Using Smartboards as a teaching tool has been a trend I have noticed over the last few years. I did my student teaching last year at a school that had Smartboards in every classroom. The teacher I was with at the beginning of the year had her masters degree in educational technology and incoporated the Smartboard with a majority of her lessons. The teacher I was with the second part of the year also used her Smartboard with a majority of her lessons. Although they both used Smartboards to help teach, there was an enormous difference between the two. The first teacher I was with created lessons that utilized the smartboard. She would make lessons more interactive and engaging. The second teacher I was with used her Smartboard simply because it was there. She did nothing special with it to help kids learn better or get them more engaged.
I personally love Smartboards and used them a lot last year. However observing the two teachers both using the same technology made me realize that good technology on its own doesn't help kids. It is up to the teacher to use the technology they have in the correct way. I think it is good that a lot of schools and school districts are getting Smartboards, but I think it is very important that teachers are trained to use them in the correct way.
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I agree with your position in regard to the use of Smartboards in the classroom. At this point they are still viewed as a luxury item that has not made it's way into all classrooms. In years to come it seems that these will become a staple of every public school classroom, much like the overhead projector was in the 60's, 70's and 80's. When Smartboards become a commonplace item in the classroom I believe that teachers will begin to realize how to use this technology in better ways. There will also be younger teachers that have experience with Smartboards (when they were students), and I surmise that this younger generation will help other teachers to use them more effectively. I hope :)
Last year I was given the option to purchase a smart board for my classroom, but it would have taken a substantial part of my yearly budget. I opted instead to spend that money on other items that are crucial to the individualized instructional flow of my music production program. I teach urban high school students who have reading and math abilities ranging from grade 3 through college. Because of this disparity, I found that individualizing lessons to accommodate most every student yields more yearly educational gains.
In addition to meeting the needs of my students, I ask for roughly $10,000 each year to simply keep up with the everchanging technological accouterments that exist in the modern digital studio. At any point, I will welcome a Smartboard. When they decide to outfit the whole school, I am confident that I will use it to the extent of it's abilities.
Thanks for posting your experience with Smartboards. Even since my initial post on the same topic I've done more research to learn about what they can do and ways that teachers use them effectively. Only a few teachers in my school district have them and from what I've heard there are many in both of the categories you described.
In your experience, how much training do you think a veteran (but non-techie) teacher would need to be able to use a Smartboard effectively?
I agree the use of Smartboards is great. I also agree that training in their use is equally important.
Last year, I taught across the hall from one class of two who received Smartboards in the school. She liked it at first but grew increasingly frustrated with it due to a lack of training. She used it, but not as well as she could have.
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