I read the two articles that were negative toward smartboards, and I found a post that was very positive. I also read some different comments. I personally do not have any experience with them. Having said that, I feel like the people that are being negative about these smartboards are people who have not really learned how to use them. There seems to be a lot of uses, but you need to learn what can be done with them. It seems from my reading that the negative opinions are from people that only have a minimal amount of training in how to use them, and therefore only use them like a projector.
One thing that seemed to stand out to me was the fact that the teachers and students seem to be excited , and more engaged by these devices. That alone seems to me to be fairly valuable. I also gathered in reading that with proper training there are a lot of really cool things that can be done with them, so I am very interested to see for myself exactly how they work. And I think anything that engages the students and teacher in a richer learning experience is valuable. Here is a link to the positive post I read. SMARTboards...the SMART way to teach and learn
About Me
- James Marshall / Background Information
- I moved to Alabama in 1978,and graduated from Fairhope High School in 1984. I attended Faulkner State Jr. College, and then the University of South Alabama where I graduated with a Marketing degree. I am married with two children, Jack and Heather, and we live in Spanish Fort. I have gone back to the University of South Alabama, and I am majoring in Elementary Education. This is my blog where you can explore some of the different things I have done in my studies.
Way to go! It is always good to take a look at both sides of an issue as you have done. I am not sure that you are correct that these two skeptics are skeptics because of lack of use. Rather it is their teaching philosophies that form their concerns. SMARTBoards most often become ways for teachers to use "canned" programs that often reduce the possibilities for teacher and student creativity. But anything that engages the student is good. Kelly Hines says they should be used as "student tools" not "teacher tools." I think the money would be better spent giving the students their own tools to use in and out of school. But they are in Baldwin and Mobile schools so our task is now to figure out how they can be used most effectively and creatively. And you are part of that process!
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