Interactive Whiteboards
These have been around since 1991,
but only became popular within the last few years (neamb.com). The nice thing
about these is that anything that can be done using the computer you can do on
the whiteboard. This helps bring teachers to the front of the class instead of
behind the computer. The theory is also that it creates a more interactive
lesson for the students which research has proven helps learning. Almost 90% of
the UK schools use the interactive whiteboards in their classroom (edweek.org).
A lot of benefits have been found when using the interactive whiteboards. In a
study conducted by Marzano said “The teachers who were most effective using the
whiteboards displayed many of the characteristics of good teaching in general…”
(edweek.org). I thought this was an extremely telling quote. As one of my
professors always say “Good teaching is good teaching”. The teacher needs to
know how to use the technology and then use it effectively. I think these boards would be great in a special education classroom, especially if the teacher is trained well.
Criticisms:
Some teachers see it as just an unnecessary and costly upgrade to an old technology. These boards and the systems that come along with them can cost upwards of $5000 per classroom (edweek.org). The only way teachers will be able to use this successfully in a classroom is to train the teachers through professional development. There are a lot of teachers who use it as a plain old whiteboard or just use the projector. This is a waste of the technology. How effective do you think this would be in a classroom with Special Education students?
Applications for Whiteboards:
-Multimedia lessons and presentations including audio and
video
-Collaborative problem solving
-Showcasing student projects and presentations
-Virtual field trips
-Recorded lessons that can be used by substitute teachers
-Documentation of student achievement
Here are several companies to buy them and get training for
them:
SMART (http://smarttech.com)
Promethean (www.prometheanworld.com)
Mimio (www.mimio.dymo.com)
Numonics (www.interactivewhiteboards.com)
eInstruction’s (www.einstruction.com)
Polyvision (www.polyvision.com)
For some creative ways to use interactive whiteboards click here.
Virtual
schools are officially public schools and open to the public. These schools are
set up for special education students as well. They are supposed to support IEP’s
and related services. I wonder for effective this would be because special
education students need more guidance than those in general education students.
Online schools have more demands and require more responsibility than other
schools. I personally couldn’t see myself teaching in this type of school
setting, I have no idea how I would coordinate all of the rules and regulations
required. Students who go to these
schools are not homeschooled because they still have to follow all of the rules
of a normal school. Parents need to communicate well with the teachers and
school and they also need to monitor their children. There are a lot of
students trying out this type of school. It can be more flexible than attending
school Monday-Friday.
Socialization
Most teachers schedule monthly
outings with other students in the online school. There are also school
sponsored events for the students to attend. There are field trips, academic
events, community service appointments, and workshops.
Resources:
http://www.k12.com/facts-about-k12-public-virtual-schools
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2014/09/creative-uses-interactive-white-boards/
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/01/08/02whiteboards.h03.html
http://www.neamb.com/professional-resources/benefits-of-interactive-whiteboards.htm
Hi Kaylee, you mention on the criticism about the use of the whiteboard that teachers must be trained in order to use a whiteboard effectively with the whole class. You also, mention that some teachers use the whiteboard just as a plain whiteboard or as a projector. I completely agree with you, I think that a whiteboard can be very beneficial to use in the classroom if teachers get the appropriated training. As right now I have clue on how to use an Interactive whiteboard so if I get put in a classroom with one I would not be able to use it and it would be waste of technology on my hands. I commented on my comment that an Interactive whiteboard is similar to a plain white boar because the experience that I have had with teachers using it, thats the impression that I get.
ReplyDeleteI get the same impression! A lot of teachers just don't get the training they need to use this technology successfully in their classroom. It's sad that the district spend so much money on acquiring this technology and then they don't train their teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe reasons are two-fold. Generally, money from things like bond issues or millages can only be spent on physical things and not training. Second, for training to be useful, it has to be ongoing with time for reflection. School PD is often a one-shot "Here's how you turn it on! Now GO!" variety. (which is why you must often rely on outside sources...PLN?!?!??!...to improve your teaching with these things, as you often cannot rely on district PD.)
DeleteHello Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteJust like you, I did some research on the interactive whiteboard. As I described in my blog post, my old placement, every classroom had/has a "smart board". The criticism that many have for costing to much is irrelevant. Those teachers just needs training on what they can do with these boards and that way they can achieve the max with their boards.
As regard to virtual school, it reminds me of having online classes. WE have to set up our own time to read, do our activities and our test. I absolutely agree with you that for students in special education need more structure, and having a virtual class, why the student has to structure it its self, might seem harder.
Thanks for link on how to use interactive board. Those were interesting.
-Gladis
We use our Smartboard daily at my current placement! It really works well with out students. Since we do have a smaller class size of only seven students, we are able to involve each student with our Smartboard lesson. When creating the lesson, we included specific interactions within the Smartboard for specific students. For example, we are really working with one student on teaching him to write his own name. We incorporate aspects into each lesson that allow that student to come up to the board and practice writing his name.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big change from my last placement where we had a Smartboard in the classroom and never once used it. The big difference being the class size. It would be challenging to engage the 30 some students that were in that class into a Smartboard lesson. With just seven students, it works great at my current placement.
Newer SmartBoards and others are now featuring multi-touch capabilities, so more than one student can be using it at one time. This will help in larger classes.
ReplyDelete