Blogs

Today is February 2, Groundhog Day.

What exactly is a groundhog and why is it the symbol of forecasting how much longer winter will be around?

 Prior to implementing the SAFARI Montage system, Allen ISD was using school-based media retrieval systems. That was back in 2006, and David Spann, AISD’s Executive Director of Technology, says that the district set its sights on a centralized digital media system. “The goal was to streamline, and with SAFARI Montage, we no longer have a need to put VCRs or DVD players in all of our classrooms,” he explains, adding, “The content on SAFARI Montage opened up a lot of avenues for our teachers.”

We are here in sunny Florida on Day 1 of FETC.  The conference has only just begun but it's started off with a bang! Bright and early Tim Beekman presented the SAFARI Montage vision and received input from Florida and Georgia school district staff.  Meanwhile, Carolyn Faulkner-Beitzel and Shannon Yeager shared SAFARI Montage with customers in our booth.  

When was the last time you attended an online webinar? I’ve attended quite a few, but I was especially thrilled to be able to present a live, streamed webinar to teachers at Sweetwater Union High School District in California earlier this month. Using a video camera, tricaster, encoder and SAFARI Montage Selective Video Streaming, over 1,000 teachers were able to watch a live address by Dr. Brand, their superintendent, and then participate in a SAFARI Montage Learn the Basics training.

“Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals.”

Martin Luther King Jr.
-Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution

It seems only fitting to quote the great orator, scholar, father and pastor on this day, dedicated to honoring his inspirational leadership, philosophy and mission for nonviolent social change.

As I trace the powerful words of his quote, my thoughts go to its application in my own field-- educational change. His words are a call to stand against complacency, with its desire to wrap weighty fingers around us that impede progress. So, will we be bystanders who wait for the inevitable change and progress MLK speaks of? Or will we be the ones who get off the couch, stand up and decide how we can be a part of changing the status quo and making an impact?

Next week schools around the country will be commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Students will be engaged in service projects and learning about the message of Martin Luther King, Jr.   But what is the state of civil rights education in our country today? 

TIES 2011 was held on December 12 & 13 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tierney Brothers, a dealer for SAFARI Montage located in Minnesota, had an amazing booth setup consisting of four SMART Boards, four iPads, a SMART table and, of course, SAFARI Montage! SAFARI Montage was shown on several different devices within the booth.

Congratulations to Della Curtis, coordinator of library information services for Baltimore County Public Schools and winner of Tech & Learning magazine’s 24th annual Leader of the Year program. Della, who has blogged for us here at SAFARI Montage HD Network, has been honored for her visionary leadership in the creation of a true library without walls through the use of the technology she has brought into BCPS, and the way it has been integrated into administrative and instructional needs in a cost-effective manner. 

I recently collaborated with an innovative group from Hastings School District. This district, which is located in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, has many forward thinking staff. While meeting with this group of education professionals the topic of mobile devices and SAFARI Montage was discussed. Can they work together? What would it take to get this done? What are the benefits of marrying our [Hastings School District] SAFARI Montage system with mobile devices? Those, among many other questions, lead to great discussion and a list of integration strategies. Below I have shared three of these strategies in detail.