Three ways interactive displays allow teachers to do more with less

Amid persistent staff shortages, schools and educators are under pressure to do more with fewer resources. Recent Samsung-commissioned research shows 75 per cent of Australian educators report being impacted by the teacher shortage, with 61 per cent taking on more responsibilities as a result.

While addressing resourcing strains is a multi-faceted challenge, many schools are investing in education technology to help teachers work smarter and more effectively. Most teachers (71 per cent) say technology can help improve the quality of learning opportunities they provide students, while almost half (49 per cent) say it can help them overcome some issues caused by teacher shortages.

Technology investment allows teachers to use existing resources more effectively and improve outcomes for students. The NSW Department of Education’s Schools Digital Strategy reports that digitalisation has freed up teachers’ time, enabling more one-on-one student support and greater capacity to be present in the classroom for effective and engaging teaching.

Schools achieve better results when investment is incorporated into a wider ‘connected campus’ strategy, where digital technologies are integrated into learning and administrative processes, extending beyond classrooms to common areas and at-home learning.

Digital displays – like Samsung’s Flip Pro and WAD devices – are an integral part of the connected campus vision. They enable more engaging, collaborative, and interactive educational experiences, allowing educators to create more cohesive and dynamic lesson plans.

While each school has different use cases and strategies for digital displays, here are three ways this rapidly evolving technology allows teachers to do more with the resources they have.

1. Teachers can tailor lessons to their students’ needs, using familiar tools

One of the greatest challenges for teachers is creating lessons that resonate effectively with the unique needs of students. Every student has different learning styles, abilities and preferences, making it crucial that teachers have the tools they need to tailor lessons effectively.

Interactive displays offer a wide range of features and tools that can be easily customised. They enable teachers to create dynamic lessons that incorporate multimedia elements, such as videos, images, and interactive activities, which cater to different learning styles.

For example, the screen-sharing capability of Samsung’s new WAD devices allows up to nine students to display their work directly from their devices onto the large screen, fostering a collaborative learning environment. Multi-Screen Mode allows teachers to display and read multiple screens simultaneously, enabling them to cater to multiple students at the same time.

The WAD also uses a familiar Android-based operating system, reducing the learning curve for teachers and giving them access to a leading application marketplace to create even more diverse educational experiences.

2. Interactive lesson plans that substitute teachers can easily pick up

Amid staff shortages and limited resources, particularly in remote areas, effective planning for teacher absences is critical. Interactive displays help teachers manage different classes and easily hand over lesson plans to substitutes, ensuring continuity in the classroom and minimal disruption to students.

Samsung’s Flip Pro and WAD displays are designed to facilitate the creation of interactive lesson plans that can be used and tracked across different teaching environments. Teachers can prepare detailed curriculums incorporating a variety of multimedia elements and interactive activities, which can be easily tracked and accessed by other educators – including substitutes – as needed.

The ability to save and share lesson plans also enables more collaborative teaching environments. Teachers can work together to develop comprehensive lesson plans aligning with curriculum standards and best practices, and these plans can then be shared across different classes or even schools.

These capabilities provide more consistent learning experiences for students and help teachers better manage administrative processes. It also helps them more accurately track and monitor student’s progress, as they can easily refer to work carried out in previous lessons.

3. Capturing the attention of larger classes

In many schools, particularly those facing staff shortages, teachers are often responsible for managing larger-than-average class sizes. In such environments, capturing and maintaining students’ attention can be particularly challenging. Digital displays help make lessons more engaging and easier to follow by offering interactive experiences with large vibrant screens and clear audio.

Samsung’s digital displays are equipped with high-definition screens that provide sharp, clear visuals, ensuring all students can see the lesson content clearly, regardless of where they’re seated in the classroom. The powerful audio systems built into these displays also ensure that teachers’ voices, videos, and other audio content are heard by everyone, making it easier to keep the entire class engaged.

The ability to integrate multimedia elements into lessons – such as videos, interactive simulations, and real-time annotations – also helps make learning more dynamic and interesting. These features are particularly effective in capturing the attention of students who may otherwise struggle to stay focused in a large or noisy classroom setting.

By making lessons more interactive, teachers can better manage large classrooms and ensure that all students are actively participating.

Overcoming adoption barriers to achieve a brighter connected future

Despite the obvious benefits of digital display technology, there are still a range of barriers to adoption that must be addressed.

Samsung’s data shows some of the biggest challenges to integrating technology within Australian schools is affordability (60 per cent) and managing educators’ personal time constraints for learning/upskilling in technology tools (50 per cent). A lack of technological confidence and proficiency is also a significant barrier faced by educators in Victoria (45 per cent), Queensland (41 per cent) and New South Wales (38 per cent).

While Samsung’s Flip Pro and WAD devices are simple to set up and use, schools may still require additional support and expertise to develop a connected campus strategy that works best for their requirements. Samsung has developed an integrated connected campus solution to address this challenge, allowing schools to build a holistic, cost-effective strategy that takes advantage of digital display technology.

Digital display technology helps teachers do more with limited resources, creating better outcomes for students. They’re a simple yet strategic investment, helping schools meet modern teaching requirements whilst ensuring all students have equitable access to the learning resources they need to thrive.

Do you have an idea for a story?
Email [email protected]