Class# 7: More SMART talk.

Ed Tech started off pretty slow today, mainly because there appeared to be something up with the projector, but we eventually got started and delved into conversation about our weekly discussion posts. We then moved on to discussing the various sources of information that Dr. Kele gave us about smart boards. One of the main points I recall about the article that I read was that there will be an ability gap between teachers. I found this interesting, as we normally talk about ability gaps between students. In the case of this article it brought to light that some teachers will take to smartboards and other technologies faster than others. This is sometimes due to an age difference, or perhaps simply a difference in preferences. The result, however, can severely impair a teacher's confidence. An example that the article provided was that in a grade where the students have different teachers for different subjects, there may be one teacher who uses the smart board more than another. The result of this can be that the students will come to understand the workings of the smart board better than some of the other teachers. A situation such as this can damage the confidence of a teacher that ends up needing help with their smart board lesson from one of the students. This is something that I have never thought about prior to reading this article. It brought me to understand that if a school decides to implement smart boards, as many have, they will have to ensure that all of the teachers are trained in how to use it effectively. Also the article listed the stages of learning for teachers, and brought up the point that teachers using smart boards will not become advanced smart board users with just a few uses. It takes a long time to learn.

We then moved on to discuss an article written by a teacher that opposed the use of smart boards. She brought up some pretty good points, mainly that the smart board doesn't necessarily change the learning experience for the students. The format of teacher lecturing and student listening is still the same, it doesn't promote interactive learning as much as it should given the amount of hype about it. She also brought up that it will be a wow factor for a while, but the novelty will wear off. However, despite her thought provoking opinions, I am still a supporter of smart boards, and reading her article simply challenged me to make my future smart board presentations even more engaging and informative.

The discussion of her article brought us to discuss the use of smart boards further as a class. One question that Dr. Kele raised was:"Do you have every student come up to use the smart board in a lesson?" My answer for this was that not every student needs to use the board in one lesson, you can group the students together and have them collaborate.

Finally in class we started working in groups, or alone, on creating a smartboard lesson. My partner Jennifer and I began creating a small geometry lesson involving identifying different angle sizes. Some parts of creating the lesson were frustrating, but overall it is still a very enjoyable program to use.