Replacing interactive whiteboards

[bareid]

Again VERY suprised to hear so many schools happy to do without either IWBs or Touch Screens - we support many Primary Schools, and they all would be lost without them. Gods forbid a driver failure/USB is unplugged which interupts their use.

 

The old kit is Smart and Promethean boards - some schools with better budgets have replaced the majority with C-Touch boards, but the price is a bit much to stomach - so we're looking into alternative Touch Screens - they are much easier to maintain.

 

In response to OP, it's very much a case of when a projector/board dies - we consult the school budget - replace ideally with a C-Touch or similar, or if budget is tight, a new short throw projector.

[3s-gtech]

I think IWBs are a pretty good example now of how some staff in schools can get so used to something that is basically old hat, that they really struggle to adapt as things move on. I know IWBs can still be useful, and with interactive displays they may as well be touchscreen, but for the cost of our last new SMARTboards (£1500 each or so) they were already an anachronism. Perhaps this is more primary than secondary, as none of our new staff are coming in expecting an IWB and some want them gone when they are fitted.

[klloyd]

Agreed! In my experience they tend to be used well at primaries but not at secondary. I remember reading a few studies on this that backed that up as well.

Hi everyone!

We trialed interactive touchscreens and loved them, however then the budget landed. Once we picked ourselves up we ordered some new IWB to replace the worst ones. They are significantly cheaper than they used to be

 

I have 3 small schools in my district, the elementary, art and music teachers use their boards everyday all day. Looking into replacing old and failing promethians, have been able to buy pieces parts on ebay to keep them running but I have no interest in smart boards. Looking into interactive projectors, mimeos and or tvs.

 

Following this thread with interest.

 

Kathy

[mavhc]

That NEC interactive projector camera says "255 touch points", no idea what that means.

 

65" 4k smartboard: £2550 with installation

[atcoates]

We have over 100 smart panels and teachers rely on the Smart Notebook software for delivering engaging lessons to their children, It's as much about the software as the hardware.

[mikeprice]

We have over 100 smart panels and teachers rely on the Smart Notebook software for delivering engaging lessons to their children, It's as much about the software as the hardware.

 

possibly more about the software AND training

 

 

and ongoing training for new staff

 

and that is often the problem

[DavR]

65" 4k smartboard: £2550 with installation

 

 

And this is why we kept replacing projectors for so long!

[atcoates]

possibly more about the software AND training

 

and ongoing training for new staff

 

and that is often the problem

Absolutely I see it time and time again and am forever doing ad hoc training for new staff to show them how to get up to speed etc.

[mavhc]

That NEC interactive projector camera says "255 touch points", no idea what that means.

 

65" 4k smartboard: £2550 with installation

 

65" 4k TV £1000, and that does HDR, not toughened though, or touch obviously

[Sheridan]

65" 4k TV £1000, and that does HDR, not toughened though, or touch obviously

 

That's the problem, a decent projector can be had for £300, so I can imagine pushing to £1000 for a TV, but £2.5K upwards really starts to push the budget!

 

We're also concerned that if we start a gradual deployment, of say Smartboard 65" panels, by the time we get around to the latter stages they will have changed again!

[localzuk]

That's the problem, a decent projector can be had for £300, so I can imagine pushing to £1000 for a TV, but £2.5K upwards really starts to push the budget!

 

You're comparing Apples and Oranges there though. A £300 projector is not a full install of a new interactive setup. If you add in the old style SMARTboard, and installation, you are then hitting £1.5k+. With the early SMARTboards being a) the wrong shape (4:3, not widescreen), small, and don't really work properly on Windows 10 any more, it can't really be a thing of "we could replace the projector" any more, as you're only doing a sticking plaster fix to a much bigger issue.

We're also concerned that if we start a gradual deployment, of say Smartboard 65" panels, by the time we get around to the latter stages they will have changed again!

Is this not an issue with all tech roll-outs now though? We started our migration to USF interactive projectors using Epson EMP-485Wi projectors here, but they stopped selling them after we'd done about 10. The new model was almost double the price, so we switched to the NEC NP-UM301W models, initially pen touch only, and now with the multi-touch models.

 

Its a very lucky school that can roll out a new tech to every single room before something changes.

[atcoates]

That's the problem, a decent projector can be had for £300, so I can imagine pushing to £1000 for a TV, but £2.5K upwards really starts to push the budget!

 

We're also concerned that if we start a gradual deployment, of say Smartboard 65" panels, by the time we get around to the latter stages they will have changed again!

We are are now on our third version of Smart Interactive panels across my schools and they have gotten better as times goes on so I'm not concerned about new models coming out etc they just bring more features but are able to run the same software.

[Blue_Cookeh]

You also have problems surrounding visibility of projectors in light classrooms, ongoing maintenance etc. We've been very happy with our Clevertouch screens. We've just got some SMART screens with Kapp modules installed in our new building over the summer and these are even better. Wouldn't dream of touching a projector nowadays. Once you factor in projector, life span, bulbs (LEDs now I guess, so slightly cheaper), interactive screens then the price is vastly more than these new screens.

 

We liked them so much we got them on motorised stands for our hall/communal areas too.

 

Also the TVs/screens now are far more feature rich than projectors. Staff can choose to use the built in apps or their laptops, they have multiple inputs, PIP, and both CleverTouch and SMART have built in screen sharing, so no need for AppleTVs or anything anymore.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Blue_Cookeh

[atcoates]

Wouldn't dream of touching a projector nowadays. Once you factor in projector, life span, bulbs (LEDs now I guess, so slightly cheaper), interactive screens then the price is vastly more than these new screens.

 

We liked them so much we got them on motorised stands for our hall/communal areas too.

 

Also the TVs/screens now are far more feature rich than projectors. Staff can choose to use the built in apps or their laptops, they have multiple inputs, PIP, and both CleverTouch and SMART have built in screen sharing, so no need for AppleTVs or anything anymore.

Yes we haven't bought any projectors for over four years and don't miss them one bit!

[localzuk]

Wouldn't dream of touching a projector nowadays. Once you factor in projector, life span, bulbs (LEDs now I guess, so slightly cheaper), interactive screens then the price is vastly more than these new screens.

NEC UM301Wi is about £1,000. A new lamp about £230. Lamp life is about 3 years. Needs a clean every half term, can do entire school in an hour (so, say, £15 for the time and spray air). Projection surface, install and cable loom, about £400. £2170 over a 6 year life of this projector. That is for an 85" screen.

 

84" SMART Board 4084 is about £4,000. Wall mount £250 (the screen weighs 100kg+). Install £200. £4450. A 10 year life span isn't a bad idea for these though, so £2670 over 6 years.

 

The prices aren't that different, but the difference is whether your organisation can afford to pay out that cost all in one go, or whether they can space it out over the lifespan of the device.

[atcoates]

The prices aren't that different, but the difference is whether your organisation can afford to pay out that cost all in one go, or whether they can space it out over the lifespan of the device.

 

Smart do run some sort of technology refresh program where you basically just pay them forever and they keep you supplied with boards etc. I've never done it but might be the way to go for some sites.

[mavhc]

Has any of these android touch screens committed in writing to keeping android secure for 10 years?

[atcoates]

Has any of these android touch screens committed in writing to keeping android secure for 10 years?

I'd be quite cautious of this as well as I suspect they would advise you to buy a newer board.

[sted]

Has any of these android touch screens committed in writing to keeping android secure for 10 years?

 

aha ha ha ha ha

 

ive got a few clevertouches in schools and they are all on android 4.x which is already 4 gens obsolete and these are 2 year old at most boards i believe

[3s-gtech]

Considering most six month old phones (that aren't Google units) seem to be orphaned off from updates, the chances of the screens getting much after they leave the factory is remote. Hopefully they work okay without internet access so they can be used in isolation.

[localzuk]

Has any of these android touch screens committed in writing to keeping android secure for 10 years?

I don't see how any company is going to manage that - Google don't maintain Android security updates for that long, and newer versions of Android won't run on ancient (in the world of mobile tech) hardware...

[Blue_Cookeh]

I fully expected this when our school bought into them. We keep our's on a dedicated VLAN with firewalls between our networks. Non issue really.

[mavhc]

Well, it would be good if they didn't start with a 3 year old version of android.

 

Obvious solution is to make the android module removable, so you can upgrade the hw for $100.

 

Do any of them support management so you can tell what the patch level is, let you, eg, remotely disable bluetooth on them all because they've not been patched and anyone in the class can remotely gain root?

[Blue_Cookeh]

Both SMART and CleverTouch have OPS slots. You could simply unplug the ethernet cable to the board and plug it into the OPS PC, which runs an OS of your choosing.

 

This is a very similar problem to smart TVs at home nowadays too, they're worse for updates than phones :/

[mavhc]

https://www.jp-uk.co.uk/interactive-touchscreen-displays.html?diagonal_image_size=1052&item_availability=2643

 

ex VAT £1600 for 1080p, £1736 for 4k