Shelby County Schools (SCS) in Memphis, TN recently installed HoverCam’s Pilot digital teaching station and CenterStage Interactive Flat Panels (IFP) in the district’s technology training lab and some classrooms. As the district plans to open two new schools next year, SCS chose HoverCam’s education solutions as part of its new technology infrastructure that’s designed to support teaching and learning in the 21st century.
“I'm constantly asking myself and my team what we can use to help make teachers’ days run a little more smoothly and for lessons to be more engaging,” said Demetria Monix-Goode, PhD, instructional technology manager for SCS. “HoverCam speaks to that, creating an environment where students are more passionate about learning. They can touch it, hear it, and respond to it as opposed to sit-and-get. When you have a facility where you are able to offer all the capabilities that the Pilot does, it helps educators teach the way students learn and speaks to our priority of providing more high-quality school options for our children.”
With more than 170 schools, SCS sought out HoverCam technology as a new tool to help educators achieve its five priorities: strengthen early literacy; improve post-secondary readiness; strengthen teachers, leaders, and central office staff to drive student success; expand high-quality school options; and mobilize family and community partners. HoverCam’s Pilot and CenterStage IFP education solutions checked all those boxes. Currently, the HoverCam solutions are installed in a number of classrooms as well as the technology training lab. HoverCam will also be the centerpiece for every classroom within the district’s two new elementary schools expected to open in the fall of 2019.
The Pilot mobile teaching station is designed to solve the operational and management hurdles that educators face when new devices are put in the classroom by combining the most important audio, video, and digital content elements used today in a mobile podium. The design eliminates the need for an AV cart while freeing teachers from stationary desks or lecterns. It integrates a Windows PC, 13MP document camera, and 21-inch touchscreen with wireless HD mirroring functionality so any device content and touch annotations can be beamed to any IFP, projector, or TV in the room. The document camera’s built-in microphone enables educators to capture audio. And with HoverCam’s ClassFusion classroom management software, every lesson, interactive whiteboarding, annotation, and desktop marking can be recorded and saved to the cloud for students to access anywhere, anytime, and from any device or browser—making it the perfect solution for flipped and active classrooms that encourage creative thinking.
HoverCam’s CenterStage series of 4K UHD IFPs represent the convergence of quality, functionality, and affordability. It provides all the features educators have come to expect in an IFP, such as responsive multi-touch functionality, Android OS with app installation, and customization capability. CenterStage complements HoverCam's Pilot teaching stations and is available in 65-, 75-, and 86-inch models.
“Classroom technology has been recognized as a priceless tool for engaging students in new and exciting ways, but managing all of the devices, sources, cables, and connections involved has been incredibly taxing on schools and educators who are charged with positively influencing their students’ futures,” said Felix Pimentel, product manager, HoverCam. “Shelby County Schools illustrates how schools can leverage the capabilities that HoverCam’s education solutions offers to reach every student. The district’s unique lab and classrooms are a testament of how we’re continually engineering technology differently to help schools create 21st century learners.”
