MCC makes major tech upgrades

Second grade students at Scottville Elementary watch the BrightLink display monitor.

Spartan News is a presentation of Mason County Central School District in partnership with Mason County Press.

SCOTTVILLE — Mason County Central School District has made major technology upgrades to its classrooms in recent years, utilizing COVID-era Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. As the district started to explore technology for classroom updates, its two key priorities were interactivity and versatility. With this in mind, the district equipped classrooms with BrightLink interactive displays as well as Epson document cameras, a speaker system, computers, laptops, and wireless accessories for the teacher’s document station.

Transitioning each classroom from a traditional lamp-based projector to an interactive BrightLink display provided much higher brightness with better image quality, so every student in the room could see the content being projected.

“The interactive BrightLink displays are a huge upgrade from our old projectors,” said Miguel Quinteros, MCC K-12 technology coach. “It is great to walk down the school hallways and see big, bright images inside the classrooms.”

When it came time to update each classroom, the emphasis remained on implementing interactive and versatile technology, and as the district started testing out interactive flat panels and displays, it added image size to the priority list.

“The size of the flat panel was a big turn off for teachers. They are difficult to see and aren’t big enough for the classroom,” said Quinteros. “If a student is sitting in the back of the classroom, they aren’t able to read the flat panel no matter how big it is.”

Offering a large, full-high definition (HD) interactive display up to 100 inches, BrightLink provides up to 75% more interactive space than a 75-inch flat panel while providing a low cost per square inch. With 4,100 lumens of color and white brightness¹ and proprietary 3-chip 3LCD technology, it delivers a remarkably bright and colorful picture that can easily be viewed in ambient light conditions from nearly anywhere in the classroom.

Additionally, the BrightLink includes a 30,000-hour, virtually maintenance-free laser light source, so there are no lamps to purchase or replace – ever. This shift to laser displays saves the district money, eliminates worry about replacing lamps, and ensures no down time for teachers when turning the display on and off.

The flexible display capabilities of BrightLink were another deciding factor.

“Teachers love their whiteboard space. With BrightLink, they can have high-quality images and video along with a digital whiteboard experience that can be saved,” said Quinteros. “And by projecting on the whiteboard already in the room, when the projector is off, they get their whiteboard back.”

In addition to BrightLink displays, classrooms were updated with new computers, laptops, speaker systems, a document station, and wireless keyboards and mice. Teachers also have a pendant microphone so students can hear them speak clearly. With this complete technology ecosystem, teachers were given the flexibility and option to move around the classroom however they like while teaching.

Science teachers, for example, can connect their Epson document camera with a microscope so everyone in the class can see what is being examined. The document cameras come in a compact design with easy setup, high image quality and seamless connectivity to help bring lessons to life in any classroom. Teachers can also use the document camera as a webcam to capture and share the entire classroom or record creative lessons and share them later with other students.

Teachers are also using the a suit of annotation and casting software to mirror their phones to the projector, allowing them to showcase student work or display live video of objects for the entire class to see. This feature has been particularly useful for real-time demonstrations, such as zooming in on a book page, modeling problem-solving techniques, or sharing student-created content instantly. Additionally, teachers can wirelessly annotate over projected content, enhancing interactive discussions. The ability to move freely around the room while maintaining control of the display fosters more dynamic and engaging learning environments, making lessons more immersive and student-centered.

Once classrooms were updated, teachers were trained on the basics of using the technology in the classroom.

“The BrightLink is more than an ordinary projector, there is so much we can do with it,” said Quinteros. “We’re excited to see how this technology will continue to transform our classrooms.”

“Epson engineers classroom displays to deliver what teachers value most – interactivity, versatility, and large, easy-to-see images that enhance every lesson,” said Tom Piche, product manager, Epson America, Inc. “We look forward to continuing to support Mason County Central School District’s display needs as part of the district’s classroom revamp initiative. This school district has embraced today’s technologies and created learning environments that are more connected and better equipped to support teachers and students for the long term.”

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