Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

New Epson BrightLink GoBoard Brings Advanced Connection and Collaboration to Classrooms as Breakthrough Software Solution

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – June 24, 2021 – Epson, the number-one selling projector brand worldwide,1 today announced a breakthrough software solution for enhanced lesson plans and student engagement – the BrightLink® GoBoard™ Wireless Collaboration and Integrated Whiteboard Solution. As a dynamic whiteboard solution, BrightLink GoBoard is equipped with a suite of collaborative features and included AirServer technology, allowing both students and teachers to share, annotate and stream mirrored content in real time. At the ISTELive 21 virtual event next week, Epson’s product manager Tom Piche will discuss the BrightLink GoBoard solution in more detail during Epson’s Solutions Snapshot sessions.

“BrightLink GoBoard is a powerful solution that transforms classroom whiteboards into creative canvases for students and teachers,” said Piche. “Epson’s BrightLink solutions aim to empower teachers with engaging and interactive tools, and BrightLink GoBoard adds another layer of collaboration to inspire, captivate and encourage student participation from anywhere in the room.”

BrightLink GoBoard is a full featured collaborative software solution that offers seamless integration with current BrightLink interactive display setups. The downloadable solution is simple and intuitive, allowing students and teachers to share content from Chromebook™, Windows®, iOS®, and Android™ devices. Created with convenience and student participation in mind, BrightLink GoBoard also works alongside popular video communication tools, such as Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, so students at home can easily follow along.2…Read More

4 myths about blended learning debunked

When I first started teaching math a decade ago, I gave notes at the front of the room on an overhead transparency projector. The teacher who taught math in the room before me had retired and left all of her materials behind. In the file cabinets, I found an entire year’s worth of transparencies with math concepts organized by date and topic. Since it was my first teaching experience, I assumed that my role as an instructor was to stand in the front of the room and regurgitate these same notes to my middle school students.

I soon realized that this style of teaching was antiquated, so I started projecting PowerPoint presentations onto my whiteboard and taught using what I called a “poor man’s SmartBoard.” Since I was doing all of my teaching from the front of the room, I saw my whole-class explanations as of paramount importance to my practice. Subsequently, I believed that my particular way of explaining math was best for my students and better than other teachers. I soon gathered my own “filing cabinet of transparencies” in the form of PowerPoint presentations that I could use year after year.

The truth is, I am only one of a dozen or so math teachers that my students will have. Each math teacher will have their own style and version of teaching some of the same topics. The standards that my students are asked to master say nothing about the method of instruction or even the means to getting to an answer. How important really is my particular way of teaching math?…Read More

InFocus displays Mondopad and JTouch now feature ‘capacitive touch’

Interactive touchscreens are getting a 4k, mutli-touch upgrade

InFocus is adding premium capabilities, including projected capacitive touch and 4K resolution, to a variety of its interactive touchscreen and video conferencing solutions, the company announced today. InFocus created the original all-in-one video conferencing touchscreen solution and the company is once again defining the category by enabling the best image clarity and most intuitive multi-touch capabilities for professional and education environments.

InFocus 65-inch Capacitive Touch Mondopad

InFocus new 65-inch Mondopad, interactive 65-inch and 70-inch JTouch whiteboards, as well as the previously announced 40-inch JTouch whiteboard and 65-inch Canvas Touch are the first InFocus products to employ projected capacitive touch. The technology, used on leading smartphones and personal tablets, eliminates the need for a stylus and enables a more intuitive and responsive user experience. Unlike IR touchscreens, capacitive touch technology allows more touch points with faster response and bezel-free edge-to-edge glass, allowing for a brighter and sharper display, a sleek design and remarkably fluid multi-touch capabilities.…Read More

Are cables in the classroom a thing of the past? Maybe

HDMI over wi-fi is ready to obsolete cables and transform the classroom—almost

cables-wifiWires in classrooms are an inconvenience, yet they have been an inescapable fact of life for over a decade. With the advent of mobile technologies, things haven’t changed quite as much as one might expect.

Many traditional classrooms and learning spaces have a data projector or TV screen that is used by the teacher or students to present information. They usually connect to a computer via HDMI cable or similar that is placed in a “convenient” location.

However, a convenient location for one person may not be the best location for another person. Cables force the teacher to stay at that location while navigating the materials on the computer.…Read More