ViewBoard

CASE STUDY

Agile Reseller Adds ViewSonic ViewBoard Interactive Displays to Successfully Meet Customers’ Evolving Needs

COMPANY

With a footprint that spans the Southeast United States, RJ Young is an industry leader providing technology solutions that power businesses. The company helps small to enterprise-level organizations transition into modern workplaces and increase productivity with comprehensive managed IT solutions, office equipment and technology, business process outsourcing, and digital communications. After more than 60 years in operation, RJ Young is a proud workplace to more than 650 team members, serving organizations in more than 30 sales and service locations across nine states. The company is known for being anchored to its core values of honoring its people, customers, and communities.

“Our partnership with ViewSonic is over the top. The product is good, if not better, than what else is available and at an outstanding price point. ViewSonic also had the support, quick turnaround, and good relationships that we wanted to allow us to quickly satisfy our customers’ needs.”

— Destin Echols, RJ Young Technology Solutions Architect

THE CHALLENGE

Founded in 1955, RJ Young was an established leader in delivering copiers and printers – along with a “We Make It RightTM” guarantee – to businesses across the southeastern United States. In 2020, the company and its customers alike found themselves suddenly inhabiting a changed business landscape.

“When Covid hit, everything shifted for us and for our customers,” said Destin Echols, RJ Young Technology Solutions Architect. “Our customers needed support to do business with a much more distributed workforce. To our leadership’s credit, they took a hard look at our customers’ business needs and how they were changing, and determined what we could do to meet those evolving needs.”

The ability to effectively connect, communicate, and interact with remote workers had become a major pain point for RJ Young’s customers. A critical part of the company’s new focus was the need to be able to provide interactive meeting and video conferencing technology to support the needs of remote workers.

“Now we had to quickly pivot to respond to the sudden changes and challenges that our customers faced,” said Echols. “Interactivity was going to be key. Everyone was already accustomed to the interactivity offered by their smartphones and iPads. We wanted to deliver that to our customers in a way that would facilitate collaborative in-person meetings, and as well as bring together remote and on-site participants.”

THE SOLUTION

Before taking on the role of Technology Solutions Architect at the RJ Young Corporate Office in Nashville, Echols had worked in technology for a decade. That experience led him and his team to question how RJ Young customers would benefit with this type of technology.

Around that time, Echols met ViewSonic Channel Account Manager, Matt Hurley, who showed him the ViewSonic line of ViewBoard® interactive flat panel (IFP) displays.

“We were very impressed with the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays, which were responsive and packed with features, while also being intuitive, easy to use, and having a great price tag,” said Echols. “As we worked with ViewSonic, we became even more impressed with the way they do business. The support they offer is outstanding. In the early days, we had a massive learning curve, and when we had questions, someone at ViewSonic always picked up the phone and had answers for us.”

RJ Young made the decision to partner with ViewSonic to fulfill its customers’ display needs, including commercial displays, digital signage, interactive displays, desktop monitors, and projectors. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Our partnership with ViewSonic is over the top,” said Echols. “The product is good, if not better, than what else is available and at an outstanding price point. ViewSonic also had the support, quick turnaround, and good relationships that we wanted to allow us to quickly satisfy our customers’ needs.”

THE RESULTS

During the work-at-home days of the Covid pandemic, adding ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays to the RJ Young lineup proved to be a wise decision.

“It was easy to show our customers how the ViewBoard displays could help them navigate the changing business landscape,” said Echols. “Not only did the displays provide interactivity and visibility for virtual meetings, they were also a logical extension to the way business had been evolving pre-pandemic.”

“I tell my customers that the ViewBoard interactive display is a common-sense extension of how they already do things, and it all revolves around interactivity,” he said. “Everyone is on a cell phone, which you can show to one or two people. The next step up from that is an iPad or a touchscreen PC, but you’re still limited to the few people that can gather around and see it. The natural extension, if you want five, 10, or more people to see and interact with content, is to throw it onto a giant TV touchscreen.”

Most of the time, his customers say, ‘Yes! That makes sense. That’s exactly what I want!’

Today, RJ Young is both a ViewSonic reseller and customer. The company has installed solutions for their customers using virtually every model in every category of ViewSonic product. They also rely on ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays to facilitate meetings in their own conference rooms.

“Every one of our 30-plus offices has at least one ViewSonic CDE display and one ViewBoard interactive display,” said Echols. “The quality and interactivity provide amazing functionality for our all-hands meetings, sales meetings, and breakout sessions. Also, we love the myViewBoard software, which makes it easy to manage our ViewSonic displays across the entire region.”

Echols can easily troubleshoot any situation using the myViewBoard ManagerTM software.

“I can turn on their conference room display – no matter where it is – add a welcome screen with the company’s logo, drop in any other content they need,” he said. “We don’t have to send our IT resources, and no one has to worry about whether there’s someone tech savvy in office. We can remotely manage the device, and it’s been fantastic for us.”

The duality of being a ViewSonic customer and reseller comes in handy.

“It’s ideal to have the products in use and available to demo,” said Echols. “If a customer comes in and asks to see the technology we’ve installed for other customers, we can simply take them to our conference room.”

The most recent installation is the 105-inch ViewBoard IFP105S interactive display with ultra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio. To showcase this flagship product and gain its ultra-wide benefits for themselves, RJ Young installed this 105-inch 21:9 ViewBoard in the conference room at their Nashville headquarters.

“I’m proud to say that our conference room was the first US installation of this groundbreaking product, and we have been thrilled with how much the added screen real estate has increased visibility and efficiency in our meetings,” said Echols. “The ability to cast multiple devices for collaboration and have a picture-in-picture view with different sources is extremely handy when checking jobs and designs against alternate versions. The annotation and tools are invaluable when we are marking up plans, doing systems designs, troubleshooting with customers, and when working internally on any number of tasks from HR to marketing.”

“We often work in collaboration with customers to review building plans, work out locations for their equipment, and show them how it will function in their space,” said Echols. “We use the 105-inch ViewBoard display to work with the customer to design their ideal office space and working environment, and the fact that we are using the same technology at our office speaks volumes.” Soon after their own installation, RJ Young brought the ultra-wide interactivity of the 105-inch ViewBoard display to several customers.

“For us and for our customers, the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays are an outstanding standalone meeting platform,” said Echols. “The 105-inch ultra- wide model takes it to a whole new level, with added space for more effective viewing and content organization, along with support for the Microsoft Teams Room Front Row layout, which delivers a natural and efficient digital meeting experience.”

APPENDIX

Additional ViewSonic Solutions from RJ Young

While ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays are the most popular products among his customers, Echols noted that RJ Young has provided customers with solutions using pretty much every product made by ViewSonic. These range from desktop monitors and conference room displays of all types and sizes, to digital signage, and massive Direct View LED displays, and their customers couldn’t be happier with the results.

“Feedback from customers about their ViewSonic products has been excellent,” said Echols. “I recently installed ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays and CDE commercial displays using myViewBoard Manager for a large non-profit company, and they just called saying that they wished they had done this installation sooner.”

Of course, he added, as with any supplier, there have been small and infrequent mishaps, like a product damaged in shipping, or the time a board arrived from the factory with a problem. Both were blips on the radar, with ViewSonic immediately replacing the products and making things right.

“We’ve never had a problem that resulted in an unhappy customer,” he said. “ViewSonic is always there for us, making sure our customers are satisfied.”

With ViewSonic’s many product lines to work with, Echols said that he enjoys offering customers everything from basic conference room setups to, “how creative do you want to get?” installations.

Recently, he worked on several projects that made use of the ViewSonic CDE30 commercial displays, which allow for vertical orientation. In one project, the company asked RJ Young to install three displays in a vertical array that ended up looking like windows on a cruise ship. At a local courthouse, Echols helped his customer develop a solution that would segment the content to be seen by the judge, jury, or audience, which included two ViewSonic 65-inch CDE6530 commercial displays hung from the celling to provide the judge with a private view of content. Another display was hung facing the audience, while a ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display was used to mirror court documents and facilitate zoom calls.

Another recent and “really cool” installation Echols facilitated was for Lenoir- Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina.

“The auditorium had concave walls, which made things tricky. We ended up putting a ViewSonic projector in the center with two ViewSonic 135-inch All-in- One Direct View LED displays on either side,” Echols said. “We made a custom frame to straighten out the wall behind the Direct View LED displays, which ViewSonic helped with quite a bit. Content could be programmed to flow from one side to the other, across all three sections, for example showing a wave crashing across them. It was stunning.”

Three years into the partnership, RJ Young has installed ViewSonic products across most of the industries it serves, including higher education, enterprise, and retail. Along with the certainty that ViewSonic hardware will deliver the quality, features, performance, and longevity to fully meet their customers’ needs, Echols said that ViewSonic’s myViewBoard Manager software has been a boon to customer satisfaction.

“We know from our own experience how beneficial the myViewBoard Manager is for remote management of a suite of displays,” said Echols. “We believe in it so much that we include it in every relevant quote, making it an opt-out scenario for customers.”

Ultimately, what makes the partnership with ViewSonic stand out, is the company’s unparalleled service and support, said Echols.

“In every way, before, during, and after a sale, ViewSonic fully supports us,” said Echols. “Matt Hurley is one hundred percent a full member of our team. He joins us at conferences and on customer calls. He does training with us – such as when a customer’s team isn’t sure how to use a display after an installation – and he’s available every day for us. We also get great professional development support for our education customers from ViewSonic folks specialized in that area.”

Circling back to where it all started, Echols recalls that when everything changed in 2020, the team at ViewSonic was integral to helping them quickly acclimate.

“It was all new to us, and we didn’t quite know what we were doing,” he said. “We had to figure out what parts and pieces we need to go with which types of installations. ViewSonic walked us through it all and made sure we had what we needed. They even helped us get in place our systems and people that we needed to support their product lines.”

Because of this support, Echols noted, his company has been able to extend their “Make It Right” guarantee to ViewSonic product installations.

“Part of our history with copiers was our ‘We Make It Right’ guarantee,” he said. “If someone on our team messes something up, we’re going to fix it. If there’s a problem, we’re going to fix it. Because of the support ViewSonic has extended to us on the technology side and on the back end, we’re able to offer this same guarantee for our AV hardware and software.”

IFP105S - 105" 5K 21:9 ViewBoard interactive display with integrated microphone and USB-C

SOLUTION BRIEF

Expansive School District Achieves Seamless Upgrade and Meets Multiple Needs with ViewSonic ViewBoard Interactive Displays

School districts faced with a technology upgrade have more options than ever. As such, the evaluation process can be time consuming, involving everyone from the IT and edtech staff to teachers and administrators. With a large and diverse network of 40 schools across an expansive geographic region, this district had a fleet of Promethean projectors that were reaching the end of their life cycle.

Not only were the projected images hard to see in ambient light conditions, the systems often needed replacement parts and were expensive to maintain. When it came time to make a transition to newer technology, the school board undertook a comprehensive search and trial of leading technologies, from projection systems to interactive flat panel displays (IFPs). Their primary objective was to find new classroom display technology that would be flexible and intuitive enough to meet diverse needs throughout the district.

Although 93% of the district’s teachers were actively using the outdated interactive boards in the classroom, the projectors were dated, and the boards weren’t touch enabled. Additionally, the boards had to be manually recalibrated every time they were moved, so making this technology work was becoming increasingly challenging and time consuming.

As they began the search for new technologies, the district’s IT team already knew that interactive flat panel systems would be more flexible to use, easier to install, and require less maintenance than projectors. After ruling out other alternatives, they invited teachers from across the district’s region to evaluate four different IFP systems in person at a central location.

IFP8650 Gen 5 86” 4K ViewBoard Interactive Display

CASE STUDY

Team Honda Enhances Supercross Performance Review and Brand Impact with ViewSonic Displays

COMPANY

Honda Powersports is an American Honda Motor Company brand and the sole distributor of Honda motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, and Side-by-Sides in the United States. The Honda Power Sports & Products business unit conducts the sales, marketing, and operational activities for these products through independent authorized Honda retail dealers. Formed in 1982, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is a racing division of the Honda Motor Company and is responsible for Honda’s motorcycle racing activities, including AMA Supercross motorcycle racing. Honda Racing Corporation encompasses both the management of motorcycle and teams throughout the world and the development of racing motorcycles.

“It was a big improvement over what we were doing in the past, which was a simple fabric banner. The ViewSonic display was much more attention-grabbing. At every event people would go up to it and see what it’s all about.”

— Jose Monge Jr, Red Rider Program Coordinator for American Honda Motor Co.

THE CHALLENGE

A newer version of motocross (MX), Supercross (SX) brings dirt bike racing indoors, delivering high-energy stadium events with an easy view of the action. Seven manufacturers currently create the motorcycles that compete in the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross Championship, which consists of 17 rounds held in venues across the U.S. and Canada. At each event, brands vie for attention from fans in sold-out stadiums. Each motorcycle maker sponsors a team, and the riders themselves are one of the biggest marketing platforms.

To further showcase the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) and the Honda Motorsports brand, Team Honda highlights its pit and riders with retractable fabric banners in the arena. Recently, a fan with insight into digital signage proposed an enhancement, while also suggesting an improvement to the team’s performance review system.

“We bring a team trailer truck to the events and after warm ups, qualifiers, and races the coaches sit with the riders and review their performance,” said Red Rider Program Coordinator for American Honda Motor Co. Jose Monge Jr. “It’s just like any premier-level sport, like football players going over their plays.”

To enable this rapid, on-site review, Team Honda staff haul monitors and video equipment to each event. The quality of those monitors, they were to discover, could make a notable difference.

THE SOLUTION

An unexpected encounter introduced Team Honda to new ways to improve both their on-site messaging and digital performance reviews.

Many Supercross fans like to enhance race day with a pit pass, which allows them to mingle with riders, mechanics, and motorcycles, and experience the energy that surrounds Supercross competition. This was where Monge and his team met Jeff Volpe, President of ViewSonic Americas.

“He saw the monitors we were using to review practice rounds and introduced himself,” said Monge. “He told us, ‘I’m in the monitor business and our monitors can do a better job for you than what you’re using now.’”

Volpe recommended the ViewSonic ELITE™ XG320Q 32-inch gaming monitor, which delivers ultra-smooth images, rapid response time, and a wide color gamut ideal for viewing the intricacies of fast-paced Supercross rides.

Next, Volpe suggested that Team Honda try a rolling promotion to draw attention to both companies’ brands, using two ViewSonic CDE5010 displays housed in weather-proof rolling cases.

Jeff is a terrific Supercross fan,” said Monge. “He’s enthusiastic about Honda racing and we were thrilled to implement his ideas.”

THE RESULTS

The 2023 AMA Supercross Championship series began on January 7th at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Among the excitement and hype, the HRC riders and Team Honda support staff spent many more serious moments reviewing warm ups on the new ViewSonic monitors. Later, between the qualifiers and heats, the performance reviews became even more critical. The visuals, said Monge, were noticeably better. 

“Right away it was clear from looking at them that these are premium monitors,” said Monge. “The images are very crisp and clear; it also helps for us that they’re lighter weight, since we move them around a lot.”

The vibrant 50-inch displays in their rolling cases paired perfectly with the energy-filled scene. A video loop ran an alternating series of Honda Powersports and ViewSonic messaging, along with a QR code linking to the “ViewSonic-Honda Gear Up Giveaway” prize lottery.

“It was a big improvement over what we were doing in the past, which was a simple fabric banner,” said Monge. “The ViewSonic display was much more attention-grabbing. At every event people would go up to it and see what it’s all about.”

The display accompanied Monge and the HRC team to each of the 17 Supercross rounds that year, running for upwards of eight hours each day. The displays and cases held up beautifully, said Monge, even in the occasional rainy weather they encountered.

The season wrapped up on Saturday, May 13th at the Salt Lake City Rice-Eccles Stadium, with Team Honda rider Chase Sexton taking the number one spot, giving Honda its first Supercross Championship in 20 years. A coincidence perhaps, but the crystal-clear performance reviews and added audience hype brought by the ViewSonic displays couldn’t have hurt.

ViewSonic CDE5010

ViewSonic ELITE™ XG320Q

CASE STUDY

School Builds Strong Foundation for Digital Learning with ViewSonic Education Solutions

SCHOOL

Foundations for the Future Charter Academy (FFCA) has had a long-standing reputation for academic leadership. Today, it operates eight campuses within the city of Calgary, including four elementary, two middle and two high schools. Technology innovation has played an integral role for FFCA in both student development and academic success.

“Our results are consistently above the provincial average,” says Jeff Cullen, Director of Technology for Foundations for the Future Charter Academy. He attributes part of that success to the school’s investments in the latest visual learning technology for its eight campuses, all of which are now equipped with the ViewSonic^® ViewBoard^® Interactive Displays and the myViewBoard® digital learning platform.

“The upgrade to ViewSonic is our most recent, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Teacher adoption and student engagement is high, and the future looks very bright.”

— Jeff Cullen, FFCA Director of Technology

CHALLENGE

FFCA recently completed a major technology upgrade which included the replacement of outdated visual technology and equipment, including 15-year-old projector/SMART Board systems. Image brightness was difficult to achieve in various classroom settings, and maintenance costs and licensing fees were high. The systems also required a lot of manual calibration which was difficult and time consuming for the IT team to manage. “If the walls weren’t completely straight, they didn’t work,” said Cullen.

The search for replacement technology began immediately after a ceiling had collapsed at its North Calgary campus building and students had to be relocated to a remote building in the south end of the city. The decision to deploy ViewSonic^® ViewBoard^® interactive displays for the temporary building was an easy one for FFCA because of the cost savings from easier maintenance along with robust remote management features.

“We settled on ViewSonic and moved the ViewBoard displays into the new high school as quickly as we could because we had only a few days to get everything done. The set up was easy and given the success of that installation, we chose ViewSonic as the established standard for all of our campuses moving forward,” said Cullen.

SOLUTION

Changing classroom learning technologies can create resistance on the part of teachers, Cullen notes. “For teachers, their classrooms are their offices. That’s where they work and live each day.”

But that wasn’t the case with the ViewSonic^® myViewBoard^® ecosystem, he adds. “When the first ViewBoard displays were installed, the teachers dove into the software, and many have begun to transition their SMART Board Notebook files over to the new myViewBoard platform.”

In the summer of 2022, FFCA’s team completed the replacement of all its SMART systems with 170 ViewBoard interactive displays. Moving from the older SMART Boards has delivered considerable advantages for the schools – from easy maintenance, to portability, to remote management and wireless casting.

“We don’t have to worry about alignment and bulb replacement anymore, and we don’t have to pay licensing fees. We also have much more flexibility because the myViewBoard software allows for wireless casting and screen sharing,” said Cullen.

A key feature for Cullen is remote device management capabilities. “With Manager Advanced, I can centrally manage our entire network. I can see everything across the network and push out updates remotely. This has solved a lot of issues for us.”

As teachers work with myViewBoard, Cullen reports that the uptake ranges from straightforward whiteboard functions to more advanced digital learning applications.

“For example, at the elementary school level there was lot of excitement over the integrated reader and translation software and how easy it is to use in teaching phonics and literacy. Elementary teachers are usually the hardest to impress. But when we showed them these new software features, there were ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’.”

FFCA also plans to install another 40 ViewBoard displays in one of its newest campuses which is scheduled to open in North Calgary in the Spring of 2024. With this school, Cullen says they are taking technology innovation a step further. “We plan to take a very mobile approach for our computer and learning labs, and are working with the idea of using a virtual approach. For this campus, most of the ViewSonic ViewBoards will be all mounted on mobile carts.”

Over his 13 years at FFCA, Cullen says he has overseen three technology refreshes. “The upgrade to ViewSonic is our most recent, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Teacher adoption and student engagement is high, and the future looks very bright.”

RESULTS

Since its technological evolution, Splitsville has delivered on its promise to bring a state-of-the-art bowling entertainment experience to a new generation of customers.

"ViewSonic digital signage, projection systems, and large format displays are now front and center in every area of every Splitsville facility, serving up music, sports, event reminders and acknowledgements, celebratory notices, advertising, and business presentations," said Haggerty.

“The instant gratification of digital has been a big tool for getting people out,” said Haggerty. “Also, adding more visual richness to our ads has moved people to buy more food, more quickly.”

The first location to undergo an overhaul quadrupled its earnings within two-and-a-half years, said Haggerty. “It took about eight months for it to get its sea legs, but after that, everything came together.”

The sites have become a popular draw for activities outside of bowling, from party bookings to business meetings. “People can even do PowerPoint presentations over the lanes if they like. With one push of the button they can have all screens showing the same input,” said Haggerty.

Plans are in the works to add interactive touchscreen capabilities to displays at the individual bowling lanes to enable sign up, scorekeeping, points collection, and messaging.

Now armed with a proven concept with definitive results, Haggerty has his eyes on expansion into the U.S.

ViewSonic CDE Series Commercial Displays

CASE STUDY

Third Grade Teacher Achieves Increased Engagement, Visibility and Collaboration with ViewSonic^® ViewBoard^® Interactive Displays

SCHOOL

Denver Green School Southeast serves around 570 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. A part of the Luminary Learning Network (LLN) and the Innovation School Zone established in 2008 by the Colorado General Assembly, Denver Green Schools (DGS) use relevant instruction and shared leadership to serve a diverse community and create an inclusive environment that engages all learners to flourish and live a sustainable life. Along with high academic achievement, goals for learners at DGS campuses include partnering with teachers to engage in relevant, student-directed learning; building leadership capacity by embracing a democratic decision-making model; using service learning as a way to become community stewards; creating mind-body connections as well as community connections; and using the school buildings and neighbourhoods as laboratories for the study and implementation of carbon footprint reduction and sustainable living.

“There was so much excitement from the kids around going up to the ViewBoard and working on it. Engagement increased one hundred percent. Everyone actually wanted to come up and show their work. That didn’t used to happen nearly this much. Honestly, the kids just love it.”

Sam Sheppard, Third Grade Teacher

THE CHALLENGE

Now looking forward to her fifth year at the school, third grade teacher, Sam Sheppard, began her career at the Denver Green School Southeast as a student teacher, and has never looked back. Grateful to be hired as a staff teacher at this innovative school, which empowers teachers with greater autonomy than typical public schools, Sheppard describes the learning environment as rewarding and joyful.

“I love it here. We have a farm where the kids harvest things that end up on their lunch table, and we raise chickens in the classroom,” said Sheppard. “Teachers have a voice here. We’re able to write our own plans and have ownership over how we teach.”

As a Title One school, DGS Southeast has limited funding for technology. Sheppard did her best with an old, glitchy projector.

“I’d say it only worked about half the time,” she said. “We got used to waiting for it to warm up. The kids invented ‘magic fi ngers’ that they would wiggle at the projector to help it get going.”

When it did work, Sheppard said it was often hard for the kids to see what she was projecting, due to shadows and fuzzy images. Thinking back to her own school years, she reminisced about the usefulness of Smart Boards.

“It made me sad that my kids didn’t have this advantage,” she said. “Asking myself why not, it came down to funding. Projectors were what the school could afford.”

THE SOLUTION

In her fourth year at the school, Sheppard decided to take action. She created a project page on DonorsChoose – like a GoFundMe just for teachers – asking donors to contribute to her request for a ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display.

“I had done some research and discovered the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays,” said Sheppard. “They had great reviews and I wanted a great interactive display that was clear and easy for the kids to see. I also really liked that it could be put on a cart and could move around the classroom with us.”

As a crowdfunding platform, projects on DonorsChoose are most often supported by small individual contributions. Sheppard had high hopes for her project to get fully funded (around 70% of projects do), and was working hard to drum up supporters, but recognized that progress might take a while. Little did she know that ViewSonic had caught wind of her DonorsChoose fundraiser and decided to surprise her with a 65-inch ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP6550 4K Interactive Display.

On a typical Monday, Sheppard was going about her usual classroom routine when DGS Southeast Lead Partner, Jessica Krichbaum, showed up at her door. Two ViewSonic team members brought in a ViewSonic ViewBoard display on a rolling cart. Sheppard was astonished. Her excitement, as well as the fast and easy setup are captured in this Instagram reveal: vsfinch.es/DenverGreenSchoolIG

“I was so surprised,” said Sheppard. “It was amazing. Such an amazing surprise for which we are all so grateful.”

Her students had a similar reaction when the board rolled in, happily yelling things like, “Yay! No more projector!”

THE RESULTS

As anticipated based on her research, Sheppard’s students absolutely adored the new classroom technology. Although they only had three weeks of the school year left, Sheppard made sure to make the most of the beautiful new display. Active participation in math and learning games were two of her students’ favorite activities, she said, and collaboration and engagement went through the roof.

“There was so much excitement from the kids around going up to the ViewBoard and working on it,” she said. “Engagement increased one hundred percent. Everyone actually wanted to come up and show their work. That didn’t used to happen nearly this much. Honestly, the kids just love it.”

Another big benefi t provided by the new tech was the clear visibility for every student in the classroom, with no more “weird head shadows” blocking the view.

“Like many classrooms, we celebrate at the end of the year by watching movies,” said Sheppard. “It was so amazing to have clear views and builtin speakers. Finally, my kids could see and hear clearly, and I didn’t have to keep asking them to scootch down in their seats so their heads wouldn’t cast shadows on the screen.”

Krichbaum seconded all the above, commenting that, “It has been amazing to see the ViewBoard display up and running so quickly, and kids being so much more engaged as they manipulate things on the screen. Not to mention that everyone can actually see what is happening on it!”

Despite only having the new technology for a few weeks, Sheppard and her students were able to quickly learn how to use it.

“The ViewSonic ViewBoard display is so user-friendly for the kids, which aligns perfectly with my goal of putting more student voice into the classroom next year,” Sheppard commented. “I envision more student leadership; things like having them rotate through roles where they’re in charge of the board in one way or another.”

Sheppard looks forward to many more applications for her new ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display in the upcoming school year, including the use of Google Slides to structure the day – a growing trend among Google Classroom teachers.

“I am so excited to use it for full year next year. Along with all our teachers I’ll be moving toward using Google Slides,” said Sheppard. “Everything throughout the day will be presented on slides, and will be visible on the big display. My students and I will be able to interact with each slide using whatever type of content I’ve embedded into it.”

Happily, Sheppard won’t be the only teacher at DGS Southeast using a ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display.

“Amazingly, the ViewBoard on my DonorsChoose page was fully funded, so my teaching partner will have one next year too,” said Sheppard. “It will be great to collaborate together on ways to use them, and we hope to do some PD with ViewSonic to deepen our understanding of what’s possible when teaching with this amazing interactive display.”

65-inch ViewSonic® ViewBoard® IFP6550 4K interactive display

ViewSonic VB-STND-005 rolling cart

CASE STUDY

ViewSonic myViewBoard Software Brings Streamlined Collaborative Learning to Fourth Grade Classroom

SCHOOL

Granite School District, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, serves around 67,000 students enrolled in programs ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Granite is the third largest district in Utah, with nine high schools, 15 junior high schools, 62 elementary schools, as well as several specialty schools. Jim Bridger Elementary serves approximately 478 students in grades PK-6.

“Most teachers are using it much more than they did the basic smart boards. They like being able to have more than one student at a time write, draw, or interact with the ViewBoard displays. And everyone likes the ability to get away from their desk, to be able to work directly at the ViewBoard or move around the room with their laptops.”

— Wendy Jones, Granite Technology Coach

THE CHALLENGE

Like many districts, the classroom displays at Granite School District were an assortment of aging projectors and projection-based smart boards. Then came the pandemic, and with it the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds from the Department of Education, which the district used in part to upgrade classroom displays for enhanced digital learning. The first challenge the team faced was selecting display models to deploy.

“The Granite way is to provide building principals with options, so we narrowed the field to ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays and a board from another manufacturer,” said Granite EdTech Team Lead Heidi Meenen. “The other option was a holdover from an initial elementary school deployment several years prior. Once we were introduced to ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays, it became the more appealing choice due to the robust whiteboarding software.”

Along with the deployment of the ViewSonic® ViewBoard® 86-inch IFP8650 interactive displays came the typical challenges of getting teachers acquainted with new tech. As is also often the case, one teacher was particularly enthusiastic about scaling the learning curve. At Jim Bridger Elementary School, enterprising fourth grade teacher Heidi Ritchie and her tech-savvy students challenged the ViewSonic® myViewBoard® software to deliver collaborative group learning.

THE SOLUTION

The ViewSonic ViewBoard displays were deployed at Jim Bridger Elementary over winter break. By mid-January, Ritchie had reached out to Granite Technology Coach Wendy Jones.

“Everyone was in the very early stages of learning what they could do with the displays, but Heidi was already thinking about how to use the panel in more expansive ways,” said Jones. “She wanted to do more than just display content or write on the screen.”

ViewSonic myViewBoard software is included with every ViewBoard display. So Jones downloaded the app and she and Ritchie began exploring, guided by the mantra, “Let’s see what we can do!”

Their esports led them to the Classroom component of the myViewBoard ecosystem, which provides students with their own canvas that can be shared with classmates to form team “huddles.”

Available as a browser-based app for Windows, Android, and iOS, Classroom can be used on any teacher or student device with a web browser.

One of Ritchie’s aspirations was to use the app to facilitate small group projects. The myViewBoard Classroom software provided the (almost) perfect solution.

Imagine a typical elementary classroom. The teacher has just shown an informational video or slides about a topic. Now students arranged in small groups, each working on one part of a lesson, such as identifying components of the water cycle. Some work together to agree on what they want to say; some are less involved. Invariably, one student takes control and begins to fill in the paper diagram provided by the teacher. When the groups are finished, the teacher may simply collect the sheets or capture each one with a document camera and project them onto the classroom screen.

Now consider a classroom such as Ritchie’s, equipped with a ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display and myViewBoard software. Using the Classroom component of the software, the teacher can start in lecture mode, which shares her canvas – such as the informational videos or slides – onto the ViewBoard screen, and/or to each student’s Chromebook. Next, she can switch seamlessly to huddle mode, which enables her to arrange students into groups that each receive segments of the work. The student Chromebooks replace the paper documents and students use tools like text, pen, and sticky notes to add content to the digital worksheet.

The teacher can track each groups’ work on her laptop and provide feedback digitally or verbally to each student and/or huddle group. When everyone is finished, students share their group canvasses to the big screen with a click. Everything is quick and seamless – and can accommodate hybrid learning for students that are unable to be in the classroom.

These huddle capabilities were exactly what Ritchie was looking for. Working with Jones to master setting up huddles, Ritchie developed lesson plans that leveraged this collaborative functionality.

Ritchie’s first huddles involved creating images and diagrams then assigning students to add labels.

“My students and I learned how to use it together, and it was an amazing journey,” said Ritchie. “To start, I created pictures of a plant, or an animal, then put them in groups to label the various parts. They were so enthusiastic about doing lessons this way.”

Then one day, the students were midway through a huddle-based lesson when class time ended and Ritchie realized that the only way to save the huddle was by using the snippet tool to grab a screen shot. This captured the students’ progress, but would not allow them to manipulate the content. When students returned the next day to complete the project, they had to start from scratch.

Jones and Meenen reached out to their ViewSonic rep Max Green, who worked with the company’s development team on a fix.

“We contacted Max on a Wednesday,” said Jones. “By Monday, the problem was fixed and huddle content was automatically saved to Google Classroom; the students didn’t have to do a thing. It was a game changer for us.”

THE RESULT

On any given day, Heidi Ritchie’s fourth grade students can be seen gathering in groups to huddle over a science, social studies, or language arts assignment. Students view teacher-created canvases on their Chromebook web browser, individually or as a group. Ritchie can pre-select huddle teams or allow students to choose and create their own group of huddle-mates.

Ritchie can customize lessons to fi t learning objectives, providing students with a pre-built chart, graphic organizer, or diagram, or giving them a blank canvas with instructions on what she’s looking for. Either way, students view the canvas on their individual Chromebooks, sitting together with their huddle companions. To encourage collaboration each student has a role in completing the assignment.

“Every student in each huddle sees the full canvas, but they each are responsible for completing one particular part,” said Meenen. “Each of them can add content, attach a sticky note, create a drawing, or pull in an image, but Heidi sets it up so that they can only create and edit in their own content area. This helps encourage everyone to participate.”

To reinforce concepts covered in a literacy unit, for example, Ritchie created a graphic organizer for the key components of a story.

“Students logged onto myViewBoard and clicked the URL that Ritchie sent them, which linked them to their huddle groups,” said Meehen. “Each student was assigned an area, such as setting, plot, or character development, which they could complete using their choice of tools.”

Along with the collaborative, paper-free learning that her ViewBoard display and myViewBoard Classroom bring to her students, Ritchie also loves the ease with which she can create and deliver lessons.

“I can build a lesson on my laptop, save it to Google Drive, then pull it up on the ViewBoard display without needing to attach my computer,” she said. “It’s fast and convenient; everything is seamless with Google.”

The ViewSonic solution has also streamlined the process of prepping for days off - often a great source of stress for teachers.

“I created a PowerPoint with an entire day laid out to guide substitute teachers, which I save to a USB drive,” said Ritchie. “The subjust plugs the USB into the ViewBoard and opens it on the large screen. Having this template makes creating a sub plan so much easier. I just love it.”

Another important benefi t of this method, added Jones, is that it eliminates the need for subs to get content from teachers’ personal Google Drives. Plus, she said, the substitutes that have been the benefi ciaries of this system so far have been big fans.

“They don’t need to worry about compatibility or connecting their laptop,” said Jones. “They just open the file on the ViewBoard and all the lessons are right there, step by step, with instructions for the students. So far, the subs who have used it told us that it was one of the easiest days they’ve had as a substitute teacher.”

Similarly, said Meehen, instructors at district high schools, like those who teach upper-level math, use the Record feature to save lessons for use by substitutes.

“When a sub comes in, they don’t need to actually know calculus,” said Meehen. “They can plug in the USB drive and show the recorded lesson on the ViewBoard. It’s a huge win for everyone.”

Word of Ritchie’s successes using the ViewSonic solutions are spreading through the school, as instructors at various points along the learning curve find ways to integrate the new tech into their teaching.

“Most teachers are using it much more than they did the basic smart boards. They like being able to have more than one student at a time write, draw, or interact with the ViewBoard displays,” said Jones. “And everyone likes the ability to get away from their desk, to be able to work directly at the ViewBoard or move around the room with their laptops.”

Jones has been holding PD sessions on advanced features like pop quizzes and the huddles, and anticipates that teachers across the district will begin using them throughout the remainder of the school year, and beyond.

As for students, just about all of them appreciate the integrated learning games embedded in the myViewBoard software, said Jones. When it comes to huddles, said Ritchie, virtually all her students like working together in this way.

“My kids love using it, and they absolutely love the save feature,” said Ritchie. “They know they won’t lose their work, that they can pick up where they were the next day and keep working on their huddle project. We all very much appreciate the way ViewSonic jumped in and figured out a fix for this so quickly. They’ve been just great to work with.”

ViewSonic Manager Advanced™ subscription

ViewBoard® IFP7550 interactive displays

CASE STUDY

High School Principal Broadcasts Positivity with ViewSonic Manager Advanced and ViewBoard Interactive Displays

SCHOOL

Robert E. Lee High School is a public secondary school in Montgomery, Alabama, serving grades 9 - 12. Operating since September, 1955, the school is one of 10 high schools in the Montgomery Public Schools system. According to U.S. News & World Report data, among the student population of 1,386 the total minority enrollment is 95%, and 86% of students are economically disadvantaged.

“Students can interact with text on the board, which allows them to annotate, highlight, and request audio readings, which is an outstanding way to improve vocabulary and comprehension.”

— Dr. Antjuan Marsh, Principle at Robert E. Lee High School

THE CHALLENGE

When Dr. Antjuan Marsh became principal at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama, one of the first things he did was assess the school’s education technology. The classroom displays, he discovered, were aged, underutilized, and included a difficult-to-manage mix of models that included ViewSonic^® ViewBoard^® interactive displays. Teachers reported that they preferred the ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays because they were easier to use and enabled them to do much more digitally than the Promethean boards.

After assessing the ViewBoard interactive displays, Marsh and the school improvement team agreed to purchase current-model 75-inch ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays for every classroom. It was a wise investment. Teachers use the ViewBoard displays daily for instruction, Dr. Marsh said, and are well-versed in using the included myViewBoard^® software tools to boost collaboration and engagement.

“For example, one English teacher breaks students into workstations, with one group working at the ViewBoard display,” said Dr. Marsh. “Students can interact with text on the board, which allows them to annotate, highlight, and request audio readings, which is an outstanding way to improve vocabulary and comprehension.”

With the instructional technology upgrade behind him, Dr. Marsh turned his attention to finding innovative ways to build a stronger school-wide community. The leader of a school where 80% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches and live in an often violent and uncertain environment, Dr. Marsh recognized a unique opportunity presented by the ViewSonic ViewBoard displays installed in every classroom across the school. His plan was to leverage the displays to extend the power of the positive through dynamic and compelling school-wide multimedia messaging.

THE SOLUTION

The ViewSonic Manager™ software included with ViewSonic ViewBoard displays allows for remote centralized management of all networked displays, along with the ability to distribute text-based messages across some or all ViewBoard displays. Text alone, however, was not compelling enough to meet Dr. Marsh’s goals. To deliver video and other media messaging, he would need the Manager Advanced™ subscription-based software upgrade.

After a 90-day free trial, Dr. Marsh was ready to go all-in with the subscription at the start of the next school year. Guided by the school improvement theme Connectedness, Dr. Marsh began creating videos that highlighted the good stuff: students winning awards, following the rules, having fun, attending school events, and supporting one another. Most were fun, but decidedly not frivolous.

“The CDC defines ‘school connectedness’ as when students know that adults in their building care about them academically and also as a person,” said Dr. Marsh. “By broadcasting videos showing the positive things they’re doing we are showing them that we see them and recognize them as valuable.

”When students feel connected to their school, the CDC further notes, they’re less likely to experience poor mental health, sexual health risks, substance abuse, and violence. The ViewSonic ViewBoard classroom displays provided an important means of reaching these critical goals.

Dr. Marsh uses the Connectedness videos to shape school culture, positively impact social-emotional learning, provide public service announcements, and run safety drills. To capture student attention, he broadcasts these messages to every ViewBoard display in the school at random times – including in the middle of classes.

“I’ve broadcast many types of messages,” said Dr. Marsh. “Most of them are about the great things our students are doing, but the broadcasts are also helpful for utilitarian messages. For example, yesterday we ran a PSA on where and when students can and cannot use cell phones. Teachers appreciate these PSAs because when they see students in the hallways not following the rules, they can remind them of the videos.”

Other examples noted by Dr. Mash were a looping broadcast highlighting award-winning students, including one who won a national competition based on her work with tornado victims; clips from sporting and fine arts events; and a collage of students from the required career preparedness class looking sharp in their interview attire.

Creating the broadcasts is as easy as using his iPhone to record video, along with using apps on his laptop, Dr. Marsh says, which enable him to edit and add captions. The Manager Advanced software further enables him to broadcast YouTube videos or other web-based content, another feature that he leverages for positive impact. Occasionally he will send messages to certain classes, easily identifying and selecting the ViewBoard display endpoints using the Manager Advanced interface. Next on his agenda is learning how to use the Manager Advanced software to broadcast Google Slides presentations.

As hoped for, the videos have become a happily anticipated part of the school environment.

“The more videos I create, the more they want to see them,” said Dr. Marsh. “If I can’t make it to an event or leave something out that they think should be there, the students let me know.”

The opportunities to notice, capture and broadcast connection and caring are endless. On March 14th, otherwise known as “Pi Day,” the school held a pie-throwing event. A student unexpectedly tossed the edible kind at the principal, who accepted the gesture with extreme grace. The student exclaimed that she was now wanted for “pie-ing” the principal. Someone caught it all on video and it became a hit among the many memorable broadcasts bolstering the community at Lee High School.

ViewSonic Manager Advanced™ subscription

ViewBoard® IFP7550 interactive displays

CASE STUDY

Conference Room Makeover Brings State-of-the-Art ViewSonic Direct View LED and ViewBoard Interactive Displays to School

SCHOOL

Located in Ellisville, MS, the Ellisville State School is a state-operated regional program providing comprehensive services to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Ellisville State School offers services to people in a residential setting and provides an array of programs and services in the community through the Community Services System. Ellisville State School serves approximately 240 people on the main campus and additional persons in the community. It is the goal of Ellisville State School to provide each person with the appropriate services so that each will develop to the maximum of his or her potential.

“They were able to use the ViewBoard interactive display while looking at the audience, and everything they did was mirrored on the big Direct View LED display, which made it highly visible to everyone in the room no matter where they were seated. The two displays are a great pairing.”

— Dean Yelverton, Network Administrator

THE CHALLENGE

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when Ellisville State School (ESS) closed its doors to protect residents and staff, Director Rinsey McSwain found herself conducting daily video calls in the conference room. She quickly became frustrated by the limited capabilities of the aging projector and conference phone. This frustration was the springboard for change, as McSwain envisioned the development of a fully-interactive environment powered by the most current technology.

“She wanted top-notch video conferencing equipment that could be used in multiple, flexible ways,” said IT Director Bobby Sterling. “The room was already equipped with a divider, and she wanted to be able to leverage it for simultaneous smaller meetings as well as ones that used the full space.”

Along with Network Administrator Dean Yelverton, Sterling reached out to reseller partner RJ Young for assistance. Together they looked at potential solutions from various manufacturers, and settled on the Direct View LED display as their technology of choice for the room’s main display. This would be supplemented with an interactive flat panel display on the other side of the room.

THE SOLUTION

Next, Sterling and Yelverton visited the reseller’s installer, who favored ViewSonic among the suppliers under consideration.

“He showed us photos of ViewSonic Direct View LED display installations he had done,” said Yelverton. “Seeing those, along with the great bang-for-the-buck offered by ViewSonic, took us quickly in that direction. We knew that our director would be pleased with the seamless display.”

It didn’t hurt that both Yelverton and Sterling had previous positive experience with ViewSonic products. “I’ve used ViewSonic displays going back a long time,” said Yelverton. “They’ve always been very good quality at a fair price. And for what you get with the huge Direct View LED display, it’s really rather affordable.”

The team took their proposal to McSwain, who was impressed by the display’s size and features. The final signoff came from business services, and with these approvals, the IT team obtained the required quotes. RJ Young presented the best pricing, and received the purchase order for a ViewSonic® 135” All-in- One LD135-151 Direct View LED display and a ViewSonic® 75-inch ViewBoard® IFP7552-1C-E1 display with VPC25-W53-01-1B slot-in PC, along with Logitech control panel, webcams, a controller and Sure speakers to round out the solution. The IT department further ordered a ViewSonic® LD-MK-001 vacuum maintenance tool, which would enable them to easily remove and replace LED panels without having to bring in third party support.

The final challenge would be installing the new equipment in time for the annual Department of Mental Health Board of Directors meeting that the school would be hosting just three weeks after placing the purchase order. Fortunately, one of the key features of the ViewSonic Direct View LED display system is streamlined installation that makes it faster and easier to deploy than a traditional LED wall.

THE RESULTS

Thanks to the support and hustle from RJ Young and ViewSonic, the equipment arrived about two weeks after the order was placed. This left under a week to get everything installed and working.

“The Department of Mental Health is our school’s oversight organization, and this meeting is very important,” said Sterling. “Our director wanted everything perfect to showcase videos on the new Direct View LED display and to accommodate interactive presentations on the ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display. We were under a tremendous time crunch.”

Thanks to the efforts of all involved – and the ease of installation because of ViewSonic Direct View LED technology – everything went smoothly, said Yelverton. They even had a couple days to conduct training. The meeting went off without a hitch.

What was once a standard-issue conference room with basic and outdated equipment has become a state-of-the art facility that provides flexibility and ease of use.

“We didn’t realize how much we were going to be able to take advantage of by going from what we had to the fully interactive setup we have now,” said Sterling.

For groups like the board of directors meeting, the full room supports a range of needs, from a larger-than-life video display and immersive video calls on the Direct View LED display, to interactive presentations using the arm-mounted ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive display, which can be height-adjusted and angled to meet user needs as well as a variety of seating arrangements.

“During the board meeting we had several attendees present who were accustomed to using whiteboards,” said Yelverton. “They were able to use the ViewBoard interactive display while looking at the audience, and everything they did was mirrored on the big Direct View LED display, which made it highly visible to everyone in the room no matter where they were seated. The two displays are a great pairing.”

When the full room isn’t needed, the school can book dual meetings in the divided space. The collaborative capabilities of the ViewBoard display have been particularly useful for conducting remote and hybrid training, commented Yelverton, and the room has become an in-demand hub for trainings as much as for meetings.

Sterling and Yelverton emphasized that both RJ Young and ViewSonic went above and beyond, throughout the process.

“I have to give a shout out to ViewSonic’s tech support,” said Yelverton. “We had issues with a couple of the LED panels, which they anticipated by including some spares with the kit. Then after that the tech support team sent us a couple more spares to keep on hand.” The Ellisville State School director who requested the conference room makeover has been more than pleased with the results, the IT duo said. “She still gets a big smile every time she sees the beautiful Direct View LED display,” said Sterling. “When visitors come from our central office it’s the first thing that she shows them.”

ViewSonic® 135” All-in-one Direct View LED display LD135-151

ViewSonic 75-inch ViewBoard® IFP7552-1C-E1

CASE STUDY

School District Upgrades Teaching and Learning Capabilities with ViewBoard Interactive Displays and myViewBoard Software

SCHOOL

The Alisal Union School District (AUSD) serves around 7,500 students in 12 neighborhood K-6th grade schools (including preschool programs) and one virtual school in East Salinas, California. Many of the teachers and staff are from the community, and a significant number of the students served are from farmworker and immigrant families. In addition to its 13 schools, AUSD offers three family resource centers. Each school is also supported by its own counselor, library specialist, instructional coach, and assistant principal. Additionally, every school is further supported by district-wide psychologists, school nurses and LVNs, and speech therapists. Additional offerings include seasonal sports, music, folklórico dance, and after-school and weekend academic support and enrichment, including NASA STEM Academy and Intro to Coder Dojo.

“When we looked at the reliability and price point of ViewSonic’s ViewBoard product, along with the training and support they were offering, it all added up for ViewSonic. They were the sweet spot of everything we were looking for.”

— Joshua Harris, AUSD Director of Edtech

THE CHALLENGE

Imagine using the same edtech – for 20 years. That’s how long the Alisal Union School District had relied on classroom projectors and pull-down screens. The time to replace them was long overdue.

“The projectors just weren’t cutting it,” said AUSD Director of Edtech Joshua Harris. “20 years is quite old for digital and electronics technology. It’s not going to be reliable.”

The push to purchase new front-of-classroom display technology came from a newly appointed superintendent, who intended to update classrooms for 21st century learning. Café seating and other flexible furnishings were planned to support active, project-based learning. Harris was asked to find a complete solution that would support this classroom modernization.

“The edtech professional mindset deeply considers teacher perspective,” said Harris. “Top of mind for us was finding a solution that would ease the transition for teachers unaccustomed to modern instructional technology.”

Another key requirement was the ability to untether teachers from their desks, which would allow them to take full advantage of the updated classroom and evolving pedagogical direction.

“We wanted a solution that allowed the teacher to be freed from their desk and from the need for added tech like a document camera or tablet,” said Harris. “We also wanted a simple, stable solution.”

Asking themselves, ‘what will meet these goals while giving us the closest to 100% uptime,’ the IT team assessed current available technology and found the answer: interactive flat panel (IFP) displays.

THE SOLUTION

After some months of research, the team further determined that interactive flat panel displays would meet all their criteria. They narrowed the field to ViewSonic^® ViewBoard^® interactive displays with myViewBoard^® software, which provided them with an ideal combination of features.

“When we looked at the reliability and price point of ViewSonic’s ViewBoard product, along with the training and support they were offering, it all added up for ViewSonic,” said Harris. “They were the sweet spot of everything we were looking for.”

After piloting the solution in 14 K-6 classrooms, the edtech and IT teams together recommended that the district outfit all learning spaces with ViewSonic ViewBoard interactive displays. The district purchased 300 ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP7550 75-inch interactive displays with myViewBoard software, which would be installed in waves following the start of the next school year.

THE RESULTS

As with any change, some teachers were initially resistant. At the same time, teachers in the pilot classrooms began talking about how much they enjoyed using the new interactive displays.

“We’re a very word-of-mouth community, and the teachers who had used the ViewBoard interactive displays were sharing their opinions,” said Harris. “They commented on the improved clarity and brightness of the images, and how much they liked being able to keep the lights on and shades open. The early adopters quickly started using the myViewBoard digital whiteboarding software and spread the word about how useful it was to be able to annotate and highlight content.”

While the peer encouragement helped immensely, Harris knew that much more was needed to smooth the transition.

“We lean heavily into training teachers,” said Harris. “My motto for this department is that investment in teachers is investment in students.”

First, he and his team introduced the full teaching staff to the new tech at the annual district convocation meeting, where they demonstrated the solution’s capabilities, including the handy toolbar with one-touch access to apps, pens, and other front-of-glass tools; the ability to share and receive content using the ViewBoard Cast™ software; and the smooth 20-point touchscreen.

“Our goal was to build positive anticipation for the devices,” said Harris. “I think this demo definitely did that. For one thing, there were audible gasps when we demonstrated some capabilities – like the ability to draw 3D shapes.”

For another, Harris said, after the presentation he was approached by teachers who told him how excited they were to use the interactive displays in their classrooms. Resistance among change-and tech-averse teachers was waning.

ViewSonic 75-inch IFP7550

ViewSonic myViewBoard Software

CASE STUDY

Peruvian School Boosts Hybrid Learning and English Language Instruction with ViewSonic ViewBoard Interactive Displays

SCHOOL

Founded in 1954, Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (CCPNA) is a distinguished educational institution dedicated to English language instruction in southern Peru. Headquartered in the city of Arequipa, it not only serves as a center for language learning but also plays a vital role in fostering cultural exchange and promoting American culture through a diverse range of events such as plays, musicals, art galleries, film screenings, round tables, conferences, and more.

Apart from its main office in Arequipa, CCPNA has branches in the cities of Puno, Juliaca, Ilo, Moquegua, and Tacna. With a comprehensive array of 20 English learning programs tailored to different age groups, academic intensity, and frequency, the institution accommodates a total of 7,000 students. These programs offer immersive National Geographic Learning experiences, ensuring a dynamic and engaging learning environment.

“ViewSonic was the most suitable solution to meet our needs. The fact that other companies off ered similar teaching support tools that were only compatible with Android helped us make our decision.”

— Álvaro Salinas, CCPNA General Director

THE CHALLENGE

CCPNA needed an easy way of implementing hybrid teaching across all of its campuses. Initially, they experimented with non-native touchscreen solutions and television sets. However, these options proved unsatisfactory due to subpar resolution and limited functionality. As a result, CCPNA embarked on a quest to find alternative teaching methods that could eff ectively support their new educational approach.

Álvaro Salinas, General Director of CCPNA, explains, “To achieve this, we required a cutting-edge interactive display as the cornerstone of our implementation. While we were already utilizing AI cameras and microphones in our classrooms, we lacked an interactive display solution with a robust platform to complement this transition.”

Consequently, the institution’s authorities directed their efforts towards finding a display that off ered user-friendly teaching tools and functionalities, such as those provided by the ViewSonic^® myViewBoard^® platform for content creation and casting. They sought an easily manageable application that could enhance both physical and online learning experiences.

The implementation process was a race against time as it needed to be completed by the beginning of 2023. To accomplish this, they relied on a slot-in OPS mini PC to power the display, making it the central component of the interactive learning experience. This setup enabled the utilization of myViewBoard software and provided teachers and students with an extensive range of resources.

THE SOLUTION

After careful evaluation of various market proposals, CCPNA made the decision to procure a total of 120 ViewSonic^® ViewBoard^® interactive displays for their campuses. This included 109 ViewBoard IFP6532 65-inch interactive displays, and 11 ViewBoard IFP8632 86-inch interactive displays. To complement these displays, 120 VPC25-W53-O1 slot-in PC units were also included in the order. These technology resources were installed not only at CCPNA branches in southern Peru but also at their sister institution, the Instituto de Diseño Thomas Jefferson.

To facilitate efficient management and control of the interactive display network, ViewSonic^® Manager Advanced™ software was seamlessly integrated into the solution. This software offers centralized control for executing tasks, performing updates, and sending messages or alarms directly to the displays, eliminating the need for physical presence in the classroom. Undoubtedly, this feature is a significant time and resource-saving advantage. Thanks to this implementation, 100% of the classrooms at the CCPNA Arequipa headquarters are now equipped with interactive displays. In the other cities, coverage reaches an impressive 90%, with the remaining margin representing areas where this implementation is not currently necessary.

RESULTS

The ViewSonic solution has significantly improved the hybrid teaching experience within the CCPNA educational community.

One notable aspect of the ViewSonic solution is its compatibility with both Android-supported tools and Windows-based applications for delivering classes, as well as integration with the Google Workspace platform. Additionally, the inclusion of myViewBoard software for content creation further enhances the teaching experience.

“ViewSonic was the most suitable solution to meet our needs,” said Salinas. “The fact that other companies offered similar teaching support tools that were only compatible with Android helped us make our decision.”

Salinas further adds that the teacher training process progressed smoothly, as the use of the new equipment proved intuitive, and many teachers already possessed a clear understanding of how to handle technology. This familiarity with the capabilities of the interactive displays made it easier for them to leverage all the features.

The delivery of technology resources began in the fi nal months of the previous year, and the implementation proceeded swiftly, concluding in March 2023. According to Alex Carlos, Regional Sales Manager of ViewSonic in Peru, CCPNA has now become “the best-equipped English educational center in the country, surpassing institutions in both the south and even those operating in Lima or the north of Peru. Moreover, it has emerged as a leading educational institution in terms of technological facilities in the Andean region.”

The CCPNA representative concludes, “For us, it was essential that this experience be extended to all students, not limited to certain classrooms, such as schools or universities. We aimed to create hybrid classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology, ensuring that all our students can enjoy a high-quality hybrid learning experience.”

ViewSonic Manager Advanced™ subscription

ViewBoard^® IFP6532 interactive displays

ViewBoard^® IFP8632 interactive displays

Joey Lee

JSL Marketing for ViewSonic [U.S.]
T: 310-592-1712
E: joey@jslcomm.com

Caroline McGrath

CMM Communications for ViewSonic [Canada]
T: 416-972-1642
E: caroline@cmm-communications.com

Nury Lavandier

JSL Marketing for ViewSonic [Latin America]
T: 305-491-0530
E: nury@jslcomm.com