Thanks to all who participated in Calypso System’s Sudoku Speed Challenge at the recent ISTE 2010 conference in Denver.  We had many great times posted.  In fact, we were truly amazed at how fast many of you completed the speed challenge puzzle. We've done the Sudoku Speed Challenge at a few of the larger education technology conferences in 2010, and this is the first time we've had the entire top ten be under 4 minutes -- that's fast, folks. I guess we'll have to move up to a medium level puzzle for ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia.

Anyhow, here’s the 10 best times for the show and the winner of the iPod Touch.

Winner:  Amanda Lenaire, Bishop McGuinness HS, 2:29

Congratulations, Amanda!  Make sure you stop back at the blog and tell us about all the great things you're doing in the classroom with the iPod Touch.

Top 10 Sudoku Speed Challenge Times:

1. Amanda Lenaire, Bishop McGuiness HS, 2:29
2. Joanne Henning, Glendale American School, 2:58
3. Myra Camino, Johnson City SD #1, 2:58
4. Ann Finch, St. Joseph School, 3:00
5. Joy Meyer, Trinity Christian College, 3:19
6. Amy Schaum, Peoria Elementary, 3:29
7. Karen Cohn, Niver Creek MS, 3:30
8. Joanna Seymour, Columbus HS, 3:30
9. Janice Biegel, Lansing Christian School, 3:36
10. Kerry Schneider, Mulberry/Pleasant View Bi-Co. Schools, 3:39

Calypso is dedicated to improving K-12 teaching and learning through affordable technology solutions.  I hope you'll take a minute to browse our web site and contact us if you have any questions. You can also find our Museum of Nearly Forgotten School-Day artifacts at www.makeiteasiertolearn.com.  Media-rich classrooms and integrated school communications are transforming the educational experience, and the National Museum of Nearly Forgotten School-Day Artifacts (NMoNFSDA) presents a unique perspective on the profound and exciting changes currently underway in modern K-12 schools and classroom.  If you're moved, share a few of your experiences in the blog section.

In the movie “The Matrix”, Neo, the character played by Keanu Reeves, was unwittingly born to be “The One”, destined to combat the all-controlling, shape-shifting aliens on their own terms for the good of humankind.  At first Neo rejected the possibility, not believing he had any special talents or role to play in the struggle for liberation.  Eventually though, the evidence was overwhelming and his true powers grew in strength as he embraced both them and his destiny.   Are you seeing the parallels to classroom voice amplification?

All right.  It’s a stretch and oh-so-geeky.  I run a tech company, so what do you expect?  Still, there is a point there that just doesn’t seem to be getting much traction.  The FACT is that voice amplification works.  It delivers on the promise.  It’s affordable and easy to use.  It’s non-invasive.  It requires no changes to curriculum, assessment or teacher training.  No massive technical infrastructure shake-up and no searching through terabytes of data teasing out confounding factors.  Put it in, turn it on and walk away.  Suddenly kids are attentive, engaged and improving.  Some more than others, but all are affected in just the right way.

Yet … we’re still pushing the rock uphill on this subject, as most administrators and teachers frankly don’t buy it.  They’re not believers and don’t seem to see the evidence for what it is or what it says.  Skepticism is good, but you can’t let it blind you.  So while I’m out there pushing on the NEA, DOE and others to look closely at this topic and create a movement for classroom voice amplification, I thought to take a page from “Did You Know” (http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/) and put the following video together.  Hopefully it helps …

I’ll admit right up front that up until a few months ago, I never heard of the National Fire Protection Association, widely known as NFPA.   The self-described world's leading advocate of fire prevention and an authoritative source on public safety, NFPA develops, publishes, and disseminates more than 300 consensus codes and standards intended to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other risks.  All well and good, but what’s the NFPA doing in a Calypso blog?  It turns out that the NFPA has quite a lot to say about school paging systems.

By way of background, it’s important to know that Calypso’s school paging system, Conductor, is not just another standard 70v offering.  Conductor takes advantage of the latest streaming audio and network technologies to completely modernize the whole concept of school paging, delivering both greater flexibility and lower costs.  So how does this relate to Fire Safety?

The latest code release by NFPA, called “NFPA 72”, fundamentally redefines the relationship between dedicated fire safety systems and paging systems in three fundamental ways.  First, it calls for honest-to-god “voice intelligibility”, acknowledging that a blaring fire alarm horn is incapable of delivering intelligible voice evacuation instructions.  Pro-audio guys, please take a bow.  Second, the new code demands “interoperability” between dedicated fire safety systems and paging systems.  In other words, when the paging system is engaged to deliver critical emergency communications and instructions, it must have the ability to temporarily suspend the fire alarm, allowing it to resume after instructions have been delivered.  And finally, the code revision calls for prioritizing different types of emergency alarms and communications, acknowledging that that voice evacuation instructions take precedence over the alarm signal.

Make no mistake.  If you’re in the fire alarm business, this is a “rock my world” moment that’s going to change everything about how you go about your business.  And if you’re in the paging business, you have some features and functions to think about.  And Conductor?  Great news.  Without knowing about NFPA 72, we designed the system to accommodate (a) voice intelligibility, (b) universal interoperability and (c) signal priorities.  How about that?

Check out the NFPA web site (www.nfpa.org) and a great new web site sponsored by NSCA on Mass Notification and Emergency Communications (www.mnec.org) for a full run-down on these changes.

Here's a very personal case for why it's so important for students to hear and be heard in the classroom.  This was posted by 2009-2010 Be Heard School Grant winner, Margaret Knox-Ingle, M.Ed. from Holly Grove Elementary in Holly Springs, NC.  Ms. Knox-Ingle is a true champion for her students and teachers.  Thank you for sharing your story. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guest Blogger:

Margaret Knox Ingle, M. Ed.

Technology Specialist

Holly Grove Elementary School

2009-2010 Be Heard|School Grant Recipient

Last year my school, Holly Grove Elementary School in Holly Springs, NC, was one of Calypso’s first Be Heard|School Grant winners which provided wireless classroom voice amplification equipment and installation for all of our classrooms. This is a technology often overlooked, but of great consequence in the classroom. Of course, I am ecstatic that I was able to make this happen for the students and teachers at my school, but on another level I mourn. I mourn over missed opportunities for my own son...his school didn't have this.

I am the parent of a teen with a mild hearing loss that went undetected for far too long and resulted in missed opportunities to build a strong foundation in early literacy development. My son’s elementary experience was incredibly frustrating and his confidence as a learner irrevocably damaged simply because he couldn’t hear normal classroom instruction. I truly believe that had his school invested in a classroom voice amplification system the painful struggles we endured in learning to read could have been alleviated.

It is my belief that classroom voice amplification systems should be standard equipment in all K-12 classrooms as surely as rich visual presentation equipment is now.  With classroom instruction so heavily dependent on auditory information, schools must take responsibility for ensuring all their students can equitably hear the nuances and subtleties of language and sound. 

Think of it like this, we wouldn’t presume to teach our students in poorly lit classrooms where seeing is a challenge.  So, why do we teach our students in an environment where hearing is a challenge?  A classroom without amplification is like watching the metamorphosis of a butterfly on a black and white, 13” TV…few students would attend or get much value out of such an experience.

Since the installation of our Be Heard|School Grant voice amplification systems last fall, the feedback from teachers and students has been very positive. Many teachers are reporting that they find their students to be more attentive and eager to participate, especially when they share the microphone!  I just wish my child could have had the same opportunity.

Scholastic Administrator's, Senior Editor, Ken Royal, interviewed Calypso Systems VP of sales and marketing, Greg Wright.  Hear about Calypso's new Conductor integrated communications system...school-wide audio and classroom audio all on one network. 

The notion of convergence just sounds like a good idea.  Combine previously disconnected pieces and parts into a single, integrated solution to deliver real world financial and operational benefits.  What could be better?  Convergence implies efficiency.  And when real convergence happens, there’s a tendency to stand back and wonder why it hadn’t happened sooner.  Of course, the answer usually has to do with having just the right conditions at just the right time to make it all happen.  Good news K-12 world.  The time is ripe for a major convergence step forward in schools.

We all know the school network battle is over, with virtually all US public schools reported to have pervasive and robust networks, including broadband access to the Internet (http://www.nces.ed.gov).  Similarly, the classroom AV battle is underway and moving along nicely.  Projectors, classroom computers, sound reinforcement and interactive white boards are reported to be in 20-30% of our nation’s schools and the discussion is mostly about how to implement classroom AV, not whether it ought to be done.  It’s commonly accepted that media rich, interactive and collaborative classrooms elevate teaching and learning.

With these pieces moving into place we can now address antiquated school-wide communication systems that, for the most part, have not changed in more than 50 years.  PA systems, bells, emergency alerts and intercom systems continue to live on an island within our nation’s schools, creating an amazing waste of time, money and resources.  We’re literally looking at redundant speakers, wiring, amplifiers, audio switches and installation costs for systems that do nothing more than play audio in the right place at the right time for the right reasons.  Yet with networks and classroom AV now standard, a terrific CONVERGED option has emerged.

Imagine using your existing school network to stream low bit-rate audio to specialized, inexpensive networked amplifiers designed as a standard part of your classroom AV system?  You’ve already installed the network and have made the commitment to classroom sound reinforcement.  So with virtually no incremental cost, all that’s really needed is an appropriate digital head end (we call our’s Conductor) that provides the tools to manage live and scheduled audio files and content distribution.  The result?  Greater flexibility, reliability that’s tied to your network’s uptime (99% in most schools), tremendous operational efficiency and costs savings that one study pegged at nearly 20% compared to traditional school paging systems.

Now why didn’t somebody think of that before?

Thanks to all who participated in Calypso's Sudoku Speed Challenge at TCEA 2010.  We had a lot of great times posted. Here's the 10 best times. For the record, I'm still working on the puzzle. :( Look for a post-card in the mail soon with an invitation to sign up for a free online sudoku puzzle for an entire year from Calypso Systems. 

Winner:  Cindy Kennedy from Chisum Elementary in Paris, Texas with a time of 3 minutes and 16 seconds.  Whew! That's fast.  Congratulations, we hope you enjoy the iPod Touch.

Top 10 Sudoku Speed Challenge Times

1. Cindy Kennedy, Chisum Elementary, 3:16
2. Alison Haeussler, 3:30
3. Rhonda Bourgeois, Port Neches Grove ISD, 3:31
4. Susan Wasylina, Fort Bend ISD, 3:37
5. Debra Gage, Mt.Vernon ISD, 3:46
6. Crystal Hughes, Buna Elementary, 3:49
7. Shelley Pace, Tomball Intermediate, 3:57
8. Tishia Crump, Bells ISD, 4:05
9. Carla Pace, San Jacinto Intermediate, 4:09
10. Tina Lindsay, 7 Oaks School, 4:14 

Calypso is dedicated to improving K-12 teaching and learning through affordable technology solutions.  I hope you'll take a minute to browse our site and contact us if you have any questions. You can also find our museum of forgotten school-day artifacts at www.makeiteasiertolearn.com.  It's good for a few laughs and a trip down memory lane.  If you're moved, share a few of your experiences in the blog section.

If you're planning a trip to Denver, Colorado for the 2010 ISTE conference (used to be NECC) in June, stop by and take Calypso's Sudoku Speed Challenge again at booth 1078.   If you're fast, you could win an ipod Touch. Hope to see you there!

Thanks to all who participated in the Calypso Sudoku Speed Challenge at FETC 2010.  We had a lot of great times posted. Here's the 10 best times. For the record, I'm still working on the puzzle. :(  Look for a post-card in the mail soon with an invitation to sign up for a free online sudoku puzzle for an entire year from Calypso Systems. 

Winner:  Heather Thomson, from Reedy Creek Elementary, posted the top time of 2 minutes 46 seconds.  Congratulations, Heather! We hope you're enjoying your iPod Touch.

Here are the top ten times posted from FETC 2010:

1. Heather Thomson, Reedy Creek Elementary, 2:46
2. Stacey Rousseau, Mclaughlin Middle School, 3:13
3. Michael Biros, Florida International University, 3:37
4. John Warpenburg, Ocoee Elementary, 3:43
5. Pat Arnold, Jupiter MS of Technology, 3:52
6. Keri Zemaitis, Ocoee Elementary, 3:57
7. Missy Atkinson, Deer Lake Middle School, 4:00
8. Laurie Mallis, Westglades Middle School, 4:35
9. Amber McNew, USD 266, 4:39
10. Margaret Roberts, Ft. Pierce Central High School, 4:48

Calypso is dedicated to improving K-12 teaching and learning through affordable technology solutions.  I hope you'll take a minute to browse our site and contact us if you have any questions. You can also find our museum of forgotten school-day artifacts at www.makeiteasiertolearn.com.  It's good for a few laughs and a trip down memory lane.  If you're moved, share a few of your experiences in the blog section.

If you know anyone attending the TCEA 2010 Conference in Austin, TX, tell them to come by the Calypso Systems booth #1821 to take the challenge.  If they're fast, they could win an ipod Touch.

Throughout my adult life I’ve heard others talk with enthusiasm about their good fortune at having stumbled across “low hanging fruit”.  A metaphor (or is it a simile) almost always used in a business context, I’ve listened with envy and a bit of skepticism to stories of cash and profits effortlessly realized by those lucky enough to find themselves in the right time, at the right place, with the right product.  Part of the challenge, of course, is recognizing the opportunity for what it is when it lands in front of you.   Something that’s not always as easy as it sounds.

Here’s a tip.  Education leaders are staring directly at some seriously good and awfully low fruit, but often don’t seem to see it for what it is.

What if you had access to a device that improved test scores, reduced special education referrals, had a positive impact on teacher health and led to fewer classroom behavioral problems?  Even better, what if this mystical device required no change in your approach to curriculum or assessment, and required virtually no investment in professional development?  While we’re at it, let’s make it affordable.

Impossible?  Fantasy?  Put your Low Hanging Fruit glasses on.  The fact is, the device exists and is slowly making its way into districts and across states, though not nearly fast enough by my reckoning.  Most importantly, far too many doubts remain and it’s time to put them to rest once and for all.

Wireless classroom voice amplification delivers on all promises.  Full disclosure - I’m obviously biased since my company manufactures just such a system.  So don’t take it from me.  The volume of independent research that supports the effectiveness of sound reinforcement is overwhelming, starting with MAARS Project, the Mainstream Amplifications Resource Room Study that began in 1979 and continued in various forms through 1994.  Slice and dice the results any way you want and add in the dozens of subsequent classroom amplification research projects.  They all point to the same conclusion.  If you’re serious about improving learning outcomes and can invest in only one classroom technology, voice amplification is the answer.  Did you know, for example, that:

• 70% of all special education students fail a moderate hearing loss test?
• The 14% of all school age children fail a moderate hearing loss test are 10x more likely to repeat a grade than those who pass the test
• A district in WI showed a 40% reduction in special education referrals over a 2-year period after introducing classroom voice amplification
• Teachers using voice amplification have fewer sick days

 Think about it.  A direct link between technology and improved learning outcomes that’s affordable, sustainable and measureable.  Yet it’s still flying “under the radar”.  I’d say it’s time to get loud!

I flew into Denver this morning, just ahead of a slow-moving snow storm, and made it over to NSBA's T+L conference by mid-morning.  I'll admit to being a trade show junkie; I was looking forward to browsing the show floor, seeing what's new, eying the competition and running across some familiar faces. I was especially keen since T+L is one of the first ed tech shows of the "season", coming on the heals of the start of the new school year and the beginning of what we regard as our "marketing" season, which runs through March or so.  Also, I had never been to T+L before and wanted to get a feel for how or if it differs from the TCEA's and FETC's of the world.

The fact is, my view of this and nearly all ed tech trade shows is 90% shaped by what happens in the exhibit hall, though I'm well aware that for most attendees, the primary focus is on the presentations, round tables and break-out sessions.  The show floor is, for the most part, what they do "in between".  Still, for me, the floor is where the action and energy is, and where all the gadgets reside.  So off I went, taking voice notes as I snaked through the exhibits.  My main impressions?

Classroom voice amplification, sound reinforcement, classroom audio, sound enhancement or whatever you want to call it is everywhere.  On what was really a very small show floor, I counted four manufacturers (including Calypso Systems) promoting classroom audio and wireless microphone products.  This matches our experience in the marketplace, where more and more districts nationwide are beginning to recognize the impact of this technology on educational outcomes.  Did you know it's mandated in OH?  The fact is that classroom amplification is relatively inexpensive and, when done right, requires absolutely no training.  All that's required is a bit of enthusiasm from teachers who are willing to try something new, hang a lightweight wireless microphone around their necks, and continue doing what they were doing.  The simple act of BEING HEARD delivers the results we all want to see.  So how do the vendors differ?  Though some want to point to specs and features, the fact is that all of the systems look good, work well, sound fine and deliver results.  This is no spec race and wireless classroom microphones are quickly becoming commodities, which means prices are dropping.   The differences between manufacturers mostly have to with price and our differing approaches to classroom audio as an integrated solution (Calypso) or as a stand-alone solution (everyone else).  And don't forget about battery life!.

Off the show floor, I was fascinated and impressed to see that T+L was partnering with TED (www.ted.com) to produce a "independent TED event".  If you're not aware of TED, stop reading this, go to www.ted.com and click on any presentation that looks interesting.  For the most part, they are all (a) about 20 minutes long and (b) absolutely fascinating.   As they put it, TED is about "Ideas Worth Spreading" and consists of "Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world".  Really, if you've never listened to a TED presentation, you're in for a treat.  Still, I've never heard of a TED collaboration with any other organization, so was thrilled to see the connection to T+L and made my way to the session, not knowing what to expect.  Unfortunately I was able to stay for only about 45 minutes of the 2.5 hour session, so I don't know if the effort worked as hoped and planned.  A crowded room of about 150 people viewed a TED presentation by personal computing visionary Alan Kay that focused on better teaching techniques using computers (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alan_kay_shares_a_powerful_idea_about_ideas.html).  We were then asked to write down responses to several questions about what we just saw.  I had time to write only one response, this to the question of whether the presentation was relevant to the future of education (I'm paraphrasing).  Though the video is well worth your while, and entertaining to boot, my answer was "yes, of course".  I continued that the problem in education has nothing to do with a shortage of ideas about where we ought to go.  As far as I can tell, there's broad consensus, or at least arguments among a number of worthy choices.  The challenge, of course, is how to get there.