Luidia finds that tight budgets change, don't eliminate tech implementations
Summary: Luidia, maker of the very cool eBeam interactive whiteboard tool, just released market data that lets us draw some interesting conclusions.
Luidia, makers of the eBeam interactive whiteboard products (see my glowing review here - the eBeam remains my choice for interactive whiteboard tech and I use one regularly for webinars and demos on WizIQ), recently completed a study of K12 educators regarding adoption, challenges, and other issues surrounding technology in their schools. While some of the findings weren’t terribly surprising (budget concerns topped the list of challenges), others suggested a real commitment to the smart purchase and use of tech in classrooms, regardless of budget issues.
I had a chance to talk earlier this week with one of the educators Luidia surveyed. She’s a poster child for doing more with less, applying for grants, rallying her parent-teacher organization, and otherwise pulling out all the stops to ensure that students and teachers at her elementary school had access to a wide variety of technology tools. What struck me, though, was not that a school tech coordinator would go above and beyond the call to bring tech into the classroom, but that she talked at length about a staff who embraced the technology and worked together to develop really sound curriculum around the tech. All too often, tech gets thrown at teachers because this is 2012 and students should be learning through technology (or so we hear), rather than teachers and technologists partnering to find the right technologies to meet educational goals. The latter, however, is definitely the case in this suburban Florida elementary school.
Study Shows Schools Want More Tech, Lower Costs
A survey of education professionals conducted by Luidia, Inc. shows that educators across the country want to reduce their costs while getting more tech in the hands of students.
This type of goal conflict, which puts administrators in an unenviable position, is nothing new to Danielle Kazoroski, technology associate at Quest Elementary School in Melbourne, FL.
“I cannot ignore the transformative power of technology I have witnessed across my classrooms,” Kazoroski said. “Even in light of tighter budgets, Principal Elia Lea and I have made purchasing interactive technologies a high priority. In addition to going out into the community to do additional, personal fundraising, we’ve fundamentally updated our purchasing criteria to ensure we fully maximize investments. We don’t even consider a tool unless it integrates with current technologies and existing environments, as well as demonstrates ability to adapt easily to future potential needs.”
The Luidia survey’s top two findings indicate that 91 percent of educators cited budget/cost as a significant challenge, while 73 percent wanted technology to increase student engagement. Across the nation, schools are forced to do more with less; however, the appetite for new technology among district administrators, teachers and students remains at an all-time high. Educators are using creative strategies to balance the need for new, innovative classroom technologies with the reality of tightening budgets.
Survey: Educators opting for flexible, cost-effective technology
A survey of education professionals conducted last month by Luidia, Inc. revealed current trends about a number of hot-button issues.
According to the survey’s top two findings, 91% of educators cited budget/cost as a significant challenge and 73% want technology to increase student engagement. To address budget challenges, educators are adopting new purchasing strategies such as:
- Examining the total cost of ownership for technology purchases, including installation, maintenance and training.
- Purchasing technologies that can easily integrate with current tools and systems.
- Buying portable systems that can move across campus.
- Migrating to open solutions that allow schools to remain flexible long term.
- Adopting retrofittable techologies that help schools avoid costly rip-and-replace installments.
Guinness Record for Largest Interactive Whiteboard Achieved with Luidia’s eBeam
— Luidia Distributor Creates 49 Foot Whiteboard —
San Carlos, CA – February 19, 2010 – Imagine a giant whiteboard larger than many movie theater screens. Now, imagine being able to use that whiteboard to display complex three-dimensional drawings to an entire auditorium, while adding notes with an interactive stylus and capturing and manipulating text, images and video, all of which can be saved and shared via the Internet in real time.
Thanks to eBeam® technology from Luidia, Inc., this is now generally available. Yesterday, the world’s largest interactive whiteboard was demonstrated at the SkoleForum education trade show in Lillestrøm, Norway. There, Oslo-based audio-visual distributor Osnes Nordic Group AS unveiled a custom-made, eBeam-enabled interactive whiteboard measuring nearly 49.2 feet (15 meters) wide. Osnes demonstrated the enormous whiteboard’s interactive capabilities using 3-D educational software developed for teaching about the human body with interactive whiteboards.
eBeam Edge – Appareil interactif pour toutes surfaces
Transformez votre surface de projection en surface interactive. C'est ce que vous permet de faire le eBeam Edge, la première console multimédia interactive sur le marché. Muhammad-Ali Panchoo, Operations and Marketing Manager chez VEngineers Ltd donne plus de détails sur ce produit révolutionnaire.“Le eBeam Edge Projection Education/Business permet de transformer une surface de projection telle qu’un mur, un tableau blanc ou même une vitre en un espace de travail interactif. Il a été conçu pour être utilisé dans les écoles, salles de cours ou de réunions ainsi que pour des graphistes, architectes, entre autres”, explique Muhammad-Ali Panchoo.