0:03 (Marissa Naab from Lightspeed Systems)

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us today. We are going to wait a couple of minutes, so we can allow a couple more folks to hop on, so the webinar will begin shortly and thank you for joining. 

1:16 

Let’s go ahead and get started. My name is Marissa Naab. I’m on the webinar team here at Lightspeed Systems. And I have the pleasure of moderating today’s discussion. Before we get started, just wanted to go over a couple of quick housekeeping items with you all. First of all, this webinar is going to be recorded, and we will be sending it out to all of you once the session concludes. So you can watch it at a later date or share with your co-workers or distribute as you see fit. 

1:48 

We will be taking audience questions at the end of the webinar. So, if you have a question, at any point during this discussion, please enter it in the chat box. And, one of our team members will make sure that we get it relayed to Rob, so we can answer it at the end of the presentation today. 

2:03 

Finally, once the webinar concludes, a survey will pop up on your screen. If you could just take the time to answer some of those questions, we would greatly appreciate it. 

2:14 

And we will also send you a $10 Starbucks gift card in appreciation for doing so. 

2:20 

So, without further ado, I am pleased to introduce Rob Chambers. He’s the VP of Global Customer Success here at Lightspeed Systems. Rob, would you like to tell us a little bit more about yourself? 

2:33 

Sure. Thanks, Marissa. Yes, I’m, I’m Rob Chambers. I’m the VP of customer success here at Lightspeed. 

2:40 

I work with, with all of our customers, just ensuring that they’re getting everything they need out at the software, that they’re able to make sure that it it’s working properly, it gets implemented up and running, and takes care of all of those needs. 

2:56 

So, today, I’m happy to talk about what it looks like as things begin to return to normal. 

3:07 

We led a survey publish those results earlier this year and, you know, here’s some of the key things that we found as schools are beginning to prepare back, to prepare to come back to, to a normal type of environment. 

3:26 

Look, you know 82% said their top priority is reducing spending inefficiencies and maximizing their budget. 

3:34 

No, talking a lot of schools, that, in order to make the rapid adjustments that they needed, K 12 is an ever-changing environment, but certainly more rapidly in the last year, programs were rolled out very quickly and maybe without a lot of the normal process and planning that might have gone into that, just because we had, you know, schools had to react so quickly. 

4:03 

And so now, as we’re preparing to return back to them more kind of normal environment, looking for those opportunities to reduce spending inefficiencies is definitely a top priority. 

4:19 

Now, I think it aligns very directly with, you know, all almost 80% and 78%, gaining insight into app usage, and it’s really the same thing, you know, we’ve talked with schools, they’ve purchased so many apps. 

4:33 

So, many new things rolled out, so many new programs to try to adapt so rapidly, and because everyone has been remote or in a hybrid mode, it’s been very difficult to gage that usage of those programs in ways that, you know, previously. 

4:54 

When we were dealing with a, you know, more face to face environment, you know, you could, you could see those things in action, in the remote and hybrid world, we’re in, that’s just not as easy to accomplish. 

5:10 

I think right up there is, you know, kind of, continuing this theme on, is down into their visibility, into the app usage. 

5:20 

You know, which students are using it, where they’re using it, which schools are using at which classes. 

5:25 

And all of that answer is really key, and then, we ask the final question, and that’s only about which is, you know, 52% of respondents, are not using a solution today that gives them any visibility. 

5:38 

So, obviously, there’s a significant need to understand how the programs are in use in the environment, but most schools don’t have a tool in place to help them accomplish that. 

5:53 

So, when we look at data analytics in K 12. 

5:59 

We we’ve seen just tremendous shift in how schools are using devices, how they’re using programs. 

6:11 

You know, online learning. 

6:13 

We’ve been helping schools for many, many years accomplish this, you know manage their mobile devices, manage the content on those mobile devices. 

6:23 

Prior to the last year that was a nice to have or an auxiliary piece that schools used, and now, you know, that is a must have that is. 

6:37 

It is the way we’re operating today. 

6:43 

Looking across those mobile devices, looking at across those apps that are in use in your environment is really a key thing that I’m spending a lot of time helping schools understand, and as they come to, you know, come to Lightspeed come to us, and they want to understand what is really happening in their environment, and in ways that that they weren’t able to see previously. 

7:07 

You know, when we look at the kind of traditional data that is that a school looks at, a lot of times around Internet usage, it’s focused on what did a particular student do, and what does that student activity look like. 

7:26 

But, increasingly now, for a variety of reasons, we’re looking at what apps are in use and how are they being used within, rather than my environment as mobile learning. And mobile devices become a primary use environment there? 

7:45 

There’s more and more questions about it and the data on are these apps protecting my students data, are they being deployed properly? Are the schools using the apps that IT has, as, has approved, and being used properly? 

8:00 

So, all of those questions are what schools are struggling with, as we continue to work with them, and helped through this transition. 

8:13 

So we look, you know, some of the statistics on here, you know, a 90% increase in use of educational tools over the last year. 

8:22 

I mean, obviously, we understand why, but when you actually put it, in terms like that, you see how significant that is? 

8:32 

67% of all district purchased EdTech licenses are going unused where, you know, I think, this number was, probably true before, but even more so now. 

8:43 

Because, when we look at what’s happened, right? You have so many things that were rolled out so quickly. 

8:52 

You didn’t get the kind of standard professional development that you might have, and, you know, training and implementation, that you may have, just because we didn’t have the time. 

9:03 

And so, are those licenses going unused? 

9:06 

I was actually just talking with a school. 

9:10 

That, you know, they’re their traditional model of managing this would be a survey of the teachers, and, you know, which apps are you using? 

9:19 

And so, they did that survey and then turned on the, our analytics tool, and they found the, the answers didn’t match. 

9:30 

And so, that was a real eye opener for IT. 

9:33 

And gave them different viewpoints, So, you know, in a survey, asking your staff, you know, are you using this? 

9:42 

The answer was frequently, yes, and maybe they were, you didn’t have the adoption or the heavy usage that that, kind of matched the survey results. 

9:53 

And so being able to monitor that in real time is really becoming more and more critical in today’s world and managing that spend. 

10:06 

There’s a lot of demand on IT dollars and where that’s going, and so being able to know that you’re using it effectively is it’s a major question that schools are asking today. 

10:18 

You know, the unauthorized applications really kind of ties in with that, that survey results that we just saw. 

10:24 

But something that we’re just seeing all over from, from schools, you know, again, not only did schools, formally rollout a lot of applications throughout the last year. But you had teachers that were just, you know, grabbing what they couldn’t and, to be honest, you know, they’re doing their best. 

10:42 

They are trying to adapt rapidly and provide an environment for kids. 

10:49 

But are those applications meeting the required, you know, data retention, data security, compliance that schools are forced to have, and so knowing what is in use in your environment and it’s it authorized or not, it’s something that schools are struggling with a lot. 

11:10 

You know, I’ve worked with schools, there’s a number of states now that have implemented requirements that schools publish, the list of applications that are in use, that could be collecting student data, that could be used by the students in the environment. 

11:28 

If you have unauthorized applications, that list may not match and can cause difficulty. And so being able to have that visibility is really key. 

11:40 

Interesting, you know, statistic is that fourth bullet point. 

11:45 

When we see, as we’ve rolled out data analytics to customers, we’re finding, you know, over 3.7 billion in unused licenses. 

11:54 

That’s a huge amount of money. 

11:55 

That could be used in other ways, in education, or maybe, you know, maybe it is just driving professional development so that the staff is, you know, taking advantage and using those licenses effectively. 

12:10 

So, you know, when we look at no savings, you know, an average client saving $300,000 in in unused license costs is really key. And you start to understand, you know, across all of the students, all the schools we’re working with. 

12:30 

How important this is and how critical this shift to using the mobile devices using, you know, using this as a primary form of education now. 

12:44 

Really that to know that we’re using it effectively. You’re getting these questions from your school board. 

12:49 

You’re getting these questions from your community, and being able to have the data to answer them as is what a lot of schools are struggling with, and a lot of schools are talking to us about and how to solve that problem. 

13:08 

So, you know, you’re answering to that community, your answer to your school board, and your parent community. 

13:19 

As I’m hearing from schools and talking to my colleagues that work, you know, big districts. We’ve always wanted to have our parent communities more engaged in what’s going on in education. 

13:30 

And the last year has driven that, and now, we have to answer to some of those things. 

13:36 

And with a more engaged community, they want to know, you know, how is technology being used in education? 

13:46 

Is it being used effectively? 

13:50 

And so, you know, schools are having to, to find new ways to identify, you know, where those devices are being used. 

14:00 

Really, you know, bullet point here, you know, take the guesswork out of it, and know which pps are in use, how they’re being used, when they’re being used, and you have to be able to answer those questions. 

14:24 

So let’s look at. 

14:29 

Where that’s coming from. 

14:31 

Well, a lot of this is, you know, there’s a lot of money that is flowing into education these days with, with CARES funding ARP funding. 

14:42 

And you need to know where those opportunities are to share that, to use that funding to utilize it effectively. You know, it’s kind of an interesting situation that I’m talking to schools about. Because, on one hand, you have significant funding flowing in some of these funding sources, like CARES and ARP. 

15:11 

But there’s also a challenge, because the events of the last year have, in some cases, maybe have driven down enrollment, or your average daily attendance. And so, in one bucket of money there’s quite a bit of money coming in and in another, you can see some loss of funding. And so, how do you balance that? 

15:35 

Well, one of the key ways to do that is through being able to identify those opportunities to take advantage of these other funding sources, what pieces of technology, which apps, you know, are in use in your environment that can leverage these funding sources. 

15:57 

And I think that’s really key because then that allows you to free up funding in other areas, for your more traditional funds that are coming into schools, for things that can’t be funded by this. 

16:11 

And so, that’s a balancing act. And you want to maximize that new funding sources that are coming in, so that you can continue to maintain and even grow the programs that are being offered in the district. 

16:36 

So, you know, I guess we’ll talk about you know, how to how to eliminate that guesswork, I guess, and work in the budget. 

16:43 

And, so, you know, when we look at a lot of devices came in and we, you know, we saw a tremendous amount of schools ordering devices at the start of the pandemic. 

16:52 

And that was, really, you know, focused to how do we get devices in students’ hands to facilitate that remote learning. 

17:01 

But as we’ve gone through the year, you know, the devices have been dealt with, connectivity has been dealt with. 

17:08 

And now, you know, now it’s time to take a step back and look at those apps. 

17:14 

Are the apps being used? Are they being adopted? 

17:17 

Do you have high adoption and high engagement in that apps? 

17:20 

And that’s, you know, the difference there is, you know, you might have an app that is used by only a small number of your users, but is used very heavily by those, or you might have an app that is used very lightly, by all of your users, and then you have a licensing plan in place to, to address that, right? 

17:42 

So, for that one app that requires low adoption, you know, are you able to license that appropriately? 

17:51 

And so, really being able to balance those and know where those are being used. 

17:55 

And know where devices are being used remotely on campus. 

17:58 

We’re working on it with hybrid environments today, and those are likely to continue, or, you know, we’re talking with districts that have already come out and formerly announced that hybrid education is going to continue into the next school year. 

18:15 

So, being able to differentiate those remote versus local usage of the apps and devices, making sure that adoption rate. 

18:29 

And then, finally, and this point is, is really key, now that, I think, you’re able to move into a more planning situation, are those apps in compliance? 

18:42 

Are they being, not only is the app itself, it’s been approved for use in the district, but isn’t being deployed in the approved fashion? 

18:52 

And I think those are really questions that are more difficult to answer, as we’re in a remote mode, or a hybrid mode, without having effective tools in place to, to allow you to answer those questions. 

19:13 

As we move back into in-person education, or at least a hybrid education, this is, you know, I think, the point that a lot of schools are at, now, which is, let’s re-evaluate those applications. 

19:31 

Are they the right, long term choice? Are they, you know, are they relevant to their meeting functionality? 

19:40 

You look at a lot of schools that are having to adopt new tools for functionality, because the solution that they had in place previously, while it may have been very effective solution for meeting the curriculum, it’s only effective when that device is on campus. And needing to have something that works in a hybrid mode or a remote mode, has shifted the effectiveness of that particular tool. 

20:10 

The shift in bandwidth utilization, and management. 

20:18 

And, you know, you’re really just looking at apps that may again, have been in long term use in the environment, and are they still meeting your needs? 

20:29 

But, you know, we keep coming back to talking about unused licenses in the spend. 

20:33 

But it’s it is probably the number-one topic as I talk with schools today, is trying to understand the funding sources. 

20:46 

Because, again, you have this situation where, in some buckets of money that have special use or identified use, there’s a lot of money flowing in. And in other buckets of money, there’s there could be less money flowing in. 

21:03 

And so, being able to ensure that you are using mobile devices and the mobile apps effectively, that they’re being deployed in in the schools that are using them, really, are they deployed in the best solution? 

21:21 

It’s allowing you to balance that and give you that ability to maximize your spend. 

21:30 

So, when we look at, you know a post pandemic environment, you know, tech departments are being engaged more. They have a lot more support, probably than they’ve ever had. 

21:51 

But, on the other side, a lot more is, is on their shoulders. 

21:56 

And so, using this, and leveraging that to maximize that integration with learning, to maximize the use of these devices, and continue that, right. 

22:09 

I think technology has been much more of a supplemental standpoint, in many schools. 

22:19 

And now, it is kind of the primary method that’s probably, that’s going to continue. 

22:23 

That’s a lot of growth that has been going on in that way over the years, but now, it’s here, and we want to keep that momentum going and keep that focus 

22:36 

On technology and in education, you know, it gives us the ability to handle equity. It gives us the ability to handle, you know, ease of use. And mobile, I was just talking with another school shortly before this webinar today 

22:56 

About, you know, this, this world has changed, the way schools needed to look at their calendars and, you know, building in time for snow days, or closure days, or anything like that. 

23:10 

It’s really not necessary anymore. 

23:14 

We know schools have learned and been able to prove that they can teach kids remotely, and now that we have that opportunity to not have to cancel so school because of snow or weather, or any other event, that may occur. 

23:31 

Because now, we have not only have the tools in place, but the expertise, and everything else, based on what’s happened in the last year. 

23:42 

So, you know, we’ve talked about the challenges of how to get there, and now, I’ll talk a little bit about our product and how that helps. 

23:51 

And so, Lightspeed Analytics is taking data that we’ve helped the school gather over the years, but also adding new a new layer of analysis, and a new ease of use to that. 

24:10 

Because of the software that we have, predominantly on the filtering side of things, we know every app that’s in use, right? Because everything that the device is doing, is connected to the Internet some fashion today. 

24:25 

And so, through that, we can identify that. 

24:28 

But when you look at that raw data, typically that might have taken a significant amount of time. And was more of an after the fact. 

24:38 

By introducing the Lightspeed Analytics tool in the environment, you now get a real-time view of your environment, and you can see how is that technology being implemented? 

24:50 

What apps are in use in my environment? 

24:52 

Are we utilizing those apps on a day-to-day basis? Are we maximizing that technology budget? 

24:59 

And that’s really kind of, is, you know, what we’ve been talking about all along in this webinar, which is how do we, how do you prove that, how do you know that? 

25:10 

And that’s where Lightspeed Analytics can come in and provide you with that information. 

25:15 

You can note, OK, I’ve licensed, you know, 100 licenses for this app, or a thousand of this one, how many are in use? How often are they in use? 

25:25 

Which schools are using them, or actually even what classes, using them, and giving you that ability, that visibility to know, where either we can adjust the licensing, or, again, maybe you need to adjust professional development so that you can maximize that capability. 

25:46 

Tracking privacy and compliance is really key. 

25:51 

I was meeting with one of our, with one of our strategic partners, and, you know, that was a question that they’re frequently also talking to schools about, which is, you know, how is student data protected today with everything moving to it to a digital learning, to an online system? 

26:13 

Are we reacting adequately in protecting student data? And again, you know, in some states, it is now law that you have to produce this list of apps that are in use in the environment, and are they meeting your district compliance. Are they meeting your privacy policy and all of that? 

26:31 

And so, being able to track your apps that are in use in your environment, being able to publish that to your community is really a very important thing. It helps with transparency. 

26:44 

It helps get buy in from your community to know that you are taking this seriously, and you are protecting that student data. 

26:57 

You know, looking at, being able to, you know, break this down, and drill this down into different aspects in your environment. So, you know, one of the charts is, one of my favorite when I work with schools on this, is that the app usage that’s here on the on the left. This is where we can see that app adoption versus and engagement. 

27:19 

So, adoption is basically how many of those licensed users or licensed are being used. Engagement is, of those usage, how often is it being used? How many sessions are being used? 

27:32 

And so, you can see, you know, I have apps that are very high engagement, but low adoption, that might be an opportunity for professional development. 

27:41 

I have other apps that are high adoption, but low engagement, Now, that might be appropriate for that app, or it might be, again, maybe our, our teams need to know more how that app can be used, so, you can increase that adoption. 

27:56 

Looking at trending apps in my environment and seeing apps that are increasing or decreasing in use, and you can see here on the dashboard, we’ve got, you know, unapproved apps or approved apps. 

28:10 

No, this can be an important thing that, you know, I work with schools that have standardized on their video and conferencing platform. 

28:26 

And, you know, maybe that one’s been approved by the district. It’s gone through the, all the safety checks, and it’s been approved for use in the district, and it meets the standards and everything else. 

28:37 

Um, but you want to make sure that that is the one being used. 

28:40 

And so, when you, you know, you can run a report like this, and you can see if there’s any unapproved video conferencing app or things that might be in use. 

28:50 

Another key one is that it, during school and after school, I think in today’s environment, the lines of that are being blurred, but that’s an important thing for schools to be able to analyze and understand, because if you have significant up adoption of a particular app. 

29:11 

You know, outside of school hours, are you providing the support for your staff, for your students on that app? Or do they have the resources available to them? 

29:21 

Should they have a problem, or need assistance? 

29:23 

And so, I think that’s an increasing thing that we’re looking at, because it used to be, you know, I had to worry about it between 8 and 3 during my school hours. 

29:35 

But, now, there’s so much increasing use of educational devices, educational services, throughout the day. 

29:43 

You know, it’s a good from a student standpoint, because they’re, they’re more engaged. 

29:47 

But, are they, you know, are they getting the support that they need during those times, and how. I was talking with another school on a webinar like this, and how did they adapt their community support and their user support on, on these apps, outside of those hours. 

30:06 

But knowing which those apps were, and when they were being used, allowed them to focus those efforts in a way that they wouldn’t have if he didn’t have access to this kind of data. 

30:25 

Yeah, I think this actionable real-time when, whenever I talk about reporting, this is a key point and one that we get a lot of feedback from schools as something that they definitely appreciate. 

30:41 

Actionable data is really key. 

30:44 

You can have a tremendous amount of data, but can’t interpret, it can’t take action on it, then it loses its value. 

30:53 

And so, the, one of the key things that we’ve done as we’ve, you know, we’ve built these reports out and we’ve been through several iterations of it, is to, you know, adjust that, to meet the needs of schools and the changing needs. I mean, you would look at Geolocation which is on here was not initially one of our dashboard items, but as schools are dealing with hybrid and remote needing to know where those devices are being used. 

31:22 

A key item there when we talk about, you know, going to a highly mobile student base and dealing with the equity issues. 

31:33 

So if I know, you know, my devices are not being used in a particular neighborhood or region, maybe that’s because you know, that area doesn’t have easy access to Internet. 

31:46 

That allows the district to focus those efforts on providing that connectivity and providing those hotspots or whatever that might be. So, knowing, you know Geolocation while that, that raw data may have existed previously, being able to see that in a real-time, actionable report is really made that more functional and easy to use for schools. 

32:09 

And so that’s really a theme throughout all of our reports. So whether it’s geolocation or data compliance, we’re looking at all of those ways to provide that data to the stakeholders. 

32:22 

And, again, you know, a lot of a lot of times, this data was traditionally viewed by IT, IT would have to take time to produce those reports now through these, you know, this can be easily shared. 

32:33 

You know, you look at it a geolocation map that can be easily shared with the appropriate people in the district without having to have a lot of explanation, or deciphering that goes with that. 

32:50 

So, you hear me talk a lot, and, you know, I do get the advantage of talking with a lot of schools, but I think it’s always best told when we have a customer story to go along with this. 

33:04 

So, looking at the story from Osseo Public here, you know, just by rolling out the analytics tool identified and saved tens of thousands of dollars in unused licenses. 

33:18 

And, you know, I’ve mentioned this a few times, but it’s instrumental in putting together those professional development programs. 

33:23 

It helps focus that right now, OK, here’s the apps that are in use. Here’s the apps that have high engagement or low engagement. 

33:32 

And allowing you to know when we are able to do professional development and training with our teams right now, especially in the environment we’re in. We want to make sure that’s focused and effective. 

33:46 

And so, you look at a school story like this where they, you know, customer was able to, you know, focus those efforts, save that money, is really key, two to the success of their digital program. Not just, you know, the use of Lightspeed software, but to the digital program in general. 

34:12 

So, we talked a lot today about analytics, but it is part of a suite of tools that all work together to enhance the digital program for education, from the Lightspeed Filter that that, you know, we started with. 

34:32 

It has grown into so much more and that Analytics data takes that takes that traffic data, and produces these real-time, actionable reports. Mobile Device Management ensures that devices have the right configuration, the right apps, the right tools in place. 

34:49 

Classroom Management allows the teachers to know that they are on task. 

34:56 

A tool we’ve seen significant adoption of, as we’ve rolled into, that’s one that a lot of schools maybe thought was a nice to have previously and has also become a critical component, because you’ve lost that, that face-to-face, as we’ve gone to hybrid and remote learning. 

35:13 

And you may not know what a student is doing on the device, and so, having that visibility. 

35:19 

Then, Lightspeed Alert is our, our newest product here, but one that we’ve had for a long time has been a part of Lightspeed’s mission, and one that we’re very proud of, and helping students. 

35:34 

We’re helping schools keep students safe, have those early warning signs of where you might have an incident that needs evaluation, and now, being able to produce those in real-time, and having a team to work with, with your school’s team. So, the whole suite works together, you know, Analytics as, well. We talked about a lot today, but that is a piece of what we do. 

36:01 

And having that all in one place, one suite of tools gives you that ability to leverage that and make them work very effectively. 

36:12 

I don’t want to forget about all the other tools that we have available for you. 

36:17 

And with that, Marissa, we’ll see if we have any questions. 

36:21 

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing all those insights today, Rob. 

36:24 

There’s a lot of valuable information in there, you know, especially just with funding is not going to be around forever in starting to think about be strategic with what funding you have left and how to plan for the future is just some really great information. So thank you for sharing that. 

36:41 

This first question: we have kind of touched on what you just said about, you know, some of these things that you need to implement are, you know, must haves versus nice to haves. 

36:51 

This question says, this tool will be classified as a nice to have, but not sure I can justify purchasing it over one of our need to have tools, any pointers on having that conversation with our admins. 

37:03 

Sure. and I think the story probably tells that better than I can, but it really is, you know, the Analytics tool is going to save you time and money. 

37:19 

So, if you think about it, in terms of having to know what app is in use in your environment? How are you going to collect that data? And even if you even if you kind of go with, with the story I mentioned earlier on with a school that maybe does did a survey result well, you still have to survey. You have to make sure your staff members take that survey. Somebody’s got to compile those results. 

37:44 

And then, as we’ve seen as we’ve gotten side-by-side with those surveys, you know, are they effective and can you trust those results? 

37:52 

And so, this just collects the data for you. So, if you look at that, and just timesaving alone, right? I don’t have to survey. I don’t have to compile, this is going to tell me in real time, what is in use. Where’s it in use, isn’t it, is it high adoption? Low adoption, high engagement, low engagement. 

38:10 

So, that alone, you know, when we just look at timesaving. 

38:13 

And then, when you can bring in that, and knowing which licenses are unused, and, either saving money on those licenses, or, it could be that you find, hey, I’ve got a tool that the district paid for, But I have these other tools that people are using that haven’t been brought in, so, haven’t been brought in properly and haven’t gone through the compliance checks. 

38:37 

So, you’re, you’re protecting the district in that way, by knowing that the right apps are in use across the environment. 

38:45 

So, you know, you’re going to save time. 

38:47 

You’re gonna save money and then, and then kind of that final pieces, that professional development. We know this is the app we want to use, but we know it is not having the engagement we need. So now I need to focus that for professional development. 

39:00 

All of that really is maximizing the use of technology and environment, and the tool itself, when you combine those together, will really pay for itself. 

39:09 

Yeah. 

39:11 

Thank you for that. 

39:13 

I really like this next question. It’s something that I’ve seen kind of come at the conversations I’ve had. 

39:19 

It says, in your opinion, is it better to sign up for our multi-year licenses of software solutions? Or should we stick with a yearly plan and analyze it as we go? 

39:31 

Well, if you’re buying Lightspeed, you definitely want to go multi-year. 

39:36 

I think, you know, I think that is really going to be dependent on the tool. 

39:42 

And I think, you know, the Analytics can tell you, especially as you’re evaluating some of that those long-standing applications, that are use in your environment, you can see are they remaining effective? Are they being used? 

39:55 

And can help you make that decision. You know if it’s something that is meeting your needs meet your compliance. 

40:00 

It’s high adoption high engagement, you know you have that evidence, right? 

40:06 

So when you go to make a multi-year purchase, whether you’re talking about that with your with your superintendent, your business office, your school board, you have that information too. So this is why we think multi-year is appropriate, right. 

40:22 

And so, giving you that ability to have that information in real time, I think, is really key to helping you make those decisions. 

40:34 

I agree. 

40:36 

OK, so a lot of our discussion today was focused on budget planning, and this question asks, how does Analytics help IT teams throughout the entire school year? 

40:50 

Yeah, I think, you know, as you roll this out, we see schools, you know, when they initially roll it out, they get to focus a lot of things on you know, those rogue apps and those unused licenses and that kind of thing. 

41:06 

But, as you, as you continue to use an application like this throughout the year and look at those analytics, you begin to see other trends that can help, and so, you can maybe see. 

41:19 

You know, maybe this school is using this app more effectively or has higher engagement. You can use that to help understand how to drive that, and that adoption engagement in your other schools and your environment. 

41:35 

You can also use it as you, as you’re rolling out a new app, and in your environment, and isn’t getting the adoption that you want. Are you seeing that no increase in usage? 

41:46 

And so, know that there are going to be new things that are going to be rolled out throughout the year. 

41:55 

And this can really help you monitor that and help you understand is it being used effectively, and is it rolling out in the way that the district would want? 

42:04 

Yeah, and I think that that kind of segways into this next question that says: Can you go into more detail about gauging student engagement with the analytics tool? 

42:14 

Sure, so with that, you know, we’re monitoring all usage of a particular app within the environment. I think that’s really key. 

42:24 

So, you know, there are some other tools out there. 

42:27 

And, and many of them are going to look at only the app usage or only the web browser usage, or only the, the usage that goes through, say, a single sign on or something like that. 

42:40 

Because of where our agents sit on the devices, we see all of that. And so we’re gonna not only did the students a sign into a particular app, so they signed in, they loaded it up. You know, I’m looking at my laptop screen right now and there’s probably 12 applications that are that are open, But I’ve been doing this webinar for the last hour, so I’m not using them. I’m not engaged, you know, with those apps right now, but they’re open. 

43:08 

And so being able to track that utilization across whether it’s, you know, accessed in a web browser or accessed in a in a dedicated app, or however that might be and then are they that active, right? Am I actively using that, or is it just something I logged into at the start of the day? 

43:29 

And So being able to balance that and then, you know, have that tied in with your environment, so I can look at that, you know, across my entire district. 

43:37 

I can look at that across a school level, and have that ability to drill down, and know where that’s being used, and have all that data at your fingertips is really key. 

43:47 

Yes, absolutely. 

43:49 

This is a question about geolocation. It says, is Geolocation working in real time? And which devices does this work with? 

43:59 

So the geolocation is going to work across all of your devices. It it’ll pick up data depending on, you know, the type of device, some devices, we’re going to get that through the IP address. 

44:14 

Other devices do, have, you know, GPS information embedded in them, but in either way, yeah, we’re going to show you that traffic and as that device moves around, we’re going to display that. 

44:25 

You know, I’ve worked with schools, especially during this time, where, when we roll this out, they’re, seeing students in areas that we’re completely unexpected, because know, when you’re remote, and you’re working remote maybe the student went to their grandparents in another city and other states, and you weren’t even aware of that. 

44:48 

I’ve actually even talked with some schools that have found students in other countries while they’ve been remote learning. So, as that student moves around, yes, that that chart will update and provide you that information in real time. 

45:04 

Got it. Here’s one that says, does analytics only track usage and adoption of applications? 

45:12 

Now, so that’s, we’re going to track, I say apps or applications in a very general sense, because we’re going to track that whether that is an application on the device and, or if it is accessed from a web browser. And I’m going to use it just because it is on my screen and I can see it right now. 

45:34 

I have PowerPoint up for this the slideshow that we used for the webinar today, in the in the dedicated desktop, PowerPoint app I also have in one of those tabs that is currently being unused. I have another PowerPoint deck up that I’m working on in the online, you know, web-based version of that. 

45:57 

In my case, that’s going to show all of that usage of PowerPoint is consolidated in one report for me. So, I don’t have to spend a lot of time differentiating. 

46:10 

No, I’m not using PowerPoint on this device or that device. You know, I could bring it up on my phone or my tablet too, and we’re going to bring that altogether. And so, it really doesn’t matter how that is being that content is being accessed. 

46:25 

We’re going to consolidate that usage in a very easy to see report. 

46:32 

Got it. 

46:33 

OK, it looks like we have one final question. This says, which apps can Lightspeed analytics support on? Do I have to input them myself? 

46:45 

So, we have an app library that is continuing to grow. There are thousands of apps in there. 

46:51 

You can also, you know, help identify new apps that might be in use in your environment, or when we haven’t seen before, and we can add that in. 

47:00 

But, it’s, you know, it’s like everything else. There are new apps coming along every day. 

47:06 

New things being deployed in education. 

47:09 

But, we have, we have thousands of them track today, and we’re continuing to enhance that, as we work with our customers. 

47:20 

All right, well, thank you, Rob, that looks like that is the rest of the questions. 

47:26 

If you guys had a question that you didn’t get a chance to ask it, or we didn’t cover in the presentation, please feel free to follow up with us afterwards, then Rob, if you could advance to the next slide. 

47:40 

Absolutely. 

47:41 

Yeah, So that’s the conclusion of our presentation today. Thank you so much, Rob, for all of your valuable insights. Lots of great information and I’m excited to share with everyone. Thank you all for taking time out of your very busy schedules to join us today. I know things aren’t, especially at the end of school happening, kind of right now. So really appreciate you guys taking the time and so glad you could join us. And just a quick reminder to fill out that survey that’s going to pop up at the end of this webinar, and we will send you a $10 Starbucks gift card. Our next webinar is going to be next Wednesday, April 28th, from 2 to 3. Anthony Padrnos, he’s the Director of Technology from Osseo Area Schools in Minnesota. He was the customer that we mentioned earlier in our presentation. He’s going to be talking about the specific data metrics that they measured during this past year and how they’re utilizing that for effective school re-opening this coming year. 

48:41 

So hope to see you there. Once again, thank you so much for joining us. And thank you, Rob, and I hope you guys all have a great rest of your day.