This review is on an article from the March 2014 issue of
the journal Campus Technology. The article is entitled Projectors Get
Interactive.
In this
article, the author reviews the use of interactive short-throw projectors in
the classroom. The author details Indiana Wesleyan University’s solution to
enable class collaboration and interactive participation while remaining within
allocated budget constraints. The school
had considered multiple interactive whiteboards, but this solution was cost
prohibited. As an alternate solution,
the school installed multiple ordinary whiteboards and instead purchased
interactive projectors. Interactive
projectors enable class participates to collaborate on class subjects by allowing
them to capture what is written on the ordinary whiteboards, saved and then be emailed
as a .jpg image. In the article the university’s director of institutional
media technologies (IMT) Brian Hertzog stated, “The technology has been a huge
success on campus”. The article went on
to say that since the initial installation of the interactive projectors in one
classroom, the university has added 16 other projectors throughout the campus. Another 37 projectors will be added to two
newly constructed building.
I found
this article to be very thought-provoking. I think that there is definitely a practical application to use interactive projectors not only in the classroom but also in the boardroom. Here at the business office I work at, we are always white boarding something. It would be great to be able to allow all members of the meeting to collaborate with their input on these different white board sessions. The director of the Information
Technology department I work in now has always had a policy of “We don’t want
to be on the bleeding edge of any new technology”. This equates to not buying any new technology
until all of the bugs have been worked out.
In the article Mr. Hertzog advised against dumping traditional
projectors altogether because they can still be used in larger lecture rooms
(the interactive projectors are being installed in classrooms settings of 35
students or less at his college). He
recommended buying one projector and installing it in a room and urging faculty
to come and have a look. Ironically, in
a way he is following the same strategy.
If the faculties at your college are not ready to adapt the new
technology of interactive projectors, it would not be advisable to purchase very
many of the units until the faculties have adapted the new technology. Basically, working all of the bugs out
mentally.
Schaffhauser, Dian (2014, March) Projectors Get Interactive,
Campus Technology, Vol. 27 No. 7, pg. 29, 31.
This is such a neat idea! I have never heard of interactive projectors but this sounds like it really would be a great solution to a difficult money problem many districts have. For instance, it is really strange but our district has an iPad per teacher and two iPad carts with a class set of iPads at our school. We don't have smartboards though. I think it is not necessary to have both but I thought it was an interesting choice that they went with iPads instead and I think their reasoning was that they started on this when smartboards were relatively new, as were iPads, and our district took the product that was more likely to succeed in the long run. Overall, the fact that the iPads can be used in or out of the classroom makes them I think more effective as a teaching technology. Really neat article! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI also have not heard of interactive projectors. I've wanted a SmartBoard in my classroom for a long time. At one school we had a mobile SmartBoard that teachers could request but at the time I had no idea how to utilize it in my own room. Interactive projectors seems like an interesting idea. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I can’t agree with the Director of Technology at your company. I have seen too many storage rooms overrun with outdated or ineffective technology. I see technology expenditures like the interactive projector mentioned in the article as a trend with education for the future. “Try before you buy” is the philosophy administrators should part-take in before purchasing thousands of dollars in technology that is ineffective or “soon-to-be out-dated.”
ReplyDeleteBrian CdeBaca