Today’s teachers are working hard to help students recover the educational, emotional and behavioral growth that was interrupted in the last few years. But successful teachers have had to change some of their tactics. For example, with student attention spans decreasing, educators are rethinking their classroom lessons. They still want to provide the same instruction, but they need to offer the instruction in shorter time blocks or use a variety of teaching methods to create immersive experiences that increase engagement.
As the art and science of teaching become more complex, educators must find and use tools that make their jobs easier and more effective. One way teachers accomplish this is by leveraging the power and versatility of projectors.
Let’s look at four ways teachers optimize their classroom projectors to enhance learning:
- Use the projector as an agenda. Teachers “run the classroom” by preparing slides for each part of the day’s lesson and projecting them throughout the class period. The slides guide the class and help everyone know exactly what task they’re on. This process helps increase students’ sense of responsibility and ownership of the work at hand. It also helps reduce classroom interruptions so teachers can focus on teaching.
- Use the projector to demonstrate the class lesson. Teachers use a variety of modalities to make sure their lessons have the most impact. And with 65% of the population being visual learners, showing, and not just telling, is essential in lessons. Teachers use the projector to show the class a graph and illustrate changes in real time, such as how a change in X affects the Y-axis. The visual gives students a richer understanding of the effect of changes.
Educators highlight artwork on projectors, zooming in to bring attention to an artist’s use of color and technique. Teachers also use projectors to isolate specific passages from books for discussion. For additional convenience, teachers can cast their instructional notes from the laptop onto the projector, so they don’t need to write notes while teaching. The modern, bright and colorful projector displays are eye-catching, vibrant and capture students’ attention, allowing them to absorb the information.
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- Use the projector to add fresh voices and perspectives to class material. Teachers bring the world to the classroom by creating virtual field trips. They connect to the internet and create virtual visits to locations that tie into the lessons. They also use Google Earth and Google Maps to help students develop a wider outlook of the world.
Educators connect their classroom projectors with other apps, such as YouTube and music streaming services, to create a fun and engaging learning environment.
Teachers use apps in conjunction with projectors to break classroom lessons into shorter, more attention-maintaining chunks. A 90-minute history lecture can be draining for students — and the teacher. But when teachers divide the lesson into smaller parts, such as by combining a shorter lecture, a class discussion, group work, a historical news recording and music from that time period, the class and teacher feel more energized and engaged.
- Use the projector to increase interactivity in the classroom. Nothing simplifies classroom instruction more than having everyone engrossed in the same task at the same time. Teachers use the projector to help students focus on a joint task. As a focal point, the projector elevates engagement with its big and bright display that can easily be seen by all students throughout the classroom.
Teachers can increase student interaction and build confidence by inviting students to participate in the lesson. Research shows that students learn when they teach others. Students can explain math problems using the projector or screen sharing, annotate notes or demonstrate an activity, elevating their knowledge and that of their classmates.
As teachers work to meet new student needs, they must use tactics that make their teaching processes simpler and easier to execute, while also ensuring their lessons are effective and engaging. Today’s modern classroom projectors give teachers versatile ways to streamline their lesson delivery while capturing student focus.
