alanesmith
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« on: October 18, 2006, 01:45:00 PM » |
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does anyone have any experience with these? We're looking into purchasing some for classrooms, but the "smart" features don't seem too useful outside of small group collaborative learning.
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gennimom
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Let's get summer over with! Me want snow!
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« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2006, 01:52:29 PM » |
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Oh, they can be a lot of fun. Just make sure you grab the right pen from the right slot to get the color you want. We use them for powerpoint presentations, which means you can write on the slide and when you change the slide, magically, the notes are gone! They are great in smaller classrooms, not so great in auditoriums. They've put big podiums with all these new gadgets in them all over campus, but they only put the smartboards in the classrooms. Students learn to use them quite quickly and they make in-class presentations much easier in some subjects.
The hard part some people have trouble with is tapping the board to make the slide change. They tap too hard or too soft and it either changes too many slides or not at all. But it beats standing behind a computer, or walking from the computer to the board and back during your presentation.
We've used them in classrooms with up to about 30 or 40. After that, people may have trouble seeing it.
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mikey
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« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2006, 06:53:14 PM » |
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IMHO, smart boards are an appalling waste of money. I've used them and dislike them. They add nothing, they glare, and they are hard to callibrate.
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anthroid
Annoying bad luck snails
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« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2006, 09:26:44 PM » |
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I hate 'em. Give me a chalkboard, or even a whiteboard, any day. Smartboards just get in the way and don't even work too well as a movie screen if not cleaned properly.
I think they are a fad that is about to pass. I hope. I have a good laptop with a wireless connection (which also connects to the LCD player wirelessly--cool, huh?) and a dvd player. What more does a prof need?
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fizxdude
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« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2006, 11:34:12 PM » |
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What is it that you are trying to accomplish? Do you want to incorporate some 'gee whiz' technology? Are you trying to encourage student participation? What is your desired result?
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conjugate
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« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2006, 11:45:01 PM » |
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I spend a lot of time complaining about the view-obstructing machines in one "smart" classroom. I go in, I have to move the laptop monitor (bolted to the desk) so it won't obstruct the view of one corner of the board, I have to put up the screen and power down the projector, and then move the podium. I've told my students that the University spends lots of money on chalk and more money for these big ungainly things that are placed to obstruct their view of the board; it's our effort to keep headcount up, I tell them, by making sure they can't see what I write so they have to take the course several times, sitting in different parts of the room each time.
I also point out that we in the Math department were just congratulating ourselves on getting rid of the clay tablets and cuneiform styli when those gol-durned overhead projector thingies were left lying around to block the view of the chalkboard. Now this. And the stupid computer doesn't even have Solitaire on it. What a waste.
Colored chalk is all the special effects I use in the classroom, and I'm not old-fashioned. I mean, I even own my own horseless carriage, and have one of those tele-phone devices installed in my own home!
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Unfortunately, I think conjugate gives good advice.
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expatinuk
Has spent over 1000 pounds but now holds a Brit passport!
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From SC living in UK
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« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2006, 08:40:58 AM » |
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I love the Smart Boards. I put presentations up on the server and can go into the classroom and download them onto the computer that's hooked up to the Smart Board. I can write and make notes... etc.
Technology is just a tool... it's what you're using it for that counts. The Smart Boards make my life a lot easier.
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Expatinuk seems to be a Soviet Satellite in stationary orbit over the UK
It is what it is.
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csguy
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« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2006, 11:46:30 AM » |
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Colored chalk is all the special effects I use in the classroom, and I'm not old-fashioned. I mean, I even own my own horseless carriage, and have one of those tele-phone devices installed in my own home!
Well, I do use the projector (demonstrating programs etc). But I also frequently write on the whiteboard. I usually announce that this is therefore a multimedia presentation. |
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gennimom
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Let's get summer over with! Me want snow!
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« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2006, 05:25:33 PM » |
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I will have to agree the stations are large and can block the view of the board. One prof I worked for griped about that. What was really bad, was with a little foresight on the part of the installers, it could have been placed in another position that didn't block the view. If you want to install these things, get the people who are going to have to use them help figure out where to place them.
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...only after reading gm's post, my new mantra is "always listen to gennimom".
Monday reeks! - Garfield The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person (or something like that). |
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untenured
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« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2006, 07:50:13 PM » |
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I teach my graduate students in a cutting-edge building with all the corporate style trimmings. Our "smart" board uses markers specially designed to the task. When I tap the board with the marker, it advances the power point slide. When I write on the board, I press a button and it saves my scribbles to a file acccessible by students.
Kinda funky.
Untenured
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