Marlborough Teachers Get Training To Ride Wave On New Technology

MARLBOROUGH, MA—Marlborough Public Schools recently invested in SMART 65" flat panel touch displays for the classroom in an effort to make teaching and learning more interactive.

This fall, 20 pioneer teachers throughout the district along with the district’s three instructional specialists and director of instructional technology were trained on how to use the SMART Flat Panel Touch Displays.

“This new technology is the wave of the future in education, soon to replace projectors,” said Tom Plati, director of instructional technology for MPS, in a statement. “One important instructional delivery system that is embedded and can be utilized with this new technology involves gamification. I am delighted that we were able to learn about this important use in the training today.”

Gamification is a new buzz word in the public education realm and describes the use of game formats to reinforce learning with students.

“Based on the smiles seen by students exposed to this learning approach, joyful and relevant learning is happening,” said Maureen Prado Roberts, educational sales consultant for SMART Technologies, in a press reelase. “This new technology allows students to experiment and be curious, and it helps teachers to inspire greatness in their students to be able to learn,” Roberts added.

The technology also gives teachers an efficient approach, as they can simultaneously reach a whole lot of students at once. The students can go up to the screen or interact with Chromebooks and iPads.

An example of an interactive lesson could be a student or small student group physically going to the display to move numbers from the lowest to the highest, said the announcement. Another lesson could invite students to analyze historical events as to their similarities and differences. And in still another activity students can receive and sort feedback contributed by their peers regarding a writing sample that appears on the display.

“This technology is very exciting because students can respond interactively which provides differentiated learning experiences,” said Plati in a statement.

Photo Credit: Marlborough Public Schools