One of the most rewarding parts of our job is seeing how new technology transforms teaching. The reality is though, that for a long list of reasons most schools don’t yet have the latest and greatest teaching tools in every classroom.

In the meantime, here are 5 ways you can still deliver outstanding teaching using your ageing interactive whiteboards…

Software! Free trials, updates and more

Sometimes the most effective first step is a simple one! Perhaps you’re using SMART Notebook 11 to present your lessons? This version is now 8 years old, and by upgrading to SMART Notebook 19 alongside SMART Learning Suite, you have access to SMART Activities, SMART Assessment tools and a range of powerful teaching tools. Although these are ideally used on a touchscreen, they can bring easy wins to teaching and learning. Speak to us about free trials, training and low-cost upgrades.

Another exciting option is Learning by Questions – 50,000 curriculum-linked questions are available to all schools free of charge! Then a low-cost upgrade provides a range of transformative teaching tools to free up teachers’ time, streamline assessment and enable immediate intervention. As a leading partner of Learning by Questions, we can provide your school with free introductory training – just get in touch.

Wordwall, TinkerCad and a range of other browser-based software are also excellent options. All available for use on your old hardware. Contact us today.

Classroom Visualisers

A classroom visualiser is often under-rated as a powerful teaching tool and is also an affordable technology.  You can, of course, use your old display without the need for interactivity.

Used to display text, images and objects in large-scale on your classroom display, they can be used for peer assessment, show-and-tell, teaching letter formation, STEM lessons and indeed any other curriculum area.

At Elementary Technology we are continually working with our customers to develop new lesson ideas using visualisers, as well as success stories and more. In the meantime, download our Visualiser Guide for a kickstart, ask for a demonstration or chat with us online.

Non-Interactive Presentations

Non-interactive presentations, which do not require touch-technology, are of course a good option for teachers. Although more effective using interactivity, SMART Notebook, Promethean Activinspire and even Powerpoint present engaging content with control using a computer mouse or laptop. Most lesson builders allow integration of YouTube videos natively, alongside of course photography, text, online images and more. Until you start considering an upgrade to fully-interactive technology, speak to us for more ideas on how to make the most of these non-interactive presentation tools.

Mobile devices (whether students bring their own device (BYOD) or they belong to the school) allow content sharing, independent self-paced working, peer assessment and cloud-based lesson and content storage.

Collaborative Coding and STEM Kits

If you are looking for a way to get your pupils working together and in a more hands-on way, there are a range of collaborative kits available – perfect for STEM curriculum, variety in the classroom and closing the STEM boy/girl skills gap. From starter kits to those which require knowledge already in place, you can get a STEM/STEAM kit which benefits the kinaesthetic learners. The pupils get to work in teams to create, code, build and learn while they have fun doing it.

Our unique Classroom Healthcheck®

Finally, we’d love to come help you. If your school is planning for the future of your technology, upgrades, how you will manage tight budgets, where and how to prioritise and so on, the best place to start is our free Classroom Healthcheck® (worth £299). It provides you with a detailed hard copy report of how the performance of your technology is affecting teaching and learning, helping you plan, prioritise and implement when the time is right.

See a quick snapshot of how it can help your school!