February 2008 — News
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Improving Instruction with Interactive Whiteboards (on the Cheap)
The Magic of Software and Whiteboards
Stewart outfitted half of the district's sixth, seventh and eighth grade math classes with Smart Board 680 77-inch whiteboards, LCD projectors, and computers. Teachers received four days of training, two days of intensive instruction in September, then two follow-up days during the year. This September, those same teachers received another day of training as a refresher.
The math software doesn't require a whiteboard to operate, just a computer. But once the interactive whiteboard is added to the equation, that's when the magic happens, said Stewart. "A week after we did the first training for the group last year, I had a seventh grade math teacher come up and say to me, 'I have 100% engagement in my math lessons right now.' And he still does. It is huge."
The software includes modules based on testing standards for specific states. "If you want math standard 7.1.2, you put that in, and up come the activities," said Stewart. "Then you can do a drop-down menu, and there are all kinds of selections that go with it. You can modify lessons, create lessons, take students into the computer lab and assign individual lessons." A lot of the lessons are interactive, and the whiteboards allow students to get up in front of the class to perform exercises.
At the beginning of the day, the math teachers with home rooms put up games. "The kids have no idea they're doing math," said Stewart. "They just think they're playing games."
Paired with the intelligent whiteboards--which Stewart calls the "best teaching tool I have ever seen in my career"--they bring classrooms "alive."
"It's phenomenal," she said. "You can hyperlink to the Internet, open up files on your computer, bring them up, close them down, save lessons, put math problems up, and with a window shade show the problem as it's getting solved. You can project document cameras onto them. When you watch a DVD on them, you think you're watching it in high definition."
The software is so rich, said Stewart, teachers are just beginning to scratch the surface. But adoption of new technologies has its hiccups. She recalls one teacher who came crying to her during the initial training because her chalkboard was covered up by the whiteboard. Stewart had the whiteboard moved. Six weeks later, the same teacher came back for follow-up training. "She puts her hand on my arm and says, 'I am so sorry. I haven't used my chalkboard in weeks. I just didn't understand the power or ease of use, and I don't care if I never see another piece of chalk.'"
