Before class, I thought that I was pretty well-versed when it came to SMARTboards. I have had many experiences using them in classrooms, both for teaching and learning. As a kid, one of my jobs was to orient the SMARTboard when the teacher turned it on. We also used a lot of tools like the pen to write in answers and used them for learning activities such as matching games. Also, I have taught using them as well. I had the children use them for interactive activities having to do with the continents. I also used it to display an interactive aquarium when teaching about fish. So before formally learning about SMARTboards, I felt like I knew a lot about them. Before class, I thought SMARTboards were fascinating and were amazing in helping teachers teach students because they have so many great tools. I have always been fond of them. I am very curious and would like to learn more about specifically making the slides because I am not experienced in that and also about how to make the slides “fluid” or move really smoothly from one to another. I would also really like to learn about the available tools in the program in order to make my teaching more efficient.
Preparing for class included watching a 2 hour long instructional video on how to use the SMARTboard with all of its features and also making a 2-3 slide SMARTboard presentation. Through watching the video, I learned so much about everything having to deal with SMARTboards. I learned everything that I wanted to, like the tools and how to make slides. I learned tools such as use all of the pens, make things appear and disappear, add links to pictures/words, set up my preferences, change colors, and etc. The video we watched was step-by-step, making it extremely helpful and easy to understand. Almost all of the information about the SMARTboard makes sense to me. There are some tricky technicalities here and there, but for the most part I understand everything. Like one thing that does not make sense to me is when making the pictures appear, how do you make them disappear again? I found the answer to this problem in this YouTube video. Preparing for class and looking at this video made me really think about how useful these are in teaching and how I think it is necessary that every classroom has one because they are very beneficial to learning. They truly can be used in amazing and creative ways in order to get points across to students of all ages.
My understanding of SMARTboards has really changed from the beginning where I thought that I knew a lot to watching an informational “how to” video and having to make my own SMARTboard slide show presentation. In the beginning, I knew the basic things about SMARTboards such as using the pens and erasers, calibrating, how to move things, stuff like that. Know that I watched and read up on information about SMARTboards, I am pretty much an expert! I learned important skills like how to make SMART slides, how to make the slides interesting and creative with all of the different features that are offered, how to set my preferences, such things like that. Previously, I thought SMARTboards were super simple and easy to use but after my research, I found that they are actually really complex and need time in order to understand how to use them correctly and efficiently. It really changed my view and respect for teachers that I see who have really intricate SMARTboard slides and presentations because now that I know how hard it is, I see their efforts in their work. Working through all of this actually makes me really excited to get to use this someday in my own classroom!
Preparing for class included watching a 2 hour long instructional video on how to use the SMARTboard with all of its features and also making a 2-3 slide SMARTboard presentation. Through watching the video, I learned so much about everything having to deal with SMARTboards. I learned everything that I wanted to, like the tools and how to make slides. I learned tools such as use all of the pens, make things appear and disappear, add links to pictures/words, set up my preferences, change colors, and etc. The video we watched was step-by-step, making it extremely helpful and easy to understand. Almost all of the information about the SMARTboard makes sense to me. There are some tricky technicalities here and there, but for the most part I understand everything. Like one thing that does not make sense to me is when making the pictures appear, how do you make them disappear again? I found the answer to this problem in this YouTube video. Preparing for class and looking at this video made me really think about how useful these are in teaching and how I think it is necessary that every classroom has one because they are very beneficial to learning. They truly can be used in amazing and creative ways in order to get points across to students of all ages.
- Using Smart Boards in the Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015. This resource is an great website explaining all of the wonderful outcomes that come from using SMARTboards in the classroom to teach. It takes about how it can help accommodate to different learning styles, help students with learning strategies like notetaking, play educational games, help with brainstorming, etc. It gives a lot of great idea in how you can use your SMARTboard for the most effective teaching. I found this website useful because it lists the benefits to using a SMARTboard and also discusses what you can do to better improve your understanding on how to use the SMARTboard. Also it is really cool because you can sign up for a newsletter and they will send you the newest information about SMARTboard and teaching, which can be very useful if you like learning more and more about the new concepts and how to apply them to teaching. Overall, this is a very helpful source.
- Teaching with Smartboard.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015. This resource is awesome because it is a blog from teachers and other users of SMARTboards and information about them as well. First, this website allows you to sign up for classes to learn much more in depth about SMARTboards and how to get them to do what you want them to do. There are also videos posted to help those who have a question on how to perform specific tasks or how to use certain tools. There are also posts from teachers and other uses to help those who have questions and also comments about subjects like software or opinions on certain tools. This website is extremely useful because it gives you some insight about some of the tools, programs, and just some general information about SMARTboards from people who are in the same boat as you, which in my opinion can be extremely helpful. It is nice to hear what other people have to say about things when you are unsure about them or not sure how to do them. It is really helpful to have “how to” videos when you get stuck. Overall, this resource is very useful and I will be using this one in the future.
My understanding of SMARTboards has really changed from the beginning where I thought that I knew a lot to watching an informational “how to” video and having to make my own SMARTboard slide show presentation. In the beginning, I knew the basic things about SMARTboards such as using the pens and erasers, calibrating, how to move things, stuff like that. Know that I watched and read up on information about SMARTboards, I am pretty much an expert! I learned important skills like how to make SMART slides, how to make the slides interesting and creative with all of the different features that are offered, how to set my preferences, such things like that. Previously, I thought SMARTboards were super simple and easy to use but after my research, I found that they are actually really complex and need time in order to understand how to use them correctly and efficiently. It really changed my view and respect for teachers that I see who have really intricate SMARTboard slides and presentations because now that I know how hard it is, I see their efforts in their work. Working through all of this actually makes me really excited to get to use this someday in my own classroom!