Benefits of Using An Interactive Touch Screen

 There is a growing need to replace old interactive whiteboards throughout the school, which are often nearing the end of their life cycle and costing the school a lot of money in terms of replacement to maintain these old equipment parts (we're all gasping at the cost of replacing bulbs, aren't we?) ), the time cost of technician maintenance, repairing existing projectors, and the loss of teaching time.

 

In this note, we always recommend that schools consider replacing them with interactive whiteboards, which are slightly different to whiteboards as there are no projectors (so no bulbs to change or filters to clean!) ), no calibration and no anti-glare glass, so no need to close blinds, which proves a better environment to deliver your teaching and learning!

 

Additional benefits include being cheaper to run in terms of power costs, using the software and hardware available on the teacher's laptop to run through the screen, the interactive touch display makes it easy to create effective, compelling teaching materials and promotes an active, visual - based teaching and learning that makes the classroom fun for both teacher and students.

75 Inch Intreractive Board

 

Conclusion and comparison of technology and cost.

 

Projection lamps

Projector lamp replacement and maintenance is the most expensive and labour-intensive part of the ongoing cost of ownership of a projector. To have the same 50,000 hour lifespan as a touch screen, most projectors will require more than 25/30 replacement lamps! A typical mercury vapour projection lamp has a lifespan of around 2,000 hours (high brightness mode) or 3,000 hours (standard mode), which equates to around 2 years of careful use in a typical classroom for 6 hours a day. In practice, we have heard that teachers find that in many cases dimming the lamp in the meantime can lead to early replacement if the cost of replacement is not an issue.

 

Screen maintenance

Regular maintenance of the various components of the projector (e.g. filters, lens, lamp and housing) will ensure that the best possible quality image is displayed for your audience and that the required lamp life is met, but this is a time consuming, laborious and expensive process. Digital projectors consume power and generate hundreds of watts of heat when in use. It is essential that this heat is removed from the projector to prevent overheating and projector failure. As projector overheating is the main cause of projector lamp failure, effective heat removal is particularly important for the life of the projector lamp. Most projector manuals recommend cleaning the projector filter every 100 to 300 hours - a tedious and professional process. LED displays do not have moving parts like the fan, a key component of the projector that will fail after an extended life, especially in dusty classrooms.

85 Inch Touch Screen Smart Board

If we use them for 6 hours a day and 220 school days a year, 60,000 hours equates to a lifespan of around 50 years and the technology will actually evolve rapidly and no doubt we will be offering some very different options in the next 10 years or so (the same time frame as projectors and interactive whiteboard technology were first offered in schools, peaked and are now in their final decline). The power consumption of power-hungry projectors adds to a school's electricity bill - a typical touchscreen uses less than half the power of a projector over its lifetime and has ECO power saving features.

 

Touchscreens require no cleaning or maintenance (just wipe off fingerprints with a damp cloth) Robust and resilient touchscreens with IR technology typically have a 5mm toughened anti-glare glass screen that is virtually indestructible - more like a car windscreen - and has a virtually unlimited life in the classroom. (Some manufacturers do not use IR technology and use PET surfaces or similar materials, which will encounter the same problems as the whiteboards mentioned above. SBS does not use screens with this outdated technology).

 

Smart Push Pull Board Touch Screen Digital Board

Software

Another benefit of touchscreens is the portability of the software used. The major suppliers of interactive whiteboards are very reluctant to make their software independent of the hardware. So when changing schools or even classrooms that use a different whiteboard supplier, the huge effort that goes into creating content for the classroom can be lost. The beauty of touchscreens is the standalone software that can be used on any touchscreen or interactive whiteboard (often provided free with the touchscreen). I can see even newly qualified teachers having the opportunity to take their content, lesson plans etc. from school to school via a copy of the software. No need to waste time re-creating lessons for different technology or equipment suppliers.