By Elizabeth Barrett
CTL Marketing Manager
We have a brand new product floating around the CTL office. It’s called a Link and Learn, and it’s designed to make teachers and school administrators drool.
The Link and Learn is in the simplest terms a mobile computer lab. In more expansive terms it’s a high tech way of allowing technology to come to you. The cart holds up to 30 netbooks and a teacher laptop. All the units can be charged in the cart (a hassle saving feature if there ever was one) and the cart itself offers wireless connectivity. The netbooks that come with the Link and Learn are semi-ruggadized and able to take the wear and tear kids place on any object that gets in their path. CTL is offering two different netbook options with the Link and Learn, the 2go Classmate PC E10IS, which is a traditional netbook, and the 2go Convertible Classmate PC the NL2, that converts from a netbook to a tablet. Both options have scratch resistant screens and water resistant keyboards. In short they’re made to be used. And since they were designed with kids in mind the Link and Learn adds peace of mind to its list of impressive features.
Both netbook options come with educational software that teachers clamor for. The netbooks and the teacher laptop are all bundled with SMART software allowing the teacher to easily monitor the class. It also allows the computers to be synced letting the teacher lead a presentation and guaranteeing that the rest of the class follows along. We tried out the sync feature and ACPE northwest and it was an awesome way to present to a group of adults who were interested in what we had to say, imagine how nice that feature would be with a group of easily distracted kids?
Technology has become an interregnal part of a student’s education. The Link and Learn allows teachers to easily integrated technology into the classroom. No more getting kids lined up, keeping them together down the hall and getting them situated and back on task. Instead the link and learn will come to them, allowing them to maximize the amount of time and the quality of their computer time. Everyone at CTL is excited about the Link and Learn, and I think schools and teachers will be too.