Before making a major technological purchase, it’s crucial to evaluate whether there are advantages or disadvantages of each, especially in the context of education. The use of interactive displays in the classroom offers many benefits that range from reducing the time spent on lesson preparation for teachers, to encouraging students to become more confident with their tasks and taking a more interest in their learning. A few of the possible downsides include the cost of the product as well as the time and effort needed to adopt every new technological innovation.
Six Benefits of using Interactive Panels to Enhance Classroom Learning
We believe that the most exciting aspect of interactive panels not the technology, but the inventive ways teachers are using the technology in their classrooms to aid their learning and teaching objectives. Here are five advantages that teachers using our panels have observed in their classrooms:
Improved Interaction and Collaboration. Multi-touch capabilities interactive displays give more students are able to move around the display and collaborate. Our teachers have reported that students can collaborate in pairs, works with classmates and edit their writing together or design projects in real-time and more.
More Engaging Students. Teachers who utilize our panels say that the BYOD connectivity and the simple screen sharing apps can help change the way they teach and get more students involved. Students can snap photos of their work using their tablets or phones and upload the image to the screen to be discussed in class, and take coding classes inside the school, or use games-based learning to consolidate a notion. Teachers can use the panels as a teaching stations that can be used for both advanced learning for students who are not yet finished as well as for remediation. As a bonus, students are more enthusiastic and teachers can are able to save time and money because they don’t need to print numerous duplicates of their worksheets.
Improved Support for Different Learning Styles. Studies show that, even though students may have their own preferred styles of learning but all students benefit from learning new information in various forms. Therefore, for a long time teachers have questioned whether or not they’re accommodating different types of learning in each lesson. This isn’t easy to accomplish when you’re the only who is trying to provide the best service to more than 25 students. A lot of our teachers have informed us that the integration of audio, visual and kinesthetic practices is much more natural when they utilize their interactive displays. Teachers can incorporate multiple media sources into one presentation, conduct surveys and allow students to practice hands-on to get them out of excessive direct instruction.
Classrooms that are more inclusive. We often receive feedback from resource and administrator teachers who share the interactive panel has improved their special education classrooms. This is exciting for us. Particularly, teachers praise the feature to write as well as the adjustable, mobile stands that can be moved between the two sides to accommodate different heights or classroom structure requirements to create a classroom environment where students are able to speak their mind and having easier access to the panels for them to express themselves.
More flexible learning environments. Teachers have shared with us that they’re satisfied with their interactive screens because they feel they have more flexibility when it comes to teaching. Teachers can go deeper into a subject the students would be interested about directly from the screen, walk around the room , while in control of the presentation using their smartphones, receive immediate feedback, administer formative assessments and then securely hand the panels over to students to work in small groups or discussions led by students.
Higher Efficiency for Teachers With Time. Through our IQBoard software, instructors can plan lessons on their own from any device (no need to carry the laptop of their school back and forth to design lessons from home!) and then bring the lesson on the class’s screen. Teachers can also create and build up their own libraries of resources and lessons such as recorded presentations which they can access in the event of having to leave for. It’s no longer a hassle to prepare an entire set of worksheets for the class in the lunch hour or having to make more lesson plans to use as a substitute.
Potential disadvantages of implementing interactive Screens within the Classroom
While there are many advantages of making use of interactive displays in classrooms such as increased collaboration and students’ involvement in their education There are some possible negatives, or at a minimum, concerns that schools will need to consider prior to purchasing a display.
Price. The most significant aspect for schools is the total cost of technology. Interactive displays tend to be more costly in the beginning than projectors and interactive whiteboards. However, interactive whiteboards may be more expensive when you think about the all the costs involved in the ownership. Cords and bulbs that need replacement along with IT time and maintenance on a regular basis all increase the cost of the initial purchase and there are significant differences in the competitive landscape between interactive whiteboards and interactive multi-touch displays. In general interactive whiteboards are outdated technology that is difficult to use in classrooms.
It is essential to have technical support. After cost school district officials and IT professionals are most worried about how simple the solution can be implemented. While it could appear that the most advanced technology will require a complex infrastructure that relies on the IT department’s time but the opposite is the case.
The need for teacher training. Because Interactive Whiteboards and projectors have been available for over a decade and many teachers are already aware of how to use them which is why it might appear that these devices need fewer training sessions. Training for teachers is always beneficial as a result, which is why we provide professional development programs that can assist schools to get the most value from their investment. We will also work with your team of decision makers to gain the support of IT and teachers as well as figure out the best way to introduce the new technology, without disrupting the learning environment before the purchase is finalized. We recognize that the decision to invest in the latest technology in the classroom isn’t a single-minded decision. it has an impact on every aspect of your learning environment each and every day.
The true advantage of our product is that anyone can switch onto our systems and start working with them straight away, and later expand their experience and expertise when they are able to. Because our panels are simple and run all software, even competitor programs, there’s not a requirement for teachers to develop lessons plans and other materials completely from scratch. Use what you’ve made previously and engage in your lessons using the educational suite of software as you are able to.