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Technology Reflection: Instructional Use of SMART boards

Technology Reflection Assignment

Description/Experience
During seminar, Mark from Kingwood Elementary School came and demonstrated the use of the interactive SMART board. Mark has been a teacher for thirty years and a technology integration specialist for four of those years. He introduced the SMART board and explained that a lot of the information and lessons that are currently available are geared towards elementary education. He was very open not only about the pros of the SMART board, but also the difficulties such as the shadows that could be cast on the board,  the movie board that could short out, and the inability of the movie board to keep charge. The SMART board has various uses, ranging from giving information, bringing up an interactive website to the class, and utilizing the Smart notebook software. The demonstration gave us many examples such as sketching symmetry, crayon physics, and banana hunt. We were allowed to go to “portaportal” where there were many activities set up for our use and exploration. Mark was avid that teachers must be cautious about what activities to use and the specificity if it is what teachers intend to teach. There are many perks to using SMART boards, with brainstorming, facilitating class discussion, drill and practice programs, and small group presentations.

Application

• Learners: My learners are those who are in the third to fourth grade age. Typically at this age, students are learning about their environment, and the importance of diversity in plants and animals. Younger students may not understand how to classify the animals and plants or practice critical thinking skills, and older students may find the interaction boring.
• Learning outcomes: At the end of this activity, the students will be able to identify the importance of protecting an endangered species habitat. The students will be able to make a decision on how to balance the needs of the indigenous people and the protection of the plants and animals. The student will understand how to interpret bar graphs and field notes in order to make an informed decision.  
• Assessment: I would know that the activity is effective because the interactive simulation keeps tabs on the decisions that are being made for the fictional rain forest. If the students understand the statistics and field observations that are being shown to them, the students will understand that the goal is to try to balance out the needs of endangered plant and animal protection and well-being of indigenous people. The game will save information on classification and correct and incorrect answers, so teachers can see if the students are able to successfully compare and classify information.

• The lesson would begin discussing the idea of habitats. This topic would have been studied in a textbook or introduced in lecture beforehand. The students explain what they remember about the importance of habitats and protection of animal and plants. The teacher would explain that today we will be observationists and help make decisions about conserving land for endangered plants and animals.
• The students would get in groups of five or six, each with their own interactive SMART board, where they would pull up Habitat Adventure: Panda Challenge.
• The students would then play through the interactive game for fifteen minutes with a tour guide taking the students through the fictional rain forest. The students will look through binoculars to explore animals, take samples and classify plants, and talk to local natives about their livelihood.
• As the students work through the rain forest, they will have the ultimate decision of either making the land reserve areas or not. These decisions will be discussed in the group and ultimately decided upon. Each student will take turns touching the screen to represent the choice decided by the group.
• For the last five minutes, students will be given a prompt asking them to discuss in a short essay the importance of preserving habitats and what challenges conservationists face while trying to preserve habitats. The students will then give their opinion of whether their group course of action would be one that they agree or disagree with.
• The teacher could then wrap up the lesson asking for volunteers or calling on groups to show their graphs of the choices they made during the game and why they made those choices.

Reflection

I believe, through using this technology, it creates a more cooperative environment for learners. Instead of using it for pure lecture, interactive sites are now available to not only motivate learners, but also to encourage discovery learning. This site allows for students to explore the habitat and make their own decisions. Not only that, it allows consequences to be observed. For example, if you choose to make an area a protected site, the indigenous people will say they will starve because they cannot make a living. This allows students to see both sides of the issue in the real-life context that conservationists face every day in their field. When the newness of SMART boards wears down, it will still be interactive for students because it places them in a simulation situation where they can see the real-life application.  

If this technology is used effectively, it can allow students to have a greater understanding than what is available in the textbooks. By differing the learning styles and tailoring them to students, such as being interactive and in groups to facilitate discussion, it can allow students to gain greater perspective. Textbooks often only allow students to see one side of the topic, the pros of conservation, but do not allow students to physically make fictional decisions. By giving the students an outlet through the SMART board to be hands on, it can increase retention and allow students to better understand the content applications. Not only do SMART boards allow for greater access to materials that stimulate learners, but it encourages cooperation and the sharing of ideas.  

--Pedagogy-Content:

In order to represent the content and make it more comprehensible to students, I would primarily use exploration and demonstrations given by the interactive sites. I would allow students to delve into their own learning through groups through the SMART board. This lesson would demonstrate the importance to conservation through observations and explanations of the tour guide. It would use statistics to allow students to make informed decisions. The graphs and pictures would serve as examples and proof that could back up what the students are trying to decide upon. Through the interactive, cartoon nature of the site, it would be relatable to students and they could easily configure their way around the site using the touch screen.

As with much of technology, younger students would be less familiar with the technology being used and may not understand how to operate SMART board as well as older students. Some younger students may be prone to be rougher with the board, so proper instruction on how to use it would be necessary. Some students that do not have access to computers, particularly from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, may be discouraged and have a misconception that technology is not helpful, but rather confusing. This can be true considering this technology is rather new, and students would not typically have access to a SMART board at home to practice on, so the technology will be new to them. I feel the newness would motivate students, but it would eventually wear off with regular use. In this case, teachers must find new ways to use the board that are interesting and that can engage students.

--Technology-Pedagogy:

The technology would be used in my activity to allow students to be in groups and allow each student to see what the other students are experiencing without taking turns to share a single computer. In my activity, students will be focused on basing their information that they learned in the textbook to real life application. This shows the deepest understanding because it is not just superficial identification, but rather requires problem solving skills that the technology projects. The SMART board allows more than one student to be interactive and informed of what is being shown on the screen as they are guided through the China rain forest.

This technology would change the way I teach this activity because instead of the teacher trying to begin a discussion or have students go through a small group discussion, the students can work through an application in order to help the discussion along. The SMART board interactive site probes students and asks them to evaluate why they are doing what they are doing. Before this, students may not see how their actions are impacting the situation. Because of this, the students can make more informed decisions and facilitate a stronger discussion based on rationality.  Since the simulation allows students to benefit by observing the environment, interacting with indigenous people, and collecting data in the form of graphs, the students can understand the greater picture rather than just what a habitat is and the controversy that is being caused from protecting it.

I would implement effective classroom management strategies by using interactive and engaging activities and assignments in order to keep students interested in learning and on task. The Habitat Adventure game is fun and interactive and allows students to go through like a game, which will minimize any disruptions. If anything, I believe that students will be so encouraged by the SMART board that they will bicker over who will get a turn to use it. This can be alleviated through developing an order of who uses the board and how many times before trading turns.  By walking around the classroom and answering questions or probing the students through asking questions about what they are experiences, I would keep the students focused on the task rather than chattering with their neighbor about an unrelated topic.

--Technology-Content:

The way that the content is presented is much more hands on and interactive than the traditional way of reading only textbooks. The technology allows more of a visual representation of the material that students cover in textbooks, and also lets students be guided through explanations and illustrations. The guide uses phrases such as “would you change your mind if you knew…” to encourage critical thinking and representations of data using graphs encourage students to make rational decisions based on facts. Before, class discussion was bound to using the chalkboard to make notes, but now students can demonstrate why they think the way they do through visual representation on the SMART board. Now, students can be much more involved and interactive with their own learning. Without technology, it would be impossible to individualize work or motivate students to participate, where now even topics that may not be interesting to students can come alive through simulation and discovery without leaving the classroom!

Students could practice through interactive ways, not just through books and text pictures. They can touch, draw, play games, and be placed in conversations in order to gather information and apply the idea of habitats and conservation. That seems more much more exciting than sitting at the desk reading about Panda’s habitat thousands of miles away. This way, students understand all aspects of the situation, good and bad, and groups can see the leaves and animals that they are classifying. Also, instead of boring tests that teachers had to develop strategically, students now have a fun and engaging way to practice their skills that focuses on real-life application. I think that if students are more hands-on, they become more invested in their learning. The method before did not allow students to be hands-on, but instead to read only. This does not give the students the information or perspectives they need to make informed decisions and understand why it is important to them.

--Technology-Pedagogy-Content:

I think the content would be effectively taught by allowing students to apply the knowledge that they read but also letting the students be hands on with guided assistance through the operation of the SMART board. If students can touch and make decisions about what to do, they will be more invested in their learning. For this activity, the basic vocabulary such as habitat and indigenous people will have already been taught, but by using this technology, it can effectively teach students to apply their previous knowledge to new situations, in this case, solving a problem that is real in the world. You never know, maybe one day one of these students will apply the answer they thought of in your class’s small group discussion.  Isn’t that the main goal of school, to develop skills that can be used later in life?

The technology would enhance what to teach and how to teach it because it releases the “stiffness” that is typically in classrooms and allows students to be creative in their problem solving. It is very possible that students will come up with different answers, but that is okay. It can give students valuable perspectives that they can take into account and use later in life. This gives a teacher a wider range of how to teach because the teacher can see if the students understand what a habitat is and the value that each group places on it. The teacher can also see through individual essays what each person thinks, so their opinion is not lost in the group.  It enhances what to teach because before teachers were typically strained to the basic information, but through these simulation games, teachers can now guide students to make informed decisions.

I would choose teaching strategies that allowed students to be creative and interactive with the SMART board. This could be in groups, or as a class. It could be used as a class to review and drill and practice materials already learned, or it could be used to develop critical thinking skills, as our simulation game goes.  This not only allows students to focus on learning, but the teacher presents it through various learning styles such as the visual stimuli of the rain forest environment, the auditory directions and conversations that are giving many sides, and kinesthetically by allowing students to touch the screen and interact with the surroundings. There are so many applications available for the SMART board that can get rid of the humdrum use of lecture and reading. Although lectures and reading text can be effective, it is even better when students are excited about learning and want to cooperate and explain their belief and knowledge with other peers.