My PLN

Brock Teaching with Technology Showcase

Epson BrightLink Interactive Projector

 I recently had the opportunity to attend a technology showcase at Brock University that featured a wide selection of educational technology workshops. Specifically, I attended a workshop entitled "Make Any Wall Interactive with the Epson BrightLink Interactive Projector". 

The workshop focused on a new alternative to the SMART board.   In the past, you needed a projector and an interactive whiteboard to create an interactive learning environment such as the SMART board. However, now you can make almost any wall interactive with the BrightLink interactive projector. The projector comes with a pen that integrates interactive functionality without the constraints or expense of an interactive whiteboard. One of the really great things about this technology was that you could turn any wall, table top, or the floor in an interactive tool. All you had to do was purchase a table mount in order for it to project onto tables or the floor. In addition, it sells at about a fraction of the price of a SMART board. Also, you could purchase a table mount and This was one of the great things about the technology.

The Epson BrightLink works very much like the SMART board however you can use up to two pens at one time on any wall space. This might be beneficial when you want to have two students interacting with the technology at one time. In addition, BrightLink works with any software application your computer is running on and there is no need to use a specific software licensed with Epson.

I selected this professional development workshop because it seemed to be a better solution to the SMART board. It was only a matter of time when new technology would showcase a solution that required the use of only a projector as opposed to an interactive board + a projector. Boards are spending a lot of money on both an interactive whiteboard and a projector. This new solution allows for more classrooms to interactively engage with technology at a fraction of the price. It may just be the way of the future in education.