Picture This! A Spate of New Multimedia Tools Is Putting a Whole New Face on the Learning Process

AMONG THE OLD-SCHOOL resources that the digital age is making obsolete, or at least less consequential, count the chalkboard. For decades, the chalkboard was the focal point of all instruction, the big screen on which teachers wrote out and directed lesson after lesson after lesson. Today, while chalkboards still exist, they are losing their status as the classroom centerpiece--districts are now investing in technology to modernize classroom displays. From interactive whiteboards to handheld tablets, from digital projectors to newfangled video-editing systems, the most successful of these products are those that grab student attention and don't let go. New displays have not come of age in a vacuum. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org), kids in the United States watch an average of four hours of television a day. What's more, a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences (www.nationalacademies.org) shows that 26 percent of US teenagers spend between one and two hours online a day. The statistics indicate that kids prefer to learn in a visual world and like to have information at their fingertips. Across the board, the latest and greatest classroom display products meet these needs. A Smarter Chalkboard Electronic whiteboards are no longer new, but they are still cutting edge. Introduced by Canada-based Smart Technologies (www.smarttech.com) in 1991, the technology combines the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer. Essentially, the device is one giant computer screen that teachers can manipulate with a variety of tools, enabling them to present slides, take notes, and do a host of other things. Teachers also can use electronic whiteboards to control applications on a computer, write notes in digital ink, or save work to share later. Of course, the best part of the technology is that every student can see it. This is precisely why teachers in the Jennings School District (MO) recently turned to Smart Technologies' Smart Boards to increase student involvement. Last year, the district, in which 77 percent of students qualify for free-lunch programs, applied E-Rate funds to purchase 52 Smart Boards for classrooms in grades 3-12. Once the technology was in place, the school launched a new, inquiry-based approach to learning--an approach Cindy Kicielinski, district instructional technology specialist, says has forced students to find answers for themselves and figure out how to incorporate technology to present those answers to the class.4 You'll see students in the front of the room collaborating in teams, being able to talk effectively about the knowledge that they have, and present it back in a way that everyone understands it, she says. That's a lifelong skill. At J.P. Ryan Elementary Sehool in Waldorf, MD, teachers have deployed whiteboard technology from GTCO CalComp (www.tcocalcom.com) to achieve similar results. Dubbed the InterWrite SchoolBoard, the device incorporates infrared wireless transmitters, which students use to answer questions and record responses with a simple click of a button. Fourth-grade teacher Jill Barnes says the interface makes learning seem like a video game--something to which youngsters are drawn. Barnes describes one geometry lesson in which she used the SchoolBoard to create a memory game similar to the old game show Concentration. The game required kids to move around different pictures of shapes and select the appropriate name for each one. In another lesson, Barnes used the SchoolBoard's spotlight feature to emphasize words she wanted the students to memorize. While both lessons worked well, Barnes says one drawback of the technology is the time it takes to learn to use it. It does take awhile to learn and plan your lessons, she says, noting that it took her the better part of a year to become completely comfortable with the InterWrite board. If you're dedicated to your job, though, that's not really a downside. …

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