ConnectED Bus Connectivity

In a world where the use of technology is prevalent, we still experience a significant digital divide. While some communities use many variants of information technology and wireless networks, underserved communities have limited to no access.

As we return to normal and try to help students make up for lost time due to COVID-19, the ConnectED Bus provides students with an opportunity to study, download assignments, complete homework and submit assignments from the bus; thus improving engagement and academic performance.

ConnectED Bus can bridge the gap and give everyone access to the many benefits of wifi on school buses.

During the new normal, as schools resume with blended learning approaches, our wifi enhanced school buses open a new wave of opportunities for students.

More productive commutes

When traveling to and from school on field trips or extracurricular activities, no matter the proposed distance range, we ensure students are connected. With this effort, students can do research or finish homework, leading to enhanced productivity.

Many students spend so much time in motion to and from school. Daily commutes can take up as much as four hours!

Expect better performance outcomes from your students

With the ConnectED Bus, students can focus on research work, assignments, studies, and more. Doing school work in transit leads to more rest and family time at home. Let’s take a look at the most common student responsibilities after classes:

• Homework
• Extracurricular clubs
• Sport activities
• After-school jobs
• Research paper

Being able to work on the way home helps kids take their minds off school, giving them ample family and friends time. Having time to do research, coupled with sleeping well and ample family bonding time, boosts mental health, which leads to an overall increase in students' performance.

Moreover, the ConnectED Bus benefits school athletes who spend hours on the road when attending inter-school or regional competitions. Having a stable wifi connection on the way enables them to do their schoolwork while traveling so that they can focus on the game when they arrive.

A significant benefit of our router is real-time surveillance, which gives schools access to surveillance footage from cameras set up on the bus as it is in motion. Our router can connect to existing cameras to monitor activity inside the bus.

Installing bus cameras help with potential lawsuits and is highly recommended.

It's no doubt that bored kids are disruptive kids. Students are a bundle of energy, and having no medium to channel that large energy mass can encourage them to cause trouble.

A rowdy school bus can easily make drivers lose focus, increasing the possibility of accidents happening. Another benefit of wifi on school buses is its ability to keep students occupied. Keeping them occupied reduces the rate of disruptions to ensure that the driver's attention is solely on the road.

With students focused on their work and rates of interruptions reduced, there’s no need to hire extra staff to watch over them during commutes, reducing your expenses significantly.

With the ConnectED Bus school bus wifi, you can have optimum Global Positioning System function with fast internet connection and precision. Here’s what our ConnectED Bus offers:

Real-time location information: This information is especially helpful in case of disaster. Often, accidents happen quickly, and vehicles go missing. The number of casualties increases during the prolonged wait period. With the modified Global Positioning System tracking, emergency responders can act quickly and locate possible victims.

Gives allowance for setting Geo-fences: With geofencing, you can program certain responses within specific areas. For example, you can activate a geo-fence within a particular area to receive notifications when a bus enters or exits that area – including the bus depot or even specific stops on each bus route.

Helps you set customized alerts: With customized alerts, you can create signals to track specific changes. These notifications can help the students, the driver, and even the bus. For example: if you set connection limits to one device per student, you can make alerts that inform you when one student connects more than one device, thus maintaining traffic on the school bus wifi interface.

The student sign-in portal allows you to validate students to limit access only your school children. Additionally, it helps you ensure that they use the ConnectED Bus for its intended purpose. Here are more of its benefits:

• It secures the wi-fi so you can be sure that only your students can access the wi-fi
• The portal has a customizable landing page where you can display a welcome message and the school logo.
• It enables you to create an in-class learning experience on the bus for extended learning time

Upon login, the portal automatically redirects them to your learning management software. For example, if Google classroom is the selected learning management software for your school, the student sign-in portal takes them there immediately upon log in. The sign-in portal helps you ensure that your students are being productive and using the school bus wifi for its intended purpose.

Just like how your mobile cloud apps sync your files across devices, our cloud management portal connects all ConnectED Bus installations through a single access point, providing you visibility. The cloud management portal also simplifies updates, configuration, deployments, and overall management while simultaneously reducing stress on your part.

Gain access to real-time diagnostics

With the cloud management portal, you can gain access to real-time diagnostics and troubleshoot connection issues.

User-friendly API

The well-defined API (Application Program Interface) makes it easy to integrate with third-party tools and applications.

Funding is available for the ConnectED Bus through ESSER grants according to the following criteria:

1. Coordination of preparedness & response efforts with health depts or other relevant agencies
2. Providing school leaders ability to address unique needs of schools
3. Activities addressing unique needs of “at-risk” student groups
4. Developing & implementing systems to improve preparedness/response efforts
5. PD for staff on sanitization/minimizing spread of infectious diseases
6. Planning & coordination efforts for long-term closures
7. Purchasing EdTech to facilitate continued learning
8. Planning & implementing summer/supplemental learning programs
9. Addressing learning loss among students (especially those considered “at risk”)
10. Other activities as necessary to maintain operations & continuity of services/continued employment of staff