Author: Hope

How To Make The Classroom Efficient – Anywhere Cart Special Buy.

Posted on | by Hope

Now is the time to take advantage of savings and organize your classroom with ease.

With massive disruption in technology supply chains, increasing freight and transportation costs, and current high inflation rates taking their toll on K-12 schools by increasing the costs on commonly procured items such as student/teacher device peripherals, CDW Education and Anywhere Cart have proudly teamed up with ILTPP to offer significant discounting to ILTPP member schools via a Special Buy for Charging Carts and Device Headsets.  These models are exclusively unique to CDW Education and are available while supplies last.  “With the rise of Cyberattacks in K-12, Information Technology leaders have more important things to worry about than the cost of a student Headset or charging Cart; we’re just happy to take one less thing off their plate”, said the Vice President of Anywhere Cart, Ricardo Enriquez in regards to this partnership.  Within the United States, Anywhere Cart is the leading device charging and peripherals original equipment manufacturer in K-12, serving over 4k+ districts nationwide.  As a 3 Billion segment within CDW, CDW Education is the leading hardware, software, and services information technology solutions provider nationwide in K-12 with incredibly deep industry knowledge.

As two leaders (Anywhere Cart/CDW Education) in their respective spaces, ILTPP members can trust the quality and pricing of the products and the exceptional client service they will receive from these organizations from this Special Buy.

Those ILTPP members planning on attending the upcoming IETC Conference can meet their Anywhere Cart (BOOTH 326) and CDW Education local representatives to demo the exclusive models in the ILTPP/IETC booth.

AC-CDW-36 Special Buy

3.5mm Headset Special Buy

Contact your dedicated Account Manager with CDW-G Now Thru 01/02/2023 to take advantage of this special pricing.

CDW-G
John Buttita
Sales Manager
877-325-3380
johnbut@cdw.com

Digital Citizenship for Kids

Posted on | by Hope

Let’s dive into what digital citizenship is and why it’s so important to teach in the classroom!

Basically, digital citizenship is about teaching young people how to act responsibly online. In today’s digital age, students have a heap of information at their fingertips, and with all this exposure, it’s important they know the basics about digital etiquette and online safety!

Learning how to be a good digital citizen comes hand-in-hand with learning how to be a considerate person; nurturing a sense of empathy towards others, and developing healthy relationships. Digital citizenship will also give students a headstart in their future careers as more and more jobs will value digital skills in the coming years.

There’s a lot to pack into this topic of digital citizenship for kids — and we know you teachers are busy — so let’s break things down into four key focus areas that will help guide students as they grow into good digital citizens: Respect, Digital Footprint, Protection, and Copyright.

Respect

When teaching students about the basics of being a good digital citizen, try starting with the most fundamental golden rule: treat people how you’d like to be treated – in real life and your digital lives!

We all know how easy it is to misinterpret messages we receive online. These situations are even harder for kids as online interaction takes away the social cues they’re often still learning. Without tone and body language, it’s easy for words to get lost in translation. Put this into practice by playing a fun game with your students where you include some examples of messages that could be misinterpreted to demonstrate the difference between communicating face-to-face and digital communication. This will help to bring home the point that online messaging can so easily get lost in translation!

This is also a good time to address cyberbullying. Teaching kids how to be good digital citizens is a key way to prevent cyber-bullying. It’s always good to set students up with responses and always remind them that if they’re being bullied online, they should tell you, their parents, or any trusted adult! Hold a brainstorming session with your class and see if they have some ideas on how to best respond to harassment online.

It’s also important to discuss the very real impact cyber-bullying has on people’s well-being – kids can often feel detached from their online personas and not understand the social and emotional impact of their actions.

Digital footprint

In relation to respect, students also need to be reminded anything posted online is going to stick around. The common phrase “think before you speak” is now also “think before you post.”

LEARN MORE

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Kami
Andy Hogan
Account Executive
andy@kamiapp.com
619- 363-1994

 

 

Wood Dale SD 7 Success with Otus

Posted on | by Hope

The Wood Dale School District 7 set the goal of creating a more personalized learning environment for their students by giving teachers and administrators real-time access to student progress. They approached this goal through the lens of standards-based grading (SBG), which emphasizes more detailed data surrounding student understanding. The challenge was finding a platform built with SBG in mind that would provide more student data without increasing teacher workload.

Actions

With a list of requirements in mind, Wood Dale School District 7 began searching for a standards-based grading platform for their learning community. They found Otus and immediately knew it was a perfect fit. With Otus, teachers would easily attach standards to assessments and view each student’s progression to mastery in the standards-based gradebook. This also allowed the teachers to easily share each student’s growth journey with those outside the classroom.

Results

Since rolling out in 2017, the teachers of Wood Dale School District 7 have become power users of Otus. Beginning with the success of their standards-based grading initiative, they also integrated third-party data to give a holistic view of student learning. In the fall of 2021, with the introduction of Otus Plans, Wood Dale School District 7 took action on the collected data and utilized Otus to create custom learning plans for their students. With such a dedication to personalized learning, Wood Dale School District 7 is an excellent example of collecting quality student data and acting on it.

Read More on the Standards Gradebook

 

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Otus
Paul Kaskovich
Account Executive
paul@otus.com
773-789-5444 x110

Learn More About Otus

New iOS Extension App Helps K-12 Leaders Fully Capture Data

Posted on | by Hope

Knowing which EdTech tools are being used, how often, and by whom serve as critical, foundational elements of understanding a given EdTech landscape. For years, LearnPlatform’s Inventory Dashboard has served as a resource for discovering the scope of EdTech use to build that foundation.

So, today, we are thrilled to announce our new iOS extension app that customers can deploy to school-issued iOS devices for the 2022-23 school year! 

By adding this extension app as another means of gathering data, district administrators will now be able to collect, report on and use iOS data to guide conversations and aid in EdTech decision-making. K-12 leaders view multiple data sources in one place to:

  • Uncover products they aren’t currently managing.

  • Better understand which products/apps are most (and least) popular across devices.

  • Identify areas for more implementation support.

  • Discover fidelity of use.

Read More about this exciting addition to LearnPlatform

____________________________________________________________________________________

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Districts >5,000 Students
Rob Residori
Director of Partnerships
(773) 273-9419
rob@learnplatform.com

Districts <5,000 Students
Hillary Simons
District Analyst
(860) 933-4091
hillary.simons@learnplatform.com

Learn More About LearnPlatform

Technology Wellness Guide: Helping K-12 Teams Stay Organized This Year

Posted on | by Hope

Because of the rapid shift to digital learning and 1:1 programs over the past two years within K-12 education, it is understandable that schools and districts have become overwhelmed with managing these technologies efficiently. 

Juggling vendors, contracts, warranties, funding sources, and device inventories? To help you stay organized this year, we put together a Tech Wellness Guide Template!

Download the template to help you keep track of:

  • Vendors 
  • Funding Sources 
  • Device Inventory  
  • Device Replacement  
LEARN MORE

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Kris O’Connor
EDU Sales Executive, Kajeet
815-260-7960
koconnor@kajeet.com

Ryan Frohle
Account Manager (Install Accounts)
240-482-3499
rfrohle@kajeet.com 

Learn More About Kajeet

 

 

#TraferaGiveBack2022

Posted on | by Hope

WIN 100 laptops for your school

Trafera is committed to helping schools build better learning experiences through technology. That’s why we’re donating nearly $500K worth of technology to schools across the nation. Six schools will receive one hundred laptops to transform teaching and learning.

 

Give away includes 100 x HP Elitebook 840 G2 fully equipped with:

  • 100 x Higher Ground Element Plus Cases
  • LocknCharge EPIC Carts to help charge and secure all devices when not in use
  • Trafera Gold Warranty

 

Tell Trafera how you would use your new devices to transform teaching and learning at your school to enter! 

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DETAIL & ENTRY FORM

 

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Tim Peters
Account Manager
651-209-1098
tim.peters@trafera.com

Learn More About Trafera

Siemens acquires Brightly Software

Posted on | by Hope

Brightly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Siemens Smart Infrastructure (SI).

As the global leader in intelligent asset management solutions, this acquisition represents the strongest validation of Brightly’s vision for the future.  Siemens and Brightly have a shared mission to empower clients to transform the way they manage buildings and infrastructure, impacting the everyday lives of billions of people. The alignment between Siemens & Brightly will accelerate the development of global solutions, services, and value.

The benefits to Brightly clients will be immense. With increased investment in its solutions, platform, and product roadmap, Brightly will be able to continue to improve the capabilities, performance, and integration of its current solutions as well as offer a broader set of products, including offerings from Siemen’s portfolio.  Siemens’s robust capabilities in connectivity, advanced analytics, energy management, security, and digital services will be made available to Brightly clients over time.

More information can be found in this press release.

 

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Kyle Williford
Vice President, Public Markets
919-332-9914
kyle.williford@brightlysoftware.com

Learn More About Brightly

Kajeet to Bring Next-Gen Private 5G to Schools & Students Across America in Partnership with Google Cloud

Posted on | by Hope

McLean, Virginia, June 14, 2022 — Kajeet, a world-class provider of private wireless and managed IoT connectivity, today announced a collaboration with Google to deploy its Private 5G Platform on Google Distributed Cloud Edge. The goal of the partnership is to help transform the future of education by: 

  • Connecting the unconnected students and communities with high-quality wireless Internet and Close the Digital Divide once and for all 
  • Empowering Learning Anywhere by combining Kajeet’s public & private wireless networks with Google’s Chromebook and Classroom EDU solutions. 
  • Creating Smart Schools, powered by the Kajeet Private 5G Platform & Google Cloud, to enhance classroom activities and enable a next-gen immersive learning experience for students and teachers.  

Many school districts aspire to provide adequate off-campus broadband access to their staff and students. According to the White House, more than 30 million Americans live in areas where broadband infrastructure is unable to provide minimally acceptable speeds. Kajeet, in step with Google, strives to end the connectivity gap with Smart, Simple, and Secure Private 5G networks for schools, neighboring communities, library systems, community colleges, and universities to easily connect all of their people, places, and things.    

Kajeet is a trusted wireless partner to educational institutions, with over two decades of experience providing managed IoT and public internet connectivity to over 3,000 school districts.  There is a great need to provide safe, secure, and reliable private wireless service for students and communities in underserved markets.  Kajeet is in the process of planning and designing several Private 5G networks using Google Distributed Cloud Edge for school districts across the country that will launch later this year. 

“Google has been a long-standing partner in our education business for equitable access and network reliability to students using Google Chromebooks. We are very excited to extend our partnership in enabling a unique Private 5G experience to schools and students across America,” said Derrick Frost, SVP and GM of Private Wireless Networks at Kajeet. “Google Distributed Cloud helps us realize economies of scale in a common environment encompassing private networks at the edge, a private data center, and the public cloud. It enables us to deliver a consistent set of security, lifecycle management, policy, and orchestration of resources across all customer locations.”  

READ MORE

 

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Kris O’Connor
EDU Sales Executive, Kajeet
815-260-7960
koconnor@kajeet.com

Ryan Frohle
Account Manager (Install Accounts)
240-482-3499
rfrohle@kajeet.com

Learn More About Kajeet

 

CYBERSECURITY: How schools can protect their network, devices and data from cyber attacks

Posted on | by Hope

The shift to digital learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up opportunities for schools to adopt new EdTech tools and create more innovative learning environments. But this has also given cybercriminals new avenues to attack school networks, devices, and data.

Experts recommend protecting all aspects of an educational organization’s online presence:

Endpoint Security

Protect end-user devices connected to a network or cloud with technologies including antivirus tools, endpoint protection platforms (EPP), and endpoint detection and response (EDR) to detect, prevent and respond to cyberattacks in real-time.

Network Security

Prevent and remediate internal and external threats with next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention, and detection and response systems designed for complete system visibility.

Cloud Security

Safeguard cloud-based data and applications and protect against data loss and malicious theft with tools that elevate application visibility, security, and control for hybrid learning environments.

Applications Security

Detect and block threats deployed through email and the Internet with real-time protection technologies, including spam and DNS filters, encryption, and antivirus.

Data Protection

Keep user data secure with backup and recovery software for the cloud for on-premises and hybrid learning environments and backup-as-a-service (BaaS) solutions.

User Training

Awareness and compliance training for students and staff to improve cybersecurity hygiene and reduce phishing and social engineering attacks.

 

Put the building blocks in place to protect yourself from data leaks and cybercriminals with the support of the Bluum team.

 

LEARN MORE ON BLUUM CYBERSECURITY SOLUTIONS

 

Why is Cybersecurity a Critical Issue in K-12?

In 2021, district-level leaders ranked cybersecurity as the top concern for the seventh year straight. *

*based on CoSN survey data

408

Reported cyberattacks against K-12
schools in 2020. an 18% increase over 2019

1,387

Days of downtime in U.S. schools due to
ransomware attacks (Feb. ’18 – Jun. ’21)

20%

K-12 Schools with a full-time
staffer dedicated to cybersecurity

 

 

 

Contact your dedicated Account Manager:

Sarah Goncalves
Regional Vice President of Sales
888-226-5727 x3730
Sarah.Goncalves@bluum.com

Learn More About Bluum

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Streamline Your Communications Experience with Direct Guest Join from Zoom and Microsoft

Posted on | by Hope

With organizations across the world implementing new solutions to stay connected, including video communication, it has created a diverse ecosystem of solutions and technologies from different providers.

And while there are many different video conferencing providers in this ecosystem, not all of them are able to connect or interoperate with each other. As employees work from home, the office, or a mix of both, they need to easily and effectively communicate using reliable workspace solutions, regardless of what solution the other party is using.

To help streamline foundational video communication in workspaces, Zoom and Microsoft have partnered to deliver Direct Guest Join, a seamless and intuitive solution that allows Zoom Rooms to call into Microsoft Teams meetings, and vice versa, without the purchase of additional licenses or third-party services.

READ MORE

Zoom is available through various resellers under contract. When speaking with your account manager, make sure to mention you are an ILTPP member and would like to use the contract pricing.