The way we look at it is that we can’t help increase innovation with technology if we don’t build partnerships with a variety of organizations. The obvious approach would be to go out and sell ourselves to as many schools as possible. We’ve realized, however, that there are many, many more ways to help children build the skills they need. So, we’ve cultivated partnerships in a number of different spaces in an effort to allow kids access to skill-building tools whether they’re in the classroom or not.
Girl Scouts of America
STEM education is no longer confined to the classroom and to the school day. So many afterschool programs are turning their focus to helping children develop STEM skills through a number of different approaches, including hands-on activities, competitions, and fun. That brings us to the Girl Scouts—an organization, based solely on name recognition, that we are absolutely thrilled to partner with. We have worked closely with local Girl Scouts troops in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York and look to continue expanding this partnership in the coming months. Since the importance of STEM is everywhere, it’s key that kids have the chance to continue refining their skills both during and after school.
The Girls Scouts are an ideal non-academic partner for us because they are committed to preparing kids for real-life challenges, just like we are. And, what’s the best way to help prepare them? By giving them access to technology tools. This access, especially if they are unable to get it in the classroom, allows girls the opportunity to build an interest in the STEM fields and refine some of the most important skills. They are excited about partnering with us because we can recommend STEM tools that they are able to use in their meetings to give kids beneficial challenges and the opportunity to solve problems creatively. Plus, our money-saving programs are still in play and we are able to save them a lot of money when they purchase these tools in bulk.
Not only do we provide troops with the EdTech to help enhance their meetings, we can help them in other ways, too. Like giving them a plan for using tech to its full potential, for instance. One of our other contributions to the Girl Scouts is creating activities for the girls to complete with the different technologies. Having a clear objective with fleshed out steps is just as beneficial to them here as it would be in the classroom. As we alluded to, we could not be more excited to partnering with an organization with such a fantastic reputation and one that remains committed to preparing children for life. Like us, they have come to realize that this means more hands-on opportunities and the presence of technology, which, of course, we’re more than happy to help with!
New England ISTE
If you’re a technology-loving educator, there’s little doubt that you’ve heard of ISTE—the International Society for Technology in Education. They have a huge nationwide presence and have helped educators make huge strides in adopting technology in their classrooms. ISTE has even created its own set of standards, which are now widely considered to be necessary in 21st century education since they focus on empowering students and creating learning environments that will help them thrive in the future. Oh, and there’s that other thing they do—their annual ISTE conference, which is attended by thousands of educators and innovative EdTech companies every summer. We were lucky enough to attend as an exhibitor for the first time this past June and that’s what brings us to our next partner—the New England chapter of ISTE.
ISTE has a number of subsections that focus on specific regions of the country. At ISTE 2017, we were able to join members of the New England ISTE chapter, who hosted a pre-conference event on San Antonio’s River Walk the night before it began. It’s just another example of how we work with innovative education companies to provide educators with access to the most important contemporary teaching tools. Back up in New England, we’ve partnered with NE ISTE at various events, including one they hosted at Gillette Stadium last spring. Partners like this help us reach various educators who are members of NE ISTE, which allows us to help them decide on the best tech for their classrooms and provide them with a place to purchase it.
New England ISTE and their members strive to provide the education systems within New England with a forum to support statewide tech implementation, Within NE ISTE, there are additional subsections that represent most New England states as well. In addition to our partnership with NE ISTE, we’re very excited to now have a direct relationship with the NHSTE, which was just completed recently! This will allow us to work directly with educators from the Granite state and help them get technology into their schools for less. In fact, we just spent this past Tuesday exhibiting and presenting at their Everyone Can Code workshop in Bedford, NH, which was very exciting due in large part to the slew of enthusiastic attendees. We very much value these partnerships—both old and new—and look forward to keeping them growing!
MCIU
Sorry if you’re thinking that we should stop throwing all these random acronyms at you. MCIU stands for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, which is an organization that works with schools in Pennsylvania to get their students the latest technologies. After attending an event in Pennsylvania a while back, we met members of the MCIU and realized that we had many of the same goals. A partnership was quickly formed and it has led to a number of beneficial opportunities for both sides. Not only are we a resource for their educators to find the EdTech they need for their specific teaching requirements, we’ve also created a private portal for MCIU users, in which they can search for tech tools, share reviews and projects, and collaborate amongst each other to boost various 21st century teaching skills.
The MCIU provides dynamic programs and services to its teachers and students, including workshops, academies, and other offerings. Eduporium attended MCIU’s Maker Learning Resource Fair in March 2017, which promoted the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in building 21st century skills, leading to the establishment of this partnership. This relationship has allowed the MCIU to strengthen their capacity around STEM education and the integration of EdTech tools into the curriculum. By partnering, their professional development has been taken to the next level with relevant, experiential learning. The MCIU even went on to apply for Eduporium’s quarterly EdTech grant and was selected as the winner in June, leading to the finalization of the partnership the following month. The technology tools awarded to MCIU will go towards stocking their new makerspace and they are seeing firsthand how we can recommend and provide all the tools they need in one convenient place.
As this relationship continues to grow, we see a lot of potential for helping these educators enhance their programs using technology like 3D printers, robotics, and even virtual reality. Since educators can get everything they need in terms of STEM solutions from us—basically like a one-stop shop for innovative education and they needed some specific tools, we knew exactly what to recommend. As partners, we will work with the MCIU to leverage educational technology to better provide teachers with the means to help students reach their full potential. They want to bolster their STEM programs by giving their teachers access to a wide variety of tools—the tools that we research, know, and have in our store, so it’s really a win-win. If you want this kind of access to the latest STEM tools and discounts for your educators, we love creating new partnerships with schools, districts, and educational service agencies—just reach out any time!
OCM BOCES
In Massachusetts, they have organizations called “collaboratives,” which are basically groups of district leaders who serve the students in that district. They are also sometimes referred to as Educational Service Agencies or ESA’s. Well, in New York, they have what are called BOCES, which stands for Board of Cooperative Educational Services. These BOCES comprise the majority of the state and seem to have a fierce presence in upstate New York in particular. They are great assets for schools and teachers because they’re the ones who help get technology into their classrooms. Not only do they research it and find the best products for kids to learn with, they’re the ones who are actually making the purchases, so you can see why we love working with them!
That and the fact they they are responsible for one of our biggest orders EVER! Back in the spring of 2016, they came to us and outlined a plan for implementing STEM tools in every grade level of their school system—from Pre-K all the way up through Grade 12. And, they didn’t want just one kind of technology or something different for each grade. They wanted bundles—bundles broken down by discipline and different products for different ages. This led to the start of a great relationship. Sure, we appreciated the order, but, more importantly, we got the chance to show that no matter how big the goals of a school system are, we can create a customized solution just for them! We have learned a lot since the launch of this partnership and we certainly have their faith in us to thank for that!
This faith has allowed us to create a mutually beneficial partnership and the 19 bundles we built for them are at the center of it. We began the creation process by deciding which products we wanted to include. Some we already had in our store and others we had to track down in order to create bundles that would flow perfectly. Once we decided on a list of products (pretty much all of ours and some new ones sprinkled in), we began dividing them by grade level, creating a place (or two) for each product to land. The grade level breakdown, after some debate, wound up being PK-K, Grades 1-3, Grades 3-6, Grades 6-8. and Grades 9-12, giving us a comfortable number of five levels in all. Then, came the tougher task of placing products into the most advantageous grade level, made a bit more complicated by their versatility and ability to be used at almost any level of learning. This solution ended up working wonders for their students. though, and something like this could help enhance learning in your school, too! Please contact us at any time if you would like more info.
Assabet Valley Collaborative
We mentioned that in Massachusetts, our educational partners are sometimes referred to as “collaboratives.” They help serve a larger pool of schools and students, sometimes an entire district and sometimes more. The Assabet Valley Collaborative is located only about an hour from us, which gives us the opportunity to collaborate a fair amount. Like many of our other partners, they hold events in which parents come to their schools to get a glimpse into what their children have been working on. At these events, which sometimes feature some of the products on our store, we bring all our best stuff and set up a small booth for them to learn more about us and, more importantly, how we can help their children. It’s a win-win as parents feel comforted that their kids are getting expert-enabled instruction and we get to introduce our name to a new audience.
The Assabet Valley Collaborative is committed to empowering students through the power of partnerships, much like we are committed to empowering kids through the power of technology. They help individual students as well as their families overcome some of the common obstacles in 21st century education by providing some of the latest tools that help enhance learning. And, where do they get those tools? A lot of the time, they come to us and take advantage of their educator discount opportunity. Whether it’s bundling a custom solution for them or just selling based on individual need, we’re very much excited about this partnership. The collaborative ensures that teachers are getting the best tech products in the hands of their students and we help when it comes to making a good deal of those recommendations.
Along with appearing at school events, we have also teamed up with AV to host various workshops for both their teachers and students. We are a certified professional development provider in the state of Massachusetts, which allows us to host workshops or travel to schools and hold them there. In our teacher workshops, we instruct educators on how to use various STEM tools in their teaching and what skills they should be trying to teach with them. In our student workshops, we give kids the opportunity to get hands-on with new technologies and give them the opportunities to creatively solve problems using these new tools. With the confidence in us we’ve seen from the AV Collaborative, we’ve come to believe that these workshops are a great way to introduce new technology into teaching—and the best part is they’re open to anyone!
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