Q&A: Determine What Your K–12 District Needs in an Interactive Display

EDTECH: How can interactive displays and this kind of technology benefit students and the learning experience?

SHIPPEE: We need technology that will allow learners to be challenged individually and that will allow them to learn the key human skill of collaboration while also enabling an educator to serve as a learning guide.

A kindergartener might play or paint with their classmates. A third grader might demonstrate proficiency by matching images that a teacher has added on the board; they just drag-and-drop. An art class might go to Google Arts and Culture and pull up Van Gogh’s Starry Night. From there, they can zoom in to the brushstrokes that Van Gogh used. How interactive display technology is being used is a crucial consideration to maximize the learning experience.

EDTECH: What are the best techniques and opportunities to increase adoption of this technology in schools?

SHIPPEE: Administrators should lead with a conversation about teaching and learning, then unpack how emergent technologies can amplify the good practices schools strive for.

We also have a team of five Samsung education coaches across the United States who do in-person or virtual training. We speak empathetically with educators about what they’ve done in the past, we work together to build upon their existing practices and show how our interactive display technology can enhance those practices. We firmly believe in a long-term relationship with schools.

My team and I do bimonthly, free, virtual professional development on topics such as classroom management, assessment and creative design in the classroom. We cover how to use interactive displays and how the technology informs pedagogy, and we also do demonstrations.

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EDTECH: What are the benefits of interactive displays from a teaching perspective? How can they be used in the classroom?

SHIPPEE: One of the fundamental areas of instruction is assessment. Many have argued for decades that formative assessment — a spot-check of how students are doing on their learning journey — is the most appropriate way to gauge and measure student engagement.

However, it gets difficult if you’re one teacher in a room of 25 learners. Samsung’s interactive display has a tool called AirClass that allows a teacher to do a formative assessment in the form of an instant poll. It’s device-agnostic, so students can join immediately from any device or operating system. It also works with hybrid classrooms.

RELATED: A modernized digital experience improves hybrid teaching and learning.

A level of flexibility is important. We know there are many devices and operating systems in use, so — while our schools are able to use what they have — we do have Samsung technologies that are special.

We use a bidirectional casting platform called DeX with our mobile technology. If I use my Samsung phone or tablet, and I cast it to a Samsung interactive display, the display becomes my device on a larger scale. Unlike screencasting options that create a one-way connection, like a projector, I can go up and start using my apps on the interactive screen. If you’re teaching students how to use an application, and you want them to see the exact steps on the software, you can dynamically amplify that on the board.

We also recently announced the upcoming launch of our Samsung EDLA-certified WAD Interactive Display, which is a Google-certified board that has Google integrations schools are looking for. This will let schools take advantage of an ecosystem they’re already comfortable with through direct access to Google Workspace for Education apps and files.

EDTECH: How can these displays be used outside of the classroom?

SHIPPEE: Campuswide safety and security are paramount concerns in education. Samsung has intentionally created features that allow a school to broadcast an alert to their interactive displays in real time.

LEARN MORE: The four pillars of physical safety make schools more secure.

Another example: Students used to display posters and artwork on bulletin boards, but as we go paperless, there’s a gap. Samsung has been able to translate that to the display world. Our technology can be leveraged to share digital assets around campus through signage in the hallway, a kiosk in the main office or on the scoreboard in the gym.

When we talk about engagement, being part of a school or a classroom and feeling ownership is crucial for learners. This is another way to engage the student population in their school and community by providing a platform for them to share.

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