About the School District
Ibn Seena English High School in Sharjah, built under the patronage of the ruler of Sharjah, H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohd. Al Qassimi is a premier educational institution that is committed to placing an equal emphasis on a child's social, moral and psychological development to equip them to deal with the challenges of the real world. experiences that build empathy, flexibility and understanding of their roles in ever-changing international community.
The Challenge
Located in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Ibn Seena English High School was founded as a future-relevant educational institution committed to placing equal emphasis on a child’s social, moral, and psychological development so as to fully prepare them so that they could face the challenges of the modern world.
With the onset of the global pandemic, the school had to adapt to the challenge of maintaining their core mission while dealing with a mix-and-match of distance learning, virtual teaching, and hybrid classrooms. The reliance on a greater number of various types of digital devices that resulted from the pandemic meant that the school had to replace some vital pieces of classroom equipment with hardware that would better suit the new normal, starting with the projectors used in each classroom throughout the school.
BenQ Solutions
After attending three separate demo sessions with BenQ representatives, the school’s principal, senior management, and IT staff felt the EH600 Smart Projector was the best choice for them due to the convenience and versatility that its wireless capabilities offered. They felt that teachers and students would be well served by the fact that with screen mirroring capabilities for iOS, Android, and Windows devices, the projector gave them multiple ways to allow their students to wirelessly present while at the same time allowing them to access files stored in the cloud (via the embedded AMS File Management app) or on USB flash drives. Furthermore, by simply connecting a USB webcam and nothing else, the projector was able to seamlessly integrate video conferencing into the classroom to accommodate remote learners.
The IT staff was also drawn to multiple aspects of the EH600 starting with the ease in which the projector can be physically installed in the classroom due to its PC-less interface and wireless nature. Once installed the EH600 then allowed the IT staff to manage all the projectors across the campus from a central location via BenQ’s Device Management Solution (DMS) software, as well as use BenQ’s X-Sign app to push announcements and/or broadcasts out to any or all of the projectors throughout the school from the same management hub.
The Results
The school’s teachers quickly enjoyed dividends once the projectors were added to their classrooms as they immediately felt the convenience of not having a PC tethered to the projector, while also drastically reducing the time and hassle spent on getting presentations going. This enthusiasm led to a call for increased training with the device for the teaching staff. Students, beyond being impressed by having more innovative equipment at their disposal, felt more engaged since more of their work could be shared thanks to the projector’s wireless capabilities. Whereas at the outset of the pandemic the increased presence of mobile devices led to the IT staff (along with a majority of the teachers) spending an inordinate amount of time helping both students and parents troubleshoot their devices, the introduction of the EH600 quickly allowed the IT staff to return to their normal responsibilities, reducing staff frustration and increasing the actual time spent on coursework.
“BenQ provides a complete educational solution for the school that spare us the hassle of having to work with multiple vendors!”
Despite the challenges that the pandemic has thrown at educational institutions such as Ibn Seena English High School, BenQ’s EH600 has found a way to allow each and every contributor in the school to easily adjust to these sudden changes so that the core mission of the school is able to stay intact.