Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/531522
E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y Tu e s d a y, J u n e 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 1 4 APPLE'S VOLUME PURCHASE PROGRAM FOR EDUCATION The Volume Purchase Program (VPP) from Apple is a service designed to pro- vide cost savings for schools that pur- chase education apps and iBooks for their teachers and students to use on iPads or Mac computers in the digital classroom. VPP and the Casper Suite together sim- plify the process of purchasing software and deploying it to teachers and students. With VPP managed distribution and the Casper Suite, teachers and students get the software they need on all their devices; IT admins have a simple work- flow for distributing software; purchas- ing and software inventory is centralized and standardized; and schools can easily retain purchased licenses and re-distrib- ute apps as students come and go. VPP and the Casper Suite can help schools save money and ensure that the best learning apps and iBooks are made available to students. How Does it Work? VPP is a service provided by Apple. Schools can enroll in the program with Apple and purchase app licenses for iPad, iPhone or Mac through the App Store. VPP app licenses are added to the Casper Suite management console, where the IT administrator can assign them to the appropriate stu- dents. Inventory reporting is quick and easy, and app licenses can be reassigned as students learn and grow. What is Required? VPP is available for schools in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Enrollment in VPP is available through Apple's Deployment Programs Portal. For more details on the enroll- ment requirements, read the Volume Purchase Program Guide from Apple. Once enrolled in the VPP program with Apple, apps and iBooks can be pur- chased at VPP rates and tokens will be provided which are added to the Casper Suite to automate deployment and management licenses. The Casper Suite is built to integrate with VPP and provide the best Apple experience for IT administrators and the teachers and students they support. Learn more about the benefits of VPP and ways to implement it with the Casper Suite at booth #938. For more information, visit www.jamf software.com or call 612.677.7075. WHY SUMMER DOESN'T HAVE TO MEAN SLIDE By Heather Lister, Teacher-Librarian It's currently summer vacation. Take a moment to imagine what your students are currently doing. How much of it involves technology? Whether it's watch- ing YouTube videos, playing Candy Crush or texting a friend, odds are a large portion of their summer holiday will be spent on an electronic device. Now think of your library collection. What part of your library collection is available on that student's device? Even if your digital library were available on that student's device, how many different applications or websites would they need to open in order to access them all? With MackinVIA, you can have all of your electronic resources available on a single platform, regardless of where you purchased them. MackinVIA offers a single sign-on option for all of your electronic databases and is a one- stop shop for all of your schools eBooks. Whether you own thousands of eBooks or just a handful, MackinVIA can help you manage them all in a sin- gle app. Imagine…students with any device (because MackinVIA works on nearly every platform) can have access to your entire electronic library collection in one app. No more remembering passwords or jump- ing between different publishers' apps. MackinVIA gives you the ability to have all of your eBooks, audiobooks, databases, videos and curated links in one central loca- tion. Worried about the investment? No need, because MackinVIA is absolutely free. You wouldn't guess that from the robust features and the phenomenal customer support that comes with MackinVIA. Mackin has been in busi- ness for over 30 years and is dedicated to providing schools and libraries with quality resources to support instruc- tion. This is why you will only pay for the content you choose to purchase. Signing up for a MackinVIA account will give you access to tons of promotions granting you free eBooks and audiobooks to help start your collection. Even better – the promotions continu- ally change and even existing customers can take advantage of them. No more "only for new cus- tomers." MackinVIA has the potential to rev- olutionize the way students access digital content and is already doing so in thou- sands of schools across the country. Wondering how to get started? Come see me at booth #2454 to learn more! For more information, visit www.mackin.com or stop by booth #2454. TABLET TRADE-UP BRINGS JUST THE RIGHT TOUCH TO DEVICE UPGRADES School budgets are tight all over, yet dis- tricts want to give their students the latest and greatest technology to help them be as competitive as possible. Administrators need to walk a fine line and get the most tablet bang for their buck. The solution is to sell used hard- ware while it still has value, and use those funds toward an upgrade. FundingFactory's Tablet Trade-Up Program shows individual schools, dis- tricts and other organizations how to get the best value when it's time to upgrade. Tablet Trade-Up is backed by Clover Technologies Group, an industry leader in reclaiming and remanufacturing tablets; its network includes 34 locations in 14 coun- tries worldwide. Given its size and flexi- bility – the network has processed more than 1.2 million wireless devices – schools and organizations can get a competitive price for their used devices. The key is deciding when to make that trade-up. "We've seen a huge response to our Tablet Trade-Up program so far," explained Conor MacDowell, Channel Development Manager for FundingFactory's Higher Ed & Bulk Buybacks division. "Schools are largely unaware of buyback programs for their old technology. Many are surprised by the amount of residual value in their retired devices." Schools aren't always aware of their upgrade options, either. If a district can't afford brand new iPad Air devices, for example, Tablet Trade-Up offers refur- bished-guaranteed tablets of many makes and models. "Our first goal is to get these devices back in the hands of schools that need them," explained MacDowell. Having established close relationships with over 30,000 schools and nonprofits nationwide, FundingFactory draws on its 17-year history of inkjet and toner car- tridge recycling for these groups to provide a trusted service with Tablet Trade-Up. For more information, call 814.464.1836 or visit www.fundingfactory.com/ tablet-trade-up. to communicate with their peers and teachers. These students also need tools to assist in the learning process. iDevices have become mainstream technology that continue to be widely talked about, desired and sought out by learners, their families and the professionals who work with them. GoTalk NOW is a communication app with unique educational features for students with autism and complex com- munication needs (CCN). Students can improve their communication skills on a daily basis by using app pages that allow them to express ideas about what they're learning in class. GoTalk NOW gives stu- dents with mild to severe disabilities (including autism) a voice to communi- cate using age-appropriate vocabulary and language during classroom and com- munity activities. ESD: What are a few unique features of GoTalk NOW? JN: GoTalk NOW includes four styles of communication pages (Standard, Express, Scene, Keyboard) that can be customized and designed to align to the general education curriculum stan- dards in literacy, math, science and more. Record your own speech, or use text-to-speech voices in 20 languages. It's easy to back up your communica- tion books, download and upload tem- plates to an interactive online gallery, or add music pages with GoTalk NOW's media player, which allows access to your iTunes media through GoTalk NOW. Several ready-made communica- tions books are available for in-app pur- chase to begin developing a student's individual communication system. For example, Participate NOW offers vocab- Attainment Company (Cont'd. from p. 1) ulary and language needed in elementary classrooms, while Talk All Day provides older students with functional communi- cation to use at home and in the commu- nity. Augment the strategies you're already using to help meet curriculum standards with this voice output app for an iDevice. ESD: What specific features of GoTalk NOW enhance classroom learning? JN: The ability to add and edit video segments is extremely useful. For example, enhance stories with a video clip. A best practice proven effective for students with autism is video modeling, which is supported in GoTalk NOW. You provide a visual model for a stu- dent to complete a step-by-step task or model behaviors you want them to demonstrate in a certain classroom situ- ation. Or program hotspots on a scene page created with a photo to tell a stu- dent's peers about the concert they attended last night. You can even use the media player to help a student share a song that they may not be able to sing verbally with their friends. ESD: What would you say makes Attainment Company unique in app development? JN: We bring new concepts forward by creating unique apps based on our 30- plus years of experience as a publisher of special education curricula and augmen- tative alternative communication hard- ware and software worldwide. For more information, visit www.AttainmentCompany.com, email info@attainmentcompany.com call 800.327.4269 or stop by booth #2349.