Interactive White Boards

White boards are a new instrument in my teaching.  Through the exploration of the book, Engaging Learners with Interactive Whiteboards by Blanche O'Bannon, I have realized that "Interactive whiteboards have great potential as a tool to enhance pedagogical practices".  I can see first hand the potential to really get the children up from their tables or desk and involved in experiences rather than static sitting and listening in my internship in a kindergarten classroom.

I myself have needed hands on teacher training to use the whiteboard in my classroom.  My mentor teacher uses it fluidly and the children are experts at knowing the potential of the the whiteboards capabilities.  I picked up a few cues from watching her demonstrate the features of the SMART board, but as stated by the author, continued professional development, including webinars and sharing with peers about tips or tricks they have used in their classrooms.  As a teacher, using peer resources can sometimes be the best professional development to learn about how teachers choose to use technology or even be able to step into their classroom to see the teacher using the whiteboard with the children present to see new engaging ideas and get inspiration.  I can completely see if that if a teacher was only taught to use the interactive white board in certain ways and certain times then the "technical proficiency" for anything more than a projector.

I was surprised to learn about using student response systems in classrooms.  My focus is on early childhood education and I have only been exposed to student response systems in my college classes.  I had never even considered student response systems in a primary or secondary classrooms.  The evidence does exist that confirms the gains of children in classrooms that include this technology.

Technology definitely has it's place in the current classroom and even more so in future classrooms, but teachers need to be equipped with the tools to get the most use out of the technology at their fingertips.
   

Award winning Teacher Blog

"I’m becoming more curious about curiosity. I’m beginning to think it’s the only “C” that truly matters" The award winning teacher blog that I read by Will Richardson, (http://willrichardson.com/blog/) really hit home with me.  The most recent blog was "Curiosity is the Cat".  I immediately noticed his most recent posts were off to the right of the main post.  What caught my eye was the titles, "Zen and the Art of School Change

• Playing at “Agency”The Future (and Present) of Expertise."  After reading through the curiosity post I realized that Will Richardson's  focus on the teacher itself., My teaching journey has allowed me to expand exploring the age range of children in a classroom setting.  The more I read about Will,  I found that many of his words and points really pertained to all children, no matter what age.  He focused on three realities; 1.  Kids are curious when they are young and that school may be the one that takes their curiosity away because of the way we teach. 2. The most successful people and children are the ones that are curious.  3. Connections foster curiosity.  I felt that I made a connection through Mr. Richardson's blog.  I knew what he was saying and knew that I have had and continue to have the same ideas.  It was refreshing and exciting to hear that others are moving toward personal connections with children and teaching on their own as I have.
•  "It’s about culture and about a mission and vision that focuses as much if not more on the “immeasurable” as on the easy to measure stuff." I believe in this immeasurably.  Children are capable, competent and smart.  They have every right to be experts or learn to be.  I believe in giving the children the opportunity, like Will, to really find out how learning works best for them and dig deep into that learning.  This will allow a real investment with meaning in to the work that children do!
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Integrating Technology in the Classroom

The article Integrating Technology in the Classroom discussed the background of technology in the classroom, motivation for using technology in the classroom, concerns about technology in the classroom and finally recommendations for good practice for using technology with your students.

The background of technology was an interesting but short paragraph.  I thought the quote by Thomas Edison was interesting when he predicted that the use of books would soon end.  He predicted that movies, not knowing that there was to be a computer, would take over teaching.  Over the decades the use of technology was really minimal, it was only with the invention of high speed internet that schools began to be over run with the bombardment of the use of computers in various forms within the classroom.

Motivation really focused on constructivists and more traditional teaching methods.  Constructionists believe that technology can be built upon.  They believe that the use of technology can bring students closer to information in a better way than books or just talking can.  Technology allowed the United States to become more competitive with other countries when it came to teaching and learning in a more effective way.  Traditional teachers argue that that technology can be incorporated in the classroom environment, but that it should be used with intention and specifically focused on the discussions after using technology.  Learning with the computer will teach children to use the information that have learned in social settings.  Teaching can take on many modalities.  Technology offers students the opportunity to learn how to learn and then the classroom becomes the environment to learn how to create questions and have collaborative interests that create even more ideas.

Technology comes in many forms in the classroom.  Many teachers use an interactive white board in replacement of chalk boards and white boards.  Teachers use classroom management, student response systems or clickers.  Webblogs for teachers which allow the teacher to send out information and thoughts in real time.  Wikki allows interactive collaborative webpage to share information.  RSS is real simple syndication allows web readers to subscribe to just news feeds that interest them.  Next, multimedia publishing is pod casts and screencasts.  Lastly, their are robots that do a range of abilities from real life problem solving to alternative assessment.  All of these options allow classrooms to share learning on different grade levels at different ranges.


Concerns about the classroom include reluctance to change, a culture that values independent iconoclasts, cost of ownership, utilization, and increased workload (with increased use of technology), Time and energy, Role of faculty: Vulcan mind melder, creator of knowledge, evidence of success, accountability, recognition, and reward for technological innovation and utilization.  These are valid concerns and must be intentionally considered when using technology in the classroom.

The end of the article included recommendations.  The over arching goal for me and my biggest take away was using "integrated technology in the classroom" to help students to visualize, simulate, solve real-world problems, collaborate, research, and design whenever possible.  Staying informed of technological changes in education and makes informed decisions based on the best interests of the students.

http://www.usma.edu/cfe/Literature/Chung_07.pdf