About Schloß Heessen

Located in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the border between the Ruhr region and Münsterland in the Lippeauen nature reserve, sits the architectural monument of Schloss Heessen, a private secondary school with an attached boarding school. 

Alongside their German counterparts, students from Asia, Mexico, Russia, Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkey come to Hamm for one or more years to complete the German Abitur. This cultural exchange creates a diverse learning environment that matches the school’s socio-ecological learning focus.

Challenge

Schools need to be better equipped to teach students the digital skills they need in today’s digital world.

They must have access to fast internet and should have appropriate display devices such as interactive whiteboards. Teachers must be well qualified to use digital media and teach digital skills.  

As a private school, Schloss Heessen faced increasing pressure against the backdrop of the increasingly relevant topic of digitalization. Schools have to keep up with the times and offer their students the best learning environment. Technology should follow the lessons and not vice versa.

In addition, a vital part of the challenge of moving from analog to digital is gaining the support of the teachers and ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge to use the technology to its full potential. 

Solution

Together with our resellers, ViewSonic went on-site to present a tailor-made solution comprising of interactive displays, digital whiteboarding software, and a remote management system that would allow the school to easily manage a large number of displays through one centralized system. 

Impressed by the solution, Schloss Heessen chose to equip each classroom with a ViewBoard 50-3 interactive display that would combine with myViewBoard Whiteboard software to provide teachers with a digital canvas that would allow them to continue to teach using the methods they know while also providing a plethora of new ways to engage with modern learners.  

After the installation was complete, various training sessions were offered to teaching staff and IT admin to ensure a smooth transition and that both the hardware and software was working to elevate the learning experience and helping the school meet its goals.

Results

By combining ViewSonic’s display hardware with our digital whiteboarding and management software, we were able to provide a customized all-in-one solution that would achieve the schools’ goals of replacing all analog blackboards and projectors, providing a sustainable and future-proof way of learning, and facilitating the complete digitization of teaching structures within the establishment. 

Having completely transitioned to the new system, students at Schloss Heessen now work exclusively with their own digital devices while teachers deliver lessons exclusively via the ViewBoard displays. 

Classroom Results

The teaching approach at Schloss Heessen is now fully digital and interactive. Feedback from teachers has been extremely positive across all subjects. In particular, the teachers are pleased with the easy integration of online content, the time saved by using pre-designed whiteboard content, and having the ability to share that content digitally with students and colleagues. Being able to connect with mobile devices is another stand-out feature that has received praise from a number of staff members. 

In the future, more ViewBoards will be installed in the students’ common rooms in order to deepen and internalize the use of the ViewBoards and the myViewBoard Suite. 

Management Results

Schloss Heessen has also integrated Manager Advanced to benefit from the versatile management features for their ViewBoards. For example, the possibility to access the devices remotely and to switch them on and off or reboot them was an excellent addition that benefited the IT staff greatly. 

In addition, the school has set specific periods of time during which OTA updates are installed without disrupting teaching. In the future, the school also plans to purchase licenses to be able to connect to the displays live or to set a schedule for turning the displays on and off. These functions, which will soon be released in myViewBoard Manager, are especially eagerly awaited.