In the summer of 2022, Darlington County School District (DCSD) experienced an edtech overhaul. With 21 schools, approximately 10,000 students, and 950 rooms, outfitting the large South Carolina district with new interactive flat panel displays (IFPDs) that fit everyone’s needs and budget was no small task.
Starting out with a mix of outdated tech and tools, the first order of business was to streamline devices and start fresh. “We had projectors in some places, and speakers in others, which is very hard to support from a technical side,” said Benjamin Brown, chief technology officer for DCSD. “The last time Darlington had a full refresh was probably 14 years before.”
DCSC provides Apple products like iPads and MacBooks to its teachers and students. Johnathan Skaris, instructional technology coordinator for DCSD, believes the district has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to technology, having been with Darlington for 16 years.
“They had this great technology in their hands, but we didn’t have something to project that technology to a whole group,” he said. “Finding that piece of technology that would create engagement and interact with what we already had was a main goal.”
On the move
Another priority, along with using the panels alongside the tech ecosystem the district already had, was mobility. Skaris believes putting the panels on mobile stands is just as important as the technology, because it transforms how teachers teach. “At first, teachers were so used to their technology being on a wall,” he said. “But their classrooms are four walls around and they can change it.
Empowering them with that creativity to shape how they want their room to be—those are the little things that win people over.
Jonathan Skaris, instructional technology coordinator
During tech changes, some teachers can get overwhelmed. Before any big decisions were made, IT staff placed a panel in school libraries around the district so teachers had the opportunity to play with and learn about the displays. “Let them be kids with the board again. They were like, ‘Look how easy it is, like hooking up a DVD player to a TV at home,’” said Skaris. “Giving them the autonomy to be able to form learning spaces the way they feel best fits their classroom and students is integral.”
Rebecca Alexander, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Darlington Middle School, takes being on the move and forming her space seriously. In her fourth year of teaching geography, she stressed the importance of learning about the world outside of the classroom.
World geography is difficult for me to teach to a lot of kids who have never been around the world before, or really ever left their hometown. I use a lot of technology in my classroom to bring the world to them.
Rebecca Alexander, seventh-grade social studies teacher
And the panels bring the students to the front of the classroom. With the previous projectors, the students couldn’t physically go up to the board. “It was hard for them to see, and I had to zoom in. I always had to be tethered to my laptop,” said Alexander. “Now, I don’t have to have my laptop connected to it, so the images are a lot crisper, cleaner, and easier to see. Kids love going up and circling things on maps and writing on the board.”
In an effort to bring more of the world to Darlington, Alexander makes use of the knowledge of international teachers in her building as a way for her students to get exposed to other cultures. “We talk about how different it is from here. It’s a lot of comparing and contrasting and looking at different maps,” she said. “It’s an interesting way to bring it back to Darlington.”
Empowering educators
Darlington County School District went from having a hodge-podge of technology to stocking Promethean panels in cafeterias, conference spaces, and gyms, in addition to classrooms. “Everywhere you’re going in our district, we wanted a board to be available,” said Brown. The educators and administrators at DCSC feel so comfortable with the Promethean panels, even their superintendent knows how to hook up to the display, saving time without having to wait for IT to come and help him begin a meeting. “The synergy with the devices makes it to where it’s just almost second nature,” he added.
Skaris agrees. “We hardly have any problems because it’s that easy to plug it in out of the box, put it on the stand, and you can go with it,” he said. “That’s the key.”
The simplicity of the panel isn’t just beneficial for the IT staff and teachers. It encourages students to participate more, too. “Having a Promethean panel in the classroom will get your kids more engaged in lessons. It kind of brings them into the content and makes them want to be there and learn more when they can see it in all its glory,” Alexander said.
They like to interact with their content and interacting through the board is the best thing about it. And ultimately, what you want is to get your kids more motivated and engaged in your content.
Rebecca Alexander, seventh-grade social studies teacher
Alexander’s panel, lovingly nicknamed Martha by her students, stands tall in her social studies classroom. “We couldn’t do it without Martha,” laughed Alexander. “Technology is embedded within my classroom daily.”
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