Get the maximum return on investment from your classroom technology

Key points:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts across the United States received a timely infusion of funds to update educational technology in the classroom. By 2023, 92 percent of K-12 schools in the US will use interactive whiteboards for their daily lessons.

Since today's students are digital natives, it makes sense for schools to invest in modern educational technology, such as interactive whiteboards. After all, these students probably learned their ABCs and 123s using their parents' smartphones or tablets.

Of course, maintaining this smart technology can involve a considerable investment. Therefore, school districts should also take steps to ensure they get the most out of their investment.

Why it is important to maximize the use and value of this investment

Acquiring and using an interactive whiteboard in the classroom is already a positive development. It immediately replaces at least three archaic school equipment: a digital projector, a whiteboard and a television video player. Instead, students learn from an all-in-one multimedia machine that features full interactivity.

Academic studies confirm that interactivity and active learning can improve student engagement in the classroom. Furthermore, both teachers and students seem enjoy learning better when using interactive whiteboards. That's why it's crucial to make sure these tools are available during school hours.

Consistent use of your educational technology equipment can ensure a quick return on investment (ROI). But how can you make sure your interactive whiteboards work as advertised? More importantly, how can your instructors maximize equipment usage and minimize your downtime?

Interactive Whiteboard Features You Can Maximize

An interactive whiteboard includes many modern features that help enhance active learning and increase engagement. To get the most out of your school district's educational technology investment, these features should be utilized to the fullest during class sessions.

Advanced touch screen technology in the classroom

When choosing the best interactive whiteboards, look for those that feature multi-touch technology. This allows the board to recognize multiple touch points instead of just one point at a time.

Multi-touch capability can greatly enhance the learning experience. For example, this technology allows for expanded controls when using the touch screen. Allows the user to pinch, zoom or swipe the surface to activate functions. What's more, the number of fingers used when performing these actions will elicit a different response. This puts a wide range of controls literally at your fingertips.

Additionally, multi-touch technology allows two or more students to interact with a single touch screen. This allows instructors to conduct competitive tests or have multiple students solve puzzles at the same time.

Cloud connectivity

Using cables or memory cards to transfer files or install updates is an inefficient method that can cause a lot of downtime. It's also unnecessary since wireless connectivity is already a standard feature for most classroom technology. Therefore, make sure your interactive whiteboard investments support cloud systems that use secure, redundant connections.

Why is cloud connectivity important? During its useful life, an interactive whiteboard will require continuous updates and fixes to its operating system, firmware, and application software. Connecting through cloud systems ensures that all necessary files are available for download. This means that installations and updates can be scheduled at any time and processed much faster.

Access level control and user permissions.

Not all interactive whiteboard users need the same levels of access. For example, regular operators, such as instructors and professors, launch learning applications and access the connected learning management system (LMS) for files and modules. Meanwhile, superintendents and principals will need to access student and teacher information and data collected from users. Administrators and IT staff need access to the operating system to perform maintenance and management tasks.

Assigning different levels of user permissions is a valuable feature that keeps private data and system files safe. This also ensures that only authorized users can view private student files, as required by federal and state privacy laws.

Protection and security

Curious students will often try to hack the interactive whiteboard and install apps or games, copy files, or even alter data. But remote security features should easily detect unusual activity on the device and automatically initiate security measures.

Once alerted, administrators can freeze or shut down devices to prevent further access attempts. In the unlikely event that the touchscreen is removed from site, geofencing can disable devices that are outside of their permitted locations. When all else fails, administrators can remotely wipe data from devices to prevent data theft.

Don't forget the right device management platform for your classroom technology

An interactive whiteboard can involve a significant cost. The right device management platform ensures that your classroom technology investments are functioning properly and are properly maintained and managed.

Additionally, it ensures the availability of low-level management features that keep all software and firmware updated to the latest versions. Cloud connectivity allows administrators to automatically schedule and perform updates outside of work hours instead of productive school hours. Even better, you can make these fixes on a specific unit, across multiple devices, or across your entire fleet.

The right device management software also provides strong security features that prevent educational technology devices from falling into the wrong hands. After all, data privacy is a serious matter that requires strict security measures. When student information is at stake, the right device manager can make the difference between data breaches and the security of student records.

Get the most out of your classroom technology investments

Appropriate technology in the classroom is essential to providing students with the best learning experiences. But simply providing devices like interactive whiteboards in classrooms is not enough. Superintendents also need to ensure their educational technology investments have the latest features. This includes multi-touch capability and cloud support to maximize learning opportunities.

What's more, school districts must invest in the right device management platforms to ensure devices operate optimally at all times. The right device manager can meet the specific management, maintenance, and security requirements of your learning investments.

We all know the value of modern educational technology equipment in enriching the lives of today's students. Acquiring these devices is only the first step. Administrators must also ensure that they function as designed and remain optimized and up-to-date at all times.