We do our utmost to offer a vast array of different products and services at Netcom ICT.

Understanding that every organisation has different requirements (often considerably so), we aim to feel as confident as we possibly can that whoever contacts us regarding IT services, we’ll be able to meet their expectations perfectly.

Working with an array of different industries, the education sector is one that we’re arguably the most active in.

Having implemented a range of services for schools in particular over the years, we’ve become a huge advocate of the Promethean interactive whiteboard – and with numerous benefits that make them extremely useful learning tools, the following are three of the most notable.

1. They bridge the gap between old and new

Depending on how long you’ve been teaching, you may be particularly used to writing on blackboards, but most teachers are comfortable with the more modern whiteboard, too.

As with everyone, the older a teacher gets, the more difficult it can be adjusting to new technologies, but the great thing about interactive whiteboards is that the learning curve for the teacher isn’t steep in any way – they already know how best to utilise a resource such as a whiteboard and it’s simply a matter of developing their knowledge to understand how the more technical aspects can form part of the experience.

When it comes to students, the impact is noticeable, but not disruptive. As anyone who was in school during the development of PCs will know, as soon as a new computer or piece of software became available, all the focus was on that.

With interactive whiteboards, you are given enough technology to have an impact, but not too much that it’s going to cause just as many problems as it does provide positives.

2. They can improve the learning experience

In terms of the impact on the learning experience for the student, because it is quite subtle in one respect, the effect is one that’s beneficial often without the students even realising.

For example, we generally learn better when we see information represented in a visual way. If we can also interact with that information (or see it being interacted with), something that interactive whiteboards do perfectly, the amount of information absorbed and retained by the student could be increased considerably.

This is all just looking at the basic functionality of these whiteboards, too – when we start to look at the add-ons that are available (such as those which allow students to interact with the screen via individual devices) and the advanced functionality they offer (a great example is the ability to save and share what has been written on the whiteboard on top of any image projected onto it), the learning possibilities are endless.

3. They make the teaching process more effective

With the use of technology in the classroom being ever more apparent over the last few years, it has become somewhat of a battle for many teachers to make the best use of the technology whilst delivering the necessary teaching points and retaining full control over the students at the same time.

When you bring an interactive whiteboard into the teaching experience, you can essentially remove a lot of the headaches by rolling the above three points into one. For instance, rather than having to keep jumping back and forth between a computer and a whiteboard, you can remain in front of the interactive whiteboard at all times, giving you full access to your computer whilst retaining a clear view of the entire classroom.

Always striving to deliver the best services for ICT in schools we possibly can, we strongly believe interactive whiteboards can have a hugely positive impact on the entire classroom experience.

If you have any questions at all about the whiteboards we have available – or in fact any of the services on offer – don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment.