Smart Boards Replacing Chalks

I used to sneak into the classroom during recess to get my hands on the pink, green, blue, white and yellow chalks by the chalkboard and start painting my 'Picasso' on it ... (Of course, back then we didn't have much to spare for watercolors or pastels to paint on nice drawing paper.) And, I just love to volunteer and wipe clean the chalkboard for my teachers with that dirty old rag they gave me!

Time has turned around last decade to offer artists like me with 'markers' that I could doodle on what they call the 'Whiteboard'. When whiteboards took over, I was quite sad to say goodbye to my chalks...

In recent years, chalkboards has been replaced by a higher 'breed' called 'Smartboard'. And, I am telling you, they are really smart, not only that they can let you write without any chalks or markers, they let you project on them, and save and print from them.

Let's take a look at what kids are doing with Smartboards at Columbia University's elementary school ...
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By David Cohn| Also by this reporter 02:00 AM Jun, 09, 2005

"It is a must-have technology," said Shawn Mishler, director of communications technology at Columbia's privately run elementary school. "My dream school would have 7-foot-diagonal, in-wall units in every classroom. That, however, requires a lot of in-wall space, which is not practical in Manhattan."

During a recent visit to the school, students in a third-grade class used the board to demonstrate solutions to math problems. The children drew on the board with their fingertips and explained to the class how they came up with their answers.

As each child sketched their answers, the solutions were saved as separate files on the teacher's computer. The 8-year-old students were eager to use the board and show the class what they had learned.

"It really helps with motivation," said Eliza Bang, the class teacher. "As a platform for encouraging group work, it's amazing."

Bang uses the board to display a wide range of learning materials on her computer, from web pages to video clips. It is also used as a lunch-time reward for students: The children watched Black Beautyon the same screen that was used earlier for geography.

Clickers in Classrooms

Read this article from Wired News on how elementary school teachers apply clickers in classroom. Right - we are talking about fifth graders, who are already using the newest available technology day-in and day-out! Personally, I do not see technology as intimidating, but my question is how can we, the 'immigrants' bridge the gap? The race is long and deems not easy- for a lot of people.
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By Associated Press | Also by this reporter
12:40 PM Jul, 04, 2005

An honors student at Ohio State, a kid in a fifth-grade science class in Kentucky and a deaf student in England all begin their learning experience the same way: with their hand wrapped around a remote control.

Hundreds of colleges, high schools and even middle schools are using "clickers" -- as even manufacturers call them. A moderator can pose a question and within seconds the respondents' answers are anonymously logged on a laptop at the front of the room.

"This is the MTV era," said Neal H. Hooker, an Ohio State professor who uses the technology in his agricultural economics course. "It's the instant-gratification generation. They don't like doing a quiz and hearing the responses in three days. They want to see if they've got it right or wrong right then."

Feelin' like a 'Digital Alien' more than a 'Digital Immigrant'

I was preparing my training materials on Yahoo!Messenger and got really excited about the new PC to Phone feature in addition to the free PC to PC calls I have been using for a long time.

As I was feeling i am ahead of the game bringing this technology to my fellow co-workers next month, my daughter simply thought i should not make too big a deal about this. Of course, the digital natives talk in a different tone than we do. The way I look at how I use technology compared to the younger generations, if I am not digital 'aliens' to them, at least I could call myself a 'digital immigrants'.