Assessing the needs of both students and teachers in the classroom, taking into account their different sizes, matters when choosing products to help the learning process. The fewer obstacles, the better experience for each individual.
I was always a tall kid, not a giant, just taller than most. In line with the times, that typically meant that my desk was at the back of the row. I can’t remember exactly when it happened, in fact, it probably was a gradual thing – I couldn’t see the board from my place at the back of the classroom. I don’t recall saying anything about not being able to see and no one asked. Instead I went inside myself – listening to the teacher, working on my own as required, doing my homework. I really liked everything about school – all of my subjects, my classmates and my teachers.
Learning obstacles
Then things started to fall off the rails for me. In grade six I recall noticing that I couldn’t see. I felt left out and frustrated. No surprise – what had really been inside behavior started to be my outside behavior. I joked around and said that I didn’t care about learning and doing well. And soon enough, that behavior played out in my grades.
Valuing seeing and hearing
Making sure that all children can see and hear in the classroom remains a priority today. These two senses are invaluable to the learning process for the majority of students. We certainly had children at the back of the classroom in mind when we created the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, the world’s first and still best-loved interactive whiteboard/display.
We researched the metrics that would allow a child at the back of a 30-student classroom to still see the displayed image. We knew the challenges that schools faced with TV sets on stands and how kids would often tune out during their use. While TVs were largely used for video, interactive displays must show data as well and that introduces more stringent challenges.
How large is large enough?
An interactive display replicates the user interface from a computer, a fact that puts some limitations on the overall size. With much of the interface at the top of applications, the top of the interactive display must be reachable. Couple that with the evolution of the aspect ratio of displays in new computers (from 4 by 3 to 16 by 9) and it really does require a deep understanding of how large is large enough.
Setting the resolution of the displayed image can improve the ability for all children to see as can increasing the font size in many applications. Thinking proactively about managing this issue is important because students will often just disengage rather than speak up.
One thing that has improved through time that assists in the process is the brightness and contrast on both projectors and flat panels. Both of these elements are particularly important for displaying video.
Imagine the different sizes of users in an elementary classroom – the range is significant between teacher and students. Making the board height adjustable via a floor stand or wall-mount works for many situations.
Purchase decisions
Thinking about the needs of all children in today’s classrooms is a critical part of the purchase decision. A display that is too small, too dim with too little contrast for children at the back of the classroom simply is not a good choice at any price.
Postscript
Oh, yes, in case you are wondering, my vision issue was resolved in grade seven and I got my performance back on track.
