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Display Manager and OnMedia Spot: How to utilize them in your school

8/11/2019

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by K. Frantz
Display Manager is an exclusive DCTS program designed to allow users the ability to create, organize, and display content on multiple kiosks.  With Display Manager, districts have the ability to post announcements, upload images, and create slides to share among kiosks throughout the entire district, or based on specific groups.   ​
OnMedia Spot is a media sharing solution for students, staff, and parents.  Another DCTS exclusive, OnMedia Spot provides one central location for storing and accessing videos, photos, audio, and PDF files--all within a secure environment.  While each program is designed to work independently, when integrated, users can conveniently share OnMedia files without having to leave Display Manager.  

Check out the list below for more information on how the integration between Display Manager and OnMedia Spot can benefit your school:
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  1. Announcements:  Keep students and staff up to date with important information, i.e. testing schedules, early dismissals, and lunch menus, throughout the day.  Remote Refresh ensures the most recent content is displayed at all times.     

  2. Display School Spirit:  During the school year, staff can encourage camaraderie and school spirit by uploading photos and videos of the many sports, clubs, and activities throughout the district.  Wish teams good luck, or give a shout out to a group of students volunteering in their community.     

  3. Absent Student Access:  Being absent from school can quickly place students behind in their learning.  Help absent students stay on top of their studies during absences by giving them access to video lectures recorded and uploaded by their own teachers. 

  4. Present Projects:  Students creating media projects can share and store projects in one convenient location.  This allows students to upload their projects from home, and gives them the freedom to choose the media format of their liking--promoting more creative freedom.

  5. Support Blended Learning Styles:  Students have different learning requirements. While some students learn well from a teacher-led lecture, others benefit from audio or video recordings along with accompanying slides or PDFs.  Allowing students access to the same media time and time again encourages repeat exposure of tough concepts and lessons.      

  6. Create a Media Club:  Allow students to take part in the creation of announcements and school spirit media by starting a media club in your school.  Hands-on learning is proven effective and promotes peer-to-peer collaboration.  

  7. Stay Organized:  Teachers can group media together by topic for student review.  Additionally, school administrators can create and upload media content designed specifically for teachers, restricting access to district personnel only.  

  8. Blizzard Bag Support:  Teachers can offer support to students by providing short lessons or instructional videos for student view when districts are closed due to inclement weather.    

  9. Tutoring Support:  Teachers can upload videos for students unable to meet face to face for tutoring help.  This gives students an opportunity to reinforce problem areas with ease. Because OnMedia Spot is compatible with iPads, Android tablets, and smartphones, students can utilize bus time as tutoring on the go.
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  10. Lesson Enhancement:  Teachers use pedagogy on a regular basis. Now, thanks to technology, teachers have the ability to provide students with relatable media content to accompany lectures and enhance the overall learning experience.  

With the integration of Display Manager and OnMedia Spot, media sharing is simple and affordable!

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Technology can help your school battle the vaping epidemic

7/10/2019

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          U. S. schools have been battling smoking on campus for decades.  Nowadays, with the help of technology, students are turning to e-cigarettes due (in part) to their discreet shape and size, meaning they can “vape” or “Juul” anywhere, anytime.  
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          According to an article published in 2018 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “E-cigarettes come in many shapes and sizes . . . Some e-cigarettes are made to look like regular cigarettes, while some look like USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items.”  ​
          With a wide variety of flavors available to appease their cravings, it’s no wonder students are turning to modernized forms of smoking.  The 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey found a concerning boost in e-cigarette usage among students—a 1.5 million student usage increase in comparison to 2017.  This is a 78% increase among high school students, and a 48% increase among middle schoolers.  Research has also found that of the almost 5 million youth tobacco users, over 70% of those users now choose vaping over traditional tobacco products.  
Article continues below image.
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Image Credit: Center for Tobacco Products.  FDA, 2019.
          Referred to as “e-cigs,” “vapes,” and “Juuls,” these devices, when used, produce an aerosol or “vape” that is inhaled into the lungs and exhaled into the air—very similar to second-hand smoke.  The dangers of nicotine addiction are not to be taken lightly, as per the CDC, “Using nicotine in adolescence may also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs.”  Due to the multi-functional use of some vaping devices, i.e. marijuana and other drugs, it is now more important than ever for school districts to remain one step ahead of these dangerous trends.
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          In order to help our customers combat the vaping epidemic, DCTS has partnered with IPVideo Corporation as a seller of the HALO IOT Smart Sensor—a real-time vape detection device.  The HALO IOT Smart Sensor is capable of detecting vape, smoke, and THC around areas of your school otherwise prohibited from video surveillance.  Additionally, sensors can be placed inside each classroom to discourage secret vaping, and allow teachers more time to focus on other important things, like educating.



​Works Cited

“2018 E-Cigarette Data. Youth Tobacco Use: Results from the National Youth Tobacco Survey.”  FDA, 2019.  Accessed  July 3rd, 2019 from https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/youth-tobacco-use-results-national-youth-tobacco-survey#1.
“Keep Kids E-Cigarette Free.”  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019.  Accessed July 4th, 2019 from https://www.cdc.gov/features/ecigarettes-back-to-school/index.html.   
“HALO Smart Sensor.”  IPVideo Corporation, 2019.  Accessed July 3rd, 2019 from https://ipvideocorp.com/halo/. 
          
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ViewSonic ViewBoard Displays

6/19/2019

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Interactive displays are a big hit with educators these days.  Due to their touch screen feature, teachers can easily share content, write in real time, and assist students with creative brainstorming techniques. 
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In order to keep up with evolving classroom needs, ViewSonic has recently added some great new features to their ViewBoard Interactive Displays; each component enhancing the overall learning experience.   ​
Features Include:
  • Dual-pen detection allowing two pens to write in different colors, simultaneously.
  • Smaller pens allowing teachers and students to write smaller, similar to holding an ink pen.
  • New Android OS makes display and browsing faster.
  • New casting feature that supports vLan hopping so users can present across multiple subnets. 
  • Remote management option.
  • Cloud-based myViewBoard professional whiteboard software.
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In addition to these new or improved features, educators also have free access to ViewSonic's easy and convenient professional development videos through the myViewBoard channel. 

​​Bring life to your classroom today! ​
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Acer Chromebooks: The Vehicles Driving Academic Success!

2/5/2019

 
by K. Frantz
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​​We know what you’re thinking—computers are not cars.  But, hear us out . . .

​If we were to hop in a car and travel from Boston to Los Angeles without stopping other than to sleep or refuel, the trip would be tiresome and boring.  The driver would dread the trip, as would the passengers due to a lack of engagement.  All interest in the trip would be gone, with the driver and passengers simply going through the motions of travel, and failing to be impressed by the sights seen along the way. 
 
The same concept applies to education. 
 
In the past, teachers were limited in their resources, often clocking hours upon hours of extra time, effort, and planning into their lessons—all for the sake of reinforcing concepts and reaching as many students as possible.  Nowadays, through the use of technology, teachers have access to easy-to-use tools and resources designed to enhance the learning process, without requiring countless hours of extra work.  In hindsight, the Internet is the interstate of the educational world.      
 
“Interstate Internet” is nothing more than a name for the metaphorical highway teachers and students use to travel from Kindergarten to Graduation.  But its presence in education is nothing short of reliable and necessary, and is a priceless commodity to education as a whole.     
 
Referring back to the cross-country road trip analogy, if we were to replace Boston and L.A. with Kindergarten and Graduation, teachers become the drivers, and students become the passengers.  Without access to engaging sights meant to invest them in the trip, they, too, become uninterested.   Therefore, “Interstate Internet” is a game changer.   
 
In 2018, Acer published a twelve-page brochure highlighting 50 different tools designed to inspire students with Chromebooks.  These apps and tools serve as the “rest stops” intended to aid and refresh students along their academic journeys.  Erin Kohl, Principal of West High School, Oshkosh, WI. says, “Chromebooks help students take ownership of their education.  Accessing materials at the level they want each day dials them into the classroom experience, leading to better behavior, and higher grades,” (2018).  
 
Acer Chromebooks are, without a doubt, the vehicles driving academic success . . . and their versatility is the key that sparks their engines.  If you’re interested in learning more about the different tools and apps available, feel free to check out the K-12 Educators page on our website.  



Works Cited
50 Tools to Inspire Students with Chromebooks. Acer Inc., 2018.


The Benefits of technology in the classroom

1/28/2019

2 Comments

 
by K. Frantz
​Years ago, students walked down halls in single-file lines to a small room with gigantic, TV-like devices lined up on rows of desks.  Students were handed a flimsy disk resembling a plastic envelope often bigger than the size of their hands.  The disk—better known as a Floppy Disk—contained a single educational game of some sort that, when inserted into the disk drive, brought the screen to life.  For approximately 30-40 minutes per week, students played computer games designed to aid them as they practiced their ABCs and 123s . . . all while they learned how to use this new technology.
At the time, very few could have anticipated the journey on which technology would take educators and their students.  Yet, today’s schools are equipped with tablets, laptops, whiteboards, kiosks, smartphones, and so much more—many of which are available inside every classroom. 
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To those educated without computers in the classroom, the use of such devices may appear extravagant and contribute to unnecessary distractions.  However, technology has proven time and time again that it’s simply not going anywhere—it is here for the duration. 
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​Students today need to take advantage of the positive benefits technology has to offer.  Technology:    

  1. Promotes active learning and student engagement:  Not all students will benefit from a passive learning environment.  Technology brings lessons and lectures to life, which allows students to become more actively engaged and involved in their learning.    

  2. Encourages peer collaboration:  When students work together in class they are not simply focused on the task at hand, but also learning very important skills for the future.  Whether a group project, or peer-to-peer tutoring, technology allows students to come together—in person and virtually—to develop personal communication skills that promotes a positive work environment, in addition to enhancing the active learning process.    

  3. Is positive for all learning types:  Whether a visual, aural, verbal, or kinesthetic learner, technology can be customized to meet individual students’ needs.   

  4. Prepares students for the real world:  Technology encourages positive team collaboration—an important skill that students can carry throughout all avenues in life.

  5. Allows for additional content to reinforce tough concepts:  Students do not learn at the same speed.  Technology allows teachers to reinforce problem areas by providing students with additional tech-based videos, games, and media.
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  6. Promotes interest-based learning:  Students today are obsessed with technology and should be encouraged to incorporate a multitude of safe, tech-based apps and devices into their education.  There is hardly a better way to engage students than by interest-based learning.
 
When learning isn’t confined to a “one-size-fits-all” approach, students are more likely to flourish and become actively engaged in their lessons.  Through this engagement, students will build confidence in their academic abilities, leading to improved scores and an increased desire to learn. 
 
Technology in the learning environment increases education a thousand-fold.  This isn’t due to an inability for educators to do their jobs well, but due to the fact that teachers have access to better tools designed to help students succeed.  With technology in the classroom, the sky really is the limit!  
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Dayton Cincinnati Technology Services, LLC dba DCTS
  • Home
  • Products & Services
    • K-12 Educators >
      • K-12 Solutions
      • Display Manager
      • OnMedia Spot
      • EnrollSpot
      • White Glove Plus
    • Business
    • Cabling
  • Our Partners
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • About Us
    • Our Values
  • Support
  • MyDCTS
  • Employee Portal