Behind the Walls Counts.

Posted by David Parish, Ph.D., CEO Calypso Systems
Monday June 1st, 2009 | 0 Comments

First, some perspective. Calypso Systems manufactures products used to build, manage and use media-rich K-12 classrooms. As President of this 4-year old company, I'm enjoying a close-up view of the evolution of 21st century education - a market still relatively new to me. With nearly 20,000 classrooms deployed with Calypso products over the past few years, I like to believe we're beginning to have enough scale where we may, in fact, have some useful observations. That, combined with a steady diet of education technology trade shows, conferences, industry publications and discussions with ed tech leaders from around the country are all driving some hoped-for clarity on how things may evolve.

My goal here is to instigate conversations that address education technology infrastructure, which is where Calypso's energy is focused, and which most often seems to be an afterthought in conversations about 21st century education. In other words, I care greatly about what happens behind the walls, as we attempt to build a foundation capable of supporting evolving models of 21st century education.

No surprise - the topics I'll focus on, at least initially, will align pretty closely with the work being pursued by Calypso. From a product angle we build classroom device control (e.g., projectors, audio, DVD players, etc.), hardware and software control panels, classroom audio including wireless microphones, and various wiring and connectivity components. Like I said, infrastructure. While there's plenty to be said about these topics, and the crucial role they play in enabling media-rich, collaborative and interactive teaching, I think you'll find that the conversation moves quickly into topics that tend to be more front and center, including curriculum, assessment and special ed.

Hopefully you'll find reason to stay in touch, join the discussion and add to our community.