Washington District Upgrades to Interactive Whiteboards

  • By Dan Thompson
  • 07/29/09

Moses Lake School District is deploying interactive whiteboards in classrooms throughout the district. The Washington district is investing in more than 100 whiteboards and short-throw projectors.

For the deployment, Moses Lake SD is using Hitachi StarBoard FXDUO-77 systems, purchased from Hitachi VAR Troxell Communications. The FXDUO-77 models allow multiple users to work on the whiteboard simultaneously. The systems use Hitachi StarBoard Software, which is compatible with Mac OS X and various flavors of Windows. The Mac OS X version, StarBoard Software 9.0, is being deployed in some classrooms in Moses Lake SD, according to information released by Hitachi. The district is using the whiteboards in conjunction with Hitachi CP-A100 3LCD ultra-short-throw projectors.

The switch to interactive whiteboards, according to Moses Lake SD educators, has improved flexibility in teaching and also boosted student engagement.

“With the StarBoard I am able to take any piece of material, such as a page out of a math textbook, manipulate it with the navigation tool and then make annotations.  When I’m finished I can save what I have started and continue the lesson the next day with the option of clearing the notes and starting fresh,” said Mark Thompson, a Moses Lake Middle School math teacher, in a prepared statement.

“I’ve found that the majority of my students are completely engaged when the StarBoard is being used, especially when they know they have the opportunity to go up in front of the class," said fourth-grade teacher Monica McAtee, also in a prepared statement.

Moses Lake School District serves more than 6,800 students in 13 K-12 schools and learning centers. Its 2007-2008 operating budget was $67 million.

About the Author

Dan Thompson is a freelance writer based in Brea, CA. He can be reached here.

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