The 'interactive whiteboard' has been around for some 10 years now – quite a long time in digital terms – so it is not surprising that a new technology with considerable benefits over the old interactive whiteboards has come on to the market.
There is now however a new product that looks as if it will create something of a change: the LCD touchscreen, and the screen that is particularly having an impact at present is the Genee Touch.
With a touchscreen you get all the same features of an interactive whiteboard but significantly without the projector glare and without all the running costs (there’s no lamps to replace!), without light reflection and an endless need to close the blinds. The reason for all this saving is simple – there’s no space between the screen and the sensing responder. One big change and the problems that annoy so many users are removed.
In terms of teaching and learning the directness of activity on the screen seems to promote a more immediate understanding among the users – it is effectively the most direct active learning that one can imagine. In fact the pupils and students get the hang of what they have to do much more quickly because everything is so intuitive.
Obviously the touchscreen does all you would expect it to: you can record and save lesson notes, integrate will all other ICT products, carry out interactive testing on the screen etc etc.
But there’s some other benefits that may not be immediately apparent. For example, not only is there no bulb to replace, there’s no need to clean the projector filters – which can result in another major saving.
The screens come in a variety of sizes from 42" up to a 65” version, and they come with all the software, inputs and outputs, they are Windows compatible, and are of course HD ready too.
