Over the past 2 years, Friends Select phased out projectors in favor of a newer system: Promethean Boards. They are a significant upgrade compared to outdated projectors and allow teachers to enhance the student’s learning experience.

 Purchasing a Promethean Board for every classroom is a large financial undertaking, but according to Brian Betteridge, Director of Education Technology, buying Promethean boards was worth it since the projectors were old and had too many problems like connecting to a computer, delayed input and not getting good resolution or brightness. 

“One of the reasons we decided to switch from the projectors was they were not bright enough to see clearly on a bright day,” said Brian. Not only were the projectors not bright enough, but they also didn’t have reliable speakers. The Promethean Boards, on the other hand, have very loud speakers built right into them. Having speakers built-in means teachers don’t have to worry about whether the class can hear a video or why their external speakers are not working.

One of the downsides of the Promethean Boards is that they are very heavy, weighing 200 pounds and taking three people to assemble one onto the wall. The decision on who would get the first board “came down to which classes would be able to use it to the fullest and which rooms would be the easiest to install them,” said Brian. “85% of classrooms have a Promethean board; by the end of next summer, every class should have one.” While the school has taught some of the teachers how to use the Promethean Boards, Brian found that they were pretty intuitive and the teachers could use them with little instruction.

While the Promethean Boards seem to be well received by most, some teachers are not fans of them. One of these teachers is Miram Rock. While initially she was disappointed to not have one installed in her classroom, she has since found some difficulty integrating the Promethean Board into her lessons. “They are too clunky and end up slowing down the class more than helping it,” Miriam explains. While she believes that the board does not work great with her teaching style, it’s a step in the right direction. Miriam has recently been working with Brian, who has helped her extensively with figuring out how to effectively use the Promethean board.