Interactive White Boards

In preparation for creating my own Interactive White Board (IWB) flipchart, Engaging Learners with Interactive White Boards by O’Bannon and Anderson was a helpful tool for learning about IWBs.

Identifying the different IWBs is important; there are a variety of brands

Promethean is a brand known for tons of online resources.  SMART is 25 years old and the first touch-technology in the classroom.  Mimio is cost effective.

Knowing the different features of the board is key.

Highlighting text, coloring, annotating, zooming, hiding and revealing text and photos, dragging and dropping information, matching items, inserting multimedia content, immediate feedback, and student response systems are all most important.

Research has evidenced what we know about instructional benefits.

Active learning, classroom management, lesson organization and flow, and flexibility with lesson materials are effective for students. The boards are engaging! Increased student attention, motivation, participation and collaboration have all been found as products of using the boards effectively.

 

The effect on student achievement has also been studied.

A 2009 study by Marzano concluded that students achieved more through IWB use of certain features: Student response system, graphics and videos, and reinforcement tools. However, other studies have found no difference in schools that use IWBs and those that don’t.

The boards do have their challenges.

Studies have shown that often times the boards are not being used effectively by teachers.  They are being used as projectors or white boards, and this restricts students’ benefits.  Technical issues occur sometimes which can cause student and teacher frustration.

So that’s why there are some teacher training options!

Clearly, teachers need and would benefit from training on how to use these boards effectively. For schools that do not take initiative to train their teachers on how to use the boards, tools such as online manuals, videos and webinars are available.

Digital Storytelling

The university of Houston has an excellent website about digital storytelling, check it out here.

Digital Storytelling is the art of using computer tools to tell a story.  These stories will contain a variety of audio, text, visuals, and video clips to enhance the story.  If done well, this form of storytelling can be especially effective in elementary classrooms.  If funding for field trips is scarce, digital storytelling can be a way to take the class on a virtual field trip.  It could also be a field trip to a place that the students might not ever have the chance to go and experience, such as international field trips or tours of outer space!  A digital story could also demonstrate a procedure the students need to be familiar with, such as proper hand washing, or lab procedures; procedures that can be difficult to show the whole class at once.  The possibilities for digital stories are limitless.

The website suggests that most digital stories for educational purposes range from 2 to 10 minutes.  This is probably a good general rule, making one longer than 10 minutes would be terribly time consuming. 

For higher grades and higher functioning classes, it might even be an exciting assignment to give groups of students.  This would accomplish a demonstration of material they’ve learned, as well as experience with technology, which is especially important now.

I recommend checking out The University of Houston’s website for more information and How To of digital storytelling.

How to copy, the right way

This blog is information about copyright and fair use I gathered from this great website.

Copyright is a legal tool that gives the creator of a work the right to control how that work is used.  The point of copyrighting is to give some incentive to the authors and artists to create new works.

So, what can be copyrighted?

• books
•  websites
• journals
• works of art
• songs
• photographs

example copyright from the site 

To be eligible to be copyrighted, it must be fixed somewhere.  This means that it must be somewhere permanently.  It is fixed if it is on paper, online, an audio or video recording.  The work must also be original.  However, the work may have bits of unoriginal work in it.  Building off of others’ work is allowed.  Lastly, the work must be minimally creative.  It only needs to be slightly creative to be considered.

So what does it mean to be copyrighted?

• Copies cannot be made of the work
• Copies cannot be sold or distributed
• Preparations of new work based on that work are not allowed
• If the work is a stage play or a performance, that work cannot be performed

What is fair use?

Using the work fairly, without violating the copyright.

There are fair ways to use a work that has been copyrighted, after all, the purpose of a creative original work is to advance society and knowledge.  It mostly boils down to common sense; don’t copy too much of a work, don’t distribute that work, certainly don’t sell copies of a work or tickets to a show with a copied screenplay.

Helpful rules for TPTE 486:

Fair use of online information:

•  Credit the source, if there is no author, credit the organization.
• If the author or website provides guidelines for using the information, follow them. 
• If feasible, ask the copyright holder for permission.  Always keep records of the request and confirmation of permission.

A Friendly Critique of Ms. Cassidy's Blog

Go ahead and check out Ms. Cassidy's blog, it's definitely worth the time.  She is an elementary school teacher in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, pioneering the use of technology in schools.

Structure & Organization 

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the neat and visually pleasing layout.  There is no clutter to be found anywhere.  There are no advertisements (very important).  She has two tabs to explore, Home and Contact Us.  The home page is where she posts every few days or at least once a week what her classroom is doing.  The posts are not long and almost all have pictures.  The sidebar on the left is where she has listed all her students' names as a link to their individual "blog," or what she describes elsewhere as ePortfolios.

Authorship

On the actual classroom blog linked above, she does not have extensive information about herself and her accomplishments, which I think is good organizational technique.  Further down on the left tool bar she provides a link to her professional blog. Her "About Me" section of her professional blog has 31 links integrated (I counted). This woman obviously knows what she's doing!

Gadgets and Tools

The left side tool bar where her gadgets and tools are is fantastic.  She has a running feed from her class Twitter account, an option to subscribe to emails, a tiny world map lit up with all the different visitors of her blog, links to pages relevant to parents and teachers, and a blog search tool.  At the bottom of the tool bar she also has archives for easily accessing older posts (all the way back to 2012!) The contact tab provides a space to leave a comment on the blog (she seems to be good about responding) or an email to reach her.

Grade?

A+

Ms. Cassidy's blog is a delightful tool for teachers to get some examples of exciting lessons, activities, and how to integrate technology in the classroom.  I suggest a teacher looking for an example of a class blog use this one! 

About Me and Expectation of tpte 486

Introduction

My name is Kacy Amelia Slayden.  I am from Nashville, Tennessee and moved to Knoxville four years ago to attend UT.  I knew all along that I would be a teacher, I just insisted on considering all sorts of other things first. Nevertheless, it was education all along and I am now graduating in May with a Bachelors degree in psychology, and a minor in elementary education.  The fun isn't over yet though, I was accepted into the Masters education program, urban/multicultural cohort.  I will finish next May with one year of student teaching under my belt and a Masters in Education!

Aside from school, I come from a big family of 7 siblings, I love them dearly.  I have a lovely boyfriend that I get along great with, I have a church here in Knoxville that is my home, and I go to the Great Smoky Mountains as often as possible.

Course Expectations

I expect to learn all kinds of useful information about technology, its use in the classroom, and how to make the absolute most of it.  This is supported already by the first couple weeks of class.  I thought I was relatively technologically proficient, but it has been made clear to me just how much I don't know. I can't wait to see what this course brings to my teaching toolbox, I am a full supporter of technology in the classroom.

Visit my website