Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/840181
EdTech Show Daily Wednesday, June 28, 2017 2 2 deployment after deployment – if schools just deploy devices to replace their text- books or computer rooms without revamping the curriculum and training for their staff they are not successful. Districts that ultimately see success with technology deployments are those that re-think and engage their educators in revitalizing their curriculum. ESD: What is a common concern when integrating technology into classroom? JS: One of the most pressing issues fac- ing the modern classroom is time. Teachers are being asked to integrate technology, cover more content and complete more testing in the same amount of class time they've always had. It's important for the classroom to run as efficiently as possible to make the most of the limited time available, as well as their technology investments. We are very aware of this when design- ing our products, and this has resulted in the development of our solutions like Baskets by LocknCharge. Our top-load- ing Carts with Baskets enable the deployment and pack-up of devices to happen faster and safer. These features LocknCharge (Cont'd. from p. 1) can save up to 70 hours of instruction time per 30-unit cart each year com- pared to cabinet-style carts because there is no bottleneck of students dis- rupting class. ESD: Where do you see charging and storage solutions in education going in the future? JS: As the technology used within edu- cation evolves, charging and storage solutions will evolve as well. Just as the devices used five years ago within schools are not the same mix we see today, we anticipate that five years from now there will be a dramatically different landscape of devices that all need to be charged and secured in an efficient man- ner. In the short-term we're seeing more and more schools make sizeable investments into technology that sup- ports the makerspace movement. As makerspaces – and the technology within them – expand, schools will need to find a way to efficiently charge and secure tools like 3D printers and robotics. Visit LocknCharge at booth #3418 for more information. According to Chief Executive Officer Bob Houston, the 3D printing market needed some shaking up in terms of prod- uct design. The company was not interest- ed in being "just another 3D printer." It was time for an aesthetically pleasing, high-performance 3D printer to be intro- duced at an affordable price. The design is the most important factor that set the com- pany apart. Minimalist design has become mainstream, and the company is proud to bring it to the desktop 3D printer market. This seamless integration of form and function is what makes a product elegant – when engineering meets aesthetics with- out compromise. The minimalist design is perfect for the education market. The printer's complex mechanisms that can be visual distractions in other 3D printers are now eloquently hidden by DeltaMaker's engineers. This results in a tall, open machine that clearly demon- strates the 3D printing process. The 360- degree view of the printed object allows every student in the classroom to see the object being printed, and to watch how the 3D printer operates. Other 3D printers are enclosed in rec- DeltaMaker (Cont'd. from p. 8) tangular boxes, and only allow the stu- dents a limited view of the object while it is printing. This severely reduces the edu- cational value for the students. The precise and rhythmic motion of a DeltaMaker 3D printer creates a visually stimulating edu- cational experience that engages students of all ages. The printer empowers educa- tors to create larger classroom models to enhance their lesson plans. Educators can download thousands of different educa- tional models from the Internet that can be 3D printed in the classroom. For example, a large model of a dinosaur skull could be printed and then passed around the class- room for each student to examine. Instead of looking at a picture of the skull, the stu- dent holds a dinosaur skull. DeltaMarker's flagship product is the "DeltaMaker 2T" 3D printer, a large-format desktop 3D printer that is the only 3D print- er on the market that can print 18 inches tall while requiring one square foot of desktop space. It is designed and manufactured to be "future-proof," which means it can be upgraded in the future to have the same fea- tures and benefits as the newest 3D printers. For more information, visit www.delta maker.com or call 407.442.2816. COOPERATIVE PURCHASING FOR TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICTS Q & A 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. Does TIPS meet the state procurement purchasing requirements where my school district could use TIPS Awarded Vendors for purchases over those thresh- olds instead of having to initiate our 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. How much does it cost to be a member of TIPS? Membership in The Interlocal Purchasing System is free with no purchasing obliga- tion. How does my organization benefit from using a purchasing cooperative like TIPS? Membership in a purchasing cooperative offers the following benefits: access to com- petitively procured contracts with quality vendors; savings of time and financial resources necessary to fulfill bid require- ments; assistance with the purchasing process by qualified TIPS staff; and access to pricing based on "national" high-pro- file contracts. Where are TIPS solicitations advertised? TIPS solicitations (RFPs/RFQs) are adver- tised 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. How does my 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 instruc- tions and documents. How can my 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 a 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. Learn more at www.tips-usa.com. MACKINVIA AMASSES FIVE DISTINCTIVE AWARDS The multiple award-winning MackinVIA recently received a second Award of Excellence by Tech & Learning maga- zine and has been hailed as one of today's most prestigious education technology products. Adding to this accomplishment was the equally respected Best of Show winner at ISTE 2015 and 2016. Rounding out the list of accomplish- ments was a recent 2017 Platinum Award from the esteemed Modern Library Awards. When Mackin set out to create a dig- ital content delivery system for its cus- tomers, the top priority was to make it user-friendly and robust for students and educators alike. With a catalog of over 1.5 million digital titles, over 9 million students with access to MackinVIA, and having recently received multiple acco- lades, MackinVIA has proven that those efforts have now been validated. MackinVIA is being hailed within the industry as the best digital resource management solution available for schools K-12. Users can access their dig- ital products including eBooks, online databases, videos, audiobooks and more from almost any mobile device or desk- top computer. Teachers can use the sys- tem to align resources to their curriculum and educational standards, and librarians and administrators can purchase and manage the digital inventory all in one place. MackinVIA boasts a number of study features, including a personal and convenient Backpack for each student that lets them store their favorite resources, and affords them the ability to create and access notes and highlights within those resources. With the Backpack feature, students can also download eBooks and audiobooks for on-the-go reading on their mobile devices. Mackin is continually updating and expanding its proprietary product, most recently to include the ability for teachers to assign materials to students and give direct access to digital materials pur- chased from other companies from with- in the MackinVIA platform. MackinVIA has also been certified as Section 508 compliant, recognizing its ability to pro- vide access to the resources for those with disabilities. "MackinVIA has been gaining in popularity and usage as more and more schools are discover- ing its wide-reaching capabilities aligned with its user-friendly interface," states Mackin's Director of Digital Services, Mesa Heise. "To receive the recognition by the profession- als at Tech & Learning who review edu- cational technology products all the time has been added affirmation." Mackin is providing on-going pre- sentations of the MackinVIA platform, with classroom and library experts demonstrating how they use MackinVIA in their schools, throughout the confer- ence. Stop by booth #1852 in the exhibit hall and discover how MackinVIA can change your approach to digital product management. For more information, go to www.mackin.com or stop by booth #1852.