Most classroom technologies reinforce teacher-centered instructional models: faculty control the content, students can merely watch and listen.Students can’t introduce or interact directly with digital materials used in class. ClassSpot brings classrooms into the “Interaction Age,” replacing one-way teaching with two-way interaction that is moderated — though not controlled — by faculty.
Turn passive screens into interactive worksurfaces
Instead of passively showing a faculty computer screen, ClassSpot turns the room’s displays into active worksurfaces which both students and faculty can control. Each display is driven by its own independent computer, allowing faculty and students to actually work together in front of the class.
Work in front of the room… from any seat
ClassSpot connects any mouse in the room to the cursor on the room’s display screen. Anyone can “jump” a mouse to one of the public displays and control it with the mouse and keyboard. In fact, more than one person can be connected to the same screen simultaneously, allowing the kind of collaborative interaction that happens around physical white boards.
Easily share work with the class
When a class discussion turns in a new direction, students can actively search online to find and then share files and websites with the entire class by simply dragging and dropping. In cases where students need to present their work directly from their laptop, ClassSpot enables the student to “push” their computer’s desktop up to the class screen where everyone can see it.
Less hardware, more functionality
ClassSpot reduces the need for complex hardware AV systems. Instead, software and standard networking technologies enable information mobility and greater interaction. ClassSpot can display a faculty member’s desktop on a big screen similar to “traditional” classroom systems, but now students can also interact directly with it, or even show their own desktop.
Archive classroom content in real time
ClassSpot automatically archives the materials shared during class, such as presentations, white board drawings, browsed web sites and documents. At the end of class, students can download the archive to their own laptops, or the teacher can post the archive to a shared folder or content management system.
Write on the screen, digitally
Mark up the classroom screens using digital “ink.” ClassSpot’s Annotate feature freezes information on the screen without affecting active applications. Once activated, the feature lets one simply “draw” on the screen using a mouse or digital pens to draw attention to key information.
Faculty stay in control
Although students have access to the classroom’s screens, ClassSpot provides lockdown options to prevent class disruptions. Each class session is closed to students until the teacher joins in, preventing unsupervised access to features. Teachers can view individual student activity and lock student access at any time via a special control panel.
Integrate physical whiteboards
ClassSpot makes it easy to combine digital and freehand whiteboard content when used with 3rd party whiteboard capture solutions. The software automatically captures whiteboard writing and drawing directly into the ClassSpot Archive, where anyone in the class can then view it afterwards.