To Our Valued Partners:

There is a Chinese curse that says “May he live in interesting times.” Well, while we are being bombarded with recommendations and advice, it is also a good time to take stock of where we are and where we want to go. There is no doubt we are in interesting times, and the great news is that this too will pass. Now, without appearing brash at first blush, we can be comforted by the outreach of our family, partners, and friends – and not only express all our gratitudes but also share them. Gratitudes are forms of daily reparation that help us move to higher levels of commitment, fortitude, and leadership. Leadership is being exhibited at all levels, and each one of us should reflect on how we are leading in our little ecospheres to move to a level of higher order.

There are 3 major traits of great leadership, especially in times of disruption that we should embrace:

• Take care of your people
• Be transparent, trusting and forthcoming
• Bring the future into the now

At Lumen Touch, we embrace these tenets and embrace our partners as our people in several state departments of education, our Kansas City community and in your communities. We reflect on our vision and mission and determine if these survive the stress test we are facing.

It is in times of duress and challenge that coming together builds greatness and pulls us through the tribulations. Many of our “clients” have been consulting with us on various matters that gives us the feeling of a true partnership, where their concerns become our concerns. In many cases, we are able to assist them in finding solutions that were not apparent – it was the communal think that brought about the solution and in many cases was mutually beneficial. To encourage and catalyze these learning opportunities, we will be distributing a series of informational emails and conducting webinars to create a new norm. Let’s face it, life will not be the same now or hereafter.

Lumen Touch has always been proud of disseminating good leadership practices and creating leading edge technology to address this and many other situations. We do this in tandem with you through the cooperative that has been fostered that we believe will make us an influential player in the world of education. Many of you have been our partners in excess of 10 years for which we are extremely grateful and your confidence in us allows us to create a better future that is symbiotic. Rather than wallow in the directives that are coming from all directions, we are being highly responsive and are choosing the high road to a new paradigm for education. We believe that we are perfectly poised to take on the changes of a redesigned education system that is not only accelerated by the current time but also through the technology in our world of learning and education. We are stooped in The Age of Agility which demands of us to be flexible in every corner of society to meet the demands of the future. We are being pushed to redesign education and move to a new model and unfortunately, we sometimes require a nudge from a crisis to create the urgency for change and a new future. For many of you that were visionary in your design thinking and planning, the situation you are in will have less impact on your students than those that have been a little less proactive. Our purpose is to rise up to the occasion and move up in the interests of all our students and their support teams.

To keep with our purpose, we are providing you with opportunities to stay abreast and move ahead. We would love this to be interactive and would like to hear your suggestions on what else we can do to assist you in moving beyond the challenges in our midst.

First up, “How Bright STUDENT enhances our capabilities for remote and project-based learning.” We will be alerting you through these Lumen Touch Points on your new journey.

Bright STUDENT has the same capabilities when used remotely as it does at the school.   This empowers the school staff, students and parents the ability to interact with each other in a new learning environment that accommodates this emergency situation and perhaps creates a confidence that respects a different model for our future.

Bright STUDENT was designed to be a flexible system that allows for many ways to accomplish different tasks and better outcomes.  An example of this would be the various AMI (Alternative Methods of Instruction) rules the States have or are in the process of implementing.  When Missouri implements their AMI rules, our teachers should be able to track their AMI attendance by the school adjusting a few settings in the existing attendance setup.  We expect the other States to have a similar experience.

TOUCH POINT 1 – CHAT SESSIONS WITH STUDENTS AND PARENTS

Teachers in our system have the ability to see if a student or parent is on-line and initiate a chat session with them.  This gives the teacher the ability to interact with and quickly check the status of the student.  Teachers also are also able to create assignments that have their content delivered electronically through our system.  This electronic delivery can take a variety of forms.  It can be as simple as resources such as a PDF or Word document attached to the assignment or all the way to interactive on-line assessments graded by the system.

Click here for detailed examples and instructions.

TOUCH POINT 2 – MAINTAINING STAFF CONTACT 

Principals, secretaries, and other staff have the ability to interact with the system just as they would at the school or in the district.

As long as the users have access to the internet, they should have access to their Lumen Touch platform.  For users that do not currently have an internet connection at home, there are a number of programs available from the major internet providers.  Below are a few example:

Comcast: https://www.internetessentials.com/

Spectrum: https://www.spectrum.com/browse/content/spectrum-internet-assist

AT&T: https://www.att.com/shop/internet/access/

As we continue to learn more about State and Federal expectations, we will be updating and adjusting our processes.

In the meantime, click here to see what webinars are currently scheduled.

Together, we will continue to connect all students to opportunities!

-Your Lumen Touch Team