The Cheap Seats in Education.

Context matters. Every teacher works in a different setting, teaches their subject in a different style and delivers content to pupils who are working at different stages and abilities. The complexity of the classroom is difficult to breakdown, there is no one strategy to improve outcomes, but there are things we all can consider and do better. 

Every child is entitled to an equal education but this doesn’t come from simply supporting pupils and treating them equally; true inclusion comes when all pupils have the support they need.

What if teachers could genuinely meet the needs of all their pupils?

Much has changed in classrooms in recent years, affecting how lessons are taught and how teachers keep students engaged - as children become immersed in technology from such a young age. How teachers use technology to support pupils’ learning rather than hinder it, is relatively new territory.

Research by Epson shows that 40% of teachers saw a correlation between children being unable to clearly view a screen or display and lower exam and test scores. 

Seating plans, the size of a screen and its resolution clearly matter and in a landscape where technology is now dominating work and life, it needs to be taken seriously.

The use of audio-visual (AV) technologies in lessons is one example – as teachers use display screens as a core element of an engaged learning experience daily. Various authorities, including the World Health Organization, have found educational materials are remembered much better when delivered visually and interactively, rather than by one-way verbal lecture. However, a lot of teachers are still using flat-panel displays, including whiteboards, blackboards and TVs, in the classroom – which is problematic given previous Epson research, which shows that 58% of students cannot read all content on a 70-inch flat panel. This means that in a classroom with flat-panel displays, over half of students are unable to benefit from a lesson to the same extent as their peers. 

It is time to include all pupils, some of whom are currently side-lined in the classroom by poor visibility, fully in the learning experience. It is time to engage the disengaged and fascinate the distracted. It is time to stop wasting valuable time on battling old technology and instead use that time to broaden horizons, extend interests and pave the way for a lifetime of active learning.

It is time to bring schools up to date; to help students study better and teachers teach better. 

For more information please visit, https://www.epson.co.uk/insights/article/classroom-tech-is-not-making-the-grade-poor-screen-visibility-is-impacting-student-exam-results1