Five Questions to Ask Before Buying an Interactive Display

Technology procurement teams also need to consider licensing fees, software upgrades, maintenance, warranty, and additional hardware expenses. They even must consider installation expenses, such as removing previously installed hardware or having to cancel school.

standard with three-year warranties (with the option to extend) and no software or renewal fees. Well-designed displays are even designed to reduce maintenance and hardware expenses. For example, they can be configured, maintained, and upgraded remotely without the need to be on site. To reduce additional purchases, digital whiteboards should be equipped with and speakers for video conferencing. Styluses and erases should be passive, meaning that they can stand alone and never need to be paired, recharged, or have batteries replaced.

It’s easy to design software that’s loud and shiny. However, it’s much more difficult to build something that’s loud, shiny, AND useful. Software features should help increase student engagement, success, and retention. These features should also be intuitive and easy to incorporate into everyday lesson plans. Some of the most popular engagement features include sticky notes, cloud storage access, annotation tools, screen sharing, and recording options.

Implementing educational technology that is difficult to use will result in thousands of dollars being wasted on something that will basically become an oversized coat rack in the corner. Ease of use is important as it cuts down on training time and more importantly ensures that teachers will be comfortable using it in front of students. Top quality digital whiteboards surpass the competition by using intuitive software that is designed with teachers in mind, which means that they will increase transparency and flexibility in the classroom.

The most versatile alert systems display both text and videos. They are also easy to use, meaning that they can be programmed and updated in an online calendar. Additionally, broadcast systems should be flexible enough to use between different types of technology, allowing interactive panels, smart projectors, and digital signage to work together, keeping students informed of necessary information.

Usually, an afterthought in the purchasing decision, the health effects of new technology should be at the forefront of the conversation. After all, it’s important that any new device being introduced to the classroom won’t have any adverse health effects. Children spend the majority of their time and it’s best to keep the germs to a minimum, especially when multiple classes are using the same equipment. Health conscious interactive displays are built with germ-resistant screens that kill 99.9% of bacteria.