The Promethean interactive whiteboards have what is know as a Short Throw Projection system which send the light from a very steep angle from a projector that is on an arm above the board.

In this setup known as an Activboard +2 – it is actually not necessary to ever stand in the beam at all to operate the Activboard. This eliminates any possibility of your concern being a factor.

Full safety documentation is included with each Activboard that is shipped.

What was really impressive about the second day of the Symposium was the wide range of research, warts and all, that Promethean put up for discussion. For example, although the report on the Schools Whiteboard Extension: London Challenge by the Institute of Education found no learning gains in secondary schools and was used by the media to argue (erroneously) that investment in whiteboards was “a waste of money”, it is full of insights that could be used by policy makers for constructive purposes.

As Gemma Moss pointed out, the key issue is pedagogy and the curriculum, not the whiteboards. Sort out the pedagogy and the whiteboards can be used more effectively. It’s clear that the bravest Building Schools for the Future projects are already embracing curriculum reform to counter the alienation of pupils when they arrive from primary.

“If politicians had the nerve to slow down and take the long view we would all be a lot better off,” concluded Gemma Moss. Of course they could take off the blinkers too, and spend time looking at the reports they don’t like – the ones that don’t report gains – and work out for themselves what has to be changed. An outdated curriculum is still the major challenge.

Students will enter secondary school with a different paradigm. They will own their education and expect to be co-learners rather than spectators. Watch out world.. the revolution in education is coming and will be led by those who would have been drop-out statistics in the previous generations!