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Engaging pupils in a busy classroom environment can be challenging in the best of times
In the central England county of Leicestershire, teachers are meeting the challenge by bringing learning to life. Every day, they captivate energetic little minds by teaching creative lessons on PolyVision Walk-and-Talk™ interactive whiteboards.
“There’s no chance of these boards lying idle in the school and gathering dust,” said Teresa Harrington, teacher at Ashby de la Zouch Church of England Primary School. “The teachers and pupils here use them every day.”
New technologies make teaching easier
Maintaining the focus and interest of young children with diverse learning needs has traditionally required teachers to spend a considerable amount of time carefully planning each lesson and researching appropriate resources. Because the pace of delivering lessons must accommodate each child’s ability to understand and learn the subject matter, variety and inclusion are keys to successful teaching.
New technologies and teaching styles make it easier. In order to enhance effective teaching through the use of information and communication technology, United Kingdom’s government provides financial help for schools wishing to purchase new tools for classrooms. With national funding and British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) approval, Ashby School purchased PolyVision interactive whiteboards for its classrooms.
Simplicity, ease, durability and flexibility required
To increase the likelihood of successful adoption, Ashby School wanted boards that were simple to use for teachers new to technology as well as young children.
“Ashby Primary School had specific requirements in mind when it decided to purchase interactive whiteboards,” said Stephen Twigg of the UK Department for Education and Skills. “Ease of use was paramount, as the school wanted to minimize the necessity for teacher training.”
It was also important that the boards be constructed to withstand the regular day-to-day use of a busy classroom full of enthusiastic children. Finally, the boards had to support the full range of educational software and online resources currently available, rather than specific software packages which could only be used with certain individual manufacturers’ interactive whiteboards. This would allow a classroom teacher to deliver lessons to all ages across the UK’s National Curriculum.
Dynamic lessons yield enhanced learning
Around the world, the use of interactive whiteboards in schools gives teachers the power to deliver more dynamic and exciting lessons in stimulating classroom environments that enhance learning. Harrington, the teacher at Ashby School charged with coordinating curriculum for the school’s youngest students, uses the PolyVision Walk-and-Talk boards on a daily basis.“
Without a doubt, the biggest benefit of these boards is the amount of time they save when preparing lessons,” she said. “It often used to take up to 20 minutes to search for resources around the classroom to help with lesson planning. Now, I have immediate access to a wide variety of online resources that are instantly accessible via the interactive whiteboard.”
Harrington uses the boards primarily for teaching math and reading lessons, but covers other subject areas too. Because the plug-and-play technology eliminated the need to load special drivers or software, she found it easy to get started.
Student confidence soars
At Ashby School, using PolyVision interactive whiteboards helps improve young children’s hand-eye coordination and self-expression, essential parts of the curriculum for early learners. “I encourage my pupils to use the boards as much as possible,” Harrington said.“I would say they have certainly helped increase the self-confidence of a number of individual pupils.”
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