Pennsylvania: The First State to Launch SAFARI Montage EdCast Network

By Andrew Schlessinger on Wed, 4/28/2010
Picture of member, Andrew Schlessinger

Andrew Schlessinger
CEO & Co-founder, SAFARI Montage

Pennsylvania is our home state and I have wanted to do something special here with SAFARI Montage for a few years now, which is why I am thrilled to announce that SAFARI Montage will be available this Fall to every public school in PA connected to the state-wide high-speed network known as PAIUnet.

It is the first state-wide implementation for SAFARI Montage and in some ways the first state-wide video network in the country to include certain key features. The Keystone State solution includes our EdCast Network feature which will enable PA’s Intermediate Units to upload video and other content easily and transmit it to all of the state’s SAFARI Montage load-balanced servers, with DRM and meta-data intact. This is very cool. The content that will be available to every school district in PA via PAIUnet is the very best K-12 educational media available today, and school districts can easily expand those offerings to meet their needs. The core content subscription costs for the 2010-2011 school year are covered through a state grant and there are plans for sustaining the subscriptions in subsequent years being discussed now. School districts can also upgrade the value of their SAFARI Montage functionality by adding other SAFARI Montage modules or products. PA is taking a leap forward with supporting visual instruction for teachers and students in the Commonwealth.

This is a big deal for PA schools and it will also end up being beneficial for all SAFARI Montage users. The addition of 3,300 schools to our customer base will create more value for all users in the country, such as:

1. More playlist lesson plans to exchange here on HD Network

2. Greater market penetration supports the addition of more content, features and additional educational technology integrations for the platform

3. The development of digital core curriculum subject courses for PA which will also be tied to the Common Core standards.

I love knowing that the vision I’ve had for the past 25 years of seeing visual instruction really work elegantly in classrooms, is truly happening today…boy, I love what I do!

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