Monday, July 27, 2009
Journal #4: Interactive Boards
Interactive boards, commonly referred to as "Smartboards" look somewhat like projector boards but are much more interactive and engaging. With interactive boards, the teacher can not only project what he or she sees on the computer up on the screen, but the teacher or students can also change the screen by touching the screen itself. Many times this feature is used so that instead of the teacher being the center of attention, the students can become more of the focus of the lesson. When reading posts from users of Classroom 2.0 who were discussing uses for their Smartboards several people mentioned educational games in which students jump out of their seats to touch the right answer. For example, a fifth grade math teacher wrote that his students "LOVE" to play math games on the board, instead of sitting at their computers and clicking through the games with a mouse. This same teacher also explains that it gives the teacher a great way to explain the searching process and how to navigate the Internet. Another user posted suggested going to interactive websites which are full of image galleries that help her students build vocabulary. Other teachers love the interactive flip charts that can be found on interactive boards called ACTIVboards. According to other users, this purpose, in and of itself can also be a problem for some teachers. When they start to use interactive boards, some teachers find that classroom management becomes more difficult. One teacher found that she had a problem controlling the noise level and activity in the room when using the board. In addition to playing educational and interactive games with the interactive boards, some teachers use the boards in order to develop graphic organizers with the class. The board is convenient and engaging in this aspect because the teacher and students can add to the organizer by writing or drawing right on the board. The teacher can also add computer graphics and content as well.
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Hi Natalie, I like the idea of smartboards. I used that concept in a math for K-8 teacher class. We had to bring a whiteboard to class and had to participate on a regular basis solving an equation on our whiteboards and showing our solutions to the class.
ReplyDeletegood post!!!
I like how you included some pros and cons to interactive boards. Actually, I had never heard of this invention untill this class. I think that your quick explanation of interactive boards puts it into a nutshell some great advantages of this tool. This was interesting to read, and makes me want to do some investigation myself (:
ReplyDeleteIts interesting the types of activities an interactive board can bring to a classroom. It seems like it would make learning more entertaining for the student. I definitely wished it was used when I was in school.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of interactive boards, aka smartboards being used in a classroom setting prior to this class. From what I have read and have personally experienced the more interactive learning is, the more fun it is and engaging.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a smart board but they seem very high tech.The possibilities are endless for applications in the classroom.
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