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EdTech Show Daily 2 1 Wednesday, February 8, 2017 COOPERATIVE PURCHASING FOR TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICTS Q&A 1. What is TIPS? TIPS is an acronym for The Interlocal Purchasing System. TIPS is a national purchasing cooperative that offers access to competitively procured purchasing contracts to its membership. TIPS is housed at and managed by the lead agency, Region 8 Education Service Center, located in Pittsburg, Texas. 2. Does TIPS meet the state procure- ment purchasing requirements where a school district could use TIPS Awarded Vendors for purchases over those thresholds instead of having to initiate its own RFP? Yes, TIPS meets the requirement as defined in Texas Education Code 44.031, which states that an interlocal agreement with a purchasing cooperative (such as TIPS) satisfies the purchasing require- ments for the district. 3. How much does it cost to be a mem- ber of TIPS? Membership in The Interlocal Purchasing System is free with no purchasing obliga- tion. 4. How does an organization benefit from using a purchasing cooperative like TIPS? Membership in a purchasing cooperative offers the following benefits: access to competitively procured contracts with quality vendors; savings of time and financial resources neces- sary to fulfill bid require- ments; assistance with the purchasing process by quali- fied TIPS staff; and access to pricing based on "nation- al" high-profile contracts. 5. Where are TIPS solicitations adver- tised? TIPS solicitations (RFPs/RFQs) are advertised for two consecutive weeks in the Pittsburg Gazette in Pittsburg, Texas as well as on a national scope in the USA Today. Copies of these advertisements are also available to view on the TIPS website. 6. How does an organization become a member of TIPS? The TIPS website offers step-by-step instructions on how to become a member. The process is fast, and it's free. It is, however, specific to the state of Texas. Visit www.tips- usa.com/texasentities.cfm to access the membership instructions and documents. 7. How can a business become an Awarded Vendor to sell products or services through TIPS? The only way a vendor can sell products or services through the TIPS cooperative is to be awarded a contract by TIPS. This can only happen when a vendor responds to a TIPS solicitation (RFP/RFQ) for its specific product or service and meets the scoring requirements to receive an awarded contract from the Region 8 ESC Board of Directors (which serves as the governing board of TIPS). For further information, visit www.tips- usa.com/becomebidder.cfm. Visit TIPS at booth #123. CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGIES FROM BOXLIGHT Each year, thousands of administrators, instructional technology specialists, teachers, media specialists, technology coordinators and more descend on TCEA looking for distinctive tools, techniques and resources that will not only engage students, but overall will improve their teaching through the integration of latest technology offerings. This year's show is no different. Marking its 37th annual convention and exhibition, TCEA organizers have lined up hundreds of sessions and secured large numbers of solutions to be show- cased in the convention's exhibit hall so attendees can become familiar with the best solutions available and discover new ways to engage students and enhance learning. Joining this cadre of companies is Boxlight, which offers a comprehensive lineup of integrated, digital instructional classroom technologies. Earlier this year, the company announced that it will offer its customers using Boxlight's array of interactive display products sold between 2009-2016, the award-winning MimioStudio™ classroom software, at no cost. All current customers have the opportunity to download MimioStudio software and begin using it today to cre- ate whole-class learning lessons, small- group collaborative activities and forma- tive assessments. "We work every day to advance our hardware and software solutions for one reason alone: to help teachers better engage students in the process of learning and improve student achievement," said Mark Elliott, Chief Executive Officer of Boxlight Corporation. With the latest versions of MimioStudio software and the MimioMobile mobile application, educa- tors and students can access and use the application's assessment and col- laboration features from nearly any device, including Chromebooks and Windows Surface tablets. With this expanded functionality of MimioStudio software, teachers using Boxlight interactive display products can bring collaborative learning to every classroom – whether they choose to have an individual student, a group of students or an entire class work on the same activ- ity. Teachers now have a far greater abil- ity to highlight, discuss and share student work with the entire class, and can also pause student sessions or hide a session from view instantly, all on the front-of- the-class display. These interactive dis- play solutions with MimioStudio soft- ware integrate seamlessly with all MimioClassroom™ technology, from the MimioView™ document camera to the MimioPad™ wireless tablet. In addition, with a single MimioStudio classroom license and the MimioMobile app, any stu- dent with an Android or Apple mobile device, or one with a compatible Web browser, can participate in collaborative learning and ongoing, real- time formative assessment, including open-response questions. Schools and students benefit from more collaborative group instruction, which encourages par- ticipation and idea sharing and a more student-centric learning environment. "Specializing in digital classroom technology solutions designed for every classroom budget, Boxlight has helped educators create blended learning plans for students of all grade levels," said Elliott. "The cutting-edge projectors designed by Boxlight offer the most com- prehensive selection of features in the market. This is the beginning of what the combined power of Boxlight and Mimio can be for our current and future cus- tomers." To learn more, visit booth #817, call 360.464.2119 or go to www.boxlight.com. WIRELESS ALUMINUM KEYBOARD FROM MATIAS Matias is a Canadian keyboard manufac- turer with operations in the U.S.A. and Asia, and distributors around the world. Matias has been making keyboards for more than 15 years, and is especially well known for its Mac-oriented keyboards. Matias started out making specialty keyboards for the assistive technology market (and still does, with its "Half Keyboard" and "Half-QWERTY 508 Keyboard"), but when the mechanical switch based Apple Extended Keyboard was discontinued, Matias had a new role to play: saving Mac mechanical key- board technology for those people who still wanted it. The company launched the Matias Tactile Pro Keyboard, and is still making it 13 years later. More recently, there has been anoth- er hole in the Mac keyboard market – this time involving slim aluminum key- boards. The normal offering is for either a wireless keyboard which does not have a number pad, or a wired full size keyboard with number pad. Matias has finally filled the gap with the launch of its Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard. The Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard is a full size wire- less (Bluetooth) keyboard with number pad that allows you to pair with up to four devices (e.g., Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android phone, PC, etc.) at the same time and easily switch between them, while having a rechargeable battery that lasts up to a year before needing recharging. The Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard is $99, and comes in four beautiful anodized alu- minum colors: silver, space gray, gold and rose gold. With beauty, performance and extra functionality, Matias has created the keyboard that should have been made before now. For more information, go to www.matias.ca or call 905.265.8844 (888.663.4263). ASHA POLL: PARENTS, TEENS WILLING TO MODERATE TECH USE TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION Telling parents and teens about the risks personal technology overuse poses to speech and language development prompts an overwhelming willingness to change usage habits, according to an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) poll of parents and teens taken this past year. After reading a statement about com- munication and social development in children and teenagers, nearly 80 percent of par- ents said they would be more likely to set stronger household guidelines for managing technology use. Of parents polled, 93 percent said they'd be more likely to make a concerted effort to engage in more conversation with their children (ages 0-19), and 90 percent said they'd be more likely to encourage their children to have more interaction with their peers to support communication devel- opment. The same infor- mation led about three-quarters of teens to say they'd be more willing to use devices less and communicate in person more. For more information, go to www.asha.org.