Sunday, July 18, 2010

'The Role of Interactive Whiteboards in a 1-to-1 Environment' Presentation from ISTE2010

This June I was honoured to present at ISTE 2010 in Denver. My presentation was entitled 'The Role of Interactive Whiteboards in a 1-to-1 Environment'. A SMART Notebook version of the presentation is available here. As I was sponsored by SMART (which I'm very grateful for and through whom I met some wonderful SMART Exemplary Educators) there is a bias in terms of IWB brand and some product placement which was unavoidable. However, the underlying message I hope has total integrity as it is based on the beliefs and experiences of myself, several colleagues and other great educators who chipped in their penny's worth.

As with any presentation, a full appreciation after the event is not achieved from a simple file unless you have a video, podcast or transcription to go with it. To this end a PDF version in Scribd is below plus a transcription for each slide within this blog post. Some of you may also gain amusement from an interview I gave, courtesy of Dr Ray Heipp and SmartEd Services.



The Role of IWBs in a 1-1 Environment.pdf

Slides:
  1. My contact details also contained within the QR Code (my first attempt at QR)
  2. My 16 (+1) schools in South and South-West Sydney
  3. Video (not available unfortunately) - proof that I actually was a Physics teacher utilising an IWB day-to-day
  4. Video available on this link - IWB being used in a Primary context
  5. Video available on this link - the Australian 'Digital Education Revolution' - every Year 9 student receiving a laptop from the Federal Government
  6. As you can see, these Year 10 students have laptops, Macs or PCs, with SMART Boards in some rooms
  7. The main question behind this presentation
  8. {drag the picture down} = NO
  9. {drag the picture down} = YES
  10. {drag the picture down} = YES
  11. Demonstration of a Year 11 Physics experiment where a volunteer whistles into a microphone; the wave trace on the oscilloscope emulator is captured with the SMART Capture tool; the SMART interactive ruler is calibrated against the oscilloscope grid; the length of e.g. 8 cycles is measured e.g. 8.8; the length of 1 cycle is calculated e.g. 1.1; the time period is calculated by multiplying with the time based e.g. 1.1×5ms = 5.5ms - this experiment could be performed on a laptop but not collaboratively as is achieved on an IWB.
  12. Another activity, Year 12 Physics, best performed on an IWB (and specifically designed for use on an IWB. I know because I designed it). However, students can take it away after a group experiment to further investigate themselves on their laptop.
  13. I had posed the question of this presentation via the IWB Revolution Ning and received some great responses including Chris Betcher's straight-to-the-point remark from a chat we had "Don't apologise for teaching!" i.e. an IWB can and should be used as an effective teaching tool, it is not simply the domain of kids doing cute things on a board e.g. senior Physics is not intuitive; I have to introduce new material and explain before students can grasp it to then perform some activity on an IWB, laptop, where ever.
  14. {drag the picture down} = YES, as previously explained, a concept could be introduced by a teacher through an IWB, given to the students to work on on their laptops, then possibly feedback interactively through the IWB
  15. {the first 2 columns are 'infinite clone' so each word could be dragged into the 3rd column}
    IWB + 1:1 = More than the Sum of the Parts
  16. SMART Notebook file (unavailable as yet) - Year 10 Commerce - students receive random occurrences to simulate what life might be like when students leave home e.g. flatmate moves out so they have to pay double rent and hence budget accordingly
  17. Video (unavailable unfortunately) - shows a similar activity with the students each spinning the interactive random wheel in front of each other. Easily done on a laptop but performed on the IWB allows the students to understand that some people are lucky in life and some aren't. Students can then go back and work on their individual projects and budgets on their laptops
  18. Predicting the future (slightly gratuitous SMART product placement) - smart tables will soon be upon us (not just in school but in our local coffee shops) and iPads have just arrived. What technologies will we have in the future and how will they work together?
  19. Explained in an earlier blog post
  20. IWBs are not environments in their own right, they are part of a larger learning space that is hopefully flexible. Introducing laptops into the space again demands that the space is flexible
  21. Some examples of contemporary learning spaces
  22. Video (not available unfortunately) - shows the mini-ampitheatre (carpeted) within a double 'classroom' with glass partitions at Parramatta Marist High School during a cross-curricula lesson of RE and Technology!
  23. Research paper I co-wrote on contemporary learning spaces
  24. Explained in an earlier blog post
  25. Thank yous. Note the final paragraph- Special thanks to the following artists for giving written permission for use of their music in the opening video: Sneaky Sound System 'I Love It' and The Grates 'Science is Golden' (get students to seek permission to use music rather than copy it illegally!)
  26. Obligatory SMART slide