#CoSN2024 Remote—How to Do It

CoSN2024’s Virtual offering is “The CoSN Experience.” The event will no longer be a hybrid event, but a fully virtual experience.

Program description: An immersive virtual collaboration cafe series that invites you to embark on a journey of monthly conversations and knowledge sharing. Join forces with like-minded colleagues as we collectively empower ourselves with expertise and agile strategies tailored to address local demands from April – November 2024 (six live experiences – approximately one per month).

Key Program Highlights…Read More

Oregon’s Harrisburg School District Announces New Partnership Supporting Innovative Science Lessons In All Elementary School Classrooms  

Charlotte, NC Oregon’s Harrisburg School District (HSD) today announced a new multiyear partnership with global edtech leader Discovery Education.Thanks to this new collaboration, teachers and students in HSD’s elementary school classrooms will soon have access to two dynamic new digital products that empower educators to bring science instruction to life in ways that ignite student curiosity about the natural world and drive deeper engagement in learning. 

Located in Northwestern Oregon and serving the city of Harrisburg and the surrounding rural areas of Benton, Lane and Linn Counties, HSD offers a comprehensive K-12 education. Through an elementary school serving students in kindergarten through 4th grade, a middle school serving students in 5th grade through 8th grade, and a high school for 9th grade through 12th grade, HSD’s talented team of professionals provide students learning opportunities that empower all students to succeed. 

The HSD’s elementary school team sought a new suite of high-quality science resources aligned to state standards that would be simple to integrate into instruction and support the district’s goals for academic progress. Following a thorough review of viable solutions, the district selected Discovery Education’s Science Techbook for Oregon and Mystery Science for classroom use.  …Read More

Manor ISD Sets New Technology Standard With BenQ

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display and collaboration solutions, today announced that Manor Independent School District in Manor, Texas, has selected and installed BenQ Boards and BenQ Smart Displays in Manor New Tech High School, Manor Early College High School, Manor Rise Academy, Wildhorse Elementary, and Manor Elementary Early Learning Center and new Transportation Facility. The smart boards and digital signage displays were selected for their simple, secure, and streamlined approach to the future of EdTech. With BenQ’s license-free and future-ready EZ Write 6 software, InstaShare wireless presentation system, and technology administration tools AMS, DMS, and X-Sign solutions, the BenQ displays have become the new technology standard for the growing school district.

“BenQ continuously demonstrates the way it supports today’s teachers and staff while enhancing learning in exciting ways for students,” stated David Gonzalez, Director of Technology at Manor ISD. “BenQ’s comprehensive suite of solutions provides us with the best of the best and aligns perfectly with our vision of simplifying and standardizing technology districtwide. Now our teachers can focus on what matters most — delivering high-quality instruction to our students.”

After rigorous evaluation and comparison against other smart board vendors, Manor ISD chose BenQ to bring its schools into the future. The Google EDLA-certified BenQ Boards empower teachers to teach their way, whether they choose to use the whiteboard, share their screen wirelessly, or load lessons from the web. Making the transition to the BenQ Board smart boards is simple with the award-winning EZ Write 6 software. Teachers can do it all with this license-free annotation and collaboration software designed to fit any teaching style. It allows teachers to use any interactive course and existing IWB files to make lesson building a snap. Users have the freedom to annotate and work directly from the interactive display or a wirelessly connected device. When teachers are creating or presenting lessons, EZ Write’s Floating Tool empowers them to add text to any app, video, website, document, or image. They can also choose the pen color, erase, open files, or take screenshots.…Read More

Infusing PBL with edtech to enhance collaboration, critical thinking

Key points:

Project-based learning (PBL) helps prepare students for college and beyond by actively engaging them in meaningful, relevant projects. In many situations, students will work on these projects for weeks or months at a time, which helps them develop deeper content knowledge when attempting to answer complex questions and resolve real-world problems.

With advances in digital tools, many teachers are finding that using edtech tools in PBL enhances projects by providing direct access to greater sources of information and by allowing students to collaborate more easily. Some believe that leveraging the right technology is one of the best ways to support students during PBL activities.…Read More

3 considerations to ensure a future-proof network

Key points:

In 2024, Wi-Fi and wired networks are critical infrastructure for educational organizations. Thanks to the continuous push for digitally literate students and interactive, immersive, and connected eLearning environments, chief technology officers (CTOs) are responsible for networks that must support greater demand than ever before.

There are three top technologies for school district CTOs to consider when planning for the health and longevity of their wired and Wi-Fi networks. Addressing these three key areas–video collaboration, the 6GHz migration, and network automation–will prepare networks to meet the needs of today’s and future students.…Read More

Spring ISD Selects BenQ Boards for Classrooms

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display and collaboration solutions, today announced the Spring Independent School District (ISD) in Houston has selected and installed almost 1,800 BenQ Boards in K-12 classrooms across the 45 schools in the district. Purchased as part of Spring ISD’s most recent school bond, the BenQ Boards were chosen over other smart board vendors because of the rich and forward-thinking feature set the BenQ Boards offer, including ease of use and flexibility for teachers, advanced learning tools for students, and free built-in remote management solutions for IT.

“When we invited the entire district to come in and test drive different smart boards, everyone voted nearly unanimously for the BenQ Board,” said Joe Holecek, Spring ISD’s manager of campus technology support. “They hit all our needs, from those of our teachers and students to our technology department. We’ve deployed half the BenQ Boards in our classrooms so far, and it’s been so positive that the other half can’t wait because they know how much the boards offer.”

Spring ISD Teachers Benefit From BenQ Board’s Tap ‘N Teach Technology
While preparing students for the future, the BenQ Boards are also designed to eliminate the steep learning curve and complicated tasks that typical smart boards can overburden teachers with. The teacher-friendly experience starts immediately at sign-in. The industry’s only germ-resistant BenQ Boards boast BenQ’s Tap ‘N Teach technology, which features one-tap NFC log-in to load lesson materials and interactive teaching apps, cloud storage, settings, and tools instantly and securely.…Read More

Optoma Introduces Creative Touch 3-Series Interactive Flat Panel Displays   

FREMONT, CA – Optoma, a world-leading manufacturer of pioneering visual solutions, today introduced the new Creative Touch 3-Series Interactive Flat Panel Displays (IFPDs), featuring improved functionality and added interactive features designed to meet the evolving needs of education and corporate environments. Available in 65″, 75″ and 86″ formats, the Creative Touch 3-Series IFPDs include intuitive and user-friendly software, including an enhanced Whiteboard for effortless 1-to-1 collaboration whether in remote, in-person, or hybrid environments across classrooms, lecture halls, boardrooms, and other professional settings. 

With the new Optoma IFPDs, users can work together seamlessly in-person or in real time from home by accessing their content through the Optoma Solution Suite (OSS)™, a proprietary software stack consisting of the cloud-based Whiteboard, Display Share, and File Manager.   

Whiteboard provides users with an infinity canvas, floating toolbar, and annotation tools for endless, creative lesson opportunities. Educators can sync their cloud accounts, such as Google Classroom, for convenient lesson planning from anywhere and access their materials from any Creative Touch IFPD on campus. For remote lessons or in hybrid sessions, educators have the option of writing on the board while their students have a real time view of the annotations, either via one other Creative Touch display or online, valuable for use cases such as hiding quiz answers for later discussion. Users can also conveniently embed browser pages for easy dragging and dropping of image and video content into the canvas for smoother, uninterrupted lessons.   …Read More

America’s Blood Centers Announces National Partnership with Body Interact to Help Innovate Blood Donation Education

Washington, DC (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — America’s Blood Centers (ABC), the national organization of community-based, independent blood centers that supply 60 percent of the nation’s blood supply, today announced a new multi-year national partnership with Body Interact, a leader in virtual patient simulation technology. This collaboration aims to help innovate the way students and potential blood donors learn about the critical importance of blood donation by providing cutting-edge virtual patient scenarios illustrating the lifesaving impact of blood donation as part of an expanded Vein to Vein: The Science of Blood Donation high school education program, to be released in the coming weeks.

“America’s Blood Centers is proud to partner with Body Interact to bring cutting-edge virtual learning scenarios to our Vein to Vein program. This collaboration will help innovate how students and potential blood donors learn about the critical importance of blood donation, fostering a lifelong interest in supporting our nation’s blood supply. We look forward to working together to provide an engaging and interactive learning experience that will help strengthen and diversify the blood supply for years to come,” said Kate Fry, CEO of America’s Blood Centers.

“At Body Interact/Take The Wind, we are honored to join forces and collaborate with America’s Blood Centers. By offering students a chance to experience realistic patient simulations, we aim to bring attention to the universal relevance of blood donation through experiential learning. Not only is blood donation a noble act, but also a critical one that could touch students’ loved ones and their communities. We are excited to bring this valuable resource to thousands of high school students across America,” said Raquel Bidarra, U.S. Country Manager at Body Interact.…Read More

5 tech, AI tools to enhance teacher team success

Key points:

Technology plays a crucial, and expanding, role in today’s schools. The availability of tech tools, including those with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, continues to grow – as do their potential applications in the classroom

Schools can also use tech and AI tools to enhance the success of teacher teams and professional learning communities (PLCs). When teacher teams set collective goals, their intended results – such as improved student outcomes – often occur in the classroom. But working toward their goals relies on effective peer-to-peer collaboration, which requires different skills and structures than classroom instruction. Technology is here to help bridge the gap.…Read More