HUNTINGTON– Gateway Regional hosted a “Lunch and Learn” Conference Thursday for technology staff in Western Massachusetts schools. Ten districts, including Westfield, participated in the conference to hear from educational technology vendors who were invited to showcase their products due to their usefulness to schools and their affordability.
Gateway Regional Technology Coordinator Chris Parker organized a technology conference for area districts on Thursday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
“I go to a lot of technology conferences. There were none around here that focused on education,” said Chris Parker, technology coordinator for Gateway Regional. He decided to host a conference and invite vendors who focus on education and understand budgetary concerns, in order to help other districts possibly realize some savings.
Parker has been serving as the technology coordinator for six years for the district, which is ahead of the curve in terms of available technology for students. He said Gateway offers one-to-one Chromebooks for students in grades 3-10, while grades 11-12 share a cart. He said in the next two years, grades 3-12 will be 100% one-to-one, meaning there will be enough devices for every student.
Gateway also has one-to-one availability for IPads for students in Pre-k through 2nd grade. Parker said the touch screen is more effective for the younger students.
Trinity 3 Technology was a major sponsor of this event and one of the presenters. The company, which Gateway uses, provides Chromebooks, laptops, tablets and desktop solutions to schools, along with insurance and extended warranty protection. They also provide financial services and support for software. As a company, Trinity 3 is one of the few vendors who are completely immersed in the K-12 and higher education market and truly understand the needs and trends in educational technology, according to Parker.
Representatives from eleven area districts participated in the Lunch ‘n Learn technology conference at Gateway. (Photo by Amy Porter)
LanSchool was another event sponsor. LanSchool gives teachers the ability to manage a digital classroom from their laptops where they can monitor and control student devices, push out content, share screens, access detailed internet history, and create assignments and tests. This gives teachers the ability to focus more on teaching and spend less time worrying about device management. LanSchool works on PC, Mac, Chrome and Android operating systems.
Also participating were Aver (a leader in interactive flat screen technology, document cameras and charging solutions) and Higher Ground (an industry leader in protective cases and bags for electronic devices. The Collaborative for Educational Services also took part in the event in continuation of their efforts to provide quality education throughout Western Massachusetts
Anders Johnsson from Securly, Inc. spoke about monitoring social media interactions. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Another sponsor, Securly, Inc., provides both on site and off site filtering of student devices. During his presentation, Securly representative Anders Johnsson said security is not just about blocking websites anymore. He said his company looks at social media interaction, and uses cyber bullying and self-harm algorithms as emotional detectors to help keep students safe.
Johnsson said a lot of school districts are blocking social media, but he said the reality is “kids are going to do it anyway.” He suggested opening it up instead, because if it’s open on their chromebooks, the school has visibility. “Let’s help create a digital learning environment to make it safe for kids, with full visibility of everything posted on Facebook and Twitter as well,” he added.
Securly also offers a free parent portal where parents can log in and view their student’s web activity, as well as restrict usage when necessary, without having to go through the school. “In short, it gives parents visibility to see what kids are doing,” the Johnsson said. He said 85% of the schools they contract with are turning the parent portal on.
One principal at the conference said that she didn’t have the time to manage a parent portal. Parker said Gateway Regional offers it as an opt-in for parents in the upper grades. He said parents of about 65 kids, 10% of the population opted in for the parent portal.
The conference was free for participating districts, and ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. A light breakfast and coffee was served in the morning, and refreshments were available in the afternoon, along with a fully catered lunch at 11:30 a.m.
