Academies Enterprise Trust, UK

The Challenge

AET are a not-for-profit organisation, and working in the public sector requires a high degree of accountability. A key financial responsibility is to ensure spending is utilised in the best way possible.

The Ministry of Education, in accordance with the State Education Development Strategy, announced the start of the exciting new pilot for Azerbaijani education. They said, “The Labdisc data recording device operates as a complete laboratory with 15 built-in wireless sensors. The device is fully integrated with all major school technology and equipment through wireless communication. By connecting to computers, netbooks, interactive boards, and tablets, the system provides high-performance wireless access to the laboratory. This provides an opportunity for teachers and students to interact during the lesson, and at the same time save on technological costs.”

Constant investment to replace failing technology is a reality for most educators with many schools having to resort to purchasing sub-standard and ineffective technology, which lack essential features, to meet their budgets.

However, AET cannot compromise on its mission; their visionary classrooms depend on the latest technology. How can they maximise the allocation of budget available to teachers while avoiding concessions in creating the perfect classroom?

Finding the Right Partner

As a global provider of learning and education technology, Boxlight Mimio believe that “We can change the classroom. We can change the world”.

Introduced by their AV Framework Partner as a brand that “competes on price and wins on quality”, AET found a partner that shares the same vision and values for education; committed to working in partnership, communicating and collaborating effectively to avoid any compromises in eventual learning outcomes.

The Journey

The Trust are on a journey from a fragmented array of legacy hardware and proprietary software to a ‘cloud only’ solution powered by Google Apps for Education, Chromebooks and Chromeboxes. Teachers were consulted and agreed that a combination of 65” and 75” UHD interactive touchscreens was necessary to complete their lesson delivery and ambitions for classroom collaboration.

Working together, the MimioDisplay was demonstrated, testing the outcomes and capability of the display in tandem with AET’s new cloud platform. MimioStudio made it easy to import and edit legacy Smart and Promethean files, and Ximbus enabled lessons from Google Classroom to be shared and delivered.

Teachers across the estate were impressed by the robust MimioDisplay build quality, high product specification, the five-year onsite warranty and support offered by the manufacturer.

With teachers excited that it met all their immediate and future requirements, MimioDisplay was approved by the Trust. The only question remaining was how to get the Boxlight Mimio solution in front of teachers at an affordable price.

Tailoring the Best Solution

Every penny counts to Academies Enterprise Trust and Boxlight Mimio’s business model is to lead the price-competitive market with a high-quality product. Savings made within the supply-chain are already passed through to schools; freeing up more capital for educators to spend on more education. AET are a visionary Trust, who want to prioritise investment in teaching and learning. Boxlight Mimio recognise this, and know that a pivotal component of a world class learning environment, is energised teachers and pupils.

Both Boxlight Mimio and AET were able to work together to engineer the best, most costeffective, premium solution, eliminating the need to compromise. AET were provided with a number of demo units while Boxlight Mimio managed the logistics.

In reaching this agreement, it ensured the Trust could receive hands-on demonstrations, with costs for both parties reduced. By working collaboratively, both parties found ways to eliminate cost and realize savings that ultimately were passed back to the Trust.

During the summer, over 70 interactive screens were delivered and installed across the Trust. Both Boxlight Mimio and AET’s AV Framework Partner exceeded all expectations and received nothing but outstanding feedback.