Who do I believe? Where can I get good advice? How often do I hear this. Just last week I had to principals and a manager from an ICT cluster asked me the very same questions.
They were after independent advice on ICT purchases and planning and could never get an answer as everyone has a vested interest in some product.
To begin with, I am often asked. Which is the best interactive whiteboard. Promethean! Smartboard! Teamboard! How can you tell which is the best. Most consultants have a lean to a particular board as they know someone or have the chance to get commission or favours for their referrals.
I guess that makes me a little different. I do know someone that sells IWB’s, however I know someone that sells every different brand. When asked recently which board I preferred, I had to refer to the current election and say I was like a swing voter. My opinion changes as new features are developed.
I think the Teamboard is a great entry level board. They are slowly developing online resources and the boards have a much lower entry price. Sales and support is very good.
Smartboard has always had an advantage for me, as it allows children to touch and feel the board. To my way of thinking, children using the interactive whiteboard is where engagement happens. As my good friend Gary Stager has often said, “I think we have moved back to the dark ages of chalk and talk. Engaged teachers at the front of the class using the IWB, while students watch on with boredom glued to their face”. I see this all too often. There are times when teachers need to demonstrate using the board, but it should not become a screen for a data projector. It’s touching the board above the use of a pen enhances this experience for children.
But I did say I was a swing voter and the new ACTIVarena from Promethean has just jumped ahead for me. Built using technology similar to the I-phone and I-touch. For me, this is where real collaboration occurs. When students can use this technology to work together, to create, to interact and share ideas. This is exciting collaboration.
The technology will keep changing and my preference will move with it. The main thing I suggest with IWB’s is to purchase them with the built on projector and boom arm. Promethean and Smartboard both supply these and they reduce shadows, movement (out of sync) and much more.
Where do we get good advice? Should we have labs, should we disperse computers, should we have laptops and trolleys, should we be a laptop program? I could argue for and against all of these concepts. Each school is different and the vision, leadership, technical support, funding models, professional development needs, staff skill level, and classroom designs will be a key factor. Too often we have principals or administrators making decisions without really being informed about the best way to use technology and how children really use technology.
With children fully immersed in technology, this is not a time for schools to be playing games with children’s education. No wonder the disconnect with technology often occurs when students arrive at school. Engaged curriculum needs engaging learning environments.
