EdTech Show Daily

New York Life Foundation Grants $300,000 To Fundación EDUCA

Fundación EDUCA announced that it was awarded a three-year, $300,000 grant from the New York Life Foundation to support the improvement of operations and instruction in schools throughout Mexico. This is the first grant New York Life Foundation has made to an internationally based nonprofit.

“We are grateful to the New York Life Foundation for supporting our efforts to dramatically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of schools as we positively impact thousands of children throughout Mexico,” says Ana Paula Ortega, General Manager of Fundación EDUCA. “This grant will allow us to continue to enhance the educational experience of underserved students throughout Mexico and give teachers and staff the tools and programs they need to help their students lead more productive lives.”

Seguros Monterrey New York Life, New York Life’s wholly owned Mexican subsidiary, has been a significant supporter of EDUCA since 2001. New York Life Foundation’s grant will build upon this existing relationship and provide additional resources to support EDUCA’s work.

Established in 1996, Fundación EDUCA’s mission is to strengthen community schools to improve their educational quality and achieve self-sufficiency. EDUCA offers administrative, financial and pedagogical support to nonprofit schools to improve K-12 education in Mexico. These nonprofit institutions provide primary and secondary schooling as well as nutrition education, parental counseling, medical care, psychological assistance, homework help, daycare, adult literacy, job training (for parents) and more. EDUCA supports 44 educational institutions located in 8 States in Mexico: Baja California Sur, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Nuevo León and Mexico City. Annually, they serve over 15,000 children, 24,000 adults and over 700 teachers.

Harness The "Power of Projection' With ViewSonic

Responding to customer requests for more display options, ViewSonic Corp. unveiled three lightweight projectors to satisfy the large-screen needs of education and enterprise users. The PJD6220, PJD6230 and PJD6240 further expand and diversify ViewSonic’s projector portfolio to bring greater portability and varying levels of brightness to DLP® projection technology, ideal for everything from educating tomorrow’s future to rallying a sales force.

The 62 Series projectors combine a 1024x768 native resolution and 2000:1 contrast ratio with brightness of 2,300 (PJD6220), 2,700 (PJD6230) and 3,200 (PJD6240) lumens to provide sharp images and natural color, even in sunny classrooms. Presentations come to life with 2x5-watt, built-in speakers, while optimum connectivity is possible with RGB, composite and S-Video input capabilities. The projectors also include a closed captioning function to accommodate the needs of the hearing impaired.

“These new releases further solidify ViewSonic’s leadership in the projector market,” said Jeff Volpe, vice president of Global Brand and Emerging Technologies, ViewSonic. “As our complete line of LCD and DLP projectors demonstrates, ViewSonic works to satisfy a diverse range of presentation demands – from on-the-go presenters to teachers and theater enthusiasts.”

For more ViewSonic projector information or to locate an authorized ViewSonic dealer, visit www.viewsonic.com/projectors.

NEC Star Student Program Fuels More Projector Purchases

NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading standalone provider of professional LCD and plasma displays and projectors, announced today that Southern Business Communications Group (SBCG) is offering customers a chance to double their NEC Star Student rebates. SBCG will contribute a dollar-for-dollar match in conjunction with the Star Student program.

NEC’s Star Student initiative, unveiled earlier this year, provides schools with cash-back rewards for the purchase of NEC display, projector and interactive whiteboard products. NEC mails debit cards containing the cash directly to schools. SBCG matches NEC’s Star Student benefits by deducting dollars directly off of school invoices, and the savings may be spent however the schools choose.

“SBCG is capitalizing on the Star Student program in a big way by increasing the incentives for schools,” said Ashley Flaska, Vice President of Marketing at NEC Display. “NEC is committed to our channel partners and the education community, and we will continue to provide both with innovative tools for success.”

Bulloch County Public Schools in Georgia is among the institutions taking advantage of the Star Student program. The school district has purchased more than 75 NEC projectors for ceiling mounting and is using the Star Student program benefits to acquire numerous spare bulbs at no additional cost.

“We’re thrilled to offer this additional incentive to help districts as they begin their new school years,” said Steve Cone, Director of Marketing for SBCG. “The real value of the Star Student program is that the rewards can be used as schools see fit to best serve their students.”

To enroll in the Star Student program, schools must register online at www.necstarstudent.com.

Follett Signs Four Publishers to eBook Distribution Agreements

-Follett Digital Resources, the premier provider of digital solutions to help publishers and educators meet the needs of 21st century learners, announced the signing of four additional publishers to eBook distribution agreements, bringing to 46,900 the total number of K-12 and public library titles available for purchase online through parent company Follett’s popular ecommerce sites, Titlewave (www.titlewave.com) and Titletales (www.titletales.com).

The four are: Tyndale House Publishers of Carol Stream, Ill., Compendium Publishing of London (UK), Trudy Corporation - Sound Prints of Norwalk, Conn., and WestEd of Los Alamitos, Calif. The agreements mean these publishers’ digital titles now are in front of 60,000 schools and libraries.

“Our eBook distribution platform is trusted and tested by hundreds of publishers and thousands of users,” saiys Follett Digital Resources COO Michael Johnson. “We’ve taken our years of experience working with publishers, K-12 schools and libraries, and created an eBook distribution system closely resembling Follett’s traditional book distribution model. We are pleased to have these publishers join our growing list of more than 180 publishers whose eBooks Follett sells through its K-12 and public library channels.”

Learn more at www.follettdigital.com.