Jenna Stoffel Due:
10/27/14
Tech 5170- Reflection on Smart Board Lesson Mr.
Hladun
A dear friend once advised my husband
and I to “not purchase or buy into anything
we did not fully understand.” Technology is currently advancing at an
astronomical rate, doubling each year. Without a doubt it is safe to say that
using technology is no longer an option, it’s an essential. Claiming this, how
are those involved in education effected when school districts are asked to purchase
large quantities of expensive technologies they themselves do not even
understand?
Pertaining to interactive
whiteboards (IWB’s), or smart boards, there is much debate whether or not they
are a waste of the school, and therefore the tax payers, money or not. Unfortunately,
I have personally observed at as humans, many times we like to do things in
extremes. Concerning IWB’s, districts feel either the need to turn their cheek
and reject IWB’s all together or feel the pressure to put a smart board in
every classroom thus paying millions of dollars for “technology” that may or
may not be utilized properly.
After fiddling around and creating
a smart board lesson of my own, I can personally empathize with the educators
who do not feel as “tech savvy” as their teacher counterparts. With that being
said, I do feel more comfortable and even proficient in using the tools that I focused
on during my lesson. As I struggled through creating various aspects of my
smart board lesson, I was building memory and gaining understanding without an overwhelming
amount of stress. However, I will say that due to past experiences using new
technologies and after being honest with myself about how long it usually takes
me to learn a new technology, I provided myself with ample amount of time for
this particular assignment.
For my lesson, I was able to time
manage two to four hours a day for three days. I knew that the first day not
too much lesson planning would get done instead that chuck of time was set
aside for me to play around, stress free, to become more familiar with the
program. As I found activities and Icons that I liked I dragged and pasted them
into the slides. Eventually, I deleted or modified several, but like I said, at
first this first day was a time for me to become familiar with the program, not
to lesson plan. In short, how would I be able to teach from a program I didn’t know
myself?
Fortunately I was able to use this
lesson in real life with my students a week after it was due. The lesson had to
be modified as my school does not have smart boards nor do we have ipads for
the students. At the beginning of class I set up five different stations one
being my laptop with the smart notebook lesson. Before we began the lesson, I
had students get into groups of two’s and three’s. Then I walked each student
thought each part of each station; especially the station where the smart
notebook would be used. In conclusion, they students loved two stations more
than the other three they were the:
1-
The conversational station where they could use food
props for discussion and
2-
The smart notebook station
Would I personally desire to have a
smart board in my classroom? I’m not 100% sure. Would I use it- yes I would.
Would it be a daily lesson tool? Perhaps for one or two activities but surely
not for the entire lesson for all five of my classes every day. Would I then be
classified under a teacher who wouldn’t “utilize” the smart board technology as
mentioned in the blog posted October 21, 2011? I’m not sure. Would it be
better, if possible, to have a few rooms designated for IWB’s that teachers
would sign out a week in advanced? Perhaps!
The other article titled, “Are Interactive
White boards a Smart idea when they Make Even the most Innovative of Educators
Look Dumb?” was a very opinionated and passionate article stating the “10
reason to Ditch the board.” Below I will state some valid and invalid
arguments:
·
Having access to the computer keyboard and mouse so
that one is able to see where you are typing and clickingà This is a personal preference. If
the teacher has done the proper pre in order to teach a smart board lesson this
shouldn’t be a problem.
·
When addressing a classroom it is better to look at
student’s faces then have them look at your behind of sideà Whether the teacher is using a
smart board or writing on a white/black board, the students will view the same
thing.
·
Focus on the students, not the “sage on the stage” à I personally believe that teaching
my means of direct instruction should be limited and split up. It is reasonably
that every few days, there will be a complete grammar lesson where direct
instruction is needed, but having the teacher use the IWB as a projector to
read off of is not teaching. The students can do that themselves.
In conclusion, I believe that
having access to IWB’s are a wonderful thing. I would enjoy having them in
class if I were able to do so. That being said, it would not completely change
the way I am teaching now, but it would add a lot to my methodology. I believe
that both of these articles were very strong and almost defensive responses to
what ever happened in their district. If the teacher can prove to their board/management
teach/ whoever is in charge of providing these types of technologies to the
school, can present it as if they were a salesman and can prove it will better
their teacher and academic achievement in their class, then they should If
other teachers refuse to learn or teach themselves the program, they are much
better seeking other ways to improve their pedagogy.
