November 2006 — Features
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Display Technology :: Picture This!
A spate of new multimedia tools is putting a whole new face on the learning process.
AMONG THE OLD-SCHOOL resources that the digital age is
making obsolete, or at least less consequential, count the chalkboard.
For decades, the chalkboard was the focal point of all
instruction, the big screen on which teachers wrote out and directed
lesson after lesson after lesson.
Today, while chalkboards still exist, they are losing their status as the classroom centerpiece—districts are now investing in technology to modernize classroom displays. From interactive whiteboards to handheld tablets, from digital projectors to newfangled video-editing systems, the most successful of these products are those that grab student attention and don’t let go.
New displays have not come of age in a vacuum. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids in the United States watch an average of four hours of television a day. What’s more, a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences shows that 26 percent of US teenagers spend between one and two hours online a day. The statistics indicate that kids prefer to learn in a visual world and like to have information at their fingertips. Across the board, the latest and greatest classroom display products meet these needs.
A Smarter Chalkboard
Electronic whiteboards are no longer new, but they are still cutting edge. Introduced by Canada-based Smart Technologies in 1991, the technology combines the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer. Essentially, the device is one giant computer screen that teachers can manipulate with a variety of tools, enabling them to present slides, take notes, and do a host of other things. Teachers also can use electronic whiteboards to control applications on a computer, write notes in digital ink, or save work to share later. Of course, the best part of the technology is that every student can see it.
This is precisely why teachers in the Jennings School District (MO) recently turned to Smart Technologies’ Smart Boards to increase student involvement. Last year, the district, in which 77 percent of students qualify for free-lunch programs, applied E-Rate funds to purchase 52 Smart Boards for classrooms in grades 3-12. Once the technology was in place, the school launched a new, inquiry-based approach to learning—an approach Cindy Kicielinski, district instructional technology specialist, says has forced students to find answers for themselves and figure out how to incorporate technology to present those answers to the class.
