Uses of the Promethean Board in a College Classroom

[jenkinsr@midlandstech.edu]

I teach math at a community college. We have two Promethean boards that I'm aware of and many SmartBoards. However, they are mostly used for projecting the computer screen, etc. But we already had that capability as most of our classrooms are multimedia equipped. My question is does anyone have any ideas of how an active board can be used in the college classroom? Most of the ideas that I'm aware of are cute but might not be suitable for a more mature audience.

[LisaD]

Good question!!! Would love to hear from college professors on this.

Some things to consider:

• How many students are in the class?
• In your class, do students ever "come up to the board" to work on things or do they typically sit in their seats?
• Is it purely a "lecture and note-taking" class or are there typically discussions or other types of student participation?

If you can help me with understanding these things, I can think of some ways you could use the Activboard that may be appropriate.

Personally, I love participating and "doing things" at the board even as an adult.

Note: A set of Activotes or Activexpressions could also be a great way to promote interaction without making the lesson appear too elementary in nature.

Lisa

[karenadams]

I was at NCTM in Salt Lake this year and Promethean's booth was right next to Texas A&M's booth. They kept watching and looking at the flipcharts we were showing and were very impressed with some of the upper level highschool math flipcharts some of our teachers had made. You might search Promethean Planet's resources for any high school flipcharts to see if they would apply to any college material?

Also, they were very interested in Activexpression (check here for more detailed info: http://www.Prometheanworld.com/us/se...ConWebDoc.3850).
They thought this would be a great student input device for statistics and many other math classes.

Thanks,
Karen

[jenkinsr@midlandstech.edu]

Our max class size is 28 students.

I encourage students to answer each other's homework questions at the beginning of class by coming to the board.

I would love to move to a more interactive format by having them come to the board throughout class, but I don't do that now. (This summer I'll be teaching a calculus course in the room with the Promethean board and am hoping to try some new things.)

Currently, it is mostly lecture and notetaking.

Laying it out like this makes it sound very boring

[LisaD]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to be. I do agree that the "higher up" you teach, the harder it can be to apply the possibilities! And, while I did take Calculus in college, it has long since evaporated from my brain!

Here are some thoughts!

• Take a "gander" at some of the existing math flipcharts that have been submitted to Planet. A quick search here: http://www.Prometheanplanet.com/us/server/show/nav.802 with keyword "calculus" gave me 10 results but I'm not sure how interactive these examples are.
• Do you use graphs? There should be some graph paper that you or your students and plot things on.
• You could post each homework problem on a page (even if it is a screenshot from another file) for students to work out on the board.
• You could write up the steps to solving the problem with an error in there and see if the students can find where the error is and highlight it.
• If you have Activotes, the students can agree or disagree on someone's answer or results to spot check if everyone is "getting it."
• If there are obvious steps they need to memorize, you can ask them to put them in order.
• Another calculus teacher could chime in on this thread to give us some better guidance!!! Help!
• Post a calculus-specific request on the math topics forum! There should be some calculus math teachers lurking around with great ideas!

Hope this helps!

[markrobinson]

A very specific technique that is proven in colleges to engage and raise the standards or the students is "peer instruction".. Research has been done into it by Eric Mazur that suggests gains of 20% can be made. It is perfect with Activote or Expression and the Activboard

It has been written about on the blog - but is a great way to get the interaction going on where it most matters ... in their heads and between each other.

http://blog.Prometheanplanet.com/?p=131

[tcortez]

I used a digital camera to take pictures of my students homework problems and then put them into a flipchart so the students could explain them to the class.

[griffinc2]

Any other ideas for college level lessons?

[Margaret Allen]

My background is teaching young children and so do bear this in mind..... HOWEVER, essentially teaching (and learning) is effectively about text and pictures. No matter whether the students are 4 or 44, everybody needs a focus. People need to be able to engage, own, relate and develop their thinking. The difference here is the level at which they are engaging, or more importantly being engaged.

I would suggest that trying to "make the technology fit" is possibly the wrong way to go about it. Think about what you already do well

• you know your subject
• you want to make it exciting/interesting
• you have done so for many years
• you have material which you know works
• you have targets/learning objectives that you want your students to attain

Add into this mix

• the fact that you want to add another layer of engagement
• you recognise the need for today's students to expect a certain level of multimedia/technology
• by utilising the Activclassroom you are able to add pace to your lesson
• you can save time by preparing in advance
• you can modify/edit/improve your lesson by saving any changes/observations/modifications required
• you don't have to start from a blank page - search from within the Resources section - anything is better than a blank page and most ideas can be adapted depending on the age group/focus/need of the class
• you have the chance to share with others on Planet

By addressing all of the above you will begin to utilise your system more and more effectively because it is the very nature of the way in which we have developed the Activclassroom and all of its components, that enables teachers to own their outcomes. Engaging with people like you we also begin to explore/ensure that we include all levels of teaching and learning.

I think it is also true to say that it is "modelling" that I would suggest is your best medium. Offering your students the chance to engage with the software and presenting information/facts/lessons in their own words would be a fantastic starting place....

1. Exploit the Student Edition of the software
2. Encourage the Students to author in Flipchart format
3. Offer the "medium" as a way of getting students to articulate their offerings
4. Share what you do on Promethean Planet
5. Encourage your students to submit what they have done

Remember the most important thing about teaching is that it is only when you come to teach it you realise just how much or how little you know. Apply it to your students...

Let us know how you get on!!

[dcasey@academicsuperstore.com]

Hi. I work for a Promethean reseller that is responsible exclusively for the college market. I've been doing this for less than two weeks, but have begun to contact many colleges and universities to find cool ways that they use interactive white boards. As I find them, I'll try to post the ideas.

So for, it appears that many folks are using the boards for PowerPoint presentations of existing material. One of the exciting things that I will be doing is creating customized content solutions for college professors in a variety of departments (College of Eduation, Business Colleges, etc.)

Please feel free to contact me directly and I'll keep you in the loop as I discover and create new things. I look forward to the challenge ahead with exitement and enthusiasm. Bye for now.

Don