Field+Based+Activities+Reflection+II.E

Standard II.E is to provide teachers with a variety of strategies to use to manage student learning in a tehcnology-enhanced environment and suppor them as they implement the strategies (Williamson & Redish, 2009). SInce the music classrooms at my school have no projectors, I decided to find out how much it would cost to have one installed. I was surprised to find that I could get an ultra short throw SMART projector for not too much more than a projector. A SMART interactive projector turns the existing white board into an interactive white board. Sweet! What makes these so attractive is that teachers don't have to give up the real estate required by SMART boards; They can keep their traditional white board to write on as the wish. I called our the rep, who set up a demonstration and training. Now, it was my turn to develop some lessons to demonstrate how this piece of equipment would be beneficial to the music teachers.

Why use an interactive white board? One teacher says “I can insert links to the Internet, or go right to a streaming video on the Web,” she explains. “During a lesson, if a student asks, 'What about this?' I can say, 'Let's take a look' and go online to view it, instead of just talking about it. Eighty percent of us are visual learners" (Cruickshank, 2007).

That's just what I did for this lesson. I spent a great deal of time playing with the SMART software so I could use as many features as possible. I embedded video, added weblinks, sounds. specialized music features, and more. I showed how using an interactive white board could bring so much more information to the classroom in short order, and make it possible to do a quick web search for more information. I showed her how she can use the interactive white board just like a traditional white board, but save the image. No worries that it would be erased.

This was all great fun. I recently received the price, including installation. The cost of installation is substantial - it doubles the cost of the projector. But, it's doable. I think the music department has done wtihout for long enough, so I'm ordering one.

References

Cruickshank, D. (2007). A clean slate: Interactive whiteboard makes lessons snazzy. Edutopia. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from []

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). I//STE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do//. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education.