FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hāpara and GTxcel team up to create a new and simple way for students to organize for digital learning.

Chicago, Illinois, September 1, 2021 – Hāpara and GTxcel have launched a student facing organizational and online learning access tool “Student Dashboard Digital Backpack” offered through TandemTrax (www.tandemtrax.com), a company dedicated to solving student (and parent) frustrations with online access to everything they need for learning. This new tool gives students one-click access to their school programs, assignments, due dates, events, announcements and digital textbooks and resources.

Student Dashboard Digital Backpack’s major benefit for students and educators is that it streamlines Google Classroom, educational resources and state or district licensed content onto one platform. Student Dashboard Digital Backpack offers an integrated experience for learners using Google Classroom because it aggregates notifications, assignments, emails and Google files on one mobile-friendly page. From that same platform, students can access academic texts and resources from a digital library of district selected and teacher curated content, right from their device–anywhere, anytime.

In less than a year, 2 million students and many of their parents are using Student Dashboard for homework as well as remote access to their school program.

The technology behind Student Dashboard Digital Backpack creates a responsive reading experience for K-12 students and is a cost-effective and equitable way for more students and educators worldwide to have direct and immediate access to high-quality content for teaching and learning.

Schools across North America, New Zealand and Australia have already been filling their Digital Backpacks with curated content, with cost savings equating to hundreds of dollars per student. Districts are also cooperating on behalf of students and their learning, such as the fast-growing Alberta Collaboration for Learning in Canada– a group of districts and K-12 educators using the system to house a comprehensive library of curriculum-based content that supports full year courses in both synchronous and asynchronous formats.To date the Alberta Collaboration school districts are realizing ongoing annual savings of $3,750 per 25 student class, amounting to $675 per student, per year.

Wayne Poncia, CEO of Hāpara, says:

“TandemTrax, our new collaboration with GTxcel, means educators and learners worldwide can experience transformational digital learning experiences more easily and more equitably. Equity of learning  for us includes fair access to resources, and this new product, Student Dashboard Digital Backpack, will enable districts and states to make significant cost savings. Using this inexpensive solution, districts are able to allocate funds differently and in a more equitable way to differentiate instruction. We are proud to partner with GTxcel on this to make classrooms more equitable and help them get better everyday.”

Peter Stilson from GTxcel adds:

“In these unprecedented times, educators and traditional publishers of educational materials have limited online editions, rarely resembling the printed versions. To eliminate confusion and frustration for the instructors and students, TandemTrax™ converts materials and preloads relevant Open Education Resources to the Digital Backpack. Working in tandem with Hāpara, we are delighted to be able to provide this immediate solution for the educational community.”

For inquiries please contact:

Robin Poncia, VP Marketing & Professional Learning at Hāpara

Email: robin.poncia@hāpara.com

About TandemTrax

TandemTrax is a new venture created by GTxcel and Hāpara. www.tandemtrax.com

About Hāpara  

Hāpara began in New Zealand in the Manaiakalani school cluster in 2011 and now has offices in Auckland and Chicago, Illinois. Our team is dedicated to building great products for schools.

After adopting Google Apps for Education in 2010, Manaiakalani educators realized they needed a more effective way of managing learner work in this new digital environment. They collaborated to design a dream tool that would streamline teacher workflow and deepen personalized learning and student engagement. They emphasized a straightforward design that would empower teachers of all technical abilities to track learner progress, provide ongoing feedback, disseminate files, and facilitate collaboration and differentiation through flexible groupings. From this, Hāpara’s original Teacher Dashboard was born.

Today, Hāpara has a range of products that were all built to support educators as they create authentic, personalized learning experiences.

About GTxcel

For over 20 years, GTxcel has been at the forefront of digital publishing as a privately held American-based software as a service (SaaS) provider. Going beyond just replicating a document digitally, GTxcel is a mobile-first end-to-end modern media company with a suite of solutions including web, mobile web, apps and creative content hubs.

At a time when digitization of content is critical for distribution of information, GTxcel provides digital access to printed materials for a fraction of the cost of traditional print publishing. Partnering with leading publishing companies, technology firms, business organizations, and learning institutions, GTxcel is dedicated to expanding the lifespan, flexibility and engagement of content.

Notes to Editors: 

1. Alberta Collaboration for Learning in Canada is a group of schools and districts in Canada that have built a comprehensive library of Alberta Program of Studies content in both synchronous and asynchronous formats. Throughout 2020 and 2021, more than 140 professionals (teachers, editors, copy editors, proofing staff, instructional designers, curriculum specialists and online learning professionals) created a comprehensive vetted collection of complete year-long Alberta online K-12 courses.

• Built using the Hāpara Workspace dynamic and differentiated digital curriculum platform, the Alberta curriculum courses are easily accessible from Google Classroom or directly from within the Hāpara Instructional Suite.
• New curriculum releases will be easily updated using the Hāpara functionality saving school districts hundreds of dollars per student as we transition to a new and revised curriculum.
• The Collaboration has also begun replacing textbooks and recommended reading resources with digital copyright free formats. By summer 2021, they had curated more than 150 reading, literature, science and math resources, along with a remarkable collection of 40 Alberta curriculum textbooks.

2. The Hāpara Instructional Suite currently includes:

• Teacher Dashboard (teacher facing) – Teachers can easily view and access all student work from Google Workspace for Education in one central hub (even if it wasn’t shared with them), organize learners into differentiated groups and quickly share out documents and resources.
• Highlights – (teacher facing) Teachers can view learner browsing activity, guide learners to or from specific sites, and help learners become better digital citizens by providing personalized, private feedback.
• Hāpara Filter – A K12 real-time web filter powered by artificial intelligence with its real-time image, video and text analysis that understands context. It protects student data and information by creating a secure digital learning environment with technology that blocks ads and tracking, anonymizes Google searches and more. Teachers can also approve websites in the moment, facilitating important conversations about digital literacy with their students.
• Workspace – (student and teacher facing) A space where teachers can build digital assignments and projects that can easily be differentiated for groups or individuals. It gives learners an easy, intuitive interface to manage their assignments, customize their submissions and participate in learning and teaching.
• Student Dashboard – (student facing) A one-stop hub for learners to organize themselves for learning. Student Dashboard provides access to all of their Google Classroom assignments and announcements, Drive files, Gmail from teachers and even gives them reminders when something is due (or late!)–all in one place.