New Horizons School, part of the Orenda Education Charter School District in Texas, has installed BenQ's short-throw interactive projectors in its classrooms. BenQ's interactive short-throw education projectors enhance learning with multitouch interactivity and outstanding picture quality and brightness.
"There's so much opportunity to do more with our students," said Shelley Williams, New Horizons' principal. "These projectors are helping to create a sense of belonging, independence, and mastery in the classroom. We're seeing more engagement, which encouraged more attendance. And for the first time ever, our students are passing assessment testing and are on the pathway to academic success."
The school serves 100 students — ages 5 to 17 — from kindergarten through high school who reside at New Horizons Ranch, a residential treatment center for at-risk youth. Because of the nature of the kids' background, the organization's curriculum is tailored to make the most of classroom time and help the kids transition to the next chapter in their education. BenQ's MW826ST short-throw interactive projector provides the school with an affordable display solution that helps engage every student while also helping kids master technology that they would face in the future.
The projector is designed to enhance interactive learning and classroom collaboration with outstanding picture quality, high brightness, and short-throw capability. Providing up to a 120-inch interactive work surface, the projector produces 3,400 high ANSI lumen brightness and WXGA resolution for perfect projection performance. Every image and every letter of text is crisp enough to see in every part of the classroom. The short-throw-projector series also features DLP technology, providing long-lasting picture quality that ensures the best total cost of ownership (TCO).
Designed with teachers in mind, it features simple operation and a deep toolbox to help students commit information to memory. This includes PointWrite, which transforms any surface or wall into a collaborative surface; infrared technology that detects multiple finger or object movements; multitouch technology that allow multiple students to work at once; QWrite annotation software that enables multi-user on-screen collaboration with tools to edit, highlight, and co-create various documents that can be saved and shared with students; and templates to easily build exercises and lessons. Mobile High-Definition Link provides quick and easy connection to a growing number of devices with an HDMI cable or wireless streaming via BenQ's QCast wireless dongle. Ready for BYOD classroom collaboration, up to four mobile devices can stream content to the screen at the same time. With the included wall-mount and smart setup and calibration features, installation is incredibly simple, taking less than half an hour from start to finish.
BenQ's innovative SmartEco technology furthers TCO benefits by intelligently adjusting light output and conserving energy saving capabilities without compromising brightness or quality. This technology extends lamp life by up to 15,000 hours — three times the normal lamp life. An Eco Blank mode further increases energy savings by automatically dimming lamp power when blank. Together, these features make it a cost-effective and bright investment for students' futures.
Since installing the projectors in the fall, the school has seen an incredible response from staff and students. For the first time, staff is able to create curriculum that addresses the capabilities of the students and gets them excited for their future. Teachers are using Istation's richly animated, game-like educational tools and Kahoot as well as a classroom response system to encourage student attention and participation. The science teacher is using it to build virtual labs, opening up a safe and entertaining way for kids to learn beyond the borders of the classroom.
"Display technology is an exciting component of a student's learning environment," said Bob Wudeck, senior director, business, education, and CinePro solutions at BenQ America Corp. "BenQ is committed to ensuring our interactive projector solutions have all the right features to make teaching and learning fun and engaging. Seeing New Horizons' students reach new levels of achievement in their education is what drives BenQ's innovative edtech solutions."
