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These days technology is a core part of education. The right equipment can be used to further learning and add an extra element to the classroom, with children benefiting in the long-term as well as the short—a knowledge of technology is essential in this ever-changing environment, so not only can the right equipment be an essential learning tool it can set children up for the future as well. One piece of kit that’s been rapidly gaining ground recently is the touch screen, with these monitors offering a huge number of benefits for any educational setting.

The advantages of the touch screen PC in a school environment

Touch screens can be a vital tool in your quest to improve the educational environment. They can enrich the learning experience like nothing else can, being a great way to aid learning as a whole and improve the lives of students in the process, and they could easily lead to better results—if students are more engaged they’ll be more receptive, and with things like interactive whiteboards being used to great effect you could soon notice the difference.

There are particular benefits in a special needs environment too. Touchscreens allow information to be displayed in a much more visual manner, and the ease at which they can be used means children with cognitive or physical disabilities might find it easier to interact. Using touchscreens can be an easier, more interactive method of learning than needing to contend with a mouse or pen and paper, for example, and it can allow easier communication too—children with verbal difficulties will be able to connect with teachers and peers through touch screen technology, allowing them to engage much more easily.

In many cases touch screens are being utilised so early on that they’re becoming a core part of a child’s education. Children are being exposed to this kind of technology at such a young age that it’s something that becomes natural to them, with these pieces of kit being highly regarded and well-established educational tools. Quite simply, if you haven’t used touch screen technology in your educational environment yet you’re falling behind with modern requirements and could actually be doing your students a disservice, so getting the products to suit should be high on the list of priorities.

Get the educational tools you need

If you’re looking for touch screen PCs that can have that kind of impact, you’ve come to the right place. Here at Distec we realise the benefits of touchscreens in a whole range of different environments but in an educational setting they can really come into their own, and with a great range of products to choose from you’re bound to find something that can suit your needs perfectly. With our help you could bring learning to life and offer a far more interactive and effective means of tuition, so make sure to get in touch to discuss the options and you could soon realise the benefits of using touchscreens in education for yourself.

Interactive Digital Signage (IDS)

The Digital Age is well and truly here as a whole generation which has been brought up with the Internet comes of age. One of the biggest markets that has been influenced by the invention of the Internet is retail. Online retailers can set themselves up and start selling their products from anywhere in the world as long as they have an Internet connection. What is more, people are increasingly turning away from using bricks and mortar stores thanks to the ease and convenience factors offered by online shopping.

According to comScore, a leading researcher measuring consumer behaviour in the digital world, consumers are increasingly using the web to access retail stores. Indeed, comScore’s research suggests that digital retail sales has increased as much as 111 percent compared to the Christmas 2010 holiday period. Johanne Conforme is the Executive Creative Director of the internationally renowned ad agency Ogilvy Mather. His job involves coming up with new ways of using digital media to attract the attention of normal consumers.

“We’re in a brand new world when it comes to interacting with the average consumer. Consumers in the 18 to 35 age range barely remember a time before the Internet, if they remember it at all,” says Conforme. “For these consumers, the idea that they are able to point and click and purchase the items they want or need instantly is second nature.”

“We are now entering a state where people are moving around and moving away from their computers and into the world,” he explains. “But because of smartphones, a lot of the interaction we’re having with our environment is still digital.”

If traditional retailers want to keep afloat in the modern world they are going to have to find a way of engaging consumers with their own digital content. The widespread use of touch screens and smart phones means that it is now easier for consumers to access the goods that they want, when they want, at any time. One way of doing this is through Interactive Digital Signage (IDS).

One hugely successful example of IDS usage was a scheme run by the South Korean grocer Home Plus (aka Tesco, as it is known elsewhere in the world). They came up with an idea to capture the market during their customers’ commutes. In 2011 they launched a pilot program which projected virtualised images of the company’s goods onto the walls of Seoul subway stations. Thanks to the touch screen PC technology which is employed on many people’s phones, commuters could then order goods through their smart phones and find the goods waiting on their doorsteps when they got home from work.

According to Conforme, this interaction shows the beauty of IDS. He says, “These consumers needed groceries, right? But IDS gives you the ability to do what you set out to do in a completely different way.”

If things go to plan, it won’t be too long until such pilot schemes become the norm and we all shop from touch screens.