Knowing that 60 percent of the jobs that elementary school students will fill haven’t even been invented yet, Huntington Beach City School District (HBCSD) is on a mission to prepare those students for successful futures by transforming its classrooms into 21^st century learning environments. 

“If you were in a classroom 10 years ago and told your high school English teacher that you were going to write a blog, your teacher would have looked at you like you'd lost your mind,” says Gregory Haulk, HBCSD’s superintendent. “They would have told you that there was no way you could make a living at it, and to start thinking about writing for a newspaper.”

Boxlight is excited to announce the fall webinar series, “Transforming Learning in the Classroom,” featuring six webinars to help you find ways to transform learning with the right technologies and best practices for your classroom. All of the presenters are working in schools every day and making an impact, offering you real insights from real leaders.

The series will begin on September 19, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. ET with “Atlanta Public Schools Secrets to Success: The Odd Couple.” The educators hosting each webinar in the series use and manage technology every day in their classrooms and districts to engage their students and encourage collaboration. The webinars were developed to help educators learn how to utilize classroom technology to promote students’ learning, and gain valuable insights and best practices from those who know what works best.

It’s August, and for many the semester has just begun. Over the next few weeks, the 2018–2019 school year will take off for districts all over the country. If you’re an educator with plans to improve EdTech at your school this year, Boxlight has countless resources to help guide you through the process. Whether you like to gain new educational insight by listening to podcasts, reading case studies, or communicating with other educators, Boxlight has dozens of new opportunities for professional development and guidance. Here’s a look at what’s new at Boxlight this fall! 

For years, Atlanta Public Schools used traditional whiteboards and Promethean boards to lecture students. “It wasn’t interactive or engaging at all,” says Aleigha Henderson-Rosser, Executive Director Instructional Technology. “It was no different than projecting onto a chalkboard.”

APS was ready for a change. In 2015, they began their quest for an effective 21st century classroom. After an extensive search involving participants from both technology and instruction, APS selected Boxlight’s interactive classroom as the foundational learning platform for middle and high school classrooms district-wide.

Another great year of ISTE has come and gone—as always, the EdTech conference left a lasting impression on everyone who was able to attend. Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, or technology specialist, ISTE 2018 offered countless new ideas, products, and connections to be discovered.

Innovation in educational technology is steered by the minds of creative and skilled educators all over the world. Many of these EdTech experts share their ideas and experiences through the creation of blogs, teacher resources, and sometimes even the formation of a brand.

With the abundance of websites and resources available to educators, it can be hard to decide where to look for guidance through your next EdTech initiative. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 15 of our favorite EdTech experts who you may or may not have heard of, as well as the brands, blogs, and resources they’ve created:

Each year, the world of EdTech grows and new companies emerge ahead of the pack. Here are the movers and shakers we’re excited about at the moment: 

It’s true what people say: Each year seems to go by faster than the one before! For Boxlight, 2017 has been full of exciting new product launches and a greater focus on STEM initiatives—including becoming the convening agency for the Georgia Girls STEM Collaborative, formed under the auspices of the National Girls Collaborative Project. We received a host of accolades from a number of prestigious organizations, and we also saw the closing of our initial public offering. However, these activities won’t have us resting on our laurels and there is still much work to be done.

One of the most critical factors for student and classroom success—especially early in the year—is connecting with our students. As one of my favorite principals used to tell me, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I have found this to be very true.

Good educators are constantly searching for best practices in the classroom. The term “best practice” can get thrown around a lot by different organizations, parents, teachers, and especially administrators. In the end, it can be hard to determine which “best practices” are the ones we really need to implement.