As Whiteman Primary prepares for a new SMART board, we find ourselves sorting through materials that have been in place long enough to have a fuzzy patina of dust, as well as those that have been added much more recently. Faculty have found treasures that have escaped their notice (e.g., a Denver Post newspaper from 1963 about the Kennedy assassination), as well as some materials that are no longer useful (e.g., a Betamax video that had somehow managed to hide away with the VCR tapes). Taking a close look at the things we give precious space to in a cozy school like ours and determining whether we truly hold those things dear is a valuable exercise.
As we get ready to install the SMART board, we are reminded of how technology can enhance learning opportunities for students while reducing the clutter of maintaining paper copies of lessons, pictures, and other materials. A lesson on an interactive whiteboard allows the teacher to scan and consolidate text and images that once had to be stored on paper in files, often becoming dog-eared, faded, and useless over time. Once stored in an interactive lesson, these materials remain clean and fresh to be reused over many years. Internet resources such as video clips can be seamlessly inserted into the interactive lesson, avoiding the need for physical video storage and eliminating time for transitions from paper to video in the classroom. Lessons can be saved from year to year and tweaked electronically to meet the needs of each rising class, reducing the need for filing cabinets full of old lesson plans. Students can have access to SMART board lessons after they have taken place, providing wonderful review opportunities. As an interactive whiteboard, the SMART board bridges the gap from concrete to representational thinking, as students are able to move “materials” represented on the screen (whiteboard) in much the same way they have been able to move concrete materials on their desks. This means that, at least for older students, the need for storage of concrete manipulatives is reduced.
Not only does the SMART board help with storing information and materials and with teaching lessons, but it also provides a means for students to personalize their own whiteboard presentations. Students will be able to leave their own proud marks for later reference and as a means of passing down what they have learned and experienced to future classes.
Technology doesn’t always make things easier or neater. We find this each day as we sit down to our computers and see the amount of email that has accumulated since last we checked. However, there are some technological advances that make education both more exciting and efficient, and the interactive whiteboard is one of those. The school is grateful to David and Gina Zedeck for their donation of a SMART board as a seed for future donations of additional boards for our other classrooms. We look forward to hearing your ideas and viewpoints during our demonstration event once the board is installed and operational. Watch for details in the coming weeks and months.
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