Workshop 2: Interactive Whiteboards

Today we learnt about using interactive whiteboards (IWB) in the classoom.
Interactive whiteteboards were originally developed for office settings (Greiffenhagen 2002) and are a relatively new technology to education.

I think these are absolutely brilliant!! GOODBYE BLACKBOARDS AND FLIPCHART PADS! (well to most of them anyway!).

'It can be used as an alternative to virtually every other classroom resources, traditional and modern, for example blackboards, flip charts, OHPs, maps, pictures, number lines, 'big books', calculators, and cassette and video players.  At a touch, the teacher has access to a bank of resources that would previously have been taken years to accumulate and a vast cupboard to store.'

(BECTA 2006, Teaching Interactively with Electronic Whiteboards in the Primary Phase (http://publications.becta.org.uk/download.cfm?resID=25918).

The quote pretty much says it all! Its like having all the resources combined in one simple resource. Interactive whiteboards can can cater for science lessons, maths lessons, English and several others. This makes it extremely convenient.

What do the teachers have to say?

Teachers report finding IWBs a flexible and versatile teaching tool across age groups and settings (Austin 2003), ranging from nursery (Wood 2001) to further and higher education (Malavet 1998) and even distance education (Bell 2002). 

Smith (2001) reports on the benefits of using a graphics package to support younger pupils’ handwriting skills where gross motor movements on the IWB helped their handwriting on paper. 

 

Teachers also report that IWBs extend possibilities when catering for a range of needs within a lesson.
Miller and Glover (2002) describe one primary teacher’s approach in splitting the IWB into three screens: each used to develop comprehension of a text at three levels with each group in turn. The facility to flip back and forth between pages on an IWB screen is also reported as a useful technique in supporting a range of needs within a class flexibly and spontaneously (Latham 2002).

 

 

What do the pupils have to say?

Young pupils in Goodison’s study (2002) report a preference for using the IWB as opposed to a computer because they found the keyboard and mouse difficult to manipulate. Stallard describes the introduction of IWBs in 29 nurseries across Birmingham as having a profound effect on the number of pupils choosing ICT activities (Wood 2001). She found that pupils who would not normally choose to work on the computer were choosing to work on the IWB, and observed that they could do the activities without needing the fine-motor skills required to operate a mouse.

 

Selected primary school pupils were involved in the interactive whiteboard (IWB) evaluation, sponsored by the Centre for British Teachers (CfBT), were interviewed in regard to their perceptions about IWBs. The pupils were very enthusiastic about particular aspects of IWBs, such as their versatility in the classroom, multimedia capabilities and the fun and enjoyment they brought to learning. Students also highlighted,
however, technical problems, teacher and students’ information and communication technology
skills and students’ lack of access to the technology as negative aspects. (Hall & Higgins 2005)

 

Problems

One of the most frequent issues raised by both teachers and pupils is the need for adequate training in order to use IWBs to their full potential.

Teachers’ inexperience in setting up equipment and in manipulating features on the board, leading to lesson disruption, was a concern for both teachers and pupils interviewed in Levy’s study (2002).

It is also reported that pupils find it difficult, or even impossible, to see the screen on an IWB when sunlight is shining directly on it (Tameside MBC 2003).

In my opinion, these thing can be overcome with time, so overall, I think that IWBs are a brilliant resource for education.

References:
 
Austin N. (2003) Mighty white. The Guardian, 7 January 2003.

Bell M.A. (2002) Why use an interactive whiteboard? A baker’s dozen reasons!: Available at: http://teachers.net/gazette/JAN02. Accessed 20th June 2003.

Goodison T. (2002) ICT and attainment at primary level. British Journal of Educational Technology 33, 201–211.


Hall I. & Higgins S. (2005) Primary school student's perceptions of interactive whiteboards Journal of Computer Assisted learning 21, p102–117

Latham P. (2002) Teaching and Learning Mathematics: the Impact of Interactive Whiteboards – Results of the North Islington Education Action Zone RM Easiteach Mathematics Project. BEAM Education, London.

Levy P. (2002) Interactive whiteboards in learning and teaching in two Sheffield schools: a developmental
study. Available at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/eirg/projects/wboards. Accessed 20th June 2003.

Malavet P.A. (1998) Interactive whiteboards: the technology of the future, working with traditional pedagogical methodology. Available at: http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/malavet/. Accessed 20 June 2003.
Miller D. & Glover D. (2002) The interactive whiteboard as a force for pedagogic change: the experience of five elementary schools in an English authority. Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual 2002, 1 5–19.

Smith H. (2001) Smartboard evaluation: final report. Available at: http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/whiteboards/
report. Accessed 20th June 2003.

Tameside MBC (2003) Interim report on practice using interactive whiteboards in Tameside primary schools.
Available at: http://www.tameside.gov.uk/schools_grid/ict/whiteboards.pdf. Accessed June 2003.
Wood C. (2001) Interactive whiteboards – a luxury too far? Teaching ICT 1, 2.

Workshop 1: Web 2.0 and blogging

Hello!

In today's session we learnt about Web 2.0. 

Web 2.0 is a trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs and many more.

The use of web 2.0 in the classroom can make the experience for children a lot more interactive. There are various social networking websites than can be used as part of lessons in the classroom such as flickr for downloading photos and youtube for downloading videos.

 

This can also make lessons in the classroom much easier for a teacher in that they are able to deliver clearer and more interactive lessons for the children. This can inturn increase the class's understanding and motivation to learn.

An article in the education section of the 'Good Magazine' shows an interview with Sal Khan, manager of  the 'Khan Academy' (a virtual youtube school) where he says "Youtube is the school of the future". Although this quote is aimed more at online learning rather than in person, it also promotes the use of youtube for homework and extention activities.

http://www.good.is/post/youtube-is-the-school-of-the-future/ 

The use of blogs have also been shown to be effective in the classroom and used as a good educational tool. Children are able to write about favourite topics or subjects and this can be published on the internet. This is visible to family and friends anywhere in the world with internet access. As well as practising and improving writing and ICT skills this also gives a realistic aspect to this task and give a sense of excitement and increase motivation in a child when carrying this out, in comparison to writing in books which are only viewed by school staff and other pupils.

Below is a video showing how "web 2.0" technologies and social networking effect learning experiences in school.

 

As much as the use of Web 2.0 has many advantages for schools, there is also the issue of e-safety. Schools must therefore take all risks into consideration and have in place e-safety rules and measures that are carried out at all times.




Thats all folks

e- safety

Welcome to my blog page...  

...which has been set up to show and share information gained from Primary PGCE ICT sessions along with additional research.

The first task set was the exploration of esafety (safe and responsible use of the internet) in schools.

e-safety in schools
In schools, it is the responsibility of the staff, to ensure that e-safety is carried out at all times in children's usage of the internet. Staff must be aware of the materials being viewed by the children at all times and measures should be taken to ensure that all material is appropriate. Such procedures would help to avoid risks in the following areas:


Content - sexual, racist, violent unreliable/ bigoted i.e. safety of children’s minds
Commerce - scams, phishing and pharming, downloads which steal information from users
Contact - via interactive technologies – IM, chat, multiplayer games
Culture – bullying


Top tips for parents/ guardians, school governers and community use
There are various different websites which inform and educate about e-safety, and measures that can be taken. A few are listed below and more can be found on the following websites:



  
http://www.esafeeducation.co.uk/forhome.php?lv1=top_tips

http://www.internetsafety101.org/InternetSafetyrules.htm 

• Explain to the child that they should never give out personal details. Help them to understand how little pieces of information can be put together to show a large portion of their personal life.
• Make the children aware that they need to think carefuly about the information and pictures they load onto their profiles.
• Tell the child not to open files that are from people they don't know - they shouldn't talk to strangers on the street and neither should they on the internet.
• Remind children that spam, junk emails and texts should not be believed and they should not reply to them or use them.
• The internet is not a private space so explain to children about responsible behaviour as they would do in person.

Below is a video of how a primary school have carried out e-safety procedures.

School rules about use of photos of children on school website
To consider and manage the following risks:

• Asking for parental permission to cover use of photographs before using images of pupils.
• Consider using group photos rather than full-face photos of individual children.
• Keeping names and images separate (e.g. if pupil is names, avoid using their photograph)

More rules as well as general useful information can be found on the following website:
http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/13-health-safety/21-schools-internet-policy-pg-2.htm