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NextWindow Donates 19” Interactive Display to Wolfe School
SOURCE: NextWindow · POSTED: 10/24/07
International leader in touchscreen technology helps students with "visual learning"
CHICAGO -- The audiovisual industry is changing the way the world works and lives. In one school in Monroe, N.C., it's changing the way that special needs students learn, thanks to NextWindow, the international leader in the design and manufacturer of optical touchscreen overlays and touch components. NextWindow has donated a 19" interactive monitor integrated with a NextWindow optical sensor to Wolfe School to help the students learn, improve their confidence, and assist teachers in assessing their progress.
"When we learned about the great work the school is doing to adapt interactive technology for special needs children, we knew we wanted to help," said Anthony Uhrick, VP, Sales & Marketing, North America, NextWindow. "Since many of the students are 'visual learners' or have limited motor skills, the touchscreen provides an intuitive interface. The optical sensor does not require pressure and tracks very well anything that looks like a stylus, including pointers and prosthesis, making it easier to use than conventional touch technologies."
The Wolfe School was founded to educate and prepare each student to make appropriate choices and to function as independently as possible in school, home, and community settings. It has been progressive in its use of AV to help students learn and prepare for on-the-job experiences. The school is also using online interactive learning games and activities from web sites and digital video to develop video social stories for children who have autism.
"One of our goals is to highlight the visual teaching-learning strategies we use for our students that are supported by digital technology, including AV," said Lynn Marentette, TechPsych for Interactive Media Technology for Wolfe School. "The NextWindow display has been invaluable to our students' current and future learning. We've used the NextWindow screen to enable computer/Internet access for students who are in wheelchairs or who cannot operate computer mice or switches well. It's also been used to conduct adapted assessments of students who can't be evaluated through traditional test materials."
Marentette said that the NextWindow interactive display will also assist the school's efforts to receive support for the use of visual and multimedia instructional strategies, which has historically been difficult, due to barriers against using TV or video in education. "The film maker George Lucas himself was a gifted visual learner who struggled with traditional word-based schooling," Marentette noted. "We believe that digital media and video/multimedia in education is key to our students' success in education and in life."
NextWindow's donation of the 19" interactive display is one way the company plans to celebrate AV Week, Oct. 21-27, 2007, with the theme, "Spotlighting the Value of AV in People's Lives." Uhrick said that NextWindow will visit the school later this month with a presentation and additional interactive touchscreens. In addition, Marentette and Uhrick will co-author and present a white paper on the use of visual and multimedia instructional strategies.
"We are looking forward to supporting the Wolfe School's efforts in developing new tools for improving the lives of special needs learners," Uhrick said.
About NextWindow
NextWindow is an international leader in the design and manufacture of optical touchscreen overlays and OEM touch components, from 12.1" to over 100". NextWindow is a privately held company based out of Auckland, New Zealand and has its U.S. headquarters in Chicago. For more information, visit www.nextwindow.com.
About Wolfe School
The mission of Wolfe School is to educate and prepare each student to make appropriate choices and to function as independently as possible in school, home and community settings. The school provides services and educational support to meet the challenges of various disabling conditions. Services and programs are available for those ages 3 to 21. A new state-of-the-art Wolfe School is on schedule to open in February 2008 in Monroe, N.C.
