My response? Technology is simply a tool and will not magically transform your classroom! It's been said before and I'll say it again, "It's the teAch, not the tech."
My role as an Education Consultant is to lead educators through professional development workshops modeling effective use of their SMART Boards. I purposefully demonstrate how teachers can change the structure of their classroom and have this new technology become a student centered tool instead of a primarily teacher centered tool.
How? One of the easiest ways is to set up the class into 'centers' -- yes, even high school classrooms can function this way. As such, the SMART Board becomes one center where 4-6 students collaborate to work through a problem, explore a new concept, challenge each other to a review, etc. This concept is the main reason for my Fresh Look Fridays posts -- using effective interactive websites can instantly increase the amount of student interaction with your new technology when combined with an adjusted layout of your room.
Recently, I attended Catalyst 2010 in Kelowna, BC. At our booth, we obviously had a SMART Board displayed, and I was playing around with some of my favourite interactive websites, when a group of high school students that were volunteering at the conference came over. Essentially what happened was that they unknowingly modeled what I've been preaching this whole time -- small group collaboration to solve a problem.
Enter Exhibit A:
If you ever needed proof as to whether or not proper use of a SMART Board can be engaging, authentic and improve student collaboration and learning, here it is.
They spent the better part of two days at our booth, determined to solve all 10 geometry problems from the 3D Interactive Geometry site that I reviewed here.
We couldn't keep them away!
Of course, being teenagers, once they realized that I was taking pictures they posed for a few more:
Haha - I miss the antics of teenagers sometimes. It was fun to have them hang around for the two days :)
Next time someone questions you on whether or not SMART Boards can be student-centered and engaging, point them to these pictures.
There, now I'm off my soapbox.
Vanessa
Posts
Oh my you are right on the money. I am definitely putting this on my blog........Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Suzanne! Glad to hear we're on the same page :)
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more! The tech isn't magically going to transform a school, it is the teachers who will use the tech in transformative ways. Great visuals to prove that point!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Vanessa. We have IWBs at my high school - have had them for a year and nobody has really had the opportunity to learn how to use them. I have learnt the software and have begun to mentor others in their use. Will definitely take your comments on board and push for a change in teaching style. Thankyou so much.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't one magical tool that is going to engage all of the learners all of the time. If that is the hope of any tool, then there will be plenty of people that are disappointed. The content that is teacher driven is what is gong to keep kids engaged. The teacher needs to find creative ways to have the IWB a part of the learning so the students see it as just another part of their day. I love my SmartBoard and use it all of the time. Students want to write on the board and use it for presentations. I was happy to be a part of the Tech Comm that chose to go Smart. Again, it's up to the teacher to make sure the students get the most out of the board. Otherwise, it's just a fancy, and expensive, chalkboard.
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