Whykids is a network of premier education centers for gifted young children in South Korea. Their curriculum, which caters to primary and middle school kids, is designed to nurture their students’ curiosities through fun and immersive exercises and experiments.

“The Whykids curriculum takes the constructivist approach to learning,” explains Shim Eun-hyo, director of the Whykids Center at Yeongtong-gu. The “constructivist approach” Shim is referring to is an active learning style where teachers allow children to gain knowledge and process information through different engaging activities and experiences. The key to making this teaching style work is to create a safe learning environment where kids can interact freely.

“To get that level of interactivity in lessons, we knew that relying on laptops and monitors wasn’t enough,” says Shim, referring to their old classroom setup.

Previously, lessons at Whykids involved teachers connecting their laptop to monitors where kids could view instructional images or videos. The obvious downside in this scenario was that the screens were just too small, and the students would have to huddle closely together to see what their teacher was presenting. This level of proximity between students also became a point of concern once the pandemic hit. They needed a much larger display that would allow them to evenly space out the seating of the kids in each room to prevent crowding. 

Another setback was how their original monitors did not provide the type of hands-on interactivity required by their constructivist curriculum. They needed a touchscreen solution that their kids could use for educational games and other activities. “We needed better tools that would allow us to engage our students more,” says Shim.

“We found many of the BenQ Board features, including ClassroomCare, suitable for our classes,” says Shim, explaining why the BenQ Board Pro immediately stood out to the Whykids staff. It ticks off all their requirements. It has a large touchscreen with great picture quality. Regardless of where they’re seated in the room, students are able to clearly see the lesson materials. The Boards also have different ClassroomCare features, which gives the staff peace of mind as these provide a healthy layer of protection when the kids use the screen.

Whykids teachers consider software like InstaShare, which they use for wireless screen sharing, and the EZWrite whiteboard, essential for their classes. These give teachers all the necessary tools they need in one solution. They are now able to present slides, load cloud-based activities, or use the display as a whiteboard without having to switch devices. This flexibility allows them to do more during lessons.

The BenQ Boards were only originally meant to allow teachers at Whykids to engage their students more. And according to Shim, the boards are fulfilling that need. “Our lessons are now effectively more immersive and interactive,” she says. But as the pandemic began affecting in-person classes, it was their BenQ Boards’ ClassroomCare features that really stood out to both the faculty and the students’ parents.

“ClassroomCare left a good impression on everyone,” says Jung Ji-woong, manager of OWRA Inc., Whykids’ system integrator. Jung recounts how parents openly expressed their appreciation for BenQ Board’s health-centered technologies: “COVID was a very sensitive period, and the germ-resistant screen helped relieve their anxieties.”

More than the BenQ Board’s antibacterial screen, Jung notes that the children’s parents are also impressed by the attention BenQ has given to protect other aspects of student health. “They were also satisfied with the smart eye care solutions… [and] liked that it monitored the air quality,” he says.

Whykids has even made it a point to promote the fact that their classrooms get an extra level of protection because of their BenQ Boards. According to Jung, Whykids has posted the ClassroomCare certifications on their school sign boards. “It’s one of the things that has made a lot of parents choose Whykids. They don’t have to worry about the learning environment,” he says.