Today’s classroom demands a flexible environment that can quickly adapt to new standards and practices. For many schools, smart boards offer a path forward in this transformation. Although smart boards are classroom game changers, they can be complex to learn, initially overwhelming educators. West Ottawa Public School District in Holland, Michigan, wanted to ensure a smooth and supportive transition to smart boards. The district needed a solution that immediately enhanced learning but allowed for gradual transformation. After a testing period of over two years and with over 80 teachers, they chose BenQ’s BenQ Board for its seamless integration and support.
West Ottawa Public School District spans 69 square miles, with over 44,000 constituents, and 12 schools. The district was coming from classroom technology that was outdated and hard to use. Many of the classrooms were equipped with an aging projector fed by a teacher’s desktop computer with audio augmented by hardwired speakers. This setup presented many challenges: Teachers were tethered to their desks when sharing lessons and students had poor screen visibility. Teachers had to spend more time on transitions between lessons and during lessons in order to change screens or highlight material. This resulted in a loss of student attention and engagement, requiring teachers to spend more time getting the class back on track.
This setup also lacked the flexibility needed for student-centered and project-based learning, essential for modern education. It also burdened teachers with running updates, which were easy to forget and cumbersome to complete, increasing help desk tickets to IT.
“In our decision-making process, we used the SAMR model, which helps to facilitate conversations around how we are redefining and transforming instructional spaces to create relevancy and why students are learning, and to provide more student-centered learning practices in our pedagogical approach,” said Elaine Stifel, Director of Instructional Technology in West Ottawa Public Schools. “We evaluated many smart board vendors through the lens of the SAMR framework, so we could best align the needs of our teachers as well as adopt new standards and practices to better prepare our students for the real world.”
The BenQ Google EDLA-certified smart board aligns with the SAMR model. BenQ Boards RM04 integrates with Google Classroom, providing familiarity and efficiency for teachers and staff. Teachers can access Google apps and content directly from the board. While EDLA certification is essential in today’s classrooms, BenQ Boards stand out by making it easy for educators to start using the board immediately. They can begin substituting their previous display and augmenting lessons with high-quality video, audio, and whiteboarding tools that can be learned over time.