One technology which has emerged in
the last few years in the field of education is the Smart Boards or interactive
white boards. This technology turns a
dusty chalkboard into an interactive learning experience. With the utilization of a Smart Board such as
a MIMIO or a Promethean, teachers can demonstrate concepts in ways that a
regular dry erase board could not offer.
In a world where technology is second nature to our young students, the
Smart Boards allows them an opportunity to learn from something they are
comfortable with.
Despite
all its advantages, these boards have posed some challenges since their introduction
into schools. In an economy which is
anything but flourishing, the cost of the board prohibits some classroom from
having this convenience. The expenditure
of the boards has caused some schools to even purchase a few with the purpose
of sharing among all the teachers. Training
is another challenge among teachers who have had the privilege of working with
the Smart Boards. Again, the failing
economy has caused some school, such as mine, to cut in the area of workshops
and travel. Without adequate training
the Smart Boards are merely classroom decoration which offers no meaningful
learning experiences to the students.
To avoid
the purchasing and nonuse do to lack of knowhow, companies which sell these
products could offer to the school which purchase them free staff training to
teach operation and implementation to teachers.
Free webinars could also be provided if the company had no way of
offering an actually person to do the training.
The Promethean website has done a good job of offering tutorials which
demonstrate basic use as well as more advance ways to use their product.
Thank you for your post. I appreciated your post though I wondered a bit if this was really an emerged technology. I think it probably is emerged in some school districts and not so much in others if we define emerged as something that is commonly and comfortably used. The good news is that with the new apps available on iPads and other devices along with Slates may provide a lot of the same abililites with the costs. Have you had an opportunity to work with some of the newer devices applications?
ReplyDeleteI have not had the opprotunity to work with the new iPad applications. Our school has only purchased two iPads; one for the principle and one for the vice principle. They use them for observations. BV
DeleteHello Belinda,
ReplyDeleteWe know that the interactive boards have been around for awhile. However, I agree with you that it is an emerged technological tool; the reason I agree is our school has received these interactive boards in the last FEW years. Some did not get one; they received the Mimio board. One of our colleagues posted that they had one Promethean Board in the entire school in the computer lab. It is an emerging technology for that school for sure. It is an interactive board; yet, there are similarities and differences between the two boards. It is sad to out date myself; however, I can remember the day when the dusty chalkboard with colored chalk was the only technology in my elementary classroom (as a student).
Great post!
Sandra
Belinda,
ReplyDeleteOur school has also recently implemented Smart Boards. I find that a lot of teachers lack the knowledge of how to manipulate the boards and use them efficiently. Many are being used a projectors, which is a shame. So many times technology is purchased without proper training given to the teachers who will be using it. I love these boards and look forward to them being around for a while.
Debra