Challenge

Joseph Chamberlain College, located near Birmingham City Centre (Birmingham, UK), is a highly successful Sixth Form (similar to a Senior high school in the U.S.) with a national reputation for excellence and student achievement among the highest in England.

For some years, the college used SMART boards in their classrooms, but they were beginning to show their age and weren’t providing teachers with the necessary tools to teach in the digital age.

“We approached Roche AV to see what was out there in the market that could better suit our needs. We wanted a complete solution for the college that was modern, that supports teachers, and provides students with a more interactive learning environment,” says Patrick O’Donohue, Assistant Principal (College Services). “We were aware that our current setup wasn’t being utilized properly and that technology had moved on considerably since we first installed the SMART boards. We wanted to make sure we were fully informed before making a decision, so we looked at several solutions, but the Clevertouch solution ticked all the boxes and more.” Gareth Middleton, a former teacherturned technology specialist from Clevertouch, demonstrated the Clevertouch IMPACT Plus interactive  display alongside Clevertouch digital signage and room booking solutions. The college was blown away by the versatility and ease of use that the Clevertouch solutions. Within two weeks of the demonstration, they decided to replace their existing technology with 65 interactive touch screens. They also chose to implement 30 digital signage screens plus room booking panels - a first for the college that previously used printed posters or emails to inform and deliver messages to staff and students.

Joseph Chamberlain, which is currently expanding and building new facilities, has confirmed that their new teaching block will be filled with Clevertouch technology.

Key Solution

Patrick O’Donohue, explains, “What we loved was the interactivity of the Clevertouch panels and how easy it was to manage content across the digital signage screens and room booking panels from one location. In addition, Clevertouch’s upfront cost and no ongoing expenditure was a real selling point for us as it ensures we don’t ever have to allocate a further budget to this moving forward.”

Stafford Lund, from Roche AV (a Clevertouch partner) who managed this project, states, “Clevertouch provides, in our opinion, some of the best demonstration sessions. Teachers get to see how the boards can benefit them in proper teaching scenarios from someone whose been in their position and understands how they work and how the technology can help. In addition, administrators within these educational establishments can see where they can make improvements across the campus.” Lund continues, “Joseph Chamberlain teachers are thrilled with how the Clevertouch IMPACT Plus interactive display increases student engagement in lessons and how the digital signage is supporting the college with its internal communications as well as their desire, like most of us, to reduce our environmental impact.”

Features that teachers have taken special note of:

• Digital signage is all interlinked while also specific to each department, always current and paperless
• Clevertouch screens sync with the teachers’ Cloud accounts so planning and delivering lessons is more convenient
• Online access to instructional content can happen anywhere
• Sharing from mobile devices is simple and allows for both remote teaching and a great collaboration classroom tool
• No ongoing charges for software updates and excellent support from the Clevertouch team
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Benefits

Choosing Clevertouch was not a decision the client took lightly, but they are delighted with the choice. Joseph Chamberlain prides itself on providing a high-quality education to its diverse body of students across a broad range of subjects. They feel that the Clevertouch solutions are helping to promote internal communications and student engagement through its uncomplicated platform.

We look forward to checking in with Joseph Chamberlain and how their teachers and students have integrated the award-winning Clevertouch solutions.

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We want to thank our Clevertouch distributor Interactive AV Solutions and their partner, Smart Ideas Group, with introducing the Clevertouch solution to Fairland Primary School. We appreciate your ongoing efforts to share Clevertouch Technologies with schools and businesses.