Technology continues to change the face of education, including how teachers and students interact in the classroom. Even after a swift move to greater technology implementation in the past two years, managing the use of laptops, tablets, a front-of-class display, and students remote learning can be exhausting for teachers. Add to that the expectation for personalized learning that meets each student’s needs and frustration can grow for both the teachers responsible for planning and facilitating instruction, and the students who may not feel motivated or focused to engage. What support can be offered to help alleviate the challenges being felt? 

Interactive learning has moved from being an innovative strategy to a ‘must do’ to keep students engaged in the classroom. As technology has become more beneficial for instruction and student learning, teachers are at the forefront of why, how, and when to use ed tech effectively and efficiently. Interactive displays support connected and collaborative experiences for students, even if they’re remote learning. With more features and applications available on displays, teachers are incorporating their use regularly and seeing student participation and active learning improving in their classrooms. 

For educators, summertime is synonymous with teacher professional development and training in anticipation of the approaching school year. Oftentimes, there are new materials, textbooks, resources, and equipment to learn how to use. Districts try to plan dynamic professional learning experiences for their teachers knowing that it can be overwhelming to digest so much information squeezed into a few days. One forward-thinking district – Port Arthur Independent School District - planned a weeklong technology conference in collaboration with Visual Techniques Inc. and EOS Education by Boxlight to help their teachers learn to use new and existing educational technology including interactive displays, classroom software, and STEM solutions.  

The MimioPro 4* interactive display is ready for classrooms, libraries, offices, and more! This cutting-edge display will help create a learning landscape that optimizes what can be done in the modern classroom.  

With the plethora of technology options out there (hardware, software, web applications, STEM tools, etc), it can all look exciting and you might even visualize how your students will benefit from the innovative tech available. But more often than not, the “dream” classroom rarely meshes with the “reality” budget. Fortunately, awards, crowdfunding, grants, and programs have made outfitting classrooms with state-of-the-art tech a reality for many educators.

In the first part of this series, the use of technology in the classroom was broken down. We know that technology can be used for many different reasons, but we primarily discussed using it to access online curriculum programs and allow students to demonstrate critical thinking through integrated projects.

Does technology help students learn better? This is one of the most challenging questions for educators and those in educational leadership roles. Measuring the impact of technology on education—and specifically student learning—isn’t easy. We know that technology can both enhance and accelerate learning when used correctly, but we all know that “used correctly” is the critical portion of that statement.

As a high school social studies teacher for the past 20 years, I have seen many instructional trends, gadgets, and fads fall in and out of style within the ever-evolving world of education. However, for the past dozen years, I have always been able to turn to my technology products to make a meaningful impact in my classroom. No matter which grade level or course I teach, technology makes my classroom a dynamic and interactive learning environment. I work hard to make my lessons more engaging for my students, and my teaching tools—such as the ProColor display, MimioMobile™ collaboration and assessment app, and MimioStudio™ classroom software—transform my lessons into meaningful, modern, and interactive activities for my 21^st century learners.

Happy New Year! As you return to your classroom this month after the holiday break, it’s the perfect opportunity to spruce up your lessons. Here is our collection of themed content to help you keep students engaged all month long: