[Year 12 IPM] OT Electronic White Boards

Mon Nov 21 17:09:08 EST 2005

I wholeheartedly agree with Joseph. What follows is a little longer than I anticipated.

We installed 6 IWBs in the College, one in each block but not in existing IT Labs. They are not just toys and personally, I don't believe they look good but the end product is well worth it for both staff and especially for students. It is sad to see some of the comments that have been sent to the list. I think those of you with a negative view on whiteboards need to visit a school that is using them and not just as a projection surface, to see the myriad options that are available for you to create innovative engaging lessons. 

I know we are all really busy and "who has the time to create resources?" but the fantastic amount of sharing that is done on this list would be a great basis for sharing IWB resources. I am reasonably sure that no matter which brand of IWB you buy there is an associated web site with resources that you can take and modify for your own use; this is obviously a great time saver. Faculty areas quickly build up a set of resources that can be shared around. We have found that some resources have actually become templates for the creation of other resources ie just change the information.

Our Maths/Science area have made amazing inroads in the use of the whiteboards with their lessons. Some of the staff in this College said that it was just another gimmick and amazingly, a games machine. However, these people have observed lessons where the whiteboards have been used in conjunction with other resources and at times as the sole resource and I can say that each one of these people have changed their minds. I have very little knowledge of Maths but one of our Maths staff created an Easiteach lesson on parabolas. I have got to say, even I understood the concept without any background knowledge and that is saying something. The teacher is "over the moon" (her words) about how well this worked in her lessons and how quickly the students learned the required concepts. The engagement of the students was wonderful to observe and especially how well they helped the student who was at the whiteboard if he or she had forgotten what to do. This teacher was also gratified to see the increase in the average marks for this topic and believe me, it was not the cohort of students this semester.

There is not much research available on Secondary Schools (plenty on Primary Schools) here or in the UK but I understand that research projects are about to get under way. The iwb.net site is well worth a look before installing whiteboards. It contains a huge amount of resources from what to consider when planning, how to approach the Finance Committee and the boss through to winning over teachers and ideas/links for use in the classroom. iwb.net are running a series of "2006 Enrich Teaching Series"; a set of one day seminars that may be well worth a look if you want to know more about them and to get a good idea of how they can be used.

Finally, I think all schools need someone who is enthusiastic about the whiteboard use who can then pass this enthusiasm on. Joseph mentioned that he had created resources for his Maths classes and the interest it sparked when other staff saw them. This happened in our College. We have one staff member who had used IWBs before and was enthusiastic about their use. He had the board operating during lunchtime and would let interested students who were passing come in and use it. The same would happen with staff also or he would say "hey John, what do you think about this?"

Do have a look at them before judging their use, obviously I am a convert.

Cameron Reid
Mooroopna Secondary College

________________________________

From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of PAPALEO, Joseph
Sent: Mon 21/11/2005 4:18 PM
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management Teachers'MailingList
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] OT Electronic White Boards

Hi all,

Don't contribute much, but here's my 5c worth ...

One was installed here without consultation at the beginning of the year and uptake by classroom teachers has been poor.  The system installed ties in with a Video Conference system and it is used heaps for that across campuses.

I've made a real effort to find resources that can be used with it and am pushing to use it in my Maths classes.  

I can now stand at front and write notes, send them via e-mail to absent students or to those who take too long to write the notes themselves (thus they are actually concentrating on the concept, not trying to keep up with the notes).  I have used it when drawing graphs and can show the students what I'm doing and why without hiding behind a screen.  I use Maths software that I can now electronically write over the screen so kids can see what I am doing.  It has been great using it and students can see what I'm doing and why.

Recently, I organised a PD session which highlighted its uses across other subject areas.  When staf saw how they could be used in their classroom, they started to become more receptive.  This time, only select staff will be timetabled in the classroom while we continue to develop resources/ innovative uses.

Lastly, there is a system that I saw recently (easiteach) that can be written over directly with a normal whiteboard marker.   Don't know why anyone would want it, but it made our administrators happier to recognise that a board won't be damaged in error.

Joseph Papaleo

Head of I.T. (Curriculum)

Plenty campus

Ivanhoe Grammar School

Plenty Campus, Bridge Inn Road, Mernda, Victoria 3754 Australia

Telephone1 +61 3 (9490 3711)   or    +61 3 (9490 3792)

Voicemail   +61 3 (9490 3873)

Facsimile +61 3 (97173825)

joseph.papaleo at igs.vic.edu.au <mailto:joseph.papaleo at igs.vic.edu.au>  

http://www.igs.vic.edu.au <http://www.igs.vic.edu.au/> 

Established in 1915, Ivanhoe Grammar School is a multi-campus, co-educational independent Anglican school with a proud tradition of academic, sporting and personal success. Buckley House caters for students from Early Learning to Year 6 and The Ridgeway Secondary Campus provides a unique 'pathway' for boys and girls from Years 7 to 10 and a fully co-educational setting in Years 11 and 12 to study either the International Baccalaureate (IB) or Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). The Plenty Campus at Mernda (30 kms north of Melbourne's CBD) is co-educational from Prep to Year 12. Ivanhoe Grammar School is a member of the Round Square international network of schools. 

________________________________

From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Mark Scott
Sent: Monday, 21 November 2005 3:16 PM
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management Teachers'MailingList
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] OT Electronic White Boards

Which if fine for the talented innovative teachers but what about the other 95% of us that don't have time to be innovative and fall back into old habits as a survival technique.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Lawson, Margaret
Sent: Monday, 21 November 2005 3:02
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management Teachers'MailingList
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] OT Electronic White Boards

The same argument can be used for MS Word -  why word process when there

is pen and paper? 

There are boring "non-thinking" ways that you can use the application

(or whiteboard), and then there are innovative ways in which you can

encourage kids to develop higher order critical thinking skills. 

This of course all comes down to the teacher, PD, support etc. Same old

argument.

*2cents*

Margaret

-----Original Message-----

From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au]

On Behalf Of Michael Walker

Sent: Monday, 21 November 2005 3:49 PM

To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management

Teachers'Mailing List

Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] OT Electronic White Boards

>>> Mark Scott<msc at staff.luther.vic.edu.au> 11/21/05 02:40pm >>>

>Once again, a teaching tool with little real impact on student

learning.

>But they do look good.

I used one on one of my teaching rounds in conjunction with a projector.

It was great in that I could quickly bring up the virtual pegboard found

at matti.usu.edu.au, quickly show the students how to use it using my

finger as the mouse and then set them going to produce their own

tessellations. I suppose in one sense it was just electronic chalk and

talk, but it meant I could quickly illustrate how to use the tool so

they could then learn the work in a more hands on fashion. It was

probably the most productive class I had with them...

Of course, balanced against this is the cost. And the fact that the

equipment didn't appear to get highly used.

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IPM Mailing List kindly supported by 
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http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe 
IPM Mailing List kindly supported by 
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