SIG 4 IWB

This article explains how IWB can benefit the needs of all types of learners. It focuses on using IWB and other technology to make accommodations of special needs students. It touches base on the fact that teachers feel overwhelmed with the increasing work load of general and special education students. In reference to this, IWB are able to create a sense of flexibility that allows teachers to make quick and effective adaptations with the click of a button.

This discusses the pros and cons of IWB on student collaboration with the studies conducted. These studies test if Interactive White Boards can be altered from their teacher-led purpose to encourage collaboration among students.

This article discusses a study done to see how Interactive White Boards affect student engagement within the classroom. The results of this study showed that students enjoy using the whiteboard and the use of an IWB as an instructional tool did affect student engagement positively, mainly because of visual potential. Although this information seems like having an IWB in every classroom is a 'no brainer', schools have to take many factors into mind such as funds, safety, teacher interest, and available technology training.

Read the same article earlier today. Interesting!

This is book written by Howard Pitler, Elizabeth R. Hubbell, Matt Kuhn and Kim Malenoski This book with a foreward by Robert J. Marzano explains researched based instructional strategies that have proven to be effective uses of technology in educational settings. The authors are a distinguished list of experts in educational technology.

This article is a research synthesis. This woman looked into articles and compared their opinions and results on student motivation using an IWB. Specifically, she found that student motivation will increase if teachers provide students with many opportunities to interact with the IWB, use engaging effects within the IWB, and allow children to use multiple senses within the lesson.

Includes a wide variety of .pdf graphic organizers to help students classify ideas and communicate effectively.

This PDF document was put together by SMART Technologies, which is important to note, as there might be some conflict of interest in reporting factual research versus making money on their interactive white boards. In any case, after reading through it, it seems to me that a lot of the information is plausible. Specific topics of interest include how the IWB increases student engagement and motivation, as well as how it can be sued to adapt to various learning styles and specials needs.

Here is another site with IWB activities. This is aimed at elementary level.

This resource has information that describes what a voicethread is and how you can plan and create one. It also includes links to other websites for information, handouts, examples of voicethreads, and an annotated list of image sources that can be used when creating a voicethread. This is a great place to start for an overview of this web tool.

This is a unique presentation software adding depth as a dimension and providing a nonlinear conceptual tool for organizing thought and presenting information. Its flexibility affords multiple uses for IWB use in a classroom setting.

This website provides audio reading, games, and puzzles that correlate to the books listed. My school district uses these books to enforce weekly vocabulary. I enjoy using hangman, crossword puzzles, interactive flashcards, word searches, and multiple choice questions within my own classroom. Students, teachers, and families can access this website in order to study and interact with vocabulary.

This is a vocabulary website that allows you to create your own interactive flash cards to help you learn terms and definitions. There are also tests and spelling activities available for your terms. Lastly, there is a game where you drag the definition to the term and they will disappear when correct. What a fun twist on paper flash cards!

Dr. Marzano's research laboratory. He is often considered the IWB "guru" in completing research about the use and impact of IWB and how students respond.

Skype in the classroom is a website community designed to connect teachers, classrooms, and learning all around the world. You can submit a project idea or browse projects already submitted and consider joining. A great resource to connect and collaborate world wide with projects in all subject areas.

A social website geared for collaboration centered around the effective use of iwb's in the classroom. * Requires a login *

Although I posted SMART resources in previous posts, these resources are specifically designed for vocabulary instruction. Since I am focusing on vocabulary within Interactive White Boards, these pre-made lessons will allow me to adapt the words and use these interactive board games, activities, matching forms, etc. in my own classroom.

Wordle is a program that allows you to enter words and make 'word clouds'. These word clouds can be used for vocabulary within Math and Social Studies units or to demonstrate a students prior knowledge of a topic. This could also be used for a spin on the traditional word wall. The more you enter a certain word, the larger it appears in the cloud. By creating a Wordle 'word cloud', children will be exposed to vocabulary words they have seen or will be introduced to. This website allows you to be creative and use words to make a piece of art in which you can share, show, and use within the classroom.

An e-learning company dedicated to providing engaging science simulations and labs. This site has a virtual dissection of frogs for middle and high school students.

This is an excellent example of how to use a Prezi in Langugae Arts - specifically in narrowing a research report topic. Its use of zooming in precisley aligns with the thought process we ask students to use when narrowing their topics.

This is a guest post by Caro Pinto, the John Hay Whitney Family Papers Processing Archivist at Yale University Library. Follow her on Twitter at @caropinto.--@jbj]An Archivist Walks into a Classroom… Many archivists spend their professional lives working in basements preparing diaries, letters, and photographs for use by students and faculty. This is first hand account of someone using Prezi successfully for instructional purposes at the college level.