providing truly accessible learning materials to all students? By using the most accurate OCR software available – ABBYY ® FineReader ® . FineReader converts paper and digi- tal documents into searchable, editable text with a recognition accuracy of up to 99.8 percent. (According to internal ABBYY tests. Accuracy, speed and for- matting may vary depending on document quality and scanner settings.) It recognizes more than 180 languages in any language combination, and it offers an intuitive interface that makes it simple to use. PC Magazine Declares FineReader the OCR Accuracy Leader In a September 2014 review that named FineReader the Editor's Choice for OCR, PC Magazine had this to say: "FineReader Professional 12 is the only app you need to handle any OCR task…all the way to producing a searchable PDF from scanned images of a thousand-page book printed in multiple languages…Adobe's home- grown OCR can't begin to approach FineReader's accuracy." Educators Lift Limits on Learning with FineReader And what do educators have to say about using FineReader? John Bouchard, mem- ber of the Ontario College of Teachers, faced the challenge of helping students with learning exceptionalities and reading difficulties keep up in class. Not only did he need to make textbooks and other mate- rials available via text-to-speech, but he also needed a faster way to create engaging assignments and study materials. To unlock printed content for his stu- dents, Bouchard turned to FineReader. "Accurate and reliable OCR is a key requirement for text-to-speech," he said. "ABBYY FineReader excels in both areas." He's also using the software in ways he never thought possible. "I don't have to retype text any- more – just scan, convert, edit. FineReader makes it almost effortless to create three versions of the same test. Plus, the ability to com- bine text and graphics from different resources into a sin- gle document is incredibly useful." To see how Bouchard uses FineReader in his classroom, watch his short videos on assistive technology, cre- ating custom resources and creating graphic organizers. Three Editions and Special Pricing for Education FineReader is available in three editions: FineReader 12 Professional for Windows, FineReader Pro for Mac and FineReader 12 Corporate, which offers batch processing and other tools ideal for large school departments or workgroups. To learn more, view education pricing and download free trials of FineReader, visit www.abbyyusa.com.