Skip to main content

Posts

Have A Promethean Board Tethered To Your Teacher's Desktop Computer?

Last summer, we installed Promethean Interactive LCD Panels in all our middle school classrooms.  This purchase and subsequent installation was all approved and arranged by my predecessor and frankly I wasn't all that sure about the screens.  I had much more experience with traditional projectors and, more recently, interactive short-throw projectors and I was quite please with their performance in the classroom.  Regardless, these boards were coming and were going into the classrooms. Well, it wasn't too far into the school year when I did a full 180 degrees on my opinion of the boards. The teachers really took to them and embraced both the hardware and software aspects of these devices.  There are many advantages to them but one of the biggests advantageously different aspects is the fact that they are clear and highly visible from the back of the classroom and with the room lights on...and even when the bright sunlight makes its way into the room as well.  10 touchpoints a
Recent posts

Need A Pop Up Presentation Space?

So much content used or shared within the realm of EdTech is done so by projecting said content for the masses or classes to see and experience.  I would venture to guess that most classroom spaces have fixed means of projecting content, Smartboard, Promethean Board or Interactive Projector.  But what about the common spaces or collaborative spaces around campus where you may occasionally need to project content? We had a number of these spaces but there was not a convenient place to mount a screen and really, we didn't want to limit the space or the layout of the space by mounting a screen.  So I found these, the  Elite Screens ezCinema Plus Series, 84-inch Diagonal 16:9, Floor Pull Up Portable Projection Screen, Model: F84XWH1 . 84-inch Diagonal, 16:9 Aspect Ratio. View Size: 41.2" H x 73.2" W. Overall Size: 81.6" H x 80.4" W. Black Case Screen Material: MaxWhite, 1.1 Gain. Multi-layer weave, 180 degree wide viewing angle, fully black backed front pr

Chasing Down The One-Off Network Anomaly

Most hard-core network wiring tasks are best left to the professionals.  However, the occasional cable run or the random cable end that gets damaged or even tracing a cable run is hardly worth a) calling someone out and b) waiting for a day or so to get it fixed/done. Now if you do this kind of work professionally, you absolutely must invest in quality equipment that you can rely on day in and day out.  However, for those of us "closet" network guys, we need an array of tools that work fairly well but don't cost us a fortune.  And since I also do this kind of work around the house, I am inclined to make these purchases personally but have the tools handy to do small jobs around campus as well...another reason to be budget conscious.  Now you could buy a toner, cable tester, crimper, punch down tool, wire cutters, etc. separately but you're likely still going to spend over $100 or maybe even more. Enter  UbiGear Cable Tester +Crimp Crimper +100 RJ45 CAT5 CAT5e Conn

Struggling With Poor Wireless Speeds On Older or Non-Integrated Card Devices?

We have a number of all-in-one computers on our campus, many of which are in our library.  These Dell devices did not come with internal wireless cards so we had added USB wireless devices to them a few years ago.  While these machines are in a common space within the library, we often had faculty using them when their classrooms were otherwise engaged with some other activity. Over the  last several weeks, we received a number of complaints about slow webpage loading and the like.  My tech support folks and I would check the machines following each ticket and would often find the speed tests to be "reasonable".  Yet a short time later, we would again hear rumblings that the device performance was far less than optimal making the computers difficult to us.  Again, we would follow-up with speed tests.  And then, over time, we began to notice the speed tests became more and more inconsistent. One day when one of our faculty was using one of the computers while I was nearby,
What makes your EdTech program run?  What is at the heart of your EdTech program?  What is your EdTech Engine??  Sure the magic happens in the classroom where students and teachers are empowered to innovate, create, collaborate and think critically...but what empowers that? There is no doubt a network of hardware devices that empowers the classroom experiences.  From the device in the hands of the students and teachers to the slightly more complicated networking infrastructure that allows devices to communicate with one another and the Internet.  I write more about the classroom experience and the "why" of EdTech over at my other blog, www.edtechnexus.com.  But here I would like to share what I know and what I've learned about the "engine" of EdTech, all of the other, mostly hardware related, aspects of what enables schools to embrace technology in education and to do it successfully. Stay tuned in the days, weeks, months and years ahead as I share what work