How to Teach Students to Care for Their Devices: Strategies for encouraging respect and responsibility for your school’s technology

As more public schools than ever now provide devices like laptops or tablets for their students to use during the school year, which increases digital equity and prepares students for higher education and the workforce. As a result, educators increasingly find themselves responsible for teaching their students how to care for their devices. Here are some ways teachers and administrators can encourage students to properly care for their school-owned devices.   

Clear Communication 

When it comes to your school’s policies for repairing and replacing damaged devices, communication is key. Start the year off by letting both students and their caregivers know about the expectations and policies around their devices. Be clear about the financial responsibility for repairing or replacing common items– for instance, how much families can expect to pay if a device suffers damage from spilled liquid or to replace a lost charger? Offer frequent reminders about device care and expectations to students and parents as you approach interruptions like school breaks– revisit rules like whether students are allowed to bring their devices home over break. 

Device Care as Curriculum 

Including transition time for students to put away their devices is a key part of showing them how to care for their technology. Build in time in your classroom’s schedule for students to place their devices in a charging cart or case. Depending on the age of your students, the amount of time needed will vary– young elementary students will probably need more time than tech-seasoned high schoolers.  

Consider Assigning Long-Term Devices 

One solution that may increase students’ ownership in caring for their devices is to assign them the same device for several years– for instance, from 6-8th grade or 9-12th grade. Knowing they’ll need to rely on the device for multiple years may prompt them to take better care of it than if they were only borrowing them for a single school year.  

Understand Device Protection 

Even with the best of care, it’s inevitable that devices will need to be repaired or replaced. Educators should familiarize themselves with their school’s program for repairing and replacing devices. For instance, if a Chromebook needs to be repaired, how long is that repair expected to take? Does the school have loaner devices for students (or teachers) whose devices are being repaired? Being familiar with the procedure and timeframe for repairs and replacements can help teachers know what to expect when a device is damaged or lost.  

Model Standards for Device Care 

By keeping a tidy workspace, storing your device in its proper case when you’re not using it and keeping drinks and snacks away from your devices, you’re modeling high standards of care for your students.  

Despite the best efforts of teachers, students and their caregivers, it’s inevitable that some of your school’s devices will sustain damage, be lost or simply reach the end of their lifecycle during the school year. JonesCare offers several options for schools to protect their devices, and provides a transparent repair process to ensure minimal interruption to learning. Reach out to learn more about your choices for protecting your school’s technology investment.  

Prepping Your School’s Device Management for Summer Break: Inventorying, assessing and planning for the break– and beyond

While the summer break might mean long, leisurely days at home or camp for students, it means something quite different for a school’s IT Team. Depending on the school and its policies, the break presents a window of time to collect, inventory, clean and update devices, as well as assess and plan for the next school year. 

Below, we outline some of the common action items IT teams prepare to tackle as the summer break approaches. 

Decide whether devices will be returned to school or go home with students

The question of whether districts should allow devices to stay with students over summer break is a controversial one. Proponents argue that allowing students to keep devices offers an opportunity for learning to continue over the summer months. Others, though, might view a summer take home device program as a logistical nightmare that increases the risk of devices being damaged or lost.  

Inventorying and inspecting

If your school does collect all school-owned devices at the end of the year, IT departments may commiserate with school librarians– you both spend a significant portion time attempting to track down and wrangle missing (and overdue) items.

Once the devices are collected, they can be inventoried and inspected for damage. 

Cleaning devices and identifying devices that are damaged or in need of repair

As students and teachers return their devices, your IT team will be looking for devices that have incurred damage over the school year. Devices will also need to be cleaned– for instance, laptop vents need to be dusted to prevent overheating, and 

Consider whether it’s time to retire aging devices

As you assess devices that are damaged, some will likely be at or near the end of their lifecycle. These devices will need to be recycled, and, depending on your school’s needs, replaced. 

Coordinate repairs for damaged devices

It’s likely that your team will identify many devices that need repair. Your IT team will want to coordinate the repair of these devices so that they’ll be ready for the new school year

Software and security updates 

The summer break presents an ideal opportunity for IT teams to perform software updates with minimal disruptions to students or staff. Security updates and device refreshes can also take place during this time. 

Arrange training for staff and students (if necessary)

Is your school introducing new technology to teachers and students? If so, you’ll likely need to schedule training sessions to familiarize staff to new devices. 

Reconsider your school’s device insurance 

Once your device inventory is complete and you’ve identified which need to be repaired or replaced, it’s an ideal time to decide whether your current device warranty or insurance coverage is adequate. Standard factory warranties for tech devices often don’t provide the coverage schools need, particularly as devices begin to age. 

Consider scheduling a JonesCare Needs Assessment. We’ll take an in-depth look at your district’s needs, budget and assess the lifecycle stages of your district’s devices. Then, we’ll work with you to customize a protection plan that’s tailored to your district’s unique needs. Our goal with JonesCare is to provide a seamless experience with minimal disruption to students and staff when devices need to be repaired or replaced.

Reach out today to book a JonesCare Needs Assessment.

Meet Our Partner, Promethean

We're absolutely thrilled to be a partner of Promethean, an industry trailblazer in the realm of educational technology. The company was founded by teachers, for teachers in Blackburn, U.K. in the 1990s. Since then, Promethean has grown, becoming an international innovator of interactive displays and educational software. With a presence in 126 countries, Promethean is headquartered in Seattle.

You might be familiar with Promethean’s interactive display panel, ActivPanel. A recent report announced that Promethean was the global leader in the volume of interactive flat panel displays shipped.

Promethean’s ActivPanel 9 just won both an iF Design Award and a Red Dot Design Award, two of the most coveted design awards. The interactive display panel was created to maximize student engagement while still being easy and intuitive to operate, as well as being capable of integrating with a school’s existing technology. ActivPanel 9 works seamlessly with the most common educational platforms, including Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom. Promethean’s ActivSync technology allows users to connect other devices to the ActivPanel via a single cable, which cuts down on the frustration of scrambling for different cords. A few other key features are screen capture, a proximity sensor and enhanced security, including remote sign-out.

ActivPanel LX, which provides schools with a more affordable interactive display panel, debuted earlier this year. Like the ActivPanel 9, ActivPanel LX is designed to work with a school’s existing technology, which cuts down significantly on training time for teachers and administrators.

The company also develops collaborative teaching software like ActivInspire, created to make learning on the ActivPanel more immersive. ClassFlow, a cloud-based software, helps teachers deliver engaging lessons in remote or hybrid learning environments.

Promethean has also taken a keen interest in harnessing the power of emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence, in order to enhance possibilities in education. With concern about what ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence means to the education system making recent headlines, Promethean partnered up with eschoolnews to deliver a webinar and report on how AI can augment education and improve the lives of teachers. A University of California, Irvine study showed that among educators who used Merlyn Mind, a digital assistant for teachers, for a period of seven weeks, more than half experienced an increase in efficiency. With Merlyn Mind, teachers can use voice commands to perform tasks like opening an app from anywhere in the classroom. Promethean’s software, Symphony Classroom,

Looking for professional development? Promethean provides a number of courses designed to orient educators to Promethean’s technology. The company also offers a two-hour Promethean Certified Teacher course. In July, educators can attend Camp Promethean, a day packed with free, online professional development sessions for educators. Sessions include "Gamify the Promethean Classroom with ActivInspire" and "AR/VR with Promethean." Other seasonal professional development opportunities include Teacher Tailgate in September and STEAM Forward in November.

Like Arey Jones, Promethean is accustomed to working with school districts of varying sizes, needs and budgets. If you’re interested in learning about how Promethean’s solutions might work for your district, reach out to us today.

Staying on the Cutting Edge

The New Year brings to mind resolutions and fresh, blank calendars– it’s a time for pondering the future and setting goals. But the change of the calendar can also be an ideal time to take a look at where we’ve been and how we’ve evolved. At Arey Jones, we have a rich and extensive history in the educational technology field that stretches back more than 100 years.

Our Humble Roots

Arey Jones was originally founded in 1897. The company was launched to support the stationary and administrative demands of the local education market in San Diego. As technology advanced, the company adapted to meet the shifting needs of educators.

In 1972, the Broadway Typewriter Company, owned by the Scarpella family, purchased Arey Jones. While our business has expanded over the years, at its heart, we’re still a family business. The Scarpellas, who bring their many decades of experience in the k-12 educational technology field, continue to be involved in the daily operations of the business.

We’re Laser Focused on Educational Technology

While Arey Jones has been serving the needs of school districts for more than 100 years, it was in the 1980s and 1990s that we discovered our true calling– harnessing technology to enhance and optimize the k-12 learning environment.

We have a deep understanding of the challenges school districts face amidst the rapid pace of evolving technology because our company has evolved and flexed as technology continues to become a more integral part of life and education. We know that technology can be overwhelming– and we consider it our job to make it less so. We provide hardware, software, integration, service and ongoing support to our clients. From choosing which specific devices are best for students in your district, to imaging and configuration, to setting up carts for charging devices, we’ll be with you every step of the way.

Our staff consists of seasoned professionals who’ve been vetted through background checks to ensure safety within the many schools we serve. Like the Scarpella family, the other members of our senior staff bring decades of experience to work with them.

We Work With the Best

We’re proud to partner with leaders in technology, including Google for Education, Microsoft Education, Dell and HP, to create the best solutions for school districts with varying sizes and needs.

We’d Love to Work With You!

With offices and fulfillment centers located throughout the United States, we’re poised to help school districts nationwide.

Our regional configuration centers allow us to design and implement technology solutions that meet the unique needs of the school districts we serve.

Our services continue well past the sale and installation of technology. Our support team is primed and ready to help with any issues that arise, allowing classrooms to stay focused on learning instead of troubleshooting. Our skilled designers, installers, systems engineers and support staff are ready to help when needed.

Would you like to know more? Contact us to explore how our educational technology solutions can serve your school district.

EdTech and the Metaverse: What Could it Look Like?

EdTech and the Metaverse: What Could it Look Like?

Technological innovation is constantly evolving. The newest frontier in the digital landscape is the metaverse: a collection of universes in which the digital and the physical overlap. With technology and education being well immersed, it’s safe to assume that the metaverse will have an impact on schooling; the question is, how?

What is the metaverse?

Simply put, the metaverse is a digital space in which users can interact in a variety of ways. These can include communicating, gaming, and experiencing virtual reality. 

How will the metaverse change instruction?

1. DIFFERENT LEARNING SPACES

   With the immersion of the metaverse, the classroom itself is no longer limited in location. The redesigned structure, allowed by technological feats, will have students traveling outside the walls of their schools and into new worlds. Students will be able to use Virtual Reality headsets to explore other countries, historical eras, or even outer space. Augmented Reality glasses could revolutionize the field trip experience. Mixed Reality technology will work to make learning come alive.
   

2. CHANGES IN GAMING

   Educators understand that gamifying lessons adds fun and increases engagement. The combination of gaming and the metaverse only works to make the activities more life-like. Students can be challenged to rack up points by answering questions and completing assignments, and can “cash in” their points with some metaverse prize or opportunity. The creative incentives are limitless.  
   

3. ACCESS TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

   One of the most thrilling possibilities of metaverse for educational use is the opportunity to interact with artificial intelligence. This futuristic feature will undoubtedly excite students. Learners will be able to receive answers to commonly asked questions via digital avatar. Over time, the avatars could become more developed in their expertise, and possibly able to act as tour guides in the digital world.
   
   The educational metverse is full of potential to engage and excite students. With limitless creative potential, the metaverse could transform our understanding of traditional classroom learning. 

The Best Tech for Summer

The school year’s end is an exhausting but rewarding time. Both educators and students experience the mixed feelings that accompany the conclusion of their grade levels and classes. Due to the unprecedented challenges caused by COVID-19, the end of this school year is particularly bittersweet.

Still, the summer season is always a welcome occasion for rest and renewal. In addition to keeping busy with physical activities and lots of outdoor adventures, it’s equally important for students and teachers alike to continue to exercise their brains. The following tech tools aim to blend playing and learning.

• In the world of convenient devices, HP’s Probook x 360 11 is top notch. This versatile machine is perfect for writing, drawing, reading, and creating. The durability provided by the Probook makes it practical and user friendly, and its spill resistance makes it Popsicle friendly.
  

• The Windows 10 operating system has always been fast and reliable and it also boasts new features that are fun and unique. With just the touch of a few keys, you can talk instead of type. Finding photos is quick and easy with automatic added tabs. Maximize your time by snapping apps side by side.
  

• Microsoft OneNote is ideal for the fast-paced brain of a teacher, and perfect for when you’re inspired with a great lesson idea. Spend a few August afternoons jotting down some lesson plan ideas and getting organized for the coming year. OneNote’s multi-user collaboration allows for sharing ideas with colleagues.
  

• With most summer vacations being put on hold, take an exploratory yet educational adventure with Google Expeditions. Create one to fit the needs of your students, or take an exciting tour created by one of the world’s most well known institutions. 
  

• Keep your mind sharp while having a great time! Geoguessr is an enjoyable way to blend the lines between work and play. The game places you in an unknown location. Using Google Street view, the player will begin to navigate their way home with the help of logic, clues, and the world of technological tools.

What tech tools do you love for summer? Drop your suggestions in the comments!

Learn More

Who is Arey Jones?

The New Year is a time to look forward, make resolutions and leave old business behind. That’s not to say you forget your roots, your history. So who is Arey Jones? We have a long history that’s been weaved into technology and education for more than 100 years.

We’re a Trusted Leader in Educational Technology

We’ve been involved with Educational Solutions since the early 1990s by providing hardware, software, integration, configuration, service and support. We’re dedicated to working exclusively with the k-12 marketplace. Every employee within the Arey Jones company has experience working with the hundreds of school district customers around the county we have contracts with. Our employees are trained in all aspects of our business and must adhere to our strict policy that requires background checks on all employees and current fingerprinting or registration. We understand the importance of having trustworthy employees working with schools.

We’ve Been Around a Long Time

We were founded in 1897, yes 1897, in San Diego, Calif., as a business serving the stationary and administrative needs of the local educational market. As writing technology evolved, so did we. In 1972, Arey Jones was purchased by Broadway Typewriter Company, owned by the Scarpella Family. Since that time, the Scarpella Family has operated and expanded the business as Arey Jones Educational Solutions and remains active with the company. The Scarpella family is involved in day-to-day executive management and operations of the company and our management teams have been with us for more than 10 years.

We’re Equipped to be Your EdTech Partner

Our services are backed that a structure of regional configuration centers that allow us to design and implement technology architectures unique to each of the districts we serve. We have offices in California (San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco), Alabama (Mobile, Baldwin), Georgia (Atlanta) and Florida (Broward). Our centralized services will not only provide tech tools, like Chromebooks, (which can be shipped preloaded with integrated curriculum packages at competitive prices) but we also offer solutions that include peripheral, network architecture, data centers and cloud integration.

And our services don’t stop with the sale. Our support system is on point to make sure your classrooms spend more time learning instead of troubleshooting. Our teams of designers, installers, systems engineers, and support staff who are proud to be Arey Jones employees, are just one call away and ready to serve you.

Want to learn more? Contact us today to see how our education technology solutions can help you.

Our Favorite Tech Updates in 2018

The next few months will likely be spent looking forward at all the great tech and updates rolling out in 2019, that we wanted to take a breath and look at all the updates we loved in 2018.

• Lenovo VR. The Lenovo VR Classroom started shipping out to schools last June. The VR headset allows students to go on virtual field trips anywhere at any time, no permission slips or bus rides required. The kits include everything administrators need to introduce this type of immersion learning to students. The entire VR system is easy-to-use, easy-to-clean, highly-durable and offered in 3-, 10- and 24-student kits, but adaptable for up to 30 students. And it’s backed by support and a one-year warranty.

• G Suite for Education. In January 2018, Google announced it was making this product even better with security updates for G Suite for Education and a new edition, G Suite Enterprise for Education, an expanded version built specifically for large educational institutions. Its new capabilities included mobile device management, cloud search, Gmail logs analysis in BigQuery, a security center and the ability to record meetings and save them to Drive.

• Microsoft Teams for Education. This popular software ushered in its sophomore with some big news, it’s free for educators, and also some new updates that helped make it even better for those users. These included page locking in OneNote, being able to mute students, join codes and reusing existing teams as templates.

• Flipgrid joining Microsoft. In 2018, Microsoft Teams integrated Flipgrid into its Microsoft Teams for Education. Flipgrid is a video discussion platform for educators and students. It allows students to share their ideas, wonderings, projects and questions in new and creative ways. This social learning app is now supported by OneNote, Microsoft’s digital notebook. Teachers add the topics, students respond with short videos, and everyone engages.

• G Suite Allowing Comments. In a February 2018 update, Google Drive started to allow users to leave feedback on Microsoft Offices files, PDFs and images bypassing the need to convert them into Google Docs, Sheets or Slides. With this update, you can now comment on those files in Drive the way you’re used to in Google Docs. In the Drive preview pane, comment, assign tasks or mention coworkers and the people you work can reply back, even if they’re not using G Suite.

These are some of our favorite updates in educational technology in 2018 — and some of them, we carry as part of our services.

Introducing … The Lenovo Virtual Reality Classroom

Imagine being able to take your students on a field trip to the African jungle, the solar system and even back in time to the creation of planet Earth. It’s possible with the Lenovo Virtual Reality Classroom. 

The Lenovo VR Classroom is now shipping out to schools across the country. The kit includes everything administrators need to introduce this type of immersion learning to students. The entire VR system is easy-to-use, easy-to-clean, highly-durable and offered in 3-, 10- and 24-student kits, but adaptable for up to 30 students.

The Specs

At the heart of the Lenovo VR Bundle is the Daydream VR headset. No cables, no PCs and no smartphones are needed to use it. Everything your teachers need is right in the headset. The Daydream VR also offers WorldSense™ motion tracking with a 110-degree field of view. And, bonus, the face and head cushions can be sanitized.

The Lenovo VR kit also includes:

• The Tab 4 10 Plus which connects to the student’s headsets, without disrupting the experience, and guides instruction to monitor student focus.

• The Bretford Mobile Cart offers secure storage for the headsets and includes integrated device charging. It’s made of sturdy steel, constructed in the United States and is certified for safety. Note - it is only included with the 10- and 24-student kits.

• The Ruckus R510 Access Point gives stunning, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi performance. It makes sure there’s a strong connection between teacher and student devices and is included with all kits.

Optional accessories are also available, like the Mirage camera with Daydream. This accessory allows teachers and students to create their own content that can be seamlessly uploaded to YouTube and Google Photos.

The Software

Virtual field trips go anywhere at any time, without the need of permission slips and bus rides, with experiences from Google Expeditions and The Wild Immersion with Jane Goodall.

The free Google Expeditions app has more than 700 virtual field trips. These can be integrated into included Scholastic STEM lesson plans that meet next gen Common Core standards. The environments support nearly every other subject as well.

The Exclusive Wild Immersion videos give students breathtaking views of Africa, Asia, the Amazon and more. Additional content is available from the Daydream OS store.

The Support

Rest assured, Lenovo has your back. Value-added services are included with every kit. Including:

• A one-year school-year warranty that can be upgraded to two years.

• Advanced Exchange for quick, no-hassle equipment swaps.

• Premier Support with one direct number to call.

• Device connection, testing, and access point provisioning all built in.

• Full setup so you can open the box and go right away.

Virtual reality not only helps students keep up, but stay ahead in a world that’s learning faster every day. Lenovo is leading the way with solutions to fit your school’s needs. Contact us to see how we can help put this new technology into your teachers’ hands.

8 Podcasts Every EdTech Enthusiast Should Subscribe To

Podcasts are one of the best sources of information about educational technology available today. These digital audio files are like radio for the Internet. They can educate, inform and entertain us, but on our own time. Each podcast contains multiple episodes which can be downloaded onto our phones, laptops and other devices.

There are more than 500,000 active podcasts on Apple iTunes alone and many of these are geared towards educators and administrators. With so many listening options available, we’ve done the hard part the narrowed down the top eight podcasts about educational technology you should be listening to today.

1. The Press Release by EdTechTeam – This podcast dives into the minds of innovative and creative educators and shares the best ideas in education with a focus on technology, innovation and empowering both students and teachers. Episode lengths range in length from 3 minutes to nearly 40 minutes.

2. Google Teacher Tribe - This weekly podcast is designed to give K-12 educators practical ideas for using G Suite and other Google tools. It’s hosted by Matt Miller and Kasey Bell, who also share helpful tips to keep administrators on task.

3. Chromebook Classroom Podcast -  This podcast explores how Chromebooks are impacting the K-12 classroom. It is hosted by Google Certified Trainer John Sowash, who invites guests to chat about their Chromebook Classroom experience on this monthly show. Episodes range from quick, resource editions to longer interview editions.

4. Cult of Pedagogy - Hosted by Jennifer Gonzalez, this podcast covers teaching strategies, classroom management, education reform and education technology. Episodes range in length from 10 minutes to an hour. It’s a must for anyone looking to make their educators to be the very best.

5. Microsoft Innovative Expert Spotlight Series Podcast – Each episode of this podcast features a Microsoft Innovative Educator that showcases how they are transforming their classrooms through 21st-century teaching styles. It is hosted by Jeff Bradbury. Each episode runs about a half hour, and is perfect to listen to before you walk into a team meeting.

6. EdTech Situation Room -  This is both a weekly podcast and live Wednesday evening webshow. It’s hosted by educators Jason Neiffer from Montana and Wesley Fryer from Oklahoma. The duo analyzes current tech news and how they can make education better. Episodes run about an hour long.

7. EdTech Bites - Host Gabriel Carrillo sits down with educators and innovators once a month to talk educational tech trends over dinner. This podcast allows him to bring together his and every other educational administrator’s two passions, food and educational technology. Episodes range in length anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

8. EdTech Rewind Clint Winter and Lee Green invite their friends to get together and discuss what’s going on in the world of educational technology. Episodes are about 45 minutes to an hour. For long drives home where you have to come up with an agenda for your educators – yes, this is the one.

We love these podcasts about educational technology, but if you know of another that you can’t believe didn’t make this list, let us know.

New Chromebooks For Education in 2018

Chromebooks are changing the way students learn. Today, more than 25 million teachers and students are using Chromebooks for education globally, 30 million teachers and students are using Google Classroom and 80 million are using G Suite for Education. Chromebooks allow educators to teach with touch screens, apps, 3D printers and even remotely if need be.

Acer, HP, Dell, Asus and Lenovo will all launch new Chromebooks in 2018. The Dell and Lenovo models were announced first at the Bett annual trade show in London. Here is a quick breakdown what these two have to offer:

Dell Chromebook 11 2-in-1 5190

Dell’s Chromebook 11 2-in-1 is its newest Chromebook for education. It has the best of both the laptop and tablet worlds. Its 11.6-inch, 2-in-1 screen features multiple viewing modes. These modes allow students to view and write on the Chromebook from any angle - flat, tent, tablet or laptop. This feature makes it easy for students to create, collaborate and share ideas. The available world-facing camera allows students to take advantage of flipped viewing and recording angles, while the optional Dell Active EMR Pen provides a digital way to take classroom notes.

Equipped with an Intel dual- and quad-core processor, it has at least 10 hours of battery life, which means it’s good past the last bell. It can be charged from either of its two USB Type-C ports, which also allows the Chromebook to be connected to a multitude of other devices.

It’s also built for durability. The Chromebook 5190 2-in-1 comes with a sealed, spill-resistant keyboard that is able to withstand up to 12-ounce spills, rubberized protective bumpers along the base and a LCD screen. And, if that wasn’t enough durability, it has been tested to withstand 30-inch drops onto steel. That means it can survive lockers, lunchrooms, backpacks, buses and whatever else a student can dish out.

Lenovo 500e Chromebook

The 11.6-in 2-in-1 500e Chromebook is made with the same rugged materials as the Dell Chromebook and features all of the same modes: laptop, tablet, tent or stand.

But, one of its best features is the EMR pen. It is great for extended notetaking and writing, fine art or graphic design, detailed math problems requiring a student to show their work, and more. The EMR pen is pressure-sensitive and highly accurate. It runs on machine intelligence from Chrome OS to predict where the writing will go, giving it more of a real pen experience. One cool feature is that no charging or pairing is required, so the pen can be shared between students and across devices. And it’s garaged inside the Chromebook when not in use.

The Lenovo 500e also has two HD cameras to improve collaboration and videoconferencing. The 720p front-facing camera is great for capturing creative projects from anywhere, while the 5MP world-facing camera makes it easier to record and take pictures in the correct orientation from all four modes. The world-facing camera is on the keyboard side of the 500e Chromebook, so it can take photos while being held like a tablet.

HP Chromebook x360

HP’s latest Chromebook was created for both the education and consumer markets. It is a 2-in-1 with an 11.6-inch scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass display. Combine that with the spill-resistant keyboard and the x360 is ready for what the classroom can dish out. This Chromebook combines a rugged frame with the 360-degree touchscreen; which is essential for running Android apps. It is built to survive drops and tumbles, and still run like a top.

The specs are pretty standard: 1.1GHz Celeron, 4GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. There is an upgraded version with 32 GB of storage if you need it. HP’s x360 also comes with a part of USB-C ports and a microSD card reader. At $300, this Chromebook is good place to start if you’re curious about Google’s Chrome OS.

Look for more new models to roll out as Google will continue to update its Chromebooks For Education page throughout 2018.

Seek Mentors Out On Twitter

Twitter is more than tidbits of daily news and tweets about trending television. It is a great source to find like-minded people in your field and even a mentor.

Twitter influencers, experts, thought leaders and kindred spirits can help improve your teaching by supplying information and ideas that you can put into practical applications. Once you find someone to follow, you can build on that virtual relationship and use them as a mentor, either virtually or face-to-face.

Figure out who you’d like to follow.

The first step is to actually figure out who’d you like to follow. Sounds easy. But, the Internet is a BIG place and Twitter is no exception.

Use Twitter’s search to seek out influencers and people you want to follow. Type your keywords in the top search. You can also use Twitter’s filters and Advanced Search to search locally, which gives you a better opportunity for an in-person meeting.

You can try these five hashtags to get you started.

1. #GoogleET, #GoogleCE, #GoogleEI

2. #MIEExpert

3. #SkypeMT or #MinecraftMentor

4. #GoogleTeacherTribe

5. #STEAM

A search for these hashtags brings up the top results, but also people tied to them. This is a really easy way to start following an influencer and possible mentor. 

If you’re still having an issue finding who to follow, search through your other social media platforms. How many people do you know that use just ONE form of social media? You can increase your chances of connecting with a mentor if you can overlap social networks. 

Prepare to take the next step.

Once you find someone to follow that is mentor-material, do some research and learn as much as you can about them. Start a virtual conversation or check out any podcasts or blogs they have to find common areas of interest. Do they seem comfortable sharing their knowledge? If so, continue on.

The approach.

Build a rapport with your potential mentor. Promote their tweets, ask for their advice, comment on their blogs and so on. Treat the virtual world as you would the real one and get to know them slowly. The key is to build a dialog and show you have something of value to contribute. 

When you’re ready, email the influencer and simply ask if they would be willing to act as a mentor to you. Email works great because it is - literally - the electronic equivalent of a letter. It is more formal than a DM but not so formal as a mailed piece of paper.

Once you create and facilitate that online relationship, you can decide both decide if, when and how you want to meet in person. Even if you never get to that stage, there’s so much powerful information out there that just following posted advice provides a great opportunity for personal and professional growth. Reach out to Arey Jones for more advice on your professional development.

Top Chrome Extensions For The Google Classroom

Google Classroom has been instrumental in changing the way education looks today. It streamlines assignments, boosts collaboration and fosters seamless communication to help make teaching more productive. There’s also the advantage of being able to integrate hundreds of Chromebook apps and extensions that save teachers and students time and make it seamless to share information. Extensions enhance the browsing experience by tailoring Chrome’s functionality towards individual needs and preferences. 

Here are some of our favorites.

Grammarly

Grammarly is an online editor that gives all of your text the once-over before you send it to colleagues, parents or students. It’s a free extension that revises the text you type in Chrome, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Linkedin and anywhere else on the web. It suggests corrections based on both spelling and grammar, and it explains alternative options because we call all still learn.

Screencastify

Screencastify is a great tool to use when you need to create a quick demonstration or instructional video. It is a screen recorder that allows you to capture, edit and share videos in seconds. It can tell a story in just a couple of clicks.

CheckMark by EdTechTeam

This extension is designed to give teachers the ability to provide students with feedback quickly and easily. When a teacher highlights text in Google Docs, an overlay pops up with quick shortcuts to frequently-added comments such as “Spelling” or “Check Punctuation,” or “Evidence needed.” CheckMark has both comments related to grammar as well as concepts, citations and more.

Shareaholic

Shareaholic gives you the ability to share and bookmark great content, without stopping what you’re doing on Chrome. It works with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more than 200 other services. It makes all your shared links searchable in one place and won’t slow down your Google Chrome.

Alice Keeler – Teacher Tech

This extension gives you quick access to Alice Keeler’s Teacher Tech blog – which covers all things classroom and Google Classroom. A quick click on the extension pulls up a list of her most recent posts. Topics include: 50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom, A Tour Of Google Classroom and Google Slides, Create a Drop Shadow on Text.

LastPass: Free Password Manager

This handy extension saves all your usernames and passwords in one spot. It gives you secure access and will autologin to your websites and sync passwords. Plus, anything you save on one device is instantly available on all your other devices. Slick.

We'd love to know your favorites on Chromebooks, too.

30 Educational Technology Tips in 30 Days

We all want to be more productive, rested, calm, collected, alert, and generally amazing. Here are 30 tech tips that can help you leave the month better than you found it.

1. Learn how to make SMART goals.

2. Drink your coffee from a spillproof mug. Trust us.

3. Work in 90-minute intervals.

4. Show your Chromebook (or laptop) some love.

5. Schedule breaks into your schedule to do something fun on purpose.

6. Add a calming picture to your desktop screen.

7. Then hang a pretty picture in your office, about 20 feet away. Looking up at every 20 minutes for twenty seconds can prevent eye fatigue.

8. Color-code your Google Calendar.

9. Silence notifications to minimize distractions.

10. Use Microsoft Word’s Gridline tool to keep your document in line.

11. Dedicate a set time each day to read and respond to emails, and stick to it.

12. Drive the above message home by adding a statement to your email signature like, “I check emails every morning and will respond by 10am.”

13. Follow these hashtags on social media.

14. Set an out-of-office message for after-hour emails that reminds senders you don’t take work home with you. Remember. Those who need to contact you for true emergencies will likely have your cell phone.

15. Create embedded links in a Google Doc by clicking CTRL+K and searching for the content within the pop-up menu. No more extra tabs!

16. Use Microsoft OneNote in your next meeting for amazing notetaking.

17. Organize your desktop files into folders.

18. Empty your trash.

19. Commit these quick keys to memory.

20. Schedule coffee with a friend via a calendar appointment, so you both remember.

21. Treat yourself to a new laptop or phone case. It will feel like a brand new machine at a fraction of the cost.

22. Organize your GDrive or Cloud files.

23. Follow Arey Jones on Facebook.

24. Add these tips to your OneNote vocabulary.

25. Put a seven-minute workout app on your phone and challenge yourself to do at least one circuit daily (here’s one to try)

26. Listen to an audiobook on your commute.

27. Sort and empty your Download folder.

28. Catch up on what’s new in Microsoft EDU.

29. Watch a TED talk.

30. Go absolutely tech-free for at least 30 minutes a day (when you are awake).

These are just a few ways to boost your productivity and get more out of life in general with (and without) technology. How many did you do? We'd love to know.

Tech Cleaning Tips From Your Grandmother

My grandmother fit every grandmother mold possible. Impeccable hair. Crisp aprons. Mouthwatering homemade bread on the counter. She ran a tight ship with even tighter hair. For Grandma, spring cleaning was as much a celebration as it was a chore (but then she always smiled most when she was working).

I have more than a little of her blood coursing though my veins, and now that the weather is shaking off winter’s chill, I have the urge to clean as she used to do. And I can apply her methods to my phones, laptop, and tablet just effectively as I do everything else in my home.

Get sorted. While my grandmother had an eye and a hand for organization, my grandfather had a different method. Every weekend, she would group the mail, his receipts, and his tools and put everything back where they should have gone in the first place. Take the time to organize your documents and files in a system that makes the most sense to you, and delete files that are no longer relevant. For every minute spent here, you’ll save twice. 

Put the right things into the right storage. It’s okay to hold onto things (I myself am pretty sentimental). The trick is figuring out where to put them so that they can be reached where you need them and out of the way when you don’t. Consider organizing your files in bulk by year, and clearly label each file and folder with its exact contents. This saves you stress and energy, whether you are looking for Aunt Lucy’s china or last year’s lesson on volcanoes. And no, “Science stuff” doesn’t count.

Clear your desktop. If Grandma could see my laptop screen, she would sigh, “Clutter, clutter, clutter, dear. How can you see what you mean?” It was an odd expression, but I understood it. If you save everything to the desktop, you’ll never find what you really need. This works just as well for your desk as well as your desktop. Save it only for items you need to find quickly or things you use every single day. Rely on your filing system for the others. Delete the rest.

Clean your Windows. Grandma loved a clean window (even if the birds didn’t). If you are running the digital version on your laptop, Windows 10 has a handy Disk Cleanup tool to clean up temporary and unnecessary system files that could be obstructing your computer performance. Use this handy guide for additional information.

Empty the trash. Now that you’ve gotten everything where you want it, it’s time to remove what you don’t need once and for all. My grandma always emptied the trash as the last part of her cleaning routine, grabbing a bag and hitting every bathroom and bin on her way out the door.

Grandma made the most of everything (I can still taste her creative leftovers), and I hope these above tips help you make the most of your time and managing your technology this spring. If you found any of these valuable, we’d love your feedback--follow us on Facebook for more!

7 Microsoft PowerPoint Tricks For Every Day This Week

As a staple of the Microsoft Office suite, PowerPoint often gets a bad rap, mostly because it’s associated with speeches, presentations, and seminars--and they aren’t always the most exciting events (to put it mildly). Since it’s estimated that PowerPoint is a key software on over one billion computers worldwide, it’s safe to say slide-based presentations aren’t going anywhere.

The question, however, isn’t where PowerPoint can go; it’s what PowerPoint can do to make those presentations even better.

Here are our favorite Microsoft PowerPoint tips to make sure your presentation goes smoothly.

1. Launch your PowerPoint presentation with one click. To start your presentation off quickly and cleanly, all you need to do is save the file with a .PPS or .PPSX file extension and save it to your desktop. Instead of nervously launching from editing mode or from your email (for all the world to see), all you’ll do is double-click and get on with the show. (Keep your desktop free of embarrassing distractions for full professional effect).

2. State your case in black and white. PowerPoint presentations are meant to be an aid to your presentation--not necessarily be a word-for-word account of it. To keep them from being a distraction, press “B” or “W” on your keyboard to make the screen black or white. This will help your audience focus on you and what you are saying.

3. Doing a demo? Get a screenshot. If you need to replicate the feel of your computer screen while giving a presentation, use the PowerPoint Screenshot tool on the Insert tab. It will give you a thumbnail of each window you currently have open. Simply select, resize, and click--and it will automatically be inserted on your current slide.

4. Animate charts. Turn charts and graphs from boring to mindblowing with animation. Once you’ve set up the chart or graph as you need to, head to the Animations tab to turn on the Animations Pane. Pick an animated effect, add sound, adjust timing and, most importantly, change the “Group Chart” options from “As One Object” to “By Category.”

5. Employ Kiosk mode. For presentations that don’t require an active speaker, you can set the presentation to play in Kiosk mode, which will play it on a loop, no human required. You can also output the entire slide deck to a video format.

6. Duplicate without the CTRL C + V. Instead of quick keys to copy and paste reused elements, go one step lazier--hold the CTRL key while you click and drag on the element you want to multiply. Great for elements as well as entire slides.

7. Be zen with Venn. Venn diagrams are a useful visual aid, but they can be a pain to make--unless you know how to Merge Shapes. Simply layer your pre-created shapes as you want, head to the Drawing Tools, and select “Merge Shapes” from the menu. This feature also makes light work of inserting pictures and text into shapes and vice versa. 

There are so many ways to do more in Microsoft PowerPoint in less time. We can help you figure them out.

Greener Pastures: The Dawn of the Paperless Classroom

I picked up my son’s backpack the other day, and the weight of it astounded me.

It was so...light. Empty even.

I remembered my school days. I didn’t just wear a backpack; I lugged it. I measured my progress in school by the physical weight of my assignments. I remembered how frustrated my mother would get when I home--yet again--with a broken arm strap or a ripped seam because I had demanded too much of it. After all, aren’t backpacks crammed with notebooks, worksheets, books, and scratch paper a normal part of education?

Not if technology has anything to do with it.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, technology--when appropriately used--can reduce paper usage by up to 30%. Take Bank of America for example (they did). When the largest bank in the country turned to online reports, forms, email, double-sided copying, and lighter-weight papers, it reduced is paper consumption by over one billion sheets of paper. That’s a 32% reduction--on internal operations alone. 

And if Bank of America can do it, so can your school district.

There are several ways to save paper and money through the use of technology. 

• Use emailed school and class newsletters instead of sending home printed ones.

• Direct parents toward a consistent website or web page for frequently asked questions, the latest news, or the most recent homework assignments.

• Store documents in electronic archives for instant retrieval (rather than relying on file cabinets).

• Encourage the use of on-screen editing features, instead of printing and editing by hand.

• Share events on a shared calendar with reminders.

• Use Google Forms instead of worksheets, quizzes, and paper tests.

• Use Google Drawings for scratch paper.

• Use OneNote for notetaking.

• Embrace the cloud system for swift data recovery and increased collaboration and distribution of resources.

But it’s more than just paper schools are saving. Printing supplies--everything from copier purchases to toner to maintenance contracts--are expensive line items. With reduced paper comes reduced printing costs, and printing supplies--everything from copier purchases to toner to maintenance contracts--are expensive line items. Moving to educational technology also saves more precious resources: family time, patience, creativity, sanity, and wear and tear on a backpack you can keep for years.

How does your school save natural resources while unleashing productivity, innovation, and collaboration? We can always help you find more ways.

How To Put Play Tech to Work

As an educational technology company, we love to talk about how technology helps kids learn more efficiently, engage in heightened collaboration, and access real-time data and resources that would otherwise be unavailable in traditional classrooms. Technology can and often does make us better at almost everything.

And it can make us really good at being distracted. 

One could argue that the minds of students have always been easily lured away from classroom activity. The only difference now is that instead of staring out of windows, they are staring into Microsoft’s equivalent; instead of daydreaming, they are building virtual realities in Minecraft.

As adults can attest, switching from “play mode” to “work mode” isn’t easy, especially when using the same device for both. Children have a particularly hard time making this transition; not only are they more easily influenced by technology, but they also don’t get as many chances to learn and practice their focusing skills--and the distractions are only a click away.

And I don’t think we’re alone when we say us adults could use a refresher course, too. Here are a few tips to help you and the students in your life focus on what’s important and still make time for play, be it in their Minecraft world or on social media.

Give yourself a clear lead.
You may never be able to remove every distraction from your classroom, office, or home, but you can learn to clear and calm your mind. If it helps (and it likely will), remove visible and audible distractions from your desktop, log out of your email and social media, silence notifications, and put your phone in a drawer. If all else fails, fight tech with tech. These distraction-diverter apps can help.

Classroom focus: Guide the kids through a quick mindfulness exercise that includes some deep belly breathing before starting a new task.

Intentionally place your focus on the task at hand.

It’s been proven that multitasking physically shrinks your brain, so stop doing it. Work on your task or watch television or text your best friend, don’t try to do all at the same time. Your attention will suffer on all, and you’ll only accomplish a fraction of what you want and need to get done.

Classroom focus: Clearly state the one task you want your students to accomplish and what you expect to be completed at the end of the alloted time. Have them write it down or repeat it (out loud or to themselves) to make sure it sticks.

Take short breaks.

“Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body,” said Dr. Rich of Harvard Medical School in a New York Times article. “But kids are in a constant mode of stimulation.” 

There’s a reason why productivity systems like Pomodoro are popular--because they work in realistic ways. The Pomodoro Technique, which is a time management method that interlaces timed bursts of productivity with short breaks, helps keep people focused because it keeps work and play in perspective, all while allowing access to both. Make sure some tasks or breaks are of the unplugged variety to give the brain time to process and adapt to something new.

Classroom focus: Incorporate tech-free breaks throughout your day and encourage students to take breaks from a task on a regular basis to do something physical or an activity that allows their brain to rest.

What else are you doing in your classrooms to maximize their focus and learning potential? If you ever need ideas, we've got a few.

6 Markers of Memorable Mentors

We’ve all had at least one teacher or adult make a notable impression upon our lives. They singled us out, pushed us out of our comfort zone, guided us in our chosen craft, or put us on the road to our destined career--or all of the above.

Being someone’s mentor isn’t easy, however. It takes time, dedication, patience, self-control, and generosity--all the qualities that make a great educator (and a pretty decent human being). Here are ways to develop those traits and use them to benefit your mentee.

Make sure you’re ready.

Being a mentor is an important job--and it’s one you must do on top of the other important jobs that fill your life. Make sure you have the time, emotional intelligence, mental bandwidth, and organization skills to properly nurture a mentee, and you must be willing to work with students and young professionals who may have different backgrounds, education, opinions, and strengths. Remember, this is mentoring, not cloning. There’s a good chance you’ll both come away learning something valuable.

Light the fire with a good match.

One of the reasons your mentee approached you (or the other way around) is likely because you both share an enthusiasm for your job or your field of study. Embrace this and use it to shine a light on your mentee’s potential strengths, opportunities, and challenges. While this enthusiasm will fuel your initial arrangement, pay close attention to how well the two of your work together. Chances are the arrangement will either add to your own fires, or it will sap your energy and burn you both out. Be aware of this chemistry early so you can either mix it up or dissolve it before any damage is done.

Remember where you started.

It can be easy for those of us established in our respective fields to forget what it was like at the beginning of our studies and careers. Your mentee may enter into the relationship with idealism and unrealistic expectations; your job is to harness that passion and direct it toward what’s possible. Help them focus their efforts, find the tools, and develop the necessary skills. Meet them where they are, so they can determine for themselves the best way to go.

Be generous with your knowledge.

Great mentors are teachers, and great teachers are always learning. Take the time to clearly share what you know about your field, the industry, or the task at hand, and don’t let your mentee be the only one asking the questions. Make sure you both stay in tune with the process by asking how they are doing, what they are getting from the experience, and how you can be of greater assistance.

Stay available and accountable.

Establish a regular schedule for meetings so that you both can plan your time accordingly and hold each other accountable. Set the tone for these sessions, and have specific objectives. These expectations also serve as boundaries so that you can both tend to the other important aspects of your lives.

Remain objective and fair.

Perhaps one of the hardest parts about being a mentor is attempting to be an active observer. Mentorship is not friendship (think more LinkedIn and less Facebook); you are their advocate, but you do not owe them any favors, nor do they owe you any allegiance. For a mentorship to work, the mentor must feel comfortable conveying honest assessments and constructive feedback, and the mentee must feel comfortable approaching you for advice and guidance, even if one of their challenges is working with you or your field. Your role is to guide. Their role is to learn. There should be no hidden agenda or ulterior motives.

Mentorships can have a profound effect on education, careers, and personal lives. If you have a moment, we’d love to hear your stories about what being a mentor (or being mentored) meant to you.