Due July 15
Read the article Education Transformation that Works linked from the wikispaces page. Comment on whether you think this is a marketing ploy for the Promethean boards or if you think the five essential learning principles are really critical in education today. Be sure to state your reasons why.
I do not think the Promethean Board is just a marketing ploy. I think they understand the technological capabilities of students today and they are aware of how the students learn. When teachers incorporate Promethean products into their classroom they are accommodating for all the different learners in their classroom. The instruments help motivate students and help reach all students despite their learning style. Visual learners can play around with different images, there are sound systems, and kinesthetic students can get out of their desks and participate on the classroom board.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Promethean’s learning principles. Students take their preexisting knowledge and connect it with new concepts. Students are social learners and learn from their peers while they work in collaborative settings. Students are diverse and each one learns differently. Teachers have to present lessons in various ways to reach the needs of all students. Students learn and remember the information best when the teacher makes it relevant to the student’s lives. Incorporating digital media into lessons helps students see the relevance of the material in their everyday lives. Immediate feedback is important for students to learn new material because they can fix incorrect work. Also, right after the students learn the information is when they are most interested in the information and will remember what was correct and what was incorrect.
Before reading the article, I had to find out what the Promethian Board was. (I’m embarrassed to reveal the first idea that came to mind. But, yes, it did involve some old guys over in Greece). Anyway, I found a thread on protechers.net and, apparently, teachers are in love with the Promethian Board! Some even said they liked it better than the SMART Board.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I haven’t seen a SMART Board in action. I wanted to check one out a while back. So, I asked our one of our tech guys if any of our classrooms had them. When he finally got done laughing, he told me, “No.” Two teachers on the thread mentioned that Promethian Boards have been around longer, and are more durable than Smartboards. I’m thinking that’s probably true since the one in our original classroom was only good for hanging Dr. G’s notes on it and the one in rm. 121 isn’t working :-(
Sara mentioned “immediate feedback” in using Promethians. Another teacher in the thread talked about his students using a handheld device called a “vote” to take quizzes/test. (I assume its proper name is “ActiVote” as mentioned in the article.) The results can be downloaded into an Excel spreadsheet and the teacher can see the results instantly. That’s really cool!
In reading this article, what stood out to me the most were the five essential learning principles that Promethean addresses. I completely agree that learning builds off previous experience, takes place in a social setting, is taught is a variety of contexts that supports all learners, is connected and relevant and requires active feedback. To me, this is essentially what good education is all about. However,implementation of technology that allows this to take place is a wonderful thing. Here is where I think the system of education in America can often go very, very wrong.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I do not blame teachers for this. Sure there will always be some teachers who resist technology and new teaching methods,but all in all most do come around. I think that so many teachers that do resist change is because they are either unfamiliar with technology or are afraid to use it. I am sure many teachers also look at the failure rate they have had with technology in the past, like Sarah mentioned. Or perhaps they like the idea but are in a district that simply doesn't have the funds to implement technology as it should be used.
I think that all that Promethean can do sounds fantastic. But until we accept and FUND a massive overhaul to all of America's schools to allow every student access to such wonderful technology, we will simply be reading about wonderful technology with amazing capabilities, not seeing it in the majority of our schools.
In response to what Christine posted...I just wanted to point out that most schools are getting the funds for technology. I work at a small catholic school and people are stunned at how technologically advanced we are. Every classroom has a SMARTboard, we have laptop carts, and all the 8th graders have their own netbooks.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of schools are doing away with some budgets and certain programs, but they are gaining more funding for technology in the classroom. There are several grants that aid in funding for new equipment. It is a lot of work to apply for grants, especially for the teachers because of several workshops they have to attend. Of course, it's all worth it to ensure students get the best education possible.
Like Sarah, I had to investigate what the Promethian Board actually does. Prometheus, in mythology, stole the secret of fire from the Gods and gave it to mankind. Although the Gods punished him brutally, he changed civilization.
ReplyDeleteI think that children today have a much shorter attention span than we did growing up. Most play games where they can interact immediately with technology. Then when they go to school, it seems so dry. In the interest of teaching in an inclusive classroom, I went online to see if people had written about how the Promethian Board works in classrooms where children learn differently. The answer was that teachers liked the accessories that enabled children in wheelchairs to work on it, and that it was successful in deaf classrooms. I think that I agree with Sara that school systems will find funding for technology, because they need to get the students more involved.
There is an active argument going online at proteacher.net between the use of SMART Boards and Promethians. Visit the site and you'll observe one of the biggest "pissing" matches I've ever seen. It's really funny how emotional people get about their equipment. I have been trying to discover what is different about these products. They have been struggling to top each other for several years. This competition is probably healthy, since it has been stimulating the development of new software.
The Promethian is based in England (they have 70% of the UK market), and have special pens that can write,
two at a time, on the Board. They sell to educational markets only. The SMART Board is based in Canada, sells to many markets, and people can use fingers to write on the board, instead. But it seems only one person can write at a time. Some people believe this to be an advantage (no pens to lose). Some people prefer the pens. People also differ on the subject of which company provides better support.
I think that either Board will be beneficial to the classroom, and teachers will need good training to use them effectively. Schools need to include professional development into the budget, too. While we're on the subject, can we get training on either Board as part of this course? Oh, please!
PS. I got so excited about writing, I neglected to respond to the question. I believe that the article is a marketing tool, in fact I found it posted on the Company's website. Yet I believe the five essential learning principles outlined are important to learning. But the Promethian Board isn't the only product that will help teachers, so the article seems to me to be an advertisement.
ReplyDelete(Oops! Kate, I forgot to respond to the questions also :-0)
ReplyDeleteLike Kate, I think the article is a marketing tool (with a quick plug for Marzano). But, it worked for me. It caused me to read up on what a Promethian Board is and now I want one!
Also, I definitely feel that the 5 learning principals are critical today. And these principals summarize ideas that we’ve been learning in our past few classes. To name a few; knowledge + experience + reflection = growth, we are social beings who need social interaction, people learn in different ways and we must adjust our teaching methods to appeal to the individual learning styles found in our classrooms, and CHANGE IS INEVITABLE!
Yes, I think this is a marketing ploy for the Promethian boards....AND.....I think that the five essential learning principles are ALSO really critical for education today. I'm with Kate and Sarah. But I've studied Marazano, and I really like his ideas and recommendations.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the theories of Vygotsky, and firmly agree that students are social learners primarily. Promethian boards, as well as Smart boards can greatly facilitate the processes allowing them to work interactively and in groups.
I also agree with 1, 3, 4, and 5! They make SENSE and implementing them as the basis of instruction will make learning more effective.
The one thing that came up first and foremost in my mind was the same concern as Christine's....money!!! More and more funds are being made available, it's true, but these programs are EXPENSIVE!!! However, TV sets used to be expensive, too...maybe as technology becomes even more obiquitous, it will become less expensive.....one can dream!!!!
I also forgot to "answer the question" specifically. I agree with what pretty much everyone has said. It is indeed a marketing tool but an effective one. As I said in my last post I whole-heartedly agree with statements made in the article about how we learn. And as Sarah said, it correlates directly with what we have been learning about for the last several classes. Children are active, social learners who learn best when they can make a meaningful experience out of what they are learning. I think the use of technology meets children where they are and can accomplish all of those things.
ReplyDeleteWhether you call them Smartboards, interactive boards, or taken from this article "Promethean Interactive Whiteboards" using interactive boards is a much needed strategy that promotes student learning in today's 21st century classrooms.
ReplyDeleteThe article discusses the five principals of learning and how Promethean boards can enhance these best practices. Since the article using a brandname, research data, links to sites for additional interactive tools, and satisfied teachers; I'm drawn to the conclusion that this article is in fact an advertisment for the company above. I believe the article did a good job educationing and advertising the boards at the same time.
I have some knowlegde on how to use these boards because at my school we have a few per grade as well as many insevices on how to implement our Language ARts and Social Studies programs online using the boards.
What I liked about the article was how it explained the five principles and how the boards enhance prior knowledge by linking students backgroup information with visauls. The boards also make learning interactive through the many games and activies you can make or access through district programs or the internet. All lessons are interactive and the students can build their ideas on the touch screen. The boards utilize all learning styles in one lesson that is well prepared and saved in a file. One of my favorite ways of using smartboards is how you can differeniate each lesson to fit the needs of the classroom. Multiple activites can be done on the board for one lesson from easy to difficult in a matter of minutes instead of the old boring workbook pages. This helps students at all levels develop higher order thinking skills that allows each lesson to become fun and exciting while moving abtract information to concrete with just a touch of the screen.
Finally the best kind of feedback and active evaluation is immediate. The interactive boards promote this in many ways. One of my favorite ways is how completed lessons can be saved and reviewed with the class as often as possible. Also, my districts curriculum is online and we use powerpoint Jeopardy games as a review prior to unit tests. The kids love touching the screen and taking "Air polution for $300". If you district doesn't have a license to BrainPop its something very worthwhile to look into for your classroom. So many other activies are available using these boards that I would never have the time to give examples of all of them. My district has a webpage that has each lesson already develop for our entire LA curriculum that are specially made for the smartboards.
What I like the most is how excited the students get when the board is used and how they become active participants in the lesson.
After reading the article and understanding more what a Promethian Board was, I immediately thought it was definitely a marketing ploy. The writer certainly attempts to sway the audience to get Promethian technology in their classrooms, because we are not teaching 21st Century skills without it. Even though I do believe the article is a marketing ploy, the writer used important learning principles that relate to any classroom. The principles are research-based and are principles that I have learned throughout my undergrauate and graduate programs. I believe that Promethian included these principles in the article in order to sway those interested in research-based curriculum and material for their schools. That said, I think that although the article is a marketing ploy, it targets five critical principles important to education, regardless if you use Promethian or not.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe this is a marketing ploy. Yes, it is promoting the Promethean Boards but it is being promoted by five learning principles. These five learning principles are indeed relevant in todays classroom. I feel they are the basis and new age thinking of educations today.
ReplyDeleteIn every class and article we have read, you will find these learning pricples. They promote motivation, engagment, relevance of content. If the Promethean Boards can help teachers in these three areas then they should be utilized in the classroom.
I do not think this is a marketing ploy. These “boards” are great way to get the students involved and interacting with one another. I agree that these 21st century Promethean’s product design work hand in hand with the five principals. The various learning styles in a single classroom can be addressed using these interactive learning and can provide an immediate discussion/ feedback. Connecting the information as its relevant to the students can only enhance their learning. Empowering the teacher to be creative with their lessons can benefit the class and keep everyone engaged. These “boards” are a great tool for connecting with the students.
ReplyDeleteBut as everything else, funding is needed to keep the technology up to date and compete with other countries. Not all school districts can compete with the techno- driven society/ world.
For those teachers that can use these “boards” and technology- how lucky to be able to connect with students and hopefully make the lessons meaningful.
Regardless of its shameless plug for the Promethean boards, the article "hits the nail on the head" when it comes to the principles that should form the foundation of modern education. Principles that, as the article states, should be the basis for any product designed for classroom use.
ReplyDeleteWhile each principle is important, for me the 2 which are most fundamental are the relation of new material to existing knowledge and the collaboration amongst peers. Relating to the material makes it stick, effectively encoding it and ensuring its storage in long term memory. In my college classroom, this principle underlies the inclusion of pop culture to demonstrate psychological concepts.
Peer based learning, for better or for worse, has become the M.O. of the students at my university. While the resultant understanding is the goal, their engagement in the process (as they self-report) is to mediate their professors' inability to teach. Despite this, evidence supports that individuals learn by teaching and through the use of self-quizzing. Peer interaction affords them the opportunity to understand and apply and also assess their own learning.
Having no knowledge or experience with these tools, I too had to dig deeper. ActivExpression's use of alternative answer formats and self paced learning are the kinds of responsive and attentive classroom strategies so lacking in many educational settings. The real world does not offer scenarios easily answered by a,b,c,or d. Assessing student knowledge of concepts in this way does not reflect their true understanding.
In a world in which participation counts as a percentage of one's grade, ActiVote permits those least likely to speak an opportunity to be heard. It also aids a professor in a large lecture hall in his/her atttempt to quickly and accurately spot check comprehension.
These 2 examples are part of what the article states is an aim of educational reform: present new information in new ways.
Advertising plain and simple… but does the product work for the reasons stated? Probably. Having never used a Promethian, SmartBoard or any other electronic “board,” I have nothing to compare it to. However, the five principles mentioned in the article are sound; I have read about, studied and experienced them first hand, so if Promethian addresses them, it probably works. The question is - Can a SmartBoard or other product do the same thing just as well? Like Pattie pointed out in class, we all call it a Kleenex, but you can clear your stuffy nose into a Puffs or a generic tissue just as easily.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, if you ignore the brand name and read the article with “generic whiteboard” in mind, I think the basic technology is great! We (learners) do learn by building on previous experiences. Look at this class, some of you are bored waiting around for others to figure out what you already know… Some of us have to broaden our experience with computers before we can understand them intuitively. I have seen lots of people helping one another in class – I have helped someone with a program glitch and have, in turn, had lots of help navigating a PC with which I am unfamiliar. In this case, we have our own computers but are still supporting each other socially. The “generic whiteboards” can help our students do the same.
I totally agree with Christina when she said, “individuals learn by teaching.” If students can share their ideas and add information to what others put on the “board” they become both teachers and learners. Students get to participate using multiple intelligences, connect their ideas to others, help organize the constant stream of new ideas and receive immediate feedback. Used effectively, these “boards” seem to be an educators dream.
Like a bunch of people said, I think it's a marketing ploy. I don't want to associate all marketing with the word ploy as people often do (I was a marketing major), but this one seems like a ploy to me. The article comes from the company that sells the board and employs Dr. Marzano.
ReplyDeleteThe article repeatedly mentions that it is the 21st Century and we need to use 21st Century ways to reach students, but in 5 years we will still be in the 21st Century and this technology will be old. Schools will spend money getting up to date, but will never catch up by purchasing products like this. I feel these boards are kind of a waste of money. I haven't used one of these boards before and although they seem pretty cool to play with I don't really see the need. I'm not sure, but it seems like I can do the same thing with a computer, projector, my finger to point with and a chalk board or piece of paper to write on.
I agree that using technology can engage the students. I just don't think that buying these boards are necessary to accomplish that. In every class that we have had to this point, the SmartBoard has either just been used as a projection screen or a place to hang stuff. I get the feeling that is the case in many classrooms that have these boards. That could be because teachers don't know how to use them effectively in class or just that the boards aren't that special.
I don't think that having these boards in your classroom already is a waste, I just think that continuing to invest in this "new" technology is not a good use of funds. I think the free tools that we are learning about in this class are much more cost effective. If money is gonna be put into technology, I think it should be spent on computers and internet access for the teacher and students. Once all the students have a computer then you can buy a board.
Dr. Gillespie is by far the best teacher I ever had and it seemed like he barely knew how to turn the computer on so I feel the 5 learning principles can be used without a Promethean or Smart board. I want to become a teacher because I feel that most teachers suck or at least most of my teachers growing up sucked and simply giving them some technology isn't going to fix that. Giving teachers more training/schooling on how to be a better teacher (kinda like what we are all doing in this cohort) would be a better idea to me. Being in this cohort is changing my opinion somewhat of teachers or at least it's letting me know that not all teachers suck. Thanks for that.
Also, I don't it has really been mentioned, I support the idea of kids bringing their own technology to class. Let them use their phones and own laptops in the classroom. The kids would have to be responsible about it and some students wouldn't have the same things available as others but why limit a kid in any way.
ReplyDeleteand one more thing, articles like the one we read are obviously very effective marketing. Everybody wants one of these things now.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that I read the article and said to myself "wow, that seems like a blatant commercial for the Promethean board" before I even read the question posted on the blog. I definitely think it is an marketing ploy for the Promethean board - but a very good marketing ploy.
ReplyDeleteThe five principles mentioned in the article are critical to effective education and have a great deal of importance in 21 century learning weather using a Promethean board or any other form of technology. Engaging and motivating the students is the key to active learning. The students of today use technology on a daily basis in their everyday lives outside of school and that makes the use of technology in the classroom a great motivator for student learning.
I think that many people touched on the subject of funds and the real question is - what technology will be most effective in reaching our student? I think that Nick has a point - a "board" in the classroom is only as effective as the teacher using it.
Nick raises a good point. Technological innovation moves fast. Being current means spending money. Some schools can barely afford the basics and so asking them to "keep up with the joneses" is unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteAs Nick states, using free options is a great alternative. But, will those schools able to afford the Promethean boards & accompanying technology be ahead? Will this continue to widen the technology gap between those with and those without?
I am really tired of people denigrating education and learning today. So many people seem to think that because we use the internet all of a sudden we are dumber as a society. Just because we don’t use books all the time and instead incorporate this crazy thing called technology that suddenly people can no longer think, problem solve, or invent anything. Last time I checked, there have been more improvements in recent history than any other time in our history. But, since kids and adults are on computers we are all morons. If people want to hold onto the past that is fine, but do that at your own risk. The world is shrinking by the moment thanks to the incredible improvements that technology has made and it is essential to keep our students up to date on how to properly use it. The key is applying the use of technology with the theories of metacognition. Problem solving, higher order thinking, etc. are all key aspects to metacognition that occur when students use technology. This allows the student to gain content and still develop important 21st century skills. Thus, I believe that this guy isn’t selling a product, but a way of thinking and learning that schools need to be aware of. Yes, it is expensive and yes it is ever changing. Nonetheless, it is essential the federal, state, and local governments make funds available to schools so our country can stay competitive with the rest of the world when these students enter the job market.
ReplyDeleteNick, you said that Dr. Gillespie couldn't use a computer but was still a great teacher. This, I agree with. But, do not forget that the people in this classroom are motivated learners. That is why we are earning our Masters Degree. What about the kids in the classroom that don't want to be there? We certainly are not them and thus it takes less to motivate us. How are you going to motivate the kids that don't care? Technology is a major avenue to that. Also, the point about the teacher needing to be good in the first place. Districts that do have the means (which is another issue) are consistently training their teachers to use the new technology.
ReplyDeleteNick, I hear what you are saying about letting the kids bring their own technology; it would certainly help with the expense, etc. But I would have real reservations about letting the students have quite that much unsupervised control. Kids are great, and 95% of them would be fine. However, I've had experiences where unsupervised use of technology at home has wreaked havoc in school because of what some students send to other children; I can envision scenarios where their use in school would also be inappropriate. It offers great possibility, but would have to be really carefully planned, I think.
ReplyDeleteI agree that smartboards are very exspensive for school districts to purchase but the payoff is much more important (student engagement). More so this year than before districts are cutting back since the PA budget is in trouble. Programs/Positions are being cut to make ends meet and materials are harder to purchase for classrooms esp in low income area school districts.
ReplyDeleteKnowing the benifits of using the boards I put one on my wish list for the upcoming school year. I was told nicely that it wasn't going to happen and maybe I could get a projector. I'm wondering if a projector could be used in the same way an interactive board without the touchscreen option. I'm sick and tired of using my overhead!!!
If I can generalize for moment....
ReplyDeleteStudents hate to read textbooks, students like to read information on a website.
Students hate to write, students like to text, blog, post etc.
Students hate to communicate in a group, students like to communicate via web cam, skype etc.
Students hate writing on the board, students like to write on the interactive white board.
Students hate taking notes manually, students like downloading notes, posting notes on class blog etc.
As a teacher, with the proper resources, you can turn a class of haters in to a class of like(ers).
I am a firm believer in students learning all of the skills above in both forms. My 12th grade students face college and or the workplace in a matter of months rather than years. They will need to have the traditional skills as well as the use of technology. I feel that the key is to provide the proper balance between the ways they need to complete their lessons and ways they like to complete their lessons.
Having the kids bring their own computers/ipads, etc. to school could significantly decrease cost for schools. Denise, as long as they are on whatever program you have assigned it should not be any different than if they were on a school issued laptop or if they were in the computer lab. As a parent, however, I would not want my son taking his Macbook to school every day!! He has already had a required $100 calculater stolen (or lost).
ReplyDeleteOMG! I know that no one will probably see this comment, but I just sat in on a Promethian Board training for about 10 minutes. Our district is going to start using them this year. VERY COOL! I wish I was a teacher already so that I could use one, too. Did I already say VERY COOL?!!
ReplyDelete