Ricoh brings the latest learning tech to respected college
Ricoh, a provider of smart workplace technology, is helping Dalby's Our Lady of the Southern Cross College deliver a high-quality digital learning experience to its 560 P-12 students.
Established in 2008 following the unification of the town's Catholic primary and secondary schools, St Columba's and St Mary's, the College is a Visible Learning Lighthouse School, committed to digital enhancement of the curriculum.
A Ricoh customer since 2018, the College has installed a $1 million digital learning platform comprising 40 Ricoh Interactive White Boards (IWB) linked to a Learning Management System (LMS) which students use to access lessons and resources from their laptops.
The Ricoh IWB is an all-in-one collaboration tool which provides flexible opportunities for users to connect, regardless of whether they are in the same room, or even the same country.
IWB users are able to edit documents directly on the board, connect with multiple devices, print results and share them with others via email, USB, networks or the cloud.
Our Lady of the Southern Cross College's Ricoh IWBs replaced a jumble of aging classroom devices and technologies, some of which had been poorly installed and suffered from frequent connectivity issues.
Historically, the College had been a supporter of smart board technology but ongoing technical problems had left many teachers questioning their value in the classroom, according to College principal Peter Cuskelly.
"The smartboard idea broke down, as many of our previous devices were becoming unusable, but we still wanted to bridge the technology gap, to enhance student learning and support our teachers," Cuskelly says.
"We realised we needed to re-evaluate our strategy and determine whether we had the best technology mix.
College teachers worked with local Ricoh supplier Downs Office Equipment to road test the Ricoh IWBs prior to their being rolled out across the campus.
"We did our homework, including evaluating other smartboards," Cuskelly says.
"We were looking to invest a significant sum on infrastructure and we wanted to make sure we had the best technology for an eight to 10- year period.
Six months after implementation, the benefits of the Ricoh IWBs' solution are apparent. The improved functionality, reliability and consistency of the technology have resulted in its extensive use in the majority of lessons.
Teachers no longer need to carry laptops, notes and books, while students benefit from online access to coursework; making it easier for them to catch up on lessons missed as a result of illness or absence and to revise for assessments.
"Our staff are better planned and prepared and there's greater clarity for students," Cuskelly says.
"Everything that's done in the class is available to students 24/7 via the LMS. It gives them the ability to read through lessons, focus on the most pertinent aspects and spend time improving their capabilities. In turn, we'd expect their results to continue to improve. The Ricoh IWBs make life so easy for everyone – we've enjoyed an outstanding outcome, for our students, teachers and the College in general.
