4 min read
For organizations like NERCOMP--the NorthEast Regional Computing Program--communication is critical. The goal of NERCOMP is to advance innovation and leadership in educational institutions across the Northeastern United States. Since the 1950s, NERCOMP has served as an information technology resource, from information to professional development, for a host of colleges and universities.
Members of the NERCOMP organization experience some advantages, from discounts on technology workshops that can be beneficial to the individual school to the consortium license agreements that allow member schools to take advantage of potentially beneficial technology at a rate that simply is not available to individual schools acting on their own.
One of those vendors is Pronto.
The Pronto/NERCOMP Partnership
NERCOMP schools, thanks to NERCOMP's partnership with Pronto, are now able to use the app for free through the academic year. Pronto, NERCOMP points out, is a "frictionless communication platform for every teacher and every student." NERCOMP has identified Pronto as one of the key tools it can offer that help enhance overall student success, improve community, and give students more equity in the classroom--and as a result, they're choosing to share that benefit with their schools to help raise the bar in those classrooms.
The Pronto Advantage
NERCOMP's partnership with Pronto serves to highlight the advantages that Pronto can offer to educational institutions, whether schools are still planning for online learning opportunities or bringing their students back to in-person learning.
Pronto helps increase student equity in the classroom
Equity is critical in the classroom. Students need access to high-quality tools and options regardless of where they are. Pronto helps ensure that students have better access to their professors and their peers. With Pronto, those tools are directly in their pockets, where they can access them when they need them most.
Pronto also helps improve language equity: since Pronto provides real-time translation of vital communications, students can more easily communicate in their preferred language, which makes it easier for them to participate in classroom discussions, access vital instructional materials, and translate announcements so that they are more understandable.
Pronto helps increase student success rates
NERCOMP's partnership with Pronto acknowledges the importance of communication as part of overall student success rates. Effective communication, like that provided by Pronto, helps cut through the noise, maintains a high level of control and privacy, and improves students' ability to engage in and outside of the classroom.
With Pronto, students are connected directly to their peers and their instructors. That vital peer-to-peer communication can help enhance overall student relationships, making them feel more connected to the classroom as a whole and giving them more buy-in, in general. Not only that, peers can often help support one another's learning, which can help improve overall performance.
Finally, students are connected to their instructors as never before. They can connect immediately, from wherever they are, and ask any questions they have about the latest assignment or challenges they may have faced in the classroom. Simple communication can help break down barriers to learning and provide more opportunities to those students.
Pronto offers a deeper sense of community
Every classroom group is different, and the way they build relationships with one another may be different, too. With Pronto, however, many instructors have found that it's easier to build that sense of community and connection. Because students are empowered to communicate with one another, they're able to take that communication into their own hands, which helps encourage them to build those vital relationships and establish that community in the classroom.
What Does the NERCOMP Partnership with Pronto Mean for Members?
For NERCOMP members, the partnership with Pronto means that users can enjoy a free trial through the end of the year. After the end of the year, users can choose to join at a discounted rate that has already been negotiated by NERCOMP. This pre-negotiated contract and master service agreement means that you can get Pronto in your hands sooner, at a cheaper rate than other users--and that you can start using it to offer immense advantages to your students.
Is Pronto the Education Communication Solution Your Students Need?
Pronto continues to show immense benefits across many classrooms as students use it to communicate with their instructors, connect with their peers, and learn more about their environments and the tools available to them, both inside and out of the classroom. Is Pronto the missing piece in your communication puzzle? Contact us today for more information--and if you're a NERCOMP member, be sure to mention that connection so we can get you set up with the contract that best fits your needs.