EarthWalk

San Francisco Unified School District has just completed their new 21st Century Technology Suites to include EarthWalk High Efficiency Carts. Click on the Link below to learn why SFUSD choose EarthWalk!

Click HERE to view the video

Dear Sir or Madam:

I'm writing this note to let you know how pleased we are with the EarthWalk mobile computer lab we recently purchased. Providing access to technology tools throughout our school was beginning to feel like an insurmountable task for us; the ability to provide access to any classroom with such simplicity and reliability has moved us forward.

The student reaction was summed up the first day we rolled the lab into a classroom. I overheard one student turn to a friend and say "I feel like I'm in a rich kid's school" – that felt pretty good. The systems are easily usable; there is almost no downtime in putting the equipment into use in a classroom.

The staff is very happy that they are finally able to make use of online resources that were previously unavailable to them in their classrooms. They are also impressed by the ease of use. The integrated wireless access points and the built-in battery rotation systems make this truly plug and play; we have several teachers that do not have strong tech skills, but that fact has not been a barrier to putting the lab into use in their classrooms.

Our tech support person is also extremely happy. She has reported NO requests for assistance or issues with usage during the first four months of use. While we did have a few keypads that stopped functioning, the turnaround time on tech support has been very good.

In short, we appreciate your product very much – thank you!

Bob King

Principal, Crater Renaissance Academy

Central Point, OR

"EarthWalk SideKick Batteries make our labs truly usable with older technology never built to go for six hours."

Dennis Bagley

With over 31 years of experience as the Director of Technology for Eastern Howard School Corporation in Greentown Indiana, Dennis Bagley, has found a solution for his one-to-one online testing with EarthWalk Communications SideKick Battery. After attending the HECC conference four years ago and meeting with EarthWalk representatives Dennis found a solution that has worked since. With the struggle of meeting the constant demands for diminishing run times for laptops Eastern Howard School Corporation purchased SideKick Batteries to help solve an "All Day Solution." In their school district all of the English classrooms are set up for one to one with laptops. They use this configuration in the spring for mandatory state testing. The laptops were not holding enough charge to insure the integrity of their state wide testing initiative until they purchased the Sidekick Battery. This single purchase helped Eastern Howard School Corporation successfully meet the demands of their one-to-one initiative with a battery that held the charge for all day!

A spark of technology inspires students at an Arizona school district
MANASSAS, VA – For many students, the introduction to new technologies is a sought after experience, and often times, can be considered a segue to future success and preparation for the global market. Today, many are given the opportunity to use modern technologies.

Teachers and students across Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson are quickly discovering the excitement of integrating computing technologies to the curriculum. Throughout the district, seven schools have EarthWalk High-Efficiency (HE) computer labs with over 2700 Lenovo laptops deployed in total, and more labs to be launched in the near future. These laptops are stored and powered by EarthWalk's MiniMax series mobile computer lab and maximize student user hours when paired with the SideKick PowerPack. Many of these students, whom never experienced personal ownership of a laptop before, show excitement and enthusiasm.

"I've seen the eyes of these students go wide open as their faces light up with excitement as they picked up the laptops. You notice that some of these students possess a genuine interest and a natural gift for technology." explained Javier Baca, Chief Technology Officer of the district. "In one classroom, one of the students is already emerging as the local classroom technician and going around helping his peers."

Along with students, teachers also appreciate the features of the mobile computer lab system largely due to its organization, 1:1 accessibility, security, power, green-natured efficiency, and the A/C brick that allows kids to take the laptops home. "The teachers appreciate the carts in that they act as their charging stations" said Assistant Director of Technology Mary Veres. "They appreciate not having a mess of cables all over the place. Also, there is the security and safety factor."

Students at Sunnyside Unified School are provided with the one-to-one computing program; allowing students to take their laptop home with constant access to a wide array of applications and content. This program encourages students to broaden their learning experience and aids the development of vital computing skills. The requirements to obtain a computer and participate in the program are as followed: parents and students must both must undergo the process of earning digital license, where the participant will learn to use a computer and be rated on three levels of competency (Basic, Internet, and Software), along with essential knowledge of internet safety and basic care. This program follows the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for fair technology use.

Javier and Mary hope that these programs will further facilitate interest in technology for the students of the school district. The overall objective is that the deployment of these labs will ensure accessibility to computers not otherwise possible, pique interest in the field of information technology, and lead to higher student involvement and an increase in student retention within the Sunnyside District. By providing these students with the tools and power to innovate, the future is bright for the tech-savvy students at Sunnyside Unified School District.

"You can understand that for a lot of these students who have never had a computer, it's an exciting thing".

About the Sunnyside Unified School District's "The Digital Advantage"

The 5th-Grade Digital Advantage program will extend 1-to-1 computing by assigning a personal laptop computer to every fifth-grader in the district's elementary schools. The Sunnyside District has gained state and national attention for Project Graduation's impact on attendance, freshman promotion rates and especially high school graduation numbers. In 2009, a record high of 715 students graduated. A total of 821 students graduated in 2010, up from 715 in 2009 and 598 in 2008.

For more information on the Sunnyside Unified School District, visit http://www.sunnysideud.k12.az.us.

Click here for the PDF version

I just wanted to send a note thanking both of you for service above and beyond with our recent order for the Esperanza Center. Helping me correct the shipment (due to my address error) and assisting our coworker with the exchange and UPS issues in such a quick, through, and professional manner made this transaction go very smoothly. We may not be one of Eathwalk’s biggest customers, but were are one of the most satisfied.

James B. Tucker

San Francisco Day School students adopt an EarthWalk C.O.W.

“EarthWalk Communications is thrilled to show you how the 7th graders at San Francisco Day School embraced their brand new EW High Efficiency Cart, making it their own this year. It truly is a cow now!”

Mississippi School District

Before	After
Here’s how they’re configured inside the cart: