Thursday, September 17, 2009

Build your Own Board Bright, By Keith Vallis and Peter Williamson

In this article it talks about how getting yourself your own smart board for the fraction of the price. Most school will give you a computer and they might even have a projector for each classroom or you can check one out at the school library. All you have to get are portable writhing tablets. You would think that these tablets are very expensive, but they are really not. You can get 10 portable tablets for the price of one white board. This is a great way to get students in control of the lesson, if you can get a tablet you can pass it around to the students. That way they don’t feel like they have to be in the spot light up in front of the class. Now you probably are thinking but you also would need a screen to project the image on to, but you don’t. If you already have a white board you can project it on that or you can also project it on a white wall. Another great ways to incorporate this technology into the classroom is by showing big screen movies, or finding some great free computer programs that they offer online that will complement the lesson that you teach. And they have even made all kinds of different software that is specifically made to project on the screen and teach students about dimensions and many other subjects. And engage the students, and make them want to participate more in the classroom activities because they are made to be fun. This is also a cheaper way to incorporate technology into the classroom. This keeps the students interested in learning and shows them how they can also be in control of the class.

This is something that I would love to use in a classroom. One thing that I would make sure when setting up the classroom is that I would have a blank wall or that I had a white board in the classroom. Some school still have blackboard and if you try to project the light on the blackboard you can’t always see the writing on it. But other wise this is a great idea. And if the school did not have the money to get tablets for the classroom another way is to get a wireless mouse and key board and connect them to the computer so that you can pass those around that classroom. That way all you have to deal with is the computer and the projector. Now you have to make sure that if you decide to take it this route of using technology to do a lesson plan that you have a back up plan also. As you know it doesn’t always work, or you could have problems with it. So always make sure before you do use it that it works properly or that you can teach the same lesson with out using the computer. But over all I would suggest that everyone tries to get something like this in their classroom. This will make teaching fun and more personal if you can get the students to teach each other and I even bet that they time will fly by because you will be having fun. 

3 comments:

  1. I really like this idea because having the students use their own white board really gets them involved! The teacher in the classroom I'm working in actually put a white board (in the form of a sticker) on top of their classroom binders. For math she has them pull them out and they love writing their answers on their boards!

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  2. Sounds like a great article - although I'm curious to find out more information.
    You mentioned that the tablets can be "cheap" in comparison to a white board - what would the actual cost be? Because I was always under the impression they were pretty costly. Also, I've seen smartboards in classrooms before, are these tablets similar to them? and If you have multiple students working on them, what dictates whose work gets projected on the screen. I guess I'll have to do some more research - but sounds like an interesting way to bring technology into the classroom.

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  3. I really enjoyed reading your article as it was similar to the one of the articles I chose to read this time around. Your article focused on using whiteboards in a regular classroom setting and my article pertained to using interactive whiteboards for autistic students. I think this is a great way to engage your students and make them feel as if they have some power or authority rather than just the teacher. Great article and I think this is an awesome way to incorporate technology into the classroom and something I would consider as a teacher.

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