I'm very excited about the possibilities that come with having an interactive whiteboard in my classroom. I've had the advantage of one before - a Mimio and it did change the way I taught. This time I'm keenly anticipating the arrival of an ActivBoard.
As the Director of ICT I've already had a peep at the software and I'm starting to develop bits and pieces for use in mine and other teacher's classrooms. The software - ActivInspire is relatively easy to use and similar to other IWB software that's available. It's probably a little more powerful in my opinion than the Mimio Notebook software I used to use. I've started off by creating a topic related flipchart that teachers might use to introduce this terms integrated topic about space. Morning procedures are my next port of call. Taking the roll on the board and having short activities that children can participate in before 9am sounds like a good place to start.
I've also looked closely at a few of the interesting debates that have been happening over the last year with regards to IWBs and their usefulness in the classroom. One such opinion is that of Chris Betcher - after watching his edtalk video I'm keen to get hold of a copy of his book and read a bit more about his experiences with the boards. The video (below) is one that resonates with me, I agree that placing technology in front of teachers and children doesn't mean its going to improve the teaching and/or learning that goes on. Here's the video:
I'll keep you posted on how the board is going over the course of the term. Watch this space...
As the Director of ICT I've already had a peep at the software and I'm starting to develop bits and pieces for use in mine and other teacher's classrooms. The software - ActivInspire is relatively easy to use and similar to other IWB software that's available. It's probably a little more powerful in my opinion than the Mimio Notebook software I used to use. I've started off by creating a topic related flipchart that teachers might use to introduce this terms integrated topic about space. Morning procedures are my next port of call. Taking the roll on the board and having short activities that children can participate in before 9am sounds like a good place to start.
I've also looked closely at a few of the interesting debates that have been happening over the last year with regards to IWBs and their usefulness in the classroom. One such opinion is that of Chris Betcher - after watching his edtalk video I'm keen to get hold of a copy of his book and read a bit more about his experiences with the boards. The video (below) is one that resonates with me, I agree that placing technology in front of teachers and children doesn't mean its going to improve the teaching and/or learning that goes on. Here's the video:
I'll keep you posted on how the board is going over the course of the term. Watch this space...
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