By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY: Hitachi and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney have joined forces to make education more interactive. The pop-sci museum has a history of innovation, and the new installation, which combines learning with Hitachi Starboards, is intended to get kids more interested in learning.
In a room previously occupied with PCs and laptops – considered boring by today’s standards – Hitachi has installed four FX DUO-77 interactive whiteboards and four CP-A100 ultra-short throw projectors. These setups can work with either Macs or PCs.
At a presentation to media yesterday, the Powerhouse was using video editing software, Apple’s GarageBand program and Google Earth to show how students and teachers can best utilise technology to make learning more interesting.
Having been schooled just before Broadband revolution, this journalist fondly remembers opening atlases and reciting Shakespeare from books, but today’s students are somewhat past such archaic practices, so this was something of an eye-opener.
Hitachi general manager, digital technology solutions group, Dipak Kumar said that these installations, which cost around $6,000 each, are designed for school classrooms, and some are already being fitted with the units. Kumar also commended the Powerhouse Museum for its ongoing work with schoolchildren.
“The Powerhouse Museum is one of Australia’s most popular museums and is at the leading edge of technology and design,” he said. “We are proud to have our technology installed in the workshops and thrilled to see students creatively learning with the help of Hitachi interactive whiteboards and projectors.”