Executive Summary
If you walk into Hayward Unified classrooms today, you’ll notice the change:
- Teachers walk the room while presenting—no cables, no tether
- Students proudly share their screens from their seats—no disruptions, no dongles
- Emergency alerts flash on every display—even if it’s powered off
It wasn’t always this smooth. Tech varied room to room. Cables kept teachers tethered to their desks. Student sharing was clunky. Emergency alerts? Not always seen.
IT Director Greg Pitzer flipped the model. He let teachers lead the rollout—and picked a tool that they wanted.
Now? One small box behind every display powers wireless teaching and screen casting, student-led sharing, and visual, reliable alerts.
One tool. Every screen. Real classroom change.
The Challenge:
Messy setups. Static lessons. Critical alerts inaccessible to some.
Teachers were dealing with a mix of tech that changed from room to room—Apple TVs in one, HDMI cables in another. Students couldn’t easily share their screens, and teachers stayed anchored to the front of the class. Even emergency communication had gaps, especially for students with hearing impairments or when TVs were off.
“We wanted students to share their work without having to walk to the front of the classroom and plug in,” said Greg.
“And we needed teachers to be more mobile—able to move around and support small groups without being stuck at their desk.”
The Solution:
A setup teachers actually wanted— powered by a tiny but mighty box behind each screen.
Greg didn’t just install Vivi—he invited teachers to shape it. After running demos and collecting feedback, the team landed on a consistent, districtwide classroom setup that worked the same in every room. Vivi became the new default: no more dongles, cables, or guesswork.
The benefits showed up fast. Teachers could walk the room with their device in hand. Students could share from their seats with teacher approval. And visual emergency alerts showed up on every display—instantly—even if the device was powered down.
Teachers loved that they could present with mobility and flexibility. Student engagement hit new levels as they took pride in sharing their work and owning their learning.
“Other solutions didn’t have a way for teachers to feel comfortable allowing students to present wirelessly. Now, Vivi is a district-wide standard.”
Now, when Greg Pitzer walks into a classroom, he knows what he’ll see: teachers free to teach, students excited to share, and screens ready for whatever the day brings.
The Impact:
Wireless Teaching, Room to Move
With Vivi, teachers can teach from anywhere—leading small groups, walking the room, or setting up on the fly.
“We want teachers to be the ‘guide on the side’—not always presenting from the front.”
“Just the ability to be wireless… that flexibility to set the classroom however they want—not be tied to something predetermined—I think that was huge.”
Students Share from Anywhere in the Room
Student voice—on screen, on demand. Student learning—shared proudly, no learning curve.
“We wanted students sharing their thoughts and being able to do it without having to walk to the front of the classroom and plug in.”
No more taking over the teacher’s desk. No more cable swaps and dongle chaos
“That’s another powerful piece—freeing the teacher up, and allowing students to present their work.”
Every Room, Same Setup
Vivi turned display chaos into consistency. Teachers and subs know what to expect. IT doesn’t have to troubleshoot surprises.
“Now it’s just: if you’re using a screen, you’re using Vivi. That’s it… You can send a sub into any room and they’ll know how it works.”
Emergency Alerts on Every Screen
Vivi connects directly to the emergency system—pushing alerts to every classroom screen, when seconds count.
“For classrooms with students who are hearing impaired, that’s really pushed us to do the emergency notification piece.”
