7th Blog – Smartboard Lessons

A Smartboard is basically a large touch screen that allows interaction with a computer video output.  The screen is large so the whole class can see it and interact with the computer directly on the large screen.  A Smartboard lesson can be extremely interactive with the students touching the board to move objects on the screen and writing their answers directly on the screen.  The instructor using the Smartboard can quickly jump from the Smartboard lesson to the Internet to show a video or display a map while using the Smartboard and then go back to their lesson.  The Smartboard is definitely an incredible tool to use to enhance teaching and learning. 

The technology to use the Smartboard was extremely easy to use.  The hardest part for me was to develop the lesson.  Once the lesson was developed, it was simple to incorporate the lesson into the Smartboard software. 

There are some pros and cons to installing the Smartboard in a classroom.  One pro for the Smartboard is that it allows the instructor and the students to interact with a computer in front of the whole class instead of behind a computer.  Another great feature of the Smartboard is that it allows one to write on the board and then convert the handwriting into text and save it to the file.  One con to the Smartboard would be the price of installing this application in all classrooms. 

I have not written lesson plans in the past; however, it appears that many lesson plans could incorporate the Smartboard into the teaching.  Many examples of Smartboard lessons were given on the Internet.  They were quite interactive and appeared to boost the learning experience.  

6th Blog – Educause Reading – Technology Survey

Week 6

The findings stated in this week’s Educause reading were not that surprising to me.  One study found that most schools (99%) and a vast majority of classrooms (87%) have Internet access yet these resources are rarely used effectively.  There is a lot of great technology available for education with a great deal of it being free, but the challenge comes in using the technology effectively in the classroom. 

One study found that only 38% of college students used the Internet for work in classes.  The college students are using the Internet mostly to communicate instead of using it for classroom work.  To me, this finding is in line with my thinking of Net Geners.  They are comfortable using the Internet to communicate with others and to quickly lookup information.  It still takes the instructor to find ways to incorporate technology into the classroom so that it adds value to the course.

Some questions I would incorporate into a survey of students regarding technology are:

How would you incorporate technology in a class and what kind of technology would you use?

What kind of technology used in a class did you find most helpful and effective to learning?

What kind of technology used in a class was least effective to learning?

There was one statement in the reading I found most interesting.  “The real impact of new technologies only becomes manifest when the ‘machine as a separate box needing elaborate maintenance and full attention’ fades into the background”.  This is so true for all technology – in the classroom, work place, and home.  Technology needs to be easy and simple to use or else it will just get pushed aside.

5th Blog – Graphic Organizers

Week 5

A graphic organizer is a way to communicate using visual symbols to express ideas and concepts and to convey meaning.  It depicts relationships between facts and allows for brainstorming.  It can help students and teachers visually see their ideas.  This is great tool for a visual learner. 

Students should be writing paragraphs and papers; using a graphic organizer can be a tremendous help for the students in writing those papers.  Students using a graphic organizer can brainstorm for an essay before actually writing the essay.  This will allow them to organize their thoughts in a logical manner before they begin the writing.  They will see their paper visually before actually beginning to write.  This allows for an easier writing process and less frustration on the students’ part.  Graphic organizers make the writing task less daunting.  I find it beneficial in writing my own papers.

Graphic organizers can be used to teach and understand a variety of different subjects.  They can be used to explain the relationships between different characters in a story, a way to display key issues of a war, and to understand the different sections of an orchestra and the different instruments in each section, such as the one we did in class.  It appears that the possibilities are endless for using graphic organizers.