Interactive Flat Panels for Education: A Teacher’s Guide to Enhance their Classroom Teaching
In an era, where students’ attention spans are fleeting, keeping them actively involved in classroom teaching is a concern for teachers. While certain students demonstrate a strong commitment to their studies, others who are less engaged in classes may exhibit disinterest or disrupt the learning environment. Lack of engagement is a concern for teachers, as they aspire to foster a consistent level of involvement from every student in their classes.
The question then arises: How can teachers achieve this goal?
Enter the era of smart classes, leading to excitement, engagement, and a touch of magic in the classroom experience. The integration of smart classes in the classroom elevates the teaching experience for teachers by providing interactive content, thereby reducing the need for extensive lesson planning.
Smart classrooms can be set up on diverse hardware, ranging from Android-based Smart TVs, Interactive Flat Panels, Open pluggable systems, and Projectors to Interactive White Boards. Among these highly in-demand smart class hardware options is the Interactive Flat Panel (IFP), because of its exceptional features and the benefits it provides to teachers.
How can teachers enhance teaching with Interactive Flat Panels for Education?
Interactive flat panels for education enable interactive learning content
Interactive flat panels in education empower teachers with learning materials in different forms such as syllabus books, video lessons, practice, notes, interactive lessons, and practicals through a dedicated learning platform. One of the examples of this is iPrep, designed for K-12 schools and is easily accessible on interactive flat panels. It offers curriculum-aligned content in various formats, eliminating the necessity for extensive lesson planning. Engaging content on IFP not only simplifies lessons but also enhances students’ comprehension of concepts.
Interactive flat panels for education foster real-time collaboration
Interactive flat panels enhance teaching by facilitating collaborative learning through real-time interaction. Teachers can conduct group activities such as story writing, engaging book reading sessions, and problem-solving exercises using the interactive board. The integration of iPrep on IFP provides teachers with an array of offline content for collaborative endeavors, including syllabus books, storybooks, inspirational biographies, interactive lessons, and more. For example, teachers can enhance the learning experience by incorporating hands-on activities through DIY videos, fostering increased participation and confidence in a vibrant and joyful classroom environment.
Interactive flat panels for education offer digital annotations
Interactive flat panels for education provide teachers with annotation tools that allow them to effortlessly draw content on the screen during lessons. These tools include features such as figures, shapes, rulers, and more, enabling teachers to save valuable time that would otherwise be spent on drawing on blackboards. The flat panel functions as a smart board in the classroom, eliminating the need for erasing explanations – teachers can simply add pages and seamlessly continue teaching. Interactive flat panels in classrooms not only streamline the teaching process but also ensure that explanations are saved within the same class and across other related classes. The annotation tools act as magic chalk for teachers, allowing them to unleash their creativity on the board.
Further, teachers can use sticky notes to highlight important concepts or facts, employ mind maps to illustrate the flow of ideas, and explore various other creative teaching techniques. In essence, smart classes on interactive flat panels can be used by teachers in various ways to make classrooms creative and engaging.
LED vs LCD: What’s the Difference?
To begin with, it’s important to know exactly what LED and LCD screens are. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, which describes technology where a series of lamps are placed at the back of the screen to produce the images we see.
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode, however, LED screens are actually a type of LCD. The main difference is that LED screens use light emitting diodes, whereas regular LCDs use fluorescent backlights.
Picture Quality
LEDs are popular for their ability to have full array lighting, which is when LEDs are placed evenly across the entire screen, in a similar way to an LCD. However, LEDs have set zones which can be dimmed. This is known as local dimming, and is a feature that can significantly improve picture quality.
If a certain part of the screen needs to be darker, the zone of LEDs can be dimmed to create a truer black and an improved image contrast. Due to the way in which LCD screens are constantly evenly lit, they are unable to do this, resulting in a lower colour accuracy and contrast display.
Pixel Pitch
Pixel pitch is related to optimal viewing distance for your video wall, and determines ow close an individual needs to be in order to clearly make out the content being displayed.
Pixel pitch is the measurement of distance between each pixel in a screen. The lower the pixel pitch, the closer the pixels, resulting in a higher image quality. The higher the pixel pitch, the greater the spacing between the LEDs, resulting in a lower image quality.
A high pixel pitch is especially noticeable in close-up viewing environments, such as a board room or reception. Viewers will begin to see individual pixels rather than a clear and cohesive image.
However, in long distance viewing environments, such as a large billboard in a city centre, a high pixel pitch is more suitable as viewers will be much further away and the pixels will blend together better.
Understanding which pixel pitch you require for your digital signage typically requires input from tech specialists such as the DMS Digital Group, however, there are some calculations you can do yourself to help.
Multiply the pixel pitch of an LED display by 3 to get the minimum distance in feet a viewer must be from the screen to be able to interpret the content.
Multiple the pixel pitch of an LED display by 10 for the ideal viewing experience.
For example, an LED with a pixel pitch of 5mm would require a viewer to be 15 feet away to see any details, and 50 feet in order to get a clear view of the content displayed.
LCD displays have much smaller pixel pitches than LED displays, which makes them ideal for high quality close up viewing in environments such as conference rooms and reception areas.
Size
The location of your digital signage and the size of display needed should be significant considerations when choosing the right screen(s) for your business.
LCD screens are typically smaller than LEDs, which means they’re less suitable for huge video walls. However, depending on the requirement, they can be configured differently. LEDs on the other hand can be as large as you need. One of the largest LED video walls is located in Beijing, measuring a whopping 250m x 30m, made up of five large LED screens to create one continuous image.
Brightness
Consider the installation location and ambient lighting conditions. If you need signage for an outdoor or brightly lit environment, LED displays are typically more suitable due to their high brightness and better visibility in sunlight. LCD displays may be a better choice for indoor settings with controlled lighting conditions.
Carbon Footprint
LED displays are more energy-efficient than LCD displays. LEDs consume less power, resulting in lower electricity costs and reduced environmental impact. If energy efficiency is an important consideration for your business, LED signage may be a better choice.
Cost
LED displays are typically more expensive upfront compared to LCD displays. The cost of LED technology has come down in recent years, but LCD displays still tend to be more affordable. If budget is a significant factor, LCD signage may be a more cost-effective option.
What are video walls and when should you consider purchasing one?
A video wall is a large-scale display solution created by combining multiple individual display screens, such as LCD or LED panels, to form a single, large, and cohesive display surface. These screens are tiled together seamlessly to display high-resolution images, videos, or animations across the entire wall, offering an impressive and immersive visual experience. If you’d like to understand more about which options of video walls are out there, check out this blog. To sum it up, there are three options to make your dream wall come true: the massive traditional wall, an informal wall, or the “art wall”.
Video walls are commonly used in various settings, such as control rooms, retail stores, conference rooms, airports, public spaces, and advertising venues. They can be used for digital signage, information dissemination, advertising, surveillance, and entertainment purposes. Video walls are known for their high brightness, large size, and ability to display content across multiple screens simultaneously, making them an effective and eye-catching communication tool.
Before investing in a video wall, consider factors such as budget, space availability, technical requirements, and content management. Consulting with an expert in the field can help you assess your specific needs and determine if a video wall is the right solution for your situation. If you’d like to know more about how to successfully introduce digital signage into your company, have a look at our blog post covering this topic.