It's been nearly a week since FETC, and we at GoGuardian are still riding the wave of genuine positivity that came from the conference. It all began with ALAS (Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents) on Monday and Tuesday. During six breakout sessions, every district we interacted with stated that mental health was a top priority, proving that GoGuardian Beacon is a need in EdTech. After a rewarding experience at ALAS, the next few days of FETC were filled with booth visitors, expo hall interactions, and marching bands keeping us entertained.
Highlights from the Floor
FETC truly was an event to remember. Our team had meaningful interactions throughout the week, and we got to learn even more about our education community. Some attendees were there to walk the room and learn the trends that were happening in the EdTech industry. Others had a specific product in mind to explore, including GoGuardian. Every conversation we had was enlightening, in both good and challenging ways. We were there to listen and learn, even when our customers had constructive feedback. Although we spoke to many people on different subjects, our days at FETC were filled with these common themes:
Directors and Administrators who were interested in GoGuardian Admin’s latest device-agnostic update. We were able to share that GoGuardian Admin, the most complete K-12 web filter for school technology programs, will soon be available on any device, browser, or operating system—which means Admin anywhere!
General interest in GoGuardian Beacon’s new service plans for suicide prevention and self-harm:
- Beacon Starter – a complimentary part of the GoGuardian Admin product
- Beacon Core – a similar offering to our current Beacon product, which uses advanced machine learning to help schools identify students who are silently suffering, alert those who can help, and quickly activate the school’s custom response plan
- Beacon 24/7 – a version of Beacon that offers additional support from a team of trained safety specialists who escalate the most serious alerts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Many of you were excited about Beacon Starter and the human escalation component of Beacon 24/7, stating that it’s an important feature.
Demos and mini-trainings of our GoGuardian Teacher product for educators who may not have been familiar with our product. Although some of these teachers work in districts that use GoGuardian Admin, not all teachers were using GoGuardian Teacher for their classroom management. The live demos showed the benefits of using the software to manage student browsers and help them stay on task.
Customers who love GoGuardian Fleet for device management.
Curiosity about Parent App, which will make it easier for parents to access reports without the need of an Admin to manually send it.
Other memorable moments from our FETC experience included a quality conversation with an Instructional Technologist. One of his challenges was implementing GoGuardian with teachers who love it and with those who don’t. We met iPad-oriented districts that hadn’t previously considered GoGuardian, but now have the option to use it on any device. We received positive feedback on Teacher analytics in Admin, an ROI tool that enables administrators to see how many hours and dollars they have saved. We even chatted with a customer who has been with us from nearly the beginning.
Our Community and Neighbors
In addition to the positive interactions at our booth, the other exhibitors at FETC enhanced our experience. Next door to GoGuardian’s booth was Carnegie Learning, an EdTech company that makes software for math and computer science. We had a great conversation about the MATHia tool with Stephen, director of advanced analytics. As Carnegie Learning’s neighbor, we also had the pleasure of seeing their in-booth workshops.
EdTech Advisor Kevin Dorsey stopped by numerous booths, including our partners at CDW and Firefly Computers. From his days as a director of technology, Kevin caught up with reps from learning tech tools Pear Deck and NearPod, as well as Kami, a file reader and editor program. All of these companies are wonderful instructional technology tools for increasing student engagement. When you have a chance, check them out!
If there’s one word that sums up our experience, it’s KINDNESS. Many visitors showed concern for one of our GoGuardians who is from Australia where the bushfires continue to blaze. If you’re reading this, Louise thanks you for your kindness.
We love our customers and welcome all feedback! If you have an idea, please submit it at ideas.goguardian.com.
