Ten Disruptive Uses of Your IWB

eBeam Projection Meeting" style="border: medium none ; display: block;">Image by eBeam via Flickr

I was asked to write an article last year for teachers who were just starting to use their IWB's and needed a bit of inspiration - The article has just been published in "The Ultimate Guide to Interactive Whiteboards 2010" which is distributed nationally to all schools. I'm just a little bit stoked by this as I thought it was only going to go in a trade magazine / catalogue.

Free subscriptions for the magazine are available here.
www.engagelearning.com.au

a PDF of the article is here

www.keepad.com/pdf/100223-HallJackson.pdf

One of the conditions that I agreed to the article was that I could then publish it on my blog when it got published and distributed.

So here it is minus all the nice graphics that were put in by their talented graphics team.

Ten things to do with your interactive whiteboard

Disruptive uses of the IWB

Many teachers get stuck on using their IWB as a direct replacement for their regular whiteboard or blackboard – a way of writing up notes, key words and diagrams. Sometimes they might bring in a piece of clip art as a magnet. Don’t get me wrong the use of an IWB is great as a digital replacement for the whiteboard and the overhead projector. My handwriting lessons are that much better because of an IWB (and I’m left handed)

Teachers need to be able to go beyond that analogy of an “interactive whiteboard” and see the technology for what it really is – an interface for your computer that allows direct interaction with programs, images and video – visual data. The following is some ways to extend your use of your new interface.

Use it as your TV via a USB tuner or internet TV

For less than $100 you can get a digital tuner for your laptop. Depending on where you are, the portable aerial is sometimes all you need to pull down current terrestrial digital TV (if not see if there in an aerial port in your classroom – you might be surprised) . The best thing is that these tuners usually come with software which lets you time shift - perfect for pausing a broadcast to comment or deal with an interruption.

This is a great tool for dealing with a current issue as you can compare and contrast different news outlets and their response to current events. There is also something to be said for a time table – a deadline to be ready for – in this case a particular broadcast.

Once you have worked with and analysed the media it would be a natural extension to make your own TV news or show. There are a number of ways that you can do this from the low tech basic webcam and a sheet, to the set up of a mini TV studio in you classroom.

“Newsmaker” software is great for organising and creating a news report in an easy to use way. With a simple autocue and basic effects your students can create a professional looking broadcast with a very small learning curve.

Of course there are an enormous number of video on demand sites out there. www.teacherstv.com.au , its UK counterpart www.teachers.tv, www.TED.com for inspirational speakers and of course youtube. Make use of these resources, especially when they are free.

Be a commentator

You have probably seen it most in sports broadcasts - the use of the pause and annotate effect. In Australia it is often used for cricket matches to visually highlight areas of interest or direction of travel. You can use the same feature with your interactive whiteboard.

Imagine a movie or a recording of a play put on by your students. By pausing and annotating you can highlight areas of interest to you students. More importantly students can participate, drawing in their ideas and designs to make the next live performance better.

Hook it up to a Wii, xBox or PS3

Seriously the computing power behind these game consoles is phenomenal and it is all about the “experience” – harness that power. Kids love to show what they know – be able to demonstrate this to their class and with you asking important – how and why questions lets them explore their problem solving skills. With a range of educational games, bringing in the game console is not as revolutionary as you think. For starters you might want to try Big Brain Academy Wii Degree

Simulate Real world objects

I remember (a long time ago) as a practice teacher trying to get my hands on a range of MAB blocks to teach a class about decimals. Getting my hands on enough equipment took most of my lunch break and when I didn’t have enough even for a demonstration then my whole lesson took a turn for the worse.

Virtual manipulatives are therefore a stress less way of demonstrating real world objects without worrying about quantities. An example of easy to use, readymade collection for mathematics is the Mult-e-Maths toolbox. With things like clocks, scales, and aforementioned MAB blocks, teachers have access to the tools they need to demonstrate and explain key concepts without having to worry about whether another teacher has the required resources.

The internet also has a wide range of virtual manipulatives. One of my favourites for science is the popular Phet website from the University of Colorado, that can also be downloaded entirely via a zip file found on their site. With open ended tasks you can demonstrate a range of concepts and ask “what if” questions with the ability to answer them.

Use it as a microscope

For around $200 you can get good quality USB digital microscopes that hook up to your computer, and can get to X200 magnification. Brilliant for showing the whole class what you are talking about in real time with real stuff.

Another way of making the really small really big is to download the free Virtual Lab from NASA. With prepared slides from both optical and electron scanning microscopes it give you the ability to show your class things that you usually can’t get your hands on such as moon dust and heat shield tiles from the space shuttle.

Go for a ride

Did you know Google Earth has a flight mode? You can virtually fly over the world via your computer. When you team that up with the 3D layer available via the interface, you can fly through cities and landscapes. Imagine being able to take your students the Swiss Alps or fly past the New York skyline.

There are also a range of web based mash ups that take information from Google maps, street view, and earth; and let you create a drive through from one place to another. Drive through the streets of San Francisco , or follow route 66. It may even give your class the motivation to put more local buildings into the database using Google Sketchup.

http://www.gaiagi.com/3d-driving-simulator/index.html

Drive Smart is free software for Victorian students developed by Monash University, designed to help new drivers with scanning and hazard perception. Use this software with your older students to make them more aware on the roads as pedestrians, cyclists and future drivers. Again you can use annotations to visually mark the image to explain key points.

Video Call

As a Star Trek fan, I am constantly amazed at how large amounts of the technology envisioned in that 60’s TV have come to pass. A video screen the size of Captain Kirk’s view screen is now in your classroom. So now you too can use video / audio communication across vast distances.

Skype and MSN have the ability to do video calls with free software and simple inexpensive webcams. Think about linking up your classroom with a counterpart in another state or country. Australia is in a great position as we share a time zone range with a diverse range of languages as you head north. Linking up an Australian Japanese class, with a Japanese English class would bring benefits that could only be achieved with an expensive field trip.

Student Response Systems

The IWB’s can have a detrimental effect in the classroom. You may find that the “sage on the stage” is back and your lessons start to get centred on you and the technology rather than the students and their learning.

SRS (Student Response Systems), used in the right way with an interactive whiteboard can have really positive effects in your classroom and make the classroom environment more participatory. Rockingham Senior High School have successfully done this in their science program, through the use of both eBeam portable IWB system and TurningPoint SRS

By integrating an SRS into your IWB use you can enable a continuous dialogue between you and your students. You can adapt your teaching and ensure understanding and cover learning styles. This combination makes for a truly interactive classroom, with the added ability to account for and monitor student interaction.

Use a document camera

Prices for document cameras have come down significantly. For around $600 you can get a good quality camera to bring documents and small realia and manipulatives to the big screen. It’s like having your old overhead projector back but updated to a digital form. The Epson DC06 even has a freeze button to hold the image while you move something else into place – useful for surprising your students.

They are not just for documents either, those pesky MAB blocks can be manipulated and used to great effect with every student being able to see. Take that idea further with science lessons as the camera can record and project your “on bench” experiment.

Let go!

As I said before, there is a great temptation to be the didactic teacher when you have this type of technology. While it is fun to play with the toys, you will be surprised when you give your students the opportunity to try their hand at working on the board – and not just to write one word or to circle the mistake in a maths problem. Give groups of students control of the board for extended lengths of time, use your IWB as a station in a learning journey. Even just to brainstorm what they have learnt at the end of the day.

Don’t be afraid of what is possible, experiment and play.

Anzac Day

memoria..." style="border: medium none ; display: block;" height="199" width="300">Image via Wikipedia

Anzac Day was held on Sunday, with services and memorials across Australia and the world to commemorate Australian and New Zealand soldiers who gave their lives in the various conflicts around the world.

Australia's first military conflict was during the first world war on the shores of Gallipoli in Turkey. The ABC has developed an excellent resource for teachers and those with a passion for history on their website. The best way to describe this resource is an interactive 3D documentary.

Please check it out - www.abc.net.au/gallipoli

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Fun with Google

I came across two awesome websites recently, one through a blog (sorry I forgot which one) and one through echalk - a mailing list for computer teachers in Australia.

Google stories - this has be blogged about recently, but if you haven't seen it it is great fun. Here's one I prepared for Keepad Interactive that we are going to use on our stand at conferences.



LMGTFY - Let me google that for you. Perfect to send to people who constantly ask you questions that you are just going to google for anyway.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Keepad+Interactive

Mobile Interactive Classroom

I've just finished making up a client's special order. Usually the equipment that I sell goes into a school or college and stays put - usually in a classroom. This client is different.

The client has a group of lecturers that go to a range of community centres to do ESL classes for the community. Because these classes are part of a government program they must use some aspect of the Internet and make it accessible to the students. These are language teachers not technicians, so setting up a mobile lab of 15 computers and then lugging it to the next community centre would be problematic.

The solution was a mobile interactive classroom. The client has bought 15 kits that we put together for them - Each kit contains

a laptop
an eBeam IWB solution
an Epson 1725 projector (with 3000 ansi lumens - but small and light)
A USB 3G modem

and a Targus Urban Overnight roller bag for it all to go into -

This kit lets the teacher walk into any centre, grab a whiteboard and set up in about 5-10mins. All the resources will be on the laptop and they will also have access to all the resources on the Internet as well. Then when they have finished it all packs down into the overnight bag that they just wheel out to their car.

This is an such a great idea not only for community based language teachers, but any teacher that has to move from school to school.

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Free and open source video editing

Video editing has to one of the most requested open source tools - without a decent response for the home or professional user. There are some like Jahshaka/cineFX but the interface is hard to get your head around and blender is really a 3D program not a video editor.

The big news it that one of the big ones Lightworks is going to be released as open source (free).

Lightworks is used by the heavy hitters in the industry and was used in movies and TV shows such as Kalifornia, Braveheart, Batman Forever, Con Air, Good Will Hunting, The Horse Whisperer, Brookside, Cracker, Bringing Out the Dead, Home & Away, Kavanagh QC, Mission Impossible, Jerry Maguire...

The feature I really like is Multicam management that helps you sync up 2 or more cameras covering the same action. With the price of video cameras coming down to such low levels it's very easy to have 2 or more cameras covering the action from different angles.

So an industry standard program is going to be free - great for all aspiring videographers and movie makers in your school.

Myschool website

Image via Wikipedia

At the beginning of this year the Australian Government via ACARA Launched the Myschools website. a league table of all the schools in Australia, both public and private - based on one metric - the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy, a series of tests given to year 3, 5 7 and 9 students in May.

To say it is a little unfair would be understating problem. One metric on one week determines the score for an entire school. The test is based on the New South Wales Curriculum (each state has it own curriculum - National Curriculum is coming this year).

The tests are mostly (except for the writing) multiple choice, and the mathematics test has almost the same amount of reading as the comprehension tests, severely limiting ESL students who my be capable of mathematics but can't comprehend the way the question is worded.

The website does integrate information like demographics but the format is difficult to read if you just want to get an overall feel for the school.

Max Cruise wrote an excellent article in Rotarian Life and has given permission for me to copy it into this blog. He has an excellent idea.

Finally, thanks to myschool.com, we can see how badly our local school is performing. We got a NAPLAN average of 301! How bad is that? Actually, it's hard to tell because nobody knows what it means.

Then, even when the score was adjusted for ICEA RAW (although we don't know what this means either), it was only 108, which can't be good, can it?

Humans are funny. If we can rank something or categorise it, we will.

However, it is difficult to see the advantage this latest bureaucratic offering offers us in dealing with disadvantage - ostensibly the reason for myschool - since we know where the disadvantage lies anyway.

Nevertheless, we can now see our rank, thus enabling us to blame someone other than ourselves for our children's failings.

Fantastic! But why stop at schools? Why not a myschool thingy for all public services?
Lets start with politicians; they would surely welcome mypollie.com to weed out under performers. We could use the Commonwealth Research Assessing Politician's Laziness and Niceness scores. Adjusted for disadvantaged electorates, such as those with National Party members.

Better yet, how about a myparents.com? Schools could see who the under performing parents are so that they can be sacked or retrained or given more resources.

Hang on as with schools, we already know where the under performing parents are, so lets give them some dosh and cut out the middle-plan.

As with the current obsession with metrics and KPI's in the corporate world - National testing is not going away... and even if teachers strike on test days (which is what a lot of teachers are planning) there will be some sort of public ranking.

I just wish is was more broad based than one series of tests on one week. We don't assess students on one test for their reports, we take into account a range of assessment tasks as well as behaviour and improvement. It reduces 'gaming" the system and assessments can be made in a range of contexts.

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3D video from 2D video

SketchUp" style="border: medium none ; display: block;">Image by WangXiang via Flickr

This is one of those blog posts that seem to have nothing really to do with teaching with Technology... but if you think about it --- it just might have some implications after all.

With the release of Avatar and other 3D Movies there has been a bit of a revival in the 3D in all it's guises. This is nothing new to our students who have been playing 3D games from Castle Wolfenstein to Virtual worlds, in fact they are probably wondering why it hasn't hit cinemas sooner.

I often demonstrate Google sketchup using an eBeam interactive whiteboard system to show teachers that it doesn't have to be just 2D. Edu-Sim is another great white boarding program that works in a 3D environment.

Augmented reality is also coming into it's own with cereal packs containing card that your computer (with web cam) reads and then displays as a 3D image on your screen. Even my iPhone has a bevvy of apps that augment the real world it sees through its' camera.

All of this is getting the digital content into the real world... how do we get real world 3D objects into the computer as 3D objects? The hard way is through modeling, using complex software to draw the object in 3D vectors and planes. It is tedious and can be difficult to get right.

A group of students and teachers from Adelaide University have developed a way to get 3D information out of 2D video. The proof of concept video is amazing, and they are looking for beta testers. So if you have some students who are champing at the bit to try some bleeding edge technology, this just might get them excited. http://punchcard.com.au/wordpress/

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