SMARTboards continued: philosophy

This post has been informed by discussions with several master teachers at KCKCC. SMARTboards are a type of Interactive White Board (IWB) technology. It's more accurate and useful in research to use the term IWB, like it can be more useful to say "cola" instead of Coke, though in practice...

The more I read/ watch/discuss and learn about Interactive White Board (IWB) technology, I notice several tacit assumptions that long confused me . Educause, an online scholarly journal, notes that administration and faculty come from different cultures and the assumptions of one culture can lead to miscommunication with representative from others.

When discussing IWB's we must consider how we conceptualize both the technology and the nature of instruction.

• Are we talking about it as software or hardware?
• Are we thinking in the context of a) online/hybrid (web-assisted) classes or b) on-ground (without an Angel class or “shell” created)?
• Is it a tool to produce lessons, to illustrate specific concepts, or to record them for distribution?

All of the above possibilities are valid, BUT, generally speaking, instructors focus their use based on their personal teaching style, the demands of their subject matter, and the needs of their students.

We all think of content, and content delivery, differently. “Concrete” disciplines (math, sciences, nursing) rely more on pre-planning and may rely on the use of Powerpoint or the related “Notebook” software. Social Sciences and the Humanities, where the subject matter is more abstract, tend to use the technology on the run – to augment the experience in the classroom. In fact, one can still get graduate degrees in several fields without seeing a Powerpoint presentation – so equating Powerpoint with instruction draws blank stares from some faculty, just as instruction without Powerpoint mystifies others.

Susie Meyers also notes the need to tease IWB's apart from "Online" instruction. These are distinct and specific issues, but they are not mutually exclusive. Dr. Hasan Naima thinks of SMARTboards not as web-enhancement, but as communication enhancement. This tool facilitates instruction.

Advantages of IWB's (SMARTboards)

1. Save notes – share via online / email.
2. Clear instantly – saves time over erasing boards
3. No chalk dust.
4. Notebook software offers many possibilities not available through Powerpoint.
5. SMARTboards facilitate collaboration.

Questions voiced separately that need exploration – known issues

1. If we visualize SMART tech as a way to prepare lesson, and if these teachers prepare lessons from their home computers, can/ should they have the software on laptops or their home computers to create lessons?
   
2. Adjuncts have problems logging into tech enhanced classrooms.

3)

I’ve recently collected new instructional videos for IWB's or SMARTboards at http://del.icio.us/gdixon/smartboard

SMARTboards: pedagogy and technology

Ways to Use SMARTboards

(The following are taken and adapted from the IT dept. at Wichita Public Schools

• Save lessons to present to students who were absent
• Have students create e-folios including samples of their work and narration
• Teach whole group computer or keyboarding skills
• Brainstorming
• Take notes directly into PowerPoint presentations
• Reinforce skills by using on-line interactive web sites
• Teach editing skills using editing marks
• Use in the 6 trait writing process
• Use highlighter tool to highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
• Use it with Inspiration
• Teaching students how to navigate the Internet
• Illustrate and write a book as a class. Use the record feature to narrate the text.
• Diagramming activities
• Teaching steps to a math problem.
• Graphics and charts with ESL learners and special ed students.
• Teaching vocabulary
• Create video files to teach a software application, a lesson, or as a review to be posted to the server or web. Example- How to create a graph in Excel or how to burn a projects to cds
• Use the built in maps to teach continents, oceans, countries, or states and capitals.
• Show presentations created by student or teacher
• Digital storytelling

How To: Resources available online

• 2 minute tutorials by SMART Technologies Inc. Animated
  

• Brief and broad overview from an educational blogger. Text-based.
  

• Discussion board.
  

• Podcast – regular and engaging, but each audio episode runs 30 minutes to over an hour

All these sites and more are bookmarked at : http://del.icio.us/gdixon/smartboard

We’ve also tried our own hand at some ultrabasic, quick and dirty videos on using the specific equipment here on KCKCC campus. See our wiki .