Smartboard

=SmartBoard Technology= Here is a PPT greated by Mauro to help you understand Smart Board Technology

=Current Issues=
 * Crossing the Digital Divide**

A variety of legal issues present themselves with the integration of technology, especially internet-connected computers, into the daily workings of a classroom. Regarding student use of online information for research and presentations, copyright infringement becomes a real issue. Similarly, student’s private information be guarded while accessing websites. Furthermore, teachers must respect the well-being of all students and the values of parents by restricting student online access only to those sites that are properly educational.

Though such problems are real and likely to be immediate once technology is integrated, they do not present insurmountable obstacles that cannot be remedied through proper teacher and student training, adherence to fair use guidelines, and the vigilant supervision of computer use. Likewise, the “ethical” issue of the internet as a free speech forum is rather easily circumvented by presenting Time, Place, and Manner restrictions on in class internet use. In fact, a lesson on the freedom of speech focusing on this topic (using cases such as Feiner v New York) would be an appropriate method to both educate students about the subtleties of first amendment protections as well as establishing rules for proper classroom internet use. In essence, legal and ethical issues are resolvable in-class through teacher awareness and student supervision.

Social concerns present a far more difficult and persistent problem than those mentioned above. As the text states “equity and accessibility are the most pressing” issues involving classroom integration of technology. Within American communities, a gap termed the ‘digital divide’ exists between those households with technology and those without. As expected, the presence of computers within a home is primarily a function of the socio-economic status of the families within a given community. However, within each economic bracket differences exist due to gender, race and education. Assuming that the use of technology has both educational and future workplace benefits, households with computers and internet access are doing much to prepare their children for their future roles. For those households unable to afford computers, a child’s interaction with technology will be a function of its presence and use within their school. As such, classrooms lacking such technology are //prima facie// substandard, or at least are potentially doing a disservice to their students by not granting them access to tools that are necessary for academic and economic success. Educational inequality is likely inherent due to the fractured nature of our schools where each locality has an effect on both curriculum and funding. So long as poor areas support poor schools, we can expect the digital divide to persist. The text mentions the need for one-to-one computing as a remedy for the inequality of the digital divide, though only indicates the presence of private funding for such measures. This is wholly inadequate, as a democratic government is responsible for the equal education of its future citizens. A national mandate is a necessary solution to address the digital divide.

-Mike Febbo

How could Smartboard technology be valuable to learning?
The space provided on a traditional white board or black board is limited. Once the space is used up the teacher has to erase the board and start over again. The erasure marks can be sloppy. By using a smartboard the information can be presented as a slide show. The information can be saved and used for future lessons. If a student was absent or too slow on taking notes the information can be printed. The information presented is also visibly neater and easier for the students to see, especially when class sizes are growing larger. Since the smartboard is connected to the computer, the instructor can show the students how to use a computer for different processes. Just as whiteboards replaced blackboards in current classrooms so will smartboards replace whiteboards in the classrooms of the futute. Phil Lazowski

CONFERENCE CALL NOTES – DECEMBER 13, 2007

 * The smartboard is the chalkboard of the future!!!
 * The dry erase board has replaced chalkboard; the smartboard is replacing the dry erase board.
 * You can hook up to a computer and download information to the smartboard.
 * Students can mark on the board with special markers and the information can be saved and printed (helpful for students when they are absent).
 * One problem: writing can be difficult, but practice makes it easier.
 * Don't forget... you need a projector to make the smartboard work!