Lightspeed Product Roadmap Webinar: Part 2 Recap

Key Takeaways:

• Next-Level Student Safety: Lightspeed is introducing advanced features for proactive monitoring and anonymous reporting, enhancing the safety and well-being of students.
• Streamlined Classroom Management: New innovative tools are being designed to empower teachers, including real-time insights and simplified controls that foster focused learning environments.
• Expanded Parent Engagement: Upcoming enhancements that improve communication and accessibility for parents are on the way, ensuring a stronger connection between families and schools.

This week, we wrapped up the second part of our Lightspeed Product Roadmap webinar series, where we showcased the latest innovations and upcoming features across our product suite. For those who missed it, Part 2 focused on Lightspeed Alert, Stop It, Classroom, and the Parent Portal. If you’re catching up now, you’re in the right place to get the highlights.

Before we jump into the details, a big thank-you to everyone who joined us live, shared feedback, and asked insightful questions. Your input drives our roadmap and helps us build solutions that solve real challenges in education. Let’s dive into the highlights!

➡ If you’d like, you can watch the webinar on-demand now.

Lightspeed Alert™: Proactive Student Safety Monitoring

With Lightspeed Alert, our mission is to help schools identify concerning student behavior early to prevent crises and intervene before situations escalate. Here’s a summary of what’s new and what’s coming for Alert:

What’s New:

• Centralized Admin Control of Notifications: Admins can now manage how and when system notifications are sent, ensuring efficiency and reducing noise.
• Streamlined Escalation Lists: Simplified workflows allow for easy editing and reordering of escalation contacts, and districts can now add unlimited contacts to escalation lists.
• Enhanced AI and Human Review: Improved filtering and detection mean fewer false positives and more meaningful alerts.

What’s Coming Soon:

• Canvas LMS Integration: Gain visibility into student activity within Canvas, including discussion boards and assignments.
• Mobile Escalation Notifications: A new mobile app will allow admins to receive instant notifications and details about escalated alerts, no matter where they are.
• SMTP Email Monitoring Support: Additional flexibility for monitoring student email activity.

Further Down the Road:

• Unified Safety Experience: We’re working on merging Lightspeed Alert and Stop It into a single platform for a seamless, 360-degree view of student safety.

Lightspeed StopIt™: Anonymous Reporting for Safer Schools

Earlier this year, we welcomed StopIt to the Lightspeed family. Our new anonymous reporting tool, Lightspeed StopIt, empowers students, parents, and staff to report safety concerns before they escalate.

Key Features:

• Anonymous Reporting for All: Tips can be submitted via mobile app, web, or phone, ensuring accessibility for everyone in the community.
• Two-Way Chat: Schools can follow up on submitted tips to gather more information while maintaining anonymity.
• Crisis Text Line Integration: Students in distress can access immediate support through an integrated crisis text line.

What’s New:

• Bulk Export Enhancements: Automated delivery options for reports improve workflow efficiency.
• UK Localization: Bringing Stop It to international schools with localized language, time formats, and more.

What’s Next:

• AI-Powered Resource Search: Students will be able to easily find relevant resources by asking natural-language questions.
• Unified Safety Dashboard: The future of Stop It and Alert is a single, streamlined platform that offers case management and actionable insights.

Lightspeed Classroom™: Empowering Teachers in the Digital Age

Lightspeed Classroom continues to focus on giving teachers tools to minimize distractions and maximize engagement in digital learning environments.

What’s New:

• Hall Monitor: A built-in digital hall pass system, available for Chromebooks, that improves accountability as students move around campus.
• Class Highlights: AI-powered insights identify patterns like distracted students or those needing extra support.
• Tab Count: Teachers can now monitor how many tabs students have open and close unnecessary ones with ease.
• Teacher HQ: A centralized hub for teacher resources, announcements, and training, directly within the Classroom platform.

What’s Coming Soon:

• Limit Tabs: Teachers and IT admins will have the ability to restrict the number of browser tabs students can open, fostering focus and reducing distractions.
• Simplified On-Demand Scheduling: An updated interface will make it easier for teachers to start unscheduled, ad hoc class sessions without confusion.

Lightspeed Parent Portal™: Strengthening the School-Home Connection

Lightspeed Parent Portal continues to evolve, providing better insights into student activity and making it easier for IT admins to configure and manage.

What’s New:

• Decoupled Weekly Reports: Schools can now enable the portal without requiring weekly reports to be sent.
• CSV Import Improvements: A progress bar and error reporting make bulk imports smoother.
• Customizable Weekly Reports: Choose whether to include all student activity or just after-school data.

What’s Coming Soon:

• Unlimited Guardians: Enhanced CSV structures will allow schools to add unlimited guardians per student, accommodating diverse family structures.

Beyond the Products: Resources to Support You

At Lightspeed, we don’t just provide tools—we ensure you have the support to use them effectively. This summer, take advantage of:

• Live Training Sessions: For district users and educators, including classroom-specific sessions.
• Monthly One-on-One Support: Personalized guidance tailored to your district.
• Quarterly Product Updates: Stay informed about what’s new.

📅  Sign up for training.

Lightspeed Champions: Your Voice Matters

The Lightspeed Champions Program is your opportunity to partner with us and directly shape the future of our products. By joining, you’ll:

• Get early access to test new features.
• Participate in research for upcoming solutions.
• Provide critical feedback to improve our tools.
• Plus, you’ll receive a welcome gift as a thank-you for joining.

📲 Sign up today!

Stay Connected

We’re thrilled by the excitement and feedback from both parts of the Lightspeed Product Roadmap webinar series. Your input shapes our roadmap, and we’re committed to delivering solutions that make a meaningful impact in education.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we’ll continue to create safer, more productive, and better-connected learning environments.

Rob Chambers
VP of Product
Lightspeed Systems