Chandan Sonowal,
Managing Director, SMART Technologies emphasises on building teachers’ capacity on new interactive technologies…
New innovations
The category of Interactive Displays for education space has seen several rapid changes in recent times. New technologies and formats are being rolled out. We have recently introduced another fully-integrated, touch enabled interactive projector called LightRaise 60Wi and pen based interactive projector. Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) are also finding their place in the global markets. In India, Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) continues to transform the classrooms.
One of the most interesting global studies conducted by Filigree consulting commissioned by SMART reveals that personal devices add more value when used with Interactive Whiteboards than standalone.
Teachers’ capacity building
Any change in technology is bound to create a situation where users need to upgrade their skills. Teachers are used to of Chalk and Talk method of teaching for a long period of time in their careers. With the adoption of Interactive Whiteboards, the need for upgrading the skills of teachers becomes an absolute must. It will be worthwhile to mention that a one-size-fit-all training programme cannot succeed in itself. Each user has a different level of comfort in using technology. Hence, a proper training and professional development programme is required. Skills of the teachers have to be upgraded steadily over a period of time. Having realised this, we at SMART India launched a programme called SMART Professional Development Programme for Teachers – India. Under this programme we have already reached out close to 1,000 teachers in nine cities and enrolled them into the progamme. The aim is to reach to atleast 5,000 teachers across India and upgrade their skills.
