Having never known a world without laptops and smartphones, today’s children are digital natives. By welcoming technology into the classroom, teachers can take advantage of this — benefitting from increased engagement and better learning retention as a result.
Here’s how:
More efficient note-taking
It can be difficult for students to concentrate on listening and note-taking simultaneously. Showing presentations and information via an interactive projector gives you the ability to share notes digitally at the end of the lesson — and when students know you’ve got the broader note-taking covered, they can focus more on listening, and only writing down things that are specifically useful to them.
This can also reduce the issue of pupils taking down incorrect or irrelevant notes, which is particularly useful when covering new or complex topics, as it ensures everybody has the same (correct) foundations to refer back to. You can also store this information online, so it’s no longer the end of the world if a pupil loses their notes right before an exam.
Interactive presentations keep children engaged
It’s much easier to concentrate on something when you’re playing an active role. Up to ten students can draw on an interactive projector screen at any one time, making them ideal for increasing engagement via group projects and presentations. When students are working together in front of the class, they are likely to take participation more seriously. The result is that they stay engaged for longer.
Interactive projectors also make it easier to teach dynamically:
- Allow students’ questions to lead topic exploration. Discussing a city? Bring it up on Google Earth
- Use the screen freeze feature to revise presentations in real-time without the audience knowing
- Discover a gap in your students’ knowledge? Take a moment to research it online as a group
- An interactive projector can be a valuable tool for increasing engagement, even if your students stay in their seats. Watch videos together, take online pop quizzes or view real-time information on the topics you discuss.
Build games into your lessons
Social networks and smartphone technology have contributed to the rise in popularity of simple puzzle-type games. For teachers, this is good news: it means that students are already familiar with — and fond of — the format used in many educational puzzles.
Reward good behaviour with a quick on-screen math’s game at the end of the lesson, or use quizzes to test English or foreign language skills. Just like smartphones and tablets, interactive projectors use multi-touch, meaning multiple students can complete a puzzle together. There are two options here:
- Table-top projection: students can gather round a table and interact with the screen in front of them
- Wall projection: students can stand up at the front of the class
Teach with a range of mediums
The younger the child, the shorter their attention span typically is. Breaking up a lesson into shorter, varied segments can help children stay focused on the material and learn more effectively.
Interactive projectors are perfect for this: switching between tasks is as simple as switching between tabs on your browser or opening up a slideshow. Do away with work-sheets: you can now engage students with presentations, interactive games, video content and group activities all in one session. Each element of your lesson can be pre-planned on a laptop, and for simple presentations, you can just insert your USB drive directly into the projector.
Blended learning is also much easier with a projector. You can demonstrate a new concept to your class using the screen, and then allow them to practice in small groups. The information used in your presentation can then be posted online, so students can use it for independent study.
Make better use of time in the classroom
Before projectors became so common in the classroom, teachers would have to get into class early to write up notes, and constantly erase and rewrite content on the board as the lesson progressed. These regular disruptions often caused students to lose interest, or start chatting among themselves as they waited for the next part of the lesson. Then, more time would be wasted on classroom management.
Now, you can plan presentations and exercises in advance, use them for multiple student groups, and share them with other teachers. This greatly reduces the admin burden, and makes it easier to stay organised — both inside the classroom and out.
