| Technology,
ever changing, has become more accessible to teachers in the
last few years. Teachers need to be able to use technology
to increase their professional development and to have positive
contact with students on a regular basis. The action research
report discussed in this article illustrates the positive
effects of using a SMART Board interactive whiteboard in a
fourth-grade classroom. Incorporating this interactive technology
increased student contact time and decreased behavioral issues.
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South Dakota ’s Rapid City Area School
District requires teachers to integrate technology into classrooms
on a regular basis. The SMART Board proved to be an exciting
and fun bit of technology to integrate. It is an interactive
whiteboard linked to a computer. Users write directly on the
whiteboard and see their writing displayed on the computer’s
monitor.
The whiteboard’s easy touch screen intrigues
students, converting their freehand scrawls into neat computer
fonts. Their enthusiastic response to the board made me want
one. However the whiteboard is an expensive tool, impossible
to purchase with school funds. I applied for and received
a district technology grant. Our SMART Board arrived and we
eagerly set it up. Then it hit me. What am I going to do with
this?
As an educator I also constantly assess my
teaching strategies. So what would be the SMART Board’s
benefits? Would it increase my student contact time? Would
student on-task behavior increase or decrease? Questions such
as these led to this action research paper.
The first step was to communicate with the
parents through a newsletter, informing them of my intent
to incorporate technology into our lessons. I asked them and
their students to complete a survey regarding technology use
in the classroom. One question asked “when a class uses
computers does the teacher spend more or less time with students?”
I would ask the same question again at the end of the study.
A second question asked whether students were more on task
when lessons included technology.
To document technology use in the classroom,
I began to keep a detailed journal. This began to take too
much time, and I then began writing anecdotal notes in my
lesson plans describing how we incorporated technology and
the overall success level. This was more beneficial to my
study.
The class also participated in class meetings.
During this time, students shared their opinions on technology-incorporated
lessons. These results were documented in the teacher lesson
plans as well. These three methods of data collections allowed
for a subjective review of technology integration.
The SMART Board arrived in the fall. Although
it was easy to set up, some problems required innovative solutions.
Although we use both PC and Macintosh computers, I felt that
the Macs would work best with my fourth grade students because
of the programs our school offers.
Unfortunately the SMART Board’s cords
are meant for PC's. Mac users must order other cords. This,
of course, meant an additional cost not accounted for in the
original grant. However, my administrator, a great supporter
of technology integration, found the funds to purchase the
cords.
There was also the issue of too many wires.
Ours is an older facility, and the outlets are not easily
accessible. Having cords on the floor, even if secured with
tape, presented safety hazards. Working together with my custodians
and district electrician, we re-routed electrical cords/outlets
so that they hung from the ceiling. This created a slightly
better situation. Ideally, having wireless Internet and a
ceiling-mounted projector would be safer and more convenient.
With the technical difficulties solved, the
next task was to implement the SMART Board into the curriculum.
What would be the best way to introduce this product? In what
lessons would the whiteboard enhance instruction? These questions
and my initial questions of increasing student contact time
and the effects of the SMART Board on behavior led to the
second part of my research.
Introducing the SMART Board brought much excitement
– and some frustration. The students had never seen
a piece of equipment like this, and at first it was distracting
to their attention levels. This confirmed Daccord's (2003)
point that incorporating computers can bring technical difficulties
and interruptions.
He also states that besides technology glitches,
he was losing time at the start of class setting up the machines.
It can also take more time creating technology-based lessons.
I found these challenges as well and was not able to jump
right into my teaching.
To begin with, the class needed to develop
guidelines. For safety, we agreed upon a walkway that students
would use to avoid the cords and wires. I then showed some
of the features of the SMART Board. Because the whiteboard
was new to me as well, we chose to concentrate on the basics
of the toolbox. The "newness" of the SMART Board
quickly wore off and I was left to the task of implementing
its use so deeper learning could take place.
I began with writing – a skill that
many students need to develop, especially the editing component.
I had discovered that students did not put a great deal of
effort into this aspect of writing. Within our Language Arts
block, I started using the SMART Board for editing. Using
the “notebook” section of its tools, students
worked together editing incorrect sentences and paragraphs.
McQuin (2002) reports that the SMART Board
is useful in demonstrating new procedures and makes saving
lessons for absent students easy. In additiont, "The
SMART Board enables teachers to emphasize and visualize important
concepts" (par. 4). Using the electronic pens and keyboard,
students began to eagerly share their editing processes. These
same students also were completing seatwork in an efficient
manner so they could participate more.
As the students’ comfort level with
the SMART Board increased, they began to use it in Math. Our
district adopted a new series this year encouraging inquiry-based
skills learning. After working independently or in small groups,
students explained their thought processes by drawing or writing
on the interactive whiteboard.
The students took immediate ownership of this
act and began constructing their own learning. As Harvey and
Goudvis (2003) state, "constructing meaning is the goal
to comprehension... using the constructivist method to instruction,
students can enhance their understanding, acquire and use
their knowledge, and monitor their understanding." I
wanted my students to be actively engaged in lessons and to
construct their own meaning to the objectives.
Using the SMART Board allowed students to
do work on the interactive screen and retrieve it later. This
encouraged them to examine their understanding on a regular
basis, a task that was not possible when using traditional
white boards.
Sally Bowman Alden (n.d.) discusses the use
of technology to give students independence and a sense of
accomplishment. Incorporating technology as a teaching tool
may be one of the most effective ways to build both a child's
self esteem and learning skills.
This interactive tool was not only increasing
student participation in class, it was also bringing a new
sense of comradeship to the class. Students appeared to be
more comfortable sharing their opinions on issues if they
were able to display their answers through the SMART Board.
Because students were more actively engaged in learning, I
was finding more time to create highly motivating lessons
as well as have more one-on-one time with my students.
We’ve used the SMART Board for 10 weeks.
By reviewing my anecdotal notes, conferencing with students,
and receiving parent input, I have found that incorporating
technology on a regular basis improves instruction.
My students say that classroom instruction
is more organized and that they receive more attention from
the instructor during technology integrated lessons. The students
have also said that they view using the SMART Board as a reward
and tend to behave better during these instruction times.
Parent surveys confirmed this as well. Parental testimonials
include:
* "(Student aaa) enjoys the time you
are able to spend one-on-one when others are doing projects
on the computer or SMART Board."
* "(Student bbb) told me that when you use the "smart
board" he tends to pay attention more and is able to
stay on task more often."
* "My child enjoys when the SMART Board is used because
the teacher is able to hand over responsibility to the students."
The results of this study are very positive.
Although there were some initial problems, such as classroom
movement and setting up of the SMART Board, I found that the
benefits of this integration definitely outweigh the drawbacks.
Professionally, I come to class with a sense of purpose and
can focus on specific objectives for teaching. My students
appreciate the more personal contact time that incorporating
technology into lessons provides. I also noticed an increase
in on-task behavior from my students when I incorporate technology.
I attribute this to the fact that the SMART Board is motivating
and fun.
I plan to continue using the SMART Board in
my classroom. As both students and teacher become more comfortable
with its capabilities, we will place more responsibility on
the learners in the class. In the future, students can use
the interactive board to present projects and to demonstrate
higher-order thinking skills. The SMART Board has many untapped
uses that I look forward to yet discovering.
What
is a Whiteboard ? | Interactive
Whiteboards In The Classroom |
Advantages
Of Using An Interactive Whiteboard |
How
to use whiteboards |
Interactive
Whiteboard Tips | Buying
an Interactive Whiteboard | Interactive
Whiteboard Evaluation|
SMART
Board for Smart Teaching |
