Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are being used in the classroom more and more everyday.  I believe these boards can definitely enhance the way the classroom is operated, as well as how the students learn.  Whenever the students are involved with any kind of interaction in the classroom it is a positive thing.  That's why good teachers often stress class participation.  These interactive whiteboards give any teacher a different tool to try and reach students, and also give a student something new and exciting to keep his/her attention.  There is a huge, global craze over modern technology with smart phones, video games, high definition TV's, computers and the Internet, and much more.  When you can combine modern technology with the lesson you want to teach it can enhance how learning and teaching is done by having the students full attention and envolvement from the very start of the lesson.
The best part of any new form of technology is that, with practice, they are easy to use.  The more you use the whiteboards more you learn and the easier it becomes to operate.  I didn't really have too much trouble working this program and I can now start to see what the capabilities are for this new technology in the classroom.  I think the most important pros to this concept are getting the students involved more, and using a source of media that will more easily grab the attention of most students.  The only negative I think goes along with using whiteboards would e if a teacher just simply uses the whiteboard as a modern chalk board.  This would prevent both the teacher and students from experiencing what these whiteboards truly have to offer.
I would incorperate the smartboard with my students by replacing some of the picture card lessons I used for letter sounds.  I'm really happy with my lesson plan I did for class tonight and would like to create more lesson plans like it to cover all of the letters, two at time.  I'm excited about what I still have to learn about interactive whiteboards and look forward to incorporating them in the classroom with my future lessons.

Student Technology Experience

I wasn't really surprised to see that most college don't really use the Internet for much more than communication.  Having the internet in classroom, in the grand scheme of things, is a really new idea.  Ten years ago e-mail was only starting to gain popularity yet alone having a high-speed, 'search anything' search engine right at your fingertips.  With that said, it's only been a short amount of time to allow Internet usage in the classroom to evolve.  Most teachers are not up to a high speed on how to operate many of the new technologies that are available to them.  I personally know of a school that had a few Promethean Boards that went an entire year without even being turned on.  I am well aware that teachers all over the country are taking and have to take Ed. Tech courses, but in most cases no one is an expert on technology at the completion of any one course.  Until the teachers have a better grip on how to operate the machinery, the classroom will be at a technological disadvantage.
I think that many of the issues involving technology in the classroom can have a huge effect on teachers, however, the classroom is forever evolving place and must always keep up, if not be ahead of the times and start to experience the benefits that the Internet has to offer. 

Graphic Organizers

I think that graphic organizers are a great way to get your main points across.  In my eyes, I see these organizers as a fun way to read a summary, as well as a shorter way to write a summary.  A written summary of any of the graphic organizers we had to do in class would take 10x the amount of time to read and write, yet the organizers themselves still cover all the points.  The graphic organizers are very clear and concise, and provide more than enough information to understand what is being discussed.  However, I do feel as though students DO need to know how to write reports and write them well.  I think a great idea for any teacher would be to teach the two styles of writing and give assignments that alternate using both ways.  Using a graphic organizer is a great method for providing information, but writing full length reports, in my opinion, cannot be abandoned.

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