Teachers Get a Taste of New Technology

Welcome to the 21st century, where each season marks a new phone model, laptop, or other ground-breaking technology. The Benjamin School has experienced these ever-changing technological times and has adapted by preparing students for life with the newest gadgets. First, there was the Smart Board®, one of the first forms of technology the School had. Then came the laptop requirement for students in the Middle School. Now students may bring their own devices, whether it’s the school-recommended Lenovo ThinkPad, an iPad, Chromebook, or Apple laptop.

Readjusting the classroom experience for the better yet again, The Benjamin School recently ordered new Epson projectors to replace the aging Smart Boards® in every classroom. “The board [the Epson model] projects on is nothing more than a very flat surface,” explained Benjamin’s Chief Technology Officer Mr. Russell Tepper. “All of the intelligence is in the projector itself.” This is different from the old Smart Boards® where the technology was built into the board, so touching the board with one of the pen tools or a finger would make it react. In addition, there are some other differences of note with these new projectors.

According to Tepper, the new interactive Epson projectors are short-throw models, meaning they will actually be mounted to the wall at the front of the room as opposed to the  ceiling in the middle of the room. The new machines will then project downward upon the new markerboards that will take the place of the Smart Boards®.

“This is a big change for anyone presenting at the front of the room,” continued Tepper, “as there will no longer be a bright projector light right in their face when they turn around to talk to the class. The new projector uses infrared light to detect when someone is touching the board. It can sense multiple touch points for pinching, zooming, and swiping. And, it works very well with interactive pens for writing or making notations.”

So not only will teachers and students be able to manipulate the images projected on the wall in more versatile ways (think of how one pinches, zooms, and swipes on a smartphone or tablet), but the new projectors will also allow for more than one person to manipulate the images at the same time, something that could not be done with the old Smart Boards.

Another advantage is that, despite having their Smart Boards® replaced, teachers will still be able to use the Smart Notebook® software. “We negotiated a contract with Smart Technologies to allow us to continue to license their Smart Notebook® software for use with the school-owned faculty computers,” said Tepper. “Traditionally, Smart would only allow their software for use with their hardware products. Their recent change in policy will allow our teachers to continue to use software and tools that they are already familiar with. It should make using the new interactive solution very easy for them.”

A few teachers in the Middle School have already received the new technology and are enjoying the projector’s new features. “I think they are a big improvement from the old Smart Boards® we used to have,” said Spanish teacher Mr. Charles Maddox, “but I think they would be better if we had new computers because sometimes I think my [old] computer can’t keep up with the [new projector].”

Dean of Academics and seventh grade English teacher Dr. Cristina James commented on the projectors and their difficulty, saying that though they had many new improvements, she did not know how to use the projector effectively. However, Tepper recently led a training session for all teachers curious about how to use the new projectors. Additional training will also be offered in January to all faculty members in each division.According to Mr. Matthew Morrow, a member of Benjamin’s Technology Department, the rest of the faculty will receive the new projectors on a rolling basis throughout the year.

And what’s the students’ take? “It’s a lot easier to work with [and] more usable,” commented eighth grader Regan Kretz. Fellow eighth grader Nicole Fields agreed that the new boards were an improvement. “It works really well,” she said. “It’s definitely a good upgrade compared to what the old Smart Boards® were.”

Benjamin, which is always looking to integrate technology into its curriculum and classrooms, seems to have found a smart solution to their Smart Board® dilemma. The projectors’ new features will streamline in-class presentations and collaboration between students, but the best news of all may be how cost-effective the initiative is. “This solution costs significantly less than many of the other interactive solutions we evaluated,” commented Tepper. “It provides the best performance at the lowest cost, giving the School the highest return on its investment.” When it comes to technology, such a solution is priceless.