You know, it’s funny.  When you look online for the myriad of teaching tools, technology, software, and security available to schools today, the first comments you see are about the challenges of life within the classroom. 

It’s a fair point that teaching can be challenging but teaching in a world filled with technology and access should also be exciting.  Automated grading and printing solutions, integrated web and communications tools, even security management is easy to streamline to make the education experience more beneficial and enlightening for students and teachers alike.

5 Education Solutions | From EdTech to Campus Security

While we could talk about the challenges and struggles facing educators today, we thought, in the spirit of optimism, we’d discuss a few things that are making education more fun and valuable.

How can I automate my teaching environment?

What if I told you that your printer could double as your “unpaid, happy to perform, work 24/7 without breaks” teaching assistant?

It’s true!  Educators today are saints, working with students throughout the day, managing after-school functions, and then heading home to grade papers and navigate lesson plans for tomorrow.  Most multi-function printers today have apps available to help with streamlining printing, grading, even analyzing results.  With integrations into your Microsoft Excel (2010 or higher) statistical data can be incorporated to help you understand where your students are grasping concepts and where they may need more time.

This is especially important when managing students who are learning remotely and students who are in person.  The hybrid models of education don’t seem as though they’ll be going away any time soon, so it’s more important than ever to make sure you have a handle on what is working and what isn’t. 

Kyocera offers the “Teaching Assistant” integration to do just that.  Streamlining the printing, grading and analysis so that you can focus on more important classroom details.

While we’re talking about efficiency, are your students focused on sustainability?

Xerox DocuShare is helping Schools Become More Eco-friendly

Digitizing documents for school lesson plans is just one way to improve sustainability.  Lesson plans are one way to do that, but what about permission forms, newsletters. Homework is streamlined which means grading is simplified, and with the integrations of laptops and tablets, the paper used in education is reduced to nearly zero.  An example is this school in Nigeria, where resources are limited, and DocuShare saved the day.

Similar options are available from other manufacturers like Epson, HP, and Canon, the point is that the days of staying up late to grade papers and print of lessons are all but gone.

Now you can Focus on Improving Your Lesson Plans

One of the greatest things you can do for your students is the integration of annotation and touchscreen technology.  Your EdTech should incorporate into the tools you and your students already have.  An annotatable smartboard with bring your own device capabilities means your students can have custom apps, video, and board lessons in which collaboration comes from every device. 

Imagine spending the class period collaborating and learning on the smartboard (classroom screens) and then instantly sharing the board to the entire class with one click.  Students are empowered to move lessons into long term memory, and you are empowered to save the lesson for another date or to eshare with students absent from the day.

Visualize being able to use your digital wall display to meet with and learn with students from across the planet. Language classes over the web through video conferencing, art classes from art studios across the world. 

The experience is simple, fast, and completely flexible to incorporate any tools you already have.  Best of all, the roll-in school projector can stay in the closet. 

Student Management Solutions | School Security

Our children are the most precious creatures in our world.  Protecting them, ensuring their safety and happiness is simply the most important job we have as parents, educators, and community members at large.  School security should always be important focus.

One way you can protect your school is with Access Control Solutions. 

Whether your school is k-12, college, university or before and after care, managing who has the ability to enter or leave is key.  Access solutions like the one from OpenPath can establish touchless mobile access for all campus buildings.  Via badge, smartphone, or PIN-based keypad administrators can monitor 24/7 activity on campus from interior and exterior doors.  That access can be adjusted for regular school hours or for special events. 

Cameras, locks, badges, even the dashboard are all part of the complete security solution.

No one wants a lockdown, but you need to be ready….

Your students should feel save and parents should know they are secure, which is why a seamless, student-friendly solution is key.  Knowing who is in the building and when can help your SRO, and your teachers maintain a safe environment or respond quickly should there be an incident.

Attendance tracking

Integrations with your student management software can easily incorporate your school security monitoring with apps like G Suite and Active Directory (the integration list is long, but you can find it here) to make sure the right people are in the right places, whether your school is a traditional campus, boarding school, or anything else. 

For more details on how to secure your campus, check out the guide.

School Phones, Video, Messaging, and Contact Center

You want it, it’s available for your school.  RingCentral offers a variety of flexible options the help engage your students, and to connect your entire community.  Most students (junior high and older) have smartphones, shouldn’t they be empowered to connect to their education in a way that will transfer into their adult careers?

Learn always.

Connecting inside the classroom is only half the challenge, your students should also be able to connect outside of class, to collaborate on homework, projects, community endeavors.  Again, digital security should be guaranteed to everyone in your community. Stay secure and connected, and integrate your favorite apps to the devices of your choice so that your students have every opportunity to learn and explore their world with technology that takes them from education through life.