When SMART Technologies invented the first interactive whiteboard in 1991, it prompted a revolution in the classroom. In the more than 20 years, new classroom technologies have emerged that both complement and compete with the IWB that compel education buyers to make choices. AV News looks at the drivers for buyers’ decisions and the trends in technology adoption.
As recently as three years ago the decision making process when choosing classroom technology was pretty straightforward – which flavour of whiteboard? Integrated or separate projector? If separate, standard, short or ultra short-throw? Add a visualiser, and perhaps a student assessment system (voting system) and the customer was all set.
Today, the process is far from easy, being complicated by the introduction of interactive touch panels, interactive tables, tablet PCs, smartphones, control systems, video conferencing technology and a virtual learning environment – all with the added frisson of a BYOD policy for those willing to take the risk. What’s more, education buyers are forced to make these decisions against the backdrop of uncertain curriculum developments and methods of assessment for learning outcomes.
Flexibility
The approach of the leading education technology vendors has been to track developments from the CE industry, ensuring that consumer technologies can be integrated into solutions with specialist displays and devices. Natalie Harris, head of marketing at Steljes, believes that the industry’s decision to unify around ‘touch’ as the core classroom technology has instrumental in the convergence of professional and consumer technologies in education:
“Throughout its history SMART has been synonymous with touch technology and today many of the technologies that are now entering the classroom environment such as tablets, and iPads , through initiatives such as BYOD, complement this way of learning. SMART therefore remains at the heart of the collaborative classroom. Schools are still heavily investing in SMART Board interactive whiteboards as we enter a phase of replacing interactive whiteboards because the original installations are reaching end of life.”
But where ‘touch’ was once synonymous with IWB’s, that is no longer the case:
“There is an increasing trend towards large format touch panels, such as the forthcoming SMART E70 interactive display, fully integrated with SMART Notebook, which provides an unrivalled collaboration platform for teaching and learning in the classroom.”
While SMART has now entered the market with its own interactive touch panel – crucially a 70 inch model (the average IWB is 77-inch diagonal) and an 84-inch to follow, Steljes offers other solutions at different price points. BenQ’s interactive flat panel displays are shipped with both a SMART Notebook collaborative licence and Display Note software (which enables content to be sent from the teacher’s computer to any connected device. While perhaps a less obvious choice, the SMART Board 800 series interactive panels combine 1080p resolution with dual touch.
Replacements
Interactive touch panels are gaining acceptance in the channel rapidly because they offer simple and flexible installation. From an end-user perspective, the attraction of a durable, commercial-grade LCD display is that they are free from the maintenance overhead and downtime associated with mercury lamp projection systems, while still offering engaging visual content at high resolution.
Flipping the LFD on its back to make an interactive table has also been instrumental in gaining acceptance of LFDs in the classroom. SMART’s new Table 442i was shown at the recent SHAPE road show, positioned as a collaborative learning centre that combines learning and play, with both social and academic benefits. The notion of small group collaboration is becoming ever more prominent in education environments and the placement and combination of all of these technologies makes learning more dynamic and engaging than ever before.
And while teaching efficacy of new technologies remains the paramount consideration, evidence is starting to emerge of education buyers becoming increasingly imaginative in the way that they deploy their interactive displays. With budgets continuing to be a concern, schools, in particular, are determined to get maximum return on investment. Touch panels, when not used for teaching, are increasingly used as digital signage displays.
In another move that favours the interactive touch panel, schools are no turning previously unused, or at least underused, space into collaborative learning environments. They do this by mounting interactive displays on mobile stands or, where conditions are appropriate, by installing interactive projectors into these areas as a compact, but nonetheless serviceable solution.
Slam dunk?
So does this mean that the future of classroom technology is the interactive touch panel? In the long term, the answer is probably ‘yes’, but in the summer of 2013 budgets will be divided between IWBs and interactive touchpanels, with interactive projectors starting to take share of the classroom displays market.
While the price gap between IWBs and interactive touchpanels at 70 inches and above is decreasing, it is still significant. The rule of thumb is that the further and higher education sector will spring for touch panels, the sales of IWBs are still strong in the schools, with the possible exception of special needs.
For more widespread adoption, the next couple of years will prove to be a watershed , but for now the projection price advantage still holds. Gemma Platt, product marketing manager at Casio, says: “As more and more alternative AV solutions enter the education sector and, in particular, as interactive flatscreen displays fall in price, the competition between equipment options is growing. While interactive LFDs are an increasingly viable AV option they are still only competitive in price for smaller screens.”
“For educators, 55” to 65” screens are definitely a more affordable alternative to traditional AV solutions at around £1,600 to £2,500 each. However, when you rise above this size prices dramatically increase; this is where an integrated projector and interactive whiteboard solution remains the most valuable option”
“As a rule, projector based solutions remain the most competitive option for schools when their installation requires screen and projection size above 70”. Casio’s own offerings – the Green Slim series of Laser LED Hybrid projectors – are available from £879 each and have the capability of projecting a screen of up to 300”, so it’s clear that the pricing of larger scale LFDs will have to come down further still to pose a real challenge.”
Human factors
Mark Kitchen, N-vest product trainer and Midwich account manager, believes that there is that there are consequences for users when one technology is switched for another: “When schools swap out projectors and interactive whiteboards for touch flat screens, it can raise issues for teaching staff. They need to learn and teach in a different way, the classroom is now fully interactive and this is more obvious now they have a large tablet on the wall! Previously whiteboards and projectors were not, and are still not, used to their full potential where as a touch screen encourages more use.”
There are further implications when hardware is changed – there is far more variety in software with the entrance of new hardware vendors outside the traditional education brands: “When schools swap out projectors and interactive whiteboards for touch flat screens, it can raise issues for teaching staff. We see a lot of different software applications in schools and it’s human nature to best like the one we are most familiar with, so quite often teachers will favour a room because it has familiarity. They can feel that they need to learn and teach in a different way – the classroom is now fully interactive and this is more obvious now they have a large tablet on the wall!”
From a channel perspective, the growing acceptance of interactive touchpanels and interactive projectors in the education market strengthens resellers/ ability to put forward proposals at a wider range of price points, creating the potential for a sale no matter what the budget might be.
