Gladewater ISD Selects BenQ Boards for Fast, Personalized User Log-In and Easy User and Device Management

Interactive displays have become the premium standard for enabling interactivity in classrooms. However, these devices may introduce new hurdles for teachers and tech staff. Without the right features and tools, teachers can waste valuable time signing into these devices and learning how to use them. In addition, the time it takes IT and tech staff to configure these displays for teachers and keep them up to date can add up quickly. For Gladewater ISD in Texas, they identified the BenQ Board as the only education smart boards that would eliminate these obstacles, completely transforming the classroom and tech management experience and unleashing new superpowers for teachers and tech staff alike.

Gladewater ISD serves over 1,700 students across its four campuses. With a technology department that includes only five team members, including Director of Technology Avon Bateman, it was paramount that the upgrade from projectors to interactive displays be seamless and ensure efficiency for teachers and staff while introducing superior levels of interactivity.

As evidence grows to support the idea that interactive educational apps are beneficial to learning, many teachers are integrating them into their lessons, such as Kahoot!, Seesaw, BrainPOP, or Big Ideas Math. At Gladewater, the teachers use a multitude of apps across the district. In addition, teachers today need to access network drives and cloud platforms, such as Google Classroom, to store and share their teaching files and materials. In 2021, Google reported that Google Classroom helped more than 150 million students, educators and school leaders around the world teach and learn — up from 40 million the previous year, with Gladewater ISD among them. Both apps and cloud platforms are integral to providing incredible learning experiences and streamlining the classroom. As such, teachers need direct and quick access to these resources from the classroom display. Today, that display is a smart board.

However, these tools can add new burdens to teachers’ plates, from remembering passwords to learning how to access these resources during class time. For Gladewater, it was essential that the smart board be a device that is fast and easy to log into and be even more useful than a personal laptop. It needed to provide personalized settings; direct access to the most-used apps, cloud, and network accounts and files; as well as innovative and easy-to-use annotation, whiteboarding, wireless screen sharing, and screen recording capabilities that define a collaborative, engaging learning experience.

For technology staff, there have never been more hardware and digital assets to oversee than there are today. This is compounded by the increased need for security. At Gladewater, in addition to teacher laptops, student Chromebooks, and other computers, the staff would now be configuring and managing interactive displays in every classroom and other learning spaces. Teachers and tech staff alike needed a way to automate tasks that can be time-consuming and complicated. This included updates, daily monitoring, installing apps, and more. BenQ Boards lead the way, helping teachers shape the future of learning with advanced, one-of-a-kind tools that transform the user and management experience.

In a hands-on demonstration of BenQ Boards, the Gladewater tech staff and the teachers were blown away by BenQ’s approach to logging in. BenQ interactive displays feature instant access with NFC-based card log-in. Part of the BenQ’s Tap N Teach solution, NFC technology enables account log in with a swipe of card. Educators can get started within a couple of seconds, not minutes. It’s faster than booting up a laptop. The NFC card is linked to the teacher’s own personal account and data, granting them convenient access to all their cloud accounts, files, apps, and saved settings without ever having to enter passwords on the screen that students can see.

To save even more time, teachers don’t have to re-enter passwords for services like OneDrive or Google Drive when the BenQ Boards are integrated into Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Azure, or Google Workspace Single Sign-On (SSO) enterprise management systems. Plus, for schools utilizing ClassLink, administrators can simply link ClassLink’s SSO directly to the teachers’ BenQ Board account so they can immediately access all their web applications and files with a single tap. With Tap N Teach, classes can start quickly — and strong. 

Gladewater also identified BenQ’s Account Management System (AMS) and Device Management System (DMS) as a must for efficiently managing their new smart board assets. With more than 150 BenQ Boards across four campuses, AMS enables staff to supervise display accounts effortlessly. The AMS dashboard provides them with a clear and intuitive user interface to import and manage multiple user accounts to and from the cloud. And rather than a complicated and even risky setup process, it also provides a one-touch, single-step NFC setup. With BenQ AMS, Bateman can link new users to an account with extreme speed and simplicity – while retaining all the security.

BenQ’s DMS solution is also hassle-free. It allows even the smallest tech staff with hundreds of BenQ Boards to optimize their time with remote control of all the displays. If Bateman receives a call from a teacher saying their smart board isn’t working, DMS gives him fast insight from the DMS dashboard on his computer. He can see the status of every BenQ Board installed across Gladewater ISD. There’s no need to step foot in the classroom.

Completely online, it’s an effective way to lower ownership costs and energy usage while simplifying daily IT operations. Within DMS, a schedule can be created to power displays on and off. Because schools now have many displays to oversee and want to protect and prolong their longevity, powering them down is one of the best practices schools can do and can help save on energy costs. Plus, by having the ability to schedule this, teachers don’t have to be burdened with remembering.

Through DMS Cloud, tech staff can also install Android apps on any display on any campus and in any classroom. This eliminates complicated software setup while saving a tremendous amount of time through quick app download and setup. DMS also features Over The Air (OTA) updates, so that displays are always up to date and in top shape.

“The biggest seller for me on DMS was how it was included in the price and integrated within the product,” said Bateman. “Other vendors rely upon a third-party solution that requires a yearly subscription. That cost isn’t always feasible in education and can be complicated to integrate.”

With BenQ Board’s Tap N Teach, AMS, and DMS features, Bateman was able to make Gladewater ISD’s transition from projectors to interactive displays fast and simple. It’s also dramatically transformed their approach for substitutes.

“I set up NFC cards to drive a much more seamless substitute experience. When a teacher is out, rather than having to use a teacher’s laptop and their passwords, they can use the BenQ Board in the classroom and log in with an NFC card I’ve configured strictly for substitutes,” said Bateman. “It’s efficient and much more secure.”

With a tap on the BenQ Board, they’re logged into the sub account. Then they simply navigate to the appropriate sub folder on Google Drive. This is also handy for teachers making sub plans. They can upload anything subs might need for the day. Materials are all right there for quick access. No need to use the teacher’s laptop or to share their passwords, which comes with its own security risks.

In addition, Gladewater teachers are enjoying all the functions available to them for adding interactivity to their classroom. It varies from teacher to teacher and subject to subject, which is the great thing about BenQ Boards — they pack a lot of versality into the smart board. Some teachers may need the screen casting capability, whether using BenQ’s InstaShare wireless screen sharing application, Miracast, or Airplay. Some may need to record lessons, which they can do directly from the BenQ Board, thanks to integrated screen recording software and microphone array. Or they may use BenQ Board’s Toolbox, featuring a multitude of classroom tools such as timers, scoreboards, protractors, and more.

BenQ Boards add excitement to lessons, but most importantly it starts with a solid foundation, granting ease to teachers and tech staff.