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E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y T h u r s d a y, F e b r u a r y 4 , 2 0 1 6 8 PIRAINO CONSULTING: YOUR SCHOOL'S COMPLETE A/V SPECIALISTS Piraino Consulting is your complete audio/video needs specialist. Whether your needs include interactive boards, flat panel displays, audio and projection systems, document cameras or classroom video content and management, its team of audio/video experts is dedicated to supplying the latest classroom and school technologies while providing the best customer service and support in the industry. The Founder and President of Piraino Consulting, James Piraino, was born and raised in Bryan/College Station, Texas, and studied Computer Science at Southwest Texas University while on active duty. After serving in the Air Force and working with two large companies in Austin, James focused his attention on serving the audio/video needs of the K-12 class- room. Within 15 years, Piraino Consulting has expanded to serve Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and parts of Illinois. Piraino Consulting has plans to expand into Mississippi and other states in 2016-2017. What sets Piraino Consulting apart from other technology resellers is its ded- ication to customer service and support. All too often, technology companies fall short on the training and support neces- sary to implement new technologies. Its staff is comprised of hardware and soft- ware experts, supporting your school or district through the entire life of the prod- uct. Whether you are building a new school or upgrading the technology of an existing school, its certified sales team will conduct a full needs assess- ment and work with your technology, curriculum and administrative departments to find the best solution for your school or dis- trict. Moreover, it has a certi- fied professional develop- ment/training staff that can pro- vide all levels of training for full technology integration. Piraino Consulting is a member of TIPS/TAPS, OneNet and other contracts. In addition, it offers financing options through Wells Fargo and Var Resources to assist schools and districts in full technology integration. Instead of upgrading only a few class- rooms per year, these financing options allows schools and districts to fully upgrade all the classrooms at the same time, while spreading the cost over sev- eral years. To provide the best classroom tech- nologies, it has partnered with the best technology companies in the industry. Its interactive partners include SMART Technologies, New Line and ProWise. It partners with SAFARI Montage to pro- vide video content, IPTV and digital classroom management solutions. Audio partners include FrontRow and LightSpeed. It works with Casio, Epson and NEC to provide the best projection and display products. Other partners include Lumens Document and Room Cameras, DaLite and Draper screens, Crestron Room Control and Soundcraft Lecterns, as well as numerous other industry leaders. Piraino Consulting looks forward to serving your classroom technology needs, and it invites you to stop by its Road Show Trailer at booth #2271 to see these technologies in action. The company has several door prizes, as well as a grand prize drawing for a Honda ATV. To qualify for the grand prize, you must attend a product demonstration at the show or schedule one at your school. For more information, visit booth #2271, go to www.pirainoconsulting.com, call 855.349.2250 or email ryan@piraino consulting.com. 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 give up their whiteboard space and can still use the area for teaching when the MimioTeach is not in use. Doug Pennekamp, Chief Executive Officer 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 activi- ties," Pennekamp said. "Teachers should be able to easily work with technology, but often teachers find themselves work- ing 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 interac- tive whiteboard," Pennekamp said. "Sometimes it is more efficient and convenient to take a dry-erase marker to write on the board or point some- thing out than it is to go through all the steps with the interactive white- board 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 inter- active whiteboard solution will do the same thing as other interactive white- boards, 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 sim- ple; 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 mag- netic, magnetic plates are included that can be attached to the board or wall. Along with the built-in mag- netic 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 classroom 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, and there are no legs or stand for students or teachers to trip over. When schools realize the benefits of the MimioTeach along with the more affordable price when compared to other interactive whiteboards and displays, the MimioTeach becomes the ultimate interactive whiteboard solution." For more information, visit booth #722 or go to www.edu2000plus.com. USING IPAD FOR FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS, QUIZZES, EXAMS As more schools introduce iPad pro- grams to provide engaging content to stu- dents, conduct large-scale online assess- ments and enhance the classroom experi- ence, there is one thing to keep in mind: if the readiness for conducting online exams is placed above instructional needs, there is potential for conflict between promoting solutions that support exam day or the learning environment. With that said, the ideal approach fully supports both, and makes exam day just like any other day with the help of great learning tools such as iPad. A Learning Tool like No Other The iPad offers the ability to conduct enhanced question types on exams, pro- mote higher-order thinking and provide access to a secure ecosystem. iPad is also an approved device to conduct CCSS exams due to its ability to be placed in a secured, locked-down environment. The need for a secure environment is not just to conduct CCSS exams. Institutions need to engage their iPad devices year-round through formative assessments, quizzes and tests to prepare students and teachers for high-stakes exams. It is these less formal, more fre- quent assessments that effect the daily use of the technology and need to be con- sidered as important as supporting high- stakes exams. Take Guided Access to the Next Level While Guided Access is an acceptable solution to lock an iPad into an individual app during testing, to initiate this on each student device requires a time-consum- ing, hands-on process with several steps. The most practical and scalable approach to Guided Access utilizes Mobile Device Management (MDM) that doesn't require continuous involvement by IT. This option puts the capabilities directly into the hands of the teachers, giving them the desired power to easily start and stop exams right from the classroom. A More Teacher-Focused Solution With Casper Focus, teachers can quickly – and from their own iPad – select a group of students, choose the app to be used and initiate Guided Access remote- ly. Students are then switched to and remain focused on that app or website until released by the teacher. This functionality can be used to securely administer high-stakes exams or routine daily quizzes, all from within the classroom. At the com- pletion of the assess- ment period, the teacher can use their iPad to remove the focused app from the entire class, a sub- group or by individual devices as needed. The Right Answer for Every Exam Casper Focus from JAMF Software helps teachers regain valuable instruction time through improved classroom manage- ment. From the mundane tasks of reset- ting passcodes to securely preparing stu- dents for exams, Casper Focus is turning the iPad into the ultimate testing tool. Exam day is just another day in the mod- ern classroom when the right tools are in place. For more information, visit booth #2377, go to www.jamfsoftware.com or call 612.677.7075.