Purchasing their first AVerMedia cp130 Visualiser recently, staff and children at the Queen Eleanor Primary School in Milton Keynes have been astonished not only with the technology’s power, but its incredible versatility.
They’ve since discovered an enormous range of applications – from viewing maps and studying works of art to performing detailed plant dissections – and with everyone busy thinking up innovative, exciting new ones, the technology has become hugely popular with all age groups.
Based in Milton Keynes – a town renowned for progressive thinking – the fact that Queen Eleanor Primary School takes its technology so seriously perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Headmaster, Brian Kite, even runs a newsletter – ICTeachers – aimed at specialist technology educators, and its 280 pupils had been enjoying the benefits of interactive whiteboards and laptops in the school’s classrooms for some time when the Queen Eleanor discovered the AVerMedia CP130 Visualiser.
It has though, made quite an impact.
Allowing teachers to enlarge small text to any size without a scanner or copier it has, for example, enabled Year 1 pupils to study books and texts that would usually have been
too small to share, or that would be prohibitively expensive to buy in multiple copies. Many previously inaccessible works have been added to the school’s teaching materials as a result.
Year 6 pupils meanwhile, were able to zoom in and examine some objects that were too fragile to be passed around, using the unit’s flexible head to view the items from multiple angles clearly, and in real time.
The school is also delighted with the visualiser’s versatility across the spectrum of subjects, its teachers having already conceived a wide range of applications, such as the video-capture of science experiments that can’t be conducted ‘live’ because of health and safety guidelines.
Other uses include the display, collective study, annotation of:
• Technical objects in DT
• Ordnance Survey maps in geography
• Plant dissections and other practical sessions
• Famous works and techniques in art
• Delicate historical resources
• Additional texts, images and objects added at the last minute
without the need for additional preparation time
And
• Allowing children to share their work with their teachers and classmates as it happens rather than tomorrow, or “when the photocopier’s free”.
The school sees similar potential for the visualiser in subjects less commonly associated with such technologies; in Maths – to view items such as 3D shapes and teach practical numeracy skills like counting with coins – and even PE where skills and moves can be video-captured for play back later.
The benefits have been significant :-
• Fast install and set-up
• Greater freedom of choice over teaching resources and methods
• Freedom from traditional purchasing constraints
• Broader, deeper curriculum choices
And because staff needed only a few minutes to grasp the basics, they were quickly able to begin using the system to deliver smoother, more productive lessons.
“Teachers are often reluctant to try new technology”, says Mrs Ann Davies, “especially if it appears cumbersome, difficult to set up, or if it doesn’t support more effective teaching. As such, the AVerMedia visualiser was a surprise for many of our teachers, proving an easy to use, quick to set-up, practical addition to the classroom.”
“The software was fast and simple to install and use too. It was easily uploadable to the teachers’ laptops for added portability, and works fantastically with our interactive whiteboards without software conflicts. Also, where enlarging pictures with other software generally meant at least some picture degradation, this is not something I experience with the visualiser.”
Amazed at how easy the technology is to use, the children too have seen an immediate benefit; there is now greater discussion and feedback, completed work has been of a higher standard, and pupils are even bringing in their own texts to share with friends.
“The Queen Eleanor also has a number of visually impaired children who’ll benefit greatly from the visualiser’s ability to enlarge the kind of texts and illustrations they often can’t enjoy to the same degree without enhancement.”
Mrs Davies is equally impressed with the visualiser’s “slim, lightweight, unobtrusive, aesthetically pleasing” design.
“The flexible arm can be moved to an endless variety of angles and positions, and was so easy to use that other teachers wanted to have a go; even our less confident IT users. It takes up less space than a conventional overhead projector and – appearing more like a modern art light piece than a complex piece of techno kit – it even looked good!!”
Noting that the school will buy more units as further budget becomes available, Mrs Davies describes the visualiser’s greatest benefit as its “here and now spontaneity”.
“We want to share things with our classes as they happen – a child’s work, a new picture. However, because of traditional constraints, we often couldn’t. The AVerMedia visualiser removes these issues, enabling teachers to make exciting choices about what resources
to show and share, and how. It has proved itself a really useful addition to the classroom.”
“Thanks to Avermedia for bringing this great resource to our school. I hope others will try one too and see how it can enhance the work teachers do.”
“… a really useful addition to the classroom, enabling greater
utilisation of resources which could not otherwise have been used…”
Mrs Ann Davies, Queen Eleanor Primary School