Large flat panel displays fill an increasing number of living rooms with dazzling images that bring the theatre experience into the home. Many of today’s students are accustomed to high definition (HD) – for them it has become the expected standard. As educators and schools strive to find ways to better engage students and motivate learning, they are recognizing that using interactive HD technology in the classroom could be one way to achieve this. But the search for the best choice of interactive flat panel display – one that offers stunning images, touch technology, and seamless integration – can be daunting.

We have pulled together eight things you need to know to determine whether a flat panel display is the right choice for your classrooms.

The Mimio team has settled back in after FETC (January 12-15) in Orlando, Florida, and TCEA (February 6-10) in Austin, Texas. As always, both events were fun and informative. Here are some of the highlights and trends we noted at these two industry events.

Whether it’s called a formative assessment, a check for understanding, an exit ticket, or something else, good teachers find ways to gauge their students’ level of comprehension. They know that an important benefit of assessment is that it informs their instruction.

In the traditional classroom, there are three general approaches for gaining this information from students. The first is the oral response: a choral response, an individual answer, or sharing with a partner. The second approach is written – commonly via dry erase boards (“show me” boards) or exit tickets to wrap up the end of the lesson. The third approach is physical. Students can raise their hands – showing a thumbs-up for understanding, or raising one to five fingers as a rating scale. They can also move around the room and “vote with their feet.”

Many of these approaches are the tried-and-true assessment methods of highly effective classrooms. However, today it’s possible for teachers to offer much more efficient methods for students to accomplish the same thing, while at the same time tracking student data to monitor levels of understanding as a class and as individuals. Listed here are some great apps and other tech tools for accomplishing this.

Every day in the classroom, educators are inspiring students with their passion, creativity, and dedication. These same traits can be found in the eight organizations described below – progressive groups that are changing how we view education.
 

We hope you’re getting ready to head out to the TCEA 2016 Annual Convention and Exposition. This annual event in Austin, Texas, February 3-5, brings together campus- and district-level educators (administrators, teachers, librarians, etc.) to explore technology-related best practices, and products and services for engaging students, increasing productivity, and innovating teaching and learning. Austin is an incredible city – when Austinites say “Keep Austin Weird,” they mean it! So, once you’ve stopped by our booth #1126 (we are one of your first stops, right?), here are some of the other things you can look forward to:

While it can often be frustrating to teach writing, it’s equally frustrating for students to learn how to write well. Students understand the importance of being a good, clear writer, but grasping the concepts and ideas teachers are trying to convey is often challenging.

Here are four practical ways that sharing student writing can lead them to become better writers:

As an educator, you’re in a position to empower your students to become better learners and better people. Most of the time we recognize the positive influence we have on our students, but there may be times when we feel we need new ways to motivate them and create a culture of involvement. Here are 10 tips you can use to help create a culture that makes learning a priority.

It’s almost time for FETC 2016! As always, the four-day event is a fantastic opportunity to greet past colleagues, meet prospective collaborators, and learn from the pros. At FETC you can get hands-on explorations of the latest hardware and software, and learn successful strategies for integrating technology across the K-20 curriculum. As always, the conference will be held in “The City Beautiful” – Orlando, Florida. From city attractions to workshops and the booths (don’t miss Mimio’s booth #835), here’s just a sampling of what you can expect:

Mimio remains faithful to its mission of developing outstanding technologies that let us meet the future with confidence. We continually push ourselves to consider how and where Mimio products will be used, over the long term. Increasingly, that means identifying and developing technologies that you, our customers and partners, will need to be successful.

Each year since we opened our doors in 1997, we have designed and delivered educational teaching technology solutions that reflect our singular philosophy: to make learning more engaging for students, with technology that makes it easier for teachers to do what they do best – teach.