BHUTAN TODAY The New Perspective
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Sonam Deki
In a stride towards modernizing education in rural regions, Ngangla Gewog has successfully introduced smart boards into every classroom of the remote Kagtong Primary school under Ngangla Gewog in Zhemgang. This strategic initiative aims to establish a digital learning environment within the classroom, fostering what educators term a ‘digital classroom.’ The installation was completed on May 3, 2023.
The endeavor aims to bridge the gap between conventional teaching methods and contemporary technological advancements. The smart boards, featuring touch-sensitive displays and internet connectivity, empower teachers to enhance their lessons with interactive content, images, and videos. This dynamic approach is expected to significantly enhance student engagement and comprehension.
Functioning as an all-in-one device encompassing a computer, whiteboard, projector, TV, and speaker, interactive whiteboards offer versatile functionality. The intelligent writing and touch control capabilities allow users to write, magnify, shrink, erase, and drag objects on the interface.
These Interactive whiteboards, also known as interactive flat panels or smart boards, have found extensive applications across various sectors such as schools, businesses, and offices. They offer an exceptional visual experience, advanced human-computer interaction technology, support multi-touch and multi-person writing, incorporates multimedia information processing capabilities, and is equipped with various functional apps.
Ngangla Gup said, “Interactive whiteboards seamlessly integrate diverse learning styles into a unified experience. Students can absorb information through sight, sound, and touch interaction with the board. This equips teachers with innovative approaches to deliver the same subject matter, resulting in enhanced learning and retention. Interactive whiteboards encourage students to actively engage with the learning material, making them active participants in the lesson and even facilitators for each other. Their comprehension of the subject is demonstrated through touch, drawing, or writing on the board. Additionally, interactive educational games can involve the entire class, providing immediate feedback for both students and teachers to assess progress. These whiteboards are low-maintenance, eliminating the need for chalk, markers, or other writing tools. Specialized pens are used for highlighting, drawing, and writing, eliminating mess and simplifying upkeep. Various forms of media, from images and graphs to maps and videos, can be displayed on the interactive whiteboard, offering educators a plethora of options to create captivating lessons. All lessons and student work can be saved for future reference.”
He further added, “We are also in the process of planning installations at Panbang Primary School in the near future.”
Rinchen Ngedup, Officiating Principal of Kagtong Primary School said, “Smart Board helps teachers deliver lessons more efficiently and saves time on manual tasks such as writing on traditional boards with chalk. It allows for enhanced multimedia capabilities, making it easy to integrate video, audio, images, and websites into lessons. We can download and use various educational software and apps. It also increases efficiency by allowing teachers to quickly access and display materials like graphs, charts, and visuals.”
Sonam Penjor, a teacher at Kagtong, shared, “It allows teachers and students to learn collaboratively. We can create more dynamic lessons by writing or typing on the screen, calling attention to certain topics with highlights, circles, arrows, or zooming in and displaying videos, images, and presentations. We can save the notes that we have taught in the class so we can create review materials for students to bring home. It also makes the classroom work for everyone because students can see everything the teacher is doing and interact with their peers too. It also increases studentsโ engagement, interest, and motivation because when the Smart board is used in the classroom, it presents unknown materials and will pique the interest of students. It will also increase curiosity because they will experience something for the first time, so I think it will provide positive motivation by increasing their interest in the course. It also improves student success because it has been proven that students who learned with interactive whiteboard did significantly better on standardized tests than those who did not use the technology.”
“Teaching students using smart boards has transformed the conventional classroom experience. The infusion of technology into the education method has led to an enhanced level of involvement. Through smart boards, lessons spring to life, allowing educators to smoothly switch between visual aids, videos, and interactive exercises. This multi-sensory method captures students’ focus and serves different learning preferences, making intricate concepts more reachable. Moreover, smart boards enable lively presentations that can be tailored to match the pace and requirements of the class. Though the shift to smart boards might have initially required some adjustment, the benefits have been significant. Both educators and students have embraced this technology-centered approach, discovering it as an efficient tool for fostering a more interactive, captivating, and immersive learning atmosphere at Kagtong PS,” said Tshering Dendup, a teacher.
Pema Tshering Yangki, the class four student of Kagtong, said, “Interactive boards engage learners with visual and interactive tools such as digital pens and 3-D images, videos, etc., to enhance understanding of the concepts, making learning more dynamic and engaging.”
“It enhances visual learning, encourages interactive participation, and provides modern technology-driven educational experiences,” said Jigme Tenzin Dorji, a class five student.
Similarly, a class four student Pema Wangden said, “Smart board benefits students with disabilities/learning disabilities as they can use it to interact with content in different ways, such as through touch, sound, or visual aids like images and videos.”
Gewog’s decision to introduce smart boards aligns with their commitment to delivering quality education and preparing students for the challenges of the modern world. The initiative has garnered praise from the local community as a significant stride towards equipping students with digital literacy skills.
The introduction of smart boards in Kagtong Primary School marks advancement in modernizing rural education. These interactive whiteboards offer diverse functionalities, empowering educators to deliver dynamic and engaging lessons that cater to different learning styles. Students actively participate in the learning process, which enhances comprehension and retention. The use of multimedia, interactive exercises and educational apps contributes to a technology-driven educational experience, boosting student engagement and motivation.
Ngangla Gewog’s commitment to digital literacy and quality education is laudable, and the future installations at Panbang Primary School hold promise for further improving learning outcomes.
