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IWB
Has the IWB passed it’s sell by date?
75 years ago
So as I currently write this I am installing the new SMARTBoard software and I have just reviewed the current state of the product that was displayed at BETT. The Interactive whiteboard has hardly changed since I dusted off a boxed one in a corridor way back when I was training.
I do remember setting that board up in the Year 3 class I was working in and thinking that it was truly the most impressive resource I had used – I have since been in 2 different schools and been charged with the implementation of many IWBs. So I bought into the idea. There are many schools in the UK and I am sure across the world that have not had IWBs installed. It seems to me to be a slow process of integrating a decent technology.
So what’s next? I think that sometimes schools wait too long to have technology delivered to them – to wait for the next bandwagon to come along. I don’t think that the IWB can be taken much further than it already has. Software has changed, yes. What devices we can attach has changed, yes. But what about the interactive technology we use. That is pretty static. No doubt that over time things have been manufactured to a greater standard, with more reliability etc. But when you watch Jeff Han demonstrate at TED Talks a new interactivity, perhaps we should be investing our efforts there.
Recently I wrote about my experiences with Philips here and then here, but it was early days with my blog and I assumed that it slipped under the radar of many of my readers. I hope that you might take the time to read it and comment.
So from my experiences with Philips and watching Jeff Han I believe that perhaps we are looking at the wrong model of car. Indulge me in this analogy for a moment.
So the IWB is an old 2002 model car, and every year there has been a growth in sales – way back then the model had all of the latest features and was “cutting edge”; now the same model has had a paint job, a few bolt on extras like a new exhaust and ways to plug in your mp3 player – but the car itself has not changed.
They are still selling but they haven’t really changed. As drivers our gaze has been fixed by these glorious new additions and the fact that so many other drivers were buying them. Governments even waded in to buy the cars in bulk and then distribute them to new drivers. Of course there are excellent drivers out there – no question, but has the actual car we are driving changed in 5 years? So whilst all this is going on in a factory in Holland or in the US somebody has questioned the design and created the next evolutionary step…
I suppose the question is: how long will it take us to wrench our gaze away from one technology and open our eyes to the possibilities that are emerging elsewhere?
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Pic: decay by Wolfgang Staudt
We packed lots in today…
05 years ago
It has been a busy day for ICT in my classroom today – ususally is on a Tuesday as we have our time over in the ICT suite. Anyway I will try and explain everything we did.
Google Earth – Where are we today?
Did this slightly differently today as I explained to the children I had found the location of some people who had commented on our class blog. So I started looking down on the earth from afar and very slowly zoomed into Sydney and Canada respectively. We then looked closely at Sydney and loaded a 3D model of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge – we even zoomed onto the bridge and panned along it, on the model there are even tiny cars and bikes – I said to the kids it was a good way to start the day – driving along Sydney Harbour Bridge!
Mayomi
Used this great visual mindmapping tool/site today to explore what we had learned so far in our 2D Shape work. Really simple to use when combined with a IWB and wireless keyboard which I used today.
Unfortunately there is no way to embed the map into your own site which would be great so I am going to explore whether I can hack some code to embed the mindmap into a wikispace.
RSS / Newsfeeds for Headlines
Just mentioned this today as we have been looking at newspapers and a journalistic style in our work. I had seen something on a blog before about it, but I just explained what RSS is and how we can get newsfeeds really easily. I think that it is very important to explore how different literacy and news is today – not just broadsheets and tabloids anymore, but a more fluid style of news that is much more personalised.
I just used the “Latest Headlines” bookmark on my Firefox toolbar to show them, we then just guessed from the headline what the news story was about.
Also briefly looked at Headline History which is cracking site I hope to use agin this year.
Quikmaps and our class Wikispace
I was a really happy bunny this afternoon as I knew that I had set my children a challenge, and they rose to it so well! Basically my Year 6 children had made a Quikmap (see previous post about the activity), powered by Google Maps, and then embedded the map into our class wikispace. It looks great! Take a look over on the history pages on our Wikispace. Scroll down and wait for the maps to load – don’t forget to click on the placemarks to see the work the children have done and why it is under History.
It also helped me to understand some of the practical problems that occur when you have lots of concurrent authors of the same space. Look out for some details soon.
Flickr and text types
45 years ago
Today I asked some of my children to use a scanned example of a newspaper article in Flickr and add notes to it. Basically they were finding examples of language features that we have annotated in a more traditional way in their books. What I like about Flickr notes is the fact that there is still an unobstructed view even with annotations. I may continue this with text types throughout the year.
Click on the picture to see the notes.
I asked individuals to work on this using the SMARTBoard – then I cascaded this down to others by asking the child who has just completed an annotation / Flickr note to explain how to do it with another cild and so on.
Thankyou to Highwood Infant School
05 years ago
I spent most of today attending an INSET day at Highwood Player Infants School talking to them about using their IWBs which they have just had installed.
Many thanks to everyone at the school for inviting me and making me feel so welcome I hope that some of my ideas provide a springboard for your school’s IWB development.
Apart from the resources I planned to discuss we spoke about and used a range of other material. Below I have tried to record most of those thoughts from the morning:
- Artrage 2 – a fantastic art package ideal for the use on the interactive whiteboard. Look out for more on this soon, here on my blog as I will be introducing the use at my school and planning some training.
- Microsoft Local Live – we looked at the school and Highwood Player had really clear imagery from the “bird’s eye view” setting. Would be useful to look at before short walks or local area studies.
- Quikmaps – Another mapping site that allows you to scribble and add placemarks. Again would be to look at before short walks or local area studies.
- BBC Little Animal Activity Centre – we had a read of the animated books and phonic activities.
- Google Earth – just mentioned this briefly but a wonderful tool that I am huge fan of. Read the rest of my blog for more information.
- Topmarks Educational Website Search Engine – very handy when looking for something specifically aimed at schools.
Please follow the links above to the relevant sites.
Further down my blog, you will have to scroll a bit, there is the notes from the session with the links from the images. Please feel free to print these and use in school.
Notes from session (handout)
Ferry Halim Guidance
Powerpoint of Year 2 Instructional writing work (ordering digital images)
I would really appreciate it you could take some time to leave me some feedback about the training session – scroll to the bottom of this post (or the one further down) and find the word “Comments” click on it and leave me your thoughts.
I really value your feedback and remarks so that in the future and can take them into account for other similar training sessions. Thanks again.
Notes for INSET @ Highwood Player Infants
25 years ago
Aims for the session:
- To give you some real, creative and practical examples of ways to embed the use of the IWB in your teaching.
Introduction:
- Tom Barrett
- Year 6 classteacher
- ICT Subject Leader
- Assistant Headteacher
- I have been using IWBs for the last 5 years in my teaching.
5 Ways in for Free
1. Ferry Halim
Non-educational site providing a wealth of beautifully created games. Ideal for early whiteboard or mouse skills. Links to these skills I have highlighted in my Ferry Halim Guidance document.
2. Furbles
A maths programme that needs no internet access and runs as a small piece of software downloaded in seconds. Its uses range from sorting according to colour, shape number of eyes etc – to data handling and creating pictograms and bar charts. DOWNLOAD IT HERE
3. Mathszone
An extremely useful set of maths links to interactive activities throughout the maths curriculum. Notable links include activities from Toftwood Infant School.
4. Northumberland Grid for Learning
Some excellent activities for early mouse and whiteboard skills; such as connect the dots and dress the teddy.
5. Using Digital Photographs
Where is your troll?!
Taking photographs using the digital camera and feeding these into a literacy activity.
Instructional texts – link with science and forces. Year 2
Class went outside with skateboard, TA with a digital camera recorded each step when discussing how to skateboard. TA returned to class and loaded the pictures into whiteboard software (also printed small pictures off and photocopied for other independent work) – lower ability children were asked to work independently (could be supported initially by TA) to put the photographs into the correct order. Highly motivated and completed the task successfully.
Your next steps
- Make the most of online resources – get the children using the boards with the Ferry Halim games.
- Approach the IWB as a tool that can be used in every part of the lesson – from shared to independent to plenary.
- Never worry about doing something that works perfectly well without an IWB; you are allowed to switch them off! – Just be aware of and reflect upon the choices you make.
- Share your experiences regularly with each other. Have a fortnightly clinic session or make time for getting excited about successes in staff meetings.
- Perhaps plan an IWB related target for performance management – as the development of IWB skills will be something that is already happening and is part of the School Development Plan
Any Questions?
Giving Feedback for this session
http://tbarrett.edublogs.org
At the very bottom of the post is a link to COMMENTS please leave your feedback in this way and if there are any questions or queries in the future please feel free to add a comment or contact me and I will try my best to help.
HANDOUT from the session with these notes.
