Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/840175
EdTech Show Daily 2 5 Monday, June 26, 2017 it their business to understand what our customers' goals are, and then match solutions to their goals while keeping an eye on budget and schedules. We can also install and configure solutions to get learning initiatives up and running fast, and even provide professional training to ensure that teachers, students and staff get up to speed on their new solutions. We also offer a fully personalized White Glove service that can include everything from delivery and unpacking to software updates, installation and asset manage- ment. ESD: What would you say makes your company unique? MR: In essence, we are the nation's lead- ing end-to-end solution provider for edu- cation technology and collaborative solu- tions in K-12, higher ed, government and corporate. With 65 offices nationwide, we combine large-scale purchasing power with the high-touch, consultative approach of a local specialist. ESD: What do you see as some trending in education technology and how is Troxell addressing this evolution? MR: In less than two decades, the Internet has gone from fun to fundamen- tal. Statistics show that about 2.5 billion people are connected to the Internet today. Experts are even saying they expect there to be about 4 billion users by 2020. As a result, the global digital econ- omy is growing at more than 10 percent a year – that's more than the economy as a whole. So, it's an increasingly important source of growth, and frequently, jobs. So, for educators, there can be no greater purpose than to prepare students for this fast-growing digital revolution. For Troxell, we feel it is more important than ever to make educational technology solutions an indispensable part of the Troxell Communications (Cont'd. from p. 1) classroom of tomorrow, today. ESD: Tell us about what type of solu- tions Troxell is introducing to meet these challenges. MR: Well, the fast-changing digital economy will require students and teach- ers to be fluent in digital technologies and highly adaptable to fast-changing technology trends. The 1:1 learning envi- ronment lights a spark for students and teachers and puts them on the path to life- time learning and discovery using tech- nology. We are helping empower stu- dents and teachers with our complete and integrated 1:1 Learning Suite solutions – featuring a wide range of devices, periph- erals, management platforms and appli- cations, as well as flexible financing options, configuration services and more. As for Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society, collabora- tion is an essential skill for students. Collaborative learning spaces enable stu- dents to work in groups to solve prob- lems, discuss ideas and experiment with different approaches. Furniture becomes modular and movable, audio-visual equipment can "pop up" as needed, and STEM gear invites discovery and learn- ing. Making classrooms more collabora- tive is just another of our solutions. We provide expert guidance to our cus- tomers, helping them create collaborative learning spaces needed to meet federal mandates and develop future leaders. ESD: What is the outlook for Troxell in 2017? MR: We will continue to build deep root- ed relationships with our customers, strive to understand current market needs and technological trends and provide end-to-end solutions for K-12 and higher ed for today and tomorrow. To learn more, call 855.TROXELL or go to www.etroxell.com. teams tell us it's not the competition that drives their participation – it's the collab- oration, creativity and critical thinking (yay, 4Cs!). In just its second year, this year's Wonder League Robotics Competition reached 5,347 teams, with more than 20,000 kids participating from 52 countries and putting in more than 400,000 hours of creative problem solv- ing. ESD: What stood out from this second year? DS: Meet the Pink Eagles, an all-girls team of seventh graders from Hartland, Michigan, who are at the heart of this year's competition. Their after-school robotics club was formed by two local parents because their school didn't offer computer science for their daughters' grade. This team of creative problem solvers won the 9-12 age bracket, but they were just one of the dynamic teams who participated. However, it wasn't just the 361 percent of growth in partic- ipation over last year that excited us, it was also that 44 percent of participants were girls! Ena (just eight years old, mind you), from the two-girl Programming Princesses team from McAllen, Texas, reflected, 'It's a great opportunity to show that women are also able to do many things that men can.' Research suggests that if girls can per- sist in computer science up to the AP level in high school, they are 10 times more likely to pursue the subject in col- lege – but the challenge is that many lose interest, or never develop interest during the elementary years. ESD: Was participation from girls one of your goals? DS: Yes! From the get-go, we designed our hardware and software platform to engage girls as much as boys. Our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vikas Gupta, said in a recent Forbes op- ed, 'What's required to inspire both girls and boys is so much more involved than Wonder Workshop (Cont'd. from p. 1) making one robot pink and another blue; it's about crafting challenges and assignments that tap into design think- ing, writing and team-building – thus creating multiple avenues for all chil- dren to get involved and excited about coding a robot.' We capitalized on data that suggests girls' interest can be more sparked by social issues, and our com- petition's missions ask them to apply their thinking to real-world scenarios. We also intentionally extended the chal- lenges beyond just coding and robotics to include teamwork, design thinking, scientific thinking and storytelling. Our efforts seems to be paying off. The Pink Eagles' coach, Frank Tappen, agrees, 'While solving this year's missions, the girls learned invaluable, lifelong skills about time management, group collabo- ration and contributing to their commu- nity.' ESD: What will you do for Year 3? DS: Our teams' determination, perse- verance and goal setting have inspired our own internal team to dream big. Next year, we hope to scale our Wonder League Robotics Competition to 40,000 kids, doubling this year's participation, and we aim to have more than 50 percent of participation be from girls. Out of the five winning teams for ages 6-8 and 9-12, 68 per- cent of the team members were girls. Self-appointed co-captain of the sec- ond-place Ninja Robot Helpers, Camille (age 7), proudly declared to a reporter, 'We made it all the way to second in the whole entire universe!' After her team's hard work, she well deserves this sense of accomplishment. We're committed to evolving the Wonder League Robotics Competition next year, not only to bring computa- tional thinking to all kids, but also to hopefully exemplify how to lessen gender inequality in such STEM-relat- ed initiatives. We want all to join the Wonder League! For more information, stop by booth #2844 or go to www.makewonder.com. because laser illumination delivers on what educators have been asking for: no lamps to replace, 20,000 hours of virtu- ally maintenance-free operation and big, bright, colorful images. Our technology continues to excite educators because Epson creates, produces and sells inter- active displays with specific input from educators. ESD: What do laser displays mean for schools and districts? RM: At the core, laser overcomes lega- cy pain points from early classroom pro- jection systems. Educators now no longer have to worry about replacing lamps in the classroom. They also don't have to budget for or stock up on con- sumables after the initial equipment pur- chase. Additionally, Epson is implement- ing laser technology in large venue pro- jectors for auditoriums and gymnasi- ums. Later this year we will be launch- ing a 15,000-lumen laser projector that runs on 120 volts. Until now, that level of brightness could only be achieved by projectors using multiple lamps and run- ning on 220 volts – a very uneconomical proposition for most schools. Epson engineers used an innovative laser light source to do what was previously not possible. ESD: Why is projection display technol- ogy the best choice for schools? RM: Projectors and interactive displays using Epson's 3LCD technology consis- tently deliver big, bright, richly colored images at a very reasonable cost. All Epson BrightLink interactive displays offer up to 100 inches of interactive space on virtually any surface for under $3,000. Additionally, we hear from educa- tors all the time that they want to maxi- mize classroom space for learning, and don't want a display solution that is going to cover up whiteboards or take up floor space. Competitive solutions Epson (Cont'd. from p. 1) like flat panels mounted on walls or carts often take up precious space and cannot be used for much else when turned off. Finally, with up to 100 inches of interactive display space possible with BrightLink, it makes it easy for students in the back of the room to see the lesson. Research has shown that 58 percent of students in an average classroom cannot read content on a 70-inch flat panel. It is just not big enough. Projection is the only technology today that can deliver big images from a compact device at a price that makes sense for school budg- ets. ESD: How does projection technology support the classroom learning of tomor- row? RM: Epson creates, produces and sells products with specific input from educators. No matter how technology changes or what other devices emerge, Epson strives to design projectors and interactive displays to work as seam- lessly as possible in the classroom ecosystem. They are designed with features indispensable in the modern classroom. For example, Epson offers a free software application with our education models that allows teachers to do two-way content sharing from their PC or mobile device to up to 50 student devices for individualized learning. At the same time, the teacher also has the ability to select and simultaneously display up to four student devices on the big screen for all to see during front-of-class teach- ing. Finally, laser technology opens up entire new dimensions of placement flex- ibility, form factor, image size and image quality. We have just started scratching the surface of what is possible. We see laser projection technology playing a strong role in classrooms of all sizes well into the future. For more information, go to www.epson.com, call 888.275.4220 or stop by booth #818.