What Should I Do With This Parking Boot?

[Ben Kenobi]

Thanks Slowwy, but we're quite happy with what we have

It is felt that in some cases the use of ICT, particularly in secondary schools, is pushing towards being directive, routine and lacking in imagination.

Going through a random one of Asher's studies....

"Lack of autonomy, just implementing other ideas"

"Teacher intervention is required to ensure that pupils do not become distracted by the technology"

"Glossy computer graphics are used with no real purpose"

"Teacher exposition > actual time teaching"

"reliance on visual media for learning"

[lightblue]

As a secondary school teacher myself I feel that using technology to its fullest potential is actually rather useful to my students. ICT allows you to move away from the whiteboard, allows students to be more creative in their approach to their education and gives teachers more time to talk to students on a 1:1 basis, identifying their needs and tailoring their educational experience to their needs. I think blindly disregarding the impact ICT can have on a student's learning experience as well as their future prospects is not the way a 21st century teacher should be approaching his teaching. An over-reliance on technology is obviously also not a productive method of teaching, but there should be a balance.

A bit of background, I am a biology teacher who teaches 11-18 year old students at a UK private school. We rank amongst the highest achieving schools in the country, if judged by examination results. We are rolling out tablets to all of our students on a 1:1 basis after having a number of class sets for the last year or two.

If you work in a private school, where does the money that parents pay go if not to resources. Is it a for profit school? Most private schools in the UK are not-for-profit institutions with a charitable status.

[rah]

One of the better beat downs of Ben. Every post just made him look worse. What a tool.

[Dr Strangelove]

I have a degree in government yes, as well as a J.D. and a stolen parking boot, I am not sure why you think that's not challenging achievements, THE 90% OF PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT GET INTO MY DEGREE FACTORY OF A LAW SCHOOL WOULD BEG TO DIFFER PISSEDOFF:

THEN GET OUT THERE AND THROW YOUR WEIGHT AROUND! Make them beg your forgiveness.

[Asher]

Pencil, paper, whiteboard, whiteboard eraser, whiteboard markers. I think my overall school budget comes out to around a couple bucks per student. How much again does your toy cost?

It's well known that the US underfunds education.

Smartboards are expensive. In many US school districts, the parents actually band together to buy them for their child's classrooms or lobby for corporate donations. The effectiveness is so clear that it's a no brainer.

Just to be clear, we do more than make interactive whiteboards. We also make interactive response systems (so teachers can gauge students' understanding very quickly), classroom audio solutions (just in case there's, say, a deaf student...), remote learning tools (for, say, people who live in the middle of nowhere in BC), tablet software (iOS & Android), etc.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

More Wiggy less Asher Ben feuding.

[Darius871]

MY DEGREE FACTORY OF A LAW SCHOOL

Didn't you go to Georgetown?

[Felch]

It's well known that the US underfunds education.

Smartboards are expensive. In many US school districts, the parents actually band together to buy them for their child's classrooms or lobby for corporate donations. The effectiveness is so clear that it's a no brainer.

Just to be clear, we do more than make interactive whiteboards. We also make interactive response systems (so teachers can gauge students' understanding very quickly), classroom audio solutions (just in case there's, say, a deaf student...), remote learning tools (for, say, people who live in the middle of nowhere in BC), tablet software (iOS & Android), etc.

Actually the US spends **** tons of money on education. The money is simply wasted on personnel costs instead of invested in technology.

[Jon Miller]

I would say administration costs, since it is usually not the teachers who are highly paid.

JM

[Wiglaf]

Didn't you go to Georgetown?

YES

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER ADMITS ANYONE WITH A PULSE

AND EMAILS ME CONTINUALLY FOR DONATIONS EVEN THOUGH I TOLD THEM I WAS DEAD AND TOOK OUT A FAKE ADVERTISEMENT TO PROVE IT

THEY SAID OBITUARIES ARE NOT TYPICALLY POSTED IN LOCAL NEWSPAPER PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS, SO MY BROTHER CALLED TEARY EYED AND IRATE TO CONFIRM I DIED IN A GARDENING ACCIDENT, AND THEY TOLD HIM IF I'M DEAD, I WON'T MIND THE EMAILS NOW WILL I?

STILL KICKING MYSELF I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT

[Wiglaf]

And DON'T SAY A MAN WHO LIES ABOUT WALKING IN FRONT OF A TRACTOR AND STEALS A UNIVERSITY PARKING BOOT DESERVES WHAT HE GETS? NO! NO! I PAID THEM TUITION AND NOW THEY ARE SICKING (SIC) GAY CANADIAN ARCH PROGRAMMERS ON MY INBOX TO FIND ALGORITHMS TO DEFEAT MY SPAM FILTER :MAD: :MAD:

[Ben Kenobi]

Smartboards are expensive. In many US school districts, the parents actually band together to buy them for their child's classrooms or lobby for corporate donations. The effectiveness is so clear that it's a no brainer.

I've been reading the literature. So far all I've seen are qualitative studies which amount to , "OMIGOSH, they are so radical".

Some do take the time to ask the pertinent questions.

1, do students with the interactive whiteboards actually perform better when you take everything else out? It's one thing to say, look, teachers like them, students like them, but are they actually more effective? Aside from pushing visual based learning - it's a problem.

Most of my teaching revolves around just the opposite - teaching students how to read more effectively and to decode words and sentences so that they can understand what is written. I spend most of my time teaching things like affixes, suffixes, having the students read through until they can read consistantly and well.

And I'm teaching grade 8s! These aren't stupid kids - they just haven't had teachers that bothered to actually teach them to read.

Just to be clear, we do more than make interactive whiteboards. We also make interactive response systems (so teachers can gauge students' understanding very quickly), classroom audio solutions (just in case there's, say, a deaf student...), remote learning tools (for, say, people who live in the middle of nowhere in BC), tablet software (iOS & Android), etc.

No, I understand it. My style is very unusual in this day and age, I know very few who do what I do - but it is effective... once the students are actually reading at grade level, they tend to crush their assessments.

[Asher]

Ben, I'm not going to bother trying to explain to you what you should already know as a teacher in 2012. Sorry.

FWIW, yes they do perform better. There's all kinds of studies. The most recent one I saw showed a ~16% improvement in student achievement with IWBs all else being equal. That is, if a student scored 50% without, they scored 66% with.

It all depends on teacher competence, though. IWBs can hurt student achievement if the teacher doesn't care to learn how to use them appropriately. They can become a distraction or just a static slide machine, depending on how inept the teacher is.

Look, even Texans love them.

[Wiglaf]

You'd be surprised how many "studies" front groups can generate, typically that starts when industries hit the $500 million - $1 billion mark.

[Jon Miller]

I think we can all agree that the teacher and the student are the two most significant inputs.

JM