At Escudo Web we have a decade´s worth of experience developing software solutions for the education sector. Having initially developed a filter for protecting children when online we have taken this much further with other functions integrated into this fundamental aspect of safeguarding. As technology, and platforms and programmes have advanced so have we. Our filter is now integrated into a leading Classroom Management software offering, that is available for schools who use Microsoft, Google Chromebooks or Android Tablets as their platform of choice. Each of these also integrates seamlessly with MS Teams and Google Classroom. Independently of whether a class if held presentially, online, or even hybrid, our software – which integrates into the back-office systems of Google Workplace and Microsoft – enables a teacher to see a thumbnail of all student´s devices and ensure they are on-task, as well as being able to override the filter for the purposes of accessing interesting class content without having to involve the ICT Manager.

Additionally, at the end of the school day the management of a device and its´ access to Internet should not be ignored. Uniquely the Escudo Web system allows a parent to manage this from an app on their phone, either maintaining the level of filter set by the school or allowing the parent to customise entirely. This concept we call “Digital Parental Interaction” and is a fundamental shift toward ensuring that children remain protected online outside of school hours.

Escudo Web solution (click on each image for more information):

We have taken this concept of Digital Parental Interaction to the next stage with a phone that we developed and showcased at the Mobile World Congress in 2018 to a great reception (including an interview with the BBC). This smartphone is unlike anything else in the market. It is not an app, which can be deleted or one where children can find a work-around. The software is built into the hardware so cannot be removed. Once linked to a parental device the smartphone can be managed from an app and the parent can manage every single aspect of the child´s phone: what apps the child can access and when, set the volume level (an important aspect to protect children´s sensitive hearing) as well as level of brightness (in order to limit exposure to blue light) etc. and can ensure that at night time the phone is off and stays off. We have two patents in the functionality of the phone, one being Modes of Use, where the parent can define what apps the child can use at a certain point of the day which are relevant or suitable (e.g. Study or Play Mode) and the other function is Please Listen, where the parent can freeze the screen of the device at any moment to bring the child back to family reality and suggest an alternative action (e.g. meal time). The phone also has the option of a secure browser where the parent can manage the access a child has to web pages, protecting them from inappropriate content.

In Europe the phone is called Blabloo (available for purchase online), and a school could earn some income by selling and distributing this to their pupils and we could can have certain apps pre-installed on the phone and, for a minimum volume, also brand the device with school logo etc.

In the rest of the World the phone is known as Geniora phone. We can help this be available for your needs. We can also work with local mobile operators and can work with them to provide a combined phone and data package. With the Geniora phone there is also the possibility to have educational content pre-installed helping ensure that “learning on the go” can become a reality.

For schools that use our Classroom Manager software and whose pupils have one of the smartphones developed by us, a parent can also access the filter used at school for the browser on the device and can deploy this on their child´s phone: this will make it easy to apply the same level of safeguarding to all devices that a child has in their possession.

For schools that want to be able to manage the phones that they issue to their teachers, and be able to limit usage of apps (including the camera), internet (preventing access to certain web pages outside of approved sites) we also have a solution. This is a software for an Android phone (which we can also supply), and ensures that there are no transgressions on a school premise and during school hours of usage of a phone belonging to the school.

For more information visit our contact link o chat with us.