Aim Up rolls out new company called CIS

News Release

For further details, contact:

Carlos Valladares, Owner

Aim Up | Corporate Image Services (CIS) 

Carlosv@aimupimage.com

Office: 616.347.6300, Ext. 101

Cell: 616.608.2802

Toll-Free: 1.877.247.6360

For immediate release:

Aim Up rolls out new company called CIS

Aim Up, a West Michigan technology-based business launched just two years ago, changed gears this week when it split into two separate companies. Hudsonville’s rising star now operates as two distinct firms: Aim Up and Corporate Image Services (CIS).

Owner Carlos Valladares confirms that the Aim Up name will continue to be used in providing schools, colleges and corporations with cutting-edge teaching and training tools. The new company, called Corporate Image Services (CIS), he says, will handle high-tech, highly creative solutions for marketing and sales. 

Parent company Aim Up carries products like Promethean interactive boards, Swivl and Double Robotics. These digital tools bring a competitive edge to classroom teaching, board room presentations, sales demonstrations and employee training.

Aim Up not only equips its customers with state-of-the-art technology, but also provides ongoing training and support to keep educators and business leaders up-to-date on using leading-edge equipment to its full capacity.

Aim Up Tech Solutions

View Aim Up’s teaching and training products: www.aim-up.com

“Our vision for Aim Up is to improve education and training by providing products that bring out the best in students and staff,” says Valladares, former educator at the International School in Honduras.

“Everyone in an organization needs to know how to tap into today’s amazing technology,” he adds. “It’s a great way to improve student learning and employee performance,”    

CIS steps out on its own

Corporate Image Services (CIS), now separate from Aim Up, operates alone as its own company. CIS focuses on the technical and creative sides of advertising, promotions, marketing and sales.

CIS specializes in online marketing, web page design, internet content develop-ment and many other new avenues now available to communicate with customers and promote products, programs and services.

CIS brings organizations into 21^st century marketing mode

With emphasis on corporate image building and branding, CIS staff uses graphic design, multi-media mixes, presentations, video and other current strategies and technical devices to help clients create public interest and grow customer bases.

A talented CIS team will help its clients attract customers, reach goals and raise public perception. Small, medium or large businesses, educational institutions, community enterprises, nonprofits and government agencies can all benefit from CIS services.

“CIS brings organizations into 21^st century marketing mode,” explains Valladares.

New CIS website address:

www.weare-cis.com 

Both companies, Aim Up and Corporate Image Services, will continue to be headquartered in Hudsonville, Michigan. “As separate entities, both companies are positioned to serve more customers more effectively,” says Valladares.

“As both companies grow, our goal is to become significant West Michigan employers,” he says. “We’re set to make a major difference in schools,  businesses and local agencies and institutions.”

For more details, contact:                                                                                                         

Aim Up: 1-877-247-6350 or email Service@aim-up.com

Corporate Image Services (CIS): 616.347.6300, Ext. 101 or email Service@weare-CIS.com

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math                                                  

Classrooms come alive with technology

If you walk into some classrooms today, you’ll notice immediately that beleaguered, old blackboards have been replaced with stark, white surfaces. These new wall panels make learning seem like magic. Called ‘smart boards’ in common lingo, these intelligent white boards do so much more than hang on the wall waiting for a dusting of chalk in hurried handwriting.

Sold in West Michigan by Carlos Valladares (carlosv@aimupimage.com), 

Promethean intelligent boards, along with a new video solution called Swivl, combine for the perfect technologies for teaching  today’s students critical STEM classes (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

From a projector programmed with visual scenes, Promethan boards allow students to watch everything from a protractor unravel a geometry problem step-by-step to examining Einstein’s theory. Biology classes are able to witness dissections on creatures ranging from cows to cadavers before taking on their first frog.

A classroom Swivl can be used to record the best STEM instructors in action and share those lessons with multiple classrooms.  Swivl projectors can also capture  students  solving problems on their Promethean boards, then replay their work to catch themselves in errors and correct their own procedures.

Promethean’s intelligent white boards, along with Swivl ‘s robotic cameras, permit students of all ages to participate in more than pencil and paper assignments. They can solve math problems, develop theories or design their own buildings with precision previously not available in textbooks or worksheets. Without a lab or risk of explosion, students can conduct chemistry experiments and chart their progress. All they need is a Swivl projector and Promethean white board to immerse themselves in interactive, multimedia lessons .

Promethean boards, Swivls make STEM subjects seem simple                                                          

“I’ve lived in Silicon Valley for the past 27 years where the STEM skills are vital, says Jon Hoonstra, consultant and decision-maker in both government and private sectors.  “STEM is almost part of the daily conversation here, as well as in other tech centers like Minneapolis, Boston and Austin - to cite only a few (other places).”

A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) suggests that STEM be taken seriously in every school across the country. The survey found that new college graduates who major in STEM subjects bring home the biggest paychecks.

The only stumbling block to a great future for many American students is their reluctance to major in hard core courses like science, technology, engineering and math. With the help of Promethean boards and Swivl projectors in classrooms, that could change.  Just as computer technology has enhanced student learning at all levels, these new options could go a long way in teaching tough subjects, along with improving student performance in those subjects on state and standardized tests.

“The lesson is that students are capable of far more than they achieve in the typical classroom. Improving that setting can help a child soar,” say educational researchers Geoffrey L. Cohen (Stanford University) and Sara Goldrick-Rab (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

College grads who major in STEM subjects earn higher salaries

While average salary for 2015 liberal arts graduates is about $38,604, business majors can expect to earn approximately $49,807. But students graduating with bachelor's degrees in STEM subjects fare much better than graduates in any other fields.

Mathematics majors are finding jobs with starting salaries of about $52,800. Chemistry grads are likely to be offered about $57,900 for their first full-time jobs. Computer science majors can anticipate an average starting salary of $62,200. Among STEM majors, engineers earn the highest average salaries, starting their first jobs at annual compensation in the neighborhood of $64,891.

Enhance STEM classrooms with the latest in learning technology

Promethean intelligent boards create an engaging and interactive learning experience with the ability to focus attention and keep curious minds interested in even the most difficult content.

Swivl robots record classroom presentations, help teachers improve course content and delivery and help students correct and improve their own work.

Visit Aim Up’s web site at www.aim-up.com  Contact us at service@aimupimage.com  

Article written by Susan K Maciak, Business Consultant/Author. 

For permission to reprint or quote from this article: Contact Maciak at service@aimupimage.com

Improve how you teach, work and learn with Swivl

Wow! 

Swivl takes education and training to bold, new places

What if . . . a talented English teacher could read Romeo and Juliet with her authentic Shakespearean accent and share her performance with 10^th graders throughout your school district?

What if . . .  a college professor could easily make a video selfie while demonstrating his Nobel prize-winning experiment and stream it to college physics classes across the country?

What if . . . your best salesperson could demonstrate to peers exactly how to close a deal by catching himself in action on video while making the biggest sale of a lifetime?

All it takes to turn scenarios like these into realty is a tiny rotating screen with a base smaller than a boom box. Introduced just this year, the newest version of Swivl promises to enrich education and training in ways never-before conceived.

Swivl is a front-of-room video solution that does its own recording work while focusing on its subjects. It’s a video-making machine that follows teachers through lessons and college professors through lectures. The basic model of the Swivl robot for North America pans 360 degrees continuously, covering images and sounds throughout an entire training room or classroom.

Swivl can be used by business and industry leaders, civic or government figures to cover hearings, decision-making sessions, conferences or committee meetings. Once Swivl captures the action on video, it can be shared with others(Swivl Cloud). It makes training new employers to do the job as easy as recording departing staff members while they work.

Swivl can record any event effortlessly. Educators, speakers or program directors don’t have to be experts to video themselves live. Since Swivl is a mobile device, it’s as simple to use as a cell phone. Swivl's simplicity makes it very user friendly. It truly makes Swivl the ideal tech tool to keep in classrooms, board rooms and training rooms.

Swivl videos can be used by teachers to enhance education by:

• Swivling their own classroom presentations to improve course content and delivery
• Posting lessons on YouTube and other sites to be saved by students for review
• Blending topics to tap into each other’s strengths, then used in individual classrooms
• Leaving critical content for substitute teachers to use when they’re absent
• Flipping classes

School administrators and other supervisors can accomplish more by:

• Asking employees to record their performance in real time to be evaluated carefully later
• Filming clips of special projects and special events to show off their organization with web site videos

With Swivl, educators and corporate trainers will be able to connect better with today’s digital learners who are tuned into tablets, smart phones and multiple sites. Swivl videos can be kept in-house or shared with other professionals online.

Businesses and other organizations will benefit from Swivl with:

·     Video orientation sessions ready to use each time someone new joins the organization

· Presentations recorded by the best in the field available to new salespeople to describe products and services

· Technical demonstrations to take on the road to conventions and trade shows

· Improved engagement and team-building despite distances between corporate locations

· Time barriers broken in addressing employees across the country or around the world

Business leaders can literally be in two places at once by distributing video-taped annual reports or important updates to any city, state or country in the world where their company is located.

Aim Up, West Michigan’s premiere provider of high-tech education and training tools, has strategically partnered with Swivl to provide on site support, training, volume discounts, etc. Aim Up has been providing FREE on site demo's on request from schools, colleges and business enterprises. To schedule a Swivl demonstration, call Aim Up at 616-347-6300 or email: service@aimupimage.com/sales@aimupimage.com 

Visit Aim Up’s web site at www.aimupimage.com   Article written by Susan K Maciak.  For permission to reprint or quote from this article: Contact Maciak at service@aimupimage.com

School leaders, CEOs must insist on legal and appropriate use of technology by students, staff and everyone else

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School leaders, CEOs must insist on legal and appropriate use of technology by students, staff and everyone else

 

You know the story.                                

You hear it every day.                       

The message may be printed in your policy book, preached on opening day, or placed on the agenda of every meeting, but it still happens:

·       Teachers being fired for berating their students on Facebook.

·       Teens are charged with breaking the law for posting threats, nasty rumors or nude photos using social media.

·       An employee makes national headlines for emailing obscene pictures to women from his computer at work.

·       Someone is sued for slander for passing on untrue information through the Internet.

The Internet is a wonderful resource for teaching, learning and marketing your schools or your business, but it must be used responsibly. School leaders, CEOs and small business owners can all be held accountable for what goes online from the workplace.

If the law doesn’t catch up with them, their corporate image still suffers each time someone at their site goes outside acceptable practice of safe and sensible Internet use. Schools, companies and other agencies need to set standards to ensure that everyone follows the rules. Sometimes written guidelines aren’t enough. Ironically, one sure-fire way to keep Internet users in line is through the computer.

“Even those who are tech-savvy are often unaware of the consequences of online violations,” says Aim Up owner Carlos Valladares, area representative for Promethean products and CIW-ICT Program.

Aim Up is proud to now offer the CIW-ICT program, a new and innovative program created by Certification Partners that focuses on Information and Communication Technologies, their fundamentals, and their appropriate use. Though the entire suite of 10 courses is designed to raise digital literacy in a broad range of technologies, several courses within the suite focus directly on the appropriate and legal use of Internet services and in particular, social media.

CIW-ICT comes with valuable tips and online resources for helping computer users take full advantage of the resources available on the Internet, but do so safely, legally, and confidently. Materials provided for each course are intended to be used by teachers (regardless of their subject area) to infuse technology into their courses as an engaging learning tool. This integration of technology into student learning begins as early as Grade 3 and continues through Grade 12 and beyond, even into business and industry. Courses within the suite can be integrated across elementary and middle school curricula district-wide to ensure an acceptable level of digital citizenry prior to moving into high school.

Aim Up helps groups get special pricing, provides local support and helps schools and other organizations implement the project throughout their districts or worksites. Courses are delivered through the web on any device that is web-browsing enabled.

Article by Susan K Maciak
Business Consultant and Author

For permission to reprint or quote from this article:

Contact Maciak at Aim Up: www.aimupimage.com

Visit Aim Up’s web site at www.aimupimage.com                                                                                                     

For help in improving your business image, contact us at service@aimupimage.com