Alexandre Titin Snaider: Director of development at Promethean
Promethean, a business set up by six teachers in 1996, guides the educational world and local communities in the modernisation of schools through the invention, promotion and introduction of collaborative and interactive tools, (interactive whiteboards, voting systems, training tools, online educational community). Promethean works with partners, both public and private, who are sensitive to the educational investment in children in sustainable development, and supports TIC 21.
How did you strike up interest in IWB (Interactive Whiteboards) for education in sustainable development?
We were approached with respect to sustainable development strategies by two companies: Deyrolle, a company specialising in educational material to teach natural science, and Ecobase21, the driving force in research on sustainable development, which was looking for partners to improve their training in sustainable development. We therefore considered the consequences of a certificate for interactive whiteboards. We were inclined towards Deyrolle’s interactive boards. Everyone remembers the old maps of the world that lined the walls of our classrooms, well, it was Deyrolle that made them.
These interactively connected boards means higher concentration because the content being taught is dynamic. This allows teachers to encourage pupils to learn and communicate what they know. The IWB is not an effective tool unless it is linked to good content.
An example?
Pupils are reached out to more effectively with the IWB because of its interactive programme. This tool has been approached by local organisations such as mayoral offices. Prices go from between 1000€ to 5000€, which includes the equipment and access to the online service at promethanplanet.com, where 150,000 teachers exchange information every day. The IWB is a technological tool but it’s also a community, a forum and an educational programme.
We have developed a system of testing and evaluating that allows pupils to respond to multiple-choice questions given by the teacher with a remote control.
How much equipment is being used in classrooms?
More and more communities are putting the modernisation of schools at the top of the educational agenda. 430,000 IWBs have been purchased in the UK. They can also be found in Spain, Portugal and Italy, who are putting in place equipment at a national level.
Many countries are equipping themselves, and not just the countries one expects. Kazakhstan is for example better equipped than France, where there are now 8000 IWBs in use. In Limoges, the French are trialling their own IWBs, with 130 classrooms equipped. Both Périgueux and Elancourt are also installing this technology, where they have just opened the doors to the EANA Park, the first French sustainable development themed park, and have equipped all the rooms with this technology. The system is accessible to disabled people because it is possible to move the whiteboards to floor level. There is also version without cables and the capability to install inductive loops for the visually impaired.
In terms of grades in schools, what are the results?
At the Bugatti College in Strasbourg, a teacher evaluated the impact on grades after one year of using IWBs. Half the students improved by 2 marks. The difference was even more marked with students who were struggling.
In Morocco, it has been called the magic board, but it’s clear that without a teacher, the magic wouldn’t work. In the UK, a study shows that 90% of students are more motivated than ever after 5 years of use. The subjects that adapt themselves best to the interactive whiteboard are above all maths, physics, biology, technology, history and geography, but also modern languages and literature. Child psychologists have published studies that revealed that certain areas of the brain are more strongly stimulated than others by the IWB.
Do you guide teachers in the use of the IWB?
There is an initial training session of 3 hours for every teacher using the equipment. Following this, the educational training is continued in the National Education curriculum.
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