STEM education has been around since the early 2000s. While its core concept of blending science, technology, engineering, and math has remained largely the same, how students engage with STEM is rapidly changing.

That’s because schools are facing a new generation of students—one that craves engagement, experimentation, and collaboration. Keeping their attention is no longer about simply presenting information,¹ but letting them immerse themselves and take part in the process.

As a result, the chalk and talk, and even traditional whiteboards, are giving way to new solutions. Now, smart whiteboards, such as the BenQ Board Pro and Master, are shaping the future classroom.

Given STEM’s interdisciplinary nature—its activities include visualizing scientific phenomena to simulating technological processes—teachers need digital tools that amplify comprehension and engagement and help students develop skills beyond their core skill set.

Research shows that 96 percent of educators believe technology has a positive impact on the way students participate and learn, and 56 percent think it makes students more engaged.² This means learners are becoming participants rather than just spectators.

BenQ interactive whiteboards offer teachers and students unprecedented interactivity and flexibility. Through the BenQ Board’s Floating Tool, educators have the freedom to annotate anywhere, be it over images, videos, or diagrams. They can even connect their laptop to the board to extend and control their laptop’s screen. The ability to show real-world examples while teaching makes STEM lessons more contextual, relatable, and alive.

Note-taking is also a thing of the past. In its place, students can use EZWrite, the BenQ Board’s interactive whiteboard, to engage directly with the content, scribble their thoughts, and brainstorm collaboratively on a digital canvas. Whether it's group projects or class discussions, every voice can be heard and every idea visualized in real-time. Plus, all lessons can be recorded, exported, and shared for future reference.

Additionally, the BenQ Board boasts a variety of hardware features, including a 4K UHD screen and crisp audio capabilities. The clarity of content displayed is second to none, turning STEM topics, such as cellular structure or sound wave experiments, into captivating learning experiences.

There are many innovative ways for educators to integrate their BenQ Board into STEM. Here are four popular STEM projects to help you get inspired for your own lesson plans:

1. Building circuits

While designing a circuit is traditionally done on paper or models, we can now do better. EZWrite allows teachers to easily sketch out or import circuit diagrams while letting students annotate components as they understand them. This active engagement sharpens both memory retention and conceptual understanding.

To make this a collaborative activity, divide the class into groups and let them each tackle different circuit design challenges. BenQ Boards support multiple touch points, so teams can co-design on the same screen. Groups can join the whiteboard directly from their devices and work on their design on different pages. You can easily track their progress by checking each page, providing feedback, and sharing each group’s work with the rest of the class.

You can also increase the richness and depth of your lessons by uploading instructional videos or circuit design examples to the board.

2. Designing aquaponics systems

BenQ Boards can also function as an expansive digital log for an aquaponics project. Thanks to EZWrite’s expansive canvas, teachers and students can store, document, and reference all their data and observations in one centralized space.

Take photos of the class aquaponics system, import them into EZWrite to have a visual timeline of its progress, and then document any changes or modifications. When you need to revisit certain data points, simply zoom in or out to access the details. The best part? You never run out of space.

The BenQ Board’s split-screen feature also makes it possible for the class to see real-time video of the aquaponics system and corresponding data charts side-by-side. This provides a holistic view of how changes in one component might affect the rest of the system.

3. Competing in community innovation challenges

At the heart of any community project is collaboration, and BenQ Boards are designed to make teamwork more effortless and intuitive. 

A selection of backgrounds is available in EZWrite. They provide visual structure to the lesson, making content more engaging for students. For example, you can use the built-in SWOT analysis background to help their students organize their thoughts and map out their ideas' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And if a background you need isn’t available, simply import your own. 

No moments of genius go unnoticed, either. Use the record function to capture every minute of the brainstorming session, and review later to discuss or refine team strategies. 

Finally, when it's time to shine, EZWrite offers a dynamic platform for presentations. With 999 pages of capacity, each group has ample space to present their creativity.

Additionally, the school benefits from having a digital archive of all project details, preserving ideas and innovation for future reference.

4. Investigating chemical reactions

Capture every fizz, pop, and color change in your chemical reaction labs with 4K UHD resolution. Using a document camera lets students get a close-up view of subtle nuances in experiments.

As chemical reactions unfold, you can leverage the board’s annotation feature to write over screenshots or the live camera feed. This is an opportunity for you to provide immediate clarification of what’s happening in the beaker and help students connect visual observations with theoretical knowledge.

The future is undeniably digital, and BenQ is leading this transformation. With a deep understanding of STEM’s interdisciplinary nature, we designed our boards to transcend traditional education and empower students to explore, collaborate, and interact between different subjects while engaging with their classmates. 

BenQ Boards do more than just reinforce STEM fundamentals. They help students build other valuable skill sets, such as visual design, presentation, and teamwork. With each innovation, we not only prepare students but also empower teachers to thrive in a digital-first future. 

For more information on BenQ Boards, check out our related products below.