Education

Empowering students in the Netherlands

Kari Sherrodd — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:20:14 GMT

It’s always great to see excitement for technology and innovative ways in which teachers and students are using it every day. My colleague Chiara Pesatori got to see this first hand last week at the ICT Platform Onderwijs Nederland (IPON) event in Utrecht, a city in the heart of the Netherlands. She shares details and photos below …

IPON is one of the most important annual education shows in the Netherlands. The Dell team spent two days empowering teachers with the latest tools and professional skills necessary to create a rich, interactive learning environment. Dell ran innovative 3D lessons at the ‘School of the Future Stand’ where students could express themselves creatively, problem-solve and communicate. This learning method gives students the opportunity to extend their learning beyond the traditional classroom walls to other environments, including the home.

On the Dell stand, customers had the chance to sip on freshly roasted Italian coffee while experiencing a KACE demo, and 3D interactive lessons with the Dell s500wi projector and Expand 3D active glasses. The team ran KACE breakout sessions to position the advantages of this systems management solution within education environments. Over 600 attendees visited the stand, and we had the opportunity to listen and learn with teachers throughout the region.

See more details here.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day: Supporting every child’s desire and ability to learn

DELL-Kelli H — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:47:00 GMT

Looking back when I started my career as a teacher working with individuals with disabilities, I never imagined I would someday be working at Dell. As a teacher, I would spend countless hours trying to find technologies that would empower my students to be as independent as possible and have great quality of life.

Today as a member of Dell's Education Team, we have a new Assistive Technology Service that is going to have a huge impact for students with disabilities in K12 and Higher Education. You can see a few more details in this video. Through this service we will provide access, implementation and support to schools, districts and universities to ensure that individuals get the technology needed to open their world to being able to communicate, read the document that they couldn’t before,and engage in the world around them.

As I reflect today on Autism Awareness Day and wear blue to promote awareness, I feel proud of Dell’s solutions that open the world to students across the globe through Assistive Technology and all other work that we’re doing to support every child’s ability and desire to learn.

Dell Helps Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope Reach for the Stars

Leigh Ann Browning — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:58:00 GMT

Over 80 years after the discovery of Pluto by one of its astronomers, Lowell Observatory is setting its sights on celestial objects even farther away with their new $53 million telescope powered by Dell Poweredge servers and Precision workstations.

Lowell Observatory, a private, non-profit research institution operates a number of telescopes in Arizona in partnership with universities including Boston University and Georgia State University. Lowell also offers programs for K-12 students as well as telescope viewing for the public. In partnership with Discovery Communications, Lowell began building the Discovery Channel Telescope about seven years ago. The telescope will be the 5th largest telescope in the continental U.S. and will be among the most technically sophisticated of its size, advancing Lowell’s research of the universe, from solar system objects such as Kuiper Belt objects, to dwarf galaxies, and more.

Over the holidays, I was lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the telescope and its technology station from the DCT Project Manager, Bill DeGroff (who also happens to be my father.) I took a few pictures to show the size and complexity of both the outer dome and internal parts that make up the telescope. I’ve never seen a mirror so large—it is 4.3 meters wide!

Lowell chose Dell to power the telescope’s dome and instrument controls as well as its networking and communications. The telescope and dome controls, which control the movement of the upper rotating viewing area, are comprised of five rack-mounted Dell Precision workstations. These workstations host the software necessary to control the shutter motion, dome position and alignment and shape of the telescope mirrors as it rotates on 360 degree tracks, as well as gather and process weather data. The instrument controls require two Dell Poweredge servers which control small digital cameras that guide the telescope to literally follow the stars.

High on a hill in the Coconino National Forest 45 miles southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, the telescope is on the verge of completion and scheduled for “first light” this summer. Check out Discovery Channel’s special airing on June 17th and read more at Lowell.edu.

SXSWedu is March 6-8 ... see you there!

Kari Sherrodd — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:34:00 GMT

Thousands of teachers and others passionate about education and learning will be in Austin, TX at SXSWedu March 6-8. We’re excited to help welcome them to our hometown, as well as join in for the activities.

Along with my Dell Education teammates, I’ll be at SXSWedu where we’ll host two conversations. Students from Round Rock Independent School District will talk with us about new ways of learning during “Are students leaving us in the digital dust?” on Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 pm.

We’ll learn straight from students as they express how they are experiencing learning today and their ideas of how to approach learning for their needs – including the reality that we’re in the midst of a shift from print to digital in the way they are learning.

At Dell we believe that every child can learn and we’ll bring ideas of how to support this during the “Think Out of the Box Assistive Technologies” panel on Wednesday from 2-3 pm CST. Along with industry leaders from TeachTown, WeAreTeachers and Microsoft we’ll share practical and easy to implement ideas to reach students with special needs -- for teachers, parents and the full learning community.

Along with Dell Small Office, we’re also happy to participate in LAUNCHedu happening at SXSWedu. Based upon successful Accelerator programs at SXSW Interactive and SXSW Music, LAUNCHedu provides an exciting opportunity for promising entrepreneurs to pitch and receive support for their start-up education business concepts and products. The winners will be announced on Wednesday.

We’re expecting to listen and learn a lot from this crowd! I hope you will join us -- even from afar -- by using #sxswedu and our #domoreedu on Twitter. Our team will be keeping you updated on all of the activity via @DellEdu ... see you there!

Learn about possibilities with automation: Live chat on March 6, 8 am CT, 14:00 GMT

Kari Sherrodd — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:30:00 GMT

Join us to learn how you can save time and money in your schools by simply automating management tasks. Please click on image below to learn more and to register for this live chat.

See you in Austin this week - it's TCEA time!

Kari Sherrodd — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:46:00 GMT

Our Education team welcomes thousands of educators and school leaders to our hometown of Austin this week for one of the nation’s premiere education tech shows -- TCEA. If you are in Austin this week please join us. You will see lively sessions from our Dell team and partners throughout the show. You can see full list here. I’m excited to see them all but a couple that I’m really looking forward to participating in are ideas of how to empower students with accessible technology and ways to best manage mobility within your school. We will also get a peek at some of our latest devices!

Please see our full line-up at TCEA and please plan to stop by booth #1635 to say hello. We’ll also be on Twitter (@DellEDU) using the #domorredu and #tcea2012 hashtags. See you soon!

Rise of Digital Content, Devices & Solutions in Schools [INFOGRAPHIC]

Kari Sherrodd — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:00:00 GMT

This Saturday we are bringing together a group of educators, administrators, and community leaders for an Education Think Tank at the BETT Show in London to discuss how technology has the potential to transform teaching and learning inside and outside of the classroom. This group is part of our globally connected group of Education leaders that has grown since our first Education Think Tank in New York last Fall. This is just the beginning of a great dialogue as we continue to broaden this conversation to include educators, administrators, community leaders and students all around the globe.

One of the reoccurring themes during the first Think Tank and that I expect will pop up in this Saturday's conversation is around what the next generation of learning could look like and especially as we anticipate seeing a rise of digital content in schools.

The below infographic outlines how in the midst of shifting learning environments technology continue to affect the way we work, collaborate , communicate and even succeed as teachers, learners and workers.

We hope you will join us at the Education Think Tank via online or as a viewers on-site at BETT taking place at the Dell sponsored cafe and lounge on the second floor. Please use the #DoMoreEDU hashtag on Twitter to follow the conversations and to share your thoughts about the infographic.

At BETT Show: New Education Cloud Solutions and Services to Improve Learning Outcomes for Students

Kari Sherrodd — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:13:00 GMT

We’re in London this week meeting with teachers, school IT leaders and students during the BETT Show and we’re very happy to be sharing the news that we launched our new education cloud solutions and services. This means that we are more prepared than ever to help each and every student around the world reach their full potential at a time when the traditional school environment is going through monumental changes.

We’re bringing together resources used in a classroom; ebooks, tools for chat, more digital content and pulling them together to create one, simplified and easy-to-use Next Generation Learning Platform. It now allows educators to use all the resources at their disposal to create a lesson customized for each student. The Dell Next Generation Learning Platform accesses information from data management and student information systems to create streamlined and customized interfaces for teachers, students and parents.

Collections of content delivered through private, public and blended education clouds can be organized and accessed on a platform where students can find and share content from open education resources. Education Data Management records a child’s performance data which makes it easier to assess development and monitor progress. The data can be leveraged on its own or as part of Dell’s Next Generation Learning Platform.

In addition to this, I’m so happy to share that Dell has expanded technology support for students with special learning requirements. Text-to-speech software, magnifying screens and touch-screen monitors enable students with special needs to communicate with others and participate in classroom activities. Dell’s technology support and management for schools and universities now goes beyond core laptop, tablet and whiteboard tools to include assistive technology solutions that support students with special learning requirements.

In my opinion, these developments mark the end of the disconnected school. They also mark the beginning of a simplified classroom in which each lesson is personalized for each student and progress can be monitored with ease. We’re looking forward to talking more with you about our new education solutions and services over the coming weeks. If you are at BETT please stop by our stand (B20) and/or our Social Media Command Center in the café on the second floor.

Digital Promise to open doors for teachers, students and technology

DELL-Kelli H — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:54:00 GMT

I recently had the opportunity to attend an event at the White House announcing the launch of “Digital Promise,” a bipartisan initiative created by Congress to help spur breakthrough technologies to transform teaching and learning. As an independent nonprofit, Digital Promise will seek to empower schools to revolutionize education through digital content.

The team behind Digital Promise has identified three primary goals for its research and development. It plans to identify breakthrough education technologies that personalize learning, do rapid evaluations of its work to learn which types of solutions are working and which are not, and transform the current market for learning technologies by bolstering the investment in educational technologies

It was an exciting day filled with inspiring stories and great information. During the launch event, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke about America lagging behind other countries in education. His challenge to participants was to redefine education to meet the needs of students in the digital age, thereby empowering young people to compete in the global society.

Duncan’s call to action made me think about the position I am in to personally contribute to the transformation of our nation’s schools. As a representative of Dell in the field, I want to speak out about our goals and strategies around assisting schools in moving to the next generation of learning. We have the tools to help prepare students for a competitive workforce. With the work we’re doing with our customers, I know we’re on the right track. "Digital Promise" will help further our collective cause by influencing policymakers and inspiring the private sector to invest more in educational technology, and more importantly commit to bringing the benefits of technology to life for our students and teachers.

I believe this initiative is the beginning of a necessary shift in our education system, and I am excited to see what’s next. Together we can change the way we teach and learn. What’s even more exciting is that this is just one of many conversations we’ll be a part of. I’ll keep you all updated as I attend forthcoming events and learn more! In the meantime, check out more information on "Digital Promise" at www.digitalpromise.org. To get started with technology solutions, Professional Learning Services and more, visit our K-12 education homepage.

Chat with us on Nov. 17 about virtualizing your learning environment

Kari Sherrodd — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:21:00 GMT

Learning from school leaders at Educause we found out there is a keen interest to hear more about the possibilities with virtualizing learning environments. We’re seeing that schools are taking advantage of this to effectively manage many different devices, maximize the use of labs on campus and as a way to put more software in the hands of students. At Educause we brought together five IT leaders in schools and universities to talk about why they decided to virtualize their systems. Now, we’re continuing this conversation to learn from experts and to find out if or how virtualization could be right for your school.

We’re kicking this off with a live chat hosted by one of our specialists. She’ll be encouraging participants to share with one another during the discussion and will be able to give details on how some of your colleagues have taken advantage of Dell’s Virtual Labs 3.0.

If you do join, please let me know what you think of the live chat!