TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Businesswire | March 28, 2023
PowerSchool the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, today announced it is in later stage development of localization features for customers to use in their regions developed under PowerSchool’s proprietary international framework. The upcoming release enables out of box support for right-to-left language support and Arabic translation capabilities in three of its Unified Operations solutions, including Unified Operations PowerSchool SIS, Unified Operations PowerSchool Enrollment Express, and Unified Operations PowerSchool Ecollect Forms, as well as its learning management system (LMS), PowerSchool Unified Classroom® Schoology Learning.
“This international framework is critical for delivering our world-class solutions to our extensive and growing international customer base,” said Tony Kender, Chief Revenue Officer at PowerSchool. “PowerSchool will continue to prioritize providing our global customers with the tools they need to support their students and improve learning outcomes.”
This framework supports localization of a user’s experience (such as right-to-left language support) to empower international educational institutions to deliver tailored instruction to the more than 50 million students in more than 90 countries PowerSchool serves. Additional toolkits will be made available to support localization for other regions and languages for the growing number of students, educators, and families using PowerSchool solutions to achieve their desired learning outcomes worldwide.
In the near term, the right-to-left and Arabic language translation toolkit will empower more educators around the world with timesaving, centralized access to the tools they need to deliver tailored instruction, elevate data utilization, and foster family engagement.
“As PowerSchool expands globally, including across the UAE, it is important for us to offer right-to-left language support and Arabic translation capabilities,” said Robert Speed, Vice President International Sales at PowerSchool. “With more than 313 million people speaking Arabic around the world, these language supports ensure more educators, students, and families can benefit from the digital transformation of education.”
The new language support provides users with multiple benefits including:
• Helping educators, students, and families who read right-to-left interact and learn in a more familiar and accessible way.
• Providing the opportunity for students to develop collaboration skills in their primary language.
• Eliminating manual translation tasks for both educators and students, which can interfere with the learning process.
• Ensuring educational institutions support equity and access to a larger proportion of their students and families.
PowerSchool customers can also utilize the self-service Language Toolkit feature within PowerSchool SIS, Enrollment Express, and Ecollect Forms to load additional Arabic translations as well as other languages that can be leveraged by any partners across the globe to localize to their regional needs. For Schoology Learning users, PowerSchool directly provides right-to-left language support and Arabic translation capabilities.
The right-to-left language support and Arabic translation capabilities will be fully available to PowerSchool customers in late 2023.
About PowerSchool
PowerSchool is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to power the education ecosystem with unified technology that helps educators and students realize their full potential, in their way. PowerSchool connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents, with the shared goal of improving student outcomes. From the office to the classroom to the home, it helps schools and districts efficiently manage state reporting and related compliance, special education, finance, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, funding, learning, instruction, grading, assessments and analytics in one unified platform. PowerSchool supports over 50 million students globally and more than 15,000 customers, including over 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States, and sells solutions in over 90 countries.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
ViewSonic | March 20, 2023
ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, is launching a range of comprehensive education technology (EdTech) solutions, with the new addition to ViewSonic's revolutionary 5K 105" ViewBoard interactive display. In terms of software, highlights include ViewSonic's rich digital learning tools from the myViewBoard software suite, and the UNIVERSE by ViewSonic—a 3D virtual campus for online learning. The solutions will be exhibited in in-class, online, and hybrid learning scenarios at the BETT Show 2023 (British Educational Training and Technology Show) in London from 29 to 31, March.
"ViewSonic is dedicated to offering innovative visual solutions from hardware, software, service, to digital content. We will continue to implement our Ecosystem as a Service (EaaS) strategy and work with partners across the industry to create a digital education ecosystem that is truly transformative," said Clifford Chen, General Manager of the Presentation Group at ViewSonic. "At ViewSonic, we believe that technology can expand what's possible in classrooms. The digital transition is the key to the future of education, which is why we've designed a range of advanced solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into learning environments of all kinds."
As a leading EdTech solutions provider, ViewSonic's ViewBoard interactive displays and myViewBoard software suites are being adopted by educational institutions around the world. Ranging in size from 24" to 105", the company's ViewBoard is one of the most popular interactive displays in the world[1]; in Q4 of 2022, ViewSonic was ranked first in the global interactive display market, while the beginning of 2023 saw the myViewBoard ecosystem swell to over 8 million users.
ViewSonic's display at BETT 2023 will offer attendees the ability to experience a range of EdTech solutions across different scenarios:
Taking In-class Learning with Digital Content into the Future
A teacher will use ViewSonic's ViewBoard IFP8652 4K display and the company's whiteboarding software to showcase how diverse pre-made digital lesson content from ViewSonic Originals, an online resource exclusively designed for interactive displays, can be used to create engaging learning experiences in the classroom. While more and more educational institutions are digitizing, ViewSonic Originals makes planning and running lessons easier by offering thousands of pieces of content within a user-friendly database.
The company's latest environmental sensor, Sensor Box, will show how educational institutions can harness technology to optimize conditions such as air quality, humidity, temperature, and automatically switch displays on and off, allowing schools to adhere to the UK Green Building Council guidelines. Additionally, demonstrations of myViewBoard Manager Advanced software will provide insights into how IT departments can remotely manage an entire school's displays—including multimedia broadcasting, permission management, and addressing technical issues, all of which avoid interrupting classes and allow students to focus on learning.
A New "UNIVERSE" in Online Learning
Recognized by two distinguished EdTech Awards recently, ViewSonic's innovative UNIVERSE virtual learning platform opens up new opportunities in online learning. Attendees at BETT 2023 will be able to experience how UNIVERSE allows participants to engage in interactive classrooms with new 3D educational content and create unique learning spaces. The platform addresses some of the key challenges faced during online learning by increasing student engagement, encouraging collaboration, and fostering a sense of belonging among students.
Going Hybrid in with Advanced Audiovisuals
To show how higher education can be advanced using hybrid setups to ensure the best learning outcome, ViewSonic will be displaying the 5K 105" ViewBoard IFP105S, which features a 21:9 ratio display and multi-touch capabilities. Attendees will be able to see how students in-class and in other locations can collaborate simultaneously with a breeze.
Further, the series is flawlessly complemented by ViewSonic's new Live Mosaic View feature for their latest VB-CAM-201-2. Powered by AI technology, Live Mosaic View can provide close-ups of participants and readjust the view based on each attendee's activity, ensuring that attendees and speakers are automatically framed and focused, offering a more immersive experience for hybrid meetings.
[1] Source: FutureSource. Rankings include all markets except for China.
About ViewSonic
Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, pen displays, commercial displays, All-in-One LED displays, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 35 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers "See the Difference."
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ONLINE EDUCATION
edX | February 08, 2023
On February 7, 2023, Southern Methodist University (SMU) and edX, a major global online learning platform from 2U, Inc., announced a new partnership to boost SMU's current offerings in data science on edX.org. SMU plans to introduce two new Professional Certificate programs focusing on data science in the spring of 2023. In addition, SMU has renewed its contract with 2U for its online Master of Science in Data Science (MSDS) program through 2027.
Since commencing its partnership with 2U in 2014, SMU has provided many online learning options that have played a significant role in the institution's ongoing strategic plan. The university also introduced a credit waiver last year that allows learners with a bachelor's degree to apply for credit towards the MSDS program after completing its data science boot camp available on edX. The addition of Professional Certificate programs gives students opportunities to acquire valuable skills.
Data scientists are in high demand in the United States. As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, data scientist employment is expected to increase by 36 percent from 2021 to 2031, resulting in approximately 13,500 job openings annually. More than 500 students have graduated from the MSDS program to date, and over 1,400 students have cleared its data science boot camp.
Andrew Hermalyn, President of Partnerships at edX, shared, "edX and SMU are mission-aligned in recognizing the need for innovative and affordable educational programs that serve the evolving needs of learners and employers." He added, "As the need for data scientists continues to grow, programs like those offered by SMU will play a key role in developing, upskilling, and reskilling talent."
(Source – PR Newswire)
About edX
Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, edX is a global online learning platform designed to help all learners realize their full potential. The company has united over 40 million learners, many of the world's top-ranked universities, and industry leaders on a global online learning platform that assists learners at every stage. It provides thousands of open and free courses, professional certifications, boot camps, credit-bearing micro-credentials, and undergraduate and graduate degrees across several disciplines. The organization is ceaselessly working towards a world where every learner can access education, regardless of cost or location.
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