We know My Big Campus has touched lives and made a difference for schools, teachers, students, and their families. We wanted to find out more about how our customers were benefiting from My Big Campus, so we launched a contest called "Amazing Things," where people could submit their success stories. The contest launched on September 8, 2012, and accepted entries until December 1.
We made this a "readers' choice" contest, so people could vote up their favorite entries. We closed voting on December 20, and announced the winners last week. Contest winners shared a total of $2,000 in prize money.
We were thrilled with the quality of the entries we received. Each one, in its own way, validated the vision we have for My Big Campus: to create a collaborative learning platform that provides access to resources and people that make learning engaging, fun, and real. And we truly appreciated the creativity and teamwork involved in showing how My Big Campus furthered each entrant's education goals.
To find out more about what went into creating these remarkable stories, I interviewed some of the winning entrants.
Cumberland County Middle School principal Jeffrey Dingeldein told me, "I was humbled with the outpouring of support from our school, our local community, and our social media friends. The support was ongoing from day one through the last moments of the contest." As for what Mr. Dingeldein's school plans to do with the $1000 first prize, "we are reinvesting the prize money into technology that can be utilized by our students and staff."
Kris Reed, Technology Integrator for Mecklenburg County Public Schools, talked about the Virtual Training group he created for his district: "With our division spread across an entire county, it can be hard to visit all 8 of our schools to provide training for our educators. I was able to share with other My Big Campus users what our division is doing with the Technology Corner." The contest added some benefits as well, according to Mr. Reed: "I was able to pick up many new group members from all over the country, which to me was the true prize!" The $500 prize will help make Mr. Reed 's virtual training program available for teachers at Mecklenburg County, and to My Big Campus users across the country.
Interestingly enough, ths wasn't the only winning entry from Mecklenburg County. Kristen Parris at Park View High School was a runner-up for her Childhood Hunger Research Project. This isn't the first time Ms. Parris has won an award for her work on My Big Campus -- her 2012 class project on horse rescue won a Technology Integration award from the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. Ms. Parris told our staff she'd be donating the $100 prize to to the Bread Box, the local food pantry for South Hill.
Jason Seaver from Valley Mills Elementary School in Indianapolis, IN, wrote eleoquently about a student with Autism, whose experience on My Big Campus gave him the confidence to interact online and offline with his peers. Although most of our other entrants illustrated their stories with pictures and media, Mr. Seaver's runner-up entry Autism Speaks…With My Big Campuswas a simple narrative that nevertheless touched peoples' hearts. I asked him what he thought about the win. "Thank you! I had no expectations of placing. I hope that all of the people that voted read every entry so they could see the amazing things teachers are doing with learners on My Big Campus! I am honored to be included in this group!" And we are honored to have Mr. Seaver here on My Big Campus.
I also want to congratulate the other runners-up: Together We Do Amazing Things, North Central High School, Indiana, Stop using the R-word, Marshall Simonds Middle School, Massachusetts, and My Big Campus: Our Ticket to Learning, South Vermillion Community Schools, Indiana, as well as all the other teachers, schools, and districts who shared their stories. By telling your stories in words and pictures, you've shown us your creativity and commitment to improving education.
As those of us in the USA prepare to join our families and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving, we tend to reflect on the good things that have happened to us. It's been a great year so far for us, with big and small achievements. We've worked hard, and we're proud of what we've accomplished. But none of this could have happened without your help. So, from all of us to all of you, thank you for joining and participating in our social learning environment, and making My Big Campus a fun, safe place for students and teachers.
I have a few things to tell you about today -- projects we've recently completed and new projects on the horizon.
Extended Maintenance
As you probably know, My Big Campus has grown very rapidly, from one million users last June to just over two million today. We've made significant investments in hardware and bandwidth to keep pace with our growing user base, and we continue to upgrade our capacity regularly. We'll be taking advantage of the upcoming long weekend to make some needed changes to our infrastructure, which means that My Big Campus may be offline for brief periods between 12:00 noon Pacific Time on Friday November 23 and 1:00 AM Pacific Time on Saturday November 24. Once we've completed this latest upgrade, we'll be back, better than ever.
Amazing Things Contest
We've got some great entries in our Amazing Things contest, and there's still time to submit your entries and win up to $1,000 for your school. The contest closes December 1, 2012, so don't forget to visit the Amazing Things blog and vote for your favorites.
Golden Nuggets
Our developers are constantly working on major and minor feature updates, and we like to refer to these as Golden Nuggets because of the value they add to My Big Campus. Some of the small changes we've made recently include support for non-English text throughout MBC, including wall and discussion posts, Bundles, library items, and schoolwork. There are still a few Asian languages we don't yet support, but we're working on those behind the scenes.
We've organized and improved our NROC content, which is free for everyone to test out through the end of January 2013. Teachers can search the Bundle Exchange for "NROC" to find course outlines for NROC's new Algebra course and its Advanced Placement courses. We've also added NBC Learn content to the library for you to preview--just add "nbc" to your keyword search (e.g., history nbc) , and if your school or district subscribes to NBC Learn, you can access the full content directly from My Big Campus. Both NROC and NBC Learn content may be added to your Bundles.
Over the past few weeks, we've also launched the My Big Campus Parent Portal and added iTunes content and subject-area sorting to Bundles. We've updated the iOS app to support the new Schoolwork interface, and we've extended to standalone ("Freemium") schools the full MBC functionality, including SIS imports, unlimited user counts, and unlimited file storage.
We have more Golden Nuggets to come in the next few weeks, including an updated iOS app and new Schoolwork functionality. We'll be previewing these and other new features for you in the next MBC Trainers Update webinar next week. Watch for announcements and signup information here.
Teacher and Administrator Training
I also wanted to remind you that we offer regular teacher and admin training webinars, as well as targeted training sessions on specific My Big Campus features, presented by certified My Big Campus coaches. And, for those who can't attend the live sessions, we've posted recordings of previous webinars here. If you're ready to take a break from the ball games on TV this weekend, the recorded training sessions may be just what you need.
Oh, the Places We'll Go
Lightspeed Systems staff regularly attend conferences and tradeshows to spread the word about My Big Campus and our other collaborative web filtering products. Find out where we'll be in my weekly "Oh the places" blog posts. We're always looking for new opportunities to present our products, so if you know of an event we should attend, just drop us a line at sales@lightspeedsystems.com.
Watch my Blog for news and updates and let me know in the comments if you have ideas or suggestions to improve your My Big Campus experience. For everyone celebrating US Thanksgiving, have a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend. We'll see you around campus!
I just wanted to remind everyone again that our Amazing Things contest is still open, and it's attracting some really interesting entries. Here's a recap of the contest, with instructions on how to submit, and how to vote for your favorite entries.
Do you like contests? Would you like to showcase the amazing things you're doing with My Big Campus and other Lightspeed Systems products? Would you like to win $100, $500, or even $1000 to help you do even more amazing things?
Lightspeed Systems is hosting a contest, from now until December 1, 2012, to find the best, most amazing things districts, schools, and classrooms are doing with the help of our products. We're looking for videos, essays, Bundles, podcasts, blogs, infographics, and any other creative demonstrations for our Amazing Things blog. You can view and vote on entries there, or submit your own.
Spread the word to your colleagues, staff, teachers, and administrators, and make sure you submit your entries early and often. The more votes you get, the better your chances to win! For contest rules, deadlines, and eligibility, click here. For the full press release, click here.
Do you like contests? Would you like to showcase the amazing things you're doing with My Big Campus and other Lightspeed Systems products? Would you like to win $100, $500, or even $1000 to help you do even more amazing things?
Lightspeed Systems is hosting a contest, from now until December 1, 2012, to find the best, most amazing things districts, schools, and classrooms are doing with the help of our products. We're looking for videos, essays, Bundles, podcasts, blogs, infographics, and any other creative demonstrations for our Amazing Things blog. You can view and vote on entries there, or submit your own.
Spread the word to your colleagues, staff, teachers, and administrators, and make sure you submit your entries early and often. The more votes you get, the better your chances to win! For contest rules, deadlines, and eligibility, click here. For the full press release, click here.
Even though the developers and I were busy in San Diego last week at the MBC Summer Academy, we still had time to do some work on the My Big Campus home page. Since that's the first page new users see, we wanted to make it easier for people to learn what My Big Campus can really do for students, teachers, and families. That page went live earlier this week, and we've already had some great feedback from those who've seen it.
The highlight of the new home page is our new "Amazing Things" video. In this video, a simple classroom assignment turns into an engaging online collaboration between students and their families.
We've also highlighted new and interesting content on My Big Campus: my most recent blog posts, the latest Bundles that have been published to the Exchange, and a list of resources to help school staff bring their classrooms online with training opportunities, tips, and videos.
You can think of this new home page as a preview of some of the other improvements we've planned for My Big Campus this summer. Just before we returned from San Diego, the developers gave me a glimpse of some of new things they're working on. There's still lots do, but I know you'll be as excited as I am to see the results.
We're always interested in your ideas and stories about how you use My Big Campus. Let me know in the Comments if you have questions or suggestions--and enjoy your summer!
