Thursday, 14 May 2015
Discovering IWB
Increasingly, Interactive whiteboards (IWB) are gaining ground in the classrooms. They are a powerful tool in the teaching learning process adding interactivity and collaboration. When used innovatively IWB create a wide range of learning opportunities raising the level of student engagement, motivating students and promoting enthusiasm for learning. Moreover, I believe that our nowadays students, as digital natives, feel confident using this tool, which is always a positive aspect.
As far as my experience using IWB, I've just used them in one school where I did some substitutions. And I couldn't really use them as I wanted because I had to follow some instructions as a substitute. But my mother is an Infant education teacher, and she has an IWB on her classroom. And I’ve seen her using it a lot! She works with the Panasonic elite Panaboard Software and it is really useful for her. She creates lots of activities to do which are so interesting for her 5 year-old-students.
After our last session on ICT, I’ve been investigating and discovering how to use SMART Notebook, and eventually I’ve created two activities related with the topic of fairytales. They are thought to use in Year 4 Primary.
The first one, according to Bloom’s digital Taxonomy it’s a “Remember-Understand” activity, so it is a LOT (Low Ordered Thinking). I’ve created it with the Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0 and it focuses on the fairytales characters. As you can see, the activity consist on clicking the right picture according to the word that appears in the red rectangle. The fact of scoring, having limited time and adding sound effects will engage children.
The second activity, according to Bloom’s digital Taxonomy it’s a “Creating” activity, so it is a HOT (High Ordered Thinking). Using the vocabulary that students would have learnt doing the first activity, this time they would have to create a scene of a story. First, they would have to roll different dice, one for choosing the setting and two more for choosing the characters. Then, they would have to complete the sentences besides the dice.
Finally, students would have to create a scene in comic style using the vocabulary they have been working. This last part can be adapted to the level of every specific group and also to the level of each child, as everyone can complicate the dialogue as much as he wants to.
You can download and try these activities by clicking here.
To conclude, I want to say that using SMART Notebook software I’ve discovered lots of advantages and countless ideas have come to my mind. However, I’ve also fins some things that I don’t like so much. First, when you insert some images in your Notebook document, it slows down and it crashes sometimes (so be careful not to insert large images!). Second, I’ve found several limitations on the use of animations of objects. It happened to me that I had ideas in my mind that I would be able to do with Power Point and then I couldn’t do it with SMART Notebook.
Despite this, using SMART Notebook Software on IWB has been an enriching experience and it has caused me want to continue learning and creating things.
IWB_Mireia
Here I go again with a new experience!
This time is about Interactive White Boards (IWB) and I need to say that it was an incredible discovery. I have been seeing IWB in class during this past years but I had never used one. I have one in my class but I have never used it because I didn't know how. Another reason is because we don't have the appropriate program to use it.
During the class I discovered several ways to use this new toy for me and I really liked it, I couldn't stop thinking about activities that I want to practice with my 3 years old students. Because of that, my activities are related to some of the activities that I have done in class but in a manual way.
On one hand, you can see the activity called "Peter and the Wolf". If you don't know the story, each character has one instrument during the argument, and I wanted them to relate everything between them. Because I did not know how to create the perfect template, the one you can see can be related with the arrow that you can draw on the IWB.
On the other hand, you can see the activity called "What can you see?". As you can see, there is a picture under the grey curtain and the idea is to ask the students what they can see on the mysterious part. However, instead of removing the curtain, the main objective for this activity is to draw on top of the curtain.
I actually applied both activities and it
was an interesting experience. In the first activity I thought that relating
was going to be difficult for them. However it had the opposite reaction
because they related the pictures and each sound.
The second activity was an excellent idea.
Apart from them loving it, they had the perfect excuse to create in a different
place rather than a paper. I introduced this activity in hour philosophy hour
and they did it in groups of five to talk about the mysterious picture in order
to draw it.
Here is the link to the file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0XjKFxt21t2YS1ONUdyT0tYTEU&authuser=0
IWB, making the best of them!
Children are in contact with many technological
devices nowadays; their parents’ mobile phone or their own (depending on the
age), tablets, computers, laptops... Schools’ contexts are not different and
our students are in contact as well with all these devices but also with something
quite different which are Interactive whiteboards.
In my opinion they are very interesting and
dynamic resources to take advantage of. They allow us to use a large amount of
tools, programmes and resources or even create ours, which depending on the
case might be more meaningful and adapted to our students. They are also
attractive due to the fact that students can actively participate and interact
when doing activities in the class with these devices. By contrast, digital
whiteboards only allow teachers to project different materials but this is not
as much motivating as having the chance to “play” with the interactive ones.
My experience with Interactive Whiteboards is
quite limited. I’ve used them in different occasions but nobody has properly
taught me how to make the most of them; therefore the use I could have done was
not appropriate by a long shot.
Our last session helped me to learn more about
Interactive Whiteboards as well as learn about Notebook and how to use it to
design a varied sort of activities to develop English (or other content) in our
class. I’ve created two activities in which we can develop both LOTS and HOTS
of Bloom’s Taxonomy, specifically, understanding in the first one and creating
in the second one.
The first activity consists of finding the
hidden word. The students will need to choose a letter, click on it and see if
the hidden word contains the letter they have chosen. They will be able as well
to check the clue which will give them a description of the hidden word. This kind
of game can be adapted to any topic we decide to work on; I focused it on
describing adjectives and personal features including the names of all of us;
the idea is to do it with the names of our students so that it becomes
something interesting for them and customized.
The
second activity allows us to work on creativity as well as on personal features
and parts of the face. The students will create a new classmate by making a
compilation using different parts of their faces. They can create different
classmates so that everybody can participate using a part of his/her face:
eyes, nose, mouth, hair.... Once they will have created the new classmate they
will record themselves introducing this new character. It is important to
mention here, that this activity can be adapted according to any topic, for instance
animals. Another possible option is to create a new character/pet using
different objects: food, toys, etc.
Hope you find them interesting!
Cheers
IWB - Interactive Whiteboard
When we
were little none of us thought that one day the blackboards and dusty chalk
would be replaced by a big screen, let alone that students would interact with
it.
The use of
the IWB is making life easier for the teachers- we can all remember our English
specialists going around with a lot of physical resources and the CD player.
For
students the use of IWB means that they can a better understanding of the
concepts that we teach them and they also can perceive the world around them in
a more specific way.
My
experience of using this resource is very positive. For a year and a half I
have had the chance to use it in my
daily teaching and I can say that it is wonderful to see the children relate
the key concepts to meaningful things.
I created two activities that belong to the same category of Blooms Taxonomy which is Low Order Thinking Skills (LOTS).
The first one it would suitable for children of year 3. It consist of guessing and writing the name of one animal that responds to an specific clue which the game is providing.
This game is a kind of competition because the child earn points if he or she answers correctly but at the same time the child can loose some points if he or she doesn't give the correct answer.
The other activity consist of making a draw following the descriptions. The child needs to understand every single word of the description to achieve a correct drawing.
Exploring the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB)
The creation of the first internet protocol in the early 1960s and the introduction of personal computers as mass-market consumer electronic devices in 1977 are two relatively early events that changed how we learn and access information. However, in less than four decades new technologies have made their way into the world and have changed human lifestyle at dizzying speed.
A month ago I was talking with two friends in their thirties about the use of laptops, interactive whiteboards (IWB) and tablets in schools. Strangers to the educational reality, these two friends listened to this information as if it was a series of science fiction novels. They were shocked to hear that textbooks and classic school chalkboards are very often replaced by laptops and IWB.
"The rapid and constant pace of change in technology is creating both opportunities and challenges for schools."(Education Week, 2015) I strongly believe that IWB are a powerful tool when use properly, which add interactivity, collaboration and motivation to daily classes. Therefore, I am happy to have the opportunity to learn how to use them to their full potential.
To explore the possibilities of IWB as pedagogical tools, I have created three different activities. These activities are designed around Bloom's Revised Taxonomy classification for different learning objectives.
 |
| Bloom's Revised Taxonomy |
1. Create your own character
Please click here to download this activity
Age/ Level
This activity has been created to work with primary education students. However, depending on the level of the class this activity could be used with all ages.
This activity aims:
- To review content vocabulary.
- To use the content vocabulary in a sentence.
- To create children's literature characters who break stereotypes.
Competences:
- Communication in a foreign language.
- Digital competence.
- Social and civic competences.
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
This activity offers an opportunity to enhance both lower- and higher-order thinking skills.
Lower order thinking skills.
- Level III: Applying (using the knowledge in a variety of ways): This activity provides an opportunity to apply, use and practice the content vocabulary in a sentence (context-meaningful use).
- Level VI: Creating (create new products or points of view): This activity gives an opportunity to randomly combine the names of different characters in children’s literature, with adjectives and places.
Suitable Topic
This activity has been created within a project called "Alternative endings". This project's aim is to: encourage children to think about the stereotypes perpetuated by Children’s Literature, to awaken their critical thinking and creative imagination, to teach them break down stereotypes, and to produce a modernized versions of children’s literature stories.
How to play
Children will roll the dice and complete the sentences with the given words. At the same time, a list of characters can be created with the new characters provided by these random combinations. Later, a series of activities can be done with this list. For instance, the creation of a new story can be done.
2. Parts of a flower.
Please click here to download this activity
Age/ Level
This activity has been created to work with primary education students. However, depending on the level of the class this activity could be used with all ages.
This activity aims:
- To introduce the content vocabulary: Flower, stem, leaves and roots.
- To provide information about a flower and its different parts.
- To help review and study the content vocabulary: Flower, stem, leaves and roots.
Competences:
- Communication in a foreign language.
- Digital competence.
- Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology.
- Learning to learn.
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
This activity offers an opportunity to enhance lower order thinking skills.
Lower order thinking skills.
- Level II: Understanding (Explain idea or concept): This activity gives the opportunity to explain and recognize the different parts of the flower.
- Level I Remembering (Remember or recall information): This activity gives the opportunity to recall the different parts of the flower and help students check if they remember them.
This activity has been created within a science project. This project's aim is to learn about pollination of flowers and the importance of pollination in agriculture.
How to play/ use
In future classes, this same activity can be use to help review, study and evaluate content and vocabulary.
3. Back from holiday.
Please click here to download this activity
Age/ Level
This activity has been created to work with primary education. However, depending on the level of the class this activity could be used with all ages.
This activity aims:
- To encourage written production.
- To prompt oral production.
- To contextualize vocabulary like:
- Beach, mountain, village, city and country names.
- Family, friend, best friend, mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, auntie, dog.
- Swimming, playing, sunbathing, eating, sightseeing.
* Alternative and spontaneous vocabulary which suits the topic.
- To provide a space for sharing personal experiences.
Competences:
- Communication in a foreign language.
- Digital competence.
- Social and civic competences.
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
This activity offers an opportunity to enhance both lower- and higher-order thinking skills.
Lower order thinking skills.
- Level III: Applying (using the knowledge in a variety of ways): The activity gives the opportunity to apply, use and practice the vocabulary learned during previous school years
- Level I: Remembering (Remember or recall information): The activity gives the opportunity to remember and review vocabulary from previous school years.
- Level II: Understanding (Explain idea or concept): The activity gives the opportunity to understand new vocabulary and concepts.
- Level VI: Creating (create new products or points of view). The activity gives the students the opportunity to create a piece of text to talk about their holidays.
Suitable Topic
This activity is included in a package of activities which has been created to start the school year. These activities provide a space to share personal experiences in English and to start the school year in a meaningful way.
How to play
With the included help tool, guidance from the teacher and peer assistance each student will fill in the spaces including a chosen holiday picture and mark the destination in the map provided. Then, the student will talk about their holidays in front of their classmates and teacher.
First contact with IWB
Last
session was my first technical contact with the IWB. I had the chance to use it
in some expositions in the university, but I only touched the screen to pass
the slide, so I had no idea about all that you can do with IWB.
In the
kindergarten that I’m actually working they don’t have this resource because of
the age, we only have TV. But after the last session I can imagine different
activities to do with the very little ones.
Before
the last session I didn’t know how to use it and all the different kind of
activities you are able to do. I think that SMART notebook gives you lots of
facilities to allow you to create lots of different activities for different
levels of teaching, and different ways of learning, thinking.. I was very
shocked about how easy it can be to create a good, creative and complete
activity.
I created
different types of activities related to the animals, depending of Blooms Taxonomy. One of them is related to the Low Order Thinking Skills (LOTS), and
the other is related with the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).
LOTS
activities:
The first
one it will be perfect for P3 students. They will have to find the pair of the
other animal. So in these activities they will do two pairs of animals. It can
be done by many ways and for different ages, for example doing pairs with the
animals and their habitat.
Another
activity can be the following one. They have to relate the picture of the
animal with their characteristic, in this case the tiger is a wild animal, and
the dog is a pet animal. This activity can be addressed for a 4th
grade students.
A more
complicated but it’s also a “LOTS” activity consist on classify the different
animal images depending if they live in the savannah or in the sea.
HOTS activity:
Now it’s
the turn for my HOTS activity. It’s addressed for a 4th grade
students, because this activity involves more complicated different aspects.
They have two different backgrounds: the savannah and the sea. And then in the
savannah background it is a shell (an element from the sea) and in the sea
there is a stone (an element that can be found in the savannah). They have to
transform the shell and the stone to an animal that lives in each background,
so they have to transform the shell into an animal that lives in the savannah and
the stone into a sea animal. It involves a lot the creativity, but under the image
and the drawing they will have to describe the animal that they imagine.
It’s a
bit complicated activity but that’s why I have done an example, to guide the
students how they have to do the activity and give them some ideas and inspiration.
I opened
a folder in my dropbox with a pdf and the following document that contains all
the activities. Feel free to download it doing click here.
Hope you like
it, and better if I inspired you to do more activities!
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