At the new Florence Roche Elementary School, we are thrilled to announce the installation of interactive TouchView teaching panels, transforming our classrooms into dynamic centers for active learning and collaboration. These state-of-the-art panels offer advanced features, stunning visuals, and hands-on tools that deeply engage students and foster interactive learning experiences. This cutting-edge technology is one of the many innovations enhancing education at Florence Roche Elementary School, a 109,855-square-foot, MSBA-supported facility serving over 600 Kindergarten through Fourth-grade students.
These interactive touchscreens are now essential tools in our classrooms, bringing a significant positive impact to both teaching and learning. With pre-loaded educational content and customizable features, the panels enable teachers to save time preparing and delivering lessons, creating more opportunities for meaningful student engagement. As a result, our educators can focus on what matters most—interacting with students and enhancing the learning experience.
In addition to making lesson preparation more efficient, the panels serve as powerful tools for collaboration. Teachers and students can interact with content through screen sharing and web-enabled tools, sparking real-time discussions and encouraging students to think critically. The interactive nature of these panels keeps students engaged, turning the classroom into an environment where sharing ideas and collaborating comes naturally.
Another critical advantage of these interactive displays is their accessibility. The panels offer tools such as screen magnification for students with visual impairments and text-to-speech options for those with reading challenges, ensuring that every student has equal access to educational content. This inclusivity allows all students to fully participate and thrive in classroom activities regardless of learning needs.
As students interact with the touchscreens—by touching, dragging, and zooming in on visuals—they immerse themselves in learning. These tactile interactions help students grasp complex concepts more quickly, turning abstract ideas into tangible experiences. Walking through Florence Roche Elementary, it’s clear that these panels have become invaluable tools, with teachers using them throughout the day to display content that keeps students organized and engaged. As Mr. Michael Fahy, a teacher at Florence Roche, shares, “The combination of viewing, hearing, and interacting (on the teaching panels) with curriculum content increases engagement for our students.”
The panels also foster a highly collaborative environment where multiple students can work on the screen simultaneously. This turns lessons into interactive, team-based activities, encouraging students to problem-solve, share ideas, and explore new topics together. “The TouchView technology allows teachers to post curriculum, routines, and links throughout the day, giving students access to the information they need at all times,” said Mrs. Ellen Potter, a veteran teacher and instructional leader at Florence Roche.
Student-led learning is another significant benefit of these interactive touchscreens. Students can take the lead in presentations (i.e., Google Slides, Canva, etc.) and activities directly from the touch panel, building their confidence and deepening their understanding of the material. This visual and tactile learning blend supports various learning styles, helping all students excel.
The installation of 68 interactive panels at Florence Roche builds on the success of 12 panels installed last year at Swallow Union Elementary. The overwhelmingly positive impact at Swallow Union has assured us that these tools will continue to enhance engagement, collaboration, and accessibility at Florence Roche. Teachers at both schools are embracing and mastering this technology, helping to create more engaging, inclusive learning environments for all students.
