Having adopted a “bring your own device” policy for their young students, Georgia’s Academies of Discovery saw the need for display technology that would encourage collaboration and support a teaching approach built around project-based learning. Learn how they have met this objective with the help of LED displays from Samsung.
Get Easy Access to Industry-Leading Creativity Tools
Adobe has created an easy-to-manage, term-based licensing program that gives schools access to new versions of Adobe Creative Cloud desktop applications. With this new program, schools and academic departments can have the creative tools they need to be more productive, foster creativity in teaching and learning, and help students develop the digital communication skills essential for success in college and beyond.
Make the Most of Your Mobile Devices
Learn how a complete assortment of accessories from Belkin can help you store, charge, and protect your mobile devices for safe and convenient use inside or outside the classroom.
Best Connected Educator Month tweets-Week 5
Blackmagic Design Announces UltraStudio 4K with Thunderbolt™ 2 Technology
Blackmagic Design today announced a new model of UltraStudio 4K, the world’s first video solution to include super fast Thunderbolt 2 technology. The new UltraStudio 4K replaces the previous model and is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for only US$995.
The award winning UltraStudio 4K is an attractively designed rack mount capture and playback device based on Thunderbolt 2 technology developed by Intel®. Featuring a machined aluminum front panel with an integrated color LCD as well as fast to use video and audio input buttons, UltraStudio 4K is attractive so it’s perfect for desktop as well as rack mount use. The rear panel includes virtually every type of video and audio connection that exists including 6G-SDI, HDMI 4K, analog component/s-video/composite, as well as balanced analog and AES/EBU digital audio. That means customers can connect to all decks, cameras, monitors and more.
Now with the incredible 20 Gb/s speed of Thunderbolt 2, UltraStudio 4K has even more bandwidth to work with higher quality video and frame rates. Now customers will be able to capture and playback Ultra HD 4K YUV video at 60 frames per second and Ultra HD 4K RGB video at 30 frames per second via the advanced 6G-SDI video connections. The Thunderbolt loop thru allows connection of up to 6 devices, so customers can connect fast disk arrays for massive amounts of video storage with a single Thunderbolt connection to their computer.
UltraStudio 4K handles virtually every television format, featuring 6G-SDI connections that instantly switch between SD, HD, Ultra HD and 4K, making it the ideal solution for all post production and broadcast users when working on design, editing, paint, color correction and visual effects tasks. UltraStudio 4K is also perfect for 3D workflow as it features both interleaved/side by side and dual stream capture and playback. Interleaved 3D allows the left and right eye to be interleaved as fields into a single video connection and file, so customers can edit using current editing software.
UltraStudio 4K customers will be able to take advantage of the forthcoming Desktop Video 10 release. The new Desktop Video 10 driver architecture is a major new software update designed from the ground up to be optimized for high speed computers and the new emerging Ultra HD television formats that require massive data speeds. DaVinci Resolve 10 customers will benefit from the simultaneous capture and playback support that lets them capture direct from cameras on set and grade the live video with multiple nodes of color correction for live onset monitoring. This makes lighting a film set easy and allows DOPs, directors and colorists to work together to optimize the film’s look on set.
“The speed of the new Thunderbolt 2 is mind blowing!” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “We are incredibly excited to deliver the world’s first video capture and playback solution that features this amazing technology and includes almost every video and audio connection available! Now with faster, more powerful Thunderbolt 2 computers on the way, video professionals will be able to work with multiple streams of 4K and get more layers of realtime effects and color correction than ever before.”
UltraStudio 4K Key Features
Single Link 6G-SDI, Dual Link 3G-SDI connections, supports SD, HD up to1080p60 and 4K DCI.
Compatible with Mac OS X computers with Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt.
SDI inputs include full SDI re-clocking for capture from poor quality SDI sources.
HDMI in and out, supports SD and HD formats up to 1080p60, frame packing 3D and 4K.
Component analog in and out.
Component analog switches to s-video and composite.
2 channel balanced analog audio in and out. Additional RCA HiFi audio in.
2 channel AES/EBU unbalanced audio in and out.
Timecode in and out on XLR connectors.
Genlock/tri-sync input.
Sony™ compatible RS-422 deck control.
Supports uncompressed 8/10 bit and compressed video capture and playback.
Supports Ultra HD and 4K DCI capture and playback using new Single Link 6G-SDI or Dual Link 3G-SDI connections and HDMI.
Capture/playback of side by side, line by line, top and bottom and frame packing 3D via HDMI.
Capture/playback of side by side, line by line, top and bottom and dual stream 3D via SDI.
Includes hardware up down and cross conversion on playback.
Includes hardware SD and HD keying.
Supports Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer 7® Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC6, Adobe® Photoshop® CC6, Adobe ® After Effects® CC6 , DaVinci Resolve and more.
Includes free developer SDK.
Supports free DaVinci Resolve Lite software.
Availability and Price
UltraStudio 4K is available now for US$995 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
Press Photography
Product photos of UltraStudio 4K are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/images.
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and film restoration software for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability, while the company’s DaVinci Emmy™ award winning color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including stereoscopic 3D and 4K workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. For more information, please check www.blackmagicdesign.com.
Tales2Go Releases Android Version of its Award-Winning Service
An Android version of Tales2Go, the leading provider of streaming audio books for K-8 schools, is now available in the Google Play app store.
October 31, 2013, Washington, D.C. – Tales2Go Inc., a leading provider of audio books for the K-8 school market has just released an Android version of its award-winning app. Tales2Go is a Netflix-like subscription service that streams thousands of name-brand audio book titles from leading publishers to desktops, laptops and mobile devices in the classroom and beyond.
Adding a listening component to reading instruction raises reading scores, which is why audio books have been used in classrooms for decades. Proficient reading is the product of listening comprehension (i.e. fluency and vocabulary) and decoding skills. In fact, the Common Core Standards put special emphasis on developing listening skills within K-5 literacy and established reading methods such as The Daily 5 use audio books as part of their program.
Tales2Go CEO William Weil comments, “We’re excited to make Tales2Go available in the Google Play Store. With more and more mobile devices in students’ hands, either issued by schools or on a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) basis, it was important for us to open up Tales2Go to the large and growing Android audience.” He goes on, “We’re also delighted to finally be able to respond to the numerous requests we’ve gotten to make Tales2Go available on Android devices.”
Tales2Go breaks new ground on both the delivery and business model of giving educators and students’ instant access to audio books on desktops, laptops and mobile devices. For example, with Tales2Go, thousands of students can independently listen to the same book simultaneously. And some students may want to check out the physical book from the school or public library and follow along as they listen. Tales2Go is used differently depending on the grade, but ranges from individual to group use, with and without physical books in hand.
For more information on Tales2Go, please visit: www.tales2go.com
For details about The Education Technology Start-Up Collaborative summit, please visit: http://edtechcollaborative.org
About Tales2Go:
Tales2Go is an award-winning mobile audiobook service that streams thousands of name-brand titles from leading publishers and storytellers to play on desktops, laptops and mobile devices in the classroom and beyond. Unlike other audio book services, thousands of students can independently listen to the same book simultaneously. Tales2Go offers piloting opportunities as well as monthly and annual subscription plans, including bulk sales for schools.
Press Contact:
Jacob Hanson
PR with Panache!
Jacob@prwithpanache.com
BVE North Show Preview for Forbidden Technologies
New Enhancements to FORscene
Forbidden Technologies looks forward to demonstrating the following FORscene developments at BVE North 2013:
*Two additional timeline overlay tracks with support for animated alpha channels, which can be used for cutaway material, to create picture-in-picture effects, or for logo placement.
*Voice-over recording directly onto the FORscene timeline.
*Increased capacity for loading more than 120 files per second into the Play window.
*Ability to import multiple CSV files with logging information.
*New account management features for greater control over usage and cost.
*Access to additional online support material.
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/ForbiddenTechnologies/TwoAdditionaltracks.zip
Photo Caption: FORscene now supports two additional video tracks
Forbidden Technologies CEO Stephen Streater to Chair BVE North Panel Discussion
Stephen Streater, CEO at Forbidden Technologies, will chair the new business model panel: Examining how post-production and post-house are developing new models to take advantage of cloud-based workflows to increase flexibility, reduce overheads and drive efficiency in an increasingly competitive market. The event will take place at the Industry & New Technology Theatre on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 16:45-17:30. More information about the event and speakers is available at http://goo.gl/wH9RBb.
Company Quote:
“BVE North is an important regional show and gives us a great opportunity to meet with our key accounts and partners in the northern U.K. FORscene is a powerful force in broadcast post-production, and this year we’ll be showcasing customer-driven enhancements that make cloud editing easier than ever.”
— Greg Hirst, Business Development Director, Forbidden Technologies plc
Company Overview:
Forbidden Technologies plc is an award-winning technology company that develops and delivers cloud-based solutions for collaborative video post-production. Its flagship product, FORscene, is one of the world’s most advanced cloud-based video post-production platforms. Launched in 2004, FORscene has been used to log, edit, review, and publish more than 3 million hours of professional video content. Listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market, Forbidden partners with high-profile media and technology organisations including Atos, BIM, deltatre, EVS, and Key Code Media. More information is available at www.forbidden.co.uk.
Opening the Lines of Communication for Employees at New Hampton School
New Hampton School, a selective boarding school located in the in the foothills of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, has implemented Awareity’s TIPS platform to improve faculty and staff support and communications.
Founded in 1821, New Hampton School has a philosophy based on two values: respect and responsibility. Healthy relationships between students and adults and educating the whole student are paramount in the community.
In order to build those positive adult relationships, one of the School’s major initiatives has recently been to become one of the most desirable independent schools to work for. Through careful consideration of employee work load, targeted allocation of financial and non-financial compensation, and a continuing commitment to professional development, and professional culture, New Hampton provides their students with a dedicated and superior faculty and staff.
New Hampton School has always encouraged employees to discuss issues of concern with their supervisors or a member of Administration. However, should there be an incident that an employee is not comfortable discussing in person, the TIPS platform now provides a tool to report such issues electronically online. TIPS also allows employees to report anonymously if they do not choose to identify themselves by name.
All incidents of concern remain confidential to the extent possible and the individual reporting is only contacted should there be a need to do so in order to further investigate the incident. TIPS provides employees with a secure way to share incidents of concern and is helping New Hampton engage their employees and build trust that all concerns are proactively addressed. Once a report has been submitted using the online report form, appropriate personnel are immediately notified and can login to the secure platform to review the incident details. TIPS then provides the tools for administration to collectively investigate an incident, coordinate response efforts, track and document all actions taken, and set reminders to ensure follow-up on each and every situation.
“TIPS is providing New Hampton School with a great tool for employees should there be a need to share concerns in order to ensure we are preventing situations from escalating,” said Director of Finance, Jill Duncan. “If necessary, we are also able to easily communicate with our outside legal team using TIPS. It’s a program that we are glad to have in place and hope employees never have to use”.
About Awareity:
Awareity helps leading organizations prevent the preventable and transform the status quo. Awareity is reinventing the way schools improve safety and helping organizations prevent regulatory failures, compliance fines, lawsuits, privacy breaches, safety disconnects, operational challenges, ethical lapses, incident reporting failures, workplace violence and more. Awareity offers an innovative and cost-effective prevention platform to connect the dots, eliminate embarrassing gaps and realize a better bottom line. For more information visit www.awareity.com or contact Awareity at info@awareity.com.
Contact:
Katie Weaver
402.730.0077
info@awareity.com
www.awareity.com
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Schoolwires® Shares Expertise on Creating Safe, Online Learning Communities with Chinese Educators
State College, Pennsylvania, Oct. 31, 2013 — Schoolwires® will deliver a keynote address at the Annual National Conference of K-12 School Safety Practice and Collaboration in China on the topic of creating an online safe and collaborative learning community for teachers, students and parents.
The conference will explore the challenges and opportunities in K-12 education brought about by the booming use of social technologies. The keynote on Oct. 31 will be given by Dr. Lin Zhou, Vice President, Platform Delivery & Asian Operations, Schoolwires.
At the conference, Dr. Zhou will discuss the steps that schools and departments of education should take to create an online safe, social and educational environment for students. Some important elements of the environment include providing content moderation and e-content filtering capabilities, and enabling engagement of parents so that they can participate with their children and feel comfortable with their child’s use of social technologies.
“Technology has the potential to support the sharing of rich and engaging resources between teachers, teachers and students, and teachers and parents; however, schools need to take the proper steps to create an online safe social environment for their students,” said Dr. Zhou.
Schoolwires has a subsidiary in Beijing that promotes and sells the company’s products and services in China, and also includes a research and engineering center. Also, Schoolwires developed a virtual international classroom exchange program between the US and China. Called Greenleaf™, the program is designed to help students become international collaborators, researchers and global citizens. It combines an engaging curriculum with a suite of instructional and social networking tools, along with a team of specialists to ensure that participants experience both their cultural differences and their similarities.
“We are honored to be invited to present at this important event and to share our expertise with educators in China,” said Christiane Crawford, President and Chief Executive Officer, Schoolwires. “We have a great deal of experience and many insights to offer about creating engaging and safe online social environments. We are pleased to share them and help Chinese schools promote and implement new technologies.”
About Schoolwires
Schoolwires, Inc. provides a suite of technology products and related services to more than 1,500 educational entities, including K-12 school districts and schools in the United States and China. The company’s technologies are designed to foster community, student, teacher and parent engagement in the classroom, locally and internationally. Its solutions include an integrated website and content management system, a safe social learning and networking system, a family of mobile solutions, and an enterprise technology platform. Schoolwires brings together a district’s essential technologies, information, and content to effectively engage the K-12 community in support of district and student success. The company currently serves an estimated 10 million users and has been recognized as one of the top privately held education companies for the seventh consecutive year by Inc. magazine. Schoolwires was incorporated on April 5, 2000 and is headquartered in State College with offices in Beijing, China.
© 2013 Schoolwires, Inc. All rights reserved.
Nov. 8: New Deadline for Filing Comments on E-Rate
ISTE Urges Educators to Share E-Rate Success Stories With Federal Communications Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Oct. 31, 2013 –There’s still time to have an impact on the future of the E-Rate thanks to the extension of the deadline for filing comments to Nov. 8. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted this extension following the recent 16-day government shut down.
“The impact of the E-Rate program on our schools has been transformational, but as technology evolves, so must E-Rate. That is why I called for the FCC to begin a proceeding to update the program. Now is the time for educators and educational professionals from around the Nation to weigh in with the FCC. We must help build a record about the need for next-generation Internet connectivity in our schools and libraries,” said United States Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV. “The global economy demands an increasingly educated workforce with higher skills and strong backgrounds in science, math and technology. Our students must have access to high-speed Internet connectivity to gain the skills necessary to compete.”
Notwithstanding the unavailability of the FCC’s electronic filing system during the shutdown, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) members from around the country continued to share their voices through a simple and easy-to-complete, online form on the association’s web site. To date more than 1,000 individuals have filed comments on the E-Rate update and ISTE has generated approximately 40 percent of the filings.
“The FCC’s deadline extension will allow even more educators to tell the Commissioners about the positive impact that the E-Rate program has had on learning and teaching in their communities,” said ISTE CEO Brian Lewis. “We encourage all of our members to add their voices to their colleagues who have already submitted comments. Together we can bring high speed broadband to our nation’s children.”
ISTE Board Members Betsy Goeltz, Kathy Schrock and Sheryl Nussbaum Beach are among those who have told the FCC about the value of the E-Rate program. Each offered a different perspective on the success of the program, but all three urged the Commissioners to increase the program’s funding to at least $5 billion to meet current demand.
In her filing, Goeltz, who is a principal at Ellis Elementary in Pocatello, Idaho, said, “I know that seamlessly infusing digital learning throughout the curriculum is a prerequisite for students to graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in today’s global economy. Access to high-speed broadband is the key to allowing modern teaching and learning to occur in all schools across the country.”
Continuing she said, “All students need access to high-speed broadband. Our nation’s future depends on their success.”
As the retired technology director of the Nauset Public Schools in Massachusetts, Schrock wrote of the value of the E-Rate to her former district as well as her national view of the program’s success. She also said, “Many schools districts, including the Nauset Public Schools, are failing to keep up with the bandwidth demand, and the need for reliable, high-speed networks is only going to increase in the near future.”
Having provided professional development to thousands of teachers in the U.S. and around the globe, Sheryl Nussbaum Beach, the CEO of Powerful Learning Practice in Virginia Beach, told the Commissioners, “The E-Rate program has been a phenomenal success in bringing internet access to almost every classroom in America. But we can’t stop there. If our children graduate from our schools not being literate in the very skills that will enable success then aren’t we adding to the chasm between the haves and the have nots?”
Educators interested in joining these ISTE Board Members and others around the country to tell the FCC about the ways E-rate has improved teaching and learning in their schools or districts should visit: https://www.iste.org/about-iste/advocacy/e-rate.
About ISTE
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders committed to empowering connected learners in a connected world. Home to ISTE’s conference and expo and the widely adopted ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age, the association represents more than 100,000 professionals worldwide. For more information, visit iste.org. Follow ISTE on Twitter @ISTEConnects.
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