Wacom partners with leading educational software applications to provide teachers and students with the best solutions for the virtual classroom and remote learning

TOKYO and PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With many schools and universities forced to shift to online teaching, Wacom is committed to provide teachers and students with innovative solutions to tackle the challenges of remote teaching, e-learning and online collaboration. Therefore, Wacom is partnering with five leading educational software applications, that make the transition to online education as smooth as possible. The edtech solutions from Collaboard, Explain Everything, Kamiapp, Limnu and Pear Deck help teachers to better navigate remote teaching. Combined with the intuitive and natural pen experience of the Wacom One pen display or Wacom Intuos pen tablet, they provide easy to use interactive whiteboards, video recording and real-time collaboration for the virtual classroom. As a bundle, Wacom and its partners offer teachers everything they need to interact naturally with their students for engaging lessons and facilitated communication. And because Wacom devices are compatible with all major operating systems and independent of software updates, they stay fully functional for many years – in the classroom, at home or in any other work environment.

"The pen is a powerful tool and it has been used in education for centuries," says Faik Karaoglu, Executive Vice President of Wacom's Branded Business. "With the world's newly found focus on remote and digital learning, Wacom wanted to offer teachers, students and parents all the tools and resources they need to make the transition to online and digital teaching easier and stress-free. Together with these partners we bring the pen to the digital classroom and provide the right technology for teachers at a moment when it is needed most. "

Bringing the pen to the virtual classroom

The following five software applications combined with a Wacom One or Intuos bring the advantages of traditional pen and paper or marker and whiteboard to the digital classroom. These edtech solutions allow teachers and students to continue the methods they know form a traditional classroom setting and use it to connect with each other online. And because of Wacom's focus on its comfort and ease of use, the pen feels natural and well balanced even after long hours of work.

Collaboard by IBV Informatik, Beratungs und Vertriebs AG
This web-based application focuses on educational whiteboard collaboration and combines the following benefits:

• Endless canvas with import of pics, docs, ppt, excel, pdf, videos
• Manages groups, classes and access rights
• Presentation and facilitator features for teachers
• Offers templates, clipart and shape import
• Secure Data Center in Switzerland, Europe (Azure) or on-premises

"Digital ink is one of the most natural ways to interact with technology. Collaboard is a digital whiteboard solution where people write, draw and sketch like on a real whiteboard. With Wacom we found a partner that is creating fantastic hardware to leverage the power of the digital pen. Collaboard works perfectly with Wacom drawing tablets and pens, allowing the users to create together, from everywhere and in real-time." Michael Görög, Head of Business Development at Collaboard

Explain Everything by Explain Everything sp z o.o
Explain Everything is a recordable digital whiteboard for real-time collaboration and video recording that works on Android, iOS, Chromebook and web browser. Features include:

• Sharing video lessons, collaboration, or live cast
• Collaboration or/and group assignments, remote learning
• Infinite canvas for any kind of media
• Predefined or custom templates & clipart/doodles
• Easy integration and sharing to videoconferencing and cloud services

"This partnership allows us to bring an excellent experience to everyone using Explain Everything on PCs or Macs in their workflow. The precision and convenience of use of Wacom devices unlocks the full potential of working with the whiteboard and help users better present their creative ideas, both through recordings and real-time collaboration." Piotr Sliwinski, co-founder and VP of Innovation at Explain Everything.

Kamiapp by Kamiapp Limited
Kami, Japanese for paper, is an educational PDF editor for teaching and virtual classrooms with the following features:

• Distribute assignments with audio, text and video comments
• Receive assignments, mark and distribute them
• Ideal for maths, typed text, signatures, speech to text
• Integrates with Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas
• With Chrome extension for PDF and document annotation

"Kami and Wacom share a vision of empowering students and teachers with innovative tools that foster collaboration, creativity, and flexibility in the digital learning environment. It was this shared vision and our complementary product offerings that improve the digital learning outcomes of millions around the world that lead to our exciting partnership together." Bob Drummond, Chairman CRO.

Limnu
Limnu is an online whiteboard with integrated video conferencing that enables collaboration in real time from any device. It combines the following functionalities:

• Smooth drawing surface with realistic markers
• Annotate on top of imported documents & images
• Multi-user presence & navigation
• Collaborative or solo drawing modes
• Leading & navigational pin function
• Board security and admin controls

"Our online whiteboards enable teachers to explain concepts visually to their students just like they would on a physical whiteboard in their classrooms. Wacom tablets and pens enhance the online learning experience on our whiteboards because teachers and students can write and draw more legibly than using a finger or a mouse. A Wacom device drawing on a Limnu whiteboard is fluid and responsive and feels just like you're writing on a real whiteboard." Andrew Kunz, CEO of Limnu.

Pear Deck by Pear Deck Inc.
Pear Deck is an educator-founded company on a mission to help teachers create powerful learning moments for every student, every day. With award-winning instructional tools that integrate seamlessly with Google and Microsoft classroom technology, Pear Deck's student engagement platform is used by schools across the globe to foster connections with learners of every age and ability. Schools and districts that implement Pear Deck report more equitable student engagement, improved student achievement, and a more positive school culture. 

"Our partnership with Wacom is a fun opportunity to discover new ways to bring the active learning components of Pear Deck to life, whether it's in art class, math class, or foreign languages. When students are able to express their ideas while learning, more students engage with the content, and achievement outcomes improve." Riley Eynon-Lynch, co-founder and CEO of Pear Deck.

Availability and eligibility

The new software bundles for education will be available for all Wacom One pen display and Wacom Intuos pen tablet users starting on 1 December 2020. To redeem their 3-months free premium access, customers simply register their product through the Wacom Desktop Center. Once registered and signed up for a free Wacom ID, the software offers will be available through the Software Offers section.

The Wacom One pen display comes at a recommended retail price of $399.95 USD. The Wacom Intuos pen tablet is available in different sizes and versions with recommended retail prizes starting from $79.95 USD. Both products are compatible with Macs, PCs and select Android devices and available at the Wacom eStore and select retailers.

About Wacom

Founded in 1983, Wacom is a global company based in Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6727) with subsidiaries and affiliate offices around the world to support marketing and distribution in over 150 countries. Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of interactive pen tablets and displays as well as of digital styli and solutions for saving and processing digital signatures. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world and provides business and home users with their leading interface technology to express their personality. For further information about the products of Wacom see also http://www.wacom.com

For further information and review units please contact:

Douglas Little
Wacom Technology Corp.
[email protected]

View press kit here: https://wacom.box.com/v/Wacom-Edu-Bundles

SOURCE Wacom

Related Links

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