Editor’s Note: Logic Solutions is proud to have helped build the digiCOACH app. digiCOACH has been downloaded in 39 countries around the world, and played an integral part in a California school district’s recent success. 

February 19, 2015 – Oxnard, CA – During the 2013-2014 school year, Oxnard Union High School District (OUHSD) saw a district-wide attendance increase of 0.9%, resulting in ~$1 million in additional school funding for the large, urban high school district. Additionally, Oxnard High School’s suspension rate dropped 42%, and expulsion rates dropped 37%. The High School District also saw an increase in performance on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and doubled proficiency rates in both the math and English-Language Arts (ELA) portions of the exam.

The significant improvements resulted from a large-scale strategy to improve student engagement in the classroom, professional development on new intervention strategies that encourage students to change negative classroom behavior, and increased instructional walk-throughs by administrators.

Superintendent Dr. Gabe Soumakian states, “Increased instructional walk-throughs directly correlate to a reduction in suspension and expulsions due to the higher visibility of administrators in the classroom. We are able to give quality instructional feedback at the site level, which benefits our educators tremendously. Students, especially those who typically form strong bonds with principals, also recognize and appreciate the increased administrator visibility in classrooms.�?/p>

Part of the overall OUHSD strategy was implementing the digiCOACH mobile app system, which streamlines the walk-through, feedback, and reporting process.

digiCOACH tackles common struggles with walk-throughs including lack of content-area expertise or common observation criteria. The system makes it easy for administrators to identify strengths of each teacher and build upon needs or areas that require extra support. Administrators can also give positive, meaningful lesson feedback and hold reflective discussions with educators. All reports are saved in the digiCOACH cloud reporting system to help inform professional development decisions.

digiCOACH coaches administrators and educators using research-based strategies in order to help schools focus on teacher-and-student relationships, and boost student engagement to increase the likelihood of students attending regularly.

digiCOACH CEO Doug Whittaker considers Dr. Soumakian a critical part of digiCOACH 3.0’s design process. “We are blown away by the commitment to excellence OUHSD has made to students and educators, and the results this dedication has achieved. Dr. Soumakian was generous with his time and feedback, letting us know specific improvements that would perfect digiCOACH’s usability and value to schools. Our mission is to provide impactful technology that makes conducting the integral responsibility of classroom walk-throughs more efficient and easier. It’s gratifying to see that come to fruition.�?/p>

OUHSD used digiCOACH to assist with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) certification recommendations. Almost 70 administrators conducted more than 7,000 walk-throughs in nine high schools with digiCOACH during the 2013-2014 school year.

“The digiCOACH team is committed to working closely with our administration to customize a walk-through platform to ensure areas of focus and feedback options reflect our district overarching goals, making our walk-through process more meaningful for administrative teams and teachers alike. digiCOACH has helped us reexamine our strategies for increasing student engagement,�?said Executive Director of 21st Century Learning and Innovation, Consuelo H. Williams.

digiCOACH 3.0 is available on the App Store. For more information, visit digiCOACH.com.

About digiCOACH
Based in Redlands, CA, digiCOACH specializes in bringing the latest technology to K-12 education. digiCOACH provides school administrators and instructional leaders with a digital coaching tool that streamlines the process of providing feedback to teachers in their classrooms. To learn more visit digiCOACH.com.

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Apple Pay

Source: Gizmodo

Apple Pay launched on Monday, October 20!  Already there are a large list of merchants committed to using Apple’s mobile payments service in the very near future.  Companies include Groupon, Target, Uber, and Starbucks turned on service Monday when Apple Pay went live.

Additionally, the tech giant has signed up 500 banks to use the service.

Apple Watch

Source: TechCrunch

At the event, Apple announced its software development kit (SDK) for the upcoming Apple Watch.  The kit, called WatchKit, launches sometime in November and will give any developer the tools needed to build apps for the Apple Watch (previously, Apple allowed only a select few third-party developers the keys to Apple Watch, like BMW, American Airlines, and Starwood).

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, brought up Apple’s Continuity device philosophy, which is the ability to switch seamlessly between Apple devices in apps and functions like phone calls, texts, documents, and so on.  The Apple Watch was shown being used as a remote to an Apple TV, suggesting the smartwatch will play a larger part in Continuity than previously expected.

iPad Air 2
The iPad Air 2 (aka the iPad 6) is similar to previous iterations of the iPad but with a thinner body, updated hardware, and a few more features around the edges.

From a design standpoint, the new iPad is now 6.1mm thick, which is thinner than the original iPad and any iPhone.  And, in addition to the standard white and silver colors, it also comes in gold.  The iPad Air 2 also has TouchID, which allows you to use your fingerprint to buy things online.  Unfortunately, you can’t use the TouchID to buy anything in a physical store yet.

Inside, the iPad Air 2 sports a new A8X chip, an enhanced version of the dual-core 64-bit A8 chip that debuted in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus last month.  Like the phones, Air 2 also has a m8 motion coprocessor.  With these new guts, the new iPad is faster while keeping battery life at approximately 10 hours.

iPad’s camera also gets an update!  Now it is an 8MP iSight camera that does 1080p HD video, time lapses, panoramas, burst mode shots, and slow mo video.

The iPad Air 2 starts at $499 for the 16GB version, then increases to $599 for 64GB, and $699 for 128GB.  It is currently available to customers online and in Apple stores.

iPad Mini 3

Source: Gizmodo

Like its bigger sibling, the iPad Air 2, the iPad Mini 3 received a few new features.  It sports Apple’s TouchID fingerprint scanner and comes with iOS 8.1, which means users will be able to use Apple Pay for online purchases.  And it also comes in gold (color)!

Most of its other features are identical to the older Mini 2.  Both share the same HD Retina display, size and weight, hardware (the Mini 3 keeps its A7 processor and does not upgrade to A8 like the Air 2), and camera.

The iPad Mini 3 starts at $399 for 16GB, $499 for 64GB, and $599 for 128GB.  The new Mini is currently available to customers online and in Apple stores.

iMac
The excitement surrounding the new iMac is astounding.  Not only is it the first Apple desktop to receive a Retina HD display, its super high-resolution is mind-boggling.  The new 27-inch display as a resolution of 5120 x 2880, resulting in a total of 14.7 million pixels.  This is 7 times the pixels of a 1080 HDTV and 67% more than even the 4096 x 2160 4k displays.  Apple calls it a Retina 5k Display.

Aside from the new super high-res display, Apple has maintained a similar design to the last generation of iMac, with an edge that is only 5mm thick.  Additionally, the new iMac will start with a 3.5GHz Intel Core i5 and AMD’s mobile Radeon 290X graphics chip, both of which can be upgraded to a 4.0 GHz Core i7 and a mobile Radeon 295X GPU.  It also has 8GB of memory and can be configurable with up to 32GB of memory, a 3TB Fusion Drive, or up to 1TB SSD.

The new iMac starts at $2,499 and are available to order today.

Mac Mini

Source: Gizmodo

It’s been a while since the Mac Mini has gotten an update.  The new generation now has more computing power, better integrated graphics, and improved power efficiency, thanks to Intel’s Haswell processor.  It has 4th-generation Intel Core processors, Intel Iris and HD Graphics 5000, and two Thunderbolt 2 ports…this little computer has definitely made a comeback.

The new Mac Mini is available today and starts at just $499.

OS X
Apple’s new desktop operating system is already available now for free from the Mac App Store, with major software updates that include lots of changes for your Mac.  But don’t worry, OS X Yosemite hasn’t altered so much that people used to Mavericks or Mountain Lion will feel lost.

Source: TechCrunch

There are aesthetic changes that promote the design language Apple began to embrace in iOS 7, with better rendering to meet the increasing number of users who are shifting to Retina (high resolution) displays.

Yosemite features a couple of updates to old applications (Spotlight) and some new ones too (Today View and Messages), all of which aim to make the operating system more convenient, pleasant, and productive.  Spotlight isn’t just for system-wide file searches anymore; it can give you previews of photos and documents, access your Calendar and contact card, and even search the internet for answers to your queries.  Today View is a customizable alternative to the Dashboard and Messages is a messaging app with a few additional features.

And that’s not all!  For a list of OS X Yosemite’s new features, you can read a review of them here.

Does your awesome business want an awesome app?

Logic Solutions can create one just for you!
From the coding to the design to assistance with the distribution to enhancements and maintenance, the awesome people at Logic will help you with your mobile game plan.

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Create your mobile app today!

Jennifer Pan is a marketing coordinator and The New Recruit at Logic Solutions. If you want to get her attention, try talking to her about d20s, (board) games, sci-fi and geeky references, or cute animal videos…or all of them at once. Just don’t bring up her uncanny ability to roll natural 1s.

The post Apple: iPads, iMacs, Mac Minis, OS X Yosemite, oh my! appeared first on 雷技信息科技（上海）有限公司.

Image credit: webgreeter.com

On Tuesday, Apple and IBM announced a landmark partnership to create more than “100 industry-specific enterprise solutions including native apps” and sell Apple mobile devices (iPhones and iPads) to IBM’s corporate customers.

The press release states:
The new IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions will be built in an exclusive collaboration that draws on the distinct strengths of each company: IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with the power of more than 100,000 IBM industry and domain consultants and software developers behind it, fused with Apple’s legendary consumer experience, hardware and software integration and developer platform. The combination will create apps that can transform specific aspects of how businesses and employees work using iPhone and iPad, allowing companies to achieve new levels of efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction—faster and easier than ever before.

We’ve long complained that Apple tends to ignore enterprise customers (a few years ago I was especially vocal with one Apple rep about the lack of support for enterprise mobile apps), so it will be very interesting to see how this shakes out…and what it holds for Android and the beleaguered BlackBerry.
 
 
Want to learn more about mobile development? Logic Solutions can help you strategize your mobile game plan!

FREE DOWNLOAD: A Guide to Mobile App Development Platforms

Compare the pros and possible limitations of top six mobile development tools on the market.

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Angela Kujava is the Director of Innovation and Chief Smoothie Officer at Logic Solutions. She is an ardent supporter the Oxford comma, and will challenge you to a duel if you believe the contrary. Should you find yourself about to duel Angela, it is valuable to know that her kryptonite is Doritos. She cannot avoid their salty, orange siren song.

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Details behind the reason of this increased security measure are vague.

Phones made by Apple and Samsung (that means the iPhone and the Galaxy, two of the most popular phones on the planet) will be singled out, according to Reuters.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom have all agreed to participate in this security measure as of July 6.

Now for some positive news: Air New Zealand is now allowing mobile devices to remain on during the entirety of most flights.

Does your awesome business want an awesome app?

Logic Solutions can create one just for you!
From the coding to the design to assistance with the distribution to enhancements and maintenance, the awesome people at Logic will help you with your mobile game plan.

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Create your mobile app today!

Pierce Courchaine is a marketing coordinator at Logic Solutions. When he’s not in the office, he’s rumbling around the country in a 1996 Honda Civic he lovingly named Martha. Martha’s air conditioning doesn’t work anymore, her power locks failed, her back left window doesn’t open and her 106 horsepower has made for some heart-pounding races against Vespas. For some reason, he’s the only one who can see what’s special about her.

The post TSA Wants You to Power Up Your Mobile Device appeared first on 雷技信息科技（上海）有限公司.

YES, any web or mobile application we develop with you is guaranteed GLUTEN-FREE.

This is not just a fad for Logic, it’s been our lifestyle since 1995.

You might be surprised, as we are not a gluten-free facility. Indeed, if you walk around any of our development centers, you may see our staff lunching on *gasp* white bread sandwiches and enjoying the desserts our overachieving interns bake (believe me, they are typically not flourless, and our interns are the BEST). Nonetheless, we practice programming techniques that ensure these actions do not affect your end product.

Here’s what you can expect from us:

• Strategic consulting on the right business and technology choices for your timeline and budget
• A proven methodology with a core set of values and commitments: documentation, tools, and communication
• A solid foundation and framework to ensure your application can withstand its environment, and scale with you as you grow and change
• Robust application features like a CMS, UI/UX, Messaging, eCommerce, enterprise search, Business Rules Engine, and web services, just to name a few. We use a best-of-breed approach to select or build products that match your goals
• Customization so your digital presence matches your unique business offerings
• Developers who will build a relationship with you and help you maintain your applications for as long as is appropriate.

In the next post we’ll address whether our services are compatible with a dairy-free diet.

*This is a completely false statement.

While joke about the current faddishness of the “gluten-free” label, Celiac Disease, a very real, very serious auto-immune disorder, for which a gluten-free diet is required. For more information about Celiac Disease you can visit the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

Want Your App Gluten-Free?

We can make it happen!
Though many employees at Logic Solutions do not follow a gluten-free diet, we can guarantee that your web or mobile apps will be flour-free. Other dietary-restriction options are also available. Let us create the mobile apps, websites, or healthcare solutions that you need to stay on top of the times.

Find your gluten-free solution

Angela Kujava is the Director of Innovation and Chief Smoothie Officer at Logic Solutions. She is an ardent supporter the Oxford comma, and will challenge you to a duel if you believe the contrary. Should you find yourself about to duel Angela, it is valuable to know that her kryptonite is Doritos. She cannot avoid their salty, orange siren song.

The post Yes! We Develop Gluten-Free Websites and Mobile Apps appeared first on 雷技信息科技（上海）有限公司.

Apple released two iPads on Tuesday, the highly anticipated 7.9-inch iPad mini and the surprise iPad 4. The brand new mini enters the market as one of the lightest and thinnest tablets that you can hold with one hand. The mini starts at $329 for 16GB.

The unexpected iPad 4 replaces the third generation iPad by offering faster graphics, performance and LTE. Prices start at $499 for 16GB. You can pre-order both devices this Friday, and they will be in stores November 2.

2. “The Year of the Enterprise Tablet” is real

The new iPads are built to support fully-integrated business applications that serve diverse industries and business needs.

For this reason, corporations are rapidly adopting enterprise mobile applications to increase operating efficiency and engagement with customers. As a testament to this, 94% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPads, according to Forbes.

Moreover, nearly 9 out of 10 small businesses report using smartphones and almost 2 out of 3 use tablets.

3. Apple Continues to Roll Out its Retina Displays

The 13-inch MacBook Pro finally receives the Retina treatment. Like its 15-inch sibling, the 13-inch model packs more pixels than any other competitive laptop and double that of HDTVs. How many pixels does it contain? Over 4 million.

4. Refresh of the Mac Lineup

Apple updated its Mac mini and iMac lineup with a plethora of new speed and performance upgrades, as well as the option of a new Fusion Drive—a hybrid of Flash storage and HDD.

The Mac mini is available now starting at $599 or an OS X Server starting at $999. The 21.5-inch iMac starts at $1299 (ships in November) and the 27-inch iMac starts at $1799 (ships in December).

5. Apps are the Future

With more than 35 billion apps downloaded to date, the market for app development will continue experiencing explosive growth as consumer and business demand increases.

A recent survey revealed that 50 percent of businesses that use mobile apps say they could not survive — or it would be a major challenge to survive — without them.

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