It’s hard to believe the year is coming to a close. 2016 was a year with exciting new product launches, collaborative learning events, and the merger of Boxlight and Mimio, and we are poised and ready for great success in the coming year.
In order to embrace the new, we have to first reflect on the old. Each year, we ask ourselves questions such as:
- What did we accomplish? (Including a list of our wins and achievements.)
- What were the most significant events of the past year?
- For what are we particularly grateful?
With those questions in mind, it’s been a remarkable year at Boxlight!
In March, we announced our plans to combine Boxlight and Mimio. This partnership has proven to be tremendously successful in not only marrying two of the most respected names in the industry, but also bringing together an expansive selection of what we believe to be the best-in-class digital educational technologies. Together, we are meeting the instructional needs of K-12 districts, schools, and students every single day.
In April, we partnered with Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn to create a showcase classroom that enabled K-12 teachers and students to experience the full capacity and impact of our award-winning interactive instruction technologies.
In June, we debuted an extensive line of standard, interactive, and touch projectors equipped with either lasers or bulbs at the ISTE conference in Denver. Our goal then, as it has always been, was to give schools a complete range of choices when it comes to equipping the modern classroom. The P12 line includes projectors for every budget and every need—pen-based interactivity, touch-based interactivity, and standard, non-interactive models. We are proud to say that at the end of the show, we won the Tech & Learning ISTE Best in Show award!
We also announced our partnership with K-12 science technology pioneer Globisens and unveiled the GlobiLab app for Chromebook laptops. This gave STEM educators attending the conference the first opportunity to experience the newly launched app.
Following those product launches, we were excited to unveil the ProColor Series 1 interactive flat panel displays in November. These displays further differentiate Boxlight with an included Android OS that offers an instant digital whiteboard plus integrated browser, bringing a whole new level of ease of use to classrooms while engaging students in a more collaborative learning experience.
And speaking of collaboration, we are so proud of our first Boxlight STEM day that took place on December 9. This event had elementary and high schools in the United States and Latin America working with our partners in a hands-on, inquiry-based learning event designed to help students learn critical STEM skills and understand how STEM disciplines apply to the world around them. As part of the event, each of the participating schools received a free wireless Labdisc portable STEM lab. The students used the Labdisc to perform simultaneous experiments and share their respective resulting data. This inter-school experiment was both profound and collaborative in nature, giving students a relevant and deep learning experience that more closely mirrors what they will encounter in the global workplace in the years to come.
Thinking about our biggest challenges?
Making sure that we never rest on our laurels. Our team comes to work every day and puts their heart and soul into the development of the products you use. Their passion and dedication is remarkable, and we are pleased to say that their efforts resulted in our products being recognized as we took home the Tech & Learning Award of Excellence and District Administration Readers’ Choice Top 100 Award, and we were also named a finalist in the BETT 2017 Program, with winners being announced at January’s Annual Conference in London. (Fingers crossed!)
And finally, what are we particularly grateful for? You.
Boxlight has a long-standing tradition of meeting your needs, but also making sure you understand everything that our solutions can do to help you make teaching and learning more engaging, relevant, and fun. Throughout the year, you are among the countless educators who contribute lesson content to our MimioConnect online teacher community, and many have helped to run the program from its inception.
So as we prepare to turn the calendar for another new year, please know how much we value our partnership with you. And trust that more good things are in store in the months and years to come.
Happy New Year!
Mark Elliott, CEO of Boxlight
