Imagine if your classroom had a school desk that doubled as an interactive whiteboard with a touchscreen. In the UK, this vision is well on its way to becoming reality with the development of a high tech desk with room for multiple students. The designers from Durham University have patterned it after the iPhone and the screen recognizes fingers and pens via infrared light so several students can work at the same time. All the interactive whiteboard school desks in the classroom connect to a central console where the teacher can monitor the students’ progress.

Personally, I think the best part of this technology comes from its ability to bring the hands-on functionality of the interactive whiteboard directly to each student to make every lesson an even more engaging experience. Not surprisingly, the board-desk needs more testing and it currently carries a hefty price tag of £8,000 (about $14,200 US). But it definitely holds a lot of promise, so hopefully it’ll make its way to our shores sooner rather than later.

(Photo via Morguefile)