On Tuesday, March 2, 2021, we announced the launch of the Boxlight Virtual Classroom. The Virtual Classroom was designed to help educators and education partners experience real-classroom scenarios using our education technology solutions such as interactive displays, classroom software and web-based learning platforms, and STEM products. The room was designed in response to the move many schools made to remote and hybrid learning environments. The goal of the Virtual Classroom is to provide educators with Best Practices for facilitating engaging and interactive lessons for their students.

Dr. Don Gemeinhardt joined the Boxlight family late last year as Director of Strategic Funding. He is a grant and proposal subject matter expert who has worked with various companies involved with education, compliance training, and student, faculty, and police officer development. His role at Boxlight is focused on helping schools and districts identify funding opportunities for education technology, STEM solutions, and professional development.

Teachers are busy searching for and creating collaborative, interactive lessons that will motivate and engage their learners. But time is essential, and teachers need an easy-to-use software that can help them build dynamic activities and lessons in a matter of minutes. The software should be compatible with any of a variety of education technology hardware such as document cameras, interactive flat panel displays, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. When looking for teacher-friendly software that can be customized for a variety of learning situations, make sure these four features are included:

Holy Trinity Parish School, located in Louisville, KY (U.S.), was looking to replace their aging technology with interactive flat panels. A recipient of the 2004 Catholic Schools of Tomorrow Innovations in Education Award, they prided themselves on providing state-of-the art technology for teachers and students to boost interactive learning and collaboration. Previously, classrooms were outfitted with SMART interactive whiteboards and ceiling mounted projectors with some of classrooms having SMART interactive flat panels. They were now looking for panels that would really set them apart and engage their students in 21^st century learning.

Have you hit your rhythm with lesson planning, teaching, meeting with students, and grading assignments? Are your students excited each time they walk in the classroom or turn on their web cameras for remote learning? Do you wake up each morning with so much energy that the cup of coffee you pour is really unnecessary? While there may be moments of ‘Yes’, it can also be ‘Sometimes’, and ‘I wish’; regardless, your work and efforts to make learning an enjoyable and active learning experience is appreciated.

To date, only four states have ordered their schools to open with their districts required to offer in-person instruction five days a week. For most states, districts are left to decide whether to open schools for in-person learning, or a combination of in-person and remote learning — hybrid learning. As districts work to create a practical and effective balance between in-person and remote learning, many consider hybrid learning the ‘new norm’ for education. What are some reasons that lead them to think this way?

Teachers everywhere are trying different apps, software, and platforms to complement what they are already doing for in-class, remote, or blended instruction. A new tool that many teachers are implementing is MimioConnect® Blended Learning Platform. The MimioConnect platform’s user-friendly interface helps teachers build and present interactive lessons that engage learners, in any location at any time. If you are deciding on an “all-in-one solution”, MimioConnect is offering a free trial so that you can explore its many features: MimioConnect Free Trial. Because MimioConnect is a web-based platform, no software download is necessary. Simply sign up!

We have exciting news! The MimioMarket App will be available on the ProColor Series 3 panels on February 19! MimioMarket gives users access to over 100 safe and tested apps for education. Our App Team checks every app submitted to the store and you can be sure apps will be free of advertisements, in-app purchases, and inappropriate content.

We’re approaching the one-year mark of distance teaching and learning for most of our country’s schools. Last spring when schools closed, teachers had to quickly navigate new and unfamiliar technology so that they could maintain some degree of educational normalcy for their students. Many education-focused companies and organizations developed and facilitated a variety of teacher training courses that centered on software and platforms that districts invested in to deliver lessons to the millions of students now having to school remotely. Courses included learning the basic tools of GSuite for Education or Microsoft Office 365, creating and delivering lessons using specific software and applications (think Zoom), and maneuvering the complexity of all these apps, platforms, and software to deliver lessons that would engage students so that they would show up to live lessons when scheduled. Our nation’s teachers handled what they could (with blood, sweat, and tears) and came out of this unprecedented situation with more education technology knowledge than they had before this.