What technology should i buy for my classroom

At many schools, laptops are issued to students to use throughout the school year. In general lessons, laptops are used primarily for note-taking, writing, and independent research. Depending on the material being presented, computers also present an opportunity for adding more media to lessons, gamification, and connectivity with either classmates or instructors.

More powerful desktops are usually saved for computer-specific courses and computer labs, but they also have their place in the classroom. For example, research suggests that taking notes by hand may be more effective than typing though this is not yet definitive. The bottom line is that computers are commonly found in classrooms, and they are likely to remain in one form or another.

Projectors have been used in classrooms in one form or another for well over years. The modern classroom projector has come a long way from its single-slide ancestor, however. In the classroom, a projector acts primarily as a display. There are certainly interactive projectors, but those are covered more in the next section on interactive whiteboards. And display data needs to come from somewhere, so most projectors will be paired with a computer or other device.

As an established classroom technology, projectors are popular for their relative simplicity, low cost to purchase, and their ability to project to very large screens. With the advent of lamp-free projectors, there is less maintenance and fewer calibration issues than older models. Does a projector sound like a good fit for your classroom?

Interactive whiteboards IWBs are also sometimes called interactive displays or even digital whiteboards. As a catch-all term, an IWB is any display that also responds real-time to actions on its surface, allowing it to act as a whiteboard. This includes both projector-based interactive displays like these or interactive flat-panel displays like ViewBoard.

Due to their versatility, there is a global shift towards IWBs that is picking up momentum, especially interactive touch screen displays. The technology blends the best of multimedia and touch technologies with the familiar functions of a regular whiteboard. Therefore a teacher can show a video or search the Internet live, annotate the content, and then even share with students via their devices. But despite the ever-growing list of features available for IWBs, there are still a few challenges ahead.

They are certainly more expensive than an analog whiteboard, and it still requires extra effort to produce content for them.

These tend to be the challenges for any new technology, however, and as interactive whiteboards become more accessible they will continue to grow in popularity. More portable than even laptops but with large viewing screens, tablets seem to be custom-made for education. They are very powerful research tools and may serve as a replacement for heavy, expensive textbooks. Often they come installed in laptops, tablets or desktops used by students.

In more advanced classrooms, higher-quality cameras are integrated with projectors or smartboards, opening up the experience to the entire class. Students in some classes use cameras to record themselves doing an activity then watch the video to identify areas for improvement. Further, cameras — both still and video — are becoming common tools to create academic output in place of the more standard written essay. For 40 years , schools in the US have regularly experimented with some form of audio enhancements.

Historically found in auditoriums or large lecture halls, audio enhancement equipment is finding its way into classrooms of all sizes. Audio enhancements refer to a suite of tools from high-quality speakers to wireless microphones. The speakers can also be connected to a multimedia presentation or a person joining the class through a camera in a remote location. With quality speakers distributed around a classroom, each student is able to hear and absorb the information being shared.

Read More: Life as a Classroom in Syria. Educational benefits of audio-enhanced environments include higher retention from pupils, more engagement and interaction, and higher teacher energy because they are less tired from having to strain their voice day in and day out.

These systems are getting more advanced each day. Directional sound speakers enable students in different areas of a classroom to engage in activities without disturbing others. Students who have a hearing problem can tune their area speakers to provide higher amplification levels.

And lectures or discussions can easily be recorded as videos or podcasts for later review or distribution. Classrooms often already have multiple streams of information available.

The options are expected to continue to grow. To fully utilize the growing options, instructors need to be able to switch seamlessly from displaying a Skype chat to a documentary to a digital lecture.

Easy to use, reliable, control centers for instructors help keep high tech classrooms operating smoothly. The capabilities of these program range from enabling students to submit work electronically, to automatic assessments of some assignments, to early warning advisories to teachers if a specific student seems to be struggling.

Culture sharing initiatives, guest speakers, and access to interesting characters from all around the world , allow students to have a new experience every day without ever needing to leave the classroom.

This helps schools save money on travel, while providing students with a unique learning opportunity. A commonly overlooked part of the smart classroom is the capability to record and stream class.

Students are already stressed enough with growing up. The smart classroom provides an opportunity to alleviate some of that stress by allowing students to still engage by taking part directly or after the fact by streamed or recorded lessons. Watch the livestream and connect with a smart device. Watch the recorded class when you get back. Students should enjoy learning, not be stressed by it.

Classroom recording systems like lecture capture cameras or professional PTZ cameras allow this. Thousands of schools budgeted for Chromebooks. These cost-effective devices support a wide range of learners and show a direct impact on student success. With the ever-expanding role of technology in classrooms, schools must ensure the security and efficacy of data through enhanced interoperability.

The infrastructure needs to handle massive amounts of information, run efficiently and protect student privacy. When it comes to student protection, G Suite assures full data security and provides clear information on its privacy policies , highlighting its compliance with rigorous standards from organizations such as the Software and Information Industry Association.

Forward-thinking schools are anticipating the demands of exponential growth in K—12 technology use and are investing in hyperconverged infrastructure. Hyperconvergence brings computing, storage and networking into one system , all managed through a single platform. Integrated systems like these make for greater efficiency and lower risk when handling student data, offering a secure, manageable data solution for schools.

As with all new initiatives, the implementation of new technology needs a clear mission and ongoing support.