With all the new tech coming out, we will come up with something to make learning a lot easier. Researchers at Durham University in the UK are using multi-touch desks to develop the world’s first interactive classroom. In England’s Durham University, researchers received about $3 million to create SynergyNet, a system of infrared-sensitive multi-touch desks for children. The goal is to improve collaboration between students and with their teachers, and to engage “hard to reach” kids, especially boys who are increasingly disenfranchised. “The new desk can be both a screen and a keyboard. It can act like a multi-touch whiteboard and several students can use it at once,” said Dr Liz Burd, who led the university’s Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) group that developed them. You can watch a short video (1 minute and 15 seconds) — also available from the Multitouch project page — to see how these screens are used for teaching.
The SynergyNet solution — whose motto is ‘Supporting Collaborative Learning in an Immersive Environment’ — “will integrate Information Communications technology (ICT) into the fabric of the classroom. The new desk with a ‘multi-touch’ surface will be the central component; the desks will be networked and linked to a main smartboard offering new opportunities for teaching and collaboration. Several students will be able to work together at a desk as the desks allow simultaneous screen contact by multiple users using fingers or pens. Durham researchers want to create a ‘natural way’ for students to use computers in class. The system encourages collaboration between students and teachers, and a move away from teacher-centric learning.”
While this is an awesome idea, some have said that this might not be the best idea for learning children. The reason for this is because a lot tend to think that the reason why kids fail in school is because children don’t pay attention to their teachers and just look down. What your idea?
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