April 27, 2009
Interactive Whiteboards
I stumbled upon something today and i thought i would share it on my blog.
I was reading a book titled Child Development the MacMillan Psychology Reference Series. It dedicated a little section towards the internet stating:
The internet – also called the World Wide Web, or web – is a vast system of connections among individual computers and computer networks, allowing information and programmed activities to be easily shared by individuals around the world. According to the National Centre for Education Statistics , over 90 percent of primary school students in the United States report using the internet at home, at school or both settings. Educational uses emphasize searching for information about classroom projects or topics. As with printed media, it is necessary to assist children in determining the source and reliability of web-based information.
This book was written in 2002. It’s been seven years.
Then it got me thinking, how much has changed in these past couple of years. Are more teachers using interactive whiteboards in classrooms, and blogs to communicate with their children?
Then i thought, what about using an interactive whiteboard in a kindergarten. It would be totally different and what a way to present information to children??
What do you think? Do you think interactive whiteboards in kindergarten are taking it a step too far? appropriate? is it a justifiable purchase within the early childhood setting?
- Will young children respond to this?
Lois said,
April 28, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I think the young children would love it. After all its all about getting close to your work, touching and actively making things happen. There is a prep teacher in my school who uses the board every day with her students and they love it. I’ve used the IWBs with preps in ICT lessons and they are very engaged and can’t wait to have their turn. I feel quite sure that when the children are as engaged and involved as they are when the IWB is part of the instruction time they do learn more effectively. The key is to have the students making the decisions and using the board.
Yes they will respond to it. Is it worth it? I think so but be quick or they will be out of date. (The Smart table is coming – http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2009/04/25/smart-table-in-my-classroom-two-introductory-videos/)
timhunterfle said,
April 28, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Hi Julie,
At my school one of the prep classes is trialing an IWB. I am not sure how effective it is in enhancing learning. I am hopeful, although the degree to which it will help will no doubt be related to the way the teacher(s) take advantage of the possibilities. The problem in assessing effectiveness of new technologies such as this is that any new innovation will typically result in an immediate improvement simply because it is innovative (see ‘Visible Learning’ by John Hattie for more on that), and when something is being measured it can also impact the result as behaviours change, so even if the teacher is just using the IWB in a passive 1-way communication form, it will still have novelty value for the students and may increase motivation whilst it remains new. (Having said this I still think it is worth taking note of the trials etc.)
If you are still looking for ideas on the assignment, an option could be to imagine that you had an IWB in your class and you then needed to estbalish a VLE using the IWB. You could probably get away with developing the VLE without needing an actual IWB.
mrsparrington said,
May 3, 2009 at 9:20 am
Hi Julie,
I’m with Lois.
The Prep teachers use them at my school and the kids love it.
You can get Big Books especially for them and all sorts of wonderful stuff is available ont he web. They are just a tool but the kids do find them very engaging!
Cheers, Alex