The school plans to use the televisions as part of an initiative to bring more technology into the classroom, allowing teachers to present interactive lessons.
Students at the club’s lab tested and retested the screens to ensure they were correctly installed and ready for use.
“It’s a challenge to empty [everything from inside] the TV, remove its screen, and exchange it with one that works by touch,” said student Mahmoud Amoura. “It means you have to start from zero.”
But Amoura said the project taught students a number of lessons. “The experience we have gained in the club enabled us to accept the challenge and accept this mission, and hasn’t prevented us ... from finishing our education and finishing our school year.”
The 25-member club succeeded in installing each of the seven touch displays, and installing modern illustrative equipment to replace the traditional classroom chalkboard.
Established in 2009, the club has also participated in various competitions outside Lebanon, winning awards from America, South Korea, and Egypt.
Abdul Wadoud al-Naqouzi, head of the high school’s information section, asked the club’s members to run all the TVs at the same time to monitor for any technical malfunctions.
“Our project is to transform a normal television into a touch screen containing a computer, to fill all the requirements ... of a class session,” Naqouzi said.
The 55-inch televisions are transported on a wheeled metal base to facilitate their movement from one class to another, he explained.
“The students designed the metal skeleton, and the screen was designed in a factory in Beirut,” Naqouzi added.
Students were then responsible for installing the electronic chips and wires to allow the televisions to function as touch-screens.
He explained that while touch-screen TVs are available, they are prohibitively expensive.
“So instead of paying $6,000 – the price of each television – we were able to cut the costs of assembly and production by half. This means we saved $3,000 for every television.”
Rana Zamel, a student who worked on the project, explained that as well as assembling the smart televisions, students also transferred paper books into electronic format for use in the classroom.
“Now students can introduce these [lessons] onto their own computers and come with them to school, getting rid of the books’ weight,” said Zamel.
Both male and female students have been involved in the technical work, bucking convention in a field that has traditionally been dominated by men.
Zamel worked with her colleague to solder connections on electronic chips.
“At first it was difficult for girls like us to invade a male work field, but for us it was a challenge to show our creations and stress that girls are capable of doing [this] job.”
Kamel Kozbar, the school’s principal, explained that the school’s interest in technology is not new, but schools face hurdles in modernizing their classrooms, teaching students to use new technologies and implementing them into lessons.
“The value of this project [is that it allows] students to look and follow up on what’s new in technology,” Kozbar said. “This opens them up to new scientific [fields] and makes them capable of fulfilling [society’s] needs.”
Kozbar hopes the touch-screen televisions will soon be available to provide interactive learning in all classrooms, and said he prayed for the support of the and other educational institutions to realize this dream.
©2015 The Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
