Interactive learning has moved from being an innovative strategy to a ‘must do’ to keep students engaged in the classroom. As technology has become more beneficial for instruction and student learning, teachers are at the forefront of why, how, and when to use ed tech effectively and efficiently. Interactive displays support connected and collaborative experiences for students, even if they’re remote learning. With more features and applications available on displays, teachers are incorporating their use regularly and seeing student participation and active learning improving in their classrooms. 

Research shows that a teacher who effectively implements educational technology such as interactive displays will see an increase in student engagement; this in turn leads to learning improvement. Benefits of interactive displays include: 

• Clear, bright images that are attractive to the eye and can help keep students focused
• More opportunities for meaningful collaboration between students with the help of screen sharing software 
• Improved accessibility to active learning for students with disabilities (for example, finger touch on screen instead of stylus which can be difficult to use for some students) 
• Efficient use of instructional time with an out-of-the-box display versus time lost when dealing with other tech to facilitate a lesson 

The availability of interactive displays has become easier with federal funding and grants awarded for a variety of programs and services including hybrid learning, professional development, and STEM integration. Training provided with the investment in interactive displays helps teachers with the basics of using the in-built software and features. As teachers become more comfortable with the displays, ideas for incorporating collaboration naturally emerge. Here are simple ideas to increase collaboration using an interactive display. 

4 Ideas to Increase Collaboration Using an Interactive Display 

• Warm-Up – Write a question or activity prompt for students to complete as they walk in the classroom. Select students to share responses; they can do so by physically writing on the display or, with the help of screen mirroring software, annotate on their personal device. Because most students have a personal device (smartphone, tablet), their device becomes a ‘hand-held interactive display.’ You can save annotations for later use/reference. 

To learn more about how to save and share notes on the MimioPro 4 interactive display, click to watch a video – Save and Share Your Notes. 

• Build interactive lessons – A comprehensive interactive display solution will come with educational software or access to an online platform that allows teachers to build interactive lessons, activities, and assessments. Vary question types so that students are given multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning at different cognitive levels (ex. multiple choice for recall, classifying; labeling for categorizing, relating; short answer for summarizing, justifying).  

If your students are remote learning or your class is in a hybrid learning environment, the MimioConnect platform is customizable and easy-to-use. To learn more about its newest features, click here. 

• Team presentations – Screen mirroring software works in combination with an interactive display so that class teams can make presentations together, including students who are learning remotely. Responsibilities for a team project can be evenly shared, and students remote learning can play an active role in the team’s collaborative efforts. If annotations are made on a slide or a question is posed during the presentation, they can be saved and shared. This adds a level of interactivity that can further boost student engagement and participation. 

For more benefits on screen mirroring on interactive learning, read Screen Mirroring to Innovate Teaching and Learning. 

• Amp up STEM lessons – Use a doc camera to analyze minute details of a specimen like feathers, shells, rocks, and more. A large interactive display, with ultra-HD quality will show images with bright, vivid color enhancing whole class and collaborative discussions. Many displays specifically designed for education will include learning apps that cover a wide variety of topics and subjects. Explore and implement STEM apps to scaffold information, for direct instruction, as review, and/or give an assessment. 

To read how one school district uses interactive displays for their science classrooms, read Cutting Edge Technology Sparks Engagement for Science Students. 

Of course, there is so much more that can be done with an interactive display such as watching videos, conducting meetings/interviews with guest speakers, playing learning games, collaborating with colleagues, etc. IT coordinators, subject matter experts, and educational consultants from outside the school or district can support learning advanced skills to boost what’s already being done. It’s exciting to think about what else can be done with interactive display technology with the goal of helping students genuinely enjoy their learning experiences!  

If you’ve got an idea or two for using an interactive display that you’d like to share with like-minded educators, please comment below.  

To read how educators have optimized their learning environments with interactive display technology, click here: Customer Stories and Case Studies. 

Explore our award-winning solutions including interactive displays and educational apps at boxlight.com.