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05 Aug 2010
Comments:1
Changes are afoot in the classroom displays technology market that will affect the player line-up as well as which technology is chosen, according to market watcher Futuresource.
Mike Fisher, senior research consultant at Futuresource, said changes have become noticeable in the vendor and technology landscape over the past six months. Mainstream multinationals, for example, are poised to take an interest in the education market, and VARs should begin to think about how best to adapt.
“Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been dominant, and people have added peripherals to them, such as tablets and voting systems. Now a few things are changing,” said Fisher.
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“Interactive projectors and flat-panel display technologies are coming in. There are only three or four interactive projectors, but Texas Instruments is offering a solution to all its partners. By year-end, we will have 10 major brands.”
Last year saw IWBs become a $1bn (£641m) industry globally, with Smart and Promethean enjoying a 70 per cent market share. Yet classrooms will soon have more choice, and many will start choosing different combinations of technology – such as a fully networked interactive flat-panel hooked up to a projector, instead of an IWB.
“Perhaps creating a ‘touch wall’ and going down a high-end route,” Fisher suggested. “Also, we will see more segmentation, where people are targeting, say, K-12 new builds only, higher education, or special needs.”
VARs must start to ask themselves how all the technology is going to fit together to best suit the customer and look at where they best fit, building their portfolio to suit.
Promethean has recently bought learning response software firm SynapticMash. Its LearningQube software will be fully integrated with learning-response devices and teaching software, according to Promethean.
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Its all about the software, not the display
Mike's analysis does not deal with the key issue schools face in actually using interactive technology - the software. With budget cuts looming large, schools need to be certain that the equipment they buy will be well used by teachers and will have an impact on learning. Government studies and our own research all show that ease of use and confidence with the technology are central to the delivery of better lessons. More often than not this means a touch interface and software built for the classroom.
FutureSource predict that the Interactive Whiteboard market will grow through 2014 as early installations are renewed. Over that time the cost of panel technology will fall and I expect to see some schools migrate, but they will be looking for the same combination of rich functionality and simplicity of use that has made SMART the market leader worldwide. SMART Notebook software is only available for use on SMART hardware, which includes the traditional IWB but also touch-walls (both video wall and projected), interactive podium displays and most recently the SBD 6052i interactive panel.
Educators will face some tough decisions in the coming years as budgets are stretched and their technology options multiply. The key to sustained success in education for all of us in the channel is to help our customers choose the right solution for them, always remembering that it is about the learning outcome, not the AV hardware.
Posted by Graham Wylie | 06 Aug 2010
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