January 2004 — Applications
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Interactive Whiteboard System Creates 'Active Classrooms' for Rural Georgia School System
Teachers easily adapt to the system because they do not have to redesign their existing lesson plans to incorporate the technology. Instead, the technology enhances their lesson plans with multimedia features and interactivity that captures students' attention and motivates them to learn. It also opens the door to new possibilities. In fact, a key benefit of the interactive whiteboard is that it more effectively allows teachers to incorporate the Internet into group instruction rather than trying to arrange 25 students around three or four small computer screens. Teachers also report that the system saves time since they no longer have to write lessons on the chalkboard or dry-erase whiteboard. Instead, they can prepare their lessons on their computer at home, e-mail the documents to themselves at school, and then project the lessons onto an electronic whiteboard.
Enhancing Instruction and Interactivity
Today, teachers use the system to enhance their instruction in a variety of ways. For example, to teach a lesson on landforms, one teacher projected a video onto an interactive whiteboard for the class to view. Worksheets with questions were then passed out, and the students were led on an Internet scavenger hunt to find the answers. To begin the hunt, the teacher projected a Microsoft Word document listing the questions with hyperlinks to the appropriate Web sites. As the class visited each site, students scanned the Web pages to find and record the answers on their worksheets.
Another teacher created a class game similar to the TV game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in preparation for a test on the seven continents. The teacher created a list of questions with multiple-choice answers and projected it onto an interactive whiteboard. The student contestants then used the ACTIVslate to control the whiteboard from their seats and select the answers. If a student needed help, he or she could poll fellow classmates who used the ACTIVote to select the answer they thought was correct.
Teachers in all subject areas often use the ACTIVote to administer quizzes and tests to students because they can get instant results that tell them which areas students understood and which areas need to be readdressed. The enthusiastic response to the ACTIVboard system from our teachers has been wonderful. Even teachers who were previously uninspired to use technology have embraced this teaching solution — becoming some of the most enthusiastic users of the system. Students love the multimedia features and interactivity, which make learning more fun and exciting. Teachers report that students pay closer attention and have become more involved in class. In addition, parents are talking about the system because their children come home from school raving about it.
The excitement created by this new technology has changed the climate of our schools. Now, when teachers walk down the halls they see a noticeable difference in the energy and activity levels of their classrooms. Teachers are finally standing up and facilitating information, while students are moving back and forth from the interactive whiteboard to their desks or interacting from their desks using the wireless peripherals. We hear more of a dialogue between students and teachers, and see that students are more involved and motivated to learn. In addition, we now call our rooms "active classrooms" because that is what they have become.
