Case Study: Ransom Everglades

Challenges and Goals cont...

“I was first exposed to interactive whiteboard technology about five years ago,” said Duty. “It was exciting to see it in action but it was not financially prudent, so we kept using our basic non-integrated teaching tools – blackboards, whiteboards, projectors and computers.”

Even though it was financially out of reach then, Duty was persistent in persuading others at Ransom Everglades, and especially those on the technology committee at the school, to keep an open mind.

The committee did their homework. They felt an interactive whiteboard was the key to creating a teaching system, rather than the piecemeal approach they had used before. They researched, interviewed and evaluated several interactive whiteboard companies. And, while similar in nature, none of the interactive whiteboards they reviewed met their list of criteria: a teaching solution that would integrate with existing equipment, be easy for teachers to use, and be a true change-agent for helping students to excel in math as well as their other coursework.

In 2002 things changed. The committee’s due diligence paid off. Duty attended the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC), going from booth to booth looking for the preeminent interactive whiteboard. Enter, the Activclassroom System.

“I stopped by Promethean’s booth, the makers of the Activboard system, and watched a demonstration,” said Duty. “I was absolutely fascinated. It wasn’t just an interactive whiteboard – it was a new way of teaching and truly the solution we had been waiting for. We could integrate all of our existing technology and take the art of teaching and learning to a whole new level.”