Here is an article that was shared with me by Dr. Wirth. I highly encourage you to read it from start to finish. It has great insight into what we are trying to do in our classrooms with white boards. I felt that many of the ideas and language transferred over to what we are going to establish this year with blogs, podcasts and rss:
http://bit.ly/l1winW
Here are some things that resonated with me:
The title rings true, “Teachers Hold the Real Keys to Whiteboard Effectiveness.” I hope it rings true for you!! The first line supplements this, “Educator skill seen to determine the technology’s impact.” “An IWB is just a tool, and if it’s not used correctly, you can’t blame the tool, you have to blame the user,” he added.
For those teachers that fear the ‘stumbles and falls’ of new software and 21st Century technology (including Web2.0 or 3.0) never fear! I have always found, and the article reaffirms via the spotlighted teacher, that the fluidity of class lessons and student understanding is based on the time we invest in and our comprehension of the resources available to us. And it should be pointed out that intimidation should never be a factor in your teaching and growth as a teacher. The article shared, “[She] has the slightest hiccup with the whiteboard software, a number of students yell out suggestions on how to fix it.”
I have had my own hiccups and found that they are teaching moments. Students that are good with technology will shine in front of the class and teach you, along with the students, how to troubleshoot the problem. When my IWB did not work correctly one lesson I had a student jump up, grab a marker and say, “Mr. Kelsey, I got this. Fix the problem and I’ll give them problems.” She demonstrated her knowledge of the concept and her understanding of the general format for word problems by writing her own out for the class to solve on the marker board, and then led them through it.
In a recent in-service I chose a room to teach the remotes our school would use in conjunction with the IWB’s and found that not all of the software had been loaded to it’s computer. It did feel uncomfortable, but the teaching moment there (for us both) was how to power through the difficult, embarrassing moments with this technology, improvise and still teach. In the afternoon, our staff meeting readjourned in another room and everyone got to work hands on with the remotes and IWB. We found success in the afternoon because we were patient and took the time to work through the problems together in the morning.
I hope you feel encouraged and inspired to learn, practice and use IWB’s as well as all new technology (Qwizdom, blogs, podcast, wikis, etc) in your classrooms.
