A teacher preparing a lesson on a laptop and presenting it on a classroom board has two different needs. At the desk, they need room to read and navigate. At the board, they need controls they can find and operate in front of a class. A parent teaching at home may use the same lesson on a smaller screen.
RISE Learn’s browser design supports those settings through one learning app, with controls for the way the material is being used. The teaching context changes; the selected course remains the same.
Board mode addresses the controls
Board mode adjusts the interface for a large touch screen. Its design uses larger controls and more of the available width, with an exit that remains accessible.
The app makes an initial guess from screen size and touch capability, and the user can change that choice. A browser cannot reliably identify a particular smartboard brand from those signals. A large touch-enabled laptop can look similar, which is why an explicit choice matters.
This is a layout setting. It is separate from the app’s work to adapt background rendering to a device’s available performance. Screen size alone does not tell us how quickly a device can draw an animation.
Present the lesson, then return to preparation
The slide player can request full-screen presentation for the lesson stage. It keeps the slide’s proportions, placing space around it when the display has a different shape. That helps preserve the layout rather than stretching or cutting off the image.
Presentation controls belong inside that stage, because a browser’s full-screen view hides the rest of the page. The player also supports slide navigation with the arrow keys and common presentation keys. These choices help a teacher operate the lesson from a laptop connected to a display.
An instructor using another service to share their screen can choose the browser window or tab in that service. RISE Learn supplies the lesson view; the conferencing tool supplies screen sharing. Availability and permissions depend on that tool and the school’s setup.
Have a fallback when full screen is refused
Browser capabilities and school policies differ. When the browser refuses the full-screen request, the player offers a view that fills the page and explains what happened. The browser’s own interface may remain visible, but the lesson can continue within the page.
That fallback addresses a specific interruption: a presentation button should still lead to a usable lesson view when true full screen is unavailable. It does not override a school’s browser restrictions.
Support schools and home learning through the same design
A school can present a lesson to a group. A parent can work through the same resource with a child, and an independent learner can use material intended for their audience. The useful mode depends on the activity, not just the organisation providing it.
The curriculum, audience and access rules still belong to the selected course. A shared app does not make every educator edition a self-study course or unlock a resource without the relevant licence.
For that reason, the broader RISE resource catalogue names each resource’s origin and purpose. The RISE Learn curriculum guides explain our own courses and companion books; contributors may offer material with a different curriculum reference.
Try it on the equipment you will teach with
Before adopting a course, review its outline and available public sample slides. For the app itself, check the actual browser, display, controls and permitted access in your teaching environment.
This article describes design features and their intended use. It does not certify compatibility with every smartboard, browser or conferencing product. Contact RISE to discuss your classroom or home-school setup.