Interconnection and interactivity are the keys to the use of touch screens as a benefit for education. In addition to enhancing the learning experience, they provide access to online multimedia content and countless writing options.
Richard Santa
Much is heard from the elderly that today's children are 'born learned' or come with a 'built-in chip', due to the ease with which they learn to handle electronic equipment. But the reality is that the constant interaction of children is what makes them all an expert from an early age.
And that learning begins in schools, which today have different aids that allow them to improve the educational experience and that have been replacing the green boards and chalks that were used a few decades ago. Among those aids are touch screens.
Gilberto Castro, Director of Projects at Intus, intelligent communication, says that in Latin America it has been schools and private educational institutions that in the first instance have ventured into the use of new technologies such as Touch and Multi-Touch screens. But now it is the same governments that are very interested in the digitization of educational media.
"It seems that the outlook is quite ambitious and it is estimated that in the next 10 years Multi-Touch solutions will grow exponentially in the most varied degrees of basic and higher education," he adds.
What's new
According to Panasonic statistics, pen displays allow students to increase their progress by 51% in some areas of education, while 60% of students who experiment with devices have improved grades.
In other cases, students were able to make additional progress equivalent to 7.5 months, as a result of using pen displays when learning new science, writing, and math materials.
And based on this type of statistics, as well as the expectations of growth of the segment in the audiovisual industry, manufacturers have responded with different monitors that provide varied options.
According to Bruno Velotti, marketing supervisor of Broadcast and Display Products of Panasonic Latin America, this company designed interactive monitors of 50, 65, 85 and 103 inches, which have wireless connectivity thus facilitating that the content of a computer or tablet can be deployed via wireless on the monitor.
"Students who bring their PC or tablet to classes can easily display their own information. In addition, they allow you to write and draw naturally, through their position detection and their quick response."
For Gilberto Castro, together with smart whiteboards, this type of large format screens that allow students to interact with the teacher, will soon make notebooks and textbooks will be replaced by tablets and teachers will have tools and support of multimedia information in real time.
Easily write, save, and delete
One of the outstanding functions of this type of screens is writing only with the use of an electronic pen. Because only pen writing is detected, there are no accidental writings from contact with hands, clothing, or some other object.
Their options are varied, such as the possibility that up to four students can write simultaneously. Even the colors and styles of the pens can be changed individually.
The Whiteboard feature, found on Panasonic's touch screens, allows you to save up to ten pages of handwritten notes as a single file. When making a presentation, you can switch between PowerPoint and the Whiteboard function to write as many notes as you want. Also, you can convert handwriting to fonts for easier reading.
Another novel feature is Spotlight, which emphasizes special points on the screen. A focus is applied to important areas of the monitor, making it possible for students' attention to be directed where the teacher wants it.
And to make quizzes there is the Screen Shad, which through the sliding shading allows to cover the desired part of the screen. In addition, you can hide the correct answer and students can work on the answer for themselves.
The Elite Panaboard Book software, in addition to text tools, includes several options for drawing objects such as lines and graphics, which allow the teacher to easily create the optimal and suitable material to explain their classes. In addition, approximately 5,000 learning objects are available.
The pluses and minuses
For all the arguments expressed above, the representatives of Panasonic and Intus, intelligent communication, reiterate the good expectations they have in the market of these solutions focused on educational institutions.
In the case of Panasonic Latin America, says Bruno Velotti, they have as a goal that by the last quarter of 2013, the bulk of sales of industrial monitors will be headed by the series of interactive monitors.
For his part, Gilberto Castro highlights that "our expectations are very encouraging and every day that passes the demand for this type of Multi-Touch solutions increases. We believe this will undoubtedly be the best year so far for us."
It concludes that the most advanced countries in the region in the development and implementation of touch screen-based solutions for educational institutions are: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Ecuador. On the other hand, the furthest behind are Nicaragua, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Caribbean countries.
**Things to avoid
For Gilberto Castro, the most common errors are more related from the technical point of view, but the most important companies in the development of Multi-Touch hardware have made great advances achieving plug and play products that anyone with basic computer knowledge has the opportunity to install.
He says that it is considered that Multi-Touch technology is one of the most intuitive and natural for humans, because all graphic content is controlled with the fingers directly on tactile surfaces, which allows a much more natural interaction with the data and information stored on a computer. Due to its easy use, it is not necessary to have an expert who is constantly aware of the operation.
A good example of this is videos on the web in which children as young as one can use an iPad more intuitively and more fluently than a magazine or textbook, adds Gilberto Castro.
But it is precisely in the installation process where some common mistakes are made, which as Bruno Velotti points out, are rather general for all types of monitors:
- Improper use of support or pedestal.
- Uneven placement of the monitor.
- Use of transmission cables that are too long to cause a delay or flicker of the image.
- Use of deteriorated transmission cables.
- Poor selection of input signal resolution.
