Belkin Teams with California Parks to Enhance Park Experience for K-12 Students While in the Classroom

LOS ANGELES, May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Belkin®, a trusted leader of technology solutions for office, classroom, IT infrastructure, and mobile environments today announced they have teamed with the California State PORTS distance learning program to leverage Belkin technology to enhance student learning experiences with state parks.

The PORTS program (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students) has developed customized online learning solutions to push real-time content into schools across California to expose K-12 students to the unique natural and cultural resources found across 10 state parks. This school year, the program will serve 100 school districts statewide and reach over 45,000 students.

The new relationship will equip indoor studios and State Park Ranger vehicles, like the PORTS EduGator which functions as a mobile studio, with the Belkin Stage Tablet, an adjustable platform that turns any tablet into an interactive presentation tool.

With this enhanced functionality, Park Rangers will be able to use the iPad as a document camera with a 360 flip to better showcase the parks natural, cultural, and historical resources that are part of the PORTS program. Additionally by installing the Stage Tablet in the classroom, teachers will also have the ability to customize the view for their students and park interpreters will be able to see the entire classroom and speak directly with students who can ask questions, engage conversations and annotate their experience with park staff in real-time.

"Belkin education products are designed to add value and provide a superior learning experience," said Jon Roepke, director of product management for Belkin Education. "We can't think of a better way to showcase our magnificent state parks and their unmatched teaching capacity than by deploying our technology so students anywhere, regardless of geography and resources, can share this important experience."

"The PORTS program has been a great success and we're excited to be able to continue to enhance the experiences we provide.  Through this relationship with Belkin, we can deliver in real time. The beauty and unique resources of our parks and our people to students with simple yet effective tools we didn't have before," said Brad Krey, California State Parks, PORTS Program Manager.

Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary will demonstrate the enhanced distance learning program in a kindergarten class on May 9 at 8:45am. The new program capacities will be led by a Park Ranger live from Crystal Cove State Park in Laguna Beach, California. 

"There's no doubt that our students will benefit from the experience of not only seeing our state parks but talking to the experts directly, as if they were there themselves," said Christine Chun, Assistant Principal of Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary. "It's an exceptional learning opportunity and I am sure our students and teachers will be excited by what they can do with it."

About Belkin Education:
Belkin Education solutions are designed to enrich student and educator experiences with technology in the modern classroom. Belkin provides solutions that address collaboration (Tablet Stage™ and Belkin Stage™ app), protection (Air Protect™ Sleeve) and connectivity. For more on how our technology enables a next-gen learning environment, click here.

About PORTS:
PORTS is a free California State Parks distance learning program that uses the power of interactive videoconferencing to help K-12 schools teach common core state standards in the context of California State Parks.  PORTS bridges the socio-economic gap in California's educational system by providing meaningful interactions - regardless of race, economic status or location.

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SOURCE Belkin

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