Val Verde Unified School District Uses Splashtop Classroom and Mirroring360

Val Verde leapfrogged its inflexible and expensive SMART Boards and Interwrite tablets by using Splashtop and equipping teachers with iPads and students with Chromebooks.

About Val Verde Unified School District

The Val Verde Unified School District (VVUSD) is located in Riverside County, California. It serves a diverse community of nearly 20,000 students in grades K-12 with twenty-one schools, including twelve elementary schools, four middle schools, two comprehensive high schools, one alternative education school, a virtual academy, and a growing preschool program in four elementary schools. VVUSD has received recognition from numerous state and national organizations including:

• Winner of the National Blue Ribbon School award

• California Business for Education Excellence award

• Multiple California Distinguished School awards

• Recognition from the Education Trust West for its success in improving the education outcomes for high poverty minority students

• Advanced Placement District of the Year Award

VVUSD continues to innovate in teaching and curriculum delivery. It serves all its students by combining excellent teaching with exceptional technology.

The Val Verde Unified School District uses technology effectively to support teaching and learning at all levels for a standards-based curriculum. VVUSD recognized early on that tablets, combined with apps, created a very effective teaching and learning platform. Now, they are extending the power of that technology with new Splashtop products.

The Challenge

Val Verde needed to upgrade its classroom technology. SMART Interactive Whiteboards were inflexible, required a lot of PD and tied the teacher to the front of the room. Interwrite tablets were difficult to use and were expensive to maintain. Some schools use Apple TV, but the cost and cabling involved in connecting them to older projectors and monitors—and not supporting Chromebooks—makes that solution impractical.

The Solution

Val Verde uses Splashtop Classroom and Mirroring360. This enables teachers to display and annotate lesson content on their PCs from anywhere in the room by using their iPads—and then easily share that content with students iPads and Chromebooks. Students can then mirror their own device screens with the class.

Splashtop software is centrally deployed, and integrated with Active Directory, eliminating hours of cabling and user set-up. The system is flexible so Val Verde can use existing—as well as support new—devices.

Mirroring360 saves 4 months of installation costs and allows schools to choose the device they want

Mirroring360 makes technological and fiscal sense. Because Mirroring360 is device-agnostic, each school is free to choose the devices that make most sense for their students. They are not constrained by compatibility issues between tablets and laptops and older projection and display systems. VVUSD saves money because Mirroring360 can be centrally deployed. There is no need for a technician to install cabling in 800 classrooms. A cost analysis predicted it would take 1 employee over 4 months to install Apple TVs!

“Splashtop creates enthusiasm; it gets to the heart of what common core is calling for. Technology like this is a force multiplier in education.”
– Michael R. McCormick, Assistant Superintendent of Ed Services

“Splashtop is a remarkable tool for improving teaching and classroom management … leave the desktop computer behind and mingle with the students while still controlling – and annotating over – the content …. then allow students to mirror their screen to the class.”
– Chris Parsons, 5th grade teacher, Columbia Elementary

Learn more about Splashtop Classroom and Mirroring360. Also, check out all of Splashtop’s remote access tools for education.

Splashtop Classroom and Mirroring 360 allow teachers to:

• Provide a rich interactive experience so teachers can use an application or lesson content then annotate

• Move comfortably around the classroom, free from cables

• Access all their computer files, in any software or format

• Better support common core initiatives

• Seamlessly combine admin tasks with classroom activities

Splashtop Classroom and Mirroring 360 allow students to:

• Engage more deeply with course content and with their peers

• Collaborate with classmates and share what they learn

• Develop 21st century skills as content creators and presenters

• Participate in small group, project-based learning

• Display content from any computer or tablet they are using

With Splashtop Classroom, students become presenters, sharing techniques and processes with one another

Splashtop Classroom enhances teachers’ and students’ experiences. Teachers can share lesson content from their tablets, and invite students to use their own devices to comment on and annotate the content. As a result, students are more enthusiastic about their lessons and more attentive to their teachers and peers.

For second language learners, the annotations bring up the comprehensible input and effectively bridge ideas and language.

When appropriate, students become presenters, sharing techniques and processes with one another. This fulfills the common core goal of demonstrating not just factual knowledge, but complex thought processes.