These days students have shorter attention spans than ever. Keeping them engaged with the old school method- doesn’t work. Do you agree?
According to a study by the University of South Florida, students pay attention to the first 15 minutes of the class, and then it fades away. The study also found that engaging lesson plans that include audio-visual mediums, games, and assessments increase the attention span by more than 30-40 minutes.
Probably, that’s one of the biggest reasons why teachers, schools, colleges, and institutions are now adopting smart tactics to engage—like building a smart classroom.
A smart classroom is a concept to equip classrooms with technical devices to enhance the learning and teaching experience in the school for both teachers and students. Smart classroom resources help you create engaging learning plans for your students that help you deliver lectures efficiently.
Let’s understand smart classrooms in detail, including their objectives, their importance, and much more.
What is a Smart Classroom?
Smart Classrooms are equipped with technological resources, such as interactive whiteboards, projectors, pens, & multimedia devices.
These Classrooms aim to keep students engaged in learning. It involves the use of visual and audio means rather than only textbooks. It helps the students grasp the concepts faster and more excitingly.
The structure of these classrooms is often student-led, emphasising creative, experimental and collaborative learning. It focuses on the student’s learning needs. It allows them to lead, explore, and investigate learning according to their preferred needs.
What is the Importance of a Smart Classroom?
Smart classrooms are designed with a common goal of personalised teaching-learning among students.
This would mean:
- Providing students audio visual learning.
- Reducing the need for paper and other traditional materials.
- Covering lessons at one’s own pace
- Engaging in collaborative discussions with classmates.
- Being able to learn concepts faster.
Smart classrooms are also implied upon teachers who are responsible for one-to-many classroom interaction.
It provides the flexibility to deliver and teach lesson plans in alignment with the student’s pace. They can simply use technological whiteboards and digital lessons instead of textbooks to allow students to gain an understanding of concepts. Doing so would require minimal intervention from the teacher, thus saving time while turning lessons interactive.
What are the Objectives of a Smart Classroom?
Smart classrooms focus on improving the teaching-learning experience. Teachers often make use of technology (such as internet integration for lessons)—allowing easy incorporation of resources like YouTube videos, Simulation, images, animation etc.
The major objectives of the Smart classroom are:
1. Create an active learning environment in the classroom.
2. Gets students to participate in experiential activities.
3. Builds a learning environment that is beneficial for each student.
4. Makes the student attentive during the learning process.
5. Supports teachers in creating a dynamic learning environment.
What is the Structure of a Smart Classroom?
The structure of a smart classroom is not entirely dissimilar from the classrooms of yesteryear. For example, there is still a teacher standing in front of the class to deliver the lesson; the students remain seated with eyes in the direction of the teacher, and there remains a board behind the teacher to explain the concept. This is where the similarities end, however.
- Computers
In smart classrooms, the teacher prioritises interactive engagement over a rigid lesson plan. Students, facing the teacher with attentive expressions, often have laptops/notebooks on their desks.
Using computers helps align tasks, reduces teachers’ workload, and offers students a preference for digital work. Faster typing, no manual writing, and reduced paper usage contribute to an efficient and eco-friendly learning environment.
- Interactive Intelligence Panel
An interactive intelligence panel enhances the teaching methodology in a classroom, avoiding the drawbacks of a worn-out traditional whiteboard/blackboard.
It offers a platform for teachers where they can write, erase, teach with ppt, pdf, case studies, videos, access online resources, browse through the internet and can do many more activities to enhance teaching and learning experience in a classroom. The intelligence panel board serves as a versatile tool for teachers.
- Internet Connectivity System
The key to the smart classroom is the internet connection. You’ll be required to have a high-speed, stable internet connection to operate an interactive panel and computer.
The internet connection allows you to access digital content, utilise multiple features available with internet connection and more. The fusion of the internet in the classroom transforms the classroom settings into an experiential, interactive space, departing from the outdated, behaviourist model of the past.
Apart from these, a smart class can also include multiple smart equipment for the classroom, like a digital podium, audio system, wireless microphone, etc.
Difference Between a Smart Classroom and a Normal Classroom
As mentioned in the previous section, there are noticeable differences – from the delivery of the lesson to the functionality of the lesson. However, if we delve further, we might notice some added differences.
| Smart Classrooms | Normal Classrooms |
| Laptops/Chromebooks | Old textbooks |
| Interactive, online classroom | Pens/pencils |
| Clean, paperless | Cluttered, messy |
| Faster, digital online grading | Grading hundreds of physical papers |
| Lessons plans easily accessible by cloud | Physical lesson plans forever remade |
These are all positive differences which not only make the school experience a more modern one designed to cater to the vastly different and tech-dependent younger generations but also make the teaching experience less work-heavy.
With smart classroom:
- Once a lesson plan has been created, it can be stored on the cloud or a harddrive, meaning that it will never require creation again.
- The teacher can grasp the attention of students with an exciting lesson.
- More freedom to interact and a willingness to study and achieve the grades students are capable of.
- Digital grading for exam papers eases the work of teachers.
Advantages of Smart Classrooms
It’s no secret that smart classrooms have achieved success in gaining interest among students.
Some of the advantages of smart classrooms are:
- Enhanced engagement between the students and teachers.
- Lesson plans can be explained in exceptional graphics and visual presentations.
- Student progress can be monitored and analysed with digital rewards.
- Tests and exams can be conducted online and remotely.
- Assignments can be distributed with ease.
Ready to Turn Your Boring Classrooms to an Interactive One? Senses Will Help!
Smart classrooms are the future, and the future is here with the offer of interactive technologies, happier students, and a less overworked teacher looking to deliver the best lesson possible.
Senses Electronics offers India’s best intelligent, interactive panel for education, trusted by over 4000+ schools. Senses Electronics holds 70% of the total market share.
The Senses Panel provides various features, commands and tools for your smart classroom.
Some of the significant features of Senses electronic Panels:
- Available in different types and size
Senses electronics interactive panel is available in two types- Sense Edge & Sense Pro with multiple sizes – 65, 75, 86, & 98.
- In-built Audio System
The Sense board has an in-built audio system; no external audio system is needed. The panel is equipped with a-high quality Bose-speaker.
- Multi-touch gesture
The panel has a multi-touch gesture allowing the teacher and students to touch anywhere to control the panel. The feature can help you to create collaborative learning in class.
- Easy to operate
The Intelligence interactive Panel (IIP) of Sense is easy to operate like a laptop/desktop.
- Availability of Multiple language
Teachers can teach with Sense board in multiple languages, like Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati etc.
- In-built icons, images, and shapes
In sense boards icons, images, and shapes are available to teach with for Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology, and Geography. 3-D library is available to teach for class k-12.
- Multi-canvas and board-in-board
The Sense Interactive panel offers multi-canvas allowing teachers to write and move for a new page. All canvas will be saved at which the teacher can jump. Moreover, to elaborate any out-of-box query from students while teaching, You can use the board in board feature. It helps you solve a particular query without disturbing the on-going lesson.
- Equipped with Artificial intelligence
The Sense board has In-built AI features to help dictate the text, generate AI content, convert handwritten text to computer-generated text. In addition, the AI also helps to read text written on the board for the classroom.
- Annotate and teach
With the smart sense board, you can annotate on images, videos, icons, shapes, screenshots, PPT, pdfs or anything to explain the concept. While highlighting something you can also use a magnifier tool that will zoom that particular portion for centre of attention.
Apart from these there are other numerous features to ease your teaching and learning for students in a smart classroom.
Want to learn more about Sense boards? Schedule a free demo today.
Senses Interactive Panel- Revolutionizing Classroom Education by Replacing Whiteboards
