By Kelly Fiveash for The
Register.
This story has been reproduced with permission.
According to an investigation carried out by the BBC, many of the devices used by teachers and school
children do not carry adequate warnings about the "dazzle effect"
of the light projected.
Whiteboards, which allow teachers to interact with computer
desktops, have become increasingly popular in classrooms with the
government investing millions of pounds into the technology.
Although the dazzle effect projected from the equipment's beam
will be too strong for most people to stare into for very long, the
Health and Safety Eexcutive (HSE), which offers guidelines here, warns that a user's peripheral retina
could still be overexposed even when not looking directly into the
beam.
It advises that, where ever possible, a user should keep their
backs to the projector beam to avoid overexposing their eyes.
It says that users "should make sure that direct beam viewing of
the optical output from this equipment is both controlled and
restricted to no more than a few tens of seconds at a time".
It also suggests that the light projected from whiteboards
should be set at no more than 1500 lumens.
A lumen is the unit of "luminous flux" which is based on the
perceived power of light.
National Union of Teachers representative Mike Harrison told the
BBC that he carried out a straw poll in Wiltshire and found that
only a small number of people have been told how to safely use the
kit.
He added: "It's very difficult to avoid the beam because if you
are standing in front and demonstrating a point to the class you
immediately want to turn round to know that they are aware of what
you are saying, rather than ducking out of the beam. You want to
stay there and face the class."
Sam Livermore, owner of Selectasize which has supplied teaching
aids to schools for more than 30 years, told the BBC that he has
attempted to convince the government to issue whiteboard warnings
for several years without success.
He said: "My concern is there are 250,000 whiteboards in the UK
used on a daily basis in our schools and five million
students."
Speaking to The Register, Livermore said that
successive education ministers had failed to respond positively to
his recommendations.
He added that the British Educational Communications and
Technology Agency (Becta) welcomed his suggestion to push for the
adoption of warnings on all whiteboard kit, but that it was
struggling to bring that awareness to the education ministry.
Although guidelines can be found online, Livermore pointed out
that warnings should be clearly displayed with all kit issued to
schools and colleges.
Last week, under Gordon Brown's newly formed Labour government,
the Department for Education and Skills was renamed the Department
for Children, Schools, and Families with Ed Balls MP at the
helm.
In a statement about the department's makeover, the DCSF said it
will "allow us to respond to new challenges that will affect
children and families: demographic and socio-economic change;
developing technology; and increasing global competition".
According to the Beeb, which also spoke to Dr Christopher Hull –
a leading eye expert from City University – little research has
been carried out on the potential harmful effects whiteboards may
pose to a users' eyesight.
He said:
"What little evidence we have indicates
misuse of whiteboards is likely to cause only non-permanent
changes. But, in the meantime, there is no reason not to put safety
notices up."
© The Register
2007
