As a SUN student, I am still at school and have been lucky enough to have used an Interactive Whiteboard. What is this, you may ask? According to CQU (2009), an Interactive Whiteboard is a device which "allows the teacher and students to interact directly with a screen and not through a keyboard and mouse". There is a picture of one embedded to the right.
Basically interactive whiteboards look very similar to a normal whiteboard, but are more like a giant, touch sensitive computer. They have educational games stored on them (can also be created) which saves teachers valuable hours of time in planning lessons. Students are able to use the educational activities by using a touch pen (a magnet) on the screen. These whiteboards have amazing educational capabilities.
There are many benefits of using them in education. They can help students to gain confidence with technology as they become very familiar with the interactive whiteboard and its several functions and features. They are also more likely to 'engage' in learning rather than be 'enraged' as the learning is incorporating technology, something very familiar to young children and generally that they want to learn about (Prensky, 2001).
There is evidence to suggest that these whiteboards have engaging students. For example, according to Central Queensland University (2009),
"all students have become very protective of the interactive whiteboard technology and very quickly educate relief teachers who attempt to use markers or magnets. Teachers who have been contemplating leaving the profession because of their student's lack of engagement now find that they look forward to coming to work and that the previous behaviour management issues are now non-existent. Students now show great ownership of the learning process and actively participate--they even experiment and learn independently when teachers are away from class. Teachers are now working more collegially and are sharing resources and expertise.
the learning curve when learning how to use the whiteboard technology is steep. All teachers have embraced the technology because they have seen the difference in the students and their colleagues. The teachers observed that their students appear to be learning more quickly. The teachers' workloads were decreased as a result of being able to save their learning objects and from sharing other teachers work, they were replacing their previous practice with the new and not using the technology as an additional resource."
I just wanted to share that with everyone because I personally find this very amazing! It really shows how if teachers can find ways to connect with their students and engage them, there can be so many benefits.
Carissa :)
Basically interactive whiteboards look very similar to a normal whiteboard, but are more like a giant, touch sensitive computer. They have educational games stored on them (can also be created) which saves teachers valuable hours of time in planning lessons. Students are able to use the educational activities by using a touch pen (a magnet) on the screen. These whiteboards have amazing educational capabilities.
There are many benefits of using them in education. They can help students to gain confidence with technology as they become very familiar with the interactive whiteboard and its several functions and features. They are also more likely to 'engage' in learning rather than be 'enraged' as the learning is incorporating technology, something very familiar to young children and generally that they want to learn about (Prensky, 2001).
There is evidence to suggest that these whiteboards have engaging students. For example, according to Central Queensland University (2009),
"all students have become very protective of the interactive whiteboard technology and very quickly educate relief teachers who attempt to use markers or magnets. Teachers who have been contemplating leaving the profession because of their student's lack of engagement now find that they look forward to coming to work and that the previous behaviour management issues are now non-existent. Students now show great ownership of the learning process and actively participate--they even experiment and learn independently when teachers are away from class. Teachers are now working more collegially and are sharing resources and expertise.
the learning curve when learning how to use the whiteboard technology is steep. All teachers have embraced the technology because they have seen the difference in the students and their colleagues. The teachers observed that their students appear to be learning more quickly. The teachers' workloads were decreased as a result of being able to save their learning objects and from sharing other teachers work, they were replacing their previous practice with the new and not using the technology as an additional resource."
I just wanted to share that with everyone because I personally find this very amazing! It really shows how if teachers can find ways to connect with their students and engage them, there can be so many benefits.
Carissa :)
As I am getting more confident with blogging and the online technologies I have been exploring, I thought I would try something new. After exploring other blogs, adding comments, etc. I found that virtual i-pods could be uploaded to blogs with songs on a playlist. As the course e-learning is all about new technologies and incorporating them into teaching, I thought I would embed an ipod with some children's songs. 
