The Richardson Independent School District in Texas was not looking for just any wireless solution. They wanted one that would accommodate all users. This is a must in an age when bring-your-own-device practices reign supreme and every classroom is inhabited by a mix of Google, Apple, Android and Microsoft devices. For technology project manager Terry Balch, finding such a solution was far more difficult than it should have been.
“We looked at five presentation solutions,” said Balch. “Some were specific to one operating system, or they didn’t work with our enterprise environment. They either couldn’t set up proxies or they wouldn’t work with our other layered security.”
Increasing student engagement
The best presentation solutions are designed to allow people to simultaneously share content no matter what devices they are using and no matter whether they are broadcasting to a projector or a television screen. The goal of this technology is to allow teachers to put the focus on helping their students learn.
“Students are more engaged during presentations, which increases classroom conversation and ultimately improves learning,” says Balch. “It gives teachers more flexibility and students more opportunity for engagement.”
This flexibility is evident in the array of classroom subjects that presentation technology has been used for. In addition to career and technical education classes, the school district has used presentation technology to help teach about everything from billing to basic medical procedures like taking blood pressure.
The success is all too clear, and Balch is looking to introduce it to classrooms in all 54 campuses of the school district.
