The Lightboard Depot Inc. is the Closest Thing to Face-to-Face Learning
Online learning and communication are here to stay.
The educators, instructors, businesses, and professional speakers that have accepted this have already begun to adapt.
Those taking advantage of the digitized landscape understand that telecommunication platforms like Zoom won’t cut it on their own. The Lightboard Depot Inc.’s cutting-edge digital presentation innovation has changed what is expected from online meetings, and what they are capable of.
For 16-year educator and professor in the business faculty at Mohawk College and in the Bachelor of Technology program at McMaster University, Laurence Smith says “the name of the game” is engagement and competitive advantage.
“I said to my Associate Dean when the pandemic hit: ‘Every single college and university in Canada has the same General Business program. And what’s going to make us different in terms of people being attracted to our version of business? So, why don’t we get these Lightboard systems as a way of differentiating ourselves?’ It’s all about engagement and having that competitive advantage. It’s all about getting people to listen to the lectures and interact with faculty members. Seeing their body language, seeing their nuances, seeing their humour, seeing their mistakes, seeing instructors as human beings,” said Smith.
The Lightboard Depot system is a piece of glass placed between the presenter and the camera which functions almost like a chalkboard in a classroom. Instructors face the camera with the glass between them and can draw or write on the glass pane in real-time. And the Lightboard can display any visual a computer can, so instructors can load up slides, graphs, or other visuals and interact with course content in a way that’s dynamic and engaging and they can do so without sacrificing eye contact with the class. The LightBoard system delivers to the class through Zoom or any other online meeting system.
On Smith’s recommendation, Mohawk College acted as early adopters and staff and students who engaged with the technology did so enthusiastically.
Smith says The Lightboard Depot system is as close to a real classroom as you can get while keeping the much-needed virtual classroom options for student convenience.
“Students are loving this new technology,” says Smith. “And I love the difference that it’s providing in terms of their engagement. I can now tell that students are there, even though I can’t see them, and I can feel how they are more connected through their engagement levels with asking questions. Students don’t want boring PowerPoints with VoiceOvers – they want to be connected and they want to learn, and this is why the LightBoard Depot system is a real game changer for everyone.”
“The technology is as close to the actual physicality of being in a classroom. I can’t overstate how important that is, in terms of engagement. The small little body motions, facial expressions, all that stuff adds to the enhancement of the delivery of the content.”
To learn more about The LightBoard Depot Inc. and how it will help you teach in our new, online remote world, please visit: www.lightboarddepot.com