Another successful year at the annual ISTE conference has come and gone, and this year’s latest trends have made a strong impression on the EdTech industry. Whether you were at the conference in San Antonio or following the action through the #NotAtISTE hashtag on Twitter, there was so much to learn about. The Boxlight team returned from ISTE this year full of new insights into the educational technology industry, but a few topics stood out to us more than others. Here are the top three trending themes our team found most impactful at ISTE 2017:

Which Interactive Solution Is Right for Your School?

Interactive technologies offer an effective, engaging, and easy way to provide teacher-led instruction. Whole-class tools are designed to put students at the center of the educational environment, so they’re more engaged, more collaborative, and more motivated.

There’s a wide array of choices when it comes to whole-class technology, which you can read about in our recent blog articles: portable IWBs, interactive projectors (standard and laser), touch boards, and flat panel displays. Some of the most important considerations are what will work for your classroom configurations and for the teaching and learning styles of your educators and students.

Whole-class learning is a key aspect of the modern classroom, but how do you find the right solution for your school? There are a variety of options, so you need to take a closer look at each one to determine which is the best choice for your students, teachers, curriculum, and budget.

Whole-class learning is a key aspect of the modern classroom, but how do you find the right solution for your school? There are a variety of options, so you need to take a closer look at each one to determine which is the best choice for your students, teachers, curriculum, and budget.

Last week we looked at interactive projectors, which offer large interactive spaces more affordably than flat panel displays. This week, we're going to explore interactive touch boards, which can be used as both a conventional whiteboard and a touch board. Some of the most important considerations are what will work for your classroom configurations and for the teaching and learning styles of your educators and students.

Whole-class learning is a key aspect of the modern classroom, but how do you find the right solution for your school? There are a variety of options, so you need to take a closer look at each one to determine which is the best choice for your students, teachers, curriculum, and budget.

Whole-class learning is a key aspect of the modern classroom, but how do you find the right solution for your school? There are a variety of options, so you need to take a closer look at each one to determine which is the best choice for your students, teachers, curriculum, and budget.

The search for the new interactive classroom technology can be incredibly daunting. How do you know what’s right for your school? How do you differentiate between the various solutions available? Will it be simple for both teachers and students to use? And how do you find the best solution to fit your budget?

You’ve examined all the requirements: room size, HD vs UHD, the size of the interactive area you need for the number of students you want to have working together, and the display with the best classroom software. Then you come to the final factor: budget! Budget is often not a small factor, especially when you need to outfit 10, 20, or even 100 classrooms. Sometimes the answer to your display requirements and needs is an interactive projector.

The Bulb Problem

As almost every teacher knows, nothing is more irritating than having a projector bulb blow right in the middle of a lesson. Before you can get back to teaching, you have to find someone to get a replacement bulb (and hope there is one in the storeroom), and perhaps unmount the projector in order to replace the bulb. At that point, it often becomes clear that the students don’t remember what you were teaching, let alone what they were supposed to learn.

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.