This is not a bad thing! Smart Boards work well as a replacement white board (although I wouldn't mind them being quite a bit bigger). The problem is that this tends to be the full extent of the Smart Board use that I have seen. If teachers stop there, then what's the point of putting Smart Boards in the classroom in the first place? I have even heard this lament from some teachers - they don't have the resources available to help them take advantage of the more advanced features. The really sad part is that in my current school, the web filter blocks the Smart Tech help and support website.
This is a source of personal frustration for me. I believe passionately in the importance of technology in the classroom, but it can't just gather dust! Research shows that in order for technology to be useful, it must be accompanied by professional development for teachers.
I gave a workshop at my school for teachers who are already comfortable with their Smart Boards. This was not a "plug this wire in here" type of workshop - it was to show what makes the Smart Board different from a plain old whiteboard. It was a lot of fun, and I know that at least a few of the techniques I demonstrated were put into practice. My objective, however, was not to give the teachers skills on the Smart Board (although that was a happy by-product); I wanted them to think about how they could change the way they use the Smart Board.
For a downloadable example, check out this file (you need the Smart notebook software to view it). It is a quick animation of the equivalence of one whole, ten tenths, and one hundred hundredths (that's 1/1, 10/10, and 100/100). An oral explanation of the animation is necessary, but it can be a useful addition to a math lesson on equivalent fractions. The notebook file makes use of layers, animations, cloning, and layout, but none of its components are complex. It is also available on the Smart Exchange website, which allows a preview (if you don't have the software).
Take a look - it's only 8 minutes. Think about how you might use the Smart Board, and what makes it so different from a white board. And, if you can, ask for (or demand) some professional development opportunities to teach you these skills! I'd be happy to visit your school to help you integrate technology effectively!
Thanks its really worth reading
ReplyDeleteAs I am a secondary school teacher, our school replaced the whiteboard with smartboards, but most of the teacher doesn't know about how to use it, I am friendly with this technology because I used it in my tuition centre. After that, with the permission of the school principal, I conducted the workshop of 2 hours for teachers who don't know how to use these smartboards and I gave them proper training on how to use this technology.
ReplyDeleteFound great tips, I'm secondary school tutor and due to covid-19 I've to teach students online. So I decided to teach via smart board but the biggest hurdle was I don't know how to use it. Since then I kept looking for tips to use the smartboard and I found really awesome tips here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the article.
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