Friday, October 19, 2012

IWBs in (My Workplace)

Admittedly, I'm having a heck of time envisioning how SMART boards (and the like) are going to flourish in higher education classrooms. The learning curve associated with IWB use can be a bit daunting to faculty or administrators use to paper, chalkboards, and overhead projectors. And if you are a technophobe, forget about it (maybe).

There are some presentation aspects of the software that I think can catch on in the higher ed classroom. The way one can present original slides, write on them, and then save them for future use is a neat feature. I also think that if students can be included to not only to write on the board, but to manipulate information in a way to spark critical thought, then it will catch on as a powerful way to engage students amongst themselves and the teacher.

I found the following video of a Physics professor who uses a SMART board in her class. It's not the most wholesome use of the board, but it does exemplify some of the usage considerations we were shown in class.


This is my second go-round with this course and the SMART Notebook assignment was challenging for me for two reasons:
  • Lesson Planning - I'm completely not adept at this task; it's a very creative and technical process to build a good lesson.
  • The learning curve with SMART, coupled with #1, made my brain hurt when trying to lean how to use the technology. 
Having the demonstration in class helped because I was able to make an analogy to how the software works. What worked for me was comparing it to web page building. With web page building, there is a need for logic and process when building your sites. When I applied a web page build process to the process of creating a SMART lesson, it actually finally clicked.

Let's hope the finished product is of some quality.

Related Article: The Rise of the Interactive Whiteboard in Higher Education

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