Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
In this week’s episode of Getting There: Innovations in Education, host Kevin Hogan explores the following:
2021 was a year of tremendous challenges, but there were also incredible strides made in the world of wireless technology that have changed the way we live, work, and play–all for the better.
As technology evolves, there’s always plenty to be excited about. Today, over 300 million people have access to a 5G wireless network, so it’s hard to believe this innovation became available only three years ago. 5G has been described as a transformative technology, but most transformations happen steadily – they become “trends” that happen over time.
To that end, here are three trends I predict for 2022 that can have a lasting impact on families and businesses across the country.…Read More
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – June 24, 2021 – Epson, the number-one selling projector brand worldwide,1 today announced a breakthrough software solution for enhanced lesson plans and student engagement – the BrightLink® GoBoard™ Wireless Collaboration and Integrated Whiteboard Solution. As a dynamic whiteboard solution, BrightLink GoBoard is equipped with a suite of collaborative features and included AirServer technology, allowing both students and teachers to share, annotate and stream mirrored content in real time. At the ISTELive 21 virtual event next week, Epson’s product manager Tom Piche will discuss the BrightLink GoBoard solution in more detail during Epson’s Solutions Snapshot sessions.
“BrightLink GoBoard is a powerful solution that transforms classroom whiteboards into creative canvases for students and teachers,” said Piche. “Epson’s BrightLink solutions aim to empower teachers with engaging and interactive tools, and BrightLink GoBoard adds another layer of collaboration to inspire, captivate and encourage student participation from anywhere in the room.”
BrightLink GoBoard is a full featured collaborative software solution that offers seamless integration with current BrightLink interactive display setups. The downloadable solution is simple and intuitive, allowing students and teachers to share content from Chromebook™, Windows®, iOS®, and Android™ devices. Created with convenience and student participation in mind, BrightLink GoBoard also works alongside popular video communication tools, such as Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, so students at home can easily follow along.2…Read More
Tokyo, Japan and Portland, Ore – June 9, 2021 – Wacom announced today that its Wacom Intuos Small non-wireless model holds the Works With Chromebook certification, following the One by Wacom, certified earlier this year. Chromebook users, especially students and beginning creatives, have more options to start creating digitally, using a Wacom pen tablet with a growing number of drawing, painting and photo editing applications that work flawlessly on Chromebook.
“Chromebook has been attracting attention among education sectors and by those seeking new solutions for working from home. Wacom is currently working on expanding Chromebook compatibility to include further Wacom devices and bring its intuitive and natural pen technology to a fast-growing number of Chromebook users,” says Faik Karaoglu, Executive Vice President of Wacom’s Branded Business. “Combining an Intuos tablet and Chromebook also enables young creatives to unleash their full art and design potential with a number of drawing and painting apps. A long-term collaborative partnership with Celsys offers Wacom Intuos users an opportunity to create spectacular art with the renowned drawing application, Clip Studio Paint.”
Plug in and start creating…Read More
Integrated, enterprise-level and K-12 solutions keep displays fresh with digital signage after presentations and lectures conclude
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, May 6, 2021 – Carousel Digital Signage has partnered with ScreenBeam, a wireless display and collaboration solutions innovator, to keep meeting spaces and classrooms alive with digital signage content while screens are idle. The integrated solution converts ScreenBeam wireless presentation systems for enterprise and K-12 customers into Carousel Cloud media players upon conclusion of a presentation or lecture, creating an ideal digital signage solution for meeting spaces and classrooms.
“Today’s commercial 4K UHD displays beg to share content, yet most enterprise organizations only use them during presentations and lectures,” said JJ Parker, CEO, Carousel Digital Signage. “These events are precisely why displays exist within meeting spaces and classrooms, but too often they remain unused through the day. Carousel has partnered with ScreenBeam to bring life to screens that otherwise become black rectangles.”…Read More
Ideal for Advanced Placement® (AP) Chemistry and college-level general chemistry, the affordable and durable Go Direct Platinum-Cell Conductivity Probe from Vernier Software & Technology helps students determine a solution’s conductivity or the total ion concentration with high accuracy and chemical compatibility.
“Our new probe has an epoxy body and platinum-cell sensing element that notably provides greater chemical compatibility. This probe enables students to measure the conductivity of strong acids, strong bases, and non-aqueous solutions during experiments without any risk of damaging the sensor,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “The durable Go Direct Platinum-Cell Conductivity Probe automatically adjusts its conductivity range in response to the concentration of the given solution to provide students with the most accurate readings possible.”
Go Direct Platinum-Cell Conductivity features a wide 0 to 20,000 μS/cm range that ensures optimal precision during various experiments, such as exploring the base hydrolysis of ethyl acetate under various conditions and other common environmental tests of aquatic samples.…Read More
To engage high school- and college-level students in hands-on physics and data collection, Vernier Software & Technology recently launched the new Go Direct ® Static Charge sensor. Unlike a traditional electroscope, this completely wireless sensor offers a means for quantitative measurement and analysis of positive and negative charges of objects that would not be possible in a traditional lab, such as measuring the charge on a balloon.
“With Go Direct Static Charge students can easily and accurately measure and analyze static charges,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “The sensor’s enhanced capabilities expand upon our wired version, and its pricing at under $100 makes it an affordable addition to any physics classroom or lab.”
Like all Go Direct sensors, Go Direct Static Charge connects via Bluetooth® wireless technology to any mobile device, Chromebook™, or computer with either the Vernier Graphical Analysis™ or the Vernier Graphical Analysis™ Pro apps. Students can use these apps to visualize charge readings in real time and immediately analyze experimental data, which can also be exported to other applications. The sensor, which features a long-lasting rechargeable battery for wireless use, can also be connected to devices via USB. This provides educators the opportunity to choose any location for learning — whether it is in the traditional classroom, lab, at home, or even outdoors.…Read More
Vernier recently launched the new Go Direct® Weather System to engage students in hands-on data collection as they learn important environmental science concepts. This affordable wireless sensor can be used in the classroom or out in the field to help middle school, high school, and college-level students investigate and analyze a variety of environmental factors.
“This new sensor for environmental science provides an affordable way for STEM educators to engage their students in data collection as they explore the science of natural phenomena,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “The Go Direct Weather System is notable because students can collect and analyze multiple types of environmental data using just one compact system.”
The two-part Go Direct Weather System consists of the Go Direct Weather sensor and the Go Direct Weather Vane. The handheld weather sensor is used to collect data around ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind chill, dew point, barometric pressure, and more. The weather vane accessory is used in conjunction with the sensor to capture wind direction data.…Read More
Today, education is far more flexible and collaborative than a generation ago, and technology is key in enabling teachers to quickly adapt lesson plans to suit the moment’s activity. Having multiple screens that a teacher or student can wirelessly project to, along with the ability to switch between sources in seconds, means that teachers aren’t tied to the front of the classroom any more. They are free to roam around to small groups, to see what students are working on simultaneously, and to call attention to particularly high-quality work or ideas that challenge and stimulate.
But all that technology does students little good if it can’t function properly because your school’s IT infrastructure isn’t up to the job. At Central Coast Grammar School in Australia, when Director of Teaching and Learning Damon Cooper pushed for more flexible and collaborative classrooms, we knew we would have to redefine our infrastructure.
Prototyping a vision with spare parts
For more than a year, Cooper piloted his vision of multi-screen classrooms by piecing together whatever spare parts we had on hand. If I retired a screen from another part of the school or had a spare from a bulk purchase, he wanted it. Over that period, Cooper worked closely with me to prototype his vision. That work functioned as a proof of concept and fit nicely with our strategic plan, which called for an increased focus on digital literacy, greater collaboration, and developing students who can produce and publish digital work.…Read More
Today’s students are more connected to their devices than ever before, whether they’re using their tablets or cellular devices to take notes in class, conduct research, or write a report. As such, strong cellular connectivity has become a must for schools and universities. Faculty and students rely upon secure wireless data and mobile coverage in order to teach, learn, and grow together. Having good cellular service also enhances safety on school grounds, keeping staff connected in emergency scenarios in which an instructor or staff member is not near a landline telephone and must instead place a cellular call for immediate assistance.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of cellular signals, schools can’t always provide consistently strong cellular signal for students, faculty, and staff. Accessing a strong indoor signal can be difficult depending on campus size and location, the distance to the nearest cell tower, or natural obstructions such as mountains and district budgets.
Construction materials can also cause issues with cellular signal. Modern schools and universities are usually a combination of older buildings and newer, environmentally friendly construction. Both styles can interfere with radio frequency waves coming from the nearest cell tower. What’s more, the many hundreds of students and teachers in the buildings can easily overload a weak network.…Read More