Category Archives: Technology

Vermont still has a lot of work to do to fully integrate technology into public school classrooms, according to the latest draft of the state's digital learning plan, put out by the Agency of Education.

The last statewide digital learning plan for Vermont's schools came out in 2012; a lifetime ago when it comes to technology.

Peter Drescher is the technology coordinator for the Vermont Agency of Education. Drescher says this issue isn't having enough computers the schools have plenty at this point but that teachers aren't fully embracing the technology.

"I think the digital-use divide is still a big issue," Drescher says. "You can walk down a hallway and find only two teachers out of 10 who are using technology in their classrooms. It's a serious equity issue at schools, and we can't have that anymore."

The last digital learning plan covered six years. Drescher says the state wants to move toward a three-year period to better assess how rapidly technology needs change. This proposal would cover 2018-2021.

Vermont schools are trying to move toward more individualized learning, which uses video instruction, online courses and students working on their own and in smaller groups.

More and more work is being done through the cloud, and Drescher says schools need to make sure they have the connectivity to support the emerging platforms.

"You can walk down a hallway and find only two teachers out of 10 who are using technology in their classrooms. It's a serious equity issue at schools, and we can't have that anymore." Peter Drescher, Vermont Agency of Education

He also says more Vermont teachers need to be trained in computer programming, from grade school right on up to high school.

"We have a lot of interest in that Hour of Code activity that happens in December and schools really want to push that and do more programming within other content areas," Drescher says. "But we don't really have anyway to train teachers in to how to understand that and do that. So, that's the deficit we have right now, is having some kind of program that allows them to get that training."

According to the plan the state wants educators to more seamlessly use technology throughout the day, and it says administrators should recognize best practices and work to have them more widely used throughout Vermont schools.

The Agency of Education also wants all schools, but particularly middle and high schools, to use technology anytime personalized training is being offered to students.

The state is collecting comments on the draft plan through the end of September and hopes to issue a final plan before November 1. As part of the new state plan, each supervisory union will be asked to put together its own local three-year plan, which will be due to the Agency of Education June 30, 2018.

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Coding And Connectivity: New Plan To More Fully Integrate Technology In Vt. Classrooms - Vermont Public Radio

All of BARTs rail cars may be outfitted with working cameras, but more than 100 of them feature technology that was current in the 1970s including some still using the Betamax format, The Chronicle has learned.

BART officials say that all of the cameras work, produce usable video and are regularly inspected and replaced when needed. But the officials cant project when if ever theyll all be replaced.

A video security expert said the older cameras, which record using the VHS and Beta formats, are not only outdated but also produce poor-quality video. The tapes, cameras and viewers all degrade as theyre used.

Tapes just get worse with age, said Doug Carner, a digital forensic analyst. Its just a terrible medium.

News of the old cameras came Tuesday as BART officials, facing mounting criticism, moved to become more forthcoming about crime, reinstating a daily public police log and deciding to create a policy on when they will release video captured by BART cameras.

BART began the $1.42 million effort to replace fake cameras inside its rail cars after an investigation by The Chronicle after a January 2016 fatal shooting near the West Oakland Station revealed that more than two-thirds of the cameras were decoys. What appeared to be video units were just empty camera housings with blinking lights intended to deter criminals.

BART vowed to have four working cameras in each of its 669 rail cars by July 1 and beat that deadline by three days. Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for the agency, said 555 of the cars have new digital cameras and recording units. But 114 are still outfitted with older devices, which include 17 VHS and 97 Beta cameras.

Trost said the older cameras are replaced when theyre no longer producing useful images. Each camera is inspected when a car is brought in for routine maintenance, and is replaced if its not working. Units are also replaced when police attempt to view a tape and find it unusable, she said.

Carner said replacing the older cameras would yield better images and spare BART the cost of maintaining outdated equipment.

Its a terrible mistake to stay with VHS and Beta, he said.

Early Tuesday, BART police resumed emailing a daily public police log to subscribers. It had been replaced about a month ago with an online crime mapping system that offered virtually no details on incidents. The reinstatement of the public log followed weeks of criticism from the media and members of the BART Board of Directors.

A couple of hours after the crime logs return, three directors on the boards Operations, Safety and Worforce Committee agreed that BART should create a policy governing when video captured by the systems extensive network of cameras should be made available to the public.

BART police already have a policy, said Director Joel Keller, but the agency as a whole needs one as well.

The issue of releasing video garnered attention and criticism when the transit agency refused to make public footage of an April 22 incident at Coliseum Station in which 40 to 60 youths swarmed a train and assaulted and robbed passengers.

Keller said the board needs to establish a consistent standard for when it will and wont make video from cameras in BARTs trains, stations, parking lots and other facilities public. The committee will start discussing the policy next month and will eventually present it to the Board of Directors for approval.

These decisions shouldnt be made on a case-by-case basis, he said. They should be set on a standard criteria.

BART's Chief of Police, Carlos Rojas, talks during a press conference at Powell Street BART stations in San Francisco, Calif. Thursday, July 13, 2017.

BART's Chief of Police, Carlos Rojas, talks during a press...

BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas has said that the department does not release video that has the potential to interfere with the investigation or prosecution of cases. Police release video when they believe the public can assist in identifying suspects, he said, but not for entertainment.

Director Debora Allen has criticized that decision, saying the public could learn how to avoid being victimized by watching the videos of crimes.

Rusty Stapp, one of the victims of the April 22 attack at the Coliseum Station, has seen the video of the mob robbery, and agrees. Stapp, 52, of Dublin, who is suing BART over the incident, attended Tuesdays committee meeting.

I dont think making the public better aware is a bad thing, he said. It is saddening right now not to see more proactive work by BART to protect its ridership, which is going down.

The meeting came a day after BART released data showing an increase in sex crimes on its property over the first six months of the year.

In the report to the FBI, BART police reported that seven rapes occurred on the systems property through the end of June, compared with four over the same period in 2016, three in 2015 and two in 2014.

The number of sexual assaults also rose, with 28 reported through June 30 compared with 28 in all of 2016 and 16 in the entirety of 2015, according to BART.

Figures requested by The Chronicle after the Coliseum mob robbery showed a 45 percent increase in robberies aboard BART trains and in its stations during the first quarter of the year.

Following the robbery, Rojas, who was sworn in as BARTs police chief in late May, had been under scrutiny for deciding to eliminate the daily police crime log, which provided a brief narrative of crime incidents, including whether arrests were made.

Last month, BART replaced the crime log with a website called CrimeMapping.com, which offered scant information on crimes that occurred throughout the system. But on Tuesday, Bevan Dufty, a BART board director, said the daily crime log was back effective immediately.

I have been in constant communication with the general manager advocating for restoration (of the crime logs) and feeling as though BART is taking a hit from not being transparent, Dufty said. We need to be open. Our focus needs to be on recruiting more officers and not curtailing information.

A number of other directors said they lobbied for a return of the log, and Rojas said the decision was made in response to criticism from board members and the public.

I listened to the feedback and people were interested in getting that narrative. Is it the most efficient use of our lieutenants? No, but people want it, Rojas said outside the BART boardroom in Oakland.

He said he is working with Crime Mapping officials to add more information to the site.

The online Crime Mapping site, which BART says it will continue to use, has meager information that includes the type of crime, date, time and location.

On Monday night, a man was robbed of his laptop and cell phone after being beaten by four males on a train at the Bay Fair Station in San Leandro, BART police wrote in the first crime log email sent in more than a month.

The thieves, who were not further described, punched and kicked the victim before robbing him, police said. They ran out of the station and were not arrested. The victim, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital and treated for facial cuts and swelling, officials said.

On July 5, BART spokesman Taylor Huckaby said that the move to the Crime Mapping website ensured absolute transparency. But many criticized the agency for the lack of information available on the site.

Despite widespread concern about crime on the transit system, Rojas said that overall crime on BART is very low.

If we were compared with cities with populations equal to the number of people who ride BART, Rojas said, we would do very well.

Sarah Ravani and Michael Cabanatuan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com and mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani and @ctuan

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Many BART trains equipped with cameras with '70s technology - San Francisco Chronicle

For a brief period late Tuesday morning, Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds were lost.

With the help of technology and a police dog, the community leaders were found safe after a game of hide and seek meant to raise awareness about a tracking device to help police find someone with memory issues or a disability who has wandered.

Costas and Reynolds were given 10 minutes to hide after leaving Tuesday from Urschel Pavilion during the farmers market. Porter County Sheriff's Detective Cpl. Brian Dziedzinski, portable antenna in hand, headed out to search for Costas, who was wearing a Project Lifesaver transmitter band on his wrist. Sheriff's Cpl. Brian Gill and his Hanoverian hound Bumpus, a tracking dog, set out for Reynolds.

The race was on to see which tracking method was faster.

Dziedzinski headed south on Lafayette Street, holding up the antenna and checking a small transmitter box as he walked.

"I gotta find that first signal," he said.

Soon, as he rounded the county parking garage, the device began to beep. Through an alley, behind a few buildings, down a short flight of stairs, a turn here, and there was Costas, against the back of a building, talking with an acquaintance.

Michael Gard/Post-Tribune

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas greets Porter County sheriffs Cpl. Brian Dziedzinski after being found during a Project Lifesaver drill Tuesday in downtown Valparaiso.

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas greets Porter County sheriffs Cpl. Brian Dziedzinski after being found during a Project Lifesaver drill Tuesday in downtown Valparaiso. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune)

The mayor waved.

"You found me! I made a friend along the way," he said.

Dziedzinski said that as the device beeped, he knew he was close.

Costas said he picked the spot on the fly because it was a little way from the pavilion and out of the way, but the device worked anyway.

"No matter where you are, you can be found," he said, adding as an elder law attorney he sees the value for such technology. "There are more and more tools for helping the elderly."

Reynolds came strolling back into the pavilion just a couple of minutes after Costas. He said he rounded the courthouse square to throw off Bumpus, then settled in on the far side of Central Park Plaza by a tree. Bumpus dutifully followed the trail until he found the sheriff.

Both men were found in less than 10 minutes.

The Sheriff's Department offers Project Lifesaver in partnership with Porter County Triad at no cost to the participants, providing watch-size transmitters on bands that can be worn on the wrist or ankle, Dziedzinski said.

The bands, which are waterproof and have batteries that last about 60 days, emit a radio frequency that can be picked up to locate someone who's lost, Dziedzinski said.

About 11 people in Porter County have the transmitters, he said, adding that Porter County cooperates with Lake County, which has about 40 users.

Each band costs $275, and Porter County Triad provides much of the funding to the Sheriff's Department for the program.

"We don't charge anybody. If you have the money available, we would like you to pay for the next client," Dziedzinski said, though no one is turned away.

If a loved one with the device couldn't be found, "it would start off as a normal police call" to 911, he said, and the caller would tell dispatch whether the missing person has a transmitter.

The program was first made available to county residents during Reynolds' first term as sheriff in the early 2000s, after he said a woman with Alzheimer's disease died when she wandered from home in the winter.

"That precipitated this," he said.

While the searches aren't activated often, Cathy Ellis, president of Triad, said the devices can provide comfort and peace of mind to concerned family members, but raising awareness about the program is key.

"We've been talking about this for years but people still don't know what we're about," she said.

Michael Gard/Post-Tribune

Bumpus, one of the canines who works with the Porter County Sheriffs Department, took part in a drill searching for Sheriff David Reynolds on Tuesday in downtown Valparaiso.

Bumpus, one of the canines who works with the Porter County Sheriffs Department, took part in a drill searching for Sheriff David Reynolds on Tuesday in downtown Valparaiso. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune)

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

An application to participate in Project Lifesaver can be found at http://www.portercountysheriff.com/seniorcitizens. More information also is available from the Sheriff's Department, 219-477-3000.

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Dog, technology in dead heat to find 'missing' officials - Chicago Tribune

CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT)The American Hospital Association named Carteret Health Care as a Most Wired Organization for using technology to enhance patient care and operating efficiency.

Its one of only 13 hospitals in North Carolina to be recognized.

The hospital is using smart phones, telehealth for at risk stroke patients as well as remote monitoring to create more ways for patients to access health care services.

Its data driven healthcare.

So especially in our oncology clinic, they have a system where they can text each other without having to run through the clinic and find the provider, which would delaycare, Angela Best, R.N. said. We have the ability to actually send a text message to each of the individuals in the clinic, whether its the scheduler or the physician or the nurse.

Of course, with an increase in all that technology comes an increased need to keep patients data safe.

A huge portion of that is cyber security, Kyle Marek, CIO, said. Our organization is putting a lot of effort into cyber security to protect the data that were collecting from our patients.

The hospital is continuously one of the first in the state to use new technologies, like Certascan which was rolled out earlier this year.

Thats where they take a digital imprint of your babys foot as soon as its born and thats kept electronically for its lifetime so the patients and the family can look at that, Marek said. They use it to identify a baby down the road if theres ever an incident.

Additional technology includes algorithms in documentation to identify patients at risk for sepsis and a Philips AlluraClarity machine which is a high image but low dose of radiation x-ray machine; one of the lowest in the state.

Our organization overall is constantly going out and looking for new technologies and for new ways to utilize technology, Marek said. Were a proactive organization and that takes involvement from the entire community and physician staff and the staff overall.

Other hospitals in our state that received the recognition include Vidant Health, Duke University Hospital, Carolinas Health Care System of Charlotte, Novant Health System, and University of North Carolina Health Care. For a complete list of Most Wired organizations visit, http://www.hhnmag.com.

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Carteret Health Care recognized for use of technology in care - WNCT

Those of my generation have seen enormous advances in speech recognition systems.

In the early days, the user had to train herself to the system, exaggerating phonemes, speaking in slow staccato bursts. These days, it's the system that trains itself to the user. The results aren't perfect, but they're pretty darn good.

The development of speech recognition illustrates one facet of the relationship between people and technology. Sometimes, we have to change ourselves to meet the technology where it is. But the goal is often the other way around: to improve the technology to fit us as we are.

That's why it's interesting to reflect on some exceptions to the rule cases where technology isn't just a tool, but also a teacher. Good teachers meet their students where they are, and they adapt their methods accordingly. But the ultimate goal isn't to accommodate the student as he is, it's to change the student by changing the way he thinks and acts. When technology is a teacher, it isn't enough for the technology to adapt; we need to change ourselves, too. This turns out to have some interesting implications.

Consider some examples. Tutoring systems, language learning apps, and educational games are all designed to change our mental abilities. Weight loss apps, posture sensors, and exercise monitors are designed to change the way we behave. The ultimate aim is for YOU to learn Mandarin or achieve some target weight, not to have a device that translates your English into Mandarin for you, or creates the illusion of lower mass.

It's when we consider what it takes to change mental abilities or behaviors that things start to get interesting. Take the case of learning a language. The best teacher isn't necessarily the nicest teacher, or the easiest teacher, or the most flexible teacher. The best teacher (qua teacher) is the one who does the best job getting you to learn the language. In fact, we know from research in psychology and education that the best way to learn is unlikely to be the easiest, or the one that gives you the most immediate sense of mastery. There's value in desirable difficulties features of a task that increase effort, but support better long-term performance. There are also plenty of examples of learning interventions that increase immediate learning, or just the sense of having learned, but that are ultimately less effective than more effortful alternatives.

This means that shaping technology to the aim we care about in these cases some form of learning could depart pretty radically from the more familiar aim of shaping technology to the way we are now: making it comfortable, easy, convenient, and so on. Just as it might be a mistake to evaluate teachers based (only) on student evaluations, it might be a mistake to evaluate these technologies (only) on familiar metrics, such as user ratings and our own impressions from immediate use. We really want them vetted by our future selves; it's their reviews we should be reading.

These issues also apply to technology designed to change behavior, but often there's an additional twist. We typically resort to technology for behavior change when our own good intentions prove insufficient. For all my sincere efforts not to slouch at the keyboard or have a second cookie, I'm guilty of both on a regular basis.

Technological tools for behavior change are a way to nudge ourselves into better behavior. We intervene on our environment to shape ourselves, because we can't simply will ourselves into the target behavior directly. As a result, these technological tools aren't just teachers in the business of sharing information and rational persuasion; they're tricksters in the business of manipulating us albeit at our bidding.

Of course, the relationship between people and technology is more complex (as Alva No has written about here at 13.7). It isn't just that people adapt to technology, and that technology adapts to people. The relationship is dynamic and bidirectional; we are, to use Alva's phrase, "the tool-using species." But our tools aren't merely implements; they are also teachers and tricksters, balancing the values of our current and future selves.

Tania Lombrozo is a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She writes about psychology, cognitive science and philosophy, with occasional forays into parenting and veganism. You can keep up with more of what she is thinking on Twitter: @TaniaLombrozo

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Technology Can Be A Tool, A Teacher, A Trickster - NPR

Technology has long been helping peopleparticularly womenin their quest to balance work and family responsibilities. The ability to work from home, tele- and video-conference into work meetings, has created new work paradigms; the internet has created new ways for part-time workers and entrepreneurs to make money from their homes.

Heres another way that technology can help improve work life for women: By giving women access to information about how companies treat their female employees. USA Today explains how one online service is doing just that:

Even with the rise of sites like Glassdoor and Monster, many women are still left wondering exactly how prospective employers handle gender-specific issues in the workplace likefamily leave and pay equity.

To find out, female job seekers are turning to Fairygodboss, a job review site exclusivelyfor women. The site provides crowdsourced intel on how female-friendly company policy is at thousands of businesses.

The 2-year-old start-up just released their2017 rankings of the best companies where women are happiest.

The rankings were based on the responses from almost 15,000 women about overall job satisfaction, gender equityand likelihood of recommendingtheir company to another woman.

The data is pulled from the anonymous job reviews that Fairygodboss usesto create company profiles.

This is great information for employees to have: women who want a company that is dedicated to supporting their advancement, and that will offer flexibility if and when they have children, have a new tool for identifying what companies might be the right fit for them. And its also important for employers to learn directly from employees and prospects what workers want most from their employers. Sites like this will give employers an incentive to try to do right by their workers so that they can earn a reputation as a place where quality employees want to work.

Unsurprisingly, most of the companies that top the list as the best places to work are large and primarily employ higher-skilled workers. But this kind of information could help women and workers at all income scales. Employers that rely more or hourly or lower-skilled workers also have an incentive to attract and retain the best, most reliable workforce possible. They will have to compete against other employers for such workers and will benefit from having a reputation of treating employees well.

Finding solutions to help people balance work and family responsibilities isnt easy, especially because not all workersnot even all womenwant the same type of support from their employers. But more information, and true flexibility, is a key to helping people find employment situations that suit them and to encourage businesses to meet the needs of workers.

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How Technology Can Solve Workplace Challenges - National Review

The Google-owned company Waymo has partnered with Chrysler for its Pacifica minivan, which it says will make self-driving technology more accessible. Photograph: Google

The innovation race between car companies and tech giants like Google and Uber has seen expectations for driverless technology soar.

Proponents claim autonomous vehicles (AVs) can solve the problems we currently experience on the road: traffic will be safer, less congested and cleaner, there will be more car and ride-sharing, reduced labour costs in freight transport, and greater mobility and social participation among the disabled and elderly.

But will AVs achieve all this in 10 or even 25 years time?

There are good reasons to be sceptical. Spreading optimism about AVs makes sense if you are trying to generate support among regulators and investors. But the capabilities of new technology to have deep impacts on existing road transport systems are simply overestimated.

Being able to drive may not be as culturally significant as it once was but it is still important to the identity of many people, including many youngsters. And while driving is certainly not always enjoyable, the positive emotions and sensations it can generate are one reason why cars remain the dominant form of transport.

Some barriers to widespread uptake of AVs like insurance, culpability and liability in accidents, and the risk of hacking are well recognised. They are, however, framed as fixable instead of as wicked social controversies that might erupt once the public has gained first-hand experience of riding or sharing the road with AVs.

Industry and governments alike make strong assumptions about AVs desirability after market introduction. As long as AV developments revolve around vehicles and technology rather than people and everyday mobility, large-scale public resistance is a genuine risk.

Some of the promised benefits also seem too good to be true. If freight movements on the motorway or in cities become fully autonomous, drivers are unlikely to be eliminated in many if not most cases.

Drivers, after all, do so much more than drive: they manage loading and unloading operations, offer consumer services and intervene when things go awry. Replacing their roles would require far deeper changes to logistical systems than automation of driving.

Large-scale uptake of full autonomy may, for quite some time at least, be limited to places with simple and low traffic, for instance in ports or distribution centres, and to platooning of trucks on motorways.

Urban traffic is by far the most difficult to automate. Stop-and-go traffic and interactions with pedestrians, cyclists and other road users are challenging for all AVs but formidable for larger and heavier ones.

Given that conventional vehicle manufacturers have become key to AV developments, a large-scale shift from car ownership to car clubs and Uber-style ride sharing following automation looks increasingly doubtful. The car industry is venturing into mobility services like car sharing and smartphone apps for personalised mobility planning, but remains deeply locked into business models premised on individual ownership.

AVs may strengthen car- and ride-sharing in places where various forms of public transport and cycling are seamlessly interconnected. Yet, in the UK tightly integrated mobility systems are sparse, especially outside central London. Car-sharing is often more competitor than complement to public transport, which reflects a wider post-privatisation culture of transport service provision characterised by competition, short-term profitability and distrust of other players.

This makes the long-term growth potential of car-sharing uncertain. AVs may well re-entrench individual ownership and kill off peak car the reversal since the 1990s of the historic growth in car use and ownership.

Moreover, it looks increasingly likely that AVs sensing and data-processing technologies will be integrated into vehicles themselves rather than the wider road infrastructure. The inevitable extra costs of AV technologies will therefore be shouldered by owners and users, and this will raise social justice issues.

The disabled and elderly, who might in theory benefit substantially from AVs, will be over-represented among groups for whom these vehicles will be unaffordable. The same holds for small operators in the freight and service sectors, including white van drivers.

At a time when many investments in public transport and cycling in UK cities contribute to gentrification and disproportionately favour the middle classes, as with HS2 and most bike-sharing schemes, AV developments risk further increasing transports role in enhancing social inequality.

AVs can reduce some of road transports problems, but only under specific conditions. Without careful, proactive and participatory planning, they may create and exacerbate more problems than they are expected to solve.

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Peak car? Driverless technology may actually accelerate car ownership - The Guardian

JENKS, Oklahoma -

Jenks Police say technology helped play a role in a man's arrest.

Police say this arrest is due to a helpful community and an observant police officer working together.

Tulsa resident Anne Trees hassurveillance video which captured a manwalking up to her porch Friday afternoon, taking a package and driving away.

"I could see this white van driving into the driveway. The guy gets out, goes to the porch, grabs the boxes, gets back in and leaves," Trees said.

At first she was not going to report the incident.

Trees did, however,post pictures to an online platform called Nextdoor that allows users to talk and share information with each other in their communities.

Flash forward to Sunday, when Jenks police pulled over a van on a traffic stop.

"We actually had a passerby recognize the van, and he said, that looks similar to the van I saw on the Nextdoor app," said Corporal Michael Gauldin ."So he stopped and talked with the officers, and said, 'Hey I think this is the same van.'"

That man's name is Nick Elder.

Police say they found the same clothes in the vehicle that matched the surveillance video from Trees.

They also foundaddresses and phone numbers for other people, and a stolen package from Glenpool.

But police did not find Trees's items.

They also asked Trees to file a police report, which she did.

"To us, it's huge, because we're here to serve the general public. In turn they act as our eyes and ears," Gauldin said.

Police say technology is a great tool, but are asking people to take the next step and call them no matter how big or how small they believe the crime may be.

"I'm encouraging others to also file a police report if they have not," Trees said.

Elder was arrested on complaints ofpossession of a stolen vehicle andpossession of stolen property,as well as other complaints.

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Technology Leads To Arrest Of Jenks Man For Package Theft - News On 6

SWANTON, Vt. -

A rare, inside look at the work of the men and women who secure our northern border. Our Tyler Dumont went on the job with the U.S. Border Patrol and found much of their work relies on secret, hidden technology.

The Canada-United States border is the longest international border between two countries in the world. The Vermont-based Swanton sector patrols 300 miles of it by land, water and air.

"We're looking for cross-border traffic between ports of entry," said Brad Brant of the U.S. Border Patrol.

But there are only so many agents and that's where this technology center comes in.

"Technology helps us cover more area with more people," Brant explained.

Based at the Swanton Border Patrol headquarters, it's known from days past as the "radio room." But it's clear here that technology has come a long way.

"We can use sensing systems that detect motion, we can use sensing systems that detect magnetic mass," Brant said.

High-tech sensors and cameras have become the Border Patrol's leading detection systems. They help the agency catch intruders illegally entering the U.S.

"There's an audio alert. The audio alert will key them to what they need to look at," Brant said.

Inside this room, there are constant notification sounds and constant communication. Dispatchers use cameras to determine what set off a sensor and if an agent needs to investigate it further. Staffed around the clock, the radio room can get busy.

"It's very busy in here. So we've got 300 miles of border, all these sensors, all these sensing systems all feeding back into here. And you've got two people acting as the nerve system of the sector," Brant said.

Workers in this center act as extra eyes and ears for agents in the field. They also help those field agents identify who they stop.

Border Patrol asked us not to show what cameras and sensors look like or their locations to maintain security. But they told us they're set up in more difficult terrain to cross the border where high-value smuggling is likely and in easier terrain where people willfully enter illegally.

While technology may help agents get ahead of illegal crossers, indicating where-- it doesn't identify who and why.

"It doesn't tell us what that person is, their criminal history, their background, what country they're from. So, we have to catch everybody to find out who we've caught," Brant said.

Watching backwoods, water boundaries, ports of entry and everything in between to keep our border secure.

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Walking the line: Technology and the US Border Patrol - WCAX

SHRM

Technology and Metrics Underused in Recognition Programs SHRM "Organizations have been slow to adopt recognition technology," said Mike Byam, managing partner at Terryberry, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based provider of employee recognition solutions. A study by the firm, which polled nearly 400 HR professionals from a ...

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Technology and Metrics Underused in Recognition Programs - SHRM