To prepare young learners for the requirements and challenges of adult life in a highly competitive world, public and private schools alike are actively striving to stay ahead of the technology curve. As more and more school districts upgrade their education approach for the digital age – and start experiencing improved outcomes across the board – others feel the pressure to advance their own capabilities.
But, to envision, plan and deploy the Classrooms of the Future is a daunting challenge – especially when it must serve a town-size population of students, teachers, administrators and staff. Clearly educators cannot “go it alone.” From K-12 districts to community colleges, schools are realizing that their best strategy is to work with experienced IT advisors who understand the unique needs of education and can enable actual digital learning convergence.
This process involves much more than simply migrating curriculum materials from print to electronic formats: digital learning convergence encompasses an array of integrated technologies that transform every classroom into a digital learning environment, equipped with secure wireless connectivity, multimedia presentation tools and interactive digital curricula. This 1:1 e-learning approach places powerful computing devices – either school-supplied or “bring your own device” (B.Y.O.D.) – in the hands of every student and teacher. The results are nothing less than game-changing for all parties involved.
Students often become more engaged and collaborative learners, actually working together to solve problems and help their peers. And, they’re developing valuable skill sets in using the tools and resources required for in today’s professional environments.
Educators evolve their approach to teaching through personalized learning, engaging with each student individually in the classroom and accommodating for varied learning styles.
Administrators have better data analytics on which to measure performance informatics and allocate resources more efficiently, making outcome-focused policy decisions that can enhance student achievement.
Planning, acquiring and assembling the elements of digital learning convergence is a challenge, especially when scaled across multiple campuses serving tens of thousands of students. And this is where the role of a trusted advisor becomes essential.
And that’s the value-add of UDT in successfully implementing digital learning convergence: as a specialist in IT for education, UDT helps reduce risk, cost and complexity, expertly integrating the building blocks that support new teaching methods and skills needed to achieve measurable results. UDT partners with best-of-breed vendors such as Intel to build out a specialized infrastructure for teaching and learning.
Deployment is only part of the story: UDT’s 360° approach provides professional development for educators to leverage their new technology. In addition, UDT can provide turnkey curriculum education solutions, as well as big data analytics.
“It takes a great deal of planning not just to foresee the likely needs of an engagement, but also to prepare for the unknown challenges that could happen,” said Daniel Rodriguez, CTO of UDT. “And that’s where UDT’s experience in education comes into play: we anticipate those challenges in advance, which results in a smoother deployment for our customers.”
In future blog posts we’ll share many aspects of UDT’s Intel-powered approach to digital learning convergence. In the meantime, learn more about its e-cloud solution for Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart; get details about how federal e-rate funding is bringing new technology to education; find tool kits for digital curricula and BYOD at Intel’s K-12 Blueprint educator resource; and, read about UDT’s relationship with Intel as a strategic technology partner.
Talk to UDT now if you’re ready to get started on your own digital learning convergence.