classroom.cloud from NetSupport Releases New Classroom Management and Safety Features, Giving Teachers More Control in the Cloud

Thursday, November 4, 2021 — ATLANTA –  NetSupport, which develops network and cloud-based technology for K-12 schools, has released several new safety and control features for classroom.cloud, a cloud-based classroom management tool.  classroom.cloud was launched during the pandemic to help teachers keep students on task when learning online and it has proven equally valuable when students are in the classroom, too. Teachers use classroom.cloud to monitor the applications and internet use on each student’s computer regardless of where they are, either learning remotely or in the classroom.

In this update, teachers can control sound and USB drives, and they have additional safety monitoring features and time-saving keystroke shortcuts. Because the pandemic has altered how and where school takes place, teachers need these additional device controls so that they can keep students safe regardless of whether they are in a physical classroom or at an outside location in what is essentially a new paradigm in K-12 education.

The NetSupport CEO, Al Kingsley, is a published author, a podcast host, and a sought-after speaker on the topics of safe and secure technology use in education. Kingsley says that development of the new classroom.cloud features was accelerated by the pandemic. “For 30 years, NetSupport has been the teacher’s partner in classroom management tools and over that time period, their needs have constantly evolved,” said Kinglsey. “When COVID struck and teachers needed a cloud-based classroom management tool, we accelerated development of classroom.cloud and now we’ve added even more features to keep pace with their needs. classroom.cloud is a reliable and powerful classroom management platform giving teachers an improved ability to keep students safe and better engaged in the classrooms of today.”…Read More

Defeat the Digital Divide Helps Bring Reliable Internet Connections to Schools Nationwide

COVINGTON, KY: October 21, 2021 – A new website launched by a collaboration of leading technology experts, STEP CG and Cradlepoint, is providing information and educational resources to help K-12 schools ensure their students have access to the technology they need to succeed. Defeat the Digital Divide ( https://defeatthedigitaldivide.com) offers school districts engaging learning tools to build solutions that will enable them to close the gap between those who have access to reliable internet service and those who don’t. 

Several helpful tools within the site are designed to help districts gain knowledge and make decisions about implementing their own network, including: 

  • Digital Divide Readiness Assessment 
  • Defeat the Digital Divide Checklist 
  • Success stories from other school districts 

The internet has become an integral tool in education that enables students to access school online while opening up new worlds of learning. But with 42 million Americans unable to purchase internet access no matter their incomes, roughly 16 million K-12 students lack reliable digital connections to their schools. This Digital Divide affects school districts in all types of communities, from rural to urban, and encompasses all income levels.  …Read More

Kajeet Education Solutions Now Available to UScellular Customers

MCLEAN, Va. October 1, 2021–Kajeet®, a leading provider of wireless connectivity, software and hardware solutions that deliver safe and controlled internet access, today announced it has expanded its relationship with UScellular, making it the first carrier enabled to sell Kajeet’s solutions directly. Together, the two organizations are making it easier for K-12 education customers to monitor, secure and control internet connectivity and connected devices using UScellular’s fast, reliable network.

“Teaming with Kajeet builds on our commitment to deliver connectivity services to our education customers and offer additional capabilities that empower them to take greater control of their data” Tweet this

Through this new agreement, K-12 administrators can now purchase Kajeet Sentinel® and Kajeet SmartSpot® directly from UScellular, with all data and service fees consolidated into a single statement.…Read More

Cleveland Metropolitan School District Deploys the Stay Connected K-12 Solution from Spectrum Enterprise to Enhance the Learning Experience for Students Needing Robust Home Internet

CLEVELAND, Ohio – With many school districts continuing to look for ways to help students who don’t have robust internet service at home maximize their learning potential, Charter Communications, Inc., which operates the Spectrum brand, today announced that Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is deploying the Spectrum Enterprise Stay Connected K-12 solution as a multi-year solution. More than 5,300 families are anticipated to participate initially.

Stay Connected K-12 provides schools the ability to offer high-speed, cable broadband internet access directly to their students in their own homes so learning and teaching are uninterrupted. Students’ families are not billed for the service.

Stay Connected K-12 combines the robust speeds and rich features of Spectrum Internet with simplified program management and billing for local districts through Spectrum Enterprise. Users can enjoy:…Read More

Heroes at Work: Navajo Prep goes all-in on internet access during pandemic learning

Heroes at Work is a three-part series featuring excerpts from conversations with the grand prize winners of the 2021 eSchool Media K-12 Hero Awards program, sponsored by Trox. See below for the full interview.

Here, eSchool News highlights the Navajo Preparatory School–one of three K-12 Hero Awards winners. Keep reading this interview with Sean C. Bekis, the school’s Network Administrator, to discover how school leaders did whatever they needed to do to get students connected to reliable internet and other vital resources during the pandemic.

eSN: Tell us a bit about your situation.…Read More

Navajo Prep prioritizes internet access for all students

Never before have educators been challenged and tested as they were, beginning in March 2020 and up until today, and never before has their resilience been more apparent. Administrators, technology leaders, classroom teachers, and educators in all roles have persevered as they taught each and every one of their students during a global pandemic.

The eSchool Media K-12 Hero Awards program, sponsored by Trox, recognizes the determined efforts of these educators and highlights their exemplary efforts and dedication to teaching and learning.

Discover more about Navajo Preparatory School, one of the eSchool Media K-12 Hero Awards winners:…Read More

Q Academy Ventures into Online Learning for Kids

British Columbia-based Q Academy, a pioneer in tech-focused education, taps into online learning with the soft-launching of Q Academy Kids (QA Kids), a coding and design platform for young people.

With the increased internet adoption and the rising demand for real-time accessible training globally, Q Academy makes this timely shift from purely on-campus delivery to the addition of virtual delivery methods through QA Kids.

“Q Academy is known for delivering short-term training for individuals and corporate learners with a focus on upgrading their skills. It has been offering in-person summer tech camps, after-school and professional development courses for kids in Vancouver and Victoria, BC, and now with Q Academy Kids, we are able to extend our reach across the nation,” says Q Academy Campus Manager Rachael McPherson. …Read More

3 ways students can develop solid online research skills

Today’s students don’t know the world without the internet. They spend days and nights on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat but hardly know how to translate all this information into learning. Gen Z doesn’t necessarily think critically about what they find online.

As educators, we can teach the academic side of the internet to them.

Why is it so critical?…Read More

Next Gen TV Prototype Shows How Educational Equity Can Be Achieved For All Students

Washington, D.C. — The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has collaborated with Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science, and international IT consultancy Fincons Group to create a first-of-its-kind prototype Next Gen TV application that helps bridge the gap in access to learning and helps with the goal of creating educational equity for all. By utilizing ATSC 3.0 technology, students without access to the internet could use such an application to participate in home learning, do homework, take quizzes and access additional learning resources — all through their Next Gen TV screens, thanks to data broadcasting.

The demonstration, taking place during an NAB Amplify session on June 24 at 2 p.m. EDT, will showcase the simplicity of the application and how datacasting works. These include having the class schedule presented in a TV guide-style with easy navigation and a traffic light color-coded system that indicates to students: work that is outstanding, ongoing and completed. When work is complete, a QR code is generated, allowing students to submit their work to their teacher with a mobile device. This innovative feature allows two-way communication between the school and the students, which is crucial for remote education to be effective.

Kathryn Procope, head of school at Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science, said, “What became incredibly apparent since the start of this pandemic is that so many children are simply not receiving equitable resources for their home learning needs. Educational equity means that every child is provided with an equal opportunity to succeed and have the necessary support to do that. We have seen across the country digital deserts, and while schools can support by providing devices, a device that cannot connect is no help at all. Rather than focusing on what households don’t have, we looked at what the majority of homes do have and how it could be utilized to provide much-needed home education, and that is a television.”…Read More

Promethean Continues Streak as Market Leader for Interactive Flat Panel Displays in US and EMEA

HONG KONG, June 10, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (NetDragon or the Company; HKG: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to share that its flagship classroom technology subsidiary Promethean continues to be a global leader for interactive display technology, according to Futuresource Consulting’s Q1 2021 report on World Interactive Displays.

As the education system worldwide began to get a handle on remote and blended learning models, the demand for interactive displays in classrooms remained strong. According to Futuresource Consulting’s Q1 2021 report, interactive display sales had a year-over-year increase of 74%, making it by far the largest Q1 to date. As schools around the world are settling into the new normal of blended learning models, interactive whiteboards and flat panel displays continue to remain one of the best tools in K-12 classrooms where teachers can build interactive lessons and bring them to life in any environment.

Excluding China, Promethean was the leading brand with a 23.3% share of the total global interactive flat panel display for primary and secondary education market over the last twelve months as of 31 March 2021. In that same time period, Promethean gained market share in the US, UK, and Germany. Most recently, in Q1 2021, the company also continued its strong performance track record in the US, achieving a 32.4% market share for primary and secondary education markets.…Read More

4 things we need to realize about digital equity

As COVID made quite painfully clear, student access to reliable high-speed internet and engaging digital tools is essential. But many students don’t have access to these resources at school, at home, or both, leading to larger questions about the role of digital equity and student success during–and after–the pandemic.

A new CoSN study, supported by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, gives educators and policymakers a detailed view of students’ at-home learning experiences during the pandemic.

“Digital equity is not a new topic for CoSN. Since our founding, we have focused on addressing the digital divide and ensuring that fast connectivity, devices and equitable use happen in all classrooms. But since March 2020, the imperative of this outside-of-school challenge has become readily apparent to all. The Homework Gap was a chasm for millions of students and educators as the shift to remote learning occurred,” write Keith Krueger, CoSN’s CEO, and Steve Langford, chair of CoSN’s Board of Directors and the CIO of Oregon’s Beaverton School District, in the report’s introduction.…Read More

3 ways to keep your online classroom engaged

My teaching philosophy is that the content is no longer the commodity. When I was in school, I had to go to school every day because my teachers had all the information and I had to get it from them somehow. Kids these days have access to all the information they could ever ask for at their fingertips, on the internet.  

I teach computer literacy at Digital Academy of Florida (DAOF) and I’ve found numerous ways to keep my students engaged in my short time there. I start by highlighting that it’s their class, not mine. They’re in the driver’s seat. 

So, if the content is no longer the commodity, then what is? It’s the entire class experience. Every single subject, every single class should be interactive in some way.  …Read More