Advice for Newbies

[cbetcher]

Hello,

I'm a teacher/technology coordinator in Sydney Australia, and we are currently looking at the possibility of installing a few ActivBoards. It is a 7-12 girls High School, and I see the use of the boards in a High School setting as being distinctly different to the way they might get used in a Primary setting. I would imagine that in a Primary room where they get used for a large part of the day across all curriculum areas, would be a very different situation to having them fixed in rooms where the students come and go, and different teachers use the room all day across a number of different subject areas.

Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or experience or advice on such a situation. We are not yet contemplating a board in every room, but were thinking of getting 3 or 4 and trialling them. IWBs are not commonplace in Australian schools (yet), unlike what I'm told about the UK where they seem to be far more prevalent. (If I have been correctly informed)

I was specifically interested in any thoughts you might have about the installation of boards into rooms where some teachers will still want to be using conventional whiteboards... I am anticipating a bit of backlash if I install IWBs as the central feature at the front of the room... has anyone had to deal with this issue? If so how?

Any other advice you might suggest for an IWB Newbie would be apreciated...

Chris

[Peter Lambert]

Hi there +wave+
You are correct in your assumptions. IWBs are very popular in UK schools. As I am completely biased to Promethean (because they are really the best!), it seems fair to point you towards some impartial advice.

We have a government sponsored agency (BECTA) that is commissioned to research and regulate ICT in UK schools. They have done some research and also published some advice.

http://www.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/wtrs_whiteboards.pdf

http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=te&catcode=as-pres_02&rid=521

Many of the questions you ask are answered here:
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ae&theme=46

Hope this helps

[daverosthorn]

On my end, learners are on ONE course, e.g. Business Administration, Heavy Vehicle, Oral Health Care (All apprenticeship Technical Certificate programmes) and we use the IWBs for each individual subject. All our resources are stored on a shared network drive, including Lesson Plans, flipchart activities, etc.

The boards are, quite frankly, brilliant, providing that your teachers/tutors are going to have the time (and expertise) to develop any materials. No use having a board if you don't bother developing the materials, eh?

[Peter Lambert]

Dave,

Can we talk about sharing these resources with others in our FE community?
Please email me if you are interested.

[Westlake]

Hi Chris,
I am an ex Science teacher, now ICT Facilitator part-time at Westlake Girls High School Auckland, New Zealand. WGHS installed 13 boards in September 2005. We are a year 9 - 13 school with a roll of about 2400.
In my "spare" time I work as a Teaching & Learning Advisor for Envision (the company that distributes the boards in New Zealand) demonstrating the boards and running training sessions in schools.
With reference to one of your queries "installation of boards into rooms where some teachers will still want to be using conventional whiteboards..."
Some of our installations were into older rooms with a conventional whiteboard. One strategy that worked well was to move the existing board sideways to allow the ACTIVboard to be positioned as close to central as possible. By doing this, the room maintained all the existing write-on surface AND gained the ACTIVboard. In time, the "other" board should be used less and less.
I have seen a lesson in a room where there was ONLY an ACTIVboard, in the ICT suite. The teacher was very comfortable with that configuration, but you would be brave to commit to that extent in most classrooms.
Hope this is helpful to start the discussion,
Hilary

[J Boucke]

Chris, Greetings from California USA. I teach in a grade 6-8 middle school (11-14 year olds). I have been using an ACTIVboard since September. Several supposedly technophobic teachers at our site are clamoring to be the first to get the next ACTIVboard after witnessing my successes. I teach 4 periods of World History, 1 of Math, 1 of Drama, and 1 Physical Education. Students who have experienced the ACTIVboard on our campus praise its interactivity, its student friendly atmosphere, and its focusing power. I have been teaching 31 years and technology in the classroom is truly reaching its potential to connect with all students. Being a teacher with only one computer for years, the ACTIVboard has tapped more than just the students' potential, it has reawakened my potential.
J +wave+

[Charlotte]

Hi Chris +wave+
Just to add to the advice - I teach in an 11-16 girl’s high school in London. About 4 years ago the decision was taken to install Activboards in ALL classrooms. This took a number of weeks but meant that all staff had the same opportunities to share in this fabulous development.
The first ones went into my dept so I had about 3 weeks to figure out what to do before teaching everyone else! Initially some staff retained their old style whiteboards but had them moved to the back of the class - this was a security blanket for them. In reality it took only a few weeks before all staff were using the boards enthusiastically. We have some staff who start to feel sick at the thought of using a computer & yet they were converts to Activboard. There are of course still some staff who use it n it's most basic level but they are few and far between now. [clap]

A real advantage of having them in one go was that staff learned together and all felt part of this change.
I would also say you have certainly picked the best product – Promethean ActivStudio2 is by far a superior product to anything else out there... and once AS Developer is generally released you’ll wonder what life was like before you tried it! {}

If you want any specific input from subject specialists let me know – I’m sure they’d be happy to share their experiences.
All the best from a very cold London!!
Charlotte

[dfday]

Hi,

like Pete, I am of course biased and agree ACTIVboards are the best! One thing I saw in a school in Singapore recently to help the teachers in their transition from a traditional whiteboard to an ACTIVboard was the trad. board could be slid across the wall on runners at the front of the class, so it could be used alongside the IWB if required. Mind you their classes were all 40+ pupils.
regards, David