Education Education strategies and investments


Over the last six months AV News has attended a plethora of iFPD launches – the majority for the booming corporate, some for mopping up the residual education market and most of the balance for both. Comparatively few are designed primarily for education applications, but does it matter?


What are the essential differ- ences between education and corporate


touchscreens? Is


there not some value in using standard industry technologies that children and students will encounter later in life? Is a modulator approach justified when education users don’t need the full functionality of devices designed for the corpo- rate market? We asked Alistair Hayward, Promethean Head of UKI and ANZ for his definition of the distinction: he said: “Touch- screens for the education and corporate markets are used in different ways. and those best suited to classroom environ- ments are specifically designed for education. Education tech- nologies naturally need to be more robust, so are developed to withstand the rigours of class- rooms and to be used constantly throughout the school day. Ease of use is also a high priority for the education market". “Taking


this into account,


with the new ActivPanel we’ve drawn on our 20+ years’ experi- ence of developing technologies which enhance the teaching and learning environment to underpin a design philosophy which focuses on user


feed-


back and market knowledge. This has enabled us to deliver


an advanced and flexible class- room solution which directly addresses the needs of teach- ers, school leaders and ICT pro- fessionals. We’ve focused on all the little things, like an acces- sible control panel and unique user interface, to make a big difference to using technology in schools.”


Return on investment


Hayward continues: “Educa- tion technologies are a signif- icant spend in schools, and where budgets are tight schools need to be confident that they are getting the most out of their investments. Working directly with educators, Promethean has developed a range of tools, resources and apps that make teaching with technology even easier and help to ease the pressures placed on teachers.” “Promethean knows that el- ements, such as writing ex- perience and connectivity. are important to educators. Promethean has worked with teachers on the development of its very own Vellum writing technology to create a writing experience as seamless as put- ting pen to paper. Acknowledg- ing the need for interconnected front of class technologies, the Promethean ActivPanel has


also been designed to boast easy connectivity to other third-party devices.”


“Schools up and down the country use a range of oper- ating systems and it can be a big upheaval for teachers and students to have to change sys- tems, consequently having a profound impact on learning. Understanding each school is unique, Promethean offers a range of additional computing options that enable schools to customise their touch screen to suit their needs. Schools need freedom of choice to be able to use edtech as an enabler to im- prove learning outcomes.”


Tools for later in life


The extent to which there is value in using standard indus- try software that students will encounter in the workplace is a contentious issue, with opin- ions often varying with the ed- ucational level targeted by the supplier. For example, Jasmin Stemmler, Product Marketing Manager, NEC Display Solu- tions Europe GmbH, believes that current collaborative learn- ing techniques, which students experience at university. is a very close experience to how they will operate in the work- place.


The Impact Series – part of the forthcoming Clevertouch range.Class using tablets with and IFPD: “While many schools have integrated the Microsoft Office suite into their classrooms, others have recently pur- chased tablet computers which run iOS or Android. When the time comes to upgrade the main interactive displays, they need screens that are compatible with all of the above.


The technology used at this end of education should ideal- ly mirror that used in the world of work. Teaching spaces and meeting spaces require similar tools and touchscreens with video conferencing capability facilitate such collaborative working in small groups. Both Higher Education (HE) and the workplace are look- ing for technology which will increase engagement, to fa- cilitate talent or knowledge sharing and ultimately achieve productivity in the workplace


and best learning outcomes in educational environments. The major differentiator between HE and corporate requirements is regarding security issues sur- rounding BYOD. In the corpo- rate sector, the environment is usually controlled and protect- ed by firewalls and IT security whereas in HE, there is a great- er challenge to face here. NEC’s CB Series of Collabora- tion Boards offers an attractive- ly priced solution targeted at both education and corporate users. The product is pre-in-


stalled with all the whiteboard- ing, annotation and wireless presentation tools required for instant start-up of collaborative sessions. For more demand- ing applications, the OPS slot provides the opportunity to en- hance the computing power by simply upgrading the embed- ded PC.


The here and now


Hayward believes: “The pace at which technology evolves means that the solutions used


Jasmin Stemmler, product marketing manager, NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH: “NEC’s CB Series of Collaboration Boards offers an attractively priced solution targeted at both edu- cation and corporate users.”


Absen’s curved DVLED wall on show at PSCo’s new HQ.


P12 AV News November 2019


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