[caption id="attachment_88968" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Abans General Manager (GM) Chathura Jayawardena[/caption]
By Uwin Lugoda
In this age of technology, smart learning education systems have become the next best thing for the education sector, giving students and educators access to more interactive devices to exchange information. This has begun disrupting the way people look at education all over the world, and can now be seen making its way through Sri Lanka.
According to Abans General Manager (GM) Chathura Jayawardena, this transformation to smart learning, which would have initially taken three to five years to fully integrate in the local education sector, has now been accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business during a media briefing, he explained that this was especially true when it came to the online aspect of smart learning.
“Due to Covid, people have now increased the use of technology to learn and teach. From our corner, we have used our smart classroom concept to offer solutions via our devices, by promoting teacher and student-based laptops and devices.”
Introduction in 2017
Abans, the 50-year-old local retail conglomerate, first introduced their smart classroom facility in 2017, which included the integration of unique computing and assistive learning devices. Since then, Abans has incorporated 200 smart classrooms in schools across Sri Lanka, with three flagship classrooms, and has also installed over 1,000 smart boards.
The smart classroom sees to it that each teacher and student receives a laptop, which is connected to a wireless access point that serves as the classroom cloud. This wireless access point’s functionality and the classroom management software facilitate teachers to monitor students’ progress on assigned tasks and assist them in their learning process. It will also provide an opportunity for students to collaborate with each other on projects, writing assignments, debates, and more.
Furthermore, teachers can project their lessons onto smart boards that act as interactive smart displays, used as a replacement for traditional blackboards. This display device is also set to host the latest technology, and includes built-in aids and software allowing for different shapes, characters, and scientific formulas, which in turn makes lecturing more efficient and convenient for the teachers.
Additionally, it encompasses a built-in computer that runs on Windows and Android, and also boasts a 10-point multi-touch function in 4K display.
During the media briefing on 16 June, Abans officials stated that the lessons generated through the interactive whiteboard functionality of the all-in-one smart board will automatically be uploaded on the students’ laptops. They also explained that after a class is over, students have the ability to store their laptops in charging trolleys when not in use, whilst keeping it safe from electrical damage and theft.
Timeline wise, the first three flagship classrooms launched by Abans in 2017 was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure. These three classrooms were launched at Vishaka Girls High School, Badulla; Saranath Maha Vidyalaya, Kuliyapitiya; and Kuliyapitiya Central College.
Following this, the company deployed tech for 151 schools in further collaboration with the MoE, providing 450 smart boards to these schools in 2018. This was followed by another 86 schools receiving mathematical smart classrooms, which covered up to 10 schools in each district, and 200 smart boards to other prominent schools in the country later that year.
In 2019, the company deployed 10 fully functional smart classrooms for 10 schools and facilitated 45 blended classrooms in collaboration with the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure.
Features
The smart classroom offers an “interactive smart classroom solution”, which is set to not only break traditional one-way teaching, but also achieve interaction between teachers and students, as well as among students, based on “Super Blackboard”, “Super Desk”, “Super Podium”, and other intelligent hardware.
Another feature the smart classroom offers is the “classroom management system”, which is optimised to provide friendly, collaborative classroom solutions while also promoting teaching and learning in an interactive style.
Serving as a management platform for multimedia interactive teaching in the smart classroom, this system enables the teacher to control and manage the class more effectively, supervise students’ activities, and maintain good order in class, while students have the opportunity to learn, communicate, and collaborate with each other and in groups.
Through their smart classroom management system, Abans offers interactive functions such as screen sharing, video streaming, group collaboration, file sharing, digital testing, management, and control.
Another feature the smart classroom promotes is an “interactive remote teaching solution topology”, which transforms the classrooms into smart virtual classrooms, allowing access to a teaching classroom with an expert teacher via multiple remote student classrooms in rural areas. This allows real-time remote site classes to be conducted interactively, while facilitating teachers to deliver advanced knowledge via collaborative teaching and helping students learn online content through live stream or playback.
Furthermore, Abans is also providing onsite aftersales services to the schools via 16 islandwide service centres.
Abans Trainee Brand Manager Anupa Hettiarachchi stated that the pricing of the smart classrooms depend on three types of integration.
The first is a classroom that only utilises a smart board, where they have to invest Rs. 350,000.
The second type of integration would be one where they have a smart board and every student gets their own laptops, which would cost around Rs. 50,000 each. He went on to state that the final integration would be the “learning from home” model where the school will have to invest in a camera system for each student.
He stated that the biggest challenge they have currently faced is teacher transformation, due to them not being familiar with these devices, and therefore not using the smart classrooms to its fullest potential.
Jayawardena agreed with this statement, sharing that the teachers need to want to use this type technology; they should not be afraid to use the devices. He explained that this is where teacher training comes in, i.e. letting them test the technology for themselves, which, he said, was accelerated with the arrival of Covid-19.
“Covid has forced teachers to adapt to smart classrooms and technology, but we have to wait and see if it will last. However from what we have seen, schools have adapted smart education and everyone’s interest has increased in this space. Due to this, Abans is now giving value in terms of products, competency, expertise, service support, teacher training, and financial support, in order to cater for this demand.”
Abans General Manager (GM) Chathura Jayawardena[/caption]
By Uwin Lugoda
In this age of technology, smart learning education systems have become the next best thing for the education sector, giving students and educators access to more interactive devices to exchange information. This has begun disrupting the way people look at education all over the world, and can now be seen making its way through Sri Lanka.
According to Abans General Manager (GM) Chathura Jayawardena, this transformation to smart learning, which would have initially taken three to five years to fully integrate in the local education sector, has now been accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business during a media briefing, he explained that this was especially true when it came to the online aspect of smart learning.
“Due to Covid, people have now increased the use of technology to learn and teach. From our corner, we have used our smart classroom concept to offer solutions via our devices, by promoting teacher and student-based laptops and devices.”
Introduction in 2017
Abans, the 50-year-old local retail conglomerate, first introduced their smart classroom facility in 2017, which included the integration of unique computing and assistive learning devices. Since then, Abans has incorporated 200 smart classrooms in schools across Sri Lanka, with three flagship classrooms, and has also installed over 1,000 smart boards.
The smart classroom sees to it that each teacher and student receives a laptop, which is connected to a wireless access point that serves as the classroom cloud. This wireless access point’s functionality and the classroom management software facilitate teachers to monitor students’ progress on assigned tasks and assist them in their learning process. It will also provide an opportunity for students to collaborate with each other on projects, writing assignments, debates, and more.
Furthermore, teachers can project their lessons onto smart boards that act as interactive smart displays, used as a replacement for traditional blackboards. This display device is also set to host the latest technology, and includes built-in aids and software allowing for different shapes, characters, and scientific formulas, which in turn makes lecturing more efficient and convenient for the teachers.
Additionally, it encompasses a built-in computer that runs on Windows and Android, and also boasts a 10-point multi-touch function in 4K display.
During the media briefing on 16 June, Abans officials stated that the lessons generated through the interactive whiteboard functionality of the all-in-one smart board will automatically be uploaded on the students’ laptops. They also explained that after a class is over, students have the ability to store their laptops in charging trolleys when not in use, whilst keeping it safe from electrical damage and theft.
Timeline wise, the first three flagship classrooms launched by Abans in 2017 was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure. These three classrooms were launched at Vishaka Girls High School, Badulla; Saranath Maha Vidyalaya, Kuliyapitiya; and Kuliyapitiya Central College.
Following this, the company deployed tech for 151 schools in further collaboration with the MoE, providing 450 smart boards to these schools in 2018. This was followed by another 86 schools receiving mathematical smart classrooms, which covered up to 10 schools in each district, and 200 smart boards to other prominent schools in the country later that year.
In 2019, the company deployed 10 fully functional smart classrooms for 10 schools and facilitated 45 blended classrooms in collaboration with the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure.
Features
The smart classroom offers an “interactive smart classroom solution”, which is set to not only break traditional one-way teaching, but also achieve interaction between teachers and students, as well as among students, based on “Super Blackboard”, “Super Desk”, “Super Podium”, and other intelligent hardware.
Another feature the smart classroom offers is the “classroom management system”, which is optimised to provide friendly, collaborative classroom solutions while also promoting teaching and learning in an interactive style.
Serving as a management platform for multimedia interactive teaching in the smart classroom, this system enables the teacher to control and manage the class more effectively, supervise students’ activities, and maintain good order in class, while students have the opportunity to learn, communicate, and collaborate with each other and in groups.
Through their smart classroom management system, Abans offers interactive functions such as screen sharing, video streaming, group collaboration, file sharing, digital testing, management, and control.
Another feature the smart classroom promotes is an “interactive remote teaching solution topology”, which transforms the classrooms into smart virtual classrooms, allowing access to a teaching classroom with an expert teacher via multiple remote student classrooms in rural areas. This allows real-time remote site classes to be conducted interactively, while facilitating teachers to deliver advanced knowledge via collaborative teaching and helping students learn online content through live stream or playback.
Furthermore, Abans is also providing onsite aftersales services to the schools via 16 islandwide service centres.
Abans Trainee Brand Manager Anupa Hettiarachchi stated that the pricing of the smart classrooms depend on three types of integration.
The first is a classroom that only utilises a smart board, where they have to invest Rs. 350,000.
The second type of integration would be one where they have a smart board and every student gets their own laptops, which would cost around Rs. 50,000 each. He went on to state that the final integration would be the “learning from home” model where the school will have to invest in a camera system for each student.
He stated that the biggest challenge they have currently faced is teacher transformation, due to them not being familiar with these devices, and therefore not using the smart classrooms to its fullest potential.
Jayawardena agreed with this statement, sharing that the teachers need to want to use this type technology; they should not be afraid to use the devices. He explained that this is where teacher training comes in, i.e. letting them test the technology for themselves, which, he said, was accelerated with the arrival of Covid-19.
“Covid has forced teachers to adapt to smart classrooms and technology, but we have to wait and see if it will last. However from what we have seen, schools have adapted smart education and everyone’s interest has increased in this space. Due to this, Abans is now giving value in terms of products, competency, expertise, service support, teacher training, and financial support, in order to cater for this demand.”