Leverage the Power of Your Interactive Whiteboard
Written on April 20, 2010 – 9:42 PM | by millerb
Dr. Puentedura's Model
In the previous post, we looked a model created by Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura that encourages us to use our technology at a higher level – moving from a mode of substitution to a mode of augmentation, modification, or maybe even redefinition. Just to review, substitution means you are using the technology as a direct substitute – with no functional improvement. Augmentation means you are using the technology as a direct substitute, but with a functional improvement. Modification means your use of technology allows for significant task redesign. Finally, redefinition means your use of technology allows for the creation of new tasks that were previously inconceivable.
Let’s apply this model to those expensive tools that are popping up in numerous classrooms across our district: Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs). Fortunately, this model is general enough that it will apply to you – whether you’re using a Smartboard, Interwrite, or Mimio. Enough build-up – let’s get started.
We’ll take a look examples of usage under each level. As you read, be honest with yourself and see where you fall.
Level 1 – Substitution: Granted, the IWB does come with several cool colors of “digital” ink, but using the board only as a writing surface (with all those cool colors) certainly qualifies as a direct substitution of a chalkboard or a whiteboard. Don’t fret if this is where you are – it’s perfectly okay! We all have to start somewhere. Honestly, I would imagine very few IWB users have started any higher. The key is to know you’re at this level, see the importance of making a transition, and be willing to go for it.
Level 2 – Augmentation: There are many examples at this level, but let’s focus on a couple. The first that comes to mind would be the ability to create a new page once you have filled the existing page. What do you do when you need more space on your chalkboard? Erase something else, right? On an IWB, just add a blank page and get back to work – no erasing needed. The advantages our numerous: adding a page is faster than erasing the board; you can pull up previous pages and review that work with students; save this work from year to year for a refresher before teaching the lesson; print these pages and send them home to absent students. One of those examples touched on the idea of saving. At the end of the class, save your work. Pull it up tomorrow with those same students and you have a quick review – no need to rewrite anything. Do you teach the same lesson to three different classes? Ever forget where each class was in the lesson? Keep a different “notebook” (or file) for each class and that problem is solved.
Level 3 – Modification: Again, there are many examples at this level, but we’ll focus our attention on only a couple. Level 2 talked about printing pages and sending them home. This is the digital age – you could email them… or even put them on your Moodle site (see previous post on Moodle). In a matter of a few minutes a day (for real!), you could post daily notes to your Moodle, giving your students one more resource. I know – not everyone can afford the Internet right now in this economy. Even if one of your students use this as a resource though – isn’t that still important? Also, I know we already have been cognizant of printing, but it never hurts to re-concentrate our efforts of being greener. [stepping down from my soapbox] What about using the gallery of images and interactive tools that come with your software? There are resources hiding in that gallery that can transform many lessons. Not sure how to find the gallery? Let us know!
Level 4 – Redefinition: I’m no expert with this model, but I have to believe the following example would land in the redefinition level. Each brand of IWB comes with a screen recording tool. Once you hit the record button, the recorder simply records everything you do on your computer screen. For example: let’s say you’re trying to teach 3rd graders to write cursive. Fire up your IWB, hit the record button, and model this for your students. When you’re finished, hit stop. After stopping the recording, you’ll be asked about saving the recording to your computer. Here’s where the magic begins: open that recorded video, set your player to loop, and play it back full screen. Now your students can watch your demonstration repeatedly when they get stuck as you walk around assisting your students individually. This is incredibly powerful. What about doing this when teaching long division? Or how to work through an equation in algebra or beyond? (By the way – you don’t need an IWB for this. It will work just as well if you have a wireless slate.) To me, this is a redefinition of how you can teach. Teaching would be so much easier if we could bring in more adults for one-on-one assistance. This isn’t going to happen anytime soon (if ever) – so in the meantime, this will let you be in two places at one time. I see this as being one of the most important skills to learn and to incorporate into your daily practice. Finally, what do you do with that file when you’re done playing it in your classroom? Put it on your Moodle site and make it available to your students 24/7. This would be huge for parents when they’re trying to help their student with an involved math problem.
Do these examples sound like a lot of work? Well, it will take extra work on your part versus just writing on a chalkboard – or worse yet – continually treating your IWB as a chalkboard. Hopefully you can tell from the length of this post my position on whether or not it’s worth it.
When you’re ready to try any of these suggestions and feel like you might need some help, please let us know!
Tags: elementary, high_school, middle_school, Moodle, professional_development, staff, tips
