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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Interactive Whiteboards

When I first started thinking about interactive whiteboards, I did not support it very much. I thought that interactive whiteboards took away from students' learning experiences. I thought the technology got in the way of the learning. After reading this article and playing around with the SMART board, I realize my opinion was wrong. Interactive whiteboards, such as the SMART board, actually increase participation and help keep the students' interests present. Students are also able to learn more with this technology. Using a normal chalkboard or whiteboard can be very monotonous to students. I did not have much technology present in school and can remember being very bored just staring at a chalkboard for hours at a time. I would daydream and did not pay attention. Using an interactive whiteboard will keep students' attention and increase learning. Students can actually touch the board and manipulate it to answer questions.

The only aspect that bothers me is that not all schools can afford for every classroom to have such technology. We can only be so lucky to teach in a school that has a SMART board present in most classrooms.

4 comments:

Katie Dietrich said...

I definitely agree. I have so many ideas that involve the use of the SmartBoard, but I'm afraid that they will never have the chance to be used since the technology is new and expensive. My old junior high and high school still had chalkboards, not even whiteboards except in only a few select classrooms, so the idea of using a SmartBoard is one that seems slightly far away.

jmonaco said...

I agree with you, Katelyn. I think the Smart board can really help students stay focused on the day's lesson. Using different tools can get a student excited about the topics and really visualize new concepts he or she had never heard of before. When a student is allowed to use the board for him- or herself, he or she is engaged in the lesson and can get hands on experience with the material.

Klee said...

I agree with what you said about the money issue. Not every school will be able to use the technology, but every school who is able to use it, should use it. The whiteboards, if used effectively, should always add to the lesson. It is our job as educators to make sure that we are using the technology in the best way possible.

Jess Madigan said...

I agree that changing up the method of teaching keeps students focused. Using a SMART board one day and a chalkboard another day may be a good way to keep variety in the classroom. The only problem I still have with SMART boards is the trouble shooting. When I observed in Bloomington Jr. High's reading class, the teacher tried using the SMART board for a vocabulary lesson, but the program kept freezing up and jumping around on the page. This lead to a more unfocused classroom. Uh-Oh.