The Johnson City School District transformed its students’ learning experiences, teachers’ teaching experiences, and parents’ academic insights with BYOD applications, allowing them the freedom to learn and connect anywhere, anytime and on any device.
With wired Internet access readily available in each of the 11 schools, the district took its first steps into wireless Internet access in its elementary schools. The city teamed up with Cisco to implement its BYOD Solutions for K12 Education to advance the schools’ wireless networks. The flexible network access allowed teachers to use laptops in their classrooms, stream online video, and adopt testing applications that used iPods, tablets, and other mobile devices. The schools’ networks also addressed the previous network limitations such as security measures preventing access for students and guests. Read More »
I was on one of my tech teacher forums – where I keep up-to-date on changes in education and technology – and stumbled into a heated discussion about what grade level is best to begin the focus on typing (is fifth grade too old – or too young?).
Several teachers shared that keyboarding was the cornerstone of their elementary-age technology program. Others confessed their Admin wanted it eliminated as unnecessary. Still others dismissed the discussion as moot: Tools like Dragon Speak (the standard in speech recognition software) and iPhone’s wildly-popular Siri mean keyboarding will soon be as useful as cursive and floppy discs.
Forty-three years ago my parents sat on their couches in front of a black and white snowy television. They watched intently as Neil Armstrong planted the American flag on the surface of the moon. Fifteen years later, they bore witness to the invention of the first Macintosh personal computer. Five years after that, they stood by as the Internet was made available to the public. Last night, I watched as my mom used her iPhone to connect to an Apple TV unit via Wi-Fi. In doing this, she was able to flip through online Netflix movies on our Television. In the past 50 years, technology has evolved exponentially; the world and its inhabitants have evolved with it.
I am a student at the University of Oregon and a Cisco intern. Currently, I support Cisco’s Education Marketing Team. This blog portrays my thoughts on the technological transformation to a BYOD teaching model made by the Katy Independent School District. I will also discuss my perspective on why technology in teaching and learning is a natural and important step in the “re-invention” of the traditional education model.
High school graduation marks a huge milestone in every student’s life as he or she plans and look forward to a new environment, new friends. Based on the Cisco’s Connected World Technology Report finding, “Half of college students and young employees (49%) said they would rather lose their wallet or purse than their smartphone or mobile device.”
As my nephew prepares for his college journey, what do college kids need most these days? I recalled what I needed most back in college, scantrons and no. 2 pencils. I couldn’t attend an exam without them as those are an absolute requirement on every syllabus. Do scantrons even exist anymore? Number 2 pencils? I think back on how technology has really changed our lives. As I’m searching online for ideas, I came across a few: Read More »
Video and education are a natural pair in many ways. With distance learning on the rise, it’s no surprise that more universities are turning to video as a way to scale their faculty and brand in ways never before thought possible. But what about K-12 education? Does video make sense in this learning environment?
To answer this question, we decided to take a look at one of our most innovative K-12 education customers, Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS) in Alabama. With 91 schools, 60,000+ students, and 8,100 employees spanning 1,200 square miles, MCPSS needed a comprehensive solution to help connect and share knowledge across campuses.
Campus communications, professional development, inter-school collaboration and lecture capture were just some of the areas that MCPSS was looking to address with Cisco’s Video solutions. With this in mind, MCPSS installed digital signs in the lobbies and cafeterias to help keep students, parents and teachers informed, while also helping to spark “incidental learning”.
