[This is not our staff meeting; picture from Web.]
Yesterday at our staff development day seminar, a woman from SMART Technologies demonstrated the use of a smartboard. I’d previously had no knowledge of the thing, but her demonstration filled me we awe and envy.
The smartboard is the latest in digital gadgetry. To get one installed in my classroom, I need to write a proposal detailing how I plan to use it and what my students will get out of it. I’m going to apply.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Lambda_dr1ve
// Nov 2, 2007 at 2:37 am
Its just an over glorified LCD projector, but with the ability to click.What sets it apart from using a projector and a wireless remote ? Are students that dumb these days that they need this gimmicky product to learn? Whats wrong with learning the old fashioned way? People have been leaning that way for decades, but why do we have to continuously “dumb-down” school?
2 Mr. Fasano
// Nov 3, 2007 at 11:58 pm
I suppose you make a good point about the old-fashioned way, but the rules of education have changed. With No Child Left Behind, schools have to reach 100% proficiency in reading and math by the year 2014. If not, we lose federal funding. Which means our kids will lose. Not the adults, but the kids. Most of my students do not speak English at home. Many have been in this country less than two years. The obstacles to their education are huge, and we as conscientious educators will give anything a try. Even if it means a Smartboard.
3 David Khacherian
// Nov 30, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Dumb down, dumb up, whatever! Learning is learning no matter how you do it!
4 Lambda_dr1ve
// Dec 12, 2007 at 1:58 am
Check this out Fasano. This is probably going to rouse the inner geek inside of you. All you need for it is a simple Nintendo wii controller. With it you can create a shockingly simple and easy touch screen projector. Its almost too simple. Enjoy.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
5 John
// Dec 12, 2007 at 9:58 pm
I know this question is off-topic, but I will ask anyway.
Doesn’t the whole concept of “No kid left behind” negatively affect those children who, by nature or nurture, work harder to succeed?
I believe the whole concept is even worse than grading on a curve! I know it irritated the dickens (not Charles) out of me when my grade was dragged down by the under achievers I was forced to share a classroom with. All in the name of closing the, so-called, TRADE collegiates in favour of having all students in Trade/Academic mixed schools.
I felt the same when my children started bringing home essays in which the spelling was not marked as using phonics meant that words could spelled as they sounded, not necessarily correctly.
Am I ranting again? Damn!
6 Maximus
// Dec 20, 2007 at 1:29 am
I would like to see a continuation of the topic
7 TecInteractive
// Feb 19, 2008 at 11:59 am
“Its just an over glorified LCD projector, but with the ability to click. What sets it apart from using a projector and a wireless remote ?”
If you have ever used a SMARTBoard and have had some decent training, you will know that what sets it apart is the Software that SMART supply with the board. You can prepare your lesson before class, bring up pictures of things that students who struggle to understand English will understand (eg cheater, banjo etc). The software comes with resources ready to use in class. You can also add on an interactive voting set (like in ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ ask the audience) and you can set the learners tests which will be marked instantly and all the results saved. These results can also be uploaded to your VLE. I hope this explains it a bit clearer for you.
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