When the West Allegheny school district in Pennsylvania needed a technology upgrade for their classrooms, they turned to Sharp dealer, The Wilson Group, for a wireless universal platform as a solution. Nearly 170 AQUOS BOARD interactive displays were installed to facilitate collaboration.
Business Environment Challenges
West Allegheny School District located approximately 15 miles from Pittsburgh, PA is one of the largest school districts, geographically, of the 42 school systems in Allegheny County. With approximately 3,500 students enrolled annually, the district is comprised of one high school, one middle school and three elementary schools.
The school district had a hodgepodge of outdated interactive projectorbased systems in the classrooms and wanted to enhance classroom learning, especially in the middle school and high school.
The teachers were not happy with the current classroom layout since they had to have wired connections from their computers to the screen and it was not conducive to effective teaching. They preferred to move throughout the classroom and interact with the students while giving the lesson and they just couldn’t do that tied to cords and short connections. Throughout the pandemic, they had to quickly transform the way they taught, and with students returning to the classroom, they wanted an easier way to teach.
Technology Solutions
The superintendent reached out to Sharp Dealer, The Wilson Group, whom they had an existing relationship with for their multifunction printers (MFPs). The Wilson Group came out and gave a demo of the Sharp 70" (69.5" diagonal) AQUOS BOARD interactive display. The staff were very impressed with the display, especially since they were able to use their laptops and drive the display wirelessly, so they didn’t need to be tethered to it. They also liked the flexibility to use whatever software the teachers felt comfortable with, whether it’s Google Classroom, Blackboard Learn or similar software.
The fact that the AQUOS BOARD interactive displays also came with eShare capability really helped sweeten the deal. eShare is a wireless casting collaboration app that allows users to mirror the display with their laptop, smartphone or tablet, meaning the teachers can mirror whatever is on their laptop directly to the display.
The superintendent originally was going to purchase 50 AQUOS BOARD interactive displays for the middle school and half of the high school. When the school was able to acquire ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security) Act, they made the decision to outfit every classroom in the district with the displays. They also purchased Peerless-AV Rolling Carts for each AQUOS BOARD interactive display.
Proven Results
Since the superintendent at the West Allegheny School District had a previous relationship with The Wilson Group, they put their trust in them and Sharp to purchase 168 70" (69.5" diagonal) AQUOS BOARD interactive displays. It was a seamless transaction. The teachers are thrilled that they can connect to the displays wirelessly, allowing them to move around the room while teaching. The eShare capability helps to facilitate collaboration and allows the teachers to connect and share from any device, making the lessons more engaging.
“The ability to have a wireless universal platform is critical to provide a high-quality education during a pandemic,” says Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jerri Lippert. “The consistency of the displays is paramount as our teachers move from class to class and they are thrilled that they are able to teach their classes using technology that is easy to use and dependable.”
"The ability to have a wireless universal platform is critical to provide a high-quality education during a pandemic.”