FAVORABLE COMMENTS ABOUT INTERACTIVE ELECTRONIC WHITEBOARDS
| Question: What features of the board to you find particularly valuable? |
It allows students to interact with instruction - they can come up to the board and be examples. The ease of use, the flexibility of being able to type or write, and the impressiveness because it seems so new in our district. |
| The large size makes it visible even to student in back row. |
| Being able to point exactly where the students will need to click. |
| Interactive capabilities-love being able to focus on the kids and not always having to bend over and look at the laptop screen. |
| Valuable features: definitely student interaction - better than a small
monitor with a scan-converter hookup which only projects for full class but no interaction. Also, ability to use digital markers and eraser on any application you have open. Ex: open a web page and circle key words or items on page (I do this to show copyright date, note-taking skills, etc.. for older kids), or open a MSWorks document and have kids edit it with the marker. Also, the Smartboard Notebook feature is GREAT! You can insert scanned pictures or pages from a books (diagrams, maps, table of contents, etc...) and then model for them. I use to show how to look for keywords in a paragraph and take notes without writing down word for word. Also, you can have as many whiteboard pages open as you need and can click back and forth between them. Inspiration is a great program to use on the whiteboard as well. One thing first grade does is open a primary farming web page and then open the notebook with a scanned crossword puzzle and have the whole class answer questions from an interactive "game" on the website and then write the answers in the puzzle with the digital markers (ex: What does a goat produce that you put on your cereal? find answer - switch to notebook and write MILK). The possibilities are endless...you just have to explore and experiment. The ability to lower the board for younger kids is great. Also, you can write with markers and then switch to typed text. You can pull up a keyboard on the screen. You can print out any of your notebook worksheets for distribution. |
| It shows exactly where I'm "looking" on a web page and exactly where they should click. It's easier for them to grasp what to do. |
| The interactivity of the board. The ability to save your work back to the
computer. If you have students that are absent you can save the work and print it out for them to review when they return. |
| What I've mentioned above and the ability to start with Inspiration a graphic organizer then use the pens to add students additions. I can print off each class' additions to for absent students or to see what I need to pull all of them together. I then finish the final organizer and students use it to write from or study from. I'm still learning ways to use it. I mulit-task frequently using the overhead with terms and the SMARTboard to demonstrate. |
| I love to be able to stand up front with my presentations and touch the board if I need to go to the next item. |
| Projection obviously, touch feature for presenting. |