Interactive Whiteboard Research

I reviewed chapter 1 of "Engaging Learners with Interactive Whiteboards" by Blanche O'Bannon and Misty Anderson. The purpose of an interactive whiteboard is to enhance your students' learning environment by having interactivity during your lesson. Although many school systems have started using interactive whiteboards, there is little research on the effects they serve in engaging students. The three main interactive whiteboard companies are Promethean, SMART, and Mimio.

Effective Use
It has been proven that an effective use for student learning is having the interactive whiteboard features combined with sound instructional strategies. Some important features that ensure effective use of the interactive whiteboard in enhancing students engagement is having students highlight, draw by circling key words or phrases, annotate, or zoom throughout the lesson. Students can hide and reveal answers, drag, drop, or match items such as definitions that make learning fun. Pictures and multimedia content can be helpful in engaging students. In addition to this, collaborative problem solving by shared reading and peer teaching is an effective way to use your interactive whiteboard in the classroom. Teachers are able to provide visual feedback by using interactive whiteboards to fill in the correct answer or visually work through a problem. Students are able to have a response system that is used for classroom purposes such as surveys, polls, and quizzes.

Instructional Benefits

Several students using the interactive whiteboard to fill
in the food chain.

Research that has been done on interactive whiteboards within the classroom have concluded that there has been improvements in the following areas:

• active learning 
• classroom management 
• lesson organization and flow 
• flexibility in handling lesson materials 

Instruction can also be enhanced by various techniques and strategies that increase students' attention, motivation, participation, and collaboration.

Student Achievement 
There have been some inconsistent findings when research has been done on interactive whiteboards and student achievement. However, one study that was conducted  by Lewin, Somekh, and Steadman (2008) revealed that there were positive gains in literacy, math, and science for students ages 7-11. These findings were related to how much time was spent teaching with the interactive whiteboard, and the gains were from children average or above average ability. There was little effect on lower achieving students. In 2009, Marzano and Haystead conducted a study and concluded that three features of the interactive whiteboard were statistically linked to achievement:

1. student response systems 
2. graphics and videos
3. reinforcer properties

Although there have been some inconsistent findings, these are two great examples of student achievement using the interactive whiteboards in classrooms.

Student using the interactive whiteboard to fill in the time.

Instructional Challenges
Although many teachers now have interactive whiteboards in their classrooms, not many teachers use these boards effectively. The most common issue is that teachers only use these interactive whiteboards to project information or materials, and disregard the interactive aspect that students can engage in and benefit from the most. Another challenge is when the interactive whiteboard fails to cooperate with the lesson that the teacher has planned due to technological issues. This can be frustrating and time consuming to get fixed during class. Because of this, many teachers stop using them because of the risk of technological malfunction. Many school systems lack the technology support staff that helps teachers when they have questions or problems with their interactive whiteboards.

Teacher Training
Teacher training on how to use and incorporate interactive whiteboards in the classroom is the key to overcoming instructional challenges. Teacher training and professional development is fundamental on the effective use of interactive whiteboards. Training should start in teacher training programs and continue into the school setting. Teacher training should include the use of online manuals, videos, and webinars. The frequent use of interactive whiteboards is positively related to teacher competencies. The more teachers use interactive whiteboards in their classrooms, the more research will be done on the effects on student learning from this type of technology.

Wikis

As I reviewed Wiki Walk Through, I learned that a wiki is a website that allows anyone to participate by altering information found on the website without special tools. In order to participate in a wiki, you just need a computer and internet connection. Wikis are always under revision due to the public continuously contributing new information to them. Because of this, wikis have no specific authors, rather they have editors.

Below are three ways in which wikis can be used effectively in an elementary classroom.

1. Wikis can be used as an annotated virtual library. 
2. Wikis can be used for taking a virtual tour of their elementary school.
3. Wikis can be used for sharing family traditions with the students of your classroom.

Annotated Virtual Library 

Literacy is arguably the most important component of an elementary classroom. Because of the high importance, the idea of using a wiki to have a virtual library I think would really benefit my students. I have learned that independent reading is critical at a young age. With a virtual library wiki, it would allow students to post commentary and recommendations for books that they have independently read over the course of the year. I like this idea because it promotes literacy and technology, so it would be a great way in which my students encourage each other in their independent reading. 

Virtual Tour of the Elementary School

I think creating a wiki for a virtual tour of your elementary school would be a great use because it exposes your students to the diversity of the different grades within the school. It gives students a chance to share something about their class or their grade, and they have the opportunity to read what other students do within their classrooms or grades. An example of this would be a classroom sharing a fun activity they participated in, or a field trip they got to go on. This would be a great way to make the elementary school feel more like a community. 

Family Traditions

It is very important for your students to learn about their classmates and the home that they each come from. However, many times it is difficult to share about their families in the midst of the school day. A wiki that shows different family traditions would be a great way in which the students could learn about their classmates and the different cultures of the classroom while utilizing technology. An example of this would be asking them to share how they celebrate their birthday or a holiday. In sharing this, you can reflect on the diversity within the classroom, and they will be learning about other cultures as well. I think it is important to make children familiar with other cultures outside of their own at an early age. 

Midterm

The article I read by Jong H. Chung, Integrating Technology into the Classroom, discussed the advances of technology through six different points. These points are as follows:

• historical background
• motivation
• examples of classroom technology 
• concerns about using technology in classroom
• discussion of the author's recommendations for using technology

Historical Background

The historical background that he discussed gave examples of previous forms of technology used in education. First, there were visual aids which included films, pictures, and lantern slides. Next, there were motion picture projectors, sound motion pictures, radio, and television. Then, there were VCRs, computers, and the internet were all introduced. When the radio was first created, many audiovisual enthusiasts thought the radio was going to revolutionalize education. In today’s society, internet and personal computer usage has become common in classrooms because of the convenient speed of it.

Motivation

The motivation behind integrating technology into your daily routine stems from three parts: nonprofit organizations, commerce, and education. Nonprofit and governmental organizations have been actively proposing guidelines for using technology in the classroom. For example, the ISTE provides guidelines to promote technology use within the classroom. In commerce, companies have begun training their employees on computers in order to expand their knowledge. In education, most educators agree that we should adopt technology extensively into the classroom environment; however, the ways in which we should use technology varies significantly. The constructivist approach is applying technology in order to enhance the new learning paradigm. The new paradigm is envisioned by ISTE and promotes learning that asserts that knowledge is not passively received but is actively created inside the mind of every learner.

Classroom Technology Examples

Examples of using technology within the classrooms vary by educator. Interactive whiteboards are one of the more recent devices that teachers are using to engage their students in the lesson. Students can touch or draw on these boards that have access to the internet. The interactive whiteboards can serve many different purposes in engaging students. Another way educators can use the interactive whiteboards is through the student response system. Many classrooms use clickers to take quizzes or follow along with the lessons by asking a question where your students respond often. This strategy keeps students engaged and actively using their brains. Classroom management software is where you are able to project a student’s desktop onto the wall where the rest of the class is able to see and develop a better understanding. Classroom blogs are where students post blog posts on the classroom blog site on the internet. Educators can grade these blog posts as daily or weekly grades. This technique is beneficial because it exposes students to typing while practicing their writing skills.

Concerns with Technology in the Classroom 

Although there are benefits to using technology in the classroom, there are also concerns. Teachers who are unwilling to use technology in their classroom is a main concern. This prevents their students from expanding their technology skills. Because of this, these unwilling teachers could hinder their students and the students could potentially not be as engaged during class. Another concern is technology dependency which is where teachers would solely use technology and neglect other aspects of the classroom such as interpersonal relationships between students in group activity time. In addition to this, there are many teachers and students who have not been properly educated on copyright violations. Because of this, it is risky for them to be using technology since there are copyright laws in place.

Discussion

The author had several recommendations listed for the proper usage of technology within the classrooms. However, I have chosen three that I feel are most important to this topic. They are as follows:

• Try one technology concept at a time; master one technology concept before you try another one.
• Use technology to help students to visualize, simulate, solve real world problems, collaborate, research, and design whenever possible. 
• Identify fundamental technology skills at all levels of education and make them part of the curriculum or develop courses that teach them.  

I think that all three of these points are very important. I think as an educator, you have to learn how to use technology one program at a time in order to gain full knowledge about the subject. I think technology helps students learn because it offers more ways to learn that paper offers. In addition to this, I also think it is important for students to learn how to use technology on a basic level as they continue to grow. 

Copyright, Fair Use, and Permissible Amounts

According to University of Maryland University College website, copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art, literature, or piece of work that conveys information or ideas, and the right to control how it is used by others (Fishman, 2008, p.6). Anything that is tangible can be copyrighted such as pictures, books, videos, music, and articles are just a few examples. In order for something to be considered copyright, it cannot be common sense or general information that people know such as works in the public domain. Items that are copyright have to be original, creative, and fixated. Copyright protects the right to make copies, right to resale, right to prepare new work based on protected work, and the right to perform the protected work in public.

Fair use is the most significant limitation on the copyright holder's exclusive rights (United States Copyright Office, 2010, para. 1). There are four factors that a person who wants to use a copyright item has to think about which are the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and sustainability of the portion used, and the effect of use on the potential market for the copyright work. One of the rules for fair use instructions is that you cannot use something repeatedly without asking permission. Special works should not be copied in their entirety. It is best if you use your copyright source sparingly. Permission is needed when you use for commercial purposes, when you want to use it repeatedly, or when you want to use the entirety of it. It is best to always credit the source whether by author or organization. It is best to ask the copyright holder for permission before using it as a source. Fair use protects teachers in face to face environments when pictures are used.

Multimedia guidelines for students are that they may incorporate small portions of copyrighted materials in a presentation or project for a class. Faculty may also include portions of copyrighted material when creating their own multimedia project for their teaching curriculum. The fair use of copyrighted material for multimedia lasts for only 2 years. After 2 years, you must ask permission to continue to use it. When using motion media for fair use, one must use 10% of the total clip or 3 minutes, whichever is less. For text material fair use, one must use 10% of total or 1,000 words, whichever is less. For music, lyrics, or music video fair use, one must use 10% of the total but no more than 30 seconds. For illustrations or images, no more than 5 pictures, 10% of total collection, or 15 photos from collection, whichever is less. For numerical data sets, no more than 10% or 2,500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less. If you intend to use for commercial, duplicate, or redistribute then you need to get permission. These are just some general guidelines for copyright, fair use, and permissible amounts of multimedia. Overall, the safest way to use images or other multimedia is to take it or create it yourself to avoid the risk of breaking a copyright law.

Award-winning Teacher Blog Review

Picture of students reading

The award-winning teacher blog that I chose to review was Ms. Cassidy's classroom blog. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed searching through Ms. Cassidy's blog site. By the time I had read her classroom blog posts and her students blog posts, I felt like I was part of her class. I think the purpose of Ms. Cassidy's classroom blog site is to invite you into her classroom, and encourage you to share new ideas or uplifting words to her students for their accomplishments. Ms. Cassidy's classroom blog was so creative, and I was able to learn and get ideas from visiting it.

Video on racing sphero cars

I enjoyed Ms. Cassidy's use of technology on her blog site. I noticed that she used pictures, videos, and podcasts. She used pictures in her blog posts of what her students were working on during a typical day in their classroom. In addition to this, she used pictures in the individual children's learning blogs in that each child drew a portrait of themselves. She used videos for her end of the year reflections where she interviewed her students. She also used videos to show some fun classroom activities they did such as racing sphero cars. Ms. Cassidy used podcast in that her students recorded themselves reading periodically using an app called Book Creator. I thought this was a great idea and activity for the children and would encourage them in reading aloud. Ms. Cassidy's classroom blog also had a twitter account for their classroom that you could view on her blog site. I thought this was a very interesting way in integrating technology into the classroom. On the twitter account, Ms. Cassidy shared her student's artwork and what they had been learning and what activities they had been participating in. I think this is a great way to use technology in the classroom, and I think this blog site is very beneficial to parents and students. The students are learning how to pair technology with academics at a young age.

About Me and Expectations

My name is Anna Edwards, and I am a psychology major with an elementary education minor. I am currently a senior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, but I am originally from Nashville, Tennessee where I grew up. I am the oldest of four, so I have three younger siblings who I am very close and involved with. I am actively involved in my local church, Shoreline, where I serve as a high school girls leader as well as serving on the orphan care ministry team. I am currently employed by Cedar Springs Weekday School as a kindergarten after school care teacher. I have lived in Knoxville for three years now, and I have grown to love the community that surrounds me in my everyday life.

I am excited to be taking this course because I want to learn more about technology and how I can integrate it into my classroom. I have never taken a course on technology before, so I am anxious to learn through the unique setup of this class. Children grow up with technology surrounding them, so I think it's very important to use technology in your classroom. Through this course, my confidence in my technology usage will increase, and I will feel prepared to use technology with my kids in my classroom.

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