Wiki Topic Essay

Imagine that you have received 2 new pieces of equipment (technology) to use in your classroom. You may choose any of the items you saw in this week's presentation, websites to review or your textbook chapters.
1. Describe the 2 pieces of equipment that you have received. Include information about the basic functions as well as practical classroom applications for each item.
2. How will you learn to use these 2 pieces of equipment? What resources or websites might you visit in order to learn more about how to successfully integrate these new tools into your classroom?
Please write at least 3 complete paragraphs of information for this journal entry. Be sure to cite any sources you referenced to formulate your response.

The two pieces of equipment I chose are the SmartBoard and Laptop.

SmartBoard: The SmartBoard is basically an enormous touch screen. You can function virtually everything with just the touch of your hands. As for basic functions, setting up a SmartBoard is very easy; all you have to do is connect one end of the USB cable into your laptop, and the other end into the SmartBoard--- a green light will appear on the bottom right of the screen to indicate proper setup. You will also need to connect both ends of the blue cable (provides the image) to the laptop and screen as well; don't forget to plug in the power cable, too!
Moving on to the educational benefits of the SmartBoard. In addition to educational, the technological benefits are endless; you can view websites, tutorials, images, videos, writing and drawing software, as well as an infinite number of teaching software--- all the while being able to use your fingertips to draw, write, or mark on it as you would a dry erase board! The SmartBoard can allow up to 4 individual persons touches at a time, making more time to collaborate in groups and less time taking turns. With multitouch gestures and object awareness, students are introduced to a new and exciting way to learn; SmartBoard enables them to make intuitive gestures such as rotate and zoom, switch seamlessly between writing with a pen, erasing with the palm of your hand, and moving objects. There's no need for buttons at all; you can access on-screen menu's and click on anything with just your fingertips. I believe this is a very beneficial tool to learning; it integrates all the good of a PC/Laptop and dry erase board into one technologically enhanced machinery. Teachers have the opportunity to present power point slides with students, review sites that can be beneficial to lesson plans, and open doors to new and exciting ways to express creativity with students on a group or individual bases. The possibilities are endless.
Integrating the SmartBoard into lessons I believe depends on how tech. savvy someone is. Once you've gotten down the basic functions, there's not much to it. SmartBoard's come with manuals that teach you how to set up and use your board; there are also classes available for teachers on how to effectively use and integrate the board into lessons (sign me up!). I personally would probably research online any additional information I may need to learn on how to use the SmartBoard.
Sources: http://smarttech.com/us/Solutions/Education+Solutions/Products+for+education/Interactive+whiteboards+and+displays/SMART+Board+interactive+whiteboards/885ix+for+education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCfmJCSAG70 http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Tidbits_in_Tech:_Integration_in_Education/Smart_Boards_in_the_Elementary_School https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_106c9fm8j (56 tips for using a SmartBoard)

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