The Bright Orange Box

A child is sitting at their desk in a typical, modern day classroom in the United States. They are watching a video lesson that's being streamed from the internet and broadcasted onto the front board of the room by a smart projector. The end of the class eventually comes and perhaps the student will think nothing of the technological advancements that were used in their learning during that school day.
Somewhere else in another area of the country, or perhaps a location in another country, the students there are flipping through old textbooks that are frayed and worn from use year after year. The board in the front of the room is not filled with a digitally displayed image, but with the strong, sharp lines of white chalk or dry erase markers. One thing that these students may not have access to is an internet connection and/or electricity.

A start up company called LumenEd has tried to fill in that gap to allow classrooms who don't have access to the internet or electricity, the same means as those who do. After a successful Kickstarter fundraiser, the product that they created is called the Bright Orange Box and is designed to allow a multitude of various uses in these types of rural school settings. The box is essentially a smart projector that has a bright display to show a full amount of digital content and allowing it to be heard by the units built in speakers. One of the main features of the Bright Orange Box is that it solves the issue of not having internet or electricity available. The unit has built-in 3G and WiFi wireless so the internet can be accessed from almost anywhere in the world. The issue of not having electrical access is solved by containing an internal battery that powers the unit for over 2 hours if it's on full brightness setting. It will last much longer if it's at a lower brightness level. The unit can then be charged either by a standard wall outlet or by putting it in the path of sunlight. There are built in solar panels that will charge the internal battery. It's pointed out that the Bright Orange Box uses a simplified version of Android as it's operating system and will play back a vast array of assorted multimedia formats and files. Not only does the box have a built-in camera, but it can also be used to record their classroom if they wish.

Having a built-in camera is a major feature that leads to another goal that LumenEd wants to accomplish. LumenEd wants classrooms with these units to pair up with one another through what they call the Video Pen Pal Program. Through the use of a mobile app, the two classrooms can create and share short videos with each other. This promotes many objectives such as cultural exchange, elevation of learning through technology, and collaboration skills, just to name a few.

Even though many students in this day and age live in a location where high tech learning is the norm, there's also many students who live in locations that do not have access to such learning methods and equipment. I believe that the Bright Orange Box is a fantastic creation with a high level of potential, bridging the gap between those with and without certain educational technologies.

For more in-depth look at the tech specs, a video and overall details, please visit this website.