Positive+Position

POSITIVE POSITION:

Students with last names starting with letters L - Z will take the positive position on the below prompt.

**Are Interactive White Boards worth the investment for schools? Do they benefit the teaching and learning process? How or how not?**

Please make sure you type your name at the very begining of your response. This will allow me to give credit where credit is due.

Interactive White Boards are woth the investment for schools because they provide a very useful way to use technology in the classroom. I feel that they do benefit the teaching and learning process by allowing students to interact with the display. In my school district every classroom from Pre-K to fifth grade has a Smart Board. I use it everyday teaching Spelling, Reading, Grammar, Math, Handwriting, and interactive skills that students can come up to the board and participate. In using the Smart Board the teachers and students can use the Smart Pens or their fingers to write or navigate on the board. This allows for easy use for all ages.

Cori Stallard. With lecture being stable in the classroom, it is imparative that students get another way to learn in the classroom that appeals to their other senses. I am a visual learner and to have the opportunity as student to learn with a smartboard, is a huge advantage for me to retain new information. I think that investing in smartboards in schools is a smart choice to enhance the learning experience with teachers and students. If your school is financially not where it needs to be, instead of having to buy computers for each student, a single one with the software for an interactive white board will benefit the classroom tremendously. The teaching and learning process is going to be enhanced. When you can get the students to use their different senses, they will retain more informaiton into their memory. If a student is like me, and is a visual learner, this will appeal to them instead of the constant lecture. If a student is strong in a musical intelligence, this can help them if the teacher uses music in the background to incorporate the lesson. So this will help change it up for the the teacher and what they can do with different subjects and lesson plans. It will help for different students and all the different ways that they learn. I loved how you can teach almost any subject with many types of software. This can replace a DVD player and you can show educational videos to the classroom. If a student is sick, than a teacher can record a lesson they are teaching and then have the student watch the lesson so they can be caught up. Basically it will have the students engaged and that's what is most effective while teaching. If they are involved in the process it will prove more effective in the long run. I found an article that talks about the positive outcomes from interactive white boards and also shows how they surveyed students and teachers on how it can be a positive impact in the classroom. Here is the link: []

Tonya Potter – I feel interactive whiteboards are a benefit to teaching and the learning process. They are used to deliver instruction in a variety of ways. They use visual and auditory learning to engage the students during the learning process. Engagement is critical to student motivation. With the enhanced learning through visuals, it promotes the students the ability to organize and process information. It also helps to get the students to use a higher level of thinking skills. Teachers can create lesson plans that interest the students and make the subject come to life. It saves time in front of the classroom to be able to have information keyed in to project on the board, instead of writing it on the board during the lesson. You can save the work that is done on the board to use later, print, email, or even post to a website. You can also record short blocks of instruction that can be heard with the presentation later. This would be a great tool for absent students. You can use the internet during your teaching also with it. I feel the interactive whiteboards are worth the investment for schools. A one computer classroom can maximize technology with the limited computer access. I priced Mimio Boards, and you can get one for $1000. That is just a little more than the price of one computer. Watch this youtube video to show the benefits of them in the class. [] I also used an article from the Journal of Information Technology for teacher education Vol 10 Issue 3, 2001. Derek Glover and David Miller p. 257-278 for my information.

Kyndra Williams- I feel that interactive whiteboards are a great benefit to students and teachers to the point where I don't know how I'd go about teaching without mine! The interactive board not only makes the learning interactive, but it also promotes communication and makes collaboration and sharing easier among teachers. It's so much faster to send a file to a colleague rather than make copies of a lesson on paper. As far as the students are concerned, the interactive whiteboard gives them the opportunity to learn from many media forms which could aid in the success of some students who don't learn well by direct instruction. Education today is all about meeting the needs of all students, appealing to all student learning styles, and making the content relevant and relatable. Interactive white boards allow teachers to access the internet, view and interact with websites, play videos, instructional games, interactive tools (such as protractors, timers, compass, etc.), and so much more that wouldn't be possible with a normal white board. Allowing students to get out of their seats and get involved with the lesson by incorporating technology (something that is extremely relevant to this generation), is a huge motivation to learn.

Another advantage of the interactive white board is the fact that it can connect with and support other technologies found in classrooms such as computers, projectors, document cameras, VCR's, and DVD players. This makes the board more than just an educational tool, it makes it a "building block" for other technologies. I know from personal experience and from the website, that the SMART company is more than happy to offer professional development to staff members in order to ensure the technologies are being used in the most effective way. Training is key to making interactive white boards the learning tool they were meant to be.

For my information, I used the article from the SMART research and data page titled //Leveraging Interactive Whiteboards as Core Classroom Technology.// The link to this article is below. http://downloads01.smarttech.com:80/media/sitecore/en/pdf/research_library/k-12/leveraging_ibws.pdf

Additional research articles supporting the use of interactive white boards can be found at:

@http://smarttech.com/us/Resources/Research+and+data

A video promoting IWB's can be viewed here:

The Magical Classroom: @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLdHbtuCIyY&feature=related

Kathy Rich- Are Interactive White Boards worth the investment for schools? Do they benefit the teaching and learning process? How or how not? I believe that Interactive White Boards are worth the investment for schools. School districts choose the SMART Board interactive whiteboard because it helps energize presentations and motivate learners. In 1991, it was the world's first interactive whiteboard. Today, it is the world's leading interactive whiteboard. Combining the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer, the SMART Board interactive whiteboard engages students and audiences around the world. I feel that it does benefit the teaching and learning process.

I use my Smart Board every day to show worksheets, books, videos, activities, and games. The touch-sensitive display connects to your computer and digital projector to show your computer image. You can then control computer applications directly from the display, write notes in digital ink and save your work to share later. Best of all, the full-featured SMART Board interactive whiteboard is very easy to use. If you can use a computer, you can use a SMART Board interactive whiteboard. My students love to come up to the board and touch the screen to manipulate different activities. I found a video that will explain how easy it is to use. []

The SMART Board is an interactive whiteboard that turns your computer and data projector into a powerful tool for teaching and presenting. With the computer image projected on the Board, simply use your finger and press on the large touch sensitive surface to control the computer. This allows the students or teachers to do presentations from the front of the room instead of having to be at the computer. Smart boards are perfect for schools and meeting rooms or any application that needs visual communication or collaboration over the internet. I found this great site that can be used in the classroom and displayed on the smart board. []

Keya Thompson~ Are Interactive White Boards worth the investment for schools? Do they benefit the teaching and learning process? How or how not?

Information has suggested that students learn best when actively engaged in interactive classroom assignments that match their learning styles and needs. That is why it is imperative that our schools start to invest in the new technologies and advanced training for students through the use of interactive whiteboards. By being able to use interactive white boards teachers are able to introduce new topics, and present questions, lecture and illustrate ideas while offering other tactics. Interactive white boards also allow students to interact with the data teachers are trying to provide. By gaining funding for these interactive whiteboards we are also preparing our students to become interactive with computers which are imperative for our current society which is revolved around computers. I believe that interactive whiteboards benefit the teacher and the students learning process. As educators once this lesson is created you can use the core information continuously as you’re based and alter your delivery as needed based on your students, but always stay close to your core information and standards. This allows that teacher to not have to recreate the wheel each year when this topic is re-addressed with new students. This allows for a continued growth off previous knowledge while maintain a core of previous knowledge. Please see the attached you tube that I found very informational that provided great information on how a fellow education finds the white board beneficial. [] []

Krista Wilson- I absolutely cannot imagine teaching without my Smartboard. In my opinion, it has completely revolutionized the educational experience for students. I love that I can create interactive lessons, that go along with our objectives. The students enjoy coming to the board and working on various lessons. I specifically chose to highlight Smartboards not only because I have one and that is what I am the most familiar with, but I discovered a feature called SMART Exchange in the SmartNotebook software. I recently signed up for this free account where I can connect with other teachers and we can share lessons that are created for the use of an interactive or Smartboard. I can simply go to the search bar on the page and type in the skill that we are learning and dozens of pre-made lessons are readily available to download immediately. The lessons are correlated with the state standards so I know I am going to be teaching exactly what my students need to know. My students have thoroughly enjoyed working hands-on with this feature of the Smartboard. SMART Exchange is a one-stop destination designed to provide teachers with access to all of SMART's learning resources and the opportunity to connect with colleagues in a professional community. Custom-designed searches save time by delivering relevant results and a full visual preview of all SMART Notebook files, so teachers can easily evaluate a lesson before downloading it. You can find more information at this web address. SmartExchange: [|http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0] Video Demonstration: [] Interactive Whiteboards can be very pricey. However, I believe that it is well worth the investment for any school district considering. Anytime you can put technology at the end of our student’s fingertips you can maximize great learning results!

__**J Rieger: Here is my wiki page for the positive position on IWB**__ : PAGE

Gretchen Trask- I definitely would say that it is worth the money to have interactive white boards in the classroom. I have not actually used one myself, so I went to the teachers I work with and asked them a few questions about the interactive white boards. Every teacher I talked to agreed that they are worth the money. The teaching and learning process is benefitted because students are interactive with the learning process. Students can use clickers to interact with the board or actually get out of their seat and come to the board to write on it. Students enjoy being a part of the lesson. Students are used to color and graphics all around them, like in television and video games and the interactive whiteboards fit that lifestyle. Behavior is better, participation is better and retention of skills is better. Also, with the interactive boards you can save a lot of money on paper, because you don't have to make copies. The IWB allows you to scan worksheets and project them for the students. It also allows you to take notes on the board and save it to your computer for absent students, lost notes or review later on in the unit. The students can use voters or clickers to take a quiz and the software witll keep track of answers and score it automatically. It makes students accountable for their answers and participation. Interactive white boards are also great to use with students of different learning styles. Students with visual or kinesthetic learning styles will benefit from using an interactive white board. Students are more interested and engaged than with an old fashionied text book. Teachers have to compete with technology everyday, because students are surrounded by it. By using these boards, students will feel more comfortable and teachers can reach them easier. Outside sources from other teachers, and lessons from the internet can be at a teachers finger tips and easy to display to the whole class. Teachers that are not exceptionally good with computers, can still feel competent in using an interactive white board. I researched many interactive white boards, but I learned the most about the MIMIO. Here is a video that explains everything it offers. [] I learned that the MIMIO offers so many different aspects that are appealing to teachers. You can use an ordinary whiteboard and with MIMIO make it into an interactive whiteboard. You simply place the MIMIO on the board and it becomes your desktop. Students can edit items by moving words and symbols around. Teachers can highlight text on the web by drawing circles aournd it or crop text to draw students attention to a certain place. There is also a MIMIO pad that can be used from anywhere in the room. The teacher is then not forced to stand at the board to interact with it, but can move around the room and circulate with the students while highlighting and writing things on the board. The MIMIO camera, lets the teacher place an item or document under the lens and it is projected onto the screen. I found this site that explains how one school is using the software at their school. [] One more site I found useful, named other sites that were helpful with the interactive whiteboard and also had sample lessons that could be used. [] So even though the intial cost may be high, it is well worth the money to invest in an interactive white board.