Students at the University of the Third Age are seeing things in a whole new light following the installation of a new mobile interactive smartboard in their classroom at the Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC), thanks to the previous NSW Nationals and Liberals Government’s Community Building Partnership Program.
At a recent lesson by Annette Priest on ‘How to use your iPhone and iPad’, Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders visited the classroom to see the new technology in action.
“Our seniors have given so much to our community throughout their lives, and now in retirement many are still active either learning or teaching others through organisations like U3A,” Mr Saunders said.
“The new technology not only helps with the audio-visual delivery of lessons, but expands the topics that can be delivered to seniors in Dubbo.”
When asked how he was enjoying learning from the new smartboard, Barry Young said ‘It’s a great asset for older people as we can see it better than a TV”
Student Michelle Peak also added “This is the first class I’ve been to with the interactive board and having the screen showing you in real time what you can actually see on your phone screen, you understand what you are doing rather than just being told something and having to find the right button on your own. I’m more of a visual learner, so it really helps it stick in my head.”
Phil Priest, one of the teachers at U3A said from an educator’s perspective, “It’s really powerful to be able to combine both the audio and the visual so people have 2 ways of receiving the information.”