I chose to research mobile devices and interactive whiteboards for this blog post since both of these items are very prominent at my current placement in Allendale High School. All students have been given Chromebooks by the district and the students are always using them, but not for academic reasons. During instruction and independent work time, I notice students watching movies and YouTube videos instead of attending to their work. The only time I have seen them used academically was for typing an assignment (once), answering a blog post (once), and participating in MobyMax activities (3-4 times a week). The Smart Board is nothing more than a surface to project videos and PowerPoints. I have yet to see a teacher at my placement pick up a Smart Board marker or even tap the board with their fingers. Both of these tools, from what I have observed, are underutilized at my placement.
Mobile Devices
Based on the articles that I read, mobile devices are becoming prominent in nearly all classrooms across the country. Teachers are using countless apps and digital tools to deliver and support instruction. Since mobile devices are everywhere and are becoming more education friendly, I am interested to learn more about them, but I am really starting to feel overwhelmed and skeptical.
There are so many online resources to use that I do not know where to begin when selecting some for my classroom. For example, I was pleased to learn about the Making Connections Among Words Cards strategy for vocabulary instruction this week in EDR 320 because I think it will be an effective strategy in my placement. However, I wanted to make it more technology friendly since this activity involves writing and drawing, neither of which would appeal to high school students with special needs. Thus I went on the search for a flash card making website that would allow me to do this activity online. In order to use the site, I have to create a classroom on the website, invite students to join, show them how to use it, have them complete the vocabulary cards, figure out how to print it off, and then do the peer-teaching portion of the activity. However, I think the work will be worthwhile. But then I consider how many other online resources I want to use with my students that all require online classrooms, separate log ins, and precious class time to teach the student how to effectively use those site and apps.
Although mobile devices appear to be great for the classroom according to the research referenced in those articles I read, I feel overwhelmed and unable to use technology effectively in my placement. I cannot imagine adding the management of ten online classrooms utilized on mobile devices to the management of my organic classroom.
There are so many online resources to use that I do not know where to begin when selecting some for my classroom. For example, I was pleased to learn about the Making Connections Among Words Cards strategy for vocabulary instruction this week in EDR 320 because I think it will be an effective strategy in my placement. However, I wanted to make it more technology friendly since this activity involves writing and drawing, neither of which would appeal to high school students with special needs. Thus I went on the search for a flash card making website that would allow me to do this activity online. In order to use the site, I have to create a classroom on the website, invite students to join, show them how to use it, have them complete the vocabulary cards, figure out how to print it off, and then do the peer-teaching portion of the activity. However, I think the work will be worthwhile. But then I consider how many other online resources I want to use with my students that all require online classrooms, separate log ins, and precious class time to teach the student how to effectively use those site and apps.
Although mobile devices appear to be great for the classroom according to the research referenced in those articles I read, I feel overwhelmed and unable to use technology effectively in my placement. I cannot imagine adding the management of ten online classrooms utilized on mobile devices to the management of my organic classroom.
Interactive Whiteboards
Based on the articles I have read, it appears that interactive whiteboards are receiving mixed reviews. Many of the articles discussed how the interactive whiteboards were being underutilized and were more teacher-centered rather than student-centered during instruction. Teachers were merely using them as a presentation tool rather than an interactive component of their classroom. Although some teachers involve students with the interactive whiteboards, many teachers do not. Additionally, nearly every article mentioned that interactive whiteboard companies have been the ones creating hype about these tools, not the educators themselves, to make money. However, there are much cheaper alternatives to interactive whiteboards, such as a tablet and a projector.
Personally, I have never been a fan of these interactive whiteboards, but that may be because I have never seen them used to their full potentials. From my experience they are more of a distraction in the classroom than anything else, so I am not extremely interesting in learning more about interactive whiteboards. My students had trouble working the markers because they always put both of their hands on the board. Also, many of the free templates available with the Smart Board were low in quality, contained stereotypical and offensive graphics, or did not work properly.
However, many interactive whiteboards are advertised as being helpful for students with special needs because of the interactive components of the device. Thus, as a future special educator, I may come into more contact with this type of tool than my general education teaching peers. If given the opportunity to do more research to confirm my beliefs, I would choose to spend money on other things in the special education department rather than interactive whiteboards. Students in special education need real life experiences to prepare them for adulthood, and in the real world there will not be big screens they can touch to help them navigate life. The money would most likely be better spent on field trips and accommodating materials that the students could use post-school.
Personally, I have never been a fan of these interactive whiteboards, but that may be because I have never seen them used to their full potentials. From my experience they are more of a distraction in the classroom than anything else, so I am not extremely interesting in learning more about interactive whiteboards. My students had trouble working the markers because they always put both of their hands on the board. Also, many of the free templates available with the Smart Board were low in quality, contained stereotypical and offensive graphics, or did not work properly.
However, many interactive whiteboards are advertised as being helpful for students with special needs because of the interactive components of the device. Thus, as a future special educator, I may come into more contact with this type of tool than my general education teaching peers. If given the opportunity to do more research to confirm my beliefs, I would choose to spend money on other things in the special education department rather than interactive whiteboards. Students in special education need real life experiences to prepare them for adulthood, and in the real world there will not be big screens they can touch to help them navigate life. The money would most likely be better spent on field trips and accommodating materials that the students could use post-school.
Taren,
ReplyDeleteI have found interactive whiteboards to also not be used to their full potential. I have found them to be not interactive in that they are just a whiteboard projected onto a screen. What is the difference. I also agree that using the money towards something else may be a better idea.
Your idea of mobile devices is also something I would have to agree with you on. I have some students who prefer to use them, but little to no instruction becomes of it. I think part of that is my cooperating teacher is not "educated" on different apps to use that would actually prove growth in learning. However, I have found a CI classroom where we used computers to play quiz games, which I will try and use in my new placement because the students really did enjoy using those apps. I hope this is semi-helpful.
That is a good idea to use personal devices more for informal assessments that can easily be collected and converted into data charts! Growing up, I played the math computer game Zoombinis (https://external-wiki.terc.edu/display/ZOOM/The+Game) and did not even know I was learning. However, I think technology needs to become more purposeful now than just "tricking" kids into learning. It would almost be a cool class project to have the students try out a bunch of apps and websites that ultimately have the same function, such as several math review websites, and then have them write reviews, research the websites, and then write persuasive "essays" describing why their favorite one should be used in class (ELA integration...woohooo!) to determine which one would be best to adopt as a class. We could also do this for a "game" center to use during break time/snack time/free time reward.
ReplyDeleteTaren, I definitely agree with your ideas on IWB. For majority of instances, that money would be better spent creating real world and applicable situations for our students, especially in special education. In my blog post I too talked about projectors basically seeming to serve the same purpose as IWB. Thanks for sharing your insight on mobile devices, they're new and I am also skeptical. I'm interested in seeing how things will turn and hopefully we can use them better.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I created a weebly site at my placement that has a blog on it. I am going to have students post reflections/exit cards on the blog at the end of nearly every class period. I start using it with students on Monday, so we will see if this is a "better" way to use it than just entertainment. I am torn about how the students will respond. I think they will like it better than handwriting their exit cards, but I don't think they will like how everyone will be able to see their responses. I will play with it though.
DeleteTaren,
ReplyDeleteI share very similar feelings with you regarding mobile devices in the classroom. Technology has become such a major part of everyday life (in and out of the classroom), that I feel the need and desire to be up-to-date and familiar with the new technologies that are available to us. There are so many types of mobile devices, websites, apps, and online resources that are available for teachers; I also have no idea where to begin! I feel overwhelmed when I think about all of the time that would need to be spent teaching students (and myself) how to effectively use these resources. Perhaps all of the time and effort would be worth it and make things easier in the long run, but it is still overwhelming to think about!
I also find myself wondering if technology is becoming too established in education. I believe that there is a healthy balance to be found (in almost every single area of life). One extreme is no better than the other. I think that our society has the tendency to "overkill" good things. I am wondering if the integration of technology in the classroom started off as a great idea but is now making it's way to something that is too overbearing and too extreme. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that it is necessary to incorporate tons of technology into our classroom, or are we overdoing it?
I think it is being used to the extreme. I went to the CEC conference today in GR, and there was a lot of assistive technology being advertised and devices in general.Some of it appears to be great, but others I am extremely skeptical about.
DeleteThere was this digital "pen" that you could hold over a "sticker" in a book and then the book would read the page aloud to you. I asked the person at the table what age level and disability she thought these would be best used for, and she answered all young children learning to read. I then asked her how the children learn one-to-one correspondence if all they have to do is hold a "pen" over a sticker. I asked if it were an option to have one sticker under every word so kids can have the story read aloud to them word by word and still practice one-to-one correspondence.... she didn't like my question.
The other technology piece that I just found plain weird was this robot who can sing, dance, and play games with children. The teacher can tell the robot what to say from their computer to give kids directions. The robot also plays educational games with children (not sure how, but I took the demonstrator's word for it) and records the kids' scores for record keeping. The demonstrator said that kids with autism feel more comfortable talking to the robot than to people, so it is beneficial to have in the classroom if the school can afford it. I do not understand why on earth we are replacing people with robots. When the child leaves school he or she is not going to receive directions from a robot. I feel like this technology in the long wrong is setting kids up for failure.
I think right now we are overdoing technology in the classroom because there has not been enough time to test the benefits of these technologies in the classroom. This robot thing is very new, so it is not like there have been field studies to see how children with special needs adapt to adulthood if they are used to interacting with robots, not people.
Also, there was that researcher who tested whether or not monkeys would respond better to a wire mother with food or a cloth mother without food. Well, the monkey chose the most human mother even though it didn't have food. I really feel like kids will respond in the same way; almost always they are going to want a real person than a robot who does not show affection or cannot respond to their needs instantly.
I'm glad you're all starting to be a bit more skeptical of technology. YOU SHOULD BE! And yes, keep in mind that people are SELLING and MAKING MONEY from convincing schools that these tools enhance learning.
ReplyDeleteWhat matters is the underlying instructional strategies, and whether technology helps them. Further, it is important to collect data on whether the technology helps, rather than just assuming it does.
Full disclosure: I am one of those people who SELL and MAKE MONEY by helping educators implement interactive whiteboard technology. The key is IMPLEMENTATION; these things don't just make themselves useful with the flick of a switch.
ReplyDeleteI work for Sharp. We're the market leader in the IWB space, despite the name recognition of SMART, who has tons of barely-used boards hanging on classroom walls across the country. Ours get a workout; when I put them on rolling carts, the demand is incredible. Not because the AQUOS Board is cool (it is), but because it's not a cumbersome, specialized bit of tech. Don't think of it as an extra. Think of it as doing all the things a classroom needs just a bit better than the old tech.
A large direct view display that makes projectors look sick and sad, and doesn't need the lights out (goodbye, nap time).
Useful, flexible whiteboard software that can import images, save sessions for later review, and even port board contents to a PDF for student use. "What did you learn today, Junior?" THIS.
Videos and educational content via the web or connected media devices.
Sharing with tablets/phones for special needs children who can't go to the board.
Front-of-class control for instructors who like that, instead of letting the PowerPoint clicker lead them to wander, diverting attention from the subject matter.
Our 80" AQUOS Board was selected as Education Product of the Year at InfoComm 2015. We partner with Google, Splashtop and other software vendors to make the education experience better.
As display tech improves, these get more accessible. But without a technology partner willing to help educators make the change, they're just fancy, unused boxes.
We don't sell things to not be used. :-)
Feel free to contact me directly with questions.
Gray Scheffel
gray.scheffel@sharpusa.com