Modern time requires new educational approaches. Many learning processes undergo digitalization. Students read e-books, find information on topics of interest within minutes, can ask for research paper writing help or have a lesson with a tutor online. Technology helps to get the most out of educational activities, making them more engaging and interactive. That’s why the experts from Pro-Papers did their best to research this question as detailed as possible.
There are many interesting projects for creating a school in the future. It may have premises of unusual shape, special recreation zones where young people can rest between classes, beautiful gardens, cafes instead of a standard canteen or even a pool on a roof. All these ideas should be supplemented with vivid, stylish, ergonomic design and modern technics, aimed to create comfortable learning conditions for students, awake a desire to attend educational institutions and enjoy each minute spent there.
One of the latest progressive trends is creating smart collaborative classrooms. They are very different from traditional classes associated with boredom, tedious paperwork, and heavy backpack, presuppose using smart boards and desks, tablets and Internet connection instead of traditional learning tools.
Both students and professors should benefit from digitalization because it will be easier for them to convey their thoughts and exchange data. Gadgets are more durable compared with paper carriers which are also rather heavy. In addition, it is worth taking into account an ecological aspect. Reading E-books and note-taking in Word files solve a deforestation problem.
Smart devices help to establish contact between professors and learners, encourage active discussion and teamwork. It is rather difficult to assure young people accustomed to watching videos and communicating in social networks that writing essays by hand and using a standard chalk blackboard is fun and useful. But tablets, interactive desks, and boards work wonders and turn any lesson into an exciting adventure. Let’s consider the main features of these progressive educational tools.
Interactive whiteboards
Multimedia projectors have long become an integral element of the learning process in any modern school, college or university, made it possible to visualize lecture material in bright presentations. The next step towards a technical millennium is introducing interactive whiteboards in a classroom. Such devices provide many more opportunities for elaborating course materials at lessons and enlivening professor-student collaboration.
Smartboards are suitable for students of any age because everyone perceives new knowledge better if it is provided in a bright and attractive form, any discipline and lesson types (lecture, seminar). There are no limitations to using them.
Such a device will not hinder a strict classroom design because it resembles a usual marker board. The difference is that it is synced with a computer through a wire or wirelessly. A whiteboard can be regarded as an input device because it receives commands from a program installed on a computer. Learners in a class may see everything a teacher writes or draws on one’s computer. And vice versa, all changes made to a content displayed on board are reflected on a computer screen.
Just for comparison, a usual projector does not provide two-side syncing. But if using an interactive whiteboard, all participants in a learning process may receive boundless opportunities to share their ideas and work on team projects.
Traditional lessons seem to a monologue when a professor explains some material and cannot check learners’ reactions right away. The only way to understand whether some issues need clarification is writing tests that are hated by most students. A smartboard makes classes effective without rigid control and pressure.
This device also deserves attention due to animation functions, an opportunity to record lectures in a live mode. It is very suitable for brainstorming sessions. All participants may work in one electronic file without standing near a table on which a sheet of paper lies, make edits and track classmates’ actions. All changes to a file must be saved. It is possible to turn back, rethink some decisions, restore previous versions.
A smartboard is a perfect way to combine elements of traditional learning with innovations, use different sources (the Internet, DVD, video camera, VCR, flash memory) to hold bright, effective lectures and seminars, saturate them with interesting information and activities, increase interest in issues considered.
All the above advantages show that an interactive whiteboard is an indispensable part of a smart collaborative classroom. It provides countless tools for increasing the quality of education, visualizing any topic or assignment, involving all learners in solving collective tasks, participating in discussions, encouraging initiative and active position of young people.
Interactive desks
One more progressive learning device is a smart desk used in parallel with the professor’s whiteboard where different tasks are displayed. It has a sensory surface and infrared cameras, responds to all movements of students’ hands. A professor sees want happens on each learner’s desk, can control independent work, give recommendations once some mistakes are noticed, practice individual approach, transmit different materials to young people depending on their knowledge level and preferences.
Students use smart desks with pleasure. Bright, animated content attracts their attention and leaves no room for boredom. Academic knowledge becomes more accessible and understandable. Also, all learners receive equal access to information, which cannot be said about a traditional class where not everyone has a laptop or a smartphone.
Tablets
In a smart collaborative classroom, a professor does not need to stand with a ruler in hand near a blackboard during the whole lesson. One can walk around a class with a tablet in hands, communicate with students, answer their questions and give recommendations from a closer distance, which creates a friendly atmosphere. Learners stop perceiving a professor as a strict observer looking down on them.
It is also very convenient to pass a tablet from one person to another. So all students may make edits in one file without rising from their places.
In contrast to smart boards and desks which have large dimensions, a tablet may be used anywhere. For example, a group of students can learn in a garden. A lecture combined with a picnic is a great way to receive maximum benefits and pleasure from an educational process. Also, professors can lead students to excursions. When approaching a certain exhibit in a museum, young people can look into their tablets and read interesting information about its creator and history.
The technical progress is in a full swing. Every day, developers amaze society with innovations. If tracking and implementing them in a classroom, educational institutions will increase the quality of learning several-fold and receive better academic results from their students.
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