Chicago Plans to Connect 100K Students to High-Speed Internet in $50M Effort

Education Dive | June 29, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a plan to expand high-speed internet access to 100,000 students in low-income households at a cost of $50 million over four years, paid for in part with federal coronavirus response funds and donations, Chalkbeat reports. The city is working in collaboration on the effort with service providers Comcast and RCN, along with advocacy groups like Kids First Chicago. The first two years of the program will be funded by $5 million in federal coronavirus funds and philanthropic donations that include $750,000 from President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, and the cost of the third and fourth years will be covered by Chicago Public Schools. This spring, the district distributed 100,000 computers in addition to providing mobile hotspots to homeless students, though efforts mostly focused around directing families to a 60-day free internet offer from Comcast. Many students still fell through the cracks, with an April study from Kids First and the Metropolitan Planning Council finding one in five students lacked home internet, especially in Black and Hispanic communities.

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LearnCity is an eudtech platform that offers online courses for students and professionals. The platform offers a range of courses in different fields such as technology, management, creative arts, and more. The courses are designed by experts and industry professionals and are aimed at providing practical knowledge and skills that can help learners advance in their careers.

Spotlight

LearnCity is an eudtech platform that offers online courses for students and professionals. The platform offers a range of courses in different fields such as technology, management, creative arts, and more. The courses are designed by experts and industry professionals and are aimed at providing practical knowledge and skills that can help learners advance in their careers.

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

ScreenBeam Announces Grant Program for Accredited K-12 Education Institutions

ScreenBeam Inc. | February 02, 2023

On February 1, 2023, ScreenBeam Inc., a global leader in wireless display and conferencing solutions, offered a new Grant Program for accredited K-12 education organizations in the United States and Canada. As schools return to in-class activities, with a few remote students, IT teams require technology that meets modern content sharing, connectivity, and collaboration requirements for teachers and students. The Spring K12 Grant Program from ScreenBeam offers top solutions to achieve equitable hybrid and distance learning across campus. The SBWD1100P (ScreenBeam 1100 Plus) with ScreenBeam Conference Software, provided in the grant, provides wireless display from the teacher and student devices, simplifying connection and collaboration with in-room and remote students. In addition, ScreenBeam Conference software makes it simple to connect to in-room peripherals like cameras, microphones, and speakers. The SBWD1100P is built with a unique multi-network architecture that includes three physical network interfaces for connecting teacher and student devices. It allows for maintaining security, digital signage, HDMI input, instant alerts and notifications to classroom displays, and centralized management. The solution comes with a three-year warranty and no subscription fees. Spring K12 Grant Details: • ScreenBeam will provide 1.06 units of SBWD1100P for every unit of SBWD1100P purchased. For example, purchasing 200 units will avail the buyer of 212 additional units through the grant. • Customers must buy and take delivery of a minimum of 200 SBWD1100P units between February 1, 2023, and March 31, 2023, to qualify for the grant. • A customer can get 500 units at most from the grant. • Products may be bought through ScreenBeam Authorized Resellers. • Proof of purchase is required before shipping granted units. About ScreenBeam Inc. Headquartered in San Jose, California, ScreenBeam Inc. is a wireless display and conferencing technology pioneer. It is the only app-free wireless presentation solution that removes all contact points and easily integrates with UC devices to combine the technologies into a single collaborative system. Users can wirelessly present and annotate content on in-room displays for a natural workflow with the solution. In addition, Integrated HTML-based digital signage can convey safety policies to guests and employees when displays are not in use. The company is Microsoft's only co-engineering partner for wireless display and enables seamless hybrid collaboration in any meeting or learning space.

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

PowerSchool Announce the Plan of Opening the First Middle East & Africa Office

EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY | January 16, 2023

PowerSchool, North America's top supplier of cloud-based software for K–12 education, has announced its plans to open its first Middle East & Africa office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to accelerate the company's international expansion. The UAE office will service PowerSchool's extensive and increasing customer base in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and help the company expand customer relationships into surrounding regions. In addition, the new office will serve as a hub for growing its channel partnerships in MEA regions. Hardeep Gulati, CEO of PowerSchool, stated, "As our global customer base grows, it's critical we build the capacity to help power our customers' digital transformation needs," He also said, "We are seeing strong demand for primary and secondary education technology solutions across the MEA region and are in a unique position to provide best-in-class solutions tailored for MEA education leaders who are investing in technology that will enable them to deliver high-quality education for generations to come." (Source – Businesswire) With over 3,000 employees worldwide, members of the senior leadership team, sales and marketing, and solutions engineering teams will be located out of PowerSchool's UAE office to address existing and future client demand in the area. Over the last quarter-century, PowerSchool has expanded to assist more than 45 million students worldwide and offers solutions in more than 90 countries, including well-established and prominent educational institutions in the Gulf (GCC). The current clients in the UAE include Al Ittihad National Private Schools, Liwa Education, ESOL, Aldar Education, and The American International School in Abu Dhabi. About PowerSchool PowerSchool is the leading supplier of cloud-based software for K–12 education in North America. It aims to fuel the education ecosystem with unified technology that enables students and educators to reach their greatest potential in unique ways. The organization brings students, teachers, administrators, and parents together to improve student outcomes. It assists schools and districts to efficiently handle state reporting and associated compliance, finance, special education, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, financing, learning, teaching, grading, assessments, and analytics on a single platform, from the office to the classroom to the home.

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CORPORATE LEARNING SYSTEMS

Prometric Releases New Test Prep Solution Prometric Boost

Prometric | March 14, 2023

On March 13, 2023, Prometric, a technology-based testing and assessment solutions provider, released a new test preparation solution known as 'Prometric Boost.' This solution provides a personalized learning experience, gamification, and micro-learning through artificial intelligence. The solution empowers test-takers with advanced learning experiences with gamification for better exam preparations. It focuses on the contents which fill the knowledge gaps and assist the critical skills of job seekers. It combines personalized learning with the scientifically proven micro-learning approach and artificial intelligence. It also gives item-level feedback that helps learners review areas of opportunity for longer knowledge retention. It involves comprehensive visual data, targeted coaching, and engagement tools for a better understanding of learners' knowledge gaps and the methods to fill those gaps to improve their skills. It can integrate with e-commerce solutions for new revenue-generating options available to clients. Through this increased revenue, they could grow the testing programs' reach, reputation, and influence. Learners can access it on their mobile through an application to study anywhere and anytime as chosen. General Manager of Remote Assessments at Prometric, Kevin Pawsey said, "Prometric has seen an increasing need from our clients for an engagement platform that increases retention of key skills and knowledge, both before and after the assessment process." He added, "Prometric is pleased to work with existing and new clients by offering Prometric Boost as a key part of our AI-powered achievement platform, along with Finetune AI test development and AI remote proctoring. Prometric is committed to bringing innovation to the assessment industry, in addition to constantly improving our core assessment and test development services." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) About Prometric Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Prometric, an IT consulting and services provider for education, offers solutions for in-center testing, remote assessment services, certification, licensure, training, computer-based testing, test development, exam delivery, hybrid testing, continuing education, live-remote proctored testing, educational testing, certification testing, and back-end scoring analysis. It is a trusted provider of secure test development and delivery solutions worldwide. It produces quality, innovative knowledge testing experience for the test-takers professional development. Its flexible testing services prepare learners to become licensed and accredited professionals.

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