MountainView Whisman School District, California adopts SmartEdPad – a Dedicated Intervention Pad

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Feb. 28, 2014 - PRLog -- SpEd K12 Inc today announced that Mountain View Whisman School District (MVWSD) has purchased 80 SmartEdPad for its classrooms and trained their instructional staff. SmartEdPad was earlier called as SPED Pad. Demonstrating great trust and confidence in SmartEdPad, the MVWSD board unanimously approved the deal to realize and expedite the vision of “Education for the World Ahead” by transforming special education in every classroom using mobility technology.

Located in the Silicon Valley and serving 5000 students, MVWSD aspires to prepare all children for the world ahead by challenging, inspiring, and supporting students to thrive in a world of constant change.   “To achieve this goal, we knew we had to challenge the status-quo. The traditional method of classroom education isn’t enough and modern technology like the tablets address only part of the problem.  We wanted a solution that results in measurable, predicable, scalable and sustainable educational outcomes.   There wasn’t a single solution that met all our needs until we found SmartEdPad”, said Director of Special Education, Cynthia Loleng-Perez.

“We have stories of school districts that haven’t achieved measurable benefits by rushing to buy tablet devices.   We knew from the beginning buying a few tablets and loading it with a few dozen apps doesn’t solve the problem. This is just because we wanted our mobility device strategy to align with our educational ecosystem.   It must align with Common Core State Standards, align with IEP goals for a student, align with RTI process and most importantly be a dedicated educational solution that changes the way teachers teach and students learn.  SmartEdPad met all our needs”, continued Cynthia Loleng-Perez.

Commenting on this, Pradeesh Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer of SpEd K12 Inc, the creators of SmartEdPad remarked “Many school districts invest in mobile technology, but will likely not all see measurable results from these investments.  Such district staffs spend hours searching for appropriate apps. Unfortunately, because it takes time to access the correct technology, manage multiple devices, and locate the best therapy or reporting tools, districts see limited success for all parties, and the learning curve may be steep.  Prior to launching SmartEdPad, we did years of research in delivering better educational services.  By combining the recommendations from special education professionals with the knowledge of technology experts, we developed an “all in one” SmartEdPad solution on a tablet that provides therapy intervention and instruction materials as well as an efficient framework and system for meeting documentation and recordkeeping requirements. All in an easily transportable package at a reasonable price point!”

“We designed the SmartEdPad as a therapy resource and educational tool. Screens and content on tablets and mobile devices often distract students, especially if used by districts for work and personal use and the SmartEdPad eliminates these distractions. SmartEdPad has a unique advantage over other tablets or mobile devices offering schools and districts the ability to customize so students only have access to relevant apps. SmartEdPad brings together the benefits of the computer, therapy materials, and tablet all in one and is off-the-shelf and ready to use”, continued Pradeesh Thomas.

“We listened to current users of SmartEdPad.  Therapists, teachers and parents who accessed this solution have great reviews on not just the effectiveness of SmartEdPad, but the support, training and supplementary services that comes along with the solution.  We don’t have to go behind multiple hardware OEMs or add expensive IT management costs with SmartEdPad”, said Director of Special Education, Cynthia Loleng-Perez.

Before we launched SmartEdPad, we conducted an independent case study to obtain and analyze feedback from a cohort of professionals who used SmartEdPad as a supplemental resource tool in their therapy service programs.  Jean L. Blosser, EdD, CCC-SLP who is a nationally recognized expert, author, and speaker on issues related to effective school-based therapy service delivery and special education practices and Holly Kaiser, MA, CCC-SLP who has co-founded a national private practice providing related services to schools and has held leadership roles in the CSHA and ASHA  conducted this independent exercise.  We are very encouraged by the survey and I quote “SmartEdPad proved to be a valuable supplemental resource tool for a cohort of SLPs who find themselves challenged by the demands of their school therapy roles and responsibilities. The device promotes efficient and effective use of therapists’ time and technology. SpEd K-12’s interest in obtaining feedback from front-line users combined with the company’s technological expertise can only result in a leading edge solution to a long-standing problem”, said Pradeesh Thomas.

Note: SmartEdPad was called as SPED Pad earlier.

For more information on SmartEdPad, visithttp://www.smartedpad.com/
For more information on MVWSD, visithttp://www.mvwsd.org/
To access the independent case study on SmartEdPad, visithttp://www.smartedpad.com/resources

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