Jefferson Parish, as the largest school district in Louisiana, with 81 schools, over 40,000 students, and 6,400 employees, partners with Promethean and AXI Education Solutions (now Trafera) to future-proof their technology investment for the entire district.
When the federal CARES Act was passed, bringing a windfall of funds that could be used to invest in new technology for the district, the largest school district in Louisiana picked Promethean and AXI Education Solutions as their partners for the future. Jefferson Parish School district had already been using Promethean products but the district leadership still weighed their options carefully. The technology director even went so far to ask to see a panel that had been completely taken apart.
“The Promethean product was hands down superior to any of the other products that were offered… I could tell by the way it was put together that it was a quality product.”
Frank Cambas, Technology director, Jefferson Parish Schools
Partner for the present and the future
There were several other non-negotiable factors that the district leadership was looking for in order to future proof their investment:
- Hybrid learning capabilities
- Dedicated Customer Support
- Professional Development
Hybrid Learning
A district with 81 schools, over 40,000 students, and 6,400 employees needs to be able to rely on solutions that are flexible enough to provide minimum interruptions in case the students need to participate in remote learning or a mix of both – in-person and virtual. Promethean ActivPanel, with its screensharing capabilities, allows students and teachers to share content regardless of the students learning in class or from home.
“The COVID scenario is moving us so much more quickly towards virtual learning. The current panel is capable of keeping up with what the need is. Being able to handle the virtual students at home while face to face with students in the class… I think that’s very impressive.”
Frank Cambas, Technology director, Jefferson Parish Schools
Customer Support
2,900 classrooms fitted with ActivPanels pose unique logistical challenges when it comes to maintenance and management of such a large number of units. AXI Education Solutions, in Louisiana, had the experience and the capacity to provide technical support, not only during the implementation, but long after all units had been installed. Since the beginning of 2021, AXI’s tech support have handled successfully over 170 support requests for Jefferson Parish in a timely manner, despite of global pandemic shortages and other familiar challenges.
Professional Development
The district placed a major emphasis on professional development and required teachers to demonstrate their ability to use their panel. AXI Education Solutions was already an established professional development brand with their own successful PD, an online platform with 20,000 users, and courses available 24/7 to the teachers at their fingertips 360pd.com. A comprehensive online training program was developed and over 6,000 teachers were uploaded into the platform with access to custom content made available for Jefferson Parish Schools. They were able to start their training courses immediately. Once a teacher has earned a certificate at the end of the course, the certificate is printed and placed in a clear plastic holder and posted outside the teacher’s classroom.