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Keeping up with the latest eLearning trends can be a challenge for even the most dedicated educator. As a quick primer, however, eLearning is moving towards more inclusive and collaborative approaches. Current digital education trends are also moving towards more engaging formats, relying heavily on AR/VR and gamification to grab and hold learners’ interest. Plus there are a few unexpected developments in eLearning. Here are ten of the most popular eLearning trends to watch out for and don’t forget to check out ViewSonic’s solution to even further empower classroom collaboration!
eLearning is here to stay. Dusty blackboards, smudged overhead projectors, and over-saturated photocopies sound like many people’s education experience. But take solace in knowing that, in many schools, those factors are in the past.
For those who don’t know what it is, eLearning refers to learning that utilizes electronic means to create a more dynamic and instructive learning environment. This manifests through the use of interactive whiteboards, online classes, and so on.
Rather than developing as a niche concept in the education sector, eLearning is rapidly becoming the dominant means to pass on knowledge to those of all ages. However, since it is still quite new, the concept is still evolving and changing on a constant basis. At ViewSonic, for instance, many tenets of eLearning can be seen in its myViewBoard education platform.
To that end, we’ve identified 10 trends that we believe indicate the future of eLearning and its role in the classroom. For those teachers, professors, parents, students, and administrators who are looking to make a wise investment in the future of education, this guide is for you.
Adaptive learning is a style of education where resources, activities, projects, and assignments are tailored to each student’s individual needs. In the context of eLearning, the implementation of adaptive learning is usually performed by way of established algorithms and assessments, as opposed to the potentially arbitrary determinations of teachers themselves.
Thus far, adaptive learning has been largely experimental, with companies and competitors having spent the past couple of years working out the kinks and engaging in small-scale execution. As eLearning continues to develop, the experiments will end and the widespread adoption will begin. Already, the major eLearning platforms are offering adaptive learning services, and there’s no reason that the trend won’t continue for the foreseeable future.
Social learning takes the base components of human interaction and group dynamics and applies them to the modern technological age. Online forums, class-wide chatrooms, file-sharing platforms – with social learning in the electronic space, collaboration has never been more productive, efficient, and seamless. Now, teammates can offer insight and support from anywhere, whether it be their classroom, their homes, or their nearby coffeeshops.
As social learning applications continue to develop, more and more collaborative tools will likely enter the fray for market dominance. What’s more is that, outside of individual classrooms and group project scenarios, social learning as a whole could grow to become the spine of school-wide curriculums everywhere.
Although it’s a bit of a generalization, they say that there are three types of learners – visual, auditory, and kinesthetic – that excel best in education when faced with videos, vocals, and practical demonstrations, respectively. For many years, despite this dichotomy, auditory learners were the only group properly served by the standard lecture/note-taking classroom format. With the advent of eLearning, that’s no longer the case, with video learning becoming more and more of a fixture in classrooms everywhere.
From video-based lectures to instructional videos, video learning has certainly come a long way from the shared-classroom televisions of old. Today, and going forward, there is nary an application that cannot be improved by the use of video learning. As such, there’s no reason to expect a backslide anytime soon.
It’s safe to say that artificial intelligence, or AI, has surpassed its original reputation of being the evil impetus behind HAL 9000 and the Y2K conspiracy theories. Today, what with Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and your everyday text-based chatbots, AI has experienced at-home integration around the world.
Beyond simple smartphone commands, AI has found a use in the context of eLearning. Backing up the concepts behind adaptive learning, AI is not only able to guide students through courses, but it can also help inform learning predictions and on-the-fly personalization. The potential applications for this currently seem limitless, considering the presence of AI in several industries outside of education. Within, however, consumers and instructors alike can expect more and more sophistication, with more flexibility permitted when it comes to alternative learning styles and needs.
It’s common sense that many students, regardless of their age, may be daunted at the prospect of large, multi-phase projects. Those students, as well as collaborative classrooms everywhere, have found much greater successful by breaking up projects, lessons, and other learning materials into manageable chunks. These so-called chunks may manifest as video lectures, readable text, interactive activities, to name just a few applications.
Otherwise known as microlearning, instructors have found that lessons, in addition to online modules, yield greater and faster retention when, for example, a 2-hour long lesson is broken up into 4 30-minute long sessions. Microlearning is indicative of a trend that goes beyond eLearning itself, and into the realm of traditional classroom spaces. As such, it’s clear that the common implementation of microlearning is not yet complete.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re five years old or fifty, learning is always more interesting, not to mention more digestible, when it’s fun. Referred to as gamification, this facet of eLearning attempts to make education fun!
It isn’t all about fun and games, however, as there are proven benefits surrounding the initiation of games following the introduction or review of lessons. First off, it can provide immediate application of, and interaction with, the material. When understanding is up, so too is engagement, retention, grades, and overall classroom happiness.
Given the large swath of positive results, there’s no reason that game-based learning solutions will not continue to be implemented in classrooms, both digital and physical, for the foreseeable future. Moreover, when it comes to the somewhat impersonal nature of eLearning in particular, gamification of the industry is not just welcomed, it’s ideal.
Although not strictly a part of what comprises ‘traditional’ eLearning, the evolution of mobile learning, or mLearning, is certainly an appropriate trend to consider. Not too long ago, the concept of doing anything on your mobile device beyond simple phone calls and 8-bit games was a pipe dream. Fast forward to today, just about everything is possible, and everyone appreciates the ability to do things while on-the-go.
When it comes to mLearning, however, there is still a slight bit of way to go before it becomes fully viable. The past couple of years have been very kind to it, in that respect, with phone-based language-learning applications coming to the fore. While it’s a decent step, mLearning architectures still need to find ways to embrace the same learning facets trends that eLearning managed to do before it can become widespread and commonplace. That said, in the future, there’s no doubt that mLearning will grow to be huge.
360-degree visuals, graphics overlays, and an explorable interface – these are just a few applications for augmented and virtual reality in the context of eLearning. Already, the pre-existing paradigm of a teacher scribbling on a blackboard has gone out the window and there’s nowhere to go, but up.
In practice, augmented and virtual reality allows practitioners of eLearning to fully immerse their students into the subject matter, regardless of whether it involves mathematics, science, history, or literature. What’s more is that augmented and virtual reality also serve to take the other factors of eLearning to all-new heights. Video learning, gamification, and mobile learning have never been so immersive when paired with augmented and virtual reality, and the technology is improving all the time, so look forward to seeing this eLearning trend continue for a while yet.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of augmented and virtual in education, check out this article!
In many collaborative environments and workplaces, employers and managers commonly implement what is known as a content management system, or CMS, to create and store digital content. Recently, this concept has expanded into the world of eLearning. With the advent of learning management systems (LMS), instructors and other eLearning practitioners are able to develop, document, and administer the courses and curriculums that are produced.
Considering the behind-the-scenes nature of LMSs, it has become easier than ever to simultaneously plan ahead and course-correct. In either case, this sort of content curation works is permitted by way of an LMS user’s ability to share information and integrate materials at the last minute. As modern forms of learning, and eLearning in particular, become more and more digitized and supported, the availability of an LMS will make lesson planning and management a breeze, thus doing away with the old analog methods for good. As such, LMSs are here to stay.
Learning Management Systems aren’t only about lesson planning and implementation. More to the point, they assist teachers and other behind-the-scenes figures to gather actionable data and other analytic factors. Not only does this help all involved to properly evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson and/or overall course, but it also plays a key role in Learning & Development.
Otherwise known by its shortened moniker, L&D, Learning, and Development is a management strategy that correlates individual performance with overall institutional goals. While this is commonly applied in a variety of industries and contexts, we are obviously here to discuss its specific role in eLearning. Therein, those working with L&D assist teachers in applying the gathered data in a way that improves that which is lagging in their lessons and courses.
Gamification, augmented reality, microlearning, video learning, social learning, and adaptive learning processes were all borne out of data-driven indications of success. As eLearning trends continue upward, the role of L&D, as well as data and analytics, will continue to expand in turn. After all, it would be difficult to advance and improve without the facts to back it up.
No matter which EdTech trend you choose to implement, the benefits are certainly clear. Giving your students an fun and unique way is important to not only making sure they learn best, but are happy in their educational experience.
If you are ready to implement some of these new EdTech trends in your classroom, check out our solution for creating engaging learning spaces!
SCALE-UP classroom is an approach to classroom design that takes the focus off the teacher and makes learning much more student-centric. Based on discussion and critical thinking, students work in groups on in-class activities to reinforce materials learned in a setting more like a restaurant than a typical classroom. And the model has had some surprising benefits to students.Read on to find out more about SCALE-UP classrooms and check out ViewSonic’s education solution for more information on creating engaging learning spaces for your students.
In essence, SCALE-UP is collaborative, hands-on, and computer focused.
From the first classroom integration in the 80s to today, over 98% of schools in the United States now own computers. What’s more is that while the ratio of students to computers was once quite poor, the national average has risen considerably to 1.8:1.
With such integration comes a much-needed revision of traditional teaching practices. For instance, how can professors claim the attention of their students who can easily engage personal screens as a means of distraction? It’s a cultural tide that’s proven difficult to fight.
The answer is as simple as this common adage – If you can’t beat them, join them. With that in mind, several university-level institutions have taken the bold step to research, codify, and implement a comprehensive strategy that addresses the need for computer-aided collaboration in the classroom with an eye towards interactivity and media integration. That’s where SCALE-UP comes in.
Most recently standing for Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies’, SCALE-UP refers to learning environments that have embraced active, collaborative in a manner that alters traditional classroom processes and layouts.
With an emphasis on the Socratic method, SCALE-UP classrooms encourage group work that focuses on the dual-goals that are tangibles and nondurables. Referring to hands-on observations and interesting problems, respectively, these goals dictate the nature and layout of SCALE-UP classrooms in a direct and concrete manner. As a result, lectures are discarded in lieu of class-wide discussions, and the rows of seats facing the front are thrown out in favor of seat clusters that enable the room to resemble a restaurant much more than a traditional education setting.
As a result of academic research, trial, and error, SCALE-UP is much more than an altered seating chart and a discussion-based lesson plan. More to the point, SCALE-UP’s processes are heavily defined by its underlying principles, the details of which will now be elaborated on.
In a SCALE-UP class, boring teacher-student lectures become a thing of the past. In fact, the role of a teacher becomes closer to that of a classroom facilitator than that of a traditional professor.
More explicitly, the SCALE-UP classroom places an emphasis on classroom discussions and inquiry-based learning. Thusly, collaboration becomes the name of the game. This is particularly the case when, both inside and outside the classroom, much of the interaction takes place digitally.
Digital interactivity, particularly those facilitated through cloud-based collaboration platforms, ensure that the tenets of SCALE-UP transcend the confines of class time.
Imagine the assignment of an enormous project. Everyone has experienced that momentary feeling where the prospect of completion is daunting, and it’s possible that performance is affected as a result.
In the context of SCALE-UP, as is also the case in the face of any large project, the act of breaking things up into smaller, more manageable pieces, makes the to-do list a bit more manageable. Known as content chunking, practitioners of SCALE-UP have seen evidence that smaller education segments result in increased student education and learning that values depth rather than breadth.
While this can indeed be applied to any project, content chunking may also be found in mini-lectures, activity durations, reading times, and class discussion period, to name a few instances.
For the bulk of educational history, the standard lesson model was simple – listen to a lecture, take notes, complete homework, and study. Boldly, SCALE-UP has done away with this tired way of doing things and has flipped lessons on their heads.
Known as flipped classroom, this aspect of SCALE-UP moves the content delivery portion of a class to an outside-the-classroom expectation, while study and application-based activities and discussions are brought in-class and take up the bulk of class time. Flipped learning, indeed.
More than anything else, SCALE-UP is defined by its student-centered focus. Lessons, assignments, and group compositions are not simply cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all arrangements that professors can utilize on repeat, semester after semester.
What that kind of classroom may certainly be found in other environments, they are simply incompatible with SCALE-UP. When devising a lesson and dividing groups, professors will take each student’s educational history, background, and demographics into serious consideration.
As a result, SCALE-UP accommodates the needs of each class and student. If a class needs an extra lesson to grasp a concept, or if a class requires a faster pace, then SCALE-UP’s inherent flexibility is ready to be taken advantage of.
Although the principles of SCALE-UP speak to the ideas behind its theoretical framework, they don’t have much bearing on the practical construction of a SCALE-UP. For that, the actual components behind SCALE-UP are of paramount importance, the specifics of which will now be expanded upon.
Group learning and collaboration are hallmarks of any SCALE-UP classroom in existence. To properly establish a functional implementation of SCALE-UP, effective group formation is key.
To be clear, this is not simply a matter of clumping students together at random, but rather a deliberately chosen confluence of students with clearly defined roles. In that regard, SCALE-UP groups, which are intended to be temporary, should be made of an equal number of students from different skill levels.
When teams are formed, broken up, and reallocated, the assignment of rules is of immense importance. The teacher can assign these roles his/herself, or the students can decide internally. Of frequent use are roles such as scribe, questioner, organizer, and summarizer.
In addition to content chunking, which refers to the interspersion of mini-lectures with activities and other forms of in-class learning, those endeavoring to design an activity consistent with SCALE-UP must consider its relevant tenets, particularly within the context of inquiry-based learning – tangible, ponderable, and visible.
Tangibles are hands-on observations, ponderable are interesting problems, and visible are teachable images. In the case of visible, beyond simple images, they can refer to simulations, demonstrations, and other explorable visuals. When performed correctly, a SCALE-UP group activity uses all three tenets in equal measure – role-plays, simulations, brainstorms, and so on.
Since SCALE-UP enables in-class inquiry, students are encouraged to gather information, determine strategies, analyze results, and learn from the experience at the end. In the case of the latter, students are meant to both self-determine what worked and what didn’t and receive feedback from the class at large.
Live feedback, both from the professor as well as from peers, is essential to the effective implementation of SCALE-UP. Not only will the students’ output improve with each successive round of feedback, but so too will the success of SCALE-UP as a whole be greater.
As is central to SCALE-UP classrooms everywhere, the standard, one-way teacher-student paradigm is done away with in favor of a structure that is a bit more dynamic. With an emphasis on depth over breadth, teachers are meant to foster question- and discussion-based learning, as opposed to covering material as quickly as possible.
To do so, SCALE-UP promotes a supportive classroom environment, which here has more than one meaning. The first involves a supportive learning structure, in that concepts, activities, and broad understanding all build on top of one another, similar to scaffolding one may see adjacent to a building.
Moreover, SCALE-UP support also refers to the student-student relationship, which is made more prominent by way of SCALE-UP’s focus on student groups. Therein, students within the same group are intended to support one another, not only in the completion of classwork but also to teach one another when confusion arises.
As much as students may loathe it, assessments are an essential part of the education process. It helps teachers to gain a sense of whether their teaching style, activities, and concepts are connecting with students in a successful manner.
However, assessment simply for the sake of it is indeed a useless endeavor. For assessment to properly yield actionable information, it must be generated from the basis of proper planning and thought. This is a facet of SCALE-UP that could be of universal benefit. (Learn more about effective assessments here.)
From the outset, engaging in SCALE-UP practices should conceive of their curriculums in a backward manner. That means that the course’s education outcomes, and therefore, the content of the eventual assessment, should be decided upon from the beginning. In an actionable context, all activities, classroom experiences, and projected outcomes should be aligned with the content of the assessment, so as to properly measure and value the results.
If it was not already evident, SCALE-UP classrooms differ widely from their traditional counterparts. The approach by SCALE-UP towards student engagement, teacher preparation, and teacher-peer relationships are notable examples of this.
In a traditional classroom, where note-taking and test-taking are the two primary student responsibilities, active engagement is not widely encouraged. Since those students are practicing passive engagement, their roles can be summed up as listeners, note-takers, and general observers.
In SCALE-UP classrooms, on the other hand, the inherent group work and discussion requirement act as a catalyst for otherwise passive students to take part in active engagement. Therefore, the role of an actively engaged student in a SCALE-UP setting is that of an active problem solver, contributor, and discussant.
Although the level of preparation is often dictated by the specific class, teacher, and topic, it goes without saying that the level of necessary preparation in a SCALE-UP classroom is significantly greater than that of a traditional classroom. This is primarily due to the rigors of a discussion-based environment. It’s much easier to skate by without preparation when a traditional class period solely entails note-taking, as opposed to SCALE-UP’s more involved expectations.
In SCALE-UP classrooms, classmates are no longer just the unnamed persons sitting around you, as is the case in many traditional classrooms. Your classmates and your relationship with them is integral to both the learning success and your success in a SCALE-UP environment. This is true in the context of not only group work, but also attendance, responsibilities, and sources of information and leadership.
Case in point, in traditional classrooms, classmates are encouraged to compete between one another for a limited number of high scores, particularly if there is a curve present. In SCALE-UP, the relationship is 100% collaborative. The same goes for responsibilities, which is determined within the context of a group setting, and therefore affects one’s willingness to be absent or tardy. This also holds true for information sources and leadership, since SCALE-UP classrooms diffuse the professor-centric focal point and encourage students to rely on one another in equal measure.
Although SCALE-UP has been implemented in over 500 educational settings around the world, it originated at North Carolina State University in 2006 as an experimental educational model for physics classes that blurred the lines between lectures and labs. At the conclusion of the initial study, researchers found that SCALE-UP yielded the following benefits:
Since then, and with these benefits in-hand, SCALE-UP has obviously grown and evolved beyond its limited original view. It has now been applied to a variety of disciplines, particularly with an eye toward meaningful and effective technology integration in the classroom. As a result, educational technological offerings have evolved to meet the growing demand by classrooms and institutions from across the globe.
As part of this trend, ViewSonic has proved itself as being more than up to the challenge. With its ViewBoard, and myViewBoard product lines, the facilitation of class discussion and group collaboration, both in-person and online, has never been easier. For those classrooms embracing the modern dynamic pedagogies associated with SCALE-UP, these products are absolutely worth looking into.
Online whiteboards – or virtual whiteboards – are common educational tools that make whiteboard functions available anywhere and everywhere with an Internet connection. Three experts were willing to share their thoughts on different challenges and provide tips on how to maximize the benefits of virtual or online whiteboarding.
Keep reading to gain important insights from trusted experts and don’t forget to check out ViewSonic’s education solution page for more information on the power of online whiteboards in your classroom.
Online and virtual whiteboards are here.
Over the past few decades, the average classroom has seen a shift from analog to digital technologies.
From chalkboards to digital whiteboards (including ViewSonic’s ViewBoard) and from notebooks to tablets, it has become clear that the very fabric of education has had to adapt to the times in order to keep students engaged and properly learning.
What’s more is that not only do these technologies keep students to par, but they also have the potential to offer more opportunities than were ever possible previously.
In order to get insight from those who know best, we spoke to three individuals who spoke at the BETT Show in 2018. In this piece, their opinions on technology in the classroom, particularly regarding online/virtual whiteboards will be explored.
Neil Rickus is an EdTech Consultant & Former Teacher. Through his capacity as a social media influencer, he answered the questions below.
For myself, a virtual/online whiteboard is a great way to share content with children, which can be modified in real-time. For example, multiple children could all be adding their thoughts to the whiteboard, which the teacher can then comment and give appropriate feedback on. As content can be from a variety of sources, pupils may choose to share images, audio, and video to enhance the quality of their work. Many virtual/online whiteboards even allow the user to create a narrated video as they add content and manipulate on-screen objects. The video can subsequently be shared with a wider audience to demonstrate pupils’ learning.
Finally, the use of a virtual/online whiteboard helps children get used to using technology to communicate appropriately in a public environment. As comments, annotations and narration can all be viewed by other people, pupils need to carefully consider the language they are using, plus ensure they can be easily understood by others.
There are a number of issues to consider before implementing virtual and online whiteboards in the classroom. Some of these areas are outlined below, along with possible Solutions and further areas to consider.
As the software is used for the virtual online whiteboard can often be new within a school, there is often a requirement to produce additional resources for use within lessons. However, there is increasingly a range of content, such as presentations and interactive elements, which are available for free online, such as the TES, online teacher forums, and from subject-specific websites such as the Computing at schools (CAS) resources area. As the whiteboard software can often handle media in a wide variety of formats, the content from different sources can be easily combined into a single presentation. Care should be taken to ensure the resources used are suitable for the children in your class and are customized for their needs.
If content will be accessed using technology within the classroom, it is important devices are readily available and, where feasible, form part of pupils’ everyday experiences in lessons. Where one-to-one device provision is not available, it may be necessary to book devices out in advance and work with both staff and pupils, such as Digital Leaders, to ensure they are charged and working as expected. Where devices are being shared, it is often beneficial to give children dedicated roles at the machine or to ensure their time in front of the input devices is managed fairly. Many schools are increasingly investing in individual devices, such as Chromebooks, to allow additional technology to be available to pupils within the classroom, beyond the central digital whiteboard, in a cost-effective manner.
When implementing virtual and online whiteboard technologies, it is important to consider not only the cost of devices but also the infrastructure within the school. For example, it may be necessary to upgrade wireless access points or network infrastructure to cope with the increased use of technology, which should be factored in when implementing a solution. Whilst this may have a significant cost, it is likely to affect the usage of other technology in the school and increase opportunities for communication and collaboration.
To get the most out of your implementation of virtual and online whiteboard solution, there are a number of areas to consider, which are outlined below:
Whilst virtual and online whiteboards could be used to simply display content on pupils’ devices, software, such as ViewSonic’s ViewBoard, allows children to record their own thoughts and to easily share these with the rest of the class. This could be through sharing the content of their screen on both the main display at the front of the classroom and other devices in the room, or it could be contributing to a shared, collaborative space, which can later be revisited. This is particularly beneficial as an assessment for a learning tool, as it allows both the teacher and students to revisit their previous work as the topic progresses.
Virtual and online whiteboard software has a number of inbuilt tools, which can be used to engage pupils on the task at hand. These often include animated objects, such as moving characters, which can interact with other objects on the screen. In addition to this, multimedia content, including videos from YouTube, can be imported into the software, such as ViewSonic’s ViewBoard, and displayed at an appropriate point in the lesson. Where feasible, content should be related to pupils’ interests to further increase engagement.
Depending on pupils’ age and experience of using technology in the classroom, it may be necessary to work together as a class to give appropriate guidance for how to contribute during whiteboard activities. This may be linked to the school’s e-safety and digital literacy curriculum should be age-appropriate, and accessible to all. With that in mind, the teacher should [more easily] be able to manage interactions to ensure all pupils can contribute to online discussions.
Dr. Neelam Parmar is a Director of E-learning for Primary and Secondary Schools. Through her capacity as a social media influencer, she answered the questions below.
New multi-interactive online whiteboards have grown in popularity over the past few years. They have emerged from traditional whiteboards, which although offered great promise in student-teacher interaction, are often used as glorified projector screens. Often described as a whole-classroom learning tool, schools have discovered how new online boards are effective tools for improving learning, communication, and collaboration.
Some effective scenarios in today’s classrooms demonstrate how teachers have used the new interactive boards to stimulate team competitions and spelling tests through interactive apps such as Squeebles or Kings of Math. Students enjoy coming to the front of the class and are engaged by competing with one another. All through playful learning, and supported by the use of interactive whiteboards, research shows that when children become hands-on, they go brains-on too and this is when they learn most effectively (Experiential Learning).
Online virtual whiteboards have found their place in the classroom and schools have discovered that they are effective tools for improving and accelerating digital literacy skills with students. In collaboration with multi-interactive online screens in the class, virtual applications work hand in hand to share information and ideas, with increased development participation, collaboration, and improved feedback. Like any tool, virtual whiteboards will only be effective if used meaningfully, both in regard to teaching and learning.
In order to fully participate in today’s global community, schools are looking to offer new opportunities for students. With some of the newer forms of virtual whiteboards, there are a number of innovative ways for integrating the 5 C’s + 1 model, which includes the following:
Online whiteboards allow both teachers and students to collaborate in open classroom discussions. Live discussions such as the use of Google Earth can not only help in geography lessons but in almost every class, it can be helpful in exploring history lessons to study different cultures, civilizations, languages, etc. By reflecting individual devices onto the interactive screen, The GeoGuessr app is one such useful app in which a user can travel around the world using street view technology and guess where it is. Online whiteboards support students in the classroom to work together, elaborate on their ideas and allow them new virtual experiences that were once not possible.
We are now at a time where multi-touch interactive whiteboards offer the merging of the physical and virtual space, offering new opportunities for both teaching and learning purposes. The use of the Baiboard (which is free to use) is highly productive for conducting group sessions in which sets of participants can communicate with one another and update material on the app simultaneously. It offers iPad-to-browser sharing so that students can participate from anywhere and communicate in real-time. This offers a whole new level of digital citizenship in which peer-to-peer learning takes precedence over silo individual learning spaces.
Being able to capture one’s lesson, save it and have it replayed for students is a boon to offering flexible learning with your students. With the new interactive ViewSonic Whiteboards and inbuilt board software, teachers now have the option to record their student’s learning experiences and offer onscreen editing in which they can write, draw and drag with multimedia. Working interactively with cloud-based drives, and YouTube, new functionally makes it possible for live screen recording and annotation in discussions. This can help personalize the student’s learning journey and offer new modes of critical understanding that go beyond the classroom walls.
Nicole Ponsford is an EdTech Consultant & Former Teacher. Through her capacity as a social media influencer, she answered the questions below.
The modern school curriculum is an ever-developing beast.
We are all aware of how the political, academic, and pedagogical discussions around the modern school curriculum seem to throw it into the future one minute – and into the prehistoric past the next. The same can be said for the evolution of teaching tools, like the digital whiteboard, from their analog past to their digital futures, to the difficulties surrounding availabilities and shortages.
This spectrum can be chalked up to the breaking-news implications of global reference points (like the OECD and PISA) for our policymakers (and therefore us) on a Monday, the difference between being either a traditional or progressive educator (or somewhere in between) on a Tuesday, having both knowledge-rich (Wednesday) and inclusive curriculums, to being evidence-based (Thursday) and illustrating an inclusive digital literacy stance (Friday’s thoughts).
As a curriculum creator using whatever tools are at my disposal, ranging from used books to digital whiteboards, you pause for breath at the weekend only to be thrown head-long into new approaches in Monday’s briefing and after-school meeting sessions. The main curriculum will stay the same from the start of term to the end – but there is no doubt that thought out this time, new resources will rear their head (a video on your social media feed, a book from a parent or an aside from a student that makes you reinvent the next lesson as a result) and you will add, edit and evolve your lesson planning. Normally by adding more and more to it – right?
So, what happens if you are the one responsible for designing and creating it? Where do you put all of this ‘stuff’? As a Head of Department, a curriculum-lead, and an examiner, I am all too aware of how to create a content-rich curriculum. It demands you to have all of the ‘why’s in your head (see above), in order to produce learning opportunities personalized to the eager little learners sat before you.
I have always been keen to integrate a mixture of digital multimedia in my curriculums – for that total ‘edutainment’ experience. This, however, requires something that doesn’t seem very exciting – until you require somewhere to hold all of those videos, links, and new content – STORAGE. My predecessors had folders – rows of rainbow-colored ring-binders on shelves. Then it was ‘floppy discs’, CDs, desktop folders, external hard drives, USBs, but now we have the future – online storage or ‘cloud storage’. What’s more, is that these disparate concepts have merged into the tools gaining in popularity – digital whiteboards.
Luckily, unlike 15 years ago when I started using Mac suites with my students, cloud storage offers teachers seemingly unlimited storage space for their curriculum content. This enables you to downloaded and upload to your hearts’ content – and also share to a variety of platforms and devices. The tech giants are now on this too with Apple Education recently upgrading their online student logins from 5G to 200G, the roll-out of Classroom app across all Mac (not just iPads) and the upcoming launch of the Schoolwork cloud-based app so teachers ‘tap into’ Apple apps and check/assign assignments made inside apps – and you can check on their progress. Here is a video to show you the Apple demo. This is against the existing Microsoft Education’s Learning Tools (which I love) and Office 365, and Google Education’s G-Suite used by many educators.
But what is the next evolutionary step? For me it is classroom devices, such as interactive whiteboards, that integrate cloud storage and easy content creation – and that means going back to the drawing board – almost literally. There is one classroom device that stands out from the pack for me. I almost had discounted it as a classroom dinosaur against the evolution of shiny hand-held devices, but it has now evolved to take on those around it – The Online Whiteboard.
One example of an online whiteboard solution is the ‘myViewBoard and ViewBoard’. With multi-user simultaneous touch and being able to use fingers for writing, this already is a class beyond the first interactive whiteboards I used. However, it is the online whiteboard content creation and sharing platform that really illustrates how hard it can work for you. The work you do on the whiteboard can be shared immediately with IOS, Android and Windows/Mac/Chrome users. Watch this video to see. This means that your students can access your resources from a variety of digital devices – for example when they use their own personal devices.
As well as being able to combine writing, drawing and multimedia tools, you can even drag in Google Images and YouTube videos onto the board – AND capture/record screen images and annotations for future use. You can even incorporate existing integration panels such as Google Drive, One Drive, and Dropbox, as part of your flexible data and cloud storage solutions.
In a GDPR world, the “myViewBoard” (nice) offers a secure platform powered by Amazon web-services to enable group communication wherever, whenever. And when you have logged out, there is a default cloud storage provider that saves what you want and deletes (without a trace) what you don’t. Mission complete. Gold standard.
So, if your digital curriculum storage is as disorganized and cramped as some of my classroom cupboards used to be, it is now time to escape from the past – and evolve your content’s home. You never know, you could upgrade to a cloud with a gold lining instead.
Are you looking for things to do while quarantined at home? We’ve got the list for you. We’ll show you how to explore the world from home, have a laugh with friends on a Netflix party, get a little remote nature therapy, or skill-up with some online learning. And that’s just the beginning.
Read our complete list below. And stay safe, healthy, and happy.
Different people are handling quarantine in different ways. While some people are using this time to be hyper-productive and are remodeling their homes, others are simply bored.
If you find yourself stuck at home during COVID-19 and are looking for fun things to do, we can help.
Here’s a list of 10 exciting activities you can undertake without setting foot outside your door.
Need a vacation from your staycation? Take a virtual vacation and explore the wonders of the world right from your computer.
With Google’s Project Street View, you can virtually wander around fabled landmarks such as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, the Roman Colosseum, or check out the Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto.
If being stuck in quarantine is giving you anxiety, consider calming down with some cute animal videos.
Although zoos are closed right now, many zoos still have live streams. Check out what the baboons at the San Diego Zoo are up to, drop in on the elephants at the Smithsonian National Zoo, or take in the majesty of the rhinos at the Houston Zoo.
If you’re looking for a feed with a more calming ambiance, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s coral reef cam. For even more adorable animal shenanigans, check out the puppy cam over at explore.org.
Being stuck at home doesn’t have to mean being alone. With apps such as Facebook and Instagram, there’s plenty of ways to connect with your friends and loved ones.
While connecting online isn’t quite the same as meeting face to face, maintaining social relationships under quarantine is important for your mental health.
If you’re interested in popular culture and memes, check out what people are doing on TikTok – a social network where people upload short, funny, creative videos.
If you miss going to the movie theater with friends, you can replicate the experience with Netflix Party. Netflix Party is a chrome browser plugin that syncs movies and shows across different browsers and has a chat window so you and your friends can watch and discuss the same movies.
Goodbye boredom. Hello long-distance movie nights! Alternatively, if you’re interested in just hanging out with your friends, consider hosting a get-together on Zoom.
While quarantine can be frustrating, it’s also a great time to reconnect with your family.
One easy way to do that is through movie nights. Heat up some popcorn, dim the lights, and put on your favorite movie.
With ViewSonic projectors, you can make movie nights magical. From high-definition to 4K cinematic quality, deliver an unforgettable movie-watching experience for the whole family.
Just because gyms are closed doesn’t mean that you have to stop working out.
Whether you’re looking to bulk up or lose weight, there are hundreds of workouts you can try without having to go to the gym. Search for your favorite workouts on YouTube so you can come out of quarantine looking better than ever.
And while being physically active is important, it’s also important to take care of yourself mentally.
Try doing some lightweight yoga with popular channels like Yoga with Adriene or Yoga with Tim. If you’re looking to reduce anxiety, consider downloading meditation apps such as Headspace or Calm.
Thanks to the streaming wars between big companies, there’s no shortage of movies to watch or shows to binge. With a multitude of streaming services, the hard part is deciding what to watch.
If you like big cats and eccentric characters, check out Tiger King on Netflix. If you love westerns and the Star Wars franchise, then you’ll probably love the critically acclaimed Mandalorian on Disney Plus (spoiler alert: a very adorable baby Yoda makes an appearance).
If you’re trying to save money, services such as Hoopla and Kanopy lets you stream thousands of classic and indie movies with just a library card.
If you’ve always talked about learning a new language or mastering a new skill, quarantine is the perfect time to do so.
Cooking
With shows like Binging with Babish or Tasty, you can learn how to make delicious treats like calzones, steaks, and homemade ice cream in no time. For a more technical breakdown of cooking tips and techniques, check out Alton Brown’s “Quarantine Quitchen” series or the Bon Appétit test kitchen.
Boost your cooking skills with:
Learning at Your Fingertips
If you’re looking to advance your professional skills or want to get into a new hobby, there are tons of learning resources available online.
Sites like Udemy and Skillshare can teach you everything from photography to interior design. If you have a skill that you would like to teach others, you can make money by creating your own class at the above sites.
If being stuck inside has got you craving some nature therapy, you’re not alone.
While national parks and other locations might be temporarily closed, you can tour some of the greatest national parks in the world through Google’s Arts and Culture page.
Experience the awe-inspiring volcanoes at Hawaii National Park, take in the gorgeous desolation at the Kenai Fjords National Park, or immerse yourself in the beauty of the Dry Tortugas National Park.
While college is an expensive proposition, learning online doesn’t have to be.
Sites like Khan Academy offer brilliantly detailed videos that help break down complicated topics like quantum physics and microeconomics.
If you’re looking for free courses from world-class institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley, check out edX.org. EdX also offers various online certificate programs in a diverse range of topics ranging from project management to American sign language.
Being in quarantine is a great opportunity to keep your mind sharp.
With digital apps such as Libby or Overdrive, you can check out thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free just by connecting your library card.
For more premium audiobook options, check out Audible and Scribd. If you’re interested in physical books, many indie bookstores are still shipping out orders.
If you also want to instill in your kids a love of reading, Storyline Online has a great lineup of celebrities reading children’s books with accompanying activity guides.
While staying at home might be mandatory, it doesn’t have to be boring. There are tons of fun things to do to keep you entertained, engaged, and immersed while keeping you and your loved ones safe.
Still Bored? Check out the Bored Button here: https://www.boredbutton.com/
Classroom projector alternatives are becoming more appealing as technology continues to improve. The options include everything from static screens – either re-purposed or built for the classroom – to next-generation interactive flat-panel displays. And with modern software solutions, it’s possible to make the most of any display.
Read more below for classroom projector alternatives that work for you.
Looking for a classroom projector alternative? There’s a growing array of classroom technology aimed at replacing projectors. Ranging from whiteboards to displays, finding the right choice starts by understanding how technology will help your students succeed.
Did your bulb stop working at least opportune time? Has your projector lost its clarity? When classroom projectors work well, they’re the center of the digital classroom. When they bring nothing but frustration, the classroom experience grinds to a halt.
As older projectors fail or become too costly to maintain, education professionals are on the lookout for better classroom options. The most popular classroom projector alternatives are:
Projector alternatives aim at improving the viewing experience. Commercial displays provide crisp, future-proof 4K resolution. More importantly, displays don’t suffer from windows the way projectors do. As most school classrooms include large windows, light saturation can be a major problem.
On a sunny day, light from the outdoors is simply too much for some projectors to handle. That’s where digital TVs come in. Commercial displays don’t suffer from light saturation the way projectors do.
Commercial displays have the following benefits:
Commercial displays rely on ViewBoard Cast and related software to display all sorts of multimedia. ViewBoard Cast supports Windows, M, iOS, Android Devices, and Chrome Devices.
This enables 1080p content to be streamed from a user’s device onto ViewBoard® over wireless or cable networks. Multimedia, PowerPoints, cloud files, and any other content can be broadcasted to student’s Chromebooks (or other devices).
Also, commercial display TVs are engineered to work consistently for extended periods of time. Digital TVs are increasingly becoming more popular in the classroom.
Benefits of displays vs. projectors:
The newest line of commercial displays have computers built into them. This makes them a complete Wireless Presentation Display solution. See the new version of CDE 4K Displays:
The popularity of classroom displays is compounded by the fact that schools are moving toward having multiple displays in the same classroom. This trend is fueled by a convergence of digital transformation, especially the SCALE-UP Classroom.
Not only do digital TVs provide better viewing angles, but having multiple displays engage students more effectively. Projectors simply can’t do this. Teachers love the benefit of having multiple displays within the classroom.
Cost is another important consideration. If you factor lifespan of the projectors in (bulb cost, cost of wiring/mounting, etc.) digital displays become cheaper. Up-front costs of displays are higher than projectors, but they cost less to maintain, providing much better TCO.
Commercial displays are smarter than you may think. Equipped with an NMP600 chrome box and/or digital display software, classroom TVs can do a lot more.
School districts and EdTech teams don’t want to disrupt the way educators teach. When teachers are comfortable with their whiteboards, incremental changes are sometimes best. Interactive whiteboards simply extend projectors into being touch-capable displays.
Math Teachers love to draw on the interactive whiteboard. But, they have to face away from the class. Enter products like TD2455 and IPF2710 which allow the teacher to face the class while annotating.
Benefits of interactive whiteboards include:
Using myViewBoard technology, and an IPF2710, traditional projectors can be turned into interactive whiteboards with annotation features. There are easy ways to add touch and chrome tools to an existing projector in the classroom with super easy installation.
Learn more about the history of interactive whiteboards here.
Interaction doesn’t stop at whiteboards. Digital TVs now come combined with touch technology. Imagine a giant iPad®. ViewBoard® interactive displays for education focus on overcoming the challenges of classroom collaboration with myViewBoard digital whiteboarding technology.
Benefits of interactive displays in the classroom:
For More See:
All-in-One solutions are designed to create more immersive education environments while keeping technology easy to use. The latest ViewSonic education solution pairs the NMP660 with the all-new TD2455.
At the end of the day, it’s important to consider what technology your school runs on. If you’re an Android/Chrome classroom, make sure to pick an interactive technology that works with the platform.
Take a look at how one school digitally transformed their classroom with ViewSonic’s digital whiteboarding solution:
See the newest all-in-one solution, called a Wireless Presentation Display here.
*Product light source lifespan may vary based on actual usage and other factors. Program, pricing, specifications and availability are subject to change without notice. Corporate names and trademarks stated herein are the property of their respective companies.
Productivity in the digital workplace is often a direct result of effective management. From organizational structure to priorities, employees rely on effective leadership to make the most of a digital environment in a holistic way. But uncertainty at the top is a sure recipe for disaster.
Keep reading to learn more about how effective leaders improve productivity in the digital workplace.
Top management, senior leadership, the C-suite. Whatever the label, these are the people with responsibility for steering the course of an enterprise. They determine overall goals for the organization, set the tone and culture, and drive long-term growth. A key aspect of this role is instilling a spirit of collaboration and innovation that permeates all levels, from department and team management to individual line staff.
Reimagining the Organization
One of the most important trends we’re seeing in the digital workplace is the creation of innovative corporate structures to facilitate transformation by bringing together different disciplines and operational tiers. These cross-functional teams are most effective, of course, in organizations where they have active support from the top. Often, there can be challenges in overcoming inertia or turf boundaries in achieving a new way of working.
For example, departments with new identifiers such as Sustainable Workplaces are focused on addressing all aspects of the work environment to align corporate objectives, enabling technologies and the overall employee experience. In other cases, “infrastructure” groups are stretching their boundaries beyond the traditional facilities management role.
The ultimate pursuit is to eliminate barriers to communication, collaboration, and productivity in an effort to open the organization to new levels of engagement, efficiency, and growth.
Companies with 100 employees lose approximately $420,000 annually due to inefficient communication.
Productivity at all levels of the enterprise is essential to meeting corporate objectives, increasing output and boosting efficiency. The end result can be a higher overall ROI on systems and human capital while increasing employee engagement, motivation and contribution.
Senior management can make a significant contribution to improving productivity by clearing away obstacles such as unnecessary budget restrictions, organizational inertia and siloed functional groups so that team leaders and team members can create innovative solutions.
They can also lead the way toward improved productivity by assembling cross-disciplinary teams, conducting strategic assessments and remembering that productivity is less about “tech” than about transforming the employee experience.
In our experience, here are some of the factors related to productivity from the perspective of senior leadership:
By 2021, only one-quarter of midsize and large organizations will successfully target new ways of working in 80% of their initiatives.
There also appears to be some ambiguity concerning several aspects of productivity, according to a study conducted by Jabra.
The study further remarks that “we urge decision-makers to think carefully about what technologies they implement, how they mandate their use throughout the organization, and how they build a culture where people are free to work in ways that enable them to be as productive as possible. This takes collaboration, flexibility and a commitment to listening to knowledge workers themselves.”
There is clearly an opportunity for strategic partners, from management consultants to technology providers, to help upper management better define productivity and the wide array of solutions available for enhancing it.
Teams with high employee engagement rates are 21% more productive.
Effective organizational management should encompass an integrated approach. And that approach must include a view of employees as people with multi-dimensional needs and motivators.
For example, a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine stated, “Our results show that mental health, physical health, job characteristics, and support from organizations are the most important determinants of employees’ productivity. This highlights a strong case for promoting workplace interventions aimed at improving employees’ wellbeing and the overall organizational, work, and management culture.”
ViewSonic visual display solutions can supercharge the enterprise by enhancing individual and group performance to optimize competitive advantage and profitability while attracting and retaining highly motivated employees.
On one hand, the seamless sharing of information and ideas through interactive technologies can power motivation, creativity, and innovation. On the other, ergonomic desktop monitor designs can play a significant role in workplace health and wellness.
Learn more about boosting productivity in the modern workplace here: Leveraging Technology to Boost Workplace Productivity: Enabling the Enabler
Or for information on ViewSonic visual solutions for digital transformation, visit www.viewsonic.com.
You can boost workplace productivity with technology, but it needs the right tools for the job at hand. It’s essential to know your company’s needs given its situation. And technology can enable effective collaboration to vastly decrease the chance of miscommunications. And you’ll see astounding results with better engagement through collaborative tech.
Continue reading to find out how to boost workplace productivity with the right tech.
Discussions of “technology” often focus heavily on the gear, the bells and whistles. Or the emphasis is on abstract concepts like transformation and disruption. The sweet spot is somewhere in between.
In addressing workplace productivity, technology can have a significant impact across the enterprise. But some fundamental questions need to be addressed so technology can play its essential role as an enabling force.
In a global business environment with rapid change as a given, we need a holistic view of the interplay between technology and productivity. Moreover, innovative organizational structures and processes are evolving quickly to address these challenges.
First of all, why is productivity important to an organization? The specific reasons vary from business to business, of course, but can include:
Let’s address some key questions as the basis for creating a situation analysis for an enterprise:
What does “productivity” mean?
The definition of productivity resides in two perspectives. One is tangible factors such as delivering on specific objectives and tasks, measuring output and efficiencies, achieving effective technology rollouts, and minimizing wasted time. Intangibles include the capability to innovate, engage employees, optimize workflows and break down organizational silos.
“ONLY 60% OF WORK TIME, OR EVEN LESS, IS SPENT BEING PRODUCTIVE.”
How is it being evaluated?
Factors here mirror those definitions in terms of progress in meeting goals, business profitability, ROI on system and process investments, productive vs. idle time, and timely project execution. Interestingly, it appears that there can be some uncertainty as to how productivity is being measured. This situation would indicate a need for better organizational planning, better internal communication or both.
What gets in the way?
Detriments to achieving desired productivity encompass poor planning, organizational inertia, budgets, inefficient workflow, siloed internal functions, and antiquated or inflexible spaces. Technology-related issues include the rapid pace of change, challenges in identifying and evaluating options, effective implementation and training, unreliability, and incompatibility.
“UNNECESSARY MEETINGS COST $37 BILLION IN SALARIES FOR [american] BUSINESSES EVERY YEAR.”
How can it be enhanced?
Again, opportunities for improvement reflect organizational and technological issues in the enterprise. Some best practices are creating an effective digital workplace strategy, developing cross-disciplinary teams, conducting regular situation analyses, setting clear goals to identify technology needs, training users, emphasizing the employee experience, and implementing integrated and intuitive systems.
Who are the key players?
Within the enterprise, the people and roles involved in identifying needs and evaluating potential solutions can be grouped into buckets such as upper management, team managers, team members and support functions like IT, AV and facilities. And, of course, the answers to the first four questions can be different yet complementary, depending on which group is involved.
One of the most important considerations in addressing enterprise productivity is nurturing a commitment throughout the enterprise to doing everything possible to enhance opportunities and resources for collaboration.
Collaboration is the key to bringing people together from top to bottom in an environment that motivates and facilities interaction, communication, creativity, and innovation. The power of that commitment permeates the ability to address most, if not all, the challenges faced when addressing productivity improvements.
“86% of professionals agree that poor communication results in workplace failures.”
The results can range from seamless project management and organizational agility to more efficient meetings, reduced paperwork, and enhanced employee experience.
As this process evolves, we’re seeing progressive enterprises breaking out of traditional organizational structures to create integrated departments focused on sustainable workspaces or a cross-disciplinary approach to “infrastructure.”
To remain competitive in a global marketplace, enterprises are continuing to shift toward seamlessly interconnecting individuals anytime and anywhere to leverage their collective expertise. To achieve this goal, a well-thought-out digital workplace is designed to break down communication barriers and transform the employee experience by fostering efficiency, innovation, and growth while reducing roadblocks and frustration.
“Teams with high employee engagement rates are 21% more productive.”
Technology resources for boosting productivity span everything from intranets and internal messaging apps to sophisticated videoconferencing and distance communication systems.
In our world of visual solutions, we employ the power of technologies such as advanced interactive displays in a robust software ecosystem to help enterprises boost productivity through collaboration, communication, and interactivity in support of organizational goals and objectives.
And, in order to achieve the optimum results, we believe fervently in taking a team approach that brings together senior management, business team leaders, and end-users as well as IT, AV and facilities support groups to create strategic business solutions that drive business results.
If you have any questions about boosting productivity through collaboration, communication, and interactivity, or if you would like to know more about the digital workplace, please do not hesitate to contact us at salesinfo@viewsonic.com.
By Chris Graefe, Director, Enterprise Sales, ViewSonic
Privacy filters for monitors offer reliable protection from prying eyes. The goal is to prevent visual hacking. This type of hack involves the act of stealing sensitive information, often via a computer screen.
Visual hacking is on the rise across many different industries. Healthcare is one particular sector where sensitive information – including phone numbers, addresses, and social security numbers – is ripe for the taking.
A recent experiment was done by the Ponemon Institute to look at just how prevalent visual hacking has become in the healthcare industry. Here are the results:
Download here: Healthcare Privacy Filter Infographic
68% of these visual hacking attempts go unnoticed or unchallenged. It’s simply too hard to judge people’s intentions. Commotion often leaves workstations empty. That’s exactly the situation visual hackers are looking for.
Results showed that visual hackers are successful 91% of the time. In healthcare, mobile carts and nurse stations are the areas most at risk. Visual hacking takes 15 minutes or less. That’s all it takes to lose sensitive information.
52% of screens are at high-risk of visual hacks, due to being in publicly accessible spaces. Visual hacking risk is greatest when workers are busy. They have more important things to do than monitor their computer screen at all times.
That’s why monitor privacy filters are the perfect solution for healthcare, financial, or other facilities that require secure data. Privacy filters help prevent the 3.9 pieces of sensitive information that were stolen on average, from ever being accessible in the first place.
Increased random audits in the healthcare sector have shown monitors without privacy filters to be a cause for concern. Even when a privacy filter is added, some employees have a tendency to remove privacy filters.
When employees don’t fully grasp the importance of data sensitivity, they’re likely to remove the filter. The latest innovation from ViewSonic® tackles the problem of employees removing unwanted privacy filters.
The answer to this problem lies in creating privacy filters that can’t be removed in the first place. Monitors with built-in privacy filters prevent filter removal, keeping you compliant.
Monitors with built-in privacy filters offer the following benefits:
See ViewSonic’s latest 24″ privacy filter monitor here.
Reference: “Visual Hacking Experiment” Ponemon Institute, 2015.
Learning disabilities in the classroom present a challenge to students and educators. An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is easily adapted to be an assistive technology that creates a more inclusive learning environment. And we’ve put together a list of easy strategies to best reach students of all abilities, both with and without an interactive whiteboard.Learn strategies below for overcoming learning disabilities in the classroom of all kinds.
Assistive technology in special education can bring much-needed help to teachers who have students with disabilities or who provide special education services. Implementing assistive technology cannot fix all the issues students may have, but it can help students cope with their impairments and aid teachers in providing the best learning experience they can for all students.
The National Center for Education Statistics found that 6.7 million students between 3 to 21 years of age are receiving special education services. This makes up 13% of all public school students. Of this 34% of the 6.7 million students receiving special education services had specific learning disabilities.
Special education students are supported under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which specify that schools must provide students with disabilities the appropriate services and accommodation for their educational needs. Assistive technologies like interactive digital whiteboards (IDW) fall under educational accommodations.
According to Understood.org, “special education today is still focused on helping children with disabilities learn.” This is not only a special classroom for certain students but accommodating special needs and providing additional services to students so they can learn alongside non-disabled peers.
From the perspective of a teacher, looking for technologies to assist students with disabilities would require them to find assistive technology that would be used for:
The role of assistive technology in special education for both cases is to support students who have special needs with tools that have the most impact on their learning outcomes.
There are four major categories to help students overcome or assist them with their disability in special or general education settings. These would include variations and combinations of the below:
IDW could work with all the strategies explained above. Below are some examples of impairments and to how IDWs can be used as assistive technology:
◆Visual impairment: Visual impairment can include blindness, dyslexia, or other visual impairment that impedes the ability to see or read. IDW can be used in different ways to help students with sight impairment for example:
◆Audio impairment: Audio impairment affects students who are deaf or hard of hearing. IDW can be used as assistive listening systems for example:
◆Extremity impairment: Extremity function impairments include the limited motor performance of the upper and lower body. IDW can be connected to other hardware or devices that would allow students to input information such as special keyboards, touch panels, writing instruments, and pointing tools.
◆Mobility impairment: Mobility impairment includes any limits to lower body motor performance. IDW has several functionalities that may help limited mobility students including:
◆Speech impairment: Speech impairment could range from mild such as mispronouncing or lack of volume, to severe as not being able to produce any speech sounds. IDW can help speech impairment on different levels:
◆Attention impairment: Attention impairments are any disorder of cognitive functions including attention deficit and hyperactivity. IDW can help teachers deal with attention impairments by:
Although interactive digital whiteboards were not designed specifically as an assistive technology in special education, many features already used by teachers now can be applied and adapted to use in special education. IDW can help teachers provide better services to their students by offering them tools to enhance the learning experiences of both their special needs and non-disabled students. Being a flexible technology many IDW can be customized with special software and hardware to match the needs of many special education requirements.
After identifying technologies that may work for your student’s situation evaluate the assistive technology on 4 levels:
These 4 levels will help you think about assistive technology when it is in use. If the technology only offers a limited benefit or too many restrictions, it may be better to look for different options. Great assistive technology for special education should solve a specific need very well and easily integrated into how your classroom currently functions.
Learn more about tailored educational solutions for your school at ViewSonic.com/Education.