How to Use BenQ Interactive Display for Remote Teaching

As new generations of students become an increasingly significant portion of the student body, individuality, flexibility, and use of technology in education become trends that you cannot afford to overlook. A couple of teaching method that have gained traction, especially due to COVID-19, are remote, blended, and hybrid learning models. 

The key to distance learning success is the ability to actively partake in classes by those attending remotely. That is especially vital for younger students, who often do not posses the discipline and motivation needed to focus on class content when not in an actual classroom. At home, there are so many more interesting things to do than listen to teachers! When remote classes don’t promote active participation and collaboration, they’re no different than attending a MOOC (massive online open class), and those don’t prove very successful among young learners, as reported by World Economic Forum.

This is where digital whiteboard software like EZWrite from BenQ comes in. With digital whiteboards, students can view and edit lecture content as well as annotate, collaborate, and share images while the class is ongoing. Classrooms equipped with interactive displays such as one from BenQ are especially well-equipped to make this happen.

But how to ensure your students see you, hear your voice, and can respond, all while collaborating with you and each other on the digital whiteboard? Here is how we recommend you go about engaging remote students with BenQ interactive displays.

First, turn on your interactive board, ensure you have internet, and launch the EZWrite digital whiteboarding app pre-loaded on your display.

Click “Invite” to generate the link through which your students can join the session. QR code will also be generated, which allows joining by scanning.

If you are planning to allow them to edit and annotate, you need to change the permission setting to “Co-Creation”. Otherwise, set it to “Broadcast”. The icon can be found to the right of the “Invite” button.

On your computer, set up an online meeting using your preferred video conferencing app. Zoom, Google Meet, or any other solution works. This will create a virtual room for your students to join. Make sure to share the link to the meeting with your students!

Place your camera and microphone, whether built-in or external, directly facing the BenQ board, but leave sufficient space for you to move about and be visible. 

When your students join the video conference and enter the EZWrite session, you’re ready to go. 

To attend the class, students need an internet connection and a personal device with a sizable screen, like a notebook or tablet. Smartphones are not recommended due to their screen size. 

Depending on the video conferencing app you use, students will either open the link in a browser or join in the corresponding app via the meeting code you’ll provide.

Also in the browser, in another tab, your students should open a link to the EZWrite web app (https://ezwrite.benq.com/#/) and type their name and room ID (which you will see when you click “Share” in EZWrite on your interactive display), then click “Join”. 

If your students have access to a laptop and tablet, we recommend they use the tablet to access EZWrite as it will be more comfortable for them to add content and annotate on the whiteboard. If so, they can use their laptop to connect to video conferencing, and a tablet to open EZWrite.

Now you are ready to deliver your class to students everywhere. With the high precision touch employed on BenQ interactive displays, you can deliver classes in a familiar, whiteboard-like fashion. However, many additional features await. 

A set of teaching aids like geometry tools, timer, score counter, split board, and a wide array of backgrounds help you deliver fun classes. You and your students can use a marker for handwriting, text input for “printed” wording, paste images on the whiteboard, or annotate with sticky notes. 

You can record classes by clicking right from the interactive board. This generates a video file which can be later used to review classes. You can also save progress to continue work later, or pick up in another location or on a different platform (you can save files in .iwb, which can be opened in most interactive whiteboarding software suites). 

To discover the many features we offer, or to learn more about BenQ interactive displays for education, read other articles in the series, or contact our experts via the form below to find out more or arrange a product demo!