Pinecrest Preparatory Middle-High School (PPMH) and Verite Educational Systems announced today that PPMH is the first school in the nation to adopt NetRef, a new educational technology that manages Internet access across the school, in the classroom and by student.
At PPMH, students bring their own devices to class, known as a “BYOD” environment, and they access the academic curriculum via the Internet. As tablets replace textbooks, students are increasingly online in school and have the potential to get distracted by social platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat. With NetRef, PPMH's teachers will be able to set the digital boundaries their students need.
"We are excited to pioneer the use of NetRef in our school and to work closely with the NetRef team to integrate the solution into our existing IT system," said Betty Nuñez, Principal of PPMH.
NetRef operates with all web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It also operates with iOS, Android, ChromeBook and Windows-tablets, along with their respective apps.
During a successful beta test at a large high school in the Washington, D.C. metro region earlier this year, Verite's team collaborated closely with teachers, administrators and IT leaders to incorporate user feedback into the product to fine tune and enhance NetRef's functionality.
NetRef plans to roll out a home version to families in spring 2015.
