Even before the pandemic, student engagement was already experiencing what Gallup called a “disturbing trend” following a 2018 study revealing that more than half of students grades five through 12 felt "not engaged" or "actively disengaged" in school.
Now, nearly a year into the pandemic, school districts face an ongoing challenge in ensuring student access and driving student engagement across blended modes of instructional delivery.
Challenges of the Virtual Classroom Experience
At the onset of the shift to remote learning, many districts turned to Google Classroom to stay connected with students, assign classwork, collect and grade assignments, and track attendance. Platforms such as Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams, which enabled teachers to present lectures virtually, exploded in popularity.
And while these platforms have ensured continuity of education amidst ever-changing learning plans as schools shift to and from remote, in-person, and hybrid learning, many teachers and students have found that screen-sharing and virtual lectures aren’t the same as the typical live classroom experience.
With the novelty of remote learning long faded, students are struggling to stay engaged in this kind of environment, feeling as though classes are “lecture-heavy, repetitive and devoid of student conversation." As a result, students are finding it difficult to focus and absorb classroom material. And as engagement issues combine with the digital equity gap and associated barriers to access, many districts are seeing declines both in student participation and attendance.
Supporting Student Engagement through Technology
While there is no single tool or solution to the student engagement crisis, we’ve been encouraged to see the technology sector swiftly innovate and respond to these needs of our students and teachers.
Teachers, in turn, are relying on technology to help them positively impact their students’ learning environments. According to the 2020-2021 State of Technology report from educational technology provider Promethean…
- Delivering educational benefits through technology was a top-three priority for the upcoming school year for many of the districts.
- 69% of teachers surveyed indicated that they are “constantly striving to innovate by using technology as a tool for education.”
- The most widely leveraged technology cited by the survey’s 1,200 respondents were interactive displays and whiteboards, along with iPads and other brands of tablets.
We’ve seen similar trends both from the experiences of our team in the K-12 space and from our manufacturers that specialize in edtech solutions. Interactive classroom displays or whiteboards, such as Promethean’s ActivPanels, are tools that many districts are implementing to create a more dynamic learning experience across in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments.
Five Ways Promethean Displays Power Interactive Learning
Empowering students, driving engagement, and meeting the needs of teachers are at the core of Promethean’s solutions. Here are five ways Promethean displays can create a more interactive, dynamic learning experience for students in the classroom and at home:
- The display is compatible with all modes of instructional delivery. Teachers can use Promethean displays for in-person, in-classroom instruction simultaneously with synchronized or virtual learning.
- Built-in tools encourage engagement. The Whiteboard app acts as a canvas for both virtual and in-person teaching and learning. Students and teachers alike can write, draw, highlight, and annotate over any text, images, or content that appears on the panels.
- It’s more than a static screen. Teachers can interact with shared screens directly from the ActivPanel, increasing student participation and collaboration.
- The display connects to your existing video conferencing platform. Promethean has connection apps for all popular meeting platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet.
- Students can see the teacher and the screen. Teachers can use their live stream technology to display themselves working as the board as they usually would in class. The ActivPanel screen itself also becomes a participant in the meeting to ensure lesson content is front and center.
See the Promethean board in action:
Learn More
Interested in learning more about how interactive displays can enrich teaching and learning in your school? Our team of technology specialists is here to help you achieve more through simple, powerful technology solutions. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
