Category Archives: Technology

The use of classroom technology in the form of iPads, computers and interactive whiteboards are becoming so commonplace in some schools that its hard for teachers to remember a time without them.

While education technology certainly has several benefits for teachers and students alike such as making learning more fun, bridging communication gaps and engaging more students are schools becoming overly reliant on screens?

In line with 21st century learning trends, todays kids are being taught how to be effective communicators, empathethic listeners, and be well-versed on interpersonal communication.

Face-to-face communication is best for developing these types of skills, but overuse of screen technology in school classes could hinder progression.

Matthew Howell, a middle school principal, recently relayed his experience of implementing screen-free days in his school once every quarter on Edutopia.

He wrote, Its clear that our students spend a lot of time online. Thats why the staff at my school dedicated time to discussing healthy practices for the integration of technology.

While there is no conclusive research regarding what is best, we discussed the life of a typical student and the impact constant access to the internet and social media has on their well-being.

As students today are digital natives, they couldnt quite comprehend being away from their beloved Chromebooks for one day a week. But once they got used to the idea, they actually found it quite enjoyable.

Howell wrote, After our first screen-free day, students mentioned that they were surprised they had enjoyed it, and they expressed an unexpected sense of relief.

Finding ways to help our students connect with one another is essential. While technology is woven into the fabric of our world, it should not be the dominant thread in the tapestry of a learners life.

Howell also wanted to incorporate screen-free days during the school year due to the rising cases of student anxiety and depression, which could be attributed to the amount of time students spend online.

So how did students learn on days where screens were not allowed in school?

According to Howell, Instructionally, these days allow us to consider our approach to the curriculum from another perspective.

For some teachers, this means unearthing a lesson plan that is valuable but has been tabled for some time, while others come up with something completely new. Teachers collaborate and seek ways to help students build their imaginative faculties through hands-on activities.

On our first screen-free day this year, for example, some teachers planned hands-on, collaborative STEAM activities focused on the engineering and design process.

Another teacher facilitated an escape room with students, using challenges linked to literary devices. There is an increase across the board in creating opportunities for students to reflect on their learning as well.

The school also plans to hold simple events that give students the chance to socialise without devices, such as Board Game Nights.

Howell wrote, We want our learners to enjoy face-to-face interactions without checking on their social media likes or considering comments made on their latest group assignment in the cloud.

By taking a screen-free day every now and then, schools provide a balance where technology and face-to-face interaction are equally utilised.

In doing so, students take a break from screens while developing social-emotional learning skills through other tech-free means.

What is Holoportation technology and how is it used in schools?

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Schools should take the occasional break from technology - here's why - Study International News

There is an increasing pace of change in how we work and the role that technology plays in every aspect of business. Innovative cloud and as-a-service technologies have made it easy for anyone within an organisation to acquire their preferred applications, commonly without intervention from IT. Whilst this can mean that technology which meets user need can be accessed, this change has also affected the ability of the IT department to control security and operational risks. Whilst the natural reaction of those in IT will be to lock down their estate, a responsive IT department will recognise that workers should be able, wherever possible, to access applications they wish to use, in a safe and secure way.

Workers have definite preferences when it comes to the technology they use every day, and this can put them at odds with IT and, perhaps more worryingly, the best interests of their organisation. According to a recent survey of global workers, 41 per cent of employees will avoid consulting IT when wishing to access to professional software and applications that they feel are essential to doing their job. In addition to this, of those responding to the survey, most have accessed work assets on their personal devices.

The use of cloud and SaaS means that IT decisions are being decentralised. This has, in the past, been described as shadow IT, as this expansion of technology has become the new normal. Whilst this is a good thing, with any systemic transfer of power, an organisations IT infrastructure can quickly descend into chaos if employees, IT teams and decision-makers dont collaborate.

Survey data suggests that different generations consider and use technology in different ways. So-called millennials have grown up with technology and seamlessly incorporate technology into their personal and professional lives more than previous generations. These digital natives are moving into leadership positions (and more importantly, buying decision roles).

This generation expects workplace technologies to mirror the technologies they use in their educational and personal experiences, and have a greater tendency to resent barriers to access. 81 per cent of millennials admit they have used or accessed unapproved technology or assets on their work device without ITs permission. Millennials are therefore almost twice as likely to adopt unauthorised technology compared to other generations.

Millennials are also exponentially more resistant to asking for permission to access software in the workplace. Compared to older workers, they are more than four times as likely to feel it is beneath them and over three times more likely to believe it is an outdated concept.

To effectively manage todays workforce, business leaders need a comprehensive understanding of the different groups of workers and how to best utilise their knowledge and experience.

Managers or more senior staff have been found to be almost twice as likely to use unauthorised professional or personal software or applications. In the survey, over 90 per cent of executives admitted that they knew such behaviour is problematic for their business, but more than half (57 per cent) avoid IT when accessing professional software and apps. Entry-level employees appear to be the most well behaved, with 38 per cent reporting they never access software or applications on their work device without ITs consent.

As staff admit that they know their behaviour can cause issues, it is clear that this knowledge is not enough on its own to effect change. When faced with such risky technology behaviour, visibility and understanding of the scope of the problem is a critical step towards identifying a feasible and efficient solution.

To help manage employee behaviour and encourage proper device usage, best practice would be to rely on a combination of approaches including:

1. Security awareness education: ongoing training and communication to your organisations workforce are required to communicate risks such as browser hijacking, ransomware and malicious software downloads. This helps to educate staff on what is appropriate and what crosses the line. Its important to make this training tangible and avoid hours of compliance style videos.

2. Visibility of the organisations IT estate: it is important that businesses understand what employees actually use day-to-day and week-to-week in order to spot both unauthorised usage and software installed on end-user devices. If there is an unapproved tool which is being widely used across an organisation, it may be worth the IT team considering investing in the tool or investigating and providing an authorised alternative.

3. Implement active controls: through the use of unauthorised or unapproved technology, employees can create security issues for an organisation. It is therefore critical that security remains strong. Review your active controls at the network perimeter or with anti-virus vendors to try and prevent malicious downloads or employees visiting known piracy sites.

In summary: our relationship with work and technology has changed and worker expectations are increasing. As the guardians of both the security and reliability of their organisations technology ecosystem, it is up to IT to find a balance between empowering a new, more demanding workforce whilst also serving and safeguarding the businesss needs.

Alastair Pooley, Chief Information Officer, Snow Software

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Finding a balance between security and responsive technology - ITProPortal

NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue has argued Australias poor showing in global speed test rankings cannot be relied on because the data is unrepresentative of broadband available in the rest of the world.

Broadband speed reports released by companies such as Ookla, M-Lab and Akamai show how each country fares for broadband, with Australia lagging behind.

According to the latest Ookla report for September, Australia ranks at 61 in the world for fixed broadband.

The result is often seized upon by people unhappy with the speeds they can get on the Coalitions multi-technology mix NBN, but NBN Co said the results cannot be relied upon and has devised another measure to make the rankings a more fair representation of Australias broadband.

NBN Co commissioned research firm Alpha Beta to analyse the data behind speed tests and come up with a method of ranking broadband that is a more like-for-like comparison with other countries around the world. Rue launched the report at Broadband World Forum in Amsterdam on Wednesday.

Alpha Beta argues in its report that speed tests are not representative of the whole countrys internet access because they only account for people who use the speed tests.

For companies such as Ookla and M-Lab, the tests work by people testing the speed of their connection from their device to a server.

Alpha Beta said that, because the test is self-selecting, 38% of Australian households (or 3.5 million) have used the M-Lab speed test, while countries that rank higher in the speed test results are based on much smaller sample sizes.

The companys other concern with the data is that it doesnt account for access to broadband meaning countries without as much access to broadband such as Thailand, Panama and Paraguay rank higher than Australia.

Alpha Beta did not analyse Akamais data directly which is likely to be a much more accurate reading of broadband speeds because it measures speed of requests to its HTTP/S platform, and therefore has a larger sample size.

But the companys previous concern about not capturing those who do not have access to broadband in every country remains a concern in the Akamai data. It is a point the company made in 2017 when Akamai ranked Australia below Kenya in broadband speeds.

According to Alpha Beta, it is much more reliable to say Australia ranks 17 out of 37 countries using what Alpha Beta claims is representative data. It still puts Australia behind countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and the United States, but ahead of countries such as Indonesia, Russia, China, France and Germany.

To achieve this ranking, however, the company has largely relied on subscription speeds the price people are paying for rather than actual achievable speeds, and weighted it down against the availability of broadband, where countries where fewer households have internet access are penalised. Alpha Beta has used this because it is something collated by governments and more easily verifiable.

This methodology is likely to be controversial, considering the biggest complaint facing the NBN as the rollout nears completion is that people arent able to achieve the speeds theyre paying for on weaker technologies such as fibre-to-the-node, or cable.

The ACCCs latest report on broadband speed in August found fibre-to-the-node users had the lowest percentage of hours where the speed they were paying for was available, at 80% compared to 90% for fibre-to-the-premises users.

Rue admitted in a statement that there was no perfect ranking of fixed broadband, but the popular speed tests were unrepresentative.

We hope this report can play a role to balance the way we talk about broadband and its contribution to our societies and economies, he said.

This report confirms that Australia ranks 17th in the world against comparable nations. This is a strong position and a great benchmark for us to continue our mission to improve.

The communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said he welcomed the insights provided by Alpha Beta.

Quite a few broadband surveys which are quoted in the media do not properly take account of the many factors that influence speed test rankings, such as broadband penetration rates, network capability, population density, market structure and so on, he said.

Today there are more than 6 million homes and businesses connected to the network and 65% are choosing broadband plans of 50 Mbps and above.

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NBN chief blames Australia's poor speed rating on 'unrepresentative' data - The Guardian

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Smart homes are no longer just a sci-fi-esque vision of the future connected homes and gadgets are quickly becoming the norm. Technology is developing at an extremely fast rate and the recent increase of IoT devices in the consumer market resulted in 8.4 billion connected things in use worldwide.

The rapid adoption of connected devices has empowered consumers to control their home appliances and protect their homes remotely from their smartphones or tablets. In fact, connected devices are taking over the homes of UK residents YouGov research predicts that close to a quarter of Britons (23%) own one or more smart home devices already.

There are a number of things fueling this consumer adoption of connected smart home technology; the convenience of always being connected, even when youre not home, is of huge value to a millennial generation who value freedom, control and interaction. So it is no surprise that PwC predicted 10.8bn would be spent on smart home devices in 2019 alone.

Smart tech has gone beyond the label of a home accessory and has transformed the way people live their everyday lives. With the interest and appetite for smart home devices on the rise, we have taken a look at three of the emerging trends in the market.

We live in an age where you can arrive home, flop down on the couch, tell your device to turn on the lights, and ask Alexa to set a reminder for you to go to yoga. Then you pull out your phone and use it as a remote to turn on the TV and scroll through the series that youre bingeing. Convenience is at the tip of our fingers when it comes to entertainment; its no wonder entertainment products led the way in a survey from GfK Global where people were asked to pick the product/solution with the most appeal. In the survey, 20% of respondents chose smart home entertainment as the most appealing followed by security and control (14%).

Smart home tech is disrupting home security as we know it. The importance of protecting the home along with all the valuable possessions, both monetary and sentimental, that come with it has not been overlooked by consumers. The same survey from GfK Global showed security devices coming out as the second most appealing kind of smart devices after entertainment. Rather than taking out an insurance offering on its own, home owners are looking for ways to protect their homes in a more proactive way. Smart devices, such as smart security cameras, window sensors, and smart doorbells alert users to potential issues as and when they arise, so they can react quickly, no matter where they are in the world giving them a better chance of preventing an issue before the damage is serious.

As well as security gadgets becoming a part of our everyday lives at home, technology is revolutionising security by enabling insurance and technology to work together. Our insurance offering at Neos encourages homeowners to take the power of proactive security into their own hands and this is only possible with technology.

Smart homes are no longer limited to us helping us now devices in homes are also looking out for our pets. According to American Express, its estimated that the average pet owner spends approximately 1,252 on their pets every single year. Devices such as automated feeders mean your dog wont miss their dinner if youre home late, while smart cameras enable pet owners to keep an eye on their animals no matter where they are using their connected device, whether that is at their desk at work or even if they are just in the next room in the house.

Research by SmartBrief discovered trends in who is likely to own smart home devices. Interestingly, men are twice as likely to own smart speakers, thermostats, CO2 monitors and security systems than women. Additionally, while smart home technology has benefits for people of all ages, smart home security products appear to be particularly popular with first-time home owners and young parents. Smart home devices offer users the freedom to maintain control ver their homes while still living a busy out and about lifestyle and for parents, smart home devices such as smart camera mean that they are able to relax while still keeping an eye on what their kids are getting up to.

North America still reigns as the largest market for sales of smart home tech, but Europe is hot on its heels. In fact, the UK was named as the fastest-growing and second largest market for sales of smart devices for the home, according to a survey from GfK Global. 72% of UK consumers reported that smart home technology can improve their lives, so it is no surprise that the industry is rocketing onwards and upwards. Taking a closer look at Europe, research this year found that Germany and France joined the UK as the leading countries in Europe to adopt smart home devices, followed by Italy and Spain.

As smart home technology continues to advance, we will see it become even more integrated in our everyday lives. As it continues to shape our habits, it will evolve from a lifestyle accessory and take on an even bigger role as a lifestyle enabler.

Guest post by Matt Poll,CEO at Neos an insurance company that provides smart home technology and home insurance.

Image Credit: Amazon

Stay tuned toSilicon Canalsfor more European technology news.

In a recent development, Netatmo was acquired by Legrand, a French digital building infrastructure. But both the companies have remained tight-lipped regarding the terms of the deal. Netatmo, a French smart home startup offers IoT solutions for its users. With its products and services, it lets you manage everything

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5 smart home technology trends to keep your eye on in 2019 - Silicon Canals

Technology has changed the world, the world has changed technology

In the past ten years we have witnessed an unprecedented world upheaval as we know it. Three are the clearest factors that distinguish these changes: technological innovation, globalisation, climate change and a focus on sustainability and preservation of Planet Earth.

This is not the first time technology has allowed jolt to be important in this process: lets think about printing, steam engines, internal combustion engines, electricity, mass media. It is now clear to everyone that even the Internet and everything that passes through it is a great network that connects the world: for the first time, however, access to the power of technology is accompanied by its diffusion and accessibility and for the first time (digital) technological tools are also means of mass communication (social networking): also means individuals and not just companies, states, publishers who have control and regulate the use of technology. Now this is also a known fact: indeed, in recent months there has been much debate on the negative side of the democratisation of digital technology: sociologists and humanists struggle around themes such as false news, alternative truths, haters, while technicians and scientists discuss the topic on the side cybercrime or the implications of artificial intelligence, ending both groups to find themselves around common ethical issues.

Talking with young people is the best way to find out more and learn more about their perceptions about the possible risks and benefits that they will experience using the internet through various devices. Todays teens are included in what is called i-Generation (also known as Generation Z), which includes those born from the mid-nineties to 2010. These children move comfortably on a new set of screens (cellphones, consoles, etc) online and offline. Their fluency is such that they do not use the net, but go through it, passing easily from the inside out and making the boundary between the two worlds very fluid, such that many events that occur on the internet have strong power. relapse also in their real life.

There is no doubt that the benefits associated with correct and numerous internet usage are clear: with our search engine immediately having an unimaginable amount of information at our fingertips, we can do research and research without moving from home by tracking all the material what we need, to advertise affordable products and services; through social networking we maintain relationships with people who are even physically far away, we find old friends and we stay informed about the people we care about even after years, we contact people who are unreachable; we can also make a diary, express considerations, and even make works on a special platform.

From online trading to riskier games such as http://www.casinosx.com and professional blogging, the web seems to value good ideas: it doesnt have to be the smartest, but of course, it manages to identify current hot topics and attract users. The opportunity to be publicly involved, to experience the power of ones beliefs by indirect comparison, is also a strong incentive to strengthen ones identity. The involvement of everyone seems to be changing existing technologies, adjusting them according to their wants and needs. Technology changes the world and the world changes technology.

The editorial unit

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Technology has changed the world, the world has changed technology - The Upcoming

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Scammers call on the phone, send text messages and even track people down on social media.

It's annoying to most, but for those who fall victim scammers cause more than a headache.

For Arthur Lindsay, it started with a text message.

"Offering me an opportunity to advertise Haagen Daz ice cream with a decal on his car," Lindsay said.

Lindsay told 10/11 NOW he had been looking for some extra money, so he signed up.

The scammer sent him a check, which he deposited into his bank account.

"I asked the clerk, is this check real and she said it was," Lindsay said.

The money even showed up in his account, so at the scammer's request, he sent more than $900 of his own money to the scammer.

Then a few days later, the check bounced.

"The first thing is you feel so stupid, I thought I had protected myself," Lindsay said.

Stories like this, don't come as a surprise to Lincoln Police.

"We could work those probably every day, there are so many we get overwhelmed," Sgt. Steven Wiese with LPD's technical investigations unit said.

In 2018, 1,958 frauds were reported to police. In the last 20 years, that number has increase 122 percent. Meanwhile, forgeries have dropped significantly. In 2018 about a seventh of the number of forgeries were reported as were reported in 1998.

LPD's crime analyst, Jeff Peterson, said it all comes down to technology.

"People just don't write checks anymore," Peterson said. "Everybody has access to the internet and you have people who will abuse the internet and take advantage of mistakes that others make on the internet."

Messages like Lindsay got, phone calls threatening people with arrest warrants and romance scams are among the most common frauds the department sees. They're also the most difficult to solve.

"By and large, these individuals are overseas," Wiese said. "They've used that as a safety net because they know their country may not cooperate with law enforcement in the United States."The best thing you can do is prevent yourself from falling victim.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't," Lindsay said.

If you've been the victim of a fraud, forgery or scam, call police at 402-441-6000. You can also reach out to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office at the following website: https://protectthegoodlife.nebraska.gov/ or call their mediation center between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.: (800) 727-6432 (toll-free)

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Technology sparks dramatic rise in scams reported to the Lincoln Police Dept. - 1011now

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If you can find your husband or wife online, why not your financial advisor?

That's why Andres Garcia-Amaya launched Zoe Financial, an online matchmaking engine that hooks up investors with registered investment advisors.

A recent Stanford University study found that 39% of people surveyed met their spouse through a dating website by far the most common way to find a significant other these days. Garcia-Amaya is betting that consumers want to find their other significant other namely. their financial advisor the same way.

"Online research gives people a lot more options, but often too many options," said Garcia-Amaya. "One of our taglines is "we reject 95% of advisors so you don't have to."

A good client portal used to be a strong value proposition. Now, it's a basic requirement.

Andres Garcia-Amaya

founder, Zoe Financial

It's hard to overstate the impact of technology on the financial advice industry.

For advisors, the software for customer relationship management (CRM), managing investment portfolios and dealing with the back office, has enabled them to serve far more clients and by extension spend much more time with them.

And how is technology changing the client experience with advisors? In a word, profoundly. From how investors find advisors, to how they interact with them, to how they exchange information and content and draft financial plans, the relationship between clients and advisors is evolving rapidly.

Ten years ago, quarterly reports from advisors were still a vital source of information for investors. Today they're a quaint reminder of how things used to be.

People now have the ability, if not always the desire, to monitor their investments in real-time. They demand clear pictures of their portfolios and updated financial plans on a daily basis.

"Younger people want everything aggregated at their fingertips and they want it quickly," said Brandon Hayes, managing director of Atlanta-based RIA oXYGen Financial. "They want a moving balance sheet and a cashflow analysis updated every night."

For many retirees, a face-to-face meeting with their financial advisor is a good opportunity to get out of the house. But for growing numbers of people, a videoconference call via the web does the trick.

"Our client relationships usually start with a face-to-face meeting, but it's amazing how fast most clients want to go digital now," Hayes said. "Whether they live in cities or rural areas, more people want to check-in with virtual meetings."

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Advisors no longer have to worry about setting up cameras and coordinating participants. Remote-conferencing websites such as Zoom and GoTo Meeting handle it simply and inexpensively.

Danielle Fava, director of innovation at TDAmeritrade Institutional, sees videoconferencing growing rapidly among the nearly 7,000 advisors on the TD custodial platform. She recently posed a question on the firm's internal messaging network with advisors about the use of videoconferencing. "I got over 900 responses from advisors and almost 70% said they were doing it," said Fava.

Technology provides more opportunity for touches between advisors and clients. Granted, many of those touches may be machine-hatched messages from customer relationship management software wishing you a happy birthday or reminding you about an upcoming event.

Indeed, advisor Tom Powers, a principal at California Financial Advisors in San Ramon, California, said the greatest challenge on the horizon for the sector is "the growth of automated, formula-driven, less personal advice." (His firm is ranked No. 7 on the CNBC FA 100 list.)

BombBomb, a video email website, enables advisors (and anyone else) to deliver those birthday wishes in a personalized video. "Constant touches are important," said Hayes. "As the landscape becomes more competitive, advisors need to go with the technologies that enable them to reach people and connect."

Fava sees growing numbers of advisors using voice and video technologies to interact with their clients and deliver content on a more regular basis. Flash briefings, personalized videos, podcasts and even YouTube channels are now more common tools for advisors to connect with clients.

Good content can drive customers to make decisions. It's a non-abrasive way to connect with existing and potential clients.

Brandon Hayes

managing director, oXYGen Financial

"If you can stay in the ear of your client, it's a good way to build relationships and to remind them that you're working for them," Fava said.

Podcasts talking about financial planning issues or investing ideas can also be a useful tool for reaching potential new clients. "If I tell a friend to listen to an advisor's podcast, it's kind of like a soft referral," said Fava.

Ted Jenkin, a certified financial planner and founder of oXYGen Financial in Atlanta, has produced thousands of podcasts and videos accessible on the firm's website. Hayes credits the content with raising the firm's profile and driving growth. "Good content can drive customers to make decisions," said Hayes. "It's a non-abrasive way to connect with existing and potential clients."

One caveat? The potential for cybercrime. Cory Robinson, vice president and portfolio manager at CNBC FA 100-ranked firm Tom Johnson Investment Management in Oklahoma City stressed not only "protecting client data from hackers, but also educating clients about the potential phishing scams and the like that seem to get more and more sophisticated every year."

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Technology is redefining that client-financial advisor relationship - CNBC

APPIX, a revolutionary new audience engagement and lighting effects tool, recently got the chance to prove their expertise at creating memorable moments on The Mixtape Tour with New Kids On The Block, which saw the iconic 80s and 90s act reuniting in large-scale venues throughout North America. The tour included 55 concerts and grossed $53.2 million while selling over 662,000 tickets.

New Kids On The Block founding member Donnie Wahlberg had this to say about APPIX: Night after night, APPIXs innovation and creativity helped bring our Mixtape Tour production to the next level with stunning visuals and a genuinely effective fan engagement experience like no other! APPIX even made the concert more visually exciting and surprising for me and my band mates on stage as well.

Their now launched in-venue smartphone app uses Bluetooth based transmission technology that operates without pairing and requires no cellular data or WiFi. Event organizers can engage audiences like never before with exclusive promotions, weather and emergency alerts, and custom content.

Marketing Technology News: Interview with Joelle Kaufman, CMO and Chief Revenue Officer at Dynamic Signal

Event producers can even light up the phones of attendees throughout the venue to create a colorful and memorable moment that is harmonized with the shows lighting and production. Before the event, fans are instructed to download the app via a ticketing email or on-site promotions at the venue.

They have also partnered with UFC to create a custom version of the APPIX app called UFC In Action. The app is available for fights in North America and provides users with fighter info, real-time stats, and more during the fight using the same Bluetooth broadcast technology that allows APPIX to light up arenas and stadiums. Those who download the app also receive exclusive incentives and benefits.

Marketing Technology News: Why GDPR Changes Everythingfor the Better

Another memorable moment for APPIX was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the LA Phil with a special concert at the Hollywood Bowl. At the show, which featured performances from Katy Perry, John Williams, and Kali Uchis and was hosted by Jaime Camil, attendees became an integral part of the concert when their cell phones lit up the iconic Hollywood Bowl with flashing colored screens.

APPIX is made up of talented producers and event strategists from across North America that have worked on thousands of successful projects. This includes assisting many of the worlds most famous names, brands, events and institutions including U2, Oprah Winfrey, Google, Facebook, NFL, and BMW.

Marketing Technology News: TechBytes with Jeff Meglio, VP of Agency Partnerships at Sovrn

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APPIX Officially Launches Incredible Broadcast Technology That Creates Immersive Experiences And Audience Engagement At Concerts And Events - MarTech...

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As marketers continue to struggle to understand and reach people that drive their business in todays digital economy, Gathr Lab is changing the script and unmasking the connection between real-world and digital behaviors with todays introduction of Living Audience, its new audience management platform (AMP).

Gathr Lab, the newest business unit of location pioneer Digital Envoy, enters the market as the only tenured location intelligence company that can anonymously reach custom audiences at scale in both the digital and physical world. Gathr Lab is able to leverage two decades of location data expertise to provide clear and actionable insights that empower companiesfrom agencies to brands to publishers and moreto make data-driven decisions on how to best connect with their most valuable audiences.

"Location and audience data have been the Wild West, with a lack of transparency, privacy and a black-box approach," said Aubriana Lopez, chief innovator, Gathr Lab. "The market is ready for a renewed confidence in the ad tech space, where clients can power up untapped, high-quality data to confidently reach very customized audiences across all devices without sacrificing privacy. Born from a company that has worn a white hat in the industry, Gathr Lab is placing consumer privacy and anonymity at the forefront of every solution and product we deliver. Data integrity is the DNA of our company."

Living Audience simplifies complex first- and third-party data tied to billions of devices. Uniquely, marketers can use either Mobile Advertising IDs or IP addresses to provide high-quality, actionable location and audience intelligence that reveals how consumers truly engage with the world around them. Delivered as a self-service or managed-service solution, Living Audience improves engagement by allowing marketers to:

Chalk Digital, a pioneer in the adtech industry with the first instant advertising platform built on a hyper-local mobile display, video and social behavioral search and targeting engine, was one of the first companies to use Living Audience. Chalk Digitals customers include three of the top automotive companies as well as leading real estate brands.

"A common pain point for the industry has been determining a way to consistently reach a specific audience across both mobile and desktop with transparency, especially brands without an unlimited marketing budget," said Chalk Digital CEO Craig Hagopian. "Gathr Lab's Living Audience data solution is easy to incorporate into our targeting platform, allowing our clients to move beyond off-the-shelf personas to identify and reach their most valuable consumers in real-timeempowering our platform to focus on targeting the right user at the right time at Chalk."

Clients can utilize Living Audience to create and activate audiences or to export audiences for use in their own environment for a fixed, flat CPM.

About Gathr Lab

At Gathr Lab, were leveraging two decades of location data expertise to provide anonymous, custom audience insights and segments at scale, across all devices. Our solutions empower clients to understand, reach and amplify their most valuable audiences, revealing how consumers truly engage with both the physical and digital world. The companys innovative Living Audience platform synthesizes and simplifies complex data tied to anonymous global audiences. Uniquely, clients can use either Mobile ad IDs or IP addresses to provide high-quality, clear and actionable location intelligence that reveals how consumers truly engage with the world around them. Visit gathrlab.com to learn how to make location data come to life for your marketing needs. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @gathrlab then like us on Facebook. Headquartered in Atlanta, Gathr Lab is a division of Digital Envoy Inc.

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Gathr Lab Launches New Technology Set to Break the Black-Box Approach and Empower Marketers to Understand, Reach and Grow Their Audiences - Business...

Executive Summary

For well over a century, researchers have labored tirelessly to understand how humans learn and remember. The resulting scientific literature is impressive, both in its scope and its depth. But its often not obvious how to use these findings in educational settings. This is where technology can help, opening up huge opportunities to use the science of learning in new ways. For example, new technologies can be used to track students progress on a very granular level, to personalize their learning at just the right level the so-called Goldilocks Spot, where they are challenged not so much that they get frustrated, and not so little that they are bored. To take advantage of these opportunities, we need to have clear learning outcomes, we need to measure each students progress in achieving those outcomes very granularly, and we need to shift to a focus on active learning. To achieve these ends, faculty and administrators must decide that successful teaching is a crucial goal and be willing to devote the time, energy, and resources necessary to achieve it.

For well over 100 years, researchers have labored tirelessly to understand how humans learn and remember. The resulting scientific literature is impressive, both in its scope and its depth. In fact, so much is now known that I doubt that any human could read and absorb all that has been written on the subject. The sad irony, though, is that its often not obvious how to use the findings of all of this research in educational settings.

Using the science of learning to improve education starts with identifying some general principles. Some of these principles grow out of a property of our brains: The more intensively we process information, the more likely we are to remember it. For example, before you go to sleep at night, do you ever find yourself reflecting on the events of the day? If so, what percentage of what you recall do you think you tried to memorize at the time the event occurred versus how much you just happen to remember later, without having tried to memorize it earlier? When Ive asked large numbers of people this question, they typically report that they intentionally tried to learn at most a tenth of what they recall at the end of the day.

So, where did the rest of what we recall come from? Deep processing. The mere act of paying attention and deeply thinking something through leads you to remember it. Much of what we remember is simply a byproduct of having paid attention and having thought about something.

This general property of our brains implies that if we want people to learn something, we should induce them to focus on it and consider its nature and implications. There are many ways to accomplish this, which grow out of specific principles of learning that reflect particular ways to focus on and process information. For example, one is called the Principle of Desirable Difficulty, which states that people learn best when challenged not so much so that they get frustrated, and not so little that they are bored but rather at just the right level, the so-called Goldilocks Spot. Getting people to the Goldilocks Spot means that we induce them to pay attention and process as much as they can, thereby enhancing the amount of learning.

But heres a problem: What counts as the just right level of challenge differs for different people. Whats too hard for Sam may be too easy for Sally. And its worse than that: What counts as the right level varies for the same person, depending on the subject matter in general, the more you know about something, the more difficult the material can be before you are challenged beyond your capacity to process effectively.

As you can imagine, with so many variables, applying this principle in a traditional classroom setting is challenging. This is where technology can come into play to use the Principle of Desirable Difficulty to enhance the learning of large numbers of students at the same time. First, you need a way to collect data on student performance. For example, students can take a short quiz after each class session, and the individual quiz questions would be coded according to exactly which competencies they are testing. The platform would track each students performance at a granular level.

Second, small breakout groups can be designed to allow students to engage in active learning (such as group problem solving, role playing, and debate) such active learning has been shown repeatedly to be a very effective way to learn, in part because it induces deep processing. Critically, each breakout group activity can be classified according to which competencies are being drawn upon. Thus, the platform can assign students at comparable levels of the relevant (for that activity) ability to the same breakout groups.

Third, each of the activities that students perform in breakout groups can be multilayered it can be approached more or less deeply. For example, in a lesson on figurative language, students might be asked to read a passage and identify all similes and metaphors. In this case, the subtlety of the language can be varied, so that some students may detect only the obvious examples whereas others may detect more subtle ones.

The social interactions during the breakout group could be designed to lead students (who are selected to be at comparable levels for that activity) to adjust how deeply they process the relevant information to keep the activity from being boring, activities can be designed to encourage students to nudge each other to move to their collective Goldilocks spot. This approach would scale very well and incorporates the social component that is so important in learning.

Clearly, technology opens up huge opportunities to use the science of learning in new ways. To take advantage of these opportunities, we need to have clear learning outcomes, we need to measure each students progress in achieving those outcomes very granularly, and we need to shift to a focus on active learning. To achieve these ends, faculty and administrators must decide that successful teaching is a crucial goal and be willing to devote the time, energy, and resources necessary to achieve it.

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Integrating the Science of How We Learn into Education Technology - Harvard Business Review