重新考虑远程教育

在这些艰难的时期，孩子们必须处理很多他们没有准备好的东西：大量的教育损失，损坏的GPA以及无法保证秋天会回来。

但是，由于学校已经实施了成熟的，易于实施的，由教师为教师设计的远程程序，因此有些学校能够进行调整。那是因为某些学区的学生数量很大，他们在地理上分布广泛，或者由于其他原因无法上学。

这些学校部署了 LanSchool，这是联想最近（也许是预言性的）购买的鲜为人知的工具和服务。结果，他们做得很好。

我们将分享有关这种教育方法的一些观察结果，并在本周的最后一篇产品中闭幕：联想的新型VR耳机，可提供用于教育所需的性能和耐用性。

远程教育的问题

面对意外的锁定，许多学校唯一可以使用的唯一工具就是Zoom，尽管使用起来非常简单，但事实证明它是不安全的。Zoom的另一个问题是，它从未被设计成一种教育解决方案，它只允许一个人与许多其他人远程对话。

无疑是问题的一部分。为了使孩子们集中注意力并对远程课程感兴趣，至关重要的是拥有超越普通交流的工具，以帮助教师确保更好的学生注意力和表现。

远程教育的问题与在家工作有关，但有一些例外。学生通常不那么成熟，并且大多数人缺乏成年人的注意力。他们没有职业或收入可担心的地方，因此，通常来说，他们往往不太专注于完成任务。

使用像Zoom这样的解决方案（仅是一种交流工具），这些课程很可能无法正常运行，因为学生没有参与其中。在教室里表现出来的水平实际上使上课几乎是不可能的，更不用说灌输任何知识了。

科技公司向学校出售产品，但它们通常不会创建针对性的教育工具。通常，他们出售的PC的价格相对于市场价格较低，但由学校自行指定，除此之外，参与度不高。

缺乏参与使这些公司在学校不得不转向远程操作时很难提供有效的帮助，因为他们的答案通常是购买新的Windows PC，Chromebook或iPad。尽管这些工具对于远程学习至关重要，但远未达到应有的解决方案。

缺乏参与度说明了为什么这么多学校在尝试远程操作后放弃了。他们的程序无效。

缺乏参与也可能影响教育市场的销售。联想提出了收购一家由教师为教师创建的公司LanSchool的想法，并将其产品卖给学校以增加参与度。联想意识到，虽然技术在学校中变得越来越普及，但OEM厂商并没有迅速了解影响教育的变化，也没有有效地定位。

近年来，教育方法发生了很大变化。教师的职责已经从教学的核心STEM转变为帮助学生发展生活技能，例如批判性思维，协作和数字素养。（学校还在教孩子们使用技术-这意味着，老年人通常会更多地依靠年轻人来帮助他们使他们的技术发挥作用。）

联想还从市场数据中了解到，学校正在迁移到云中以降低成本并提高安全性。他们已经知道学校在K-12中大量使用Chromebook（普及率达到16％），但是购买存在问题。当许多学校最近试图立即购买PC时，他们发现自己买不到。

LanSchool方法

LanSchool是教室编排解决方案提供商。教室编排远远超出了托管硬件，它涵盖了教育的各个方面。LanSchool是一个完整的产品，它是从头开始创建的，专门用于解决学区和教师面临的远程学习问题。处于问题中间的老师们开发了这种方法。

这些老师，特别是在灾难地区的老师，学到了保持连续性至关重要的艰难方法。他们的经验使他们有资格设立一个计划，以确保学校不仅保持运营，而且保持有效的独特资格。

LanSchool在全球拥有1200万用户。它在75多个国家/地区运营，并支持14种语言。由于其国际范围，从必须早期转移到偏远地区的学校以及从那些已经回到传统模式的学校汲取的经验教训已经跨越国界传播，以帮助其他人更好地做好准备。

许多使用该系统的老师表示，对他们来说，最大的好处是，他们觉得自己又像老师一样，而不是像保姆那样失败。

该程序中的软件使教师能够在这些新的虚拟教室中加速技术的应用。通过结合使用交互工具和安全监控，它避免了积极的行为管理，从而在指令和技术之间取得了不错的平衡。

有趣的是，基于教师的推荐，它非常易于使用，从而消除了对技术的恐惧，解放了教师专注于教学的过程。

该解决方案的各个组成部分包括一个全面，安全的通信套件，用于通过各种媒介进行个人和团体通信。老师甚至可以远程控制学生的硬件，进行诸如阻止网站，在行为不当时遮盖屏幕或只是引起他们的注意等操作。

协作工具包括易于使用的屏幕共享，数字资料分发，测验和民意测验管理，以及奖励学生出色表现的方法。多任务处理工具使教师可以管理多个课堂活动。有自定义选项，可以增加使用该系统的老师的独特需求。

LanSchool Air的推出是最近的一项变化，它可以更好地支持教育向云的迁移，并且特别适合学校在关闭校园的情况下继续为学生提供教育。

总结：孩子是我们最大的财富

我们的孩子是我们最大的财富，而他们因COVID-19遭受重创。随着其他所有戏剧的进行，很容易忘记我们还没有准备好让我们的孩子重返校园。我们知道，我们在春季末尝试的大多数远程学习转变都失败了。我们可以假设，除非更加有力地解决问题，否则在没有更好的工作工具的情况下再次尝试将产生类似的结果。

学区突然冒出子弹，应该考虑使用LanSchool这样的方法。独自应对远程学习挑战的努力可能会增加再次失败的可能性。

虚拟现实头戴式耳机大多是垃圾，安装复杂，价格高且分辨率低。它们还具有不够强壮的“好处”。换句话说，他们四面八方。

现在，VR对于教育至关重要，因为头戴式耳机使学生与老师之间的联系更加紧密，而老师可以完全控制学生所看到和听到的内容。如果您需要更深入地参与并吸引年轻学生的注意力，那么VR解决方案必不可少。

但是，如果头戴式耳机的光学器件质量低下，则儿童将无法长时间佩戴它-您也不会希望他们佩戴。如果头戴式耳机易碎，则作为孩子的孩子会终止使用。简而言之，市场上的大多数头戴式耳机都会吸纳他们应该做的事情，并且会中断做这件事，但这可能是一个积极的功能。

Lenovo Mirage VR S3专为专业市场而设计。它对于多个用户而言足够坚固，具有与同类最佳（4K）一致的光学性能，并且具有根据人体工程学设计的免提控件，可以由年轻或老人的手握住。

它是无线的，因此没有电线断裂或绊倒。它具有卫生的面板-目前对于多个用户来说至关重要-集成的声音和三个小时的电池寿命。在VR中停留三个小时以上不是一个好主意。

价格为450美元，不超过我们在消费市场上看到的廉价VR耳机的价格。因为Lenovo Mirage VR S3耳机是教育市场的绝佳工具，所以它是本周的产品。（现在您可以证明得到一个。）

In these trying times, kids have to deal with a lot of stuff they weren't prepared for: a significant loss of weeks of education, damaged GPAs, and no assurance they'll be going back in the fall.

However, some schools were able to pivot because they already had implemented remote programs that were mature, easily implemented, and designed by teachers for teachers. That's because some school districts have a critical mass of students who are widely spread geographically, or for other reasons can't make it to school.

These schools deployed LanSchool, a little known tool and service that Lenovo recently -- perhaps prophetically -- bought. As a result, they are doing fine.

I'll share some observations about this approach to education and close with my product of the week: Lenovo's new VR Headset that offers the performance and ruggedness needed for use in education.

The Problem With Remote Education

Faced with an unanticipated lockdown, the only tool many schools could use readily was something like Zoom, which turned out to be woefully unsecure even though it was impressively easy to use. Another issue with Zoom is that it was never designed to be an education solution -- it merely allows one person to talk remotely with many others.

That undoubtedly is part of the problem. To keep kids focused and interested in remote lessons, it's critical to have tools that go beyond ordinary communications to help teachers ensure better student attention and performance.

The problems with remote schooling are similar to those associated with working from home, with a few exceptions. Students usually aren't as mature, and most lack the attention span of an adult. They don't have their careers to or income to worry about, so they tend to be less focused, in general, on accomplishing their tasks.

With a solution like Zoom, which is just a communications tool, it's likely that the lessons won't work, because the students aren't engaged. The level of acting out in the classroom will make it virtually impossible to hold class, let alone instill any knowledge.

Tech companies sell to schools, but they typically don't create focused educational tools. Generally, they sell PCs that are priced lower for the market but are specified by the school itself, and there isn't much engagement beyond that.

Lack of engagement makes it difficult for those companies to offer effective help when a school has to pivot to remote operations, because their answers typically will be to buy new Windows PCs, Chromebooks or iPads. While these tools are critical to remote learning, they fall well short of what a solution should be.

Lack of engagement speaks to why so many schools, after trying to operate remotely, gave up. Their programs weren't working.

Lack of engagement likely impacted sales to the education market as well. Lenovo came up with the idea of buying a company -- LanSchool, created by teachers for teachers -- and selling its product to schools to increase engagement. Lenovo realized that while technology was becoming more prevalent in schools, the OEMs weren't advancing as quickly in understanding the changes affecting education and weren't positioning effectively.

Approaches to education have changed a great deal in recent years. Teachers' responsibilities have shifted from teaching core STEM to helping students develop life skills like critical thinking, collaboration and digital literacy. (Schools also are teaching kids to use technology -- which means that older folks typically will rely more on younger ones to help them get their tech to work.)

Lenovo also knows from market data that schools were moving to the cloud to reduce costs and improve security. They already knew that schools were using Chromebooks heavily in K-12 (16 percent penetration) but that purchasing was problematic. When many schools recently tried to buy PCs at once, they found they were unable to.

The LanSchool Approach

LanSchool is a classroom orchestration solution provider. Classroom orchestration goes well beyond managed hardware to include all aspects of education. LanSchool is a complete offering that was created from scratch over time, specifically to address the problems school districts and teachers faced with remote learning. The teachers who were in the middle of the problems developed the approach.

Those teachers, particularly in disaster areas, learned the hard way that continuity was essential. Their experiences made them uniquely qualified to set up a program designed to ensure that schools not only stayed operational but also remained effective.

LanSchool has 12 million global users. It operates in 75-plus countries, and supports 14 languages. Thanks to its international scope, lessons learned both from schools that had to shift to remote early, as well as from those that have shifted back to their traditional models, have propagated across borders to help others prepare better.

Many teachers using the system have expressed that the most significant benefit to them is that they feel like teachers again instead of like failing babysitters.

The software in the program empowers teachers to accelerated the application of technology in these new virtual classrooms. It avoids the need for aggressive behavior management by using a combination of interaction tools and security monitoring, providing a decent balance between instruction and technology.

What is interesting is that based on teacher testimonials, it is so easy to use that it takes the fear of technology out of the process, liberating teachers to focus on teaching.

Individual components of the solution include a comprehensive, secure communications suite for personal and group communications across a variety of mediums. The teacher can even control the students' hardware remotely, doing things like blocking websites and blanking their screens when they are misbehaving, or just to get their attention.

Collaboration tools include easy-to-use screen sharing, digital material distribution, quiz and poll administration, and methods to reward students for outstanding work. Multitasking tools enable teachers to manage multiple classroom activities. There are customization options to addree the unique needs of the teacher using the system.

One recent change was the launch of LanSchool Air, which better supports education's move to the cloud and is particularly well suited for schools to continue providing students with an education despite having to shut down their campuses.

Wrapping Up: Kids Are Our Greatest Asset

Our kids are our greatest asset, and they have been hard hit by COVID-19. With all of the other drama going on, it is easy to forget that we are not ready for our kids to return to school. We know that most of the remote learning shifts that we attempted at the end of spring failed. We can assume that unless the problem is approached more capably, trying again without better working tools will have a similar outcome.

School districts suddenly sweating bullets should consider an approach like LanSchool. Efforts to meet the challenges of remote learning on their own could increase the odds of another failure.

Virtual reality headsets mostly have been junk, with complex installations, high prices and low resolution. They have the added "benefit" of not being very robust either. In other words, they sucked on all fronts.

Now VR is essential to education, because the headset ties the student more tightly to the teacher, who can control what the student sees and hears almost absolutely. If you need to engage deeply and command the full attention of younger students, a VR solution is compelling.

However, if the headset optics are of low quality, children won't be able to wear it for long -- nor would you want them to. If a headset is fragile, kids being kids will end it. In short, most headsets in the market suck at what they are supposed to do, and they'll break doing it -- but that may be a positive feature.

The Lenovo Mirage VR S3 is designed for the professional market. It is robust enough for multiple users, it has optical performance that is in line with best-in-class (4K), and it has a hands-free control that is ergonomically designed and can be held by young or old hands.

It is wireless, so there are no cords to break or trip over. It has a hygienic faceplate -- kind of critical for multiple users right now -- as well as integrated sound and three hours of battery life. It's not a good idea to stay in VR for longer than three hours.

The price is US$450, which is not that much more than the cheap VR headsets we've been seeing in the consumer market. Because the Lenovo Mirage VR S3 headset is an excellent tool for the education market, it is my product of the week. (Now you can justify getting one.)