Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/629673
E d Te c h S h o w D a i l y F r i d a y, F e b r u a r y 5 , 2 0 1 6 8 CUT DOWN ON EXCESS PRINTING WITH OKI School Overview This public K-12 district in the Northeast educates 5,000-plus students and employs 800. The district is comprised of five elementary schools, a middle school and a high school, along with administra- tive offices. Problem IT was frustrated over the number of print jobs from students that went unclaimed, estimating it to be almost 25 percent of all student-initiated printing. In addition, the district struggled with centralized control of purchasing and consumables management, resulting in inconsistent budgeting and complaints of poor service levels with their previous provider. Solution OKI worked with the district to deter- mine their true costs and provided a best- in-breed approach to provide document output in their learning areas including labs, classrooms and libraries. The first step following the assessment was to remove all costly inkjet printers from learning areas. OKI installed its award-winning C610dn with PaperCut MF™ throughout their schools. This gave them the ability to release print and pick up their documents at any of the numerous centralized color printers throughout the school district. This over- haul provided cost savings by using PaperCut to moni- tor user output, automatical- ly delete unreleased prints and enforce duplex and mono printing. PaperCut also helped the district cut down on waste from unwanted printing, aligning with their green initiatives. Through a managed print services con- tract with its local dealer, OKI helped alle- viate the district's print management issues by providing a single invoice for straight- line budgeting by school, remote monitor- ing, automated consumables replacement and a vastly improved service delivery. What really drove the district's needs and made them go with OKI? The realization that the print delivery in the district was being pro- vided by an inefficient and cost-prohibitive technology: inkjet. Frustration over the poor service and support of its previous vendor. The need to cut costs and maintain budgets. The ability to provide a better docu- ment output delivery solution. The desire to support district-wide green initiatives. To this day, the district remains a loyal and satisfied customer, operating OKI devices and solutions among its entire fleet. Talk to your local OKI repre- sentative to find out how you can reduce excess printing and maximize cost sav- ings in your district. For more information, visit booth #1247. PIRAINO CONSULTING AND NEC ENERGIZE LESSONS IN LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT Facility: Little Rock School District in Little Rock, Arkansas Challenge: Modernizing more than 2,200 digital projectors across Arkansas' largest school district. As the largest school district in Arkansas, the Little Rock School District (LRSD) has a responsibility to bring state-of-the- art technology to its students. The 48-school district, which serves 24,714 students each day, equipped every classroom with a projector and smart board to bring a multimedia approach to teaching. The district also implemented a 1:1 iPad and laptop initiative: every fourth- or fifth-grade student at 16 schools was given a tablet, and teachers wanted to be able to connect them to the projectors via WiFi. Challenge The projectors had become an important part of the curriculum, but after seven years, they no longer displayed images as brightly, and teachers began to experi- ence problems. To update every classroom in the district would require more than 2,200 projectors – such a large investment that administrators needed a solution with longevity so they wouldn't need to replace it again anytime soon. The district also needed to update the digital signage in cafeterias, hallways and gyms, which is used to quickly dis- seminate information like changes to bell schedules and morning announcements. It sought new screens that would be bright and reliable, as well as easy to update. Solution The district had worked with Piraino Consulting the last time it installed projectors, so it approached James Piraino again for this project. Piraino recommended NEC Display Solutions as the provider. "NEC's products are top-notch," he said. "The pictures are always clear and they have the reliability you need in a school setting. I've always had a positive expe- rience in the 15 years I've worked with NEC." Piraino and the district committee selected NEC M332XS and NEC M352WS projectors for the classrooms, and NEC 55-inch V552 and NEC 55-inch E554 displays for the cafeterias, gyms and hallways. The projectors provide a bright, clear picture and easy-to-use interface. The images are vibrant enough to stand out in classrooms where teachers might not be able to turn off all the lights. Sealed chassis prevent dust from getting into the optics and causing a flickering image. The dual-HDMI hookup and wire- less capabilities allow teachers to con- nect smart boards, Apple TV and Chromecast to make classrooms more interactive. The projectors also allow stu- dents to connect their tablets. Piraino installed about 100 projectors a month on a rolling basis, using a custom retrofit kit designed by his firm that allows his team to install the projectors in 10 minutes or less. As for the information dis- plays, officials added 25 screens throughout the district to pro- vide lively, vivid images that catch students' attention and quickly spread information. A third-party soft- ware lets the district create content and push it out to all screens in real time. "It's pretty exciting to bring all of this high-quality technology into the schools," Piraino said. Williams said that she's gotten the best feedback she could ask for from teachers: They're silent because the pro- jectors work flawlessly. "To date we have had such a great experience, with none of the problems we had with the aging projectors," Williams said. For more information, visit booth #2271, go to www.pirainoconsulting.com, call 855.349.2250 or email ryan@piraino consulting.com. VEX IQ: REVOLUTIONIZING STEM LEARNING WITH ROBOTICS Educators everywhere have recognized the increasing need for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) edu- cation in today's society. The world is in desperate need of scientists and innova- tors to solve the unsustainable problems plaguing our planet's future and continue driving innovation. However, when stu- dents are choosing college majors (and, by extension, their careers), many have not yet seen just how exciting STEM can be. There has been a call for a new way to motivate students about engineering – a call answered by VEX Robotics. Aimed at students in middle and high school, the VEX EDR system offers students the perfect avenue to learn engi- neering fundamentals, build teamwork and leadership skills, and maybe even represent their country on a global scale. Building robots in a classroom using VEX parts offers an unparalleled STEM education experience, and in 2015, more than 12,000 teams from all 50 states and 30 countries competed in the VEX Robotics Competition, making it the largest robotics competition in the world. The Next Step: Elementary Robotics Now, VEX has taken the lessons learned from its popular high school system and created an entirely new platform designed for young students and their teachers: VEX IQ. Students as young as eight can jump in, snap together and drive robots in minutes using the intu- itive, tool-free platform that takes the frustration out of building robots. VEX IQ is a total classroom solu- tion. The affordable kits (starting at $249.99) mean anyone can enjoy it, and educators can utilize the free, online cur- riculum to create an entire lesson plan. Plus, the VEX IQ Challenge, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation and structured off of the VEX Robotics Competition, gives young students access to the inspiration and thrill that comes from participating in a global STEM challenge. Simple, Flexible, Powerful The VEX IQ system was designed to be simple and easy for students to use, while keeping a high ceiling for advanced users. Structural pieces snap together and come apart without tools, allowing for quick build times and easy modifications. A variety of gears, wheels, chain and other accessories allow for complete cus- tomization of VEX IQ projects and mobile robots. At the heart of every VEX IQ robot is the Robot Brain, which takes the lat- est Texas Instruments microcontroller technology and opti- mizes it for students' use. The Robot Brain can accommodate and auto-detect any combi- nation of 12 Smart Port devices (like color sen- sors, Smart Motors equipped with encoders, a gyro or other sensors). In addition to teleoperated control using a gamepad- style joystick, VEX IQ robots can be programmed using ROBOTC or the new Modkit for VEX, a graphical program- ming language based off of the wildly successful Scratch. A STEM Education Revolution With its affordable kits, easy-to-use parts, and limitless potential, VEX IQ is the ideal way to get younger students excited about STEM and robotics. What will your students come up with? For more information, visit booth #846 or go to www.vexiq.com.