LEARNING COMES ALIVE WITH EPSON INTERACTIVE PROJECTORS

The Epson EB-595Wi has redefined collaborative learning at a leading children’s fitness centre

LEARNING through play has always been the key focus at My Gym, a leading children’s fitness centre with a unique programme that helps children develop physically, emotionally and cognitively.

As part of the cognitive learning process, children who participate in My Gym’s interactive playgroup programme often engage in art and craft projects, through which they can learn more about objects and their surroundings.

At the centre’s Buona Vista branch, for instance, children get a chance to draw and colour images of objects such as fruits and planes using crayon and paper, and learn more about those objects under the guidance of teachers.

In February 2016, Max Lee, director of operations, My Gym @ Buona Vista, raised the level of interactivity for such playgroup programmes by several notches, thanks to the Epson EB-595Wi, the world’s first 3LCD finger-touch enabled ultra short-throw interactive projector.

“Our experience with the Epson interactive projector has been awesome. By letting children write and draw simultaneously on the same screen, we can now truly enable real-life interactive learning to enhance our tactile-based learning curriculum,” Lee says.

Indeed, the EB-595Wi was built with onscreen collaboration in mind – its dual pen interactivity and multi-touch capabilities let children and teachers use up to two interactive pens and six fingers to annotate on the same screen at any time.

With dual pen interactivity, children can pre-select their choice of drawing tools and use them anywhere throughout the whole screen. This greatly enhances the interactive learning process as teachers can assist children with their drawings and move objects together on the screen.

“Through our interactive programme enabled by the Epson EB-595Wi, we can spark a child’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm, to provide stimulation for learning and to enable greater retention of information,” Lee says.

“The children, who have been fascinated by the projector’s true-to-life images, are definitely better engaged during lessons. For the first time, they can now showcase their creativity and bring their artworks to life,” he adds.

Besides freeing up the need to prepare physical drawing materials, the EB-595Wi is also bundled with the SMART Notebook® collaborative learning software.

“Our teachers have been using the SMART Notebook® software to create content and deliver lessons more easily and quickly, and with greater impact. That there’s a rich collection of pre-created interactive lessons included with the software helps a lot too,” Lee says.

While the interactive features of the EB-595Wi have been a big plus, just as important to Lee is the projector’s brightness of 3,300 lumens, which he says is just right for his young charges.

Lee says: “The projector offers sufficient brightness in our well-lit playgroup area, but at the same time, the level of brightness is not damaging to the eyes of children.”

The colour quality of the EB-595Wi is just as critical to My Gym, which requires colours to be accurately displayed. “Imagine what would happen if a grain of rice appears yellowish rather than white – the kids may not be able to identify a grain of rice when they see one in real life,” Lee says.

For now, teachers and children at My Gym have had no issues with the EB- 595Wi as far as usability is concerned. “The children can easily identify the drawing and colouring tools through the well-designed, intuitive icons, while our teachers have been able to set up the projector on their own.

“The fact that the projector starts up quickly in seconds is really helpful too, as children get distracted easily if there are long pauses during playtime,” Lee says.

For teachers, the EB-595Wi makes their jobs easier since they can now project images wirelessly from their mobile devices and laptops without fiddling with connectors and messy cables. “Teachers can also print out the onscreen drawings for the children to bring home,” Lee says.

The EB-595Wi’s ultra-short throw advantage also allows My Gym to position the projector closer to the screen, while drastically reducing shadow interference and obstruction. For the first time, teachers can present content without having light beams shining on their faces, making teaching more pleasant.

All in all, the EB-595Wi has been a godsend to My Gym. “Besides fostering creativity among children, there’s now a lesser need to purchase physical art materials. The projector has also shortened the time it takes to prepare our lessons, and we’re seeing improvements in productivity,” Lee says.

CHALLENGES

My Gym @ Buona Vista was looking for a way to better engage children through more interactive playgroup classes. Its teachers were also spending a good amount of time preparing physical materials for their lessons.

SOLUTION

My Gym @ Buona Vista now uses Epson’s EB-595Wi interactive projector to create and project interactive content at its playgroup area, letting teachers and children draw and colour images together on the same screen. The playgroup sessions have become more fun and engaging than before. The projector has also shortened the time it takes to lessons, leading to improvements in productivity.

BENEFITS

• Enables more fun and engaging playgroups
• Improvements in teachers’ productivity
• Bright, vibrant images that are comfortable for children
• Quick startup time keeps children engaged
• Accurate colours that reinforce learning