Blog 8 SMART board Technology in the classroom!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Here is a brief video: SMARTboards, why are they so easy to use?”

This picture demonstrates age of learning launches in ABCmouse for schools a scalable solution for school districts and school groups in the U.S. and Globally! Click on the following to view the link:  SMART boards

Personally, when I hear the word; ‘SMARTboards’ I get very excited, confident, and thrilled because of the unique features and benefits it has on teaching and learning. Also, because we live in the 21st century, life has become busy for everyone and because we are so busy it is reasonable to use technology throughout our curriculum instead of constantly relying on traditional methods of teaching such as paper and pen. After reading this blog; ‘Getting a head start on Education, Smart Boards in Early Childhood Classrooms’ research found that all children that are exposed to Smart Boards are more likely to have longer attention spans, and find learning an easy task as the content on the smart board engages their attention and allows them to physically get up and have a hands-on experience (Lisa, 2011). More so, this blog emphasizes that Smart boards are not only beneficial for children but the staff as well. What is fascinating is that Smart boards are brilliant in the sense that they allow teachers to be organized as they move their lessons in different folders, and documents and most importantly teachers can save tremendous amount of time by designing individual digital portfolios as opposed to making physical portfolios which are more time consuming.

Again, in my opinion this is one of the reasons why I strongly prefer SMARTboard technology as it makes tasks simple and easier compared to sticking to the traditional ways of teaching. Also, I strongly believe child care centres should reconsider and use SMARTboard technology as a way to interact with the children and to prepare them for their future learning.

In this picture an Instructional Resource Teacher purchased a SMART board for her kindergarten students. The Instructional Resource Teacher had positive feelings towards these boards and further described them as new and magical as they allow children to be highly imaginative and open. In this picture this is the first time kindergarten children are exposed to SMART boards. Here you see kindergarten children getting comfortable and familiar with this type of technology. These children get comfortable with SMART boards by practicing “signing in” by finding their snowflake names and dragging them to the ground. In this picture you will notice the names are intentionally blurred to protect confidentiality. Click on the following to view the link:  playing with the SMART board

In this picture, this boy is not only practicing how to use SMART board but he’s also practicing important concepts that include doing extended patterns, writing numbers, and sorting. Overall, this picture demonstrates that SMART boards allow numerous possibilities and it also encourages children to take turns and share the SMART board tools and designs. Click on the following to view the link: playing with the SMART board

In this picture, Kindergarten children are highly engaged in a short group lesson. Children here are playing the game; “popcorn word” in order to develop high frequency words. In this game two children are involved and one child is responsible for standing at the front of the SMART board with her back facing the rest of the class. As this occurs another child is responsible for picking a popcorn word and only showing it to the class. As a result, both the class and that child read out the word out loud while the child standing close to the SMART board finds the word and drags it to the popcorn tub. As one can see this SMART board activity was fun and encouraged children to be live participants. Click on the following to view the link: playing with the SMART board

Despite the fact I admire SMART board technology, there is an extraordinary amount of research that indicates the importance of SMART boards in children’s current school learning. After analyzing the journal article; Student learning Engagement with SMART Boards in reader’s workshop it indicates SMART boards are an exclusive device giving students chance to collaborate with one another especially during project times. Similarly, these SMART boards allow children to save their work and present their projects to the entire class (Parmeter, 2012). Another fascinating thing I wanted to share with everyone is that did you know SMART boards support and accommodate different learning styles and these include visual, spatial, auditory and kinesthetic. For instance, as content is posted on SMART boards it automatically motivates young students to physically get up, and touch the objects on the screen. As a result, as children constantly touch the SMART boards it will help them understand the content better and help them stay on task throughout the lesson (Parmeter, 2012). Also, going back to the different learning styles, SMART boards stand out from other technologies because of this unique feature. In all classrooms, all children have different needs and when teachers introduce SMART boards it happens to positively handle each child’s needs. To emphasize there are many children in classrooms who are visual learners and by introducing SMART board children will have a better time viewing the large screen, and everything inside the screen such as big size letters, colourful pictures, high-quality information and so on.

Did you know that SMART boards are a great technological tool for children with special needs and disabilities? As mentioned before SMART boards bring in all of children’s learning styles. Children with Autism also benefit from interactive whiteboards as they learn how to properly work in a group setting and be social around other children. After visiting this creative blog; ‘Interactive Whiteboards with Special Needs’ it argues that the large fonts and bright colors are seen helpful for both visually-impaired students and those who have trouble staying on task. Also, students with special needs can feel free to manipulate the SMART boards as they circle relevant content on the screen, draw and underline different texts. Overall, due to the nature of the SMART boards being visually appealing many children with and without special needs are drawn to it. Having said that according to the article; The use of SMART boards for smarter teaching and smarter learning it states how SMART boards are beneficial for not just special needs, and typically developing students but also for students with motor skill deficiencies. As I read this I happen to agree with it because many young students lack fine motor skills or have not fully developed fine motor skills making it difficult to operate a mouse. Luckily, when these same young students are given the SMART board they can easily touch anywhere on the screen as opposed to finding and using the SMART board mouse.

Also, SMART boards are now seen throughout the school boards and although not every class has them, majority of educators are slowly including them into the curriculum. Also, I remember last semester I completed my internship in a kindergarten classroom. As the school finished, all the kindergarten teachers got together and received training on how to use SMART Boards as majority were not aware of the complex functions and tools. As a student I found this shocking because I had this expectation that they would know how to use it considering them using iPads, and laptops throughout the classroom. As I found out they were receiving training I was surprised but then again I feel SMART boards are a new device and have numerous instructions which take a while to get used to.

Overall, I want to hear your direct experiences. Did you ever come across SMART boards in your placement or outside placement? Feel free to share your comments on SMART board and whether you find them effective in children’s learning.  

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References:

Anderson, G. (n.d.). Glenda’s Assistive Technology Information and more Interactive Whiteboards with Special Needs [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://atclassroom.blogspot.ca/2011/02/interactive-whiteboards-with-special.html

Crayons, wands and building blocks. (2012, February 7). Playing with the SMART board [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://crayonswandsandbuildingblocks.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/playing-with-the-smart-board/

Ladislaw, J. (n.d.). The use of SMART Boards for Smarter Teaching and Smarter Learning. Regional Training Center/ The College of New Jersey. Retrieved from http://eduaction.pages.tcnj.edu/files/2012/11/Use-of-Smart-Boards.pdf  

Lisa. (2011, March 3). Getting a Head start on Education: Smart Boards in Early Childhood Classrooms [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://gettingaheadstartoneducation.blogspot.ca/2011/03/smart-boards-in-early-childhood.html  

Parmeter, C. (2012). Student Learning Engagement with SMART Boards in Readers Workshop. Education Masters. p.1-72. Retrieved from http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1234&context=education_ETD_masters  
[SmartClassrooms]. (2009, April 13). SMART Boards why are they easy to use? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U05WeXPGlk