What is a classroom? A classroom is a room that is typically found in a school where a group of students, namely a class is taught. A classroom has basically been comprised of the same basic parts throughout the years and no major changes have been introduced. For sure there is some form of technology inside but nothing that is life changing for both students and teachers alike. For example, yes a personal computer is present in almost all classroom but students also have those and even more powerful computers in their own house. Projectors are also common in classrooms but lack the pull to even draw students attention to the topics at hand. There are numerous technologies captivating everyone’s attention these days in the entertainment sector that could possibly have its uses in our classrooms today. One is Virtual Reality or VR, the other is Augmented Reality or AR. Both of these techs promise great interaction on the learning material for the students and teacher alike. However, both of these technologies are still in the development stages and are very expensive to implement and only specialized school are able to afford them.
There are however multiple solutions that make use of available technology that has been fully developed now and just needs implementation. Some schools may even already have the necessary technology already in place right now. They just need to be connected. There is an emerging classroom technology today that offer interaction for the students and their learning material. The keyword is interactivity. One particular group, https://www.vivi.io/ that is developing Creating Interactive Learning Spaces for the classrooms of today. They offer interconnectivity between peripherals such as widescreen monitors, controlled via an app and authorized via an admin console. The core technology is very simple, an attachment is placed in all enabled displays across all classrooms and you instantly enable that screen to be enabled in the network and can display any learning material that you would like it to display. Because it is completely connected wirelessly, the teacher can interact with her students while learning streams from devices across the screen in the room. Furthermore, the system can also be used for broadcasting important memos or events. This system makes use of technology already in place and it is ingenious.
This integration actually allows for other applications to piggyback on this system. Here, they can incorporate biometrics, Multi-touch panel displays for more interaction between the student and the learning material. Furthermore, the whole whiteboard can be an interactive display altogether. The technology of instant connectivity both in terms of communication and interconnectivity between devices allows these advances in technology to be harnessed in the school rooms of today.
Technology can always be a double-edged sword but in the application in the classrooms of today, everyone will sure come out as winners, for not only are we delivering information to the students, we are actively engaging them to participate and take notice. Technology nowadays is like a whole new language for the younger generation and as adults, it is our responsibility to learn that language to better communicate with the younger versions of ourselves.
