Communication tools are not effective unless they are used the right way. One way to ensure that the tool is used correctly is related to planning and then to reflecting. It is crucial that teachers don't just throw up a presentation to read word for word to the students. It is much more effective to have the tool become part of the lesson and develop discussion and support thinking. After practice the teacher should reflect on the situation and see you to change the tool to make it more interactive and engage the students.
Specifically, in a lesson a second way to make the tool effective is to use it as a display for student ideas. Using inspiration is one of the greatest ways to involve students. In a classroom without a smart board we have the students discuss and come up with ideas. If the ideas are not written down it makes it difficult to remember what was said and change ideas. With the use of the tool the teacher is able to have the students decide what to say, come up and write/type it and actually relate it and move it around. This creates a visual for the student that is a visual learner. It also reaches out to the person that is an active learner. It lends an opportunity for the teacher to prompt students to use their critical thinking skills and think about the responses that they had and analyze them rather than just recall them.
While great planning, practice and reflecting really make the board useful another specific way that I think the interactive board is effective in the classroom is that it allows for immediate feedback. For example, there are so many times in the day that students start to think about a certain subject and develop questions about that particular subject. If I were working to present and discuss insects on the white board and a student asks a question that they have really thought about and would like to know the answer and I don't know it, I can use the board right on the spot. I have found that this happens so often and it is always something that we will have to look up later and then it is forgotten or I have run to the computer to find out when there is free time. Being able to look something up on the spot provides a response or at least shows an attempt and may encourage students to want to find out more. It then involves them as thinkers and they may also be the ones to help search. This can lead to the interactive white board as a great resource and also as a motivational tool, leaving students questioning and thinking more in depth.
So, for a teacher to use the board for his or her best potential there a combination of things that must happen. They must plan, practice and reflect in order to use the board the right way. They must involve students, like having the students develop ideas for inspiration and support their ideas and move things around. They must also use all of the available resources that the board has to offer, such as looking something up for immediate feedback, creating a class chart in excel or showing a video clip to use for discussion.
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Being able to research something "on the spot" and "on demand" is a key benefit of this technology. It not only allows you to answer the question, but it leads to more students WANTING to ask questions and it also demonstrates to students that their questions and concerns are important enough to warrant your time and attention. Bring this up in class for discussion.
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