Aside from using the Promethean board in our classroom as a projection screen we really had not used it very much until this week. This week we started to learn how to use the Promethean board, and other interactive white boards, to their full potential. We have learned what an interactive smart board is and how useful it can be in the classroom.
Interactive white boards are more than just normal projectors for duplicating what is happening on a computer screen. With an interactive white board the board becomes the computer and allows you do to many cool things! You can use an interactive white board with any program on a computer and use it to project the image on the large screen and then use the pen as the mouse and navigate the computer without having to go back and forth to the computer. You can also use the software that comes with the board and create interactive presentations.
In our work with the Promethean boards we are using ActivInspire software to create presentations. With this software we are learning how to make interactive presentations. It works a lot like Powerpoint, but has many more features and options that make it interactive. With this program you can create elements on the individual slides that move or change with input. This makes it an especially valuable teaching tool. Teachers are able to call students to the board and let them interact and answer questions on the presentation. The students may find the answer by erasing a certain portion of the slide, moving an object to uncover the answer, or they can sort items that the teacher has on the slide.
When it comes to using an interactive white board in the classroom the possibilities are really unlimited. When used with the correct software they can be implemented into a classroom in ways that will benefit both the students and the teacher. They are becoming more and more common in classrooms, and it is likely that most schools have some sort of interactive white boards in them to some capacity. The boards are such a useful tool that it is hard to imagine going back to a classroom that only has a chalkboard or dry erase board. I hope that by learning about interactive white boards now I will be better prepared to use them in my future classroom, and may even be able to help other teachers that are not taking full advantage of the boards in their classes.
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