New Zealand schools have generally been quick to adopt the advantages of digital learning, among them Queen Margaret College. The College is Wellington’s largest independent girls’ school and the only one that offers the IB Diploma as part of a dual pathway qualification.
The college has a proven record in providing a world-class education from pre-school to year 13. This can, in part, be attributed to the way it has increasingly embraced new technologies to enhance teaching and learning. An example of this is the school’s 1:1 Laptop Programme from years 6 to 13, and more recently, the Epson interactive projectors that were adopted last year.
“We’ve used other interactive devices in the past but they weren’t as easy to use or as cost effective as these ones,” said Queen Margaret College’s head of e-Learning, Richard Knuckey. “We were initially just after some new, high-quality short-throw projectors and found that the Epson EB485Wi offered exactly what we wanted, but with the added bonus of interactivity. With the interactivity built into the projector, set-up and installation was straightforward and they were better value than other interactive systems we’d seen. Plus the software seemed intuitive and easy to use.
“The school had a brand-new, state-of-the-art gymnasium and classroom block built last year, called the Hobson Complex, and we fitted all of its six classrooms with the Epson projectors. “They are being used primarily by our languages department, although we are increasingly looking to put them throughout the rest of the school as the existing brands reach the end of their lives. They’ve added a lot more scope to our teaching and learning practices, such as adding variety to lessons and allowing teachers to use drag functions to make key association between words, illustrations and concepts. Plus, they provide students with opportunities to complete quiz tasks in front of the class, which is always popular. Overall, the interactive technology has resulted in a notable increase in student engagement.
As with all new technology, Mr Knuckey says, there are still challenges in mastering some of the features, such as harnessing the benefits of the text recognition tools and use of the Wi-Fi functionality. He and other teachers that use the boards will explore these and other features over the course of this year, then share the knowledge learned with other teachers at the school. But he has already pronounced the Epson technology a success.
“As well as providing lessons with more variety, they add to collaborative learning as well as allowing a student a bigger stage on which to share her digital learning with classmates. “Overall, we are very happy with our Epson projectors. They’ve been a good investment. We’re still a work in progress with them, but so far, it’s all good.”
